WWF New Generation Thread III

[BruiserBrody]

There was an Apter mag from early 92ish with pictures of a battle royal. Tatanka did not win. As a big Yee Yee Yee Yee mark, I was crushed.

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They looked at their babyface roster and realized they had to get some new guys over. It kind of worked as they built Chavis up enough to be a fringe main eventer vs Yoko in various forms.

 

[Valeyard]

This Bigelow/Typhoon match on Invasion Of The Bodyslammers is what's up. Best I've seen Fred look and Bigelow is busting ass.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I was thinking about McMemphis and if Vince would have turned heel in late 93 or early 94. I really couldn't come up with a great faction for him to build around. Shawn and Diesel are the most obvious candidates, but then you almost have to pull the trigger on one or the other as a heel champ.

On the other hand, keeping Vince as a face and involving him more as a main character lead to me booking a Savage heel turn coming out of WM X. The WWF IRL actually set this up without realizing it..... (more on that in a moment)
So in my scenario, Savage still congrats Bret at the end of Mania X, but in a nod to Hogan/Andre, Savage shakes Bret's hand hard and Hart briefly sells it with a glance.

Savage stays on commentary, but slips in some passive aggressive comments for a few weeks. Vince finally asks Savage about it while they are calling a squash match and Savage loses his cool and storms off after bickering at Vince, who looks bewildered. The next week Vince admits Savage is off this week on "vacation" to cool off, but he will return next week. Vince gets a note during the broadcast that Savage has requested interview time next week instead of returning to commentary.
FFWD the next week and gone is the garish outfits as Savage comes out in black spandex pants, and a black shirt. Savage opens the promos looking at Vince and making a snide remark about ignoring the office memo to wear "Icopro" gear.
Savage then asks us to take a little history lesson with him. Savage reminds us that he won the WWF title in 1992. He was robbed of his title thanks to Razor Ramon, and before he had a proper chance to get HIS title back, Bret Hart pulled out a lucky horse shoe out and won the title...

Jump ahead to Royal Rumble 93... Macho Man was the last man out of the ring. Instead of continuing on against top contenders to earn a match with the Hitman, Vince McMahon told him to sit by a commentary desk. Savage tried to be mellow and go with the flow. Then came Wrestlemania 9.... "Macho Man, a star, a legend....I had no match. What I haddddd was Vince McMahon putting me in a toga and calling matches of guys who can't carry my jockstrap!"
"I bit my lip, and carried on for months.... Then fate stepped in and my so called friend Crush turned on me and Vince the PROMOTER suddenly had little choice but to pair Crush and I in the ring" "But before Wrestlemania night...Crush wrestled Bret Hart at "The Road to Wrestlemania" right here on USA and what happened Vince? Yeah... Bret LOST the match!" "And then came Wrestlemania....Crush vs the Macho Man....and as all you fans watching at home on the videoscope know...I BEAT CRUSH!" "Later that night Bret Hart became World champion...and despite my victory over the very guy who beat Bret Hart only days earlier... Vince McMahon you once again stuck me at the commentary booth!"
"Well...no more... This is my declaration. 1994 will be the year of the Macho Man! I will get my belt back!"

While Bret finishes up the Owen angle between KOTR and Summerslam, Macho turns his attention to earning the world title match by taking out Vince McMahon's dream athlete Lex Luger. While Savage was forced to the back burner, Vince spent 1993 fawning over Luger and doing everything he could backstage to get Luger into the headline spot and at the end of Summerslam 93 and Wrestlemania X....Luger blew it. This can be the build to Summerslam for Luger vs Savage, which HAS to be better than the Tatanka arch(?)

Now the kicker is... I guess this scenario gives Savage Psycho Bob Backlund's role...perhaps all the way to facing Hart at SSeries and winning the title for a hot minute.

I figured flaws in Savage's logic like ignoring his matches with Yoko as world champ, etc can be chalked up to heel mentality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_to_WrestleMania
Following match saw Crush taking on Bret Hart. While Hart had an inside cradle on Crush, Mr. Fuji distracted the referee, allowing Owen Hart to reverse the inside cradle.

 

[Valeyard]

It just immediately kneecaps all the other heels at the time. If you outright say he's the boss, it hurts way more than helps at that point in history both from a kayfabe and mainstream perspective.

Now that said if you have it come out in 1992 that Vince greenlit Flair coming in with a real world title (not that Hulkamania bullshit, pal), deliberately fucked with Savage's head, let Perfect and Heenan get away with everything without repercussion, and deliberately kept Warrior out of the picture, you got something. Can also use the absence of the steroid guys as a storytelling device since not only can you push Flair and get heat but low key indicate the monsters are so superior they had to be removed (for the time being). Just make sure Vince is willing to bump and make sure you have an announcer on deck for a while since you'll need Vince out of the booth here and there.

 

[BruiserBrody]

It just immediately kneecaps all the other heels at the time. If you outright say he's the boss, it hurts way more than helps at that point in history both from a kayfabe and mainstream perspective.

Now that said if you have it come out in 1992 that Vince greenlit Flair coming in with a real world title (not that Hulkamania bullshit, pal), deliberately fucked with Savage's head, let Perfect and Heenan get away with everything without repercussion, and deliberately kept Warrior out of the picture, you got something. Can also use the absence of the steroid guys as a storytelling device since not only can you push Flair and get heat but low key indicate the monsters are so superior they had to be removed (for the time being). Just make sure Vince is willing to bump and make sure you have an announcer on deck for a while since you'll need Vince out of the booth here and there.

That's kind of why I mentioned the 94-95 arch didn't play well for a Vince heel faction. 93 (pre McMemphis) does work in my head, as then Lex Luger can be his ace athlete. El Gigante can be his monster, Mr Hughes is the bodyguard, maybe Bigelow or Yoko too.
This ALMOST could turn the new generation as the heels ala WCW, as Vince looks to oust Hogan, Beefcake, Savage and Perfect.

 

[Valeyard]

I can absolutely see a situation like the Magnificent Seven storyline working then, the more I think about it. The top heels just being united and taking guys out, forcing people to work together and making the whole thing seem insurmountable the more top faces get just removed in some way. Vince as the progressively more out there but in control leader. All leads to a Sharpshooter, urn shot, and flying elbow.

 

[BruiserBrody]

The If Factor: Dustin Runnels Vs Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 9

Brian Damage The ‘If Factor’ are a series of articles that takes a look at real scenarios in pro wrestling that at one point or another were suggested, planned, considered…but did not get the green…

ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com

Still can't see a scenario where a doughy Dustin is brought in to work with Hogan of all people.... especially since Bruce's argument is they were looking for "fresh" heels to work Hogan..... in a WWF that had just signed El Gigante, Bigelow, Luger, Yoko, etc
And Hogan looked at the heel line up and said.... "I want to work Dibiase again" apparently.

 

[Valeyard]

Dustin as a headliner in the WWF doesn't ever work. That said Goldust lusting for skinny Hogan and Heenan and Savage calling the match sounds hilarious

 

[BruiserBrody]

Dustin as a headliner in the WWF doesn't ever work. That said Goldust lusting for skinny Hogan and Heenan and Savage calling the match sounds hilarious

Dustin and Dusty as faces vs nWo Hogan could be worth some TV time with Hogan's stories of "growing up" (He was a teen) watching Dusty on Florida wrasslin'

Did they ever even interact in hospice era WCW?

 

[alfdogg]

Always thought it was odd that they put Dusty in the NWO with Zbyszko as the babyface instead of the other way around.

 

[Valeyard]

Yeah turning Dusty was terrible booking. He is the only one that makes that spot work.

 

[BruiserBrody]

1994 New Boom period idea:: The Smoking Gunns feud with Mantaur as he's the ultimate rodeo bull.

 

[Valeyard]

Honestly if you brought in PN Newz to tag back up with Mantaur, that's a perfectly fine little program for Action Zone or something.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Honestly if you brought in PN Newz to tag back up with Mantaur, that's a perfectly fine little program for Action Zone or something.

There's an alternative universe where HHH and Mantaur are wacky mismatched partners and he's the same level as Aldo Montoya in the Kliq buddies.

 

[Valeyard]

The first issue of the magazine I ever got was HHH teaching Mantaur manners. Should've pulled the trigger on the real shows.

 

[Hawk 34]

I know it was just a rib on him but they should have just kept Cornette with Mantaur at least for a few weeks. Probably could have had a nice hot program with him against Razor or Kid in the mid card.

 

[Valeyard]

Honestly, put him a team with someone like Louie Spicolli and it has potential to at least benefit those around them. Grunge Cattle sells itself.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Honestly if you brought in PN Newz to tag back up with Mantaur, that's a perfectly fine little program for Action Zone or something.

Moo Baby! Moo Baby! Moo!

 

[snuffbox]

I would've bought that In Your House

 

[Valeyard]

George and Adam would get their ass beat.

 

[Valeyard]

Was Backlund always going to be fed to Diesel in some fashion or was there an actual run planned?

 

[BruiserBrody]

Was Backlund always going to be fed to Diesel in some fashion or was there an actual run planned?

As Nash has said, after the roid scandal, Vince looked around the locker room and Nash was still tall, so Vince was interested. The Rumble angle got over and they began the slow build to Shawn vs Nash 15 months later.
Backlund, if the WON can be believed, was supposed to set up Papa Shango's return with his turn, but Vince then decided Backlund was killing it on promos and let the act stand alone.
The Bret/Backlund SSeries match didn't really "pay off" since the Bulldog/Bret vs Jim/Owen stuff had already been headlining and it was more of a mini blow off to the Bret/Owen thing since Owen instead of doing Bret/Owen at Mania as a final payoff, they tossed it on the RAW special before Mania.
They tried to run Backlund vs Nash in the winter as the house show program w/Shawn there for HEAT.
It couldn't have helped Backlund that the best worker in the Kliq (Razor) thought he was shit enough in the ring to need Dick Murdoch as a special ref in their matches to avoid having to work around Backlund.

Running Nash vs Bret was a clean Nash win probably made Patterson/Vince leery of pissing off the fans for one guy. By the time Bret beat Nash a year later, there was a plan in place to give Nash a different arch so a face vs face match with a real finish would hurt less.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Herb Kunze:
November 24, 1994

Post Survivor Series marriages include Lex Luger vs. King Kong Bundy, Davey Boy Smith & Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart, and Bob Backlund vs. Undertaker. The best guess now is that things will lead to Bob Backlund vs. Lex Luger (will Lex take the title? Meltzer reports there are no plansin that direction, that the WWF plans to have Bob as champ through to WrestleMania and perhaps later) and Undertaker vs. IRS (obviously being set up by all of those IRS videos about death and taxes, I think).

 

[BruiserBrody]

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