Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted November 16, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 Austin would have still been a massive star without Shawn Michaels on board. He was unstoppable at the time. Tyson gave him the rub, but that had little to do with Michaels. It was all about Austin and Tyson's angles. DX were a massive after thought in that angle. Michaels was at home videoing in his promos at the time, nursing his bad back. Shawn Michaels wasn't even in the promotion for the majority of the boom period anyway. WCW would have still fell off a cliff and WWF would have still risen to what they did without Michaels. But this ones this one that got me: Â Nitro would have continued to kick raws ass for a very long time to come. Maybe have put the WWE out of it all together. WCW had about 10 PPV draws on the roster at the time and still fucked it up. Michaels was a name, but he wasnt a big enough name to stop that ship sinking which it was about to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted November 16, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 Austin would have still been a massive star without Shawn Michaels on board. He was unstoppable at the time. Tyson gave him the rub, but that had little to do with Michaels. It was all about Austin and Tyson's angles. DX were a massive after thought in that angle. Michaels was at home videoing in his promos at the time, nursing his bad back. Shawn Michaels wasn't even in the promotion for the majority of the boom period anyway. WCW would have still fell off a cliff and WWF would have still risen to what they did without Michaels. Â We will have to agree to disagree then. Â Without Vince Austin would have never made it as big as he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted November 16, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 Without Vince Austin would have never made it as big as he did. Are we talking about Vince leaving the WWF, then? The Vince vs Austin angle was set in motion in September 97. The Vince vs Austin angle was always going to happen. You can take away the screw job all you want, but you cant take away how fresh Austin and Vince were at the time, or how good they were at carrying promos and angles. I didn't know he screwed Bret Hart and I was buying into the angle 100% in 1998. When the boom period hit in April 98, all those new fans probably didn't know who Bret was let alone that Vince had screwed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted November 16, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 Possible that Vince would have turned heel without the screw job. Â At the time tho wasnt he playing dumb with the whole "im not owner" effort. Maybe im mistaken but Vince didnt have alot to do with Austin before the S/J? Nor did vince want to be an on air talent? (other then calling the matches) Â Im not downplaying Vince and Austin they had the best fued in pro wrestling. Â Without Shawn, Bret would have dropped the belt without an issue with no need for Vince. If that in turn didnt make Mr McMahon (at least an idea in his head) Austin would have no one to smash off every week thus making him less affective in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tom Posted November 16, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 Without Vince Austin would have never made it as big as he did. I didn't know he screwed Bret Hart and I was buying into the angle 100% in 1998. When the boom period hit in April 98, all those new fans probably didn't know who Bret was let alone that Vince had screwed him. Plus, the idea of Vince being this evil boss was so instrumental in the whole Vince-Austin dynamic that, if the lack of a Montreal was so important then they simply would have done something else in terms of angles to achieve a similar outcome for Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Eddie Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Yeah the Evil Mr McMahon character was entirely rooted in what had actually happened with Bret. It may have ended up having the same heat eventually, but the reason Vince was instantly such a despised figure is because of what he did to the Hitman. The fact that Bret had been playing a tweener role (Face everywhere except America) meant that Vince didn't even really screw over a proper Heel, plenty of people loved Bret. Â All of these things are entirely speculative though, so saying "No. That would never have happened" is a bit silly, however you look at things. Â I also think that the DX/Michaels factor is being downplayed here. Sure, it was the Tyson involvement that got the wider media paying attention, but DX and Shawn were the absolute perfect foil for Austin. A couple of long-haired, wise-cracking, chicken-shit jerks were perfect for Austin to kick the crap out of. I don't think it would have worked as well if it were Bret or someone shoe-horned in like Shamrock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tom Posted November 16, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 16, 2011 But, hadn't they already started to break down the wall in terms of who Vince was already at the beginning of '97, if not earlier. I'm thinking of Brets interactions with Vince on occasions such as when he lost the title to Sid, and even the antics with Vince on commentary during Nash's final match in '96 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.