If you missed the first re-write on Wrestlemania IX, click here: http://old.lastwordonsports.com/2013/03/19/re-writing-wrestlemania-ix/.
Wrestling tournaments are an interesting device. For independent wrestling bookers it’s usually the easiest way to get good matches by having the same guy wrestle three times on your card (and if he is too timid to ask for more pay, the cheapest). For most of us, wrestling tournament memories come from the King of the Ring in the WWE, which used to be an annual Pay Per View until 2002. King of the Ring is now just pulled out any time the writing team needs to fill time like the way they do with Beat the Clock matches among other things.
For a lot of pro wrestling fans, tournaments add an alternative sports legitimacy to professional wrestling. Instead of the boxing style belt that can be won any time it is put on the line, winning a tournament tends to be an annual award similar to winning the Masters or the Super Bowl. You won it and nobody can take it away from you that year. It’s because of this that the King of the Ring event in particular was treated like a springboard for wrestlers to become bigger stars. Some went on to challenge for the World Title shortly after (Owen Hart), some won the World Title shortly after (Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle) and some simply received that extra attention their career had needed (Steve Austin, Edge). The most memorable King of the Ring is of course when Steve Austin became “Stone Cold” as it launched him to becoming one of the most recognizable wrestling names in the history of the sport. But what about the least memorable? Or in a better term, which of the events was forcefully forgotten?
Looking through the history of the King of the Ring, it starts all the way back to 1985. Pretty much all of the King of the Ring events between 1985 and 1991, aside from Harley Race and Randy Savage’s, were forgettable events. However, nobody forgot them because they were inherently bad. They just weren’t advertised as much as when the event became a Pay Per View unto itself in 1993. The television events for 2006, 2008 and 2010 had their ups and downs. Booker T became King Booker and won his last WWE championship. William Regal’s win was in the middle of his strongest push ever, but a drug violation derailed it. Sheamus’ felt like a punishment more than anything. Ken Shamrock defeating The Rock in 1998 seemed strange at the time but Shamrock needed the win more than The Rock. Billy Gunn winning in 1999 became the butt (get it? Ass man? Butt? Nevermind) of an Edge joke and it became fun to say a wrestler was going to “Billy Gunn” something to ruin afterwards. But Billy Gunn at least on paper had top star potential. Why did Mabel win in 1995?
1995 was a bad year for the WWF. The company was running on “Diesel Power” and trying to promote the “New Generation” as most of their top old stars moved to World Championship Wrestling or the independents. The roster was thin and despite Bam Bam Bigelow’s high profile match against Lawrence Taylor in the main event of Wrestlemania XI, the company decided to turn him babyface and team with Diesel against the Million Dollar Corporation instead of participating at the King of the Ring as the top heel. This left a spot open for SummerSlam as to who was going to face Diesel. Bret Hart was the number two babyface but he had his hands tied with Jerry Lawler in a stupid “Kiss my Foot” match. So how thin was the roster?
WWF Talent in June 1995
The Brooklyn Brawler, Bret Hart, Luke and Butch, The Undertaker, I.R.S., Tatanka, Owen Hart, Barry Horowitz, Fatu, Razor Ramon, Bob Backlund, Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, Jerry Lawler, Lex Luger, Moe, Mabel, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, 1-2-3 Kid, Adam Bomb, Diesel, Jean Pierre LaFitte, Tom Pritchard, Jimmy Del Ray, Savio Vega, Bob Holly, Duke Droese, The British Bulldog, King Kong Bundy, Aldo Montoya, Henry Godwinn, Hakushi, Skip, Rad Radford, Man Mountain Rock, The Roadie, Jacob and Eli Blu, Sid Vicious, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Troy and Travis of Tekno Team 2000
My challenges for the tournament are:
- Diesel, Bam Bam Bigelow, Sid Vicious, Tatanka, Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler are unavailable.
- Razor Ramon is unavailable due to his injury on June 9
- Owen Hart will not take part as he won in 1994
Before I start, how did 1995 go? The Pay Per View on June 25 kicked off with Savio Vega (winning Razor Ramon’s spot by beating I.R.S. and being accompanied by Razor) defeating Yokozuna by countout. The Roadie beat Bob Holly in a match nobody cared about. Shawn Michaels fought Kama to a countout for some inexplicable reason. Mabel defeated Undertaker (they were pretty serious in pushing Mabel). For the semi-finals, Vega defeated Roadie and Mabel received a bye due to the time limit draw between Kama and HBK. In the main event (which ECW caused a ton of attention for themselves in the crowd), Mabel defeated Savio Vega, became King Mabel and had his push die at SummerSlam.
Pitiful.
I could go on and on about this pay per view. First of all, look at the talent involved. Without even changing a single wrestler I could have Yokozuna win the King of the Ring. Yoko was a former WWF World Champion for over a year and would be easy to make look dominant against Diesel. HBK and Taker, while babyfaces, could have also won the tournament. However, I’m going to go in a different direction.
New King of the Ring 1995 Quarterfinal Matches
Yokozuna vs. Savio Vega
Shawn Michaels vs. The Roadie
Kama vs. British Bulldog
Lex Luger vs. King Kong Bundy
Yokozuna would first defeat Savio Vega in a match where Ramon tried to help in his corner. Shenanigans and all that. Shawn Michaels would beat The Roadie, foreshadowing his match against Jarrett at In Your House. British Bulldog would beat Kama, taking out a member of the Million Dollar Corporation. Finally, Luger would beat King Kong Bundy in a test of strength.
HBK would then face Yokozuna in a match where he gets knocked all over the ring. HBK would appear to hurt himself but still beat the sumo. Prior to Bulldog/Luger, Ted Dibiase would show up to HBK getting iced and tell him that the only way he’s going to win the KOTR and face his best friend would be if he accepts the help of the Million Dollar Corporation. HBK doesn’t give them an answer.
The next semifinals match would take place as the Allied Powers show mutual respect for each other. With the match looking down the middle and equal between the two, Kama and Bundy would come out from backstage. What at first looks like that they’ll attack both men, they instead only attack Davey Boy Smith. Luger doesn’t seem to see the beatdown, picks up Davey and makes him give up to the Torture Rack. HBK vs. Luger.
Before the KOTR finals (and likely after a terribly unfunny match between Lawler and Hart), Luger meets with HBK and asks him if he can finish the King of the Ring. HBK says he can. Luger questions whether Ted DiBiase is going to get involved again and HBK says he threw that “rich scumbag” out of his locker room. Luger looks suspicious. Onto the finals. HBK plays the hurt babyface in peril the entire match, tugging the heartstrings of the fans. Luger hits HBK hard yet shows some remorse for beating up a hurting opponent. Soon after, Ted DiBiase comes out to the ring with Kama, Bundy, Tatanka, Sid and I.R.S. Vince would be going crazy here, wondering if HBK was going to turn his back on the World Wrestling Federation. Luger, seeing the Corporation, would soon toss HBK to the outside where he gets the boots of the Corporation. Tossed back in, Luger would win with a torture rack where HBK is in too bad of condition to even tap. Tatanka would embrace Luger with a big hug as he’d be the new King of the Ring and the newest member of the Million Dollar Corporation.
It’s important to note that Lex Luger’s contract was up after SummerSlam. Much of that was unhappiness with how his push went. Luger also ran an angle with Tatanka where it seemed like Luger was going to turn to the Million Dollar Corporation but they instead had it be Tatanka. That angle really felt like Luger was going to turn heel but they pulled the bait and switch. While Luger had been working with British Bulldog in the Allied Powers at this time, he was still popular enough to be in the main event.
Unlike KOTR 95, this would be the main event. Diesel and Bam Bam would have already beaten Sid and Tatanka. Bam Bam, Diesel and Bulldog run in for the save but only get enough licks in to get Shawn out of the ring. The coronation ceremony would include Luger receiving a robe in black and green, instead of the usual gold and purple. DiBiase would exclaim he can even buy a king. On the microphone, Luger would state that the World Wrestling Federation turned their backs on him at Wrestlemania X. He’d say that back when Tatanka became a member of the Corporation, he hated him for it but then realized later there’s nothing more American than loving money. He hadn’t received a title shot since last year and now, as King of the Ring, Luger was going to bring the WWF World Championship to the Million Dollar Corporation.
So now you have set up not only SummerSlam being Luger vs. Diesel but you have a brand new main event at In Your House 2 where Diesel, Bam Bam and Bulldog can take on Sid, Luger and Tatanka. Shawn is now an even bigger babyface than he was before, getting so close to becoming King of the Ring. At SummerSlam, if Luger leaves, Diesel looks like a hero for taking out the traitor. If he stays, he can take the title off of Diesel, finally ending a boring title run and allowing us to finally see Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger at Survivor Series.
One More Idea
The Luger heel turn likely should have happened in 1994, not 1995. You can run the same scenario with Luger joining the Million Dollar Corporation, leading to Bret vs. Luger at SummerSlam 94. This allows Owen Hart to pick up some wins in the midcard as a heel and not be rushed so fast to the main event. That way, when Owen Hart does win the King of the Ring in 1995, he can feud with Bret Hart and they’d have all the time in the world to wrestle without the WWF World Title involved. That way, Bret isn’t squabbling with Jerry Lawler in a truly disappointing feud.
While some might cringe at the idea of having Lex Luger in the main event again, Luger was indeed over with the WWF audience. With a heel turn, Luger would have received unquestionable heat with the audience. Whether in 1994 or 1995, Lex Luger would have been valuable for the WWF main event as a heel, a perfect foil for Diesel, Bret or anyone else who comes to challenge him. Instead, we got King Mabel, who never worked another main event after SummerSlam 95 for being reckless and just not popular.
If that doesn’t work for you, you could always just amp up the wrestling by adding Owen, Jarrett and IRS instead of Luger, Bundy and Kama. In this way, you’d get instant wrestling classics.
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