It was in 1994 when the United States government finally caught up to the goings on of the “Steroid era” in professional wrestling and had he lost his case in Long Island, New York, Vince McMahon would’ve likely served an 18-month prison term, at minimum.
Of course, hearsay says that McMahon had a contingency plan in place that would’ve allowed a booking committee of Bill Watts, Jerry Jarrett and Pat Patterson to take over the creative direction of the company. However, if that team would have never come together and say, someone like, myself had that opportunity, what could have happened?
Well, in taking a mix of things that actually happened between 1994 and 1996 in the WWF, as well as some subtle alterations, there’s a chance that some truly impressive (and not insanely unbelievable) things could’ve occurred.
It’s easiest to do this if the times in WWE are broken down into eras. Thus, the time between Summerslam 1994 and King of the Ring 1995 is referred to as “The Rise of The Hart Foundation,” the era from King of the Ring to Royal Rumble 1996 as the “ECW Invasion” and from Royal Rumble 1996 to Wrestlemania of that year as “The Rise of the Undertaker.”
Summerslam 94 already featured Owen Hart wrestling Bret Hart in a steel cage match. The idea of Owen winning that match and becoming Champion would have shaken up WWE considerably, given that Owen had already defeated Bret at Wrestlemania that year, doing the storyline that “Owen had his brother’s number makes sense”.
As well, continuing that into a Survivor Series rematch wherein, if Owen won, Bret would have to shake his hand as a sign of respect. Of course, Owen winning their third match against each other would close the series.
Add onto this the idea of Owen getting Bret, Davey Boy and Jim Neidhart to all let bygones be bygones and join forces as the Hart Foundation stable, and there’s a significant part of WWE’s booking that’s handled.
By Royal Rumble 1995, the Hart Foundation would be riding roughshod over WWE, necessitating that Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Diesel and the 1-2-3 Kid would need to join forces as the “Kliq” babyface stable to fight the Hart Family.
They would be “punished” for this, with a stable debut match of Shawn and the 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon and Diesel at the Rumble. Of course, the Rumble itself would be won by the Undertaker, and in a shocking conclusion to the show, Jerry Lawler would debut and blind the Undertaker with a fireball.
This would set up a Wrestlemania XI show where Owen Hart would headline against Lawrence Taylor, with Undertaker possibly being out of the show, Taylor would be a “surprise celebrity opponent” for Hart. This match instead of the LT versus Bam Bam Bigelow match that *actually* headlined Wrestlemania XI would’ve likely been markedly better.
Add in Undertaker vs. Jerry Lawler in a grudge match, then Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. a debuting Jeff Jarrett, “Kliq” member X-Pac vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, and “Kliq” members Razor Ramon and Diesel vs. “Stampede Bulldogs” tag-team and tag champs Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith, and you’re onto something.
For King of the Ring 1995, the idea of headlining the show with the tournament, plus Jerry Lawler AGAIN wrestling The Undertaker, and Owen Hart defending the WWF Championship against a debuting Hakushi would appear to be a well-rounded one.
All members of The Kliq, Neidhart, Bret and Bulldog from the Hart Foundation, and Jeff Jarrett being in a King of the Ring that would be headlined by Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels with Intercontinental Champion Michaels winning, sounds logical.
ECW Invasion Era
Instead of introducing the ‘In Your House’ concept, there’s the idea of introducing a PPV event called “Ladder War” between the King of the Ring and Summerslam, plus creating a more official relationship between the WWF and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Famously, at an In Your House event in 1995, ECW “invaded” the show. Instead of The Sandman spitting beer at Savio Vega, a show in Philadelphia featuring two ladder matches (Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels title vs. title, Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW title) would be ideal.
It was only one year prior at that point that Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon had wowed Wrestlemania, so bringing back the concept for its own theme show feels ideal.
Fleshing out the rest of the card with Hakushi vs. Undertaker for the #1 Contendership for the WWF Championship, plus another Bret and Bulldog vs. Diesel and Razor matchup for the Tag Team Championships, as well as a debuting Yokozuna vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler vs. 1-2-3 Kid, and an ECW showcase match of Taz, Dreamer, Sabu and RVD vs. Doink, Mantaur, Aldo Montoya, Bob Holly, and it’s a new concept that would kick off quite brilliantly.
Summerslam 1995 including Owen Hart losing his Intercontinental Championship he’d won from Shawn Michaels to The Undertaker, as well as HBK fighting the 1-2-3 Kid in order to again become a contender for the Championship would’ve been an amazing in-ring encounter.
Furthermore, the show including the last in the series of Bret and Bulldog vs. Diesel and Razor matches, a Yokozuna vs. Jeff Jarrett rematch, Shane Douglas vs. Jerry Lawler for the ECW Championship, and more progressive ECW-esque fare including 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Hakushi and Sabu and RVD vs. Taz and Dreamer would have continued to push the progressive envelope during the “imprisoned Vince McMahon” era of the WWF.
1995’s Survivor Series featuring a Owen, Bret, Bulldog, Neidhart vs. Undertaker, Hakushi, Shawn Michaels and 1-2-3 Kid traditional Survivor Series match could be fun if you’re looking at a situation wherein Shawn Michaels would be the IC champ (again) after defeating The Undertaker, while Hakushi and 1-2-3 kid have been in the in-ring mix with both HBK and the Dead Man.
Owen is still the champ, and Bret and Bulldog would be without their titles after losing them at Summerslam to Razor Ramon and Diesel. The idea that Undertaker would be the sole survivor of the match would then push tension in the Hart Foundation, while also preparing ‘Taker for a push to the WWF Championship.
Diesel and Razor Ramon would be on their way out of the door to WCW but would lose the WWF Tag Championships to the masked team of Wild Pegasus and Black Tiger. Yes, in 1995, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were still free agents who were not yet in WCW.
The idea of signing the two super-talented juniors, and keeping them under masks as a tag team would have created two fresh WWF babyfaces. Also on this show, Shane Douglas would defend the ECW Championship against Chris Candido w/Sunny.
By 1995, Candido debuted as a Bodydonna with Sunny, but imagine instead that he was more the “No Gimmicks Needed’ Candido. Add in a WWF vs. ECW traditional Survivor Series match with the company on the line as Taz, Dreamer, Sabu and RVD face Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, Yokozuna and Shane McMahon with the WWF winning, and it would’ve closed off that storyline nicely.
Plus, as an opener, include the debuting Dustin Rhodes vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, and that’s quite the card.
The Rise of the Undertaker
The Undertaker winning Royal Rumble ‘96 would be a foregone conclusion. As well, a “stable versus stable match” pitting Bret Hart and the British Bulldog from The Hart Foundation vs. Shawn Michaels and the 1-2-3 Kid from the Kliq would work, and Michaels and Kid winning to end the Hart Foundation could’ve been a match of the year candidate.
The card could’ve also included Owen Hart wrestling Chris Candido in the same type of challenge match that Owen had against Bret at Wrestlemania X, with Candido similarly winning in a surprise.
Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio would be a “WWF TV Championship” match instead of an ECW Title match, and the rest of the show could have had a six-man tag of Wild Pegasus, Black Tiger, & Hakushi vs. Sabu, RVD, and Taz, babyface Yoko versus heel Jerry Lawler and babyface Dustin Rhodes vs. heel Jeff Jarrett.
By Wrestlemania XII, Vince would’ve returned, and in typical McMahon fashion, the seven foot tall and more traditional heavyweight Undertaker would defeat Owen Hart. Also on the show, newly minted babyface tag team of Bret Hart & the British Bulldog would defeat Black Tiger and Wild Pegasus for the Tag team Championships, while new Intercontinental champ Chris Candido w/ Sunny would defeat Hakushi.
Midcard heel tag team of Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler would kick off a series of matches against the new babyface team of Dustin Rhodes and Tommy Dreamer with a cheating-aided victory, while 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu vs. RVD vs. Taz would be an ECW-style multiple-man match for the “WWF TV Championship.”
In other key matches on the show, Shawn Michaels would lose to a just-debuting Vader, while a similarly debuting Steve Austin would defeat Aldo Montoya. Amazingly enough, for as much as many things could’ve changed when Vince McMahon left the WWF, so many things could’ve easily stayed the same...
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