Blehschmidt Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 This is something I pondered posting in the fantasy booking area multiple times but for whatever reason didn't. But after seeing the What If thread that popped up getting awesome responses, I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl. Pontiac Silverdome. 93,173 fans watch as The Hulkster motions that he is going to slam Andre the Giant! The place goes wild as Hogan reaches down, scoops up Andre and lifts him high into the air. But then something goes wrong..... Something in Hogan's back gives way. He collapses under the weight and crashes to the mat with The Giant on top of him. The referee has no choice but to count the pinfall, and Andre The Giant becomes the WWF Heavyweight Champion of the World. So that is your assignment..... Hulk Hogan suffers a fluke career ending injury on the biggest stage of them all. How does WWF recover? Who is the next great babyface? Does it sink the company? Does it impact Crockett or Gagne in any way? Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. I am always impressed with the level of knowledge and creativity on this board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I think your best bets going forward are turning Savage face quicker after Mania or taking your chances with Duggan as champion. I guess you could have tried Jake Roberts too. I think turning Savage and having him win the belt in May is probably your best bet at continued survival. You can have him make defenses over the summer against Harley Race and Bob Orton. Then by the fall you have a nice group of challengers with One Man Gang and Ted DiBiase. Duggan is an interesting idea. He was really new at the time but I think they could have survived on Duggan making a defense or two against the Iron Sheik. Then you could get into Harley Race, Ted DiBiase and One Man Gang. Duggan vs. Kamala would have been interesting too. Duggan would have been unconventional but he wasn't a total cartoon character right off the bat either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I would have went with Steamboat. Since he just won the IC belt at that same show & was really over as a babyface. Plus he was freakin' chiseled. I mean he was never going to be as big as The Hulkster size wise, probably not popularity wise (he wasn't going to cut any of those cocaine-fueled Hulkster promos for sure) but I think he's a better option than Jake Roberts. Although Randy Savage on top without having to be in the shadow of Hogan is certainly interesting. When did Hennig come in? They could have tried him as a babyface since he could talk & was such a natural athlete but WWF was really going for that larger-than-life feel & I don't know how believable it would be for the person to beat André, and in this case end his unpinned streak & win the title, with someone that wasn't Hogan. I think Mad Dog's Jim Duggan answer is really interesting. Especially since I really like Duggan but hated what he became in WWF. Before he was turned into the goofball, he was a big dude, that was easily recognizable, over & he had the whole U-S-A thing going on which was such a big deal in the 80's. Maybe WWE switches their booking philosophy gears entirely & tries to run a heel on top instead of a babyface? They had a good thing going with Ted DiBiase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrzfn Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Some off the wall options. Face turn for Andre? They could have babyfaced him in a snap by having him knock Heenan on his ass. I know he was pretty beat up then but it's theoretically possible to work around that. Could they have possibly thrown enough money at Piper not to leave? He was enormously over as a babyface at the time, though he seemed pretty keen to try his hand in Hollywood. Orndorff is an option which probably would not have worked but I could have maybe seen them attempt. He was very over as a face the year before as Hogan's best man, so to speak. Though that is a very quick turnaround for him. I feel obligated to mention JYD, though I feel like that ship had definitively sailed by '87. Anyone they could have brought in from the outside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Given that the Dynamite Kid suffered a career ending injury and missed two months, I'm inclined to propose a Weekend At Bernies situation where Hogan is propped up at the next tapings while WWF insists nothing happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 The only outsider I can think of is Bruiser Brody. I don't know how he would work as a face or as champion though. Some other guys I thought of were Sgt. Slaughter or Jimmy Snuka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Just out of curiosity, how big a deal did they make out of the slam on the syndicated shows after? It's possibly *the* WrestleMania moment, but it feels like at the time the bigger deal was about how Andre was dealt his first loss. I think making a heel champ would have been the best option in this scenario. Put a working machine like Dibiase on top, let guys like Savage and Steamboat get more shine with him on TV and house shows, give Hogan until the end of the year or however long he needs to recover. I got to say this is a good question.Andre had been slammed many times before (even by Hogan), but he must have been at his heaviest up until that point. I heard Hogan once describe how painful it was to get him up there (I think this was in an interview before he claimed Andre was 700 lbs, or the size of a small European sports car). I can only imagine how hard it is to lift something that size, with moving parts no less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 If Andre easily beats Hogan and is the heel champion for a bit, you build up whoever (Savage, DiBiase, Steamboat, Jake, or Duggan) as the mega babyface to finally defeat him. I think that is your best path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I would certainly put my money on Savage. Haven't seen enough pre-Fed Duggan to really get behind that. I think running with Andre as champ against Steamboat and Roberts on the house show circuit until a big SNME loss to Savage would make the most sense. You could have Savage and Steamboat even team up as unlikely partners fighting off an impossible task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 My first thought was turn Savage early, but coming that fresh off the Steamboat story I think it's too early. In this world there is no Hogan to help cement the turn either, so unless you do something drastic like have Andre try and claim Elizabeth, I think Savage's turn needs the slow burn. Steamboat is a possibility, but he just won the IC Title, and if he asks for the time off like he did in the real world, I don't see him being the guy in this scenario. If they could pay Piper enough money to stay, I think he'd be the best choice, but I think he'd go. Of the currently available choices, Duggan actually seems the most viable. He is not yet a total goofball, he has the USA thing going for him, and if nothing else he could be used to transition the title off of a broken down Andre. Other possibilities: We weren't too far from the "Superstar" Billy Graham comeback. No one knows he'll break down after just a couple months. Does Andre keep the belt, and we get the comeback story of comeback stories? Vince likes muscle guys, we do have Billy Jack Haynes juiced to the gills on the roster. How about Bam Bam Bigelow? He got pretty fucking over in that first run. Size wise, people could buy him against the Giant. From outside of the company, the only guy I could see them going for is Slaughter with the gimmick and the GI Joe tie-in. But the real question is still, would any of them matter business wise, cause they aren't Hogan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Savage is an easy turn. He comes out afterwards, shakes Steamboat's hand and saves him from a couple of attacks. He beats Andre at Saturday Night's Main Event in May and you can keep pushing the turn after the title win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Maybe, but it feels like WWF wasn't certain Savage would be a top guy until they paired him with Hogan as a team and saw how he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 The problem with Billy Jack Haynes is that he was used as being barely above a jobber on TV until you got to the Hercules feud. I've seen all of the TV from this time frame in the last few years and he didn't win much on TV at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Wasn't really saying Billy Jack was a viable option, just trying to think of the most jacked babyface on the roster at the time. I almost added newly babyface Brutus Beefcake to my list as well. Just looking at all the possibilities in this scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Actually giving money to Slaughter seems the most likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Career-ending injury for the Hulkster? Never happen. I mean, he did tear every muscle in his back doing that slam and he kept going. If the Undertaker breaking his neck in the 70's didn't put him out, some silly back injury's not going to do it! Besides, Andre died mere days after that slam. They'd have to get the belt off of him quick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 If I'm not mistaken, DiBiase started with the WWF at the end of May. How about scrapping the Million Dollar Man gimmick, bringing him in as a babyface, and pushing him to the top right away? Having a long-term heel champion would have been a bad idea. One of the WWF's key advantages was that its world champion was booked much stronger than the NWA champion. Having a champ who constantly retained in screwjob fashion would have undercut that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Considering that JCP was outdrawing the WWF on house shows over summer with War Games (before taking a massive dip in fall), Hogan's departure may have bitten hard. Still, not much would have changed long-term. The WWF would have taken a big hit in popularity, since Hogan was the key to everything. JCP still would have self-destructed, even if they had a brief period of strong business. Just like late 90s WCW, but on fast forward. I can see them trying to throw a lot of money at a Sting or a Lex Luger, or maybe The Road Warriors. Sting and Luger weren't huge stars yet, but they fit the mold of what Vince was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 If I'm not mistaken, DiBiase started with the WWF at the end of May. How about scrapping the Million Dollar Man gimmick, bringing him in as a babyface, and pushing him to the top right away? Having a long-term heel champion would have been a bad idea. One of the WWF's key advantages was that its world champion was booked much stronger than the NWA champion. Having a champ who constantly retained in screwjob fashion would have undercut that. I considered this option but ended up shying away. I think what you have to balance here is the value of the Million Dollar Man gimmick vs. Ted Dibiase doing his usual thing. I kind of felt Dibiase as the foil to whoever got the belt was a better value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I hate to say it, but I don't think a non-musclehead would be viable as WWF champ in the 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Honest question, was Savage really a muscle head when he first won the belt? He seemed a bit smaller than a lot of other guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 When did Hennig come in? They could have tried him as a babyface since he could talk & was such a natural athlete but WWF was really going for that larger-than-life feel & I don't know how believable it would be for the person to beat André, and in this case end his unpinned streak & win the title, with someone that wasn't Hogan. How about Hennig's partner from the AWA? 6'7", 280 pounds, muscular and 80s-style handsome... He was even pushed by Gagne to work something of a Hogan-esque style in the AWA in the mid-80s... I honestly think that there is a decent chance Vince would have been tempted to roll the dice on the young and promising "Magnum" Scott Hall in this scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topropepodcast Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 I think you could do non-musclehead, so long as he was someone who was big enough naturally that it didn't matter. My thought was maybe throwing a bucket of money at Barry Windham to come back and try to push him as the pretty boy ace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Maybe Tito Santana? They considered him for the top position before giving it to Bret in '92, and he was very popular nationwide still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted May 25, 2017 Report Share Posted May 25, 2017 I would have Andre rule supreme for a few months and then pull a Honky-Warrior type of thing at Summerslam. Whomever the challenger was supposed to be gets injured by Andre et al and can't wrestle the match on the PPV, so Andre and Heenan put out a no DQ open challenge. Duggan comes down, 2 x 4's him, and scores the pin and becomes champ in two minutes. The pop I think would be similar to Hogan's win over Sheik, and Duggan could continue as champ for the year and fall into place for The Main Event and title tourney. You plug Savage or DiBiase in after the Tournament. From there it gets a little muddy and the timeline changes drastically, but that's how you survive a Hogan fluke WM loss. Duggan was cartoony enough and his gimmick was very over in everything I have seen. He'd have worked, and because he wasn't the invincible Hulk Hogan challengers like Race and Orton would be actually viable matches people would view outside of the spectacle of Hulk Hogan (nobody went to see Race-Hogan thinking Race would win the title. Duggan-Race, not so far fetched in comparison). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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