Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

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Big Boss Man
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Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

Post by Big Boss Man »

So your Bischoff, you have an open checkbook to sign any wrestler from the WWF for the KO Punch to end the Monday Night Wars for good. Who would you sign? Out of every possible scenario i still cant see WWF staying down for the 10 count even if you signed Austin, Rock, Mankind, Hunter et AL. Theyd find a way to fire back and get a guy who Bisch believes is surplus to his requirements and they'd make a star out of them or Vince would team up with Paul and find a way to stop WCWs rise to the top. My assumption is based upon Hogan, Hall and Nash not swaying from their upper echelon positions on the card, how they messed up Bret's push in WCW and their paniche for pushing Hulk and friends to the detriment of WCW. Unless you sign Austin to dismantle the nWo but where does he go from there since he has a neck injury? Mankind would flounder in the mid card since Eric doesnt see much in him, Hunter isn't main event level yet, The Rock is bound for Hollywood and in a few years be out of the biz. So all things considered could WCW have realistically won the war and put Vince out of business?.

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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

I would have made a big offer to Paul Heyman. Instead of Nash taking over the booking, Paul E. could do it.

Going in the opposite direction and putting the chequebook away, not re-signing Hulk Hogan in early 1998 or whenever it was could have helped them survive longer. Him going back to WWF means WCW have to push someone new (besides Goldberg) who might have taken off & one or two of the big WWF names (Hunter & Foley?) probably would have been held back for a couple years. WCW would have also not been as so bad off when things turned to shit because Hulk wouldn't be taking 25% of the gate every show he was on.

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Big Boss Man
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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

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Paul E to WCW would have been the smartest move to make once WWF took over in the MNW. But they powered ahead and WCW were left languishing in the background. I don't know if Paul would have worked with Bisch because I don't think they like each other. Plus Heyman was in bed with Vince and ECW in 1998/99 were still doing well financially and had a solid talent roster. Also if Paul E goes to WCW, ECW would be on the back burner unless Todd Gordon comes back in but ECW without Paul would have tanked, unless they gave the book to Raven but he was still in WCW at that time. Unless WCW bought ECW and run them as semi-autonomous promotions but again who'd book ECW since Heyman would take over the book for WCW.

I think Hulk was like an albatross to WCW in the end. He was on a massive contract, brought along his friends to deadweight the roster and you had guys like Eddie, Chris Benoit, Y2J, Dean Malenko, Rey et al who were under a toughened glass ceiling. Not re-signing Hogan and gradually phasing him out would be very wise business since he was such a thorn in WCW's side. I mean Hulk is huge in pro-wrestling but in WCW he became detrimental to the product once the nWo angle had it's day and there was so many different incarnations to the point where it devalued the nWo. But since Eric was buddies with Hulk I don't see him letting Hogan go. Plus Vince would bring in Hulk for sure and have him bring back Hall, Nash et al to WWF or Vince pick and choose whether he'd want them back. But the OG nWo turning up to battle DX or side with Vince against Austin would have been a huge mistake on WCW's behalf. But like you say without Hulk dragging down their wage bill it could keep them financially secure for a bit longer. At one point WCW's roster was so inflated and they only used a percentage on WCW TV so you could safely drop a lot of lower level talent or keep them on low pay per appearance deals. Plus you had Bisch throw around big money for Master P, Kiss et al so all that would be stopped. No excessive talent contracts. No creative control for talent so they can decide the booking. So from this list and I found this online so not sure how accurate it is but I'd cut the guys in italics
Goldberg (I'd have Goldberg defeat the nWo to end the angle and be the catalyst for phasing out Hulk, Hall & Nash)
Hogan (I wouldn't offer a new deal)
Hall (I wouldn't offer a new deal)
Nash (I wouldn't offer a new deal)
DDP (despite him being older he's a good worker so I'd keep him around and then put over the younger guys then transition to an onscreen interviewer role or manager)
Sting (I'd have him be the equivalent of Taker where he just works the big shows and have his appearances be huge events so fans would want to tune in Nitro because he'd be there)
Flair (I'd have Ric be the JJ Dillon of the new 4 Horsemen)
Savage (wouldn't offer a new deal as wrestler but keep him on as an announcer)
Mysterio
Kidman
Steiners - I'd put them back together as a tag team
Lex Luger (I'd send Buff & Lex to New Japan as a tag team and freshen up their gimmicks so they can come back in as a big deal to face the Steniers. If they didn't work out or were over with the fans as heels or faces I'd cut them both though)
Buff Bagwell
Curt Hennig (4 Horsemen)
Booker T (be one of the top guys along with Benoit, Goldberg & Eddie)
Stevie Ray (I'd have Stevie transition into an announcer role)
Bret Hart (I'd have Bret do the anti-USA gimmick again to make him the top heel to take over from Hulk)
Chris Benoit (4 Horsemen)
Sid (send him to NJPW to freshen up his gimmick)
Eddie Guerrero (4 Horsemen)
Saturn (send him to NJPW to freshen up his gimmick)
Dean Malenko (4 Horsemen)
Mike Awesome (I'd bring in Masato Tanaka to feud with Mike who'd be like his "The Gladiator" FMW gimmick, depending on how the fans responded to him I'd make him a top guy)
Vampiro
Mark Jindrak
Sean O'Haire
Konnan
Disco Inferno

Chuck Palumbo
Sean Stasiak
Brad Armstrong,
Berlyn,

The Wall (I'd rename him and be the bodyguard for Naitch in the Horsemen)
Brian Knobbs,
Hugh Morrus
Lash LeRoux
David Flair
Crowbar
I'd sign RVD from ECW and work him into the mix. If the fans were into him then I'd push him as a top guy. I'd also bring back the Crusierweight division as the top priority so I'd have like a Super J cup style tournament on Nitro with the top Crusierweight stars in the world - La Parka, Psicosis, El DANDY~!, The Villanos, Super Calo, Jinsei Shinzaki, Jedo and Gedo, Hayabusa et al. I'd also strengthen the working relationship with New Japan so you can bring in fresh talent every few months and send guys there too. So I think there's a good balance of experience and newer guys. I'd scout the indie scene too for new talent and work out working agreements with other promotions so there's always fresh talent coming thru the ranks and have the wrestling aspect be the draw for the fans. I would also focus on keeping WCW be more for a family audience instead of WWF Attitude 2.0 so no Russo & Ferrera. Nitro would be cut back to 2 hours, Thunder would be 2 hours and both shows would be kept fresh by new talent coming in and there not being weighed down by nWo promos or overlong monologues. It basically books itself, older guys to build up the newer ones, big international names coming in - Masahiro Chono, Jushin Liger et al and make those huge deals on TV, cut the PPVs down to a big 4 and run house shows in WCW/JCP hotbeds instead of trying to compete with Vince you book the towns WWF doesn't go to. Maybe have a few off season breaks to keep things fresh and new, so the talent has a break and the fans do too since right now the issue is there's too much going on and it burns out casual fans quickly. If we get to 2001 and Kellner wants WCW off TNT & TBS we use the international TV deals to keep afloat and broadcast via WCW.com til a TV Network picks WCW up. Create something the real WCW never had and that's a real identity and rapport with the fan-base so fans would petition TBS & TNT to bring WCW back on TV. With a loyal fan base like WWE has you've always got a market there, however small and niche it may be. I'd also focus on making new stars and not try and be too pop-culture so they'd be no David Arquette as WCW World champ, no Ready to Rumble, no Master P & No Limit Soldiers etc. Since apart from the Rock & Wrestling era and Iron Mike in the WWF that has never really worked since however much it tries to be, pro-wrestling isn't popular culture, well it was on its fringes during the Rock & Wrestling and a few years during the Monday Night Wars but apart from that it has its own unique niche and they should adopt an approach where they don't concern themselves with whats going on outside the biz then you won't have the fads of the day storylines (ie like Goldie & Truth searching for Pokemon on Raw, or the New Day & Enzo and Cass talking about Pokemon Go on Raw). It may be insular and of its own world but in say any big serial show the focus is on the characters and the storyline. Anything pop culture related in it is just background noise or not even relevant. So yea, WCW would be more of a "World" promotion with wrestlers from Japan, Mexico, UK etc on the shows and the main emphasis being on the wrestling matches. As for the creative team, if he was clean I'd bring in Jake, Raven from ECW if he wasn't there at the time and maybe Corny but I don't think him and Bischoff got on either. Then you have a mix of the old & newer schools of thought and creatively they'd be on a different level.

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Dr. Zoidberg
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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

I don't think Hall & Nash would have jumped back to WWF if Hulk did. They still had their big contracts so would have stuck around for a few more years.

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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

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There was no one man to save WCW unless WCW changed its entire culture.

For instance, Dwayne Johnson almost went to the Power Plant in spring 1996 (because he hated HBK and knew Michaels as champ wasn't going to push him with his political power.) In WCW did he have a chance in hell at being anything more than the guy who took Prince Iaukea's spot as TV champ, or a guy who feuded with Booker T instead of Chris Benoit? I don't think so. Maybe he could have taken Buff Bagwell's nWo spot. But he sure wouldn't have been Goldberg. Probably not even Mongo since the nWo big wigs would have feared him.

Would Chris Jericho have quit in July 1999 when WWF had a loaded main event roster of Austin, Taker, Kane, Mankind, HHH, Shamrock? Definitely not. Surely he'd rather job to Sid than job to Chyna. But he was smart enough to know WCW was hopeless by that point. And he looked smarter than Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Malenko, ect. 7 months later, which is why he's still working on top, Dean is an agent and Saturn got fired and became a tweaker.

So tl;dr: Nobody could have saved WCW outside of Paul Heyman winning America's top lottery of Power Ball and spending the lottery money to buy it from Ted Turner and fired everybody 40+. But then that could have put the fire under Vince's ass to take Hall, Nash and Hogan and use them correctly. So who knows. Maybe Vince would have combined the best of 2002 RAW & Smackdown into a great roster and destroyed Paul's hot ideas of Goldberg vs Rhyno for the world title and Jarrett vs Kid Kash for the US title, plus Kronik vs EZ Money for the tag straps

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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

Post by Bandit »

I'd sign RVD from ECW and work him into the mix. If the fans were into him then I'd push him as a top guy. I'd also bring back the Crusierweight division as the top priority so I'd have like a Super J cup style tournament on Nitro with the top Crusierweight stars in the world - La Parka, Psicosis, El DANDY~!, The Villanos, Super Calo, Jinsei Shinzaki, Jedo and Gedo, Hayabusa et al.
As an east coaster, I was fortunate enough to see a number of all three brands shows since they fought over Maryland until the bitter end. RVD would have been at the very, very least WCW US champ, at best beating Goldberg at Starrcade 2002 for the world title in a feud like 1990 Hogan vs Warrior. None of the other names mentioned were shit compared to him, or Jerry Lynn, or X-Pac if he went to Heyman instead of XPW (which would not have existed with a strong Paul E.)

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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

Post by Big Boss Man »

Those names are who'd I have brought in for the WCW's version of the Super J Cup. Since the crusierweight division would be what would help differentiate WCW from what the WWF were doing. They might have Austin v McMahon, the Divas et al but for wrestling purists and the casual fans they'd enjoy seeing high flying fast paced matches. Goldberg, Sting et al would still be the top guys (unless we're booking Michinoku Pro), but the crusierweight division was a huge part of WCW's success although it doesn't get the credit it deserves. I mean I preferred that to the nWo stuff at times because it often dragged on & on. The whole point should have been Sting or Goldberg destroy the New World Order and the under-card guys get elevated. Then you could keep them around (Hogan, Hall, Nash et al) if necessary for special appearances or keep them for the PPV events. The nWo instead fractured into a heels and faces faction where the franchise of WCW Sting joined the Wolfpac. Which in the whole scheme of things shouldn't have happened. Sting should have always represented WCW and that decision didn't make logical sense. He didn't join the nWo when it was super strong and at the peak of its powers yet he still joined anyway. I'd also borrow from AJPW and have a Champion Carnival, Real world Tag league and a rankings. Folks like statistics, win/loss records etc. so I'd try and factor in those so it's easier for casual fans to follow.
So tl;dr: Nobody could have saved WCW outside of Paul Heyman winning America's top lottery of Power Ball and spending the lottery money to buy it from Ted Turner and fired everybody 40+. But then that could have put the fire under Vince's ass to take Hall, Nash and Hogan and use them correctly. So who knows. Maybe Vince would have combined the best of 2002 RAW & Smackdown into a great roster and destroyed Paul's hot ideas of Goldberg vs Rhyno for the world title and Jarrett vs Kid Kash for the US title, plus Kronik vs EZ Money for the tag straps
When WWF hit their stride I don't even know if Paul could have turned things back around in WCW's favor. The whole Austin v McMahon stuff was just finishing IIRC and then you had Austin v Rock which was a white hot angle, then under that you had Hunter v Mankind, even guys like the New Age Outlaws, X-Pac et al were super over. WCW with Hogan et al seemed antiquated. Unless TNT & TBS allowed Paul E to ECWize WCW and he played Vince at his own game but ramping up the adult content. But even then at times that seemed hokey. At the time it was cutting edge and different but in retrospect the stuff seems like an even more OTT Jerry Springer show. I also don't think he'd have brought in the original nWo as it would have distracted from Austin & Rocky. If he weren't injured, Austin could have had a super long run with The Rock. WWF effectively sabotaged themselves when they turned him heel and seemed to lose direction. They should have kayfabed the WCW purchase and said Bischoff bought them, then had somebody like Goldberg turn up on WWE programming and challenge Austin for a match at SummerSlam and did an interpromotional WCW vs WWF mega event which if they booked it right would have been huge. But by that time WCW was in a similar state to what TNA are now. Although I think TNA actually have some life left in it with the Broken Hardy's stuff and they haven't put on a bad show in a long time. So maybe thats an unfair comparison. Latter day WCW was a slog to sit through but I still think fans would have bought into WCW vs WWF if they brought in Sting, Hogan, Goldberg, Booker, DDP et al.

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Re: Which wrestler would have won the Monday Night War for WCW?

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El Dandy.

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