Line #61 WhatCouldHaveBeen/ProfessionalWrestling


1	A lot of these are just fan guesses because Wrestling storylines are constantly changing and original storylines rarely are acknowledged by the creative staff, but what the hell...
2	----
3	!!Subpages:
4	[[index]]
5	* WhatCouldHaveBeen/AllEliteWrestling
6	* WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheUndertaker
7	* WhatCouldHaveBeen/UniversalWrestlingFederation[[note]]The Japanese promotion, not the American promotion that was formerly called Mid-South Wrestling. Or [[Wrestling/HerbAbramsUWF the later company owned by Herb Abrams]][[/note]]
8	* WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{WCW}}
9	* WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{WWE}}
10	[[/index]]
11	----
12
13	!!!Wrestling/{{ECW}}
14	* After watching a tape of Wrestling/UltimoDragon, Wrestling/PaulHeyman wanted to bring him into Wrestling/{{ECW}}. While he was unable to get Ultimo Dragon, he did look into bringing over Dragon's opponent from the tape, [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Lion Heart]]. Of course, Lion Heart would adopt the name Chris Jericho, and his performance in ECW eventually caught the eye of WCW, who was happy to sign him when he left ECW, and when he became even more credible as a WCW star, WWF took notice as well, and when he went to WWF, he became one of its biggest stars.
15	* Wrestling/KurtAngle, fresh from his gold medal win at the 1996 Summer Olympics, signed with ECW in 1996 to work a program with [[Wrestling/{{Tazz}} Taz]], but he quit the company after the infamous angle in which Wrestling/{{Raven}} and his Nest ''[[CrucifiedHeroShot literally crucified]]'' [[Wrestling/JimFullington The Sandman]].
16	* After Wrestling/ShaneDouglas turned face in [=ECW=] in early 1999, Paul Heyman booked an angle to have Douglas form a face version of the Triple Threat. Wrestling/TommyDreamer's acceptance of Douglas's offer of alliance was the first part of the formation. The second part would've been Wrestling/JerryLynn allying with Dreamer and Douglas. But Shane ended up having a contract dispute with Paul Heyman, and ended up leaving ECW, thus stopping the angle cold.
17	* A new interview revealed that ECW would have taken the WWE's place on USA after the latter left for TNN/Spike TV in the year 2000 with on Vince's blessing and Universal Music as a minority owner. However, after losing WWE, the #1 brand in wrestling to Spike, USA head Barry Diller felt that ECW would be a step down and nixed the deal.
18	* Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon also planned on having WWF buying ECW in the summer of 2000 and keep it alive as a separate business. However, Vince declined. Considering that ECW was way beyond the point of financial insolvency by then (and was only able to keep the lights on at all because Heyman '''wasn't paying his wrestlers''') and had one of the worst rosters in recent memory[[note]]In terms of star power and ability to draw money, not necessarily talent[[/note]], and Vince ended up buying it from the bankruptcy at a fraction of what he would have paid anyway, this ended up being a wise move.
19	** Shane also wanted Vince to buy UsefulNotes/{{UFC}}, which became HilariousInHindsight when UFC bought WWE in 2023.
20	* Had ECW gotten the pay-per-view royalties they were owed, Heyman would have considered a deal for an afternoon show with Fox Sports Net (similar to TNA's later deal for iMPACT!) with the possibility of either later going to FX, FOX, or back into syndication.
21
22	!!!Wrestling/ImpactWrestling
23	* What if Wrestling/JeffJarrett never holds up Wrestling/VinceMcMahon for more money to put over Wrestling/{{Chyna}} (Jarrett's contract expired the day before, but he was Intercontinental Champion)[[note]]You'd think Vince would have learned after [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob what happened last time this sort of thing happened]], [[https://youtu.be/GrLwrBLV-lo?t=10 or the time before that]], but no[[/note]] and doesn't [[Main/PersonaNonGrata get blackballed for two decades]]? There's a good chance he goes back to the WWF after WCW folds, and if he's already employed, then he and his father have no reason to start TNA. Had Jarrett's contract expired a day later (or Vince taken the Intercontinental belt off him a day earlier, or just asked him to put over pretty much ''anyone'' else), the #2 wrestling promotion for most of the last 20 years would likely never have existed.
24	* Creator/SpikeTV briefly considered giving Wrestling/{{TNA}} a timeslot for an all-knockouts show. This was at a time when the Wrestling/GailKim vs. [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Awesome Kong]] feud was drawing the highest quarter-hour ratings on Impact, so who knows what might have happened with a weekly program dedicated completely to the knockouts?
25	* With each passing interview, Paul Heyman makes TNA fans (and even WWE fans who want the company to have competition, feeling like its current monopoly has caused them to become complacent) more and more wistful every time an interviewer asks him what it would be like if he did sign and book for TNA back in 2010. His goal: take the company public in two years by cutting [[Wrestling/HulkHogan everyone]] [[Wrestling/RicFlair over]] 40 save one for name value, book around the newer talent, plus outright STEAL [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] after his firing and make him an unstoppable submission machine with an eventual ''showdown with Wrestling/KurtAngle''. Every time a plan is mentioned, thousands of wrestling fans weep.[[note]]Some, including Wrestling/JimCornette, believe that Heyman knew that even he couldn't fix TNA, so he asked for the one thing he knew Dixie Carter wouldn't give him: a stake in the company. This way Heyman could say they turned ''him'' down, rather than the other way around.[[/note]]
26	* Wrestling/JimRoss was also rumored to run to TNA when his contract expired in April 2010.
27	* Injuries kept Hogan from entering TNA in 2004, which would have had him feuding with Wrestling/JeffJarrett for the NWA Championship at the inaugural Victory Road.
28	* Shortly before his death, Wrestling/CurtHennig was considered as a possible contender for Jeff Jarrett's NWA World title.
29	* [[Wrestling/RandySavage "Macho Man" Randy Savage]]'s surprise appearance at TNA's first Sunday pay-per-view was going to lead to a feud with Wrestling/JeffJarrett. However, Wrestling/HulkHogan (not knowing that Savage was scheduled to appear) decided to visit backstage since he lives nearby. As soon as Savage saw Hogan, he immediately cancelled all future appearances, save for a tag-team match at the next PPV, and TNA had to scramble to even salvage that.
30	* Around the time Jeff Jarrett left TNA in 2013, he and Music/TobyKeith attempted to buy back the company from the Carters. Keith almost got the deal through, but Bob Carter then demanded that they keep Dixie on as president, allow her to keep some power in the company, and allow her to remain an on-screen character. Keith backed away after hearing that and the deal fell through.
31	* A short time later Billy Corgan of Music/TheSmashingPumpkins joined TNA's creative team and would later be named president of the company. Corgan tried buying a stake in the company but TNA believed this payment (of ''$2.7 million'') to be a loan rather than a sale. Corgan sued, but in the end current owners Anthem Sports & Entertainment were ruled to be their largest creditor and got control of the company, Anthem and Corgan later reached a settlement. He'd later purchase all the [=IPs=] of the Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance and runs it as a studio wrestling promotion, with a show on Website/YouTube.
32	* John Rich of Music/BigAndRich fame had also expressed interest in buying TNA at one point, though for whatever reason the talks never really went anywhere. UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} diver/announcer Hermie Sadler (who promoted small shows in North Carolina and had appeared on TNA programming in the past) was also rumored to be putting together a group to buy the company, but again, this went nowhere.
33	* In an interview from January 2009, Drake Younger mentions optimistically that Wrestling/JonMoxley had a tryout with TNA. Moxley instead signed to WWE, and a couple years later showed up on TV as Dean Ambrose, the mouthpiece of Wrestling/TheShield, along the way scoring the US Championship. After the Shield broke up, he became one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster (arguably the most popular after Daniel Bryan), winning the Intercontinental Championship, working numerous main event-level programs and then winning the Money in the Bank ladder match and cashing in the briefcase the same night to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. One wonders what would've become of him had he been hired by TNA instead. Strangely enough, by 2014, both Younger and Moxley were signed to WWE.
34	** Similar to Moxley, [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]] was offered a deal from TNA but [[Wrestling/EvanBourne Matt Sydal]] convinced him to sign with WWE instead. Black would also end up as a member of said stable, became a Tag Team Champion, and, after breaking up said stable by repeating his SellOut history, would win the 2014 Money in the Bank Ladder Match, cash it in ''during'' the main event of ''[=WrestleMania=]'' 31 and become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It was probably the best move of his career, especially considering how TNA is now a sinking ship. For added irony, he and the aforementioned Moxley would become each other's primary ArchEnemy for their WWE careers, both in developmental and on the main roster. In fact, Black was the one Moxley cashed in on to win ''his'' first world title (''after'' Black had won it from said stable's third member Wrestling/RomanReigns).
35	* In 2016, TNA was in talks with Jeff Jarrett that would have resulted in the debut of MASADA and the return of Teddy Hart. But MASADA getting drunk and Hart letting one of his cats out led to arrests that killed the deal.
36
37	!!!Wrestling/RingOfHonor
38	* Ring of Honor may have never existed, as RF Video's original plan was to simply sell tapes of Wrestling/{{CZW}}, rather than go through the trouble of creating their own promotion. However, the CZW deal was so hard to close that All Pro Wrestling had already done ''two'' "King Of Indies" events, and after seeing one of them, Feinstein decided he wanted something like that instead.
39	* ROH would have likely remained an invitational super indie the way its offshoot Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} did, if not for two incidents: Wrestling/RicFlair no-showing an event, leading to the adoption of formal contracts, and more importantly, the Rob Feinstein scandal that led to them cutting ties with RF Video and having to drastically change their business model to 1) make up for the lack of a media distributor and 2) regain the goodwill of all the other wrestling companies they would have been inviting talent from.
40	* During his time in ROH, Wrestling/JimCornette saw a talent at a mediocre Indy show that he compared to a young Wrestling/BarryWindham and invited him to a tryout camp with the company. The young man did a tryout match, but due to multiple factors, including his opponent not being in the best condition and bringing the match quality down, the change in bookers from Adam Pearce to [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]], and the Sinclair sale going through, he was unable to sign him. Ultimately, he ended up in the WWE, was put in a tag team, and Scott Dawson of Wrestling/TheRevival was born.
41	* Believe it or not, [[Wrestling/KarrionKross Killer Kross]] (with Wrestling/ScarlettBordeaux) were considered to compete for ROH in ''Supercard of Honor 2022'', until Tony Khan bought the promotion.
42
43	!!!Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}}
44	* The angle involving Wrestling/DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes had to be rebooked when BDK leader Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli was signed by WWE as Antonio Cesaro. To a lesser extent, there was the abrupt removal of Lince Dorado and Wrestling/DaizeeHaze from the BDK (Lince was fired, Daizee had an undisclosed health issue[[note]]later revealed by her to be anorexia[[/note]] that caused her to quit), and whatever it was that caused Pinkie Sanchez to go from upper-midcarder to rarely-utilized jobber.
45	* During the angle where the promotion was closed for a calendar year, a few of the wrestlers ended up leaving the promotion. The most notable of these was Tim Donst. Donst was last seen in one of the "Ashes Of" videos, where he was working at a Furnishing/Remodeling store and heavily implied to be either drugged, brainwashed, or both. Based on things he had said before the shutdown, fans were guessing that he'd somehow figured out, or at least gotten a lot of information on, the situation with Titor Conglomerate. Almost everything in Chikara builds up to something and Donst was a main eventer, so it's likely that Chikara had plans for Donst that will never come to fruition.
46
47	!!!Wrestling/{{AWA}}
48	* In general, what would've happened if Vince Jr. had honored his father's wishes to respect the territory system and not raided the American Wrestling Association of its top talent?
49	* Jesse Ventura was one of the top stars, and was being positioned for a world title run. But after Hulk Hogan was fired by Vince Sr., he signed with the AWA and almost immediately took Ventura's spot. How would a company fare when resting on Ventura's shoulders?
50	** Related, but in spite of Hogan instantly getting over with the AWA audience, Verne Gagne kept booking him in one [[DiabolusExMachina Dusty Finish]] title match after another. Hogan got frustrated and went back to the WWF after Vince Jr. bought the company from his father. Would Vince have been able to go national if Gagne had been willing to pull the trigger on Hogan and give him the belt? (See the WWE page for more.)
51
52	!!!Other
53	* Website/{{WrestleCrap}}'s "Rewriting the Book" is an entire section of FanFiction devoted to WhatCouldHaveBeen. With the notable difference from RealLife that, in those stories, the booking is actually quite good, though stretching of credulity considering the egos and competence of many of the people involved. Among the most notable and likely examples are "What If Wrestling/BarryWindham didn't join Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen?" (a continued face run for Windham, the Horsemen inducting a returning Wrestling/EddieGilbert until the group falls apart later that year, and Gilbert forming his own heel stable based on the old UWF, including Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams, Wrestling/RonSimmons, and Rick Steiner), and "What If Randy Savage Had Won His Retirement Match?" (Savage's heel run continues, he recaptures the world title, only to find himself facing Wrestling/RicFlair with the roles reversed, with Flair as the good guy).
54	* Wrestling/DwayneJohnson, better known as "The Rock", considered running for President as a Republican in the 2008 election.
55	* What if Wrestling/MagnumTA (who was arguably the biggest babyface in Jim Crockett Promotions at the time of his career-ending car accident) not had his career cut so short? Magnum was apparently booked to win the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] World Title from Ric Flair at the 1986 Starrcade (NWA/WCW's ''[=WrestleMania=]''). Would Sting still have gotten to where he got in the same time span with a healthy Magnum still around? Also, would Jim Crockett still had been forced to sell out to Ted Turner in the same time span despite Magnum still being a top draw?
56	* At the time of his accident, Magnum was feuding with Wrestling/NikitaKoloff. Like Magnum, Koloff's career is an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen. In 1988, he took a year off from the ring to care for his dying wife. In 1992, a neck injury would result in Nikita's premature retirement.
57	* Wrestling/HulkHogan was trained by wrestler Hiro Matsuda, and was apparently possessed of actual skill in the ring if his matches in Japan are any indication, especially one 1993 match which saw Hogan pull an Enzugiri on the Great Muta of all people. Hogan states in his first autobiography ''Hollywood Hulk Hogan'' that in the US under Vince Sr. he was told to wrestle like a generic power wrestler, and this followed him throughout his in-ring career for the rest of his days in the US, to the point that when he got to WCW, it was so ingrained into wrestling fans to assume Hogan got by only on "mediocre" wrestling skills and an assload of charisma that he never bothered to show off what he could really do this side of the Pacific. One has to wonder how things would have been different if Hogan had been able to use his in-ring skills AND the charisma he was so well known for in the US. Interestingly, shortly before his return to the WWF under Vince Jr. he came within a hair's breadth of becoming NWA world champion by going to a draw with Wrestling/HarleyRace for the belt just a month, give or take, before the first Starrcade. More questions to haunt the fans on what could have been.
58	* The Wrestling/BigVanVader gimmick had originally been intended for Jim Hellwig, better known as Wrestling/UltimateWarrior. He turned it down (presumably because he didn't like working in Japan), and the man we know as Vader today, Leon White, got the job. Wrestling/JimCornette [[https://youtu.be/8xEqVX8EG7s?t=347 explains]] why this worked out best for everyone.
59	->'''Cornette:''' "Warrior probably would have bombed out of Wrestling/{{New Japan\|ProWrestling}} and him and [[Wrestling/AntonioInoki Inoki]] probably would have had a knife fight, within months. So instead he goes to work for Wrestling/{{Vince\|McMahon}}, whose promotion is tailor-made for pushing a guy with... that level of talent, let's say. So he prospered, Vince prospered, Inoki prospered, Leon prospered... If the Warrior would have taken that one spot '''none of those people''' would have made any money."
60	* Speaking of Cornette, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQOlPG0gwf4 this clip]] from his podcast he talks about how he thinks things would have worked out had Wrestling/SmokyMountainWrestling been able to hold on a little longer and still be around for the boom period started by the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder and Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin (the promotion folded in December 1995). Shortly after he started SMW he tried to bring in Wrestling/RicFlair, who had just left WCW, to do one match a month for $10,000 in cash a pop. This was actually Music/RickRubin's idea, as he was a silent partner in SMW and a ''huge'' Flair fan. Flair seriously considered it, but elected to sign with the WWF, who wouldn't let him work for anyone else on his off days. Flair came back with a counter-offer to Cornette: join him in the WWF as his manager, "The Kentucky Colonel". Cornette declined, not wanting to work for anyone but himself at that moment and really not wanting to work for the WWF (of course he went there went SMW closed anyway, for lack of any other option), as Wrestling/VinceMcMahon was notorious for giving his managers low payoffs and nothing to really do but stand there at ringside.
61	* The Xcitement Wrestling Federation was a company founded to be the PG alternative to the WWF near the end of the Invasion. The fed would have predated TNA as the new challenger to the WWE's monopoly with a mix of WWF, WCW & ECW stars including Wrestling/HulkHogan and had Wrestling/{{Sable}} as the heel CEO, Wrestling/RoddyPiper as the babyface commissioner, Wrestling/GeneOkerlund as the interviewer and commentary by Wrestling/TonySchiavone and Wrestling/JerryLawler. Networks were excited about the mix of the roster... that is until many of their talents were poached by WWE, notably Lawler's return to commentary after divorcing the wife whose firing caused him to leave the first time in February 2001 and Hogan who returned for the first time since August 1993 as part of the short-lived revival of the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]].
62	* In World Class Championship Wrestling, there were plans to have Gino Hernandez do a HeelFaceTurn and be managed by Sunshine. Hernandez and Sunshine would then feud with Hollywood John Tatum and his manager, Missy Hyatt. Unfortunately, Hernandez's fatal cocaine overdose in 1986 prevented that scenario from ever happening.
63	* Broken!Wrestling/MattHardy and [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Brother Nero]]'s "expedition for gold", which would have seen them WalkingTheEarth in search of TagTeam Title belts, was {{cut short}} at Wrestling/RingOfHonor when the Fight Network owners Anthem threatened any network running any ROH pay per views with Broken Matt (though only Dish caved). The whole thing was supposed to attract more attention to and regain good will for Impact Wrestling but Matt Hardy wasn't willing to let Anthem trademark his work.[[note]]Anthem president/COO Ed Nordholm now regards this whole mess as an Main/OldShame (partly because Wrestling/JimCornette verbally eviscerated him about it to his face), later admitting that he didn't really know how wrestling works and that Broken Matt using that gimmick (that he created, mind you) in the same promotion isn't the same thing as an actor trying to take ownership of a role he previously played.[[/note]]
64	* WWE wanted to buy Wrestling/WorldWonderRingStardom and incorporate it into NXT Japan, but the owners decided to sell to Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling parent company Creator/{{Bushiroad}} instead.
65	* Had the UFC found mainstream success a decade earlier, one has to wonder how many of wrestling's legendary tough guys like the Steiner Brothers, the Barbarian, or [[OneManArmy Haku]] would've been tempted to try out MMA while they were still in their physical prime. Haku in particular was even ''invited'' to join the UFC, however, he declined because he didn't think his cardiovascular conditioning was good enough.
66

Context WhatCouldHaveBeen / ProfessionalWrestling