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Re: The Wrestling thread
Yeah... Attitude era can't properly kick off with Bret still in the mix. His departure is what lit the torch.
He wasn't suited for it anyways. Once Michaels left, Bret's got nothing to do anyways. Austin wasn't a natural nemesis for him like Sean was.
Re: The Wrestling thread
I have to disagree...the work Bret was doing in 1997 (his last year in WWF) was just phenomenal. The bad guy in the US and the good guy everywhere else in the world. Even the match with Shawn at Survivor Series w/ the screw job was amazing. I think he would've fit in great in the attitude era if he could have stuck to that character. The Hart Foundation was awesome.
What actually happens is the clique's version of the attitude era instead. Ironicially...at Royal Rumble (the PPV that follows the screw job) Shawn obtains a debilitating spinal injury that keeps him out for 4 years. So Vince has to choose...Bret or Shawn...he chooses Shawn...Shawn gets injured immediately and is done within 6 months of the screw job.
So who's left? The ultimate politicker Triple H...Stone Cold, Rock and a whole cast of new characters.
Re: The Wrestling thread
I'm not denying his ability, the fact he was on a roll on his way out, or the fact he found that unique "tweener" spot that so few(like Flair) were truly capable of.
It doesn't change the fact that he wasn't suited for it....and the fact he is on record as loathing this era just reinforces my point.
You also pointed out how timing and luck also played a role in the birth of the Attitude era.
Michaels leaving early is what made way for the ascension of The Rock. The Undertaker getting a second wind helped speed things along....and without Foley...it might never happen.
I'll tell ya the wrestler who was made for the Attitude era but it was a bit before his time and a car accident killed his career.
Magnum TA.
Re: The Wrestling thread
I could talk all day about Magnum TA. The NWA's Hogan. What a tragedy.
I have to disagree...the work Bret was doing in 1997 (his last year in WWF) was just phenomenal. The bad guy in the US and the good guy everywhere else in the world. Even the match with Shawn at Survivor Series w/ the screw job was amazing. I think he would've fit in great in the attitude era if he could have stuck to that character. The Hart Foundation was awesome.
What actually happens is the clique's version of the attitude era instead. Ironicially...at Royal Rumble (the PPV that follows the screw job) Shawn obtains a debilitating spinal injury that keeps him out for 4 years. So Vince has to choose...Bret or Shawn...he chooses Shawn...Shawn gets injured immediately and is done within 6 months of the screw job.
So who's left? The ultimate politicker Triple H...Stone Cold, Rock and a whole cast of new characters.
Bret as a performer, no doubt, was at the top of his game. It was personality. He hated the Attitude Era, what was Vince supposed to do with his biggest star going public bad mouthing his business that was in big trouble? Bret only stayed because he had creative control, and was probably the reason Vince wanted to get rid of him. And that whole angle created the Mr. McMahon character.
WCW dropped the ball with Bret, he could have totally turned that company around.
Shawn Michaels wanted to jump to WCW, and holy shit, can you imagine how that would've exploded with Hogan? Vince Russo would have dropped Hogan (he kinda did) and built the whole company around HBK. At that critical period in 99-2000, I wonder how things would have gone with Michaels' as the star.
Re: The Wrestling thread
I could talk all day about Magnum TA. The NWA's Hogan. What a tragedy.
I love watching those 85-86 NWA shows. You can tell that out of everyone on that roster, he's the one that's going to become the breakout star.
The sky was the limit. He had a very serious, take no shit attitude that guys like. The girls went crazy for him.
While we didn't get to see it unfortunately, he was clearly capable of playing a heel although it would have likely been as a 'tweener' like Flair.
It's a travesty that we never got to see the inevitable heel turn on Dusty. That would've been amazing. Instead we get a Nikita face turn in his absence.
He would've killed in the Attitude era as Terry Allen. He was like a mix between Savage and Brian Pillman but he wasn't a high flyer. He was a brawler like Stone Cold would become.
It doesn't seem to be acknowledged but you can see the blueprint of what would become the Attitude era in some of these early-mid 80s NWA segments.
I wonder how things would have gone with Michaels' as the star.
They would have ruined it like they ruined everything else.
Re: The Wrestling thread
Before my time and I got him mixed up with AJPW'S Zeus, but R.I.P.
Re: The Wrestling thread
That sucks...RIP
I know he was the bad guy in the "No Holds Barred" movie...but did his wrestling career ever go anywhere?
I think after he had the 1989 WWF feud with Hogan. He returned in WCW as Z Gangster or whatever and had another feud with Hogan. I forgot whether or not this was pre-NWO.
Re: The Wrestling thread
That sucks...RIP
I know he was the bad guy in the "No Holds Barred" movie...but did his wrestling career ever go anywhere?
There was no intention of a wrestling career. The feud was meant to promote No Holds Barred.
He did come back years later like Slashsfro said for basically a repeat of the feud I suppose like with Ultimate Warrior but he was never a legit wrestler...an actor playing a role.
I know he was in a bunch of movies but I've always seen him as Zeus.
