Sexy Dad Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 We were robbed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 For me, both guys would have worked for different reasons. The Rock was simply amazing in my eyes, I loved his mic work, I enjoyed his selling and his acting during the matches. He'd have remained right up there even today. Austin would have too but I think the adult public would be able to relate to him even more nowadays, just like during the feud with McMahon. Steve Austin was established as the man of the people, he was the frustrated worker fighting against the evil oppressive boss that so many could relate to. Nowadays in tough times for everyone, I think people would relate to him just as much because he comes across as Joe Average, just like the rest of us. You almost forget about the money he's on because his character thrived on dealing with certain situations that we face. I think the average guy and gal would continue to see in Austin things that they could relate to and so he'd go on to be a constant success. Â And that is one of those posts where I knew exactly what I was trying to say but it came out as gibberish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Austin would have been on top for 13 years now if he had stayed in WWE. People would be sick of him. He was over so much in the first place because he was new and rebellious. Now he'd just be old and part of the establishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 10, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 Austin was working midcard feuds with The Big Show, Scott Hall and Ric Flair in 2002 so Vince McMahon had already decided that the OVW Express were the way to go at that time. Austins drawing ability was way down from what it had been and WWF was acting on this by pushing him down the card. Lesnar would have been WWF Champion regardless of whether Austin had walked out or not and John Cena looked like one of the biggest stars in the business when he cut that brilliant promo on Sunday Night Heat at WrestleMania 19. Cena, Lesnar, Orton and possibly Batista due to the fact they put him with Evolution was always on the cards for the future of the WWE. It really is impossible to think of how Austin would fit in to todays WWE if he'd been about for the last 8 or 9 years. Its impossible to really think of Austin not living on borrowed time as well, because even when he was on top of the business, he's neck was in an ungodly mess, he must have known his longevity wasnt in the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 An extended Austin/JBL feud would've been fantastic in 05/06, and I think Austin would've gotten a kick out of working with guys like Santino, Punk and Del Rio. I think the longer he'd have stayed on as an active wrestler, and the subsequently less able he was to maintain a full time schedule, the more personal control he would have had over his feuds. Assumedly we would've gotten Austin/Goldberg at WrestleMania 20 and Austin/Hogan at WrestleMania 21 (was that the next one coming up after Hogan's 'Rattlesnake' promo?). I doubt we'd have ever got Austin/Lesnar on a big stage. Â Not sure what the above would've meant Lesnar doing at WMXX - maybe Benoit ends up challenging him so that HHH and HBK can have a WM singles match together in the Garden? With the groundswell of support for Benoit that night, and the hostility against Lesnar because of him leaving, it probably would've given us an even more enthralling Benoit title win moment than the one we got. Does that mean that Lesnar isn't in the right place at the right time to drop his title to Eddie Guerrero the previous month though? Â Maybe I'm extrapolating too far but I think Santino may have been pushed as more a of a serious threat and may even have made it to the fringe of the main event if Austin had still been around. I assume Austin was a fan of his since he was happy to give him the rub in one of his later guest appearances promoting that Vinnie Jones film. Â The Punk feud seems to write itself with the whole Straight Edge/Beer drinking contradiction in their characters but I'd like to think they could do something a little less predictable with it once it got started. Punk using the SES or Nexus to keep Austin away from him would be alot of fun. I'd rather have seen the Nexus disposed of with half a dozen stunners in this year's Rumble than the Attitude Adjustments we saw instead. Â It's never even occurred to me before, but an Austin/Sabu feud in summer '06 (around the time Sabu was facing Cena and Big Show on PPV) could've been epic. I could actually see Austin being keen to be a part of the re-launched ECW when it first appeared, and maybe his stroke would've seen it pushed in a way that was more faithful to the original. Â It would've been great to see Rock face Lesnar a couple more times. If they were kept apart much of the time but periodically met in SummerSlam/WrestleMania main events it could easily have become one of the top rivalries of the decade. Â I think Rock would eventually have been positioned as a natural enemy/mentor of either Cena or Orton, but it's hard to imagine Rock being able to feud with anyone without completely overshadowing them, if he'd have kept up his 2003 form. Feuds with Rock, logical though they may have seemed, may have had the same retarding effects on Cena and Orton's momentum that being booed at Backlash '03 had on Goldberg's. Come to think of it I think Rock's presence would've filled the niche that Cena, Orton and Edge have been used to fill over the last 5 years, and so those three guys would probably only have a couple of title reigns between them by now. Â Surely by now atleast one of Austin and Rock would've challenged the Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania. The booking of those feuds/matches are very hard to conceive of in a hypothetical like this. I don't think either of them would've minded laying down for 'Taker to preserve the streak, and so maybe it would've become an even bigger deal than it has done? Rock in particular would actually have seemed like a plausible candidate to beat the Undertaker at Mania too, I think the match could've surpassed the HBK matches if it had been booked at the right point. Â 'What if Austin and Rock had stuck around?' is fucking addictive wrestling-day-dream-fodder. Might have to come back to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Fatty Facesitter Posted February 10, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 Pinc, great post. Lots of good suggestions. Â An extended Austin/JBL feud would've been fantastic in 05/06, and I think Austin would've gotten a kick out of working with guys like Santino, Punk and Del Rio. Â Before he left he specifically asked to work with Eddie Guerrero, and I think the original plan before he walked out was for him to face Eddie at King of the Ring. Guerrero kind of fitted the mould of Punk and Del Rio at the timer in terms of having a similar status on the card so I think he'd have had a lot more fun working with those guys and helping them get over in the process. Apparently he got pretty tired of always fighting guys like Undertaker, as did everyone else except the WWE hierarchy it would seem. Â It would've been great to see Rock face Lesnar a couple more times. If they were kept apart much of the time but periodically met in SummerSlam/WrestleMania main events it could easily have become one of the top rivalries of the decade. Â I was a bit gutted we never got a rematch or anything involving a continuation of a rivalry between those guys (though I think they actually had a cage match at a Smackdown house show before No Way Out in '03). The build up to their Summerslam match and the resulting contest itself were really good to watch, they had some good chemistry in the ring and I agree it could've been one of the rivalries of the decade. Â As for Rock and Austin challenging Undertaker's streak, I think it would be done in a similar way to that of how HBK challenged him, in that it didn't happen for a few years and by this point HBK wasn't the sole focal point of the show (although he was a key character near the top end of the card), thus it would've been seen as a much bigger deal by the time they'd crossed paths again (especially in Austin's case). Â Edit: Also re: Austin and Brock, I don't think Austin had an issue with putting Brock over, but it was more the timing of it and the fact WWE seemed to want to blow a money match before Brock even had a chance to make a name for himself, which he eventually did, so I'd say Austin was bang on the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Stone Cold Vs Eddie Guerrero feud of June 2002 did start, when Guerrero hit him over over the head with the bear bottle in the Tennesee bar. It's just that Austin walked out half way through the feud, and Ric Flair had to take Austn's place at the King Of The Ring. I think the best thing to do, was continue Austin's 2001 heel conspiracy gimmick. Then he could have worked with Kurt Angle or someone (Taking the role of the babyface for the feud) in a rematch from their 5 star Summerslam/Unforgiven matces. Then they could have brought in Guerrero as a face after Wrestlemania 18, and have Austin work with him until Summerslam season. That would cancel out his abysmal feuds with Scott Hall, Undertaker and Ric Flair, and maybe he would have been happier, and not stormed out in protest. He could have put him and Benoit over a few times, giving them more star power before they went into Smackdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digforvictory Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Good thread, it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened. Like Ian pointed out by 2002 Austin was starting to look a little stale. It's harder to see where Austin would have fitted in to be honest, there are specific "dream" matches that would have been cool to see but I don't think Austin would have suited slipping down the card which was going to happen regardless with the arrival of Cena and Orton. I actually think it was best for all involved for Austin to retire when he did. As much as I love Stone Cold there have always been rumours and stories about how paranoid he was over his spot so I don't think he would have taken well to be pushed to the side to make way for Cena. Â On the other hand I think it was a huge shame The Rock effectively retired in 2003. Maybe I'm being biased because The Rock is my ultimate favourite but when he became Hollywood Rock he became probably even more entertaining than normal and I think he would have been great to have around post 2003. I reckon that unlike Austin there was still loads of things that Rock would have done because by 2003 he just seemed so much fresher and bigger than Austin. It would have been worth him sticking around soley to finally see a Rock/HBK feud in my opinion. Â The fact is though that them both retiring early, and in Rock's case being off WWE tv for nearly 7 years, has helped add to their mystique/legacy. Austin was the guy who in 3 or 4 years saved the WWE and became an icon whilst The Rock is the guy who became that successful he became too big for wrestling full stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Stone Cold Vs Eddie Guerrero feud of June 2002 did start, when Guerrero hit him over over the head with the bear bottle in the Tennesee bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 An extended Austin/JBL feud would've been fantastic in 05/06, and I think Austin would've gotten a kick out of working with guys like Santino, Punk and Del Rio. Â Before he left he specifically asked to work with Eddie Guerrero, and I think the original plan before he walked out was for him to face Eddie at King of the Ring. Guerrero kind of fitted the mould of Punk and Del Rio at the timer in terms of having a similar status on the card so I think he'd have had a lot more fun working with those guys and helping them get over in the process. Yeah that's what I was thinking. If Austin had been ok with it, and it's a big if, his slide down the card that seemed to have begun in 2002 could've produced a lot of fun stuff if he'd been allowed to just do his own thing and work with whichever promising mid-carders he saw potential in, occasionally taking up more prominent positions on the card to work through the dream matches that he never got to have (Goldberg, Hogan, Lesnar, Cena, Undertaker-at-Mania). Guys like MVP and Kennedy probably would've benefitted from competitive matches with Austin at the points where their respective pushes faltered. Austin in a main-event-gatekeeper role in the second half of the decade would've been great. Â I already mentioned Austin going to ECW and I think that would've made alot of sense given his projected place on the card by that point, similar to how guys like Angle, Benoit and Big Show were sent there to give the brand some star power and possibly give their characters a new lease of life. Austin working matches at either of the first two One Night Stand events would've been great too, especially in '05 with his Alternate Reality Nemesis JBL sat up in the balcony. Â Also, given the right rookie, Austin would've been perfect for NXT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I think a healthy, motivated Austin and Rock would still be right at the top of the WWE card today. I don't think anyone - Cena, Orton, Batista or whoever - has come through in the interim period good enough to eclipse either of them for any extended period, and I think that's illustrated by the fact the last two Wrestlemanias specifically, and to an extent the two before them, have been sold largely on the back of two men who were in the WWF long before Austin or The Rock. Â They might have needed breaks at various points in the last decade to maintain that longevity - much like HBK and Taker have had - but the thing that makes me sure they'd still be relevant today is both men had the ability and the charisma to reinvent themselves. Both came off the back of hugely successful babyface runs with completely fresh, original heel characters that were arguably the best work creatively of either man's career, and I've no doubt they'd be able to do it again - who knows, with legitimate top-level babyfaces like Cena to work against this time around, maybe Austin would be able to establish a heel character that was legitimately hated as opposed to the 'love to hate him' heat he got in 2001 (though I tend to agree with Loki that Cena would have spent much more time as a heel with superior babyfaces like Austin and Rock to take the strain on that side of things). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 If they were both fully active in 2004, imagine the WM20 event we could have had?  The four main matches could have been....  WWE Title - Brock Lesnar © vs Chris Benoit  World Title - HHH © vs HBK  Stone Cold vs Goldberg  The Rock (hollywood 2003 version) vs The Undertaker  Add a undercard of...  Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero  Chris Jericho vs Christian  Womens Title - Molly Holly vs Victoria  IC Title - Randy Orton © vs Mick Foley (basically the match they had at Backlash)  US Title - Big Show © vs John Cena  Tag Titles Ric Flair & Batista© vs The Dudley Boys vs RVD & Booker T  Makes me a little sad when you consider the show we actually got, which wasnt too bad, it just could have been so much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhenom Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 If they were both fully active in 2004, imagine the WM20 event we could have had? The four main matches could have been....  WWE Title - Brock Lesnar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.PeterVenkman Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Interesting one. First thing I thought was - Cena would have been a heel for most of the last 5 years, either by never turning face or by turning back when all the boos started. I don't think Edge would have had as many title runs, or CM Punk for that matter.  TNA would have got more disgruntled midcarders - Jericho, Benoit possibly, Rey Mysterio. Benoit in particular could have helped TNA a lot if he and Angle had both been there in the mid-90s, plus he could have come off the HGH and Testosterone and possibly not killed his family.  On the larger business side, I reckon that the WWE wouldn't have shed so many viewers - I think WWE's business took a big hit once those two had left, lost a lot of casual viewers.  Given how bad drug use supposedly is in TNA, I don't think Benoit would have been coming off anything.  Agree with the bit about the casual viewers, I honestly don't think anyone will ever be as mainstream as those two and Hogan were/are, when I was at school, lads and even girls who'd never watched a wrestling show in their lives knew all the Rock's catchprases and that Austin was a hard bastard who drank loads of beer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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