Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 01:34 AM EST
[
General]
What would the landscape of Pro Wrestling look like if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash would have never left WWE? That's the question I've been thinking about lately. This is what I've come up w/.
1st and foremost, I believe that WCW would have remained 2nd rate. I believe whole heartedly that there wouldn't have been a Monday Night War. If nothing else, it would've been a battle, not a war. It wouldn't have been a very long battle either. WCW had some talent on their roster. No one can deny that. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Sting, Lex Luger, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Eddie Guererro, Fit Finaly (Finaly), Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Raven, Diamond Dallas Page, Rey Mysterio, The Giant (Big Show), Chris Jericho and so on. WCW had a product that people did want to see, but a war, I don't think so.
If Eric Bischoff went ahead w/ the N.W.O. concept, but used other wrestlers, would it have been as successful? No. Absolutely not. The greatest thing about the N.W.O. was that it seemed almost real. Hall and Nash were synonymous w/ WWE. They weren't household names til they became Razor Ramon and Diesel. If they used a couple of WCW wrestlers to side w/ Hogan, no one would've cared. It may have made for interesting storylines, but it would've never gotten off the ground. No one would've turned the channel to watch somethin' like that. They turned the channel coz it really did seem like a hostile takeover.
I don't believe we would've seen the attitude era. No DX, Val Venis, sexual references or wild concept matches to name a few. The attitude era was mayhem on a weekly basis. I think it would've stayed the same one on one matches w/ recycled fueds. If there wasn't a DX, no one would know who the hell X-pac, Roaddog or Billy Gunn were.
As for Hall and Nash themselves, they're the only ones who ended up gettin' the shaft outta anyone. Had Hall and Nash stayed w/ WWE they would still b mainstays in the company today. Hall and Nash would b multi time WWE Champions. The Kliq would have owned the 90's. More gold than they'd know what to do w/.
At the time Kevin Nash left, he was one of only three men to hold the WWE, I.C. and Tag Team Championships. The others, Bret Hart and HBK. Diesel was WWE Champion from Nov. '94 - Nov. '95. That's the longest title reign since Randy Savage's from March '88 - April '89. No one duplicated that til John Cena's Sept. '06 - Oct. '07 reign. That means Diesel had the longest WWE Title reign of the 90's. Who knows how many titles Diesel would have held by today. He would b a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
Now at the time Scott Hall left he held the record for no. of I.C. Titles won. Razor Ramon was a four time I.C. Champion. If he stayed w/ WWE I truely believe that he would still b the record holder. I have no idea how many that would b, but I'm guessing alot. I also believe that by today Razor Ramon would have held the WWE Championship on multiple occasions. He would also b a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. I don't know how his alcoholism would've played out though. It might've stayed the same, not been as bad or would've been worse. I can't speculate on that one. Hell, no one can.
The New World Order was what made WCW win the ratings war for awhile. However the N.W.O. was also what killed WCW. No one knew how to manage the N.W.O. The N.W.O. crumbled under it's own weight. After WWE dominated the ratings again, WCW was washed up. They kept changing management and writers. They wanted to duplicate the success of the N.W.O. so badly that they weren't focusing anymore. They wanted to bury WWE, not produce great wrestling matches every week. U have to focus on ur product, not the competitions.
Had Hall and Nash stayed, WCW would still b around. They would still b a 2nd rate, not up to par wrasslin' company, but they'd still b around. They would still have enough viewers to stay afloat. Ted Turner would still b satisfied coz he wouldn't know the amount of money he could b makin'. Jeff Jarrett would still b employed by WCW so there would b no TNA.
This is the world of pro wrestling that I invision if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had never left WWE.