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No Saddam Way

Scott--
As a followup to my recent Wrestlemania VII question, suppose Gulf War I never took place (or, if you REALLY want to chart a course for Fantasyland, Vince executed a modicum of discretion), thereby nullifying the Slaughter-as-Iraqi-turncoat angle.  In that case, who keeps the belt warm for Hogan in the run up to 'Mania?  Do you keep it on Warrior and take your chances with a foregone rematch?  Pass it off to Savage for a couple months and somehow convince him to lay down for Hogan yet again?  (Thereby robbing WM7 of its show-stealer and Warrior of what is arguably the best match of his career).  Pull the trigger on a reliable mid-card heel like Mr. Perfect or throw money at Rick Rude until he comes back?

Yeah, it’s a toughie.  Deep down I think they could have done something with Savage as a transitional champion if they really needed to, like basically putting Savage into the Slaughter spot at Rumble without the traitor angle.  He had pretty good heat for the whole deal and really Slaughter felt pretty shoe-horned into the Warrior feud anyway. 

Comments

  1. I think despite the flop of a run Warrior had as champion, if he kept the strap all the way up to WM7, maybe beating Savage along the way at the Rumble, and built up to a rematch with Hogan, that would've been the biggest draw.

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  5. I'd have done Warrior/Hogan, title vs career. Hogan agrees to put his career on the line if he can't beat the man who definitively beat him. Like the marks don't buy in, thinking this could be the end of Hulk.

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  6. Why not let the Undertaker win the title at the Rumble and then we could have Hogan vs Undertaker and also Warrior vs Savage.

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  7. The biggest problem looking back is Slaughter was absolutely a big enough star to deserve the title and a to draw on top of Wrestlemania with Hogan ... older fans at the time I'm sure saw this as something of a dream match. The whole Iraqi sympathizer stuff, while predictable from Vince, got in the way of what should have been a better feud. Drill instructor Slaughter fighting Hogan over who really represents America or something like that would have been way better. But yeah, Hogan vs. Slaughter was IMO a big enough draw, just the Iraq stuff diluted a lot of the real drawing power for cheap heat.

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  8. If they didn't want to do Hogan/Warrior again, you plug Earthquake into the Slaughter role. Hogan gets his clean win over Quake at WM7 and wins the title, and you still run Warrior/Savage, maybe as co-main events. I know that leaves the Rumble match itself without a top heel for Hogan to eliminate, but the Rumble wasn't used as anything more than an exhibition at the time.

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  9. Vintage Al Loboma.

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  10. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 6:57 AM

    Hogan vs Slaughter was big....but in 1991?

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  11. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 6:58 AM

    Undertaker debuted at Survivor Series

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  12. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 6:59 AM

    Al, would you say you are more of an ass or boob guy?

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  13. I think the best alternate was to just do Hogan/Warrior II, although I can't think of who that would leave for Savage. I think their mind was in the right place doing Hogan/Slaughter with the Iraqi sympathizer angle, though. It's easy to harp on about how much of a flop the angle was when we have the benefit of hindsight, but I can see where it would definitely sound like an intriguing idea at the time.


    The other alternative is to keep the title on Warrior and have his match with Savage be Title vs Career and keep Hogan vs Slaughter as a grudge match, but there's no reason to think that changes anything about the show's attendance numbers of PPV buys.

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  14. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    I think they could have done that

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  15. I remember being 8 years old and not even knowing who Slaughter was or why he was a big star.

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  16. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:05 AM

    If they had not done Hogan vs Quake right away at Summerslam 90. Do Hulkamaniacs vs Natural Disasters as their first contact. Double countout or something. Earthquake wins the belt from Warrior at Royal Rumble with Macho's help. Hogan wins Rumble.

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  17. Aye, the rosters weak at the top at this point. A year later you've got Sid and Flair, but the lack of top level contenders for Warrior as champion in 1990 shows the overall lack of depth.

    It is amazing that they thought they could do the stadium, and in the end they still couldn't even sell out the smaller venue.

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  18. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:06 AM

    Same. I was 8 as well. I remembered Sarge but not as a star on Hogan's level

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  19. I actually watched the 91 Rumble for the hell of it a few days ago, ironically enough. You aren't kidding about the lack of depth at the top of the roster...the Rumble was Hogan, Quake and really no one else. Undertaker wasn't ready yet. The 92 Rumble was night and day in terms of guys you could buy as main eventers.

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  20. Is Los Angeles really a big wrestling town? I know San Fran used to be but from what I recall, wrestling crowds in California are kinda tepid. Nearly 70,000 in Toronto the year before makes sense because Canadians love wrestling but Californians? I dunno...

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  21. "Why Tugboat, Why?" The hot angle that would have saved Wrestlemania 7, confirmed.

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  22. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:11 AM

    I guess that is the problem with making Warrior the "new Hogan" without Hogan actually going anywhere. They were short on heels for one top guy, let alone two. They built up a brand new big fat threat in Earthquake, but he was there for Hulk not the champ.

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  23. *Maybe* a rehab job on Dusty? He was probably too far gone at that point to be credible.

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  24. I'd agree since he was over with the crowd, but from what I understand they already knew he was out the door, and the Rumble was his last significant match.

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  25. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:12 AM

    Quake & Tugjob forming the Natural Disasters for a tag run vs Hogan & Warrior, instead of the Slaughter trio at Summerslam

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  26. Still loved Rumble 91 even if there was a lack of depth. Guilty pleasure show.

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  28. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:18 AM

    Running Warrior vs Earthquake at Summerslam 90 (while Hulk 'recovers'). Let Warrior actually be the Guy and see how a Hogan-less ppv does. Hulk can get his win over Quake in the Survivor Series match.

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  29. As most mentioned. Earthquake playing the Slaughter role at Royal Rumble I think could have worked just fine. And really I can't imagine an Earthquake/Hogan Wrestlemania headliner when they had feuded for most of the year being much worse than Slaughter/Hogan. In fact it makes sense from a booking standpoint for a big blowoff.

    And as others mentioned, have Tugboat turn after, and they could run Natural Disasters tag matches on top with Hogan/Other Face Here.

    Outside the box suggestion...never ever would have happened back then, but I always wondered if WWE did triple threats back then how much a Hogan/Warrior/Savage match would have drawn. Might have been a WM7 money maker. The three biggest stars of the 80s and early 90s. Of course Savage was going to eat the pin, but still.

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  30. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:19 AM

    Ella, you wanna make fourteen dollars the hard way?

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  31. Nice work Sweathog

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  32. Was he fired after the show? I seem to remember he was shocked by it, I don't think he knew it was coming

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  33. I thought he already had plans to go back to WCW after finishing up his run, but there are probably some people on the BoD who have more definitive info on that.

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  34. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:25 AM

    If they wanted to take a risk, continue the Warrior vs Perfect feud from Survivor Series, with Perfect winning the belt at the Rumble. Perfect vs Hogan, Warrior vs Savage at Mania

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  35. You must've been something before electricity.

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  36. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    Warrior vs Hogan, WWF Title
    Savage vs Piper, Retirement match
    LOD vs Demolition
    Harts vs Power & Glory, Tag Titles
    Perfect vs Boss Man, IC title
    Hakuv& Barbarian vs Rockers
    Bulldog vs Warlord
    Martel vs Roberts
    Virgil vs Dibiase
    5-on-5 Filler:
    - Tugboat, Duggan, Santana, & Bushwhackers vs
    - Jimmy Hart's guys (Earthquake, Bravo, Mountie, & Nasty Boys)

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  37. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    The dance of the living dead

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  38. Clearly not the answer but since no one mentioned him, I'll bring up Michael PS Hayes. JR always credited the Freebirds with being the first to enter to Rock music.

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  39. Sarge was a star local to where WWF had been, but he wasn't around for the national expansion that happened with Hulkamania. If people knew him from anything, it was GI Joe.

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  40. They drew huge crowds back in the 50's when that dastardly John Tolos blinded Freddie Blassie with Moncels Powder. Not so sure about afterwards.

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  41. Yes! But Kerry''s IC title would go to..?

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  42. To correct myself. That angle was actually in 1971.

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  43. DiBiase? Maybe he wins it instead of helping Perfect beat him.

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  44. I think you either have to run Warrior/Hogan 2 or Hogan/Savage with the retirement stip and the belt on the line. Only difference would be that there's no way Hogan lets the Sherri and Liz angle happen without getting involved somehow.

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  45. Warrior/Savage title vs. career
    Hogan vs. Quake blowoff


    That would probably be my choice

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  46. I think Piper was unable to wrestle here, right?

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  47. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:01 AM

    Possibly. I can't remember if he was still on the crutches at that point

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  48. Yah he was on them in Virgil's corner... hip replacement. Savage/Piper is a great dream feud that never lined up sadly.

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  49. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:03 AM

    I would go Dibiase. Slow-burn the Virgil thing a little longer. Run Dibiase vs. Boss Man for the IC title. Virgil finally snaps and costs Dibiase the belt. Sets up Dibiase vs. Virgil for SummerSlam instead, with Piper still training him. Boss Man gets an IC title reign that perhaps ends at Mountie??

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  50. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:06 AM

    Totally could have happened at Wrestlemania VI. Nobody needed Piper vs. Bad News. Macho vs. Dusty could have happened afterward, at SummerSlam '90.


    Wrestlemania VI:
    - Piper vs. Savage
    - Rhodes vs. Rude


    SummerSlam:
    - Rhodes vs. Savage

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  51. But where does this leave Bret? With tears in his eyes?

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  52. I am on board there for sure. Although I think they wanted Rude to get a squash win to set him up for the summer, so you could just do Rhodes/Bad News or whatever.

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  53. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:08 AM

    His solo run could have "built momentum" with the IC title happening at Wrestlemania 8.


    WM7: Boss Man def. Dibiase for IC title
    SummerSlam: Boss Man def. Mountie to retain IC Title
    This Tuesday In Texas: Mountie def. Boss Man to win IC Title
    Royal Rumble '92: Piper def. Mountie to win IC Title
    WM8: Bret def. Piper to win his first IC Title

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  54. I think hogan warrior rematch would've been a better bet even with the same historic events. It was so awesome the year before why not try again?

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  55. Or just have Perfect win from Boss Man on SNME. Boss Man's reign could have been a quick, token one. Then Bret still wins at SS91.

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  56. Hogan/Warrior II. What could possiblie go wrong?!

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  57. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:11 AM

    Rhodes vs. Dibiase maybe? But then Roberts needs an opponent and we already saw Jake vs. Bad News.


    My favorite scenario for a Rude vs. Rhodes feud though: do a wild NWA-style brawl where Dusty gets in plenty of offense. Rude holds his own and looks like a main event level heel. At some point, Rude bumps Sapphire (off the apron? Rude Awakening and a stretcher job??) and Dusty is distraught. Rude sneaks a Rude Awakening on Dusty for the pin (with his feet on the ropes, for fun). Get him a bunch of heel heat for the Warrior title feud

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  58. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:12 AM

    Yeah, that makes doing Hogan vs. Warrior problematic, in regards to the Macho Man retirement extracurriculars. There isn't really anyone else who would fit that role. Piper was my go-to, but as you mentioned, he was still rehabbing from surgery

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  59. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONJuly 1, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    If Warrior hadn't been tanking as champion and there was no Gulf War, then I think they would have stuck with Warrior/Savage with it being title vs. career, and found something for Hogan like a better Earthquake blowoff, or maybe even Undertaker. Keep the conceit of Warrior tanking a champ, and a Hogan/Warrior rematch is the only logical option and was clearly set up as a backup option.
    Funny thing is, as Scott has mentioned before, Warrior losing the belt to Savage and getting humanized in the process like he did at that time would have helped his 2nd reign upon beating Savage as he did immensely.

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  60. Yah that would have worked and really spiced up that undercard. Maybe Savage loans Sherri to Rude for the match and she is the one that attacks Sapphire to help trigger the Rhodes/Savage summer feud.


    I think Roberts/DiBiase has to stay... hot, well built feud.

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  61. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    What do you do with Macho Man though?

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  62. That's where I knew him from ... I was 10 in 1991 and pretty pumped that he was wrestling (I didn't know anything about what he did before). Old school heel Slaughter would have been 1000x more interesting than Iraqi sympathizer Slaughter. But shit, Vince can't help himself.

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  63. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:14 AM

    Yeah, absolutely. Warrior vs. Savage, Title vs. Career. Plus Hogan vs. Slaughter as a co-main event "grudge match" works just fine.

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  64. The Earthquake idea would have been a lot of fun.

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  65. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONJuly 1, 2015 at 8:15 AM

    Well, Hogan/Slaughter wouldn't have happened without the war as a setup. Vince wouldn't even have had the idea to turn Slaughter without it. If by some miracle insight he did, that 2 match setup would have carried the show, absolutely.

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  68. Btw ... THANK YOU for switching the tag title match to Harts vs. Power and Glory ... one of my all time favorite wasted teams in all of WWF history. Powerplex FTW!

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  69. good point, i have no idea. But even as a 12 year old quasi mark back then, slaughter as some evil foreign heel was just so contrived. First of all, he looked like he should be teaching middle school shop class at that point, not beating larger-than-life figures like the warrior or hogan. It still always slays me how he had the nerve to kick out of the leg drop even though there was a 3 count. I mean seriously, you're a 40+ fat bald guy, lay down for the second biggest draw of all time and be happy about it.

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  70. Some weird tag shit at Mania 7. Demolition jobbing to Tenryu and LOD winning in 30 seconds? Don't see the point in either of those

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  71. I know ... have LOD squash the Demos if you really want to end that. Power and Glory was weird because they got hot after beating the Rockers down badly at Summerslam and were on that awesome Visionaries team at Survivor Series.


    But they spent money to get the Nastys from WCW so I guess they had to justify it somehow.

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  72. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:24 AM

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    More like EVERY NIGHT....whoooooooooooo!

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  73. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:25 AM

    Hogan vs. Earthquake payoff works just as well, I think. If they keep having Quake kill people from SummerSlam on

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  74. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:25 AM

    Yeah, I agree. Even at 8 yrs old, I didn't find it all that interesting

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    ReplyDelete
  76. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:26 AM

    They could have had it both ways.

    Wrestlemania VII:
    - Slaughter vs. Hogan, WWF Title
    - Warrior vs. Savage, Retirement Match


    House Shows:
    - Hogan vs. Slaughter re-matches
    - Warrior vs. Taker


    TV:
    - Hogan & Warrior vs. the Slaughter trio (Hogan & Warrior are played off each other)


    TV:
    - Warrior demands a title shot, now that the Axis of Evil is vanquished. Hogan never beat HIM for the belt. Give Warrior a slightly heelish edge to change the dynamic for SummerSlam


    SummerSlam '91 (MSG):
    - Hogan vs. Warrior, WWF Title (Sid attacks both afterward)
    - Slaughter vs. Mustafa, 'Boot Camp' Match (Give Sarge one more babyface moment at MSG)

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  77. I watched this as a kid. I think this was when I stopped watching wrestling until college. Anyway, I really, really hated Sarge being a traitor and was beyond furious he beat Warrior. I also hated Hogan and was actually hoping Sarge would beat him. Then I lost interest....

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  78. Isn't that Blake Lively?

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  79. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:28 AM

    Yeah, they would have been good transitional champs for LOD

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  81. Macklin, Man With The KnightJuly 1, 2015 at 8:29 AM

    Hump day amirite

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  82. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:30 AM

    Yeah, nobody cared about the Fuji team. Just have LOD end Demolition at WM prior to pursuing the tag belts

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  83. You definitely attract the not real people female demographic. #Jealous

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  84. Yikes, there's no other faces for him to feud with that wouldn't be a step down for him. I suppose you could turn him face and run him against Jimmy Hart's crew, but that is somewhat illogical and then you have 3 massive faces and not enough top heels for them.

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  85. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:30 AM

    Yeah, Dibiase vs Jake is a great feud

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  86. ^^^Better than an Abeyance post

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  87. Macho turned out to be very pro America later on, so have HIM turn face for his country and debit his kick-ass USA wardrobe that appeared at for an example Summerslam 93.

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  88. The Survivor Series before Wrestlemania 7, though, so that would still be a possibility. Or are you saying debuting in November makes the Rumble too soon for him to win the belt?

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  89. These are definitely becoming more Human. Sweathog got a response and this one has named a specific poster. Worried.

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  90. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:32 AM

    Yeah, with no Piper and with Hogan vs Warrior up top, Savage has nothing to do.

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  91. What about Martel?

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  92. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:33 AM

    Skynet is self aware, bruh

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  93. Well it's clearly a hot chic and not some fat dude in the Caribbean or Europe.

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  94. Works too, perhaps better!

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  95. The Slaughter/Hogan deal didn't need the title. Should have done Savage/Warrior title vs career, then Hogan/Warrior 2 at SummerSlam.

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  96. If this was 2015, they'd just have him feud with the evil Authority Jack Tunney, with his hired goons Dino Bravo and The Brooklyn Brawler! WM7 would be Savage's performance review.

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  97. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    Yeah, I think it was way too soon. As great as the character was from his debut, there was still potential for a zombie halloween gimmick to be more cartoonish than even evil turncoat Sarge. It wasn't really a known quantity yet

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  98. I guess he could feud with Jake, that's still decent upper level

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  99. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 8:36 AM

    Totally agree on both points

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  100. Roma had a messed up elbow, so he was unable to perform. According to him, they still wanted him to take LODs finisher, which he did.

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  101. Everyone who's been part of an authority angle.

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  102. Warrior and Savage's fight to the death feud hinged a lot on Savage costing Warrior his title though

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  103. Isn't the motivation that Warrior was bombing as champ as much as taking advantage of the gulf war?

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  104. Paul Roma. What a professional.

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  105. Haha if so, the only time..!

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  106. Plus that robs you of the whole Survivor Series 91 -> Tuesday in Texas -> Rumble 92 Flair story, since you lose the whole Gravest Challenge angle. It would also cost you the Streak, interestingly enough.

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  107. The Slaughter angle was a dud, but I have to say that Royal Rumble match
    against Warrior was probably one of the hottest matches I have ever
    watched. A pure joy of a match, complete with Savage acting nuts. The crowd's reaction when they announced Slaughter as champion was off the charts.

    Monsoon and Piper's outrage also helped.

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  108. Slaughter vs. Hogan should have been in WM 31's Rusev vs. Cena role.

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  109. Even as a 10 year old I knew the Slaughter as main event heel in 1991 was awful. He was a total evil cartoon, old looking, and didn't fit anymore. It was Vince's old carny instinct taking over and failing

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  110. if Hogan vs Warrior happened at Summerslam 91, it might have been one of the greatest shows of all time. The only thing that keeps that event from all-time status for me is the weak main event. Everything else on the card was spectacular.

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  111. Savage made that match. Lol. He wasn't even in it but he made it such a spectacle. He was an amazing crazy persona

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  112. I got into the WWF starting with Wrestlemania VIII and was rabid about watching through every show I could get. I was very, very reluctant to rent WM VII because of how Hogan was fighting the old ass WWF Commissioner.

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  113. Somewhat failure... didn't they do a huge number on PPV for that show?

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  114. Gorilla was great too at the end just assuming that Warrior would keep the belt by DQ and then slowly realizing that Slaughter was the new champ.

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  115. Lol only Gorilla claimed during the show that it was the most watched ppv in history. I don't have my Observers handy but it didn't do bad, it just didn't light the world on fire. It likely beat Mania 6, as the ppv universe was expandung and Good Guy vs Good Guy in 1990 wasn't the same draw as years later

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  116. So huge Gorilla Monsoon mentioned it halfway through the show!


    I had/have no problem with Slaughter in that spot (except he beat my guy at the Rumble). Little kids (the target demo) go nuts for easy to follow story lines like Yay USA Boo Iraq so I think it worked out well. Plus they put on a good match to boot.

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  117. Did you ever notice that pretty much every Hollywood Hogan title defense is a carbon copy of that match with Hogan in the slaughter role doing eye and back rakes a lot?

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  118. Warrior was given NOTHING to do as champion. He got a rushed title defense with Rude that had little backstory or buildup at SummerSlam, then after that it was curtain jerking SS before playing second fiddle to Hogan in the SS main event. He should have had a high profile singles match at survivor series and built a Mania feud with Savage over the belt.


    Vince tried to have it both ways; build the new champion, but keep Hogan hot in case Warrior bombed.

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  119. Most watched PPV in history, and not only that, they sold so many tickets that the crowd was literally hanging from the rafters

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  120. Hogan was doing all that heel stuff as a face in his heyday. That's what made him so weird.

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  121. After being so psyched, then disappointed by Starrcade 97, I tend to keep Hollywood Hogan matches out of my memory with the exception of the Luger Nitro match because I was just getting back into wrestling the month before

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  122. It was a weird time for the Tag Belts in general. They obviously had the LOD coming in so you can understand why they did a few things.

    BUT the Demo's were turned into jobbers, the Hart's were given a pointless second run given the company's obvious plans for Bret, P and G were built up just to be sacrificed, the Nasty boys somehow got a reign and the Rockers were so far beyond ready for the belts given their popularity it was ridiculous yet they never got it.

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  123. Cena is like that too. He's as dirty as he wants to be and pretty violent. I remember a couple matches where he basically tried to kill his opponent if you believed what was going on in the match like strangling Umaga with a rope and trying to kill JBL with a car.

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  124. Joey Jo-Jo Junior ShabbadooJuly 1, 2015 at 8:59 AM

    His whole act was cribbed from a combination of Jerry Lawler and Superstar Billy Graham.

    Surprised no one else has commented on this. Graham, obviously, but Lawler?

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  125. Yeah.

    But the bombing still happened y'know?

    Well not the WM7 one that's bullshit.

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  126. Ha! I do love Gorilla tho. He seemed so sincere even when he was embellishing. It's almost as if he really believed people were hanging from the rafters and the electricity could be cut with knives

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  127. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 9:19 AM

    You could still get there. Macho is an egomaniac and wants the title. He keeps attacking until Warrior agrees to it, but Warrior plays on Savage's ego too, by getting him to put his career on the line

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  128. (Fireball by Pitbull starts playing...)

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  129. To be fair, neither feud really "needed" the title.

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  130. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 9:35 AM

    If the Slaughter nonsense never happens, throw money at Rude....but not for a Hogan feud. Build to Hogan-Warrior II and get Liz back on TV for a night just so Rude can creep on her. Macho turns face easily without changing a thing character wise. Savage vs Rude at Mania with Savage reuniting with Liz afterward.

    Better yet, have Rude actually win to "retire" Savage. Roll that into Hogan vs Rude at Summerslam. Rude wins the title(!!?) and Hogan gets preoccupied with Flair, Sid, and Taker. Rude is a Flair type heel champ til Mania, where Macho returns for his redemption win from the previous year.

    But I might be a little biased. *hit the music*

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  131. Lawler was famous for his superman comebacks in Memphis. When he took the strap down that means he was going to beat that ass. Similar to the Hulk up.

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  132. Hogan-Warrior II. Have Earthquake take out Hogan but have Warrior fight Earthquake on behalf of his buddy Hogan. Hogan comes back then build tension between him and Warrior.

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  133. You turn Slaughter heel but just without the traitor angle, and then have him be the last one Hogan eliminates to win the Rumble.

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  134. Rick Rude is a good one to have a personal bias towards *now take a look at a Real Man*

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  135. He's a primate, that's how he thinks people sit in arenas

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  136. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:17 AM

    "Elizabeth has lusted after me for years. And guess what? She's a freeee agent. That's right, the Macho Man moved on to Sensational Sherri and that makes Liz....available. Mean Gene, you are looking at genetic perfection and there is no better arm candy for the Ravishing One than the First Lady of wrestling. So Elizabeth, it's time you stop playing hard to get and find your way to a real man. This one's for you... Hit the music"

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  137. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:21 AM

    Hogan vs Warrior
    Hart vs Perfect
    LOD vs Nastys
    Sarge vs Mustafa
    Disasters vs Bushwhackers
    BBM vs Mountie
    Bulldog & Rockers vs Warlord, Roma, & Herc
    Steamboat vs Valentine
    IRS vs Santana
    Savage Wedding

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  138. you forgot to add Rude kissing the camera!


    What was he doing all of '91 anyway?

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  139. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    Yeah but thats dubious at best. You stop the supposed hemmhoraging by moving the title from Warrior to.... Slaughter? If you are shifting back to Hogan, fair enough, but what was really gained by moving the belt to Sarge?

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  140. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:26 AM

    Yeah, Warrior needed a more high profile heel rival than Rude at that point. If Earthquake was not going to be for him, then Savage was the best option for Summerslam

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  141. But Ric cribbed his entire act from Rogers.

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  142. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:29 AM

    Living the Halloween Phantom gimmick

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  143. Gorgeous George and Buddy Rogers. That's pretty much the list, if we're excluding anyone who was influenced by anyone else. Otherwise, Hogan and Flair would be my top picks, followed by Austin and Rock. They spawned so many wannabe Hogans, Flairs, Austins and Rocks simply because they were more popular and well known than Graham, Lawler, etc.

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  144. I like that card a lot. The only thing would be that Steamboat vs Valentine would be face vs face but they could do it as a lower card match and maybe have Steamboat win by countering however Valentine won at WM 4 (small package?)

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  145. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJuly 1, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    What if they had done a slower burn to Hogan vs Warrior? Savage gets the belt back from Hulk in 89, with help from Zeus. Wrestlemania VI: Warrior beats Savage for his first title, Hogan beats Zeus. Spend 1990 building the "what if?" of a Hogan vs Warrior match and actually run the LA Coliseum.

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  146. It's already been a decade since Stone Cold wrestled. Hulkamania was hokey by the time I was in high school in the early 00's.


    In fact, it's been longer since Stone Cold was wrestling than since Hogan was.

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  147. Don't forget Sandman, though he was more contemporary with Austin.

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  148. Those promos are still surreal to watch.

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  149. What Dwayne said.

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  150. Yea goldberg later on pretended he didn't dress up as warrior.which offended warrior and that'd how I found out.

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  151. ...that's so dumb.

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  152. Good call on Jim Londos and Thesz. Definitely no Graham without Rogers and George.

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  153. I always find the argument of Austin over Hogan as laughable. Austin's main event career was only a few years long; Hogan's was decades. The Attitude era was started by Hogan's heel turn and the nWo, not Austin. Hall and Nash were 'cool' rebellious heels before Austin. Austin was a huge part yes, but he can't take all the credit of the late 90's boom. The Monday Night War itself was likely the biggest draw and the WWE's biggest rating's of the era were with HHH and Rock on top, with Austin injured. Regardless, Hogan's influence created the global giant that WWE is today, helped Vince wipe out the territories, put wrestling back on the stage in popular media, and shared in the highest ratings ever with The Main Event against Andre and other SNME shows. Austin sold more shirts and inspired "Stone Cold" Dean Ambrose. Whoopie.


    Anyway, I vote for Gorgeous George, Strangler Lewis or Jim Londos ;)

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  154. The Rock is pretty up there too. HUGE influence on a variety of cultures, including hip-hop.

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