This is a really weird list on WWE's part, because it's part kayfabe and part "insider" stuff. Like the 10-man from Wrestlemania X that was cancelled is suddenly an obscure trivia question? And the Hogan-Flair match at #1 was never gonna happen, obviously, but they do the kayfabe "Jack Tunney changed it" explanation. And HHH v. Tyson? Um, no, never even talked about. Whatever, it's their list, I guess.
almost
Possible Awesome Matches that ALMOST happened
Good evening Mr. Keith. So I'm going through the RAWs on the network, from the beginning, and something came to mind that kind of ticked me off. Events/angles unfolded that lead to a brighter road that didn't end up happening, but came very close . Two instances:
Janetty & Kid win the tag-titles from the Quebecers, weeks before the Hart Brothers shot at Royal Rumble. They lose them back before the PPV. I know it was to show anything can happen on RAW, but c'mon, That match would have friggin Rocked at the Rumble, Owen still could have turned on Bret, and the Quebecers could have got their rematch at Mania, and we wouldn't have had to sit through Men on a Mission
Savage comes to the aid of someone in Backlunds chicken wing. I think it was just an audience member, but watching I would have loved to have this lead to a match between the two. Both slowly getting crazier and crazier. Savage wouldn't even have to give up or job, just let Backlund snap to get him and the move over.
I'm starting Nitro slowly so i haven't come across anything as of note yet, so what are your biggest instances of a Possible awesome match coming thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to happening, but for whatever reason, didn't? And for the sake of the discussion on the blog, Benoit/Punk does not count
MEGAPOWERS V. STING & LUGER!!!!!
OK, I've been beating that drum for a while now, but I feel we need to build a time machine and make it happen at Starrcade 95.
Also, the recently discussed heel Ramon v. Undertaker match at WM11 that was set up with vignettes that never aired probably could have saved that show to a certain degree. Probably would have revived Hall's career too.
I also feel like World champion Shawn defending against the former Kliq members in goodbye blowoffs (heel Kid, heel Ramon) would have been epic and could have carried them through the summer. But then 96 sucked for a lot of reasons anyway.
Wrestlemania Matches that almost happened
This was on WWE.com today. Their Top 10 matches that were planned, but never happened. I hadn't heard of a couple of them.
http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/10-wrestlemania-matches-that-almost-happened
I've heard of all of them. The Shaq-Show one in particular was weird because it was on the books for months and then just never went down. People were kind of pissed about the Cena battle rap not happening, as he ended up doing a lame skit with cardboard cut-outs of Jay Z and others in the pregame show instead. The feeling was that it might have helped Cena become a bigger star. Thankfully he did OK.
Also, on the subject of WWE awesomeness, I'll top yours with THIS:
“YOU’RE FIRRRRRRED…almost.”
“What if” time Bod. First off, I hope everyone has a good and safe Thanksgiving holiday. I love this holiday…Wednesday night is always a great night to go out with friends/significant other, Thursday is full of food and football, and Friday is a great day to do nothing. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I will.
I haven’t seen the BoD this down on the product since I’ve been posting here. Admittedly, this hasn’t been that long, but man are people down on the product. Rightfully so. Since we’re headed for Cena/Orton, I wanted a “what if” that would play into that…
What if Cena gets “future endeavored” in late 2002? If you’re unfamiliar with the urban legend, Cena was spinning his wheels as a generic performer in early 2002. According to scources, he was close to getting fired until he randomly started freestyle rapping on a European tour. According to the legend, Stephanie heard the freestyle rap, liked it, and a few weeks later Cenas rap gets incorporated into his gimmick. His character turns into the “rapping edgier” John Cena, his job is safe, and he subsequently rises to the top within 3 years.
Things to consider:
– Just for a time reference, 2003 was WM 19. Rocks and Austins full time careers are respectively winding down and over. HHH would soon rule the main event scene. Brock, Taker, Angle, Hogan are all hanging around the top of the card for the next year or two. None of these 4 except UT will have long term futures within the WWE.
– If Cena is axed, who gets the ball? Does WWE try harder to keep Brock and/or Angle and…gasp…Goldberg?
– Does HHH continue to be “the guy” for the next 10 years? Would we have seen 232 HBK/HHH matches by now?
– Do Orton, Batista, or Edge, rise to the undisputed top spot? Are they capable of playing this role? Is any one a better fit to be the face of the company then the others?
– Does WWE go for a slightly edgier product without the ascension of the perfect “PG babyface” leading the way?
– Was the strength of the brand strong enough that it didnt matter who the top guy was during this time? Asking it another way, could WWE have just shoved almost anyone to the top spot during this peripd and business would have been the same?
Just a jumpoff point. Go nuts.
Almost A+ Match of the Day
Looking for a Shawn Michaels-Mr. Perfect match that wasn’t considered disappointing and low and behold they hooked up in a nice little ditty before Wrestlemania VII when HBK was still a Rocker. Give this one 5-7 more minutes and you’re looking at a potential HBK classic. As it is it’s two guys taking some awesome bumps as Shawn even pulls out the hands free top rope plancha/tope thing early on. It misses completely and he destroys a poor cameraman but hey it’s the thought that counts.
Enjoy your weekend and whatever you do make sure it’s good for business.
Greats by almost Greats
Interested to see what matches (primarily singles) people would say are the best/must-sees for people on that second, maybe third tier of great technical wrestler. We all know what Savage, Flair, Michaels matches to seek out, but curious about the following guys.
-Christian
The Orton series in 2011 produced some top-level stuff, but Christian as a singles guy has never really been a tippy top worker. The match with Jericho at WM20 was a near-showstealer also.
-Dean Malenko
Almost any of his Cruiserweight title matches in WCW, but the Jericho match at Slamboree 98 was pretty much the peak of his run. I also have a soft spot for the match with Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash 2000. Plus there's reams of awesome Japan stuff in the Super Junior tournaments.
-Barry Windham
Ric Flair, 1987, pick any of them.
-Raven
His shot at the NWA title with Jeff Jarrett was amazingly built and one of the best things TNA ever did, and then of course there's a million decent brawls in ECW, including the Raven-Richards v. Pitbulls match that was the only ECW match to get ***** from me.
-Vader
Lots of WCW Sting matches in the 90s, lots of awesome "beat the shit out of each other" matches with guys like Stan Hansen in Japan, plus a crazy tag match with him and Bigelow against the Steiners that was on pretty much every comp tape of the 90s. Wanna see Vader take a Frankensteiner? There ya go.
-RVD
I've always been partial to the John Cena match, and the Lynn matches have grown on me over the years.
Hey, almost 8,000,000
I just noticed that the counter is almost at 8 million. You know the deal, send me a screenshot if you hit it, and you can pick the next rant or “2013 Scott sez” deal.
Morning Edit: There were THREE people to e-mail me screenshots of the 8 millionth pageview counter, so presumably Paul Heyman paid off two of them, or else there’s people even more desperate for attention than the Fuj. Or Blogger is wacky, but the Heyman thing seems like the most likely. First one in was Vintage Gamer with a request for the first TNA weekly PPV, so maybe we’ll go with that for the moment.
