Alternative Candidates for Title Changes/Reigns

[JaymeFuture]

So for this week's podcast, we're looking at examples in history where you as a fan have always thought that another wrestler or team should have been earmarked for a title run that took place for someone else.

 

Just as an example, if you thought somebody else would have been better getting the WWE Title rather than JBL in 2004, or a better transitional NWA Champ than Ronnie Garvin, or a better candidate at WWF Tag Champs in 91 than the Nasty Boys, who would you pick and why? Of course, your suggestions can apply for any championship at any time, but the key is why you thought the alternative would be better in the role.

 

As always we'll be reading the best contributions/explanations on the show and crediting you accordingly. So who do you think should have been given the gold, and why?

 

EDIT - Our show talking about Title Reigns That Should Have Been, featuring many of your contributions, is now online and available to listen to at the following link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/zs8t7m/SCG_Radio_91_-_Title_Reigns_That_Should_Have_Been.mp3

[C.S.]

The obvious one that never should've happened was Nash beating Goldberg's streak and then losing it via finger poke to Hogan. Even at the time, I failed to understand why Nash was getting the coveted Starrcade World Title shot and main event spot. He was was somewhat over and got decent pops, I guess, but he wasn't nearly over enough to headline WCW's big year-end show, much less win it. After Goldberg beat Hogan for the strap, facing Nash seemed like and was a step down. What a disaster! I don't remember the roster well enough to suggest alternatives (which I guess kinda side-steps your question), but Goldberg vs. Nash did not excite me at all - and I don't mean that in a "smarky workrate fan" kind of way. It was just a shitty, unappealing match-up with about as much heat as a Slurpee.

 

Edit: If anyone can point me in the direction of a WCW roster for this period, I'd be happy to suggest other people worthy of a title run. The obvious and logical answer, though, would be to keep it on Goldberg.

[SomethingSavage]

I always thought they should have pushed Scott Steiner to the moon off the heels of his turn earlier in '98. They never did much with the guy beyond his brotherly feud with Rick, and it's a damn shame. The initial stages of the transformation were truckloads of fun, and there was an opportunity to have Steiner break away from the middle of the nWo pack somewhere in there.

 

He *was* having fun squash matches - just murdering jobbers, throwing & thrashing them around left, right, front, & center. He'd pile up jobbers and pin 'em or humble them in the Recliner - all while Buff Bagwell played male cheerleader on the outside. I actually think the act could have been something much, much bigger by the end of '98.

 

Instead, it just kind of stalled and never went anywhere until they EVENTUALLY woke up and realized they had something in what... late 2000? Ugh.

 

I realize ya can't just take matches out of context and transplant them to another time or place that you'd like, but hey. If the Fall Brawl 2000 match is any indication, then I would've been ALL for an earlier version of Steiner vs. Goldberg for the belt.

 

So there it is - my pick for the guy that ends the streak. If it was gonna go to anyone, then my selection would've been Scotty Steiner. But even then, I'm not convinced that it should've occurred at Starrcade '98. That still feels way too soon to switch priorities from Goldberg over to ANYBODY.

[JaymeFuture]

There's quite a few in WCW in particular when I think about it. Stuff like Piper beating Bret for the U.S. Title always bothered me in WCW, the lateral moves when you can see 15 others guys who would benefit more and do more with it. I think thats as much of the Goldberg/Nash problem as anything - the guy that beat him wasn't promoted any higher than he was before.

[supersonic]

ROH 2002-03 - Paul London should've gotten the nod to dethrone Low Ki and then been dethroned by Samoa Joe as he left the company. He was the company's Shawn Michaels in the company's first year and a half of existence, and there was plenty of money in him defending the title against Michael Shane, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, etc.

ROH 2007 - Nigel McGuinness should've dethroned Homicide in the UK rather than going with the Takeshi Morishima experiment. Since there was no promise of a UK return that year, the trigger should've been pulled to give McGuinness the biggest coronation available in his home country. Sapolsky made very bad "gambling" decisions as he describes them in early 2007, with the hope that delaying big moments would pay off later that year. By starting the McGuinness reign on top in March 2007, that likely would've opened up directions for fresher names to dethrone him entering 2008, rather than the very creatively stale product of the time despite the awesome workrate provided by the loaded roster.

ROH 2007 - Steen & Generico should've not just been the first team to win a fall against the Briscoes clean sweep 2/3 falls gimmick, but should've also dethroned them that year, rather than waiting until 2008. Steen & Generico came out of the Briscoes feud without another hot feud until the American Wolves in 2009, which is inexcusable.

ROH 2008 - Tyler Black should've won the ROH Title at Final Battle over Nigel McGuinness, rather than the idiocy of attempting to cash in on the Wrestler with Randy the Ram lookalike Jerry Lynn. Sapolsky refused to crown Lynn based on his failure to draw while ECW Champion, and it was one of the reasons he got fired by then-owner Cary Silkin. Low and behold, Lynn bombed as ROH champion to kick off the HDNet era and it did severe damage to Black's chase, drawing major comparisons to Lex Luger in 1993-94.

NXT 2015 - Enzo & Cass instead of Vaudevillains win the Tag Titles. This is an absolute no-brainer for what I call Team NY. Enzo & Cass have so much upside as well not just in dethroning Blake & Murphy, but in transitioning to the Revival feud in which they lose the titles.

WWE 2015 - Kevin Owens should've been the one to dethrone John Cena for the US Title in lengthy feud ending inside Hell in a Cell, with Owens also having the bragging rights of putting Cena on the shelf as the storyline reason for the company franchise to take time off. Nobody has given one single emotional shit about Alberto Del Rio since his return at Hell in a Cell 2015; exactly who and what should be blamed for that is a discussion for another time.

[Downend2005]

Lex Luger should have absolutely won the WCW Title in 1990 at Wrestle War. Whilst Ric Flair wanted to drop the title to Sting, Luger was coming off of a very strong 1989 and had a lot of momentum behind him, even with his rushed face turn. And with Sting hurt until later that summer, it would have an ideal time to switch the title and strike whilst the iron was hot.

 

Flair and the Horsemen chasing World Champion Luger until Stings return would surely have been better for business than Flair slumming it against the Junkyard Dog on a Clash waiting for Sting to recuperate.

 

After already coming up short at both the Great American Bash and Starrcade in 1988, not winning at Wrestle War and then later failing again at Capitol Combat, Luger had acquired the rep of not being able to win the big one, and by the time he did eventually win the title in 1991 (against Barry Windham, not Ric Flair, lest we forget) the bloom was very much off the rose (to borrow an Old Man Jones catchphrase) and his reign was anticlimactic.

 

 

For a more modern one, I also think that instead of Alberto del Rio, Roman Reigns should have been the man to eventually end John Cena's US Title open challenge last year. I wouldn't have gone with the Seth Rollins/Jon Stewart stuff in the summer either, and would have kept the belt on Cena until the time came for Reigns to beat him. Roman wasn't damaged beyond repair at this point and not nearly as hated by the fan base. If Vince and co were absolutely intent on keeping Reigns as a face, allowing him to build up some equity as a upper midcarder with a secondary title, and then progressing to the main event scene organically may have helped.

[khawk20]

Billy Robinson beating Verne Gagne for the AWA title at the September 1974 Chicago outdoor show would have allowed Billy to hold the title for a year and a bit before losing it to Bockwinkel in November of 1975. Verne chasing Bock would still have happened but would have had a deeper element to it as Nick never beat Verne for the title.

 

Not much difference in how it would have all played out after 1974, if any, but Billy having an AWA title reign under his belt would have seemed...."right" for lack of a better term.

[Mr. Lacelle]

Give Razor Diesel's late 94-95 push & it would have worked way better. Hall was big but not so big that Michaels getting heat on him would look so silly. Also the Sid matches would have been better & I doubt Vince gives him the lame smiling stuff like he does with Nash.

[JaymeFuture]

I want to thank everybody for the contributions, we got to read many of them on the show, which is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/zs8t7m/SCG_Radio_91_-_Title_Reigns_That_Should_Have_Been.mp3

Join us as we discuss title reigns that should have been and alternative candidates for title changes that did happen! Covering as wide a scope of potential changes as you, the loyal listeners, threw our way, we talk about whether Owen Hart should have got the WWF title in 1994, who should have ended John Cena's U.S. Title Open Challenges, whether CM Punk should have held the WWE Title until WrestleMania 29, if and when Lex Luger and Vader should have had various World Title runs, if the WWE missed out on lightning in a bottle with RVD in 2001, Christian in 2005 and Jeff Hardy in 2008, as well as tons of other potential runs in WWE, WCW, ECW and ROH all talked about. A fun show this week, check it out!

[Parties]

 

ROH 2007 - Nigel McGuinness should've dethroned Homicide in the UK rather than going with the Takeshi Morishima experiment. Since there was no promise of a UK return that year, the trigger should've been pulled to give McGuinness the biggest coronation available in his home country. Sapolsky made very bad "gambling" decisions as he describes them in early 2007, with the hope that delaying big moments would pay off later that year. By starting the McGuinness reign on top in March 2007, that likely would've opened up directions for fresher names to dethrone him entering 2008, rather than the very creatively stale product of the time despite the awesome workrate provided by the loaded roster.

This seems accurate and well-described from my memory of it. Anecdotal evidence notwithstanding: the amount of heat Nigel had lost six months later was a topic of discussion in live crowds, as was Vader-Monster Morishima coming off as anything but a killer heel when you realized he wasn't nearly as big as he looked working KENTAFuji, and that he was a soft dude in pastel t-shirts who'd take grinning photos with everyone outside the Manhattan Center. It was a misfire at a time when ROH felt more "on the rise" than they have since.

[supersonic]

 

 

ROH 2007 - Nigel McGuinness should've dethroned Homicide in the UK rather than going with the Takeshi Morishima experiment. Since there was no promise of a UK return that year, the trigger should've been pulled to give McGuinness the biggest coronation available in his home country. Sapolsky made very bad "gambling" decisions as he describes them in early 2007, with the hope that delaying big moments would pay off later that year. By starting the McGuinness reign on top in March 2007, that likely would've opened up directions for fresher names to dethrone him entering 2008, rather than the very creatively stale product of the time despite the awesome workrate provided by the loaded roster.

This seems accurate and well-described from my memory of it. Anecdotal evidence notwithstanding: the amount of heat Nigel had lost six months later was a topic of discussion in live crowds, as was Vader-Monster Morishima coming off as anything but a killer heel when you realized he wasn't nearly as big as he looked working KENTAFuji, and that he was a soft dude in pastel t-shirts who'd take grinning photos with everyone outside the Manhattan Center. It was a misfire at a time when ROH felt more "on the rise" than they have since.

 

 

McGuinness had a poor chase to the title that year as well. I will be going more in depth when my ROH reviews return this fall, and then later on I will also undergo my own podcasts that rebook ROH both in 2007 and 2009.