posted
Oh yes, in hindsight Roddy probably would have been a great choice, and a popular one, given how huge an ovation he got when he won the Intercontinental championship later in the year. Had he been able to clean himself up, Davey Boy Smith probably would have made a good world champ too, as would have Kerry von Erich if he'd stayed clean too. Among possible heel champs that presumably would have been transtional title holders, Mr. Perfect would be another good choice, along with Volkoff earlier in the Golden Age and Earthquake later on.
Going back to giving a vote to Ted, I even devised how his title run would have gone, so, without further ado, a reign in 3 parts:
ACT I, MAIN EVENT II: Rather than exploding the Mega Powers on this evening (under this scenario, that would be pushed back to Summer Slam '89), a still fully face Savage steps into the ring to defend the title against foe at the time Bad News Brown. He does well for much of the match and seems to have defeated B.N. as he climbs up for the elbow, but it turns out Bad News was only playing possum, catches him in midair, and Ghettoblasts him, but can't hold him down for the pin, so instead goes for a sleeper. Savage resists two separate arm drops, but on the third drop of the third attempt, Bad News grabs his arm from an angle the ref can't see (but in CLEAR view of the TV audience) and yanks it down for the submission call, despite Savage's incensed protests. At this point, Ted runs in, pretending to be turning face. In what would play out as a less clumsy version of Wrestlemania IX's main event finish, he challenges Bad News for the title, and after going at it with him for a minute or two, pins him for the win and the belt--after which he reveals to the world he paid Bad News off to the take the dive for him once he had the title. Virgil hands Bad News the cash, Ted walks off laughing with the belt, and an irate Savage rants to Okerlund afterwards that there's going to be you-know-what to pay for this...
ACT II: Saturday Night's Main Event XV: One month later, Ted, his status as world champ "reluctantly upheld" by Jack Tunney on the grounds that, unlike with his previous try with the twin referees match, he completely followed protocol this time, makes his first televised defense against top contender Jake (who, intriguing though he might have been on top of the world, I think deep down would have worked better as Intercontinental or tag team champ with the Undertaker). The match goes back and forth, but just as Jake starts to get the upper hand, Virgil tosses his boss a foreign object and distracts the ref so Ted can outten Jake's lights, pin him for the win, and, as with their actual feud, start to REALLY show him the money. Suddenly, Hulk comes running in and breaks this assault up, then cuts Ted off as he tries to leave and gives him a "You don't stab my partner in the Mega Powers in the back and get away with it, Multi-Million Dollar Man!" diatribe. Unfortunately for him, Bad News then runs in and sucker-jumps him from behind. Virgil joins in the beatdown while Ted mockingly waves the belt in front of Hulk's face and taunts him with, "You want it, Hogan? Come and get it!" (trademark maniacal laughter) With this in light, they are in fact then booked for the Wrestlemania V main event, with the stipulation that Bad News will be in Ted's corner and Savage in Hulk's. During the lead-up to the event, though, we start to get hints that maybe not everything is kosher in the Mega Powers's camp, that perhaps Savage is starting to get paranoid about his partner's intentions with his woman...
ACT III: WRESTLEMANIA V: As the main event begins, we find that, predictably, Ted violated the terms of the agreement and paid for more muscle in his corner--namely both of the Powers of Pain (which also would fully explain their bailing early on Fuji in their match with Demolition earlier in the evening). But our heroes need not worry, for no sooner do they enter the ring than "Snake Bit" kicks up on the PA system, and Jake, presumed out of commission following Ted's assault, comes trudging down to the face's corner, bag in hand and a murderous look on his face. Ted tries to get him removed, but the ref is unswayed given he brought extra men himself, so the champ resigns himself to a Snake being nearby. A back and forth match between he and Hulk commences, one rife with repeated outside interference from Ted's corner, and featuring stretches where the cornermen go at each other when the heels provoke it (e.g., Virgil tries to drag Elizabeth off and finds himself facing Savage's full fury for it) so that 2 and even 3 fights are occurring simultaneously. After a little more than a half hour, Ted gets the upper hand, gives Hulk several brutal slams, then climbs to the top rope and gestures his bodyguard for the previously seen foreign object so he can REALLY finish the Immortal One off--but Virgil overshoots the mark, forcing Ted to climb down and hunt around the ringside for it (Virgil then distracting the ref to buy him all the time he needs. But Ted doesn't notice Savage casually grabbing a chair and stalking him. On the other hand, he in turn doesn't see Bad News grabbing another chair and following HIM. Ted finds the foreign object--but so does Jake at the same time. The two of them have a tug of war for it until the Powers of Pain jump Jake and smash him into the ringpost to seemingly disable him. In the meantime, Savage has chosen to hide in wait for this battle to end, and thus Bad News rushes forward to make his move. Elizabeth jumps in his path to stop him; he coldly shoves her to the ground and continues forward. Undeterred, though, she seizes the ring bell, taps him on the shoulder just before he can deliver the blow, and outtens his lights with it to a presumed tremendous ovation. Thus relieved of this threat, Savage then catches up to Ted just as he's about to jump off the top rope with the foreign object and (the ref still tied up with Virgil and not seeing any of this) repays his debt to Hulk from the previous year, smashing Ted in the back and sending him toppling to the mat. Hulk begins reviving, sees his foe down and out, and starts Hulking Up, slamming the Million Dollar Chump and setting up for the Leg Drop--not noticing the Warlord and Barbarian leaping up onto the apron to dispatch him. But not to fear again, for a back in it Jake jumps them as Hulk begins the maneuver and--if it could have been done without decapitating them--gives them a spectacular double DDT off the apron. Unaware that he almost got it, Hulk completes the Leg Drop and covers Ted for the pin and Title #2. As the only bad guy left with any clue where he is, Virgil charges in to exact revenge, but Jake leaps right into his path and dumps Damien on him, sending the bodyguard scurrying like crazy for the exits. Our four heroes take the bow to huge applause--Hulk taking the opportunity in the process to not so subtly hoist Elizabeth up on his shoulders, to Savage's VERY visible irritatation to alert TV viewers. Thus, the fuse is still lit for the Mega Powers explosion, which now occurs around Memorial Day and in addition to the love triangle storyline will also come about as Savage gets increasingly frustrated that he's not getting a chance to get the title back on his own, having presumed Hulk would let him have it back out of perceived fairness and getting jealously nuclear about it when he doesn't...
(Gasp), done, that takes a lot out of you...
[ 10. May 2011, 07:52: Message edited by: Chris the CandyFanMan ]
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posted
that sounds awesome. in your story it would have put ted and jake in the title scene as well as elevating savage. i think your setup would allow for a even more heel turn for roberts. not to mention making some use out of the bad news brown character. too bad thats not the way it went, could have had four main eventers with that angle
what have ya got for the honkey tonk man and mr perfect
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posted
My best thought for Perfect might have been a second Title vs. Title match at Summer Slam '90. It could still be a steel cage match as it was in the actual match the Warrior had with Rude--the caveat then being that Heenan would pull the same trick he pulled on the Warrior at Wrestlemania V and hold him down at the end, allowing Perfect to escape the cage with the title. He would then hold it till about November 1990, when the Warrior would get it back, only to then run into Slaughter at the Rumble as he did in real life.
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Valley Dated Julie From 'Valley Girl' (allegedly!)
Member # 1322
posted
I just heard that Randy "Macho Man" Savage passed away today from a heart attack.
I'm sure the wrestling fans here already know.
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kevdugp73
He's eating after dark again....
Member # 5978
posted
Very sad....he was one of the best. Seems that a lot of the legends do not live to see old age....Randy Savage, Elizabeth, Junk Yard dog, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, Adrian Adonis, Owen Hart, Davy Bog Smith, Rick Rude, Big Boss Man, Bam Bam Bigelow....I'm sure there's more. Randy and these guys have given me some great childhood memories which will never go away....RIP
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cindymancini
Selling underpants to geeks since 1984...
Member # 679
posted
I thought I read that it was a car accident...
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Valley Dated Julie From 'Valley Girl' (allegedly!)
Member # 1322
posted
Cindy .. He had a heart attack while driving and then slammed into a tree. So you might actually be correct on the car accident being what killed him.
Remember those Slim Jim commercials?
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Yet another guy that I grew up watching dying to soon. WWF/E isn't the thing to have adored as a 9-14 year old because now they can't seem to ever get back healthy. Another reason to watch "The Wrestler". A fantastic movie.
We are DEVO
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posted
But at least now he and Elizabeth are together again, and together forever now, as, for almost all Golden Age fans, it should be. And he leaves behind a terrific legacy that very well makes him, with all due regards to his real life good friend Bret, whose kids he and Elizabeth frequently watched while the Hart Foundation was in action, the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.
It's worth mentioning, on Friday night, I dreamed I was front row at Madison Square Garden as he was going full-tilt with Flair again for the world title (apart from the change of venue from the actual Wrestlmania 8 match, Blassie rather than Perfect was in Flair's corner--as too was, predictably, a vindictive Sherri and a ticked off Jake), and despite taking a beating the likes of which you probably couldn't get away with all at once in the family friendly era, including:
-repeated cane blows from Blassie, making it clear all through the match he wasn't going to lose "his" title to a "skirt" manager, -multiple steel chair blows from Sherri, -4 separate DDTs from Jake when the ref wasn't looking, including 2 onto solid concrete, -a prolonged choking with the microphone cable by the Snake, -a prolonged and painful Figure-4 from Flair, aided with extra leverage from his cornerpeople, who then followed it up with a Sharpshooter for good measure, -smashed through a table by the Nature Boy in a mocking imiation of the Elbow Drop, -bashed over the head with the steel ring steps by Jake, -taking a fireball from Blassie straight to the face when he was starting to shake all that off, after which Jake then pulled the cobra bag from under the ring to finish him off, although luckily Hulk appeared to break that up before the bag was opened, -not to mention biased refereeing from Ventura, who moreso than when he reffed the first Summer Slam looked away every time the heels went on the warpath,
shook all this off to still take Flair down for the title (after which the Mega Powers--with a little help from Andre--gave the bad guys plus Ventura a strong taste of their own medicine).
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candyman, you do a great job at writing for this. you gotta come up with something for a bret hart/ric flair showdown for the belt, or what would happen if sting jumped the wcw ship and made it to the wwe around this time period.
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In fact, that was just the end of the dream, because the rest of the card unfolded as well. In order as I saw it:
1) Rick Martel vs. Tito Santana (the continuation of the "Strike Force...EXPLODES!!!" storyline ended with the Model getting the jump on his former partner just as he was about to lose with a blast of Arrogance to the face),
2) Boss Man vs. Rick Rude (the ultimate showdown we never quite got due to Rude's sudden departure from the organization (he was upset he earned less than the Warrior for the Summer Slam '90 main event), with the Boss Man ultimately avenging his mother, and then inviting her out of the audience to join in the post-match beat-down of the Ravishing One),
3) Andre and Tugboat vs. Earthquake & King Kong Bundy (too bad we never got this kind of king-sized matchup with all the huge guns; in the meantime, the Giant also got the payback he never got to have in real life against Earthquake, risking the full-on dive off the top rope to finish the Walking Natural Disaster--but all but destroying the ring in the process. Once they got it repaired following intermission...),
4) Jim Duggan vs. Yokozuna (unfortunately, not all American heroes can win all the time, as Yoko as in their actual feud proved a hair too much, finishing him with 3 straight Banzai Drops, although Hacksaw got in a few cracks with the 2 X 4 afterwards for some payback),
5) Tag Title Match: Rockers (champions) vs. "Mega Mercenaries" Sheik & Volkoff (of the teams that never did get to wear the title in the Golden Age, the Rockers always seemed the most worthy, and they managed a good defense here--and a quick one, losing their patience after Volkoff again went too long singing the Soviet anthem and jumping them from behind, pinning them in about 10 seconds and leaving an irate Blassie to chase his men back up the aisle waving his cane murderously),
6) Fabulous Rougeaus vs. New Foundation, Anvil & Owen (a battle for Canada's honor despite Jacques & Raymond's assertion that they're now All-American Boys (and Neidhart is a Californian by birth). Despite their usual cheating tactics all through the match, their plans ultimately backfired when Owen ducked at the last minute to avoid a blow from Jacques with Jimmy's megaphone, taking out Raymond instead. Jacques then felt the full brunt of a Hart Attack, with Owen adding his own special touch of leaping to the top rope on the opposite side of the ring and moonsaulting back over to knock Jacques down for the pin),
7) British Bulldog vs. Undertaker (the original villainous Western Mortician Undertaker, which I still feel is his best incarnation. And despite a strong effort from Davey Boy, His Undeadness ultimately shook him off for a Tombstone and the victory, although Mathilda chased he and Bearer out of the ring before they could bodybag him),
8) Bret Hart vs Jake Roberts (I'm sure this would be a dream matchup for any fan, given I don't think they ever did meet. A back forth full-tilt affair between them, but Bret got the drop on the Snake in the end, slipping out of the DDT under Jake's legs, pulling him down, and twisting him into the Sharpshooter for the submission),
9) Million Dollar Belt title match: Roddy Piper vs. Ted DiBiase (featuring all of Ted's henchpeople (Virgil, Sherri, Jimmy, Irwin) in his corner for aid. Despite that, Roddy gives him his all, forcing Ted to ultimately resort to giving him a taste of Jimmy's megaphone when the ref's back was turned to ensure he kept his title, although Roddy then got the last laugh on the Million Dollar Corporation (of sorts) by summoning a squad of angry bagpipers from the back to chase them out of the ring),
10) Honky Tonk Man vs. Brutus Beefcake (no title on the line here unlike Wrestlemania IV. Brutus almost finished his foe with a sleeper, only to have Jimmy yank his legs out from under him at the last second, allowing the Honky Tonk Man, perhaps acting on instict since he always went for the DQ as Intercontinental champ, to grab his guitar and let him have it over the head for the disqualification loss),
11) 12-man tag team, no disqualification, falls-count anywhere: Demolition-Bushwhackers-Legion of Doom vs. Powers of Pain-Power & Glory-Nasty Boys (they took the falls-count-anywhere dictum to the T, going at it all over the arena and then some, the highlight perhaps coming when the Barbarian flung Butch over the counter of a concession stand in the lobby and tried to press his face into the hot dog grill, only to have Butch break out with an elbow to the chest, then fend off his foe by squirting him in the face with a Diet Coke sprayer. This one finally ended in a bathroom, with Animal bashing Hercules over the head with a metal garbage can, after which his teammates held off the rest of the heels until the ref could get into position for a 3-count),
12) Intercontinental match: Mr. Perfect (champion) vs. Ricky Steamboat (the Dragon burned the champ in the end after Perfect decided to PerfectPlex him too close to the ropes, as Steamboat then grabbed the top rope before he could be impacted, slammed Perfect face first to the mat with his feet, then climbed all the way up to the top rope, kicking Heenan away when the Brain tried to pull him down, and delivering the flying tackle to finish the champ),
13) Junkyard Dog vs. Adrian Adonis (with Adonis combining his Big Bad Biker and Flaming Gay gimmicks. Not quite as exciting as the other match, the Dog finishing the Adorable One with a simple small package in the end),
14) World title match: Flair (champion) vs. Savage (apparently it was originally slated Flair-Hulk, but all the heels had apparently ganged up to put Hulk out of commission to preserve the title a few weeks prior, Monsoon mentioned on the commentary. As noted in the prior post, though, Hulk showed up at the end to stop Jake from unleashing the cobra on his partner, and Savage, after taking everything mentioned before, snapped back to it just as Blassie was preparing to let Elizabeth, being painfully held still by Sherri after trying to prevent Jake's cobra onslaught, have it in the face with his cane (to teach her a lesson, he snarled before swinging back for the blow, that nobody, especially not a woman, upstaged him in the ring and got away with it). After giving Blassie some pain himself with the cane, Savage delivered Flair harsh bodyblows, then delivered the Elbow Drop--although Flair got the knees up to break it up and grabbed the tights so the two of them dramatically rolled around the ring from the force of the jump, repeatedly switching positions, until they finally came to rest with Savage on top, and Blassie proved a split second too late running in to stop the 3-count, although in his despair he did grab the belt as it was being presented and tried to run out with it, but unfortunately ran staight into Andre, who made good sure he returned it to its rightful owner, then joined the Mega Powers in punishing Venutra and the heels good (a Savage Elbow Drop, followed by a Hulk Leg Drop with his good leg, after which Andre straight up splashed all 5 of them).
[ 01. June 2011, 19:17: Message edited by: Chris the CandyFanMan ]
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just watched hulk hogan interview with the voice on hdnet. it was good.
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