Re-Booking Thread - Year 1995

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The last one worked alright, I think this one is a perfect follow on considering a million things were rumoured and never actually happened. In 1995 there was absolutely no heels. Razor, Diesel, Bret, Shawn and the Undertaker were the top stars for most of the year. They all had to make do with feuding with the likes of Backlund, Jarrett, Mable, Tatanka or each other. If any year could have done with a bit of something extra, its 1995. WrestleMania was bad, the Royal Rumble was short, the stars weren't as larger than life as they had been.

 

Again, jot a few bullet points down and say what you would have done differently. I think one or two of the top 5 could have done with a heel turn for most of the year.

[CiderBag]

I think Wrestlemania needs the most attention, it was a shoddy card from start to finish featuring a criminal waste of Bret. Summerslam 95 was one of the best PPV's the WWE ever put out (even watching the heavily cut Sky Sports replay was great) and Survivor Series was class.

 

I think they missed the boat by not doing more with the Bulldog heel turn. It was a legit shocker, and it should have been Bulldog vs Diesel at Summerslam instead of King Mabel. Owen was treading water for most of 95 so it would have been nice to bring him and Bulldog together that little bit earlier.

 

The Million Dollar corporation was one of the worst stables ever. Just a random collection of guys seemingly trolling Undertaker in increasingly lamer matches. IRS, Bundy, Kama.... it just went on forever.

[Dr.PeterVenkman]

I loved the Million Dollar Corporation, could've done with Sid joining them earlier than he did so he could've had some decent feuds with the aforementioned main eventers

 

Also I would've given Bret Hart a better match at Mania, getting rid of Piper and the I Quit stip would probably do it

[Fox Piss]

Yeah I'd done more with Bret think Sid came to late to WM but Sid V Bret would of been great. They didn't use Hitman nearly enough during the summer it was a real waste.

 

Not sure i would have made Mabel KOTR winner.

 

Can't really complain about IYH.

 

Summerslam/Survivor Series are both great so probably not fuck with them to much.

[MoistVaj]

I've said this many times on here, but I think Razor should have turned heel instead of the 123 Kid and I'd have turned him mid 95 and had him feuding with Bret and HBK, probably even handed him the title for a month or two, I just think it would have freshened up the main event scene a bit in all honesty.

[CleetusVanDamme]

I'd have done more with Jeff Jarrett, for sure. I've seen a fancam of one or two of his matches with Diesel from their house show run that were really fun, they had good chemistry, it's a shame that they never got to do much together televised, aside from a (bloody brilliant) Raw match. I'd run a ppv program between them at least once. I'd probably extend the (also bloody brilliant) Jarrett/Michaels stuff as well (did JJ ever get a rematch?)

 

Bam Bam's awful face turn would be nixed. He's another guy who Diesel would have benefited working against (see their Raw match for proof.) I'd probably run Diesel and Razor Ramon vs Sid and Bam Bam over the summer, Tatanka can fuck off.

 

Also, the 123 Kid and Bob Holly team should have had a longer tag title reign, they were quality.

[EdgarTheSlouch]

No Henry Godwin. At All!

[PowerButchi]

I reckon it was probably worth turning Bret Hart heel at Royal Rumble or thereabouts. He did fuck all from then until November, and there was only about 3 heels in the company and they were in the gash Million Dollar Corporation. He could have really injected some life into the heel side at the top. Razor didn't seem to have too much on either, seemingly being more arsed palling around with FIERY PUERTO RICAN Savio Vega in angles. So yeah, I'd turn them two.

[moofasa]

King of the Ring should be changed I think. Savio Vega wrestling three times and Mabel winning it stunk and also lead to the Summerslam main event of King Mabel v Diesel. But can't think who could win it, if they wanted to build a heel to face Diesel at Summerslam. For the actual ppv it would of improved alot if it had been Michaels wrestling three times and winning it after the previous wins by Bret and Owen it had some prestige, when Mabel won, it lost it all in one night. But then what would he do with the Heartbreak King gimmick and no "monster" heel.

[NEWM]

You keep Bigelow strong and Jeff Jarrett happy, and I reckon you're sorted. Everything else they had in place had the makings to do some pretty awesome stuff (the face/heel divide was vast, but the roster was fucking great for the New Generation WWF Vince wanted to present).

 

The Roadie wins the King of the Ring, which doesn't win him the title shot, but shows off that he's a pretty decent wrestler in his own right and clearly being held back by Double J. IYH2 happens exactly as it does, which frees up Jarrett to run against Diesel at Summerslam, and they have Jarrett hanging out with all the baddies on all those class Raw's in the summer, instead of Mabel. Let him (with help of about 80 million people mind), put the Undertaker out of action somehow too. He can kabong Nash with the guitar whilst he's at it. Double J loses the feud in the end though, and blames Roadie (who had has continued to have some great yet inconsequential matches on the side) and they split and feud later in the year. You can properly use the "It was me singing, not Jeff" story too.

 

Bigelow spends all year running through the Corporation, but loses a competitive Number One contenders match to Bret before the Survivor Series and seems pretty miffed. He eventually turns heel and joins a rapidly expanding Camp Cornette (who at this point are clearly displacing the weathered Corporation as the big bunch of heels) to set up Shawn Michaels' main event foils for 1996. A crew of Vader, Bulldog, Bigelow & Owen are a pretty fucking brilliant set of singles feuds for Shawn, and Bulldog/Owen and Vader/Bigelow make excellent tag teams to shove in the ranks too.

 

All the rest can do the same. Michaels can keep having four and five star matches just for the hell of it every week, the Clique can wrestle each other and bury Bret Hart for a bit, forcing him to keep having those belters with Hakushi, Jean-Pierre Laffite and the like, and Diesel's running order goes Sid, Jarrett, Bulldog and fianlly Bret. I find all this shite really hard to re-book actually, I fucking love 1995 as it is.

[EdgarTheSlouch]

I reckon it was probably worth turning Bret Hart heel at Royal Rumble or thereabouts. He did fuck all from then until November, and there was only about 3 heels in the company and they were in the gash Million Dollar Corporation. He could have really injected some life into the heel side at the top. Razor didn't seem to have too much on either, seemingly being more arsed palling around with FIERY PUERTO RICAN Savio Vega in angles. So yeah, I'd turn them two.

 

But if Bret turned hee in 95 there'd likely be no Hart Foundation in 97!

[Reznor]

The last one worked alright, I think this one is a perfect follow on considering a million things were rumoured and never actually happened. In 1995 there was absolutely no heels. Razor, Diesel, Bret, Shawn and the Undertaker were the top stars for most of the year. They all had to make do with feuding with the likes of Backlund, Jarrett, Mable, Tatanka or each other. If any year could have done with a bit of something extra, its 1995. WrestleMania was bad, the Royal Rumble was short, the stars weren't as larger than life as they had been.

 

Again, jot a few bullet points down and say what you would have done differently. I think one or two of the top 5 could have done with a heel turn for most of the year.

You also had Sid as a top heel, then the Bulldog in August and Diesel (sorta) after Survivor Series. I'm not sure they could really have successfully turned any of the 'big 5' heel, apart from maybe having Diesel getting sick of being a nice guy a lot quicker. HBKs face turn was pretty natural, the fans wanted it. Hitman was the quintessential hard working, non-nonsense good guy and a turn in 1995 would've taken the impact off the brilliant heel turn in 1997. Razor would have been a credible world champion as a babyface in 1995, such was his popularity. And the Undertaker was contending with the corporation for most of the year and was still a big favourite. I don't think there was any kind of feeling for him going back to 1991.

 

Within the roster, they could maybe have turned Luger back to the narcissist again. He was a waste of time in 1995 (as was the Allied Powers) and he was a whole lot more natural and effective as a heel. I'm sure they could also have built Owen back up to being credible again after he fell away post-Summerslam 94, and Bam Bam wouldn't have been hard to elevate (still as a heel) if it weren't for the killing of his credibility at WM11. And there was always Yokozuna and the King. Really though, most of the existing roster being pushed towards top heel status would've came off as being pretty stale, so I think they probably could've been doing with bringing in a big name or two, for example, Vader coming in earlier.

 

PPVs aside, I actually really liked 1995, including most of the newcomers and gimmicks, of which there were loads. so I probably wouldn't have changed a whole lot, the main things would be totally re-jigging the Rumble, Wrestlemania, and King of the Ring (and the feuds/angles leading into them obviously).

 

I might go into more detail if I have time later, but for a start with the Royal rumble, I would have had all the top guys in singles matches doing double duty.

 

At Wrestlemania, Backlund could GTF and I'd probably have stretched out the Bret/Owen feud to end it decisively in a streetfight or something (like I think they were doing on the house show circuit around the time). Either that or coming up with something to give us Razor v Bret. Either way, Razor should have had a more prominent 1995 as he was flying at the time. And if he wouldn't face Jarrett for the IC title, someone like the Bulldog, Kid or even Adam bomb could've.

 

As much as I enjoyed the match itself, there's no way I would have 1) headlined WM with an american football player i'd never heard of, and 2) fed someone as good and potentially valuable as Bam Bam to him. If they had to have it, it could've been an undercard attraction and they could have given LT someone shite like heel Tatanka.

 

I'm probably in the minority in that I wasn't as outraged as many at Mabel's push and KOTR win. The event itself was awful though. The big story at the time was HBK's turn, and he should have been the focal point of the tournament, instead of not being able to beat Kama in a first round snoozefest.

 

I'd also have signed up Jannetty earlier, as he was just arsing around on the indie's for most of the year, I'd have paid a lot of money for the best doctors to try and fix Spiveys back, and i'd have brought Borne back and turned Doink

 

I wouldn't change much after Summerslam. 1995 gets too much flak imo, there was a tonne of good stuff, especially if you didn't mind the undercard gimmicks. I don't even agree with the criticism of the Hitman having nothing to do, as i loved his matches with Hakushi, Lafitte and Yankem. And he was the main man again by Survivor Series and that match was an absolute cracker too.

 

What were most of these rumours back then, I don't think i'm aware of much?

[CiderBag]

I don't even agree with the criticism of the Hitman having nothing to do, as i loved his matches with Hakushi, Lafitte and Yankem. And he was the main man again by Survivor Series and that match was an absolute cracker too.

 

But that's because in 1995 Bret Hart was the best wrestler in the world, and he could have a good match with almost anybody. Those three you name all had chops, so obviously they would enter good showings against Bret. But you have to look at it this way: who the fuck wants to see Bret Hart feuding over a pirate stealing his jacket, or Jerry Lawler's dentist. It would have been better use of Bret to put him in compelling scenarios. You citation of the Survivor main event is spot on - he was now in a serious environment in a match with a serious build. He had excellent promo's with Diesel leading up to the match, the fans were massively behind him, and the match itself was a corker. He then went on to have a blinder against Davey in a similar fashion with a more serious build. A star the calibure of Bret in 1995 should have been used liked this consistently.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

What were most of these rumours back then, I don't think i'm aware of much?

Bret Hart was going to turn heel after the Royal Rumble 95, Shawn Michaels was going to beat Diesel at WrestleMania XI, Shawn Michaels was going to win the King of the Ring, Razor Ramon was going to turn on Michaels at SummerSlam 95, Rick Rude and Curt Hennig were coming back, The Ultimate Warrior was going to return and feud with Diesel. There were loads of rumours like that. Power Slam and the old issues of the Observer were filled with them. Instead, things just seemed to stay as they were all year.

 

The heel line up were inconsistent and shit all year. Sid was in and out for most of the year. Davey Boy Smith turned late in the year and was never an established headliner. And Diesel turned fully the following year. Razor Ramon was desperate for a heel turn when Shawn Michaels took his spot as the number one upper card face. He'd have worked a treat. He was a great heel. Bret Hart was a great heel as well. He'd have been a breath of fresh air on top. Diesel was fucked from the minute he won an televised 8 second title win against Bob pissing Backlund and then went to a double DQ on his first title reign. He had nobody worth wrestling for most of 95. Backlund, Sid, Mable and Tatanka weren't exactly going to do killer business.

[PowerButchi]

I reckon it was probably worth turning Bret Hart heel at Royal Rumble or thereabouts. He did fuck all from then until November, and there was only about 3 heels in the company and they were in the gash Million Dollar Corporation. He could have really injected some life into the heel side at the top. Razor didn't seem to have too much on either, seemingly being more arsed palling around with FIERY PUERTO RICAN Savio Vega in angles. So yeah, I'd turn them two.

 

But if Bret turned hee in 95 there'd likely be no Hart Foundation in 97!

 

Not necessarily. He can still have his hiatus post WM12, and then nothing changes.