Your “Fan Favourite” matches back in the day?

[air_raid]

I often think about this. Not “dream matches” particularly but matches that could have happened at a certain time because all parties were in the same company, but didn’t. Like, if the right person had written into Coliseum when Hogan and Beefcake were back in summer 93, we could have had Hogan vs young Diesel or Hogan vs Doink, The Barber vs Shawn for the ICT, or MegaManiacs vs The Headshrinkers. Or Diesel vs Vader in early 96, who could have crossed paths in the Rumble but didn’t. One I’d have like to have seen from 89 would have been Dusty Rhodes vs Ravishing Rick Rude.

What about you? Any belters you wish Ian Simister from Barnsley had written to Stan Lane and Gorilla about?

[LEGIT]

Jerry Lawler Vs Mr McMahon, in a street fight (similar to the Vince/Hogan or Vince/Shane matches). Plenty of run ins from different people, depending on the time period, JR, Brian Christopher, Michael Cole, Shane, people like that. Given the right storyline they could've had a great fun match. 

[air_raid]

5 minutes ago, LEGIT said:

Plenty of wrong uns

Damn right.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Google tells me they had a house show match or two, but considering the years of overlap I don’t think we ever got a televised John Cena vs Samoa Joe match in WWE. I feel like that would have been good and maybe it did happen there and it just passed me by.

[BomberPat]

similar to Lawler vs. Vince, it's kind of amazing we never got Foley vs. Vince in any capacity - I know it was pencilled in for Wrestlemania 17 before they went with Vince/Shane, but it feels like something that would have gone three minutes on a throwaway RAW to lead into a big angle, or that they'd be on opposite sides of a big tag match at least once. I imagine it would have gone down very similarly to the Vince/Shane street fight, but there's some morbid curiosity there about what it might have looked like.

 

[air_raid]

10 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Google tells me they had a house show match or two, but considering the years of overlap I don’t think we ever got a televised John Cena vs Samoa Joe match in WWE. I feel like that would have been good and maybe it did happen there and it just passed me by.

It was planned for three years in a row for Mania, Cena was keen to put Joe on the map but them deciding to debut Joe on Raw instead of rushing his call up/injuries and/or Cena not being available ruined it every time.

You can still see the match, mind.

 

[davertfnewman]

It is more a dream match than anything else, but I would've loved if Spiros Arion came out of retirement in the first year of the Hogan run, managed by Bobby Heenan, to have a programme that included a MSG match where he took the legdrop. Massive heel who would be able to put over the big new star credibly.

[wandshogun09]

Mine are gonna be almost exclusively 90s stuff. And nearly all feature Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. 

Shawn Michaels vs Bam Bam Bigelow - It’s a fairly big one for me and it’s one that’s kind of surprising never happened despite them both being in the WWF at the same time between late 92/early 93 and late 95 when Bam Bam left. But I guess the reason for that is probably because they were never really on opposite sides of the babyface vs heel divide during those two years. They were both heels when Bammer came in, then they both turned babyface around the same time in 95 after WrestleMania XI. Shame though because you know they could’ve had a great match.

Shawn Michaels vs Hakushi - Mentioned this a few times on here but it’s a travesty to me that they never got this done in that small window they had in 1995. I look at 95-97 Shawn as his absolute peak in ring as well so it would’ve been the perfect time for it. Even if it was just a quick sprint on Superstars like that Shawn vs Skip match or something, it would’ve been better than nothing. Closest we got was that Bret/Shawn vs Lawler/Hakushi tag but Shawn and Hakushi barely touched in that one. Not good enough.

Bret Hart vs Jake Roberts - I’m talking heel Jake so anytime between summer of 91 into 92. I know Bret’s said this was supposed to happen, think he said it was in the early plans for SummerSlam 92 but obviously Jake was in WCW by then. With how things played out, I wouldn’t have wanted Bret vs Jake over the Bret vs Bulldog match we got at Wembley. But it’s a cool match to think about.

Bret Hart vs Arn Anderson - Only could’ve happened in 88/89 when both were in tag teams but it’s one we could’ve got on TV or whatever, most likely in the build up to the Hart Foundation vs Brain Busters match at SummerSlam 89. Come to think of it, a Bret vs Tully singles match would’ve been ace as well.

Shawn Michaels vs Ultimate Warrior - Hear me out. Obviously this would be 1996 during Warrior Jim’s brief return. Don’t think anyone would be writing in to Sean Mooney requesting Warrior vs Rocker Shawn in 1990 or whenever. I’m well aware there’d be a high possibility of it being a complete mess but I’ve always been curious what a wrestling, bumping machine like 96 HBK might’ve been able to get out of Warrior. I guess it would all depend on Shawn’s attitude going in and whether he was winning (probably not) which would determine whether he’d try to make something of it or sabotage it. I definitely think he’s one of the few who could’ve pulled it off like Savage and Rude did though. Also Shawn vs Ahmed Johnson in 96 for similar reasons.

Hart Foundation vs Rick Rude and Mr Perfect - Probably do this around 89. Rude and Perfect were great together at Survivor Series and had natural chemistry being mates. Obvious reasons why this match would work, would’ve been fantastic.

Hulk Hogan vs Giant Gonzalez - Yeah, we’ve all seen that picture and the clip that’s surfaced of them facing off. And yeah this almost certainly would’ve been fucking rotten. In 1993 though, I’d have been writing in requesting it.

Bret and Owen Hart vs 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty - Early 94 around the time of that brilliant Harts vs Steiners match. The window of opportunity to do this match was so small. Bret and Owen weren’t teaming long because it was obviously just a set up for Owen’s heel turn. And Kid and Marty was a brief thing and Marty was getting sacked every other month. But in early 94, we were so close to getting this. Pretty sure @air_raid even mentioned in his House Show thread that Bret or Owen even name dropped Kid and Marty as potential opponents in the run up to the Rumble that year. Gutted we never got to see it just once. Likewise, Kid and Marty against the Steiners. Can only imagine the height Rick and Scott would’ve launched those two with the suplexes.

Could go on all day but if we’re allowed WCW, 

Bret Hart vs Eddie Guerrero - Criminal this never happened but it’s WCW all over. Imagine having these two on your roster together for two years, you hold 12 PPVs a year and do 4/5 hours of TV every week and somehow never get around to putting this match on even once? Like Bret says, idiots! Only interaction they ever had was in a big multi man pull apart ringside brawl where they get a couple of shots in on each other. If we’re being honest, WCW would’ve ruined it anyway. Very unlikely they’d have just let them go out and do their thing with a decent amount of time and no screwy finish. But it’s the only place and time the match could’ve happened and they just didn’t bother. We got Bret Hart vs Van Hammer though. 

Bret Hart vs Rey Mysterio Jr - See above. 

Sting vs Randy Savage - Yeah I know these two did wrestle singles but that was Crow Sting vs NWO Macho in 97/98. I’m talking Surfer Sting vs Colourful Macho in 95/96. I know it’s the same guys but it was one I badly wanted to see at the time despite them being buddies and sometimes tag team partners in that period. Think Savage a bit too banged up physically by the time they wrestled in 98 as well. 

Ric Flair vs Dustin Rhodes - Between 93 when Flair returned from the WWF and 95 when Dustin got sacked and went gold and a bit gay. 94 would’ve been ideal because Flair was heel again. Feels like the most natural (no pun intended) pairing ever given Flair’s history with Dusty and they could’ve told a good story around that. No doubt the matches would’ve been great as well. I remember asking on here why this match never happened years ago and someone informed me they did wrestle eventually but it was at Greed 2001, literally WCW on its death bed, and was a tag match with Dusty and Jeff Jarrett added in and it was a ‘Kiss My Ass’ match. Not exactly Flair vs Dustin the way I’d have wanted it. 

That’ll do. 

[air_raid]

32 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Bret Hart vs Jake Roberts - I’m talking heel Jake so anytime between summer of 91 into 92.

If you’re interested to see the two interact at all, it took a proper watch of the 88 Rumble the other day for me to catch babyface Jake and heel Foundation Bret have a minor skirmish in the early going.

[RedTwoster]

CM Punk/Bryan Danielson vs The Young Bucks - when Punk first joined AEW he said he’d love to team up with Bryan Danielson at some point, and right away that left me wishing for this match. It’s nothing to do with Punk’s altercation with the Jacksons either, it’s just something I wish we’d been able to see.

CM Punk vs Bryan Danielson (in AEW) - I think the location and context of a match matters. For example - technically we did get Brock Lesnar vs Batista, but it was Lesnar vs Leviathan and it was in OVW, so we never saw them clash at the height of their fame. Obviously we did get that with Danielson and Punk, multiple times - but I’d have loved to see what a Punk/Danielson match would have looked like in the 2020s, on the back of both men having left and returned to wrestling for varying lengths of time.

Brock Lesnar vs Sheamus - they seem to have faced off at house shows, but it boggles my mind that they bothered to put Lesnar up against Omos and Kane, but never bothered to run a match with Sheamus on PPV.

Mariah May vs Mercedes Mone - if Mariah had stuck around we surely would have got this match, but sadly it wasn’t to be. 

The Undertaker vs Daniel Bryan - it’s a real shame that this never happened, it would have been a lot of fun to see them work together.

Rhea Ripley vs Dominik Mysterio - the time has passed for this one, but what a missed opportunity.

[jm29195]

I would have loved to have seen Bret Hart vs William Regal in WCW. They were both there at times in 98 and 99, with Regal's WWF stay and rehab in-between. Regal was clean and back in decent shape in 99 and I'd love to have seen him wrestle Bret then. With Bret's time in the UK earlier in his career and Regal's all-round awesomeness, I'm sure a match even if just given 15-20 minutes on a Nitro or Thunder, would have ruled.

[DCW]

Heel Rock vs Rey Myserio in 2003. Rock was clearly loving it being a heel again & Rey was still fresh to WWE. Would have been great fun as a mini/TV feud like Rock/Hurricane was. 

[air_raid]

I know we’d be here all fucking day if we did variations on six/eight man tags but… always annoyed me that Wolfpack vs Hollywood didn’t get a proper big team collision. Sadly Savage broke down too early on to be a big factor (i.e he was only on TV for one further month after The Outsiders split) but you still could have had Nash, Luger, Sting & Konnan vs Hogan, Hall, Giant & Scotty in a big eliminator or War Games.

[RedTwoster]

10 hours ago, DCW said:

Heel Rock vs Rey Myserio in 2003. Rock was clearly loving it being a heel again & Rey was still fresh to WWE. Would have been great fun as a mini/TV feud like Rock/Hurricane was. 

That’s a great shout, I’d love to have seen this! 

[tiger_rick]

19 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Mine are gonna be almost exclusively 90s stuff. And nearly all feature Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. 

Shawn Michaels vs Bam Bam Bigelow - It’s a fairly big one for me and it’s one that’s kind of surprising never happened despite them both being in the WWF at the same time between late 92/early 93 and late 95 when Bam Bam left. But I guess the reason for that is probably because they were never really on opposite sides of the babyface vs heel divide during those two years. They were both heels when Bammer came in, then they both turned babyface around the same time in 95 after WrestleMania XI. Shame though because you know they could’ve had a great match.

Shawn Michaels vs Hakushi - Mentioned this a few times on here but it’s a travesty to me that they never got this done in that small window they had in 1995. I look at 95-97 Shawn as his absolute peak in ring as well so it would’ve been the perfect time for it. Even if it was just a quick sprint on Superstars like that Shawn vs Skip match or something, it would’ve been better than nothing. Closest we got was that Bret/Shawn vs Lawler/Hakushi tag but Shawn and Hakushi barely touched in that one. Not good enough.

Bret Hart vs Jake Roberts - I’m talking heel Jake so anytime between summer of 91 into 92. I know Bret’s said this was supposed to happen, think he said it was in the early plans for SummerSlam 92 but obviously Jake was in WCW by then. With how things played out, I wouldn’t have wanted Bret vs Jake over the Bret vs Bulldog match we got at Wembley. But it’s a cool match to think about.

Bret Hart vs Arn Anderson - Only could’ve happened in 88/89 when both were in tag teams but it’s one we could’ve got on TV or whatever, most likely in the build up to the Hart Foundation vs Brain Busters match at SummerSlam 89. Come to think of it, a Bret vs Tully singles match would’ve been ace as well.

Shawn Michaels vs Ultimate Warrior - Hear me out. Obviously this would be 1996 during Warrior Jim’s brief return. Don’t think anyone would be writing in to Sean Mooney requesting Warrior vs Rocker Shawn in 1990 or whenever. I’m well aware there’d be a high possibility of it being a complete mess but I’ve always been curious what a wrestling, bumping machine like 96 HBK might’ve been able to get out of Warrior. I guess it would all depend on Shawn’s attitude going in and whether he was winning (probably not) which would determine whether he’d try to make something of it or sabotage it. I definitely think he’s one of the few who could’ve pulled it off like Savage and Rude did though. Also Shawn vs Ahmed Johnson in 96 for similar reasons.

Hart Foundation vs Rick Rude and Mr Perfect - Probably do this around 89. Rude and Perfect were great together at Survivor Series and had natural chemistry being mates. Obvious reasons why this match would work, would’ve been fantastic.

Hulk Hogan vs Giant Gonzalez - Yeah, we’ve all seen that picture and the clip that’s surfaced of them facing off. And yeah this almost certainly would’ve been fucking rotten. In 1993 though, I’d have been writing in requesting it.

Bret and Owen Hart vs 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty - Early 94 around the time of that brilliant Harts vs Steiners match. The window of opportunity to do this match was so small. Bret and Owen weren’t teaming long because it was obviously just a set up for Owen’s heel turn. And Kid and Marty was a brief thing and Marty was getting sacked every other month. But in early 94, we were so close to getting this. Pretty sure @air_raid even mentioned in his House Show thread that Bret or Owen even name dropped Kid and Marty as potential opponents in the run up to the Rumble that year. Gutted we never got to see it just once. Likewise, Kid and Marty against the Steiners. Can only imagine the height Rick and Scott would’ve launched those two with the suplexes.

Could go on all day but if we’re allowed WCW, 

Bret Hart vs Eddie Guerrero - Criminal this never happened but it’s WCW all over. Imagine having these two on your roster together for two years, you hold 12 PPVs a year and do 4/5 hours of TV every week and somehow never get around to putting this match on even once? Like Bret says, idiots! Only interaction they ever had was in a big multi man pull apart ringside brawl where they get a couple of shots in on each other. If we’re being honest, WCW would’ve ruined it anyway. Very unlikely they’d have just let them go out and do their thing with a decent amount of time and no screwy finish. But it’s the only place and time the match could’ve happened and they just didn’t bother. We got Bret Hart vs Van Hammer though. 

Bret Hart vs Rey Mysterio Jr - See above. 

Sting vs Randy Savage - Yeah I know these two did wrestle singles but that was Crow Sting vs NWO Macho in 97/98. I’m talking Surfer Sting vs Colourful Macho in 95/96. I know it’s the same guys but it was one I badly wanted to see at the time despite them being buddies and sometimes tag team partners in that period. Think Savage a bit too banged up physically by the time they wrestled in 98 as well. 

Ric Flair vs Dustin Rhodes - Between 93 when Flair returned from the WWF and 95 when Dustin got sacked and went gold and a bit gay. 94 would’ve been ideal because Flair was heel again. Feels like the most natural (no pun intended) pairing ever given Flair’s history with Dusty and they could’ve told a good story around that. No doubt the matches would’ve been great as well. I remember asking on here why this match never happened years ago and someone informed me they did wrestle eventually but it was at Greed 2001, literally WCW on its death bed, and was a tag match with Dusty and Jeff Jarrett added in and it was a ‘Kiss My Ass’ match. Not exactly Flair vs Dustin the way I’d have wanted it. 

That’ll do. 

Brilliant stuff. Similar to Bret vs. Jake, Bret vs. Rick Rude as an IC Title feud in 1991 would be a lowkey dream match for me.