They had WHAT planned?

[Liam O'Rourke]

So, I heard today from as reliable a source as there is that when Fandango beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania, Vince's plan was a long-term build for Fandango Vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 30. When that fell through, Vince pitched Cena Vs. Titus O'Neil to take place at Mania 30 in its place. Of course, it ended up being Bray, but I am floored at the possibility of either man breathing Cena's air at Mania. 

Led me to thinking - what are your favourite examples of plans you all heard about that never came through that were equally preposterous, and the unfeasibility of them?

Edited March 22, 2021 by Liam O'Rourke

[Mr Lawrence]

Tugboat selling out the LA olympic stadium v Hogan for WM7 has to be up therr.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Something Paul Wight mentioned recently that there was a pitch a couple of years back for a Mania 6 man pitting The Wyatts against himself, Cena and..................Justin Bieber

[SaitoRyo]

7 hours ago, RIDDUM_N_STYLE said:

Something Paul Wight mentioned recently that there was a pitch a couple of years back for a Mania 6 man pitting The Wyatts against himself, Cena and..................Justin Bieber

It was SummerSlam 2014 but, yes, that would have been weird. 

As far as other outlandish plans, I always thought the idea of putting a young and inexperienced Muhammad Hassan over Batista (in Washington, no less) at SummerSlam '05 sounded mental. 

Hassan was hot as a character and it would have gotten heat, but he obviously wasn't ready for that at that time and it would have made him the youngest World Champion in WWE history. 

[Perry]

Triple H V Mike Tyson in a boxing match was planned for Mania 17.  Would've been funny if it actually happened and Tyson turned it into a shoot 

[Magnum Milano]

The Hade Vansen being groomed for a Wrestlemania match with the Undertaker is still one I struggle to get my head around, and for a number of reasons.

[The Gaffer]

Wasn't John Tenta pencilled in to run heel against Austin in 1998 at one point? I can't find much about it online but I'm convinced it's been mentioned in a few books. Either him or another big guy. If true it seems quite unbelievable looking back, but just goes to illustrate how much catching up the roster had to do with the popularity of the product at the time. 

[Perry]

I remember Meltzer saying that Marc Mero was supposed to have a big feud with Austin in '98, but that was before they made him look like a chump when they would have Sable powerbomb him, Austin told them where to stick their idea after that. Ironically Mero was gone by the end of '98.

[Accident Prone]

15 minutes ago, Perry said:

I remember Meltzer saying that Marc Mero was supposed to have a big feud with Austin in '98, but that was before they made him look like a chump when they would have Sable powerbomb him, Austin told them where to stick their idea after that. Ironically Mero was gone by the end of '98.

Similarly, Doctor Death was brought in to trample through the Brawl 4 All tournament and go on to challenge Austin for the strap. Of course those plans hit the bin lid when the good doctor got KO'ed by Bart Gunn in the second round.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Accident Prone

[BomberPat]

I think even if Dr Death had been in his prime, that feud would have had the kibosh put on it. Williams' offence was largely stiff strikes, suplexes and powerbombs. They're not booking Steve Austin and his knackered neck in a feud with that.

In terms of abandoned plans and whatnot, John Tenta had a dark match in 2001. I think it was to try and get one of his trainees signed, but they were giving Earthquake matches after the Gimmick Battle Royal. Maddest part is that he was only 38 then; younger than Finn Balor or Daniel Bryan are now.

Edited March 23, 2021 by BomberPat

[danlewis]

I can see the logic in Quake as an Austin opponent, like Pat says, he was surprisingly young, was a bigger deal in WWF than WCW, struck me as safe to work with.

Boss Man had not long come back in a similar role, which I reckon would have seemed mental if it hadn’t happened and someone brought it up now.

 

[theringmaster]

Christopher Daniels as the higher power always gets me. He's a brilliant wrestler and in many ways has never got the spotlight as much as he deserves but coming and facing Austin in his prime? That storyline would have seriously bombed.

 

[Carbomb]

47 minutes ago, danlewis said:

I can see the logic in Quake as an Austin opponent, like Pat says, he was surprisingly young, was a bigger deal in WWF than WCW, struck me as safe to work with.

Boss Man had not long come back in a similar role, which I reckon would have seemed mental if it hadn’t happened and someone brought it up now.

 

This is the thing for me. Until the Boss Man's return, it seemed like there'd been a massive cultural disconnect between the "Federation Era" roster and the Attitude Era lot - it just didn't seem like they'd fit in as they were back in the day, and that they'd at least need a gimmick change and a different name, like Shango/Kama, Fatu/Rikishi, 123 Kid/X-Pac, and so on. Boss Man simply got what I still think is a very smart re-packaging of the same gimmick, adapted for the late 90s. He was exactly what a cop gimmick would've been if he'd debuted at that time.

Makes me wonder why they couldn't do the same with Earthquake. Sure, the gimmick would've need changing, but just give him the old One-Man Gang look updated for the 90s. Given the culture of the time, they'd have probably just called him 'Quake, or maybe "Earthquake" John Tenta.. Either way, given how solid he was as a hand, could have really good matches with the right opponent, and wasn't actually that old, I'm surprised the most they ever gave him after wCw was Golga. Can't help but feel like we may have missed out a little. He wasn't going to set the world alight, but he'd have enhanced the storylines of the time, much more than some of the shite they had through their doors.

[The Gaffer]

1 hour ago, danlewis said:

Boss Man had not long come back in a similar role, which I reckon would have seemed mental if it hadn’t happened and someone brought it up now.

That's a good point. He's remembered - fondly - as a Corporation goon but you'd nearly forget what the sheer magnitude of that had to involve at the time since Austin's main foil was a non wrestler. He was constantly in main events with Austin on Raw. The man from Cobb County, Georgia was one of the most watched people on television at the time. Suppose you could have slotted plenty of other late 80s/early 90s luminaries in that role. 

[Cod Eye]

22 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Makes me wonder why they couldn't do the same with Earthquake. Sure, the gimmick would've need changing, but just give him the old One-Man Gang look updated for the 90s. Given the culture of the time, they'd have probably just called him 'Quake, or maybe "Earthquake" John Tenta.. Either way, given how solid he was as a hand, could have really good matches with the right opponent, and wasn't actually that old, I'm surprised the most they ever gave him after wCw was Golga. Can't help but feel like we may have missed out a little. He wasn't going to set the world alight, but he'd have enhanced the storylines of the time, much more than some of the shite they had through their doors.

They could have used the old Canadian Earthquake name, and do a classing USA vs evil foreigner feud. No idea what they would have done with his look though, as he looked so old and I can't see what they could change to make him look younger.