What if Hart just accepted a clean loss, butterflying away the Montreal Screwjob?
Per Hart's account of events leading up to Survivor Series he was willing to lose to Michaels if McMahon requested it up to mid-October, even after their backstage fight. Michaels told him he would not do the same and led to Hart's refusal. Michaels refutes this, of course, but other sources do backup the claim that Michaels would refuse to lose.
I do think that there comes a point during 1997 where Michaels becomes totally burned out and so pathetic that he's pitiable. When you're burned out and head strong you're liable to say stupid things. Saying anything else, maybe he does go over clean. On the other hand, Michaels did get a clump of his hair ripped out, maybe that was his point of no return.
There are other options to either Hart or Michaels agreeing to lose clean but still not going the OTL screwjob route. Hart had indicated separately that he would be willing to lose to Michaels, but not in Canada; or, that he would be willing to lose to anyone else, anywhere. I think Austin was specifically mentioned, but he was still coming off his neck injury at SummerSlam* and McMahon already had a mind to crown Austin at WrestleMania. The Undertaker seems a possibility, wins the title back from Hart at Survivor Series and then drops it to Michaels at the December PPV or at the Royal Rumble.
There's also the option that Hart thought was going to go down, D-Generation X and The Hart Foundation both do run-ins and the match is thrown out with Hart vacating the title the next night at
Raw in Ottawa. This was allegedly the plan from multiple sources until Triple H went all Iago on a call between McMahon, Michaels and others (I think Gerry Brisco and Pat Patterson specifically). Part of me does wonder though did McMahon really have any intention of letting someone voluntarily vacate his world title before going south.
Whatever the route, even if there's no Montreal Screwjob and Hart bids goodbye to the WWF fans in Ottawa I can really see Bischoff et al. parading out on
Nitro with Canadian flags. This might still burn bridges between Hart and McMahon. A more immediate change might come at Starrcade, since it was trying to recreate Montreal that gave Hogan the opportunity to make it look like he beat Sting clean and piss on 18 months worth of build. Hogan would always have the means and motive to do this, but without doing the false finish he might not get his opening.
I'm actually planning on doing No Montreal Screwjob as a POD in a similar piece to my better invasion TLIAW from last year, so I think about this a lot.
*Underrated as a POD in and of itself. Austin had to change his whole in-ring style as a result, it sort of wrecked his relationship with Owen Hart and as a result stymied the younger Hart brother's career (with all the consequences that might have had), Austin was out from November 1999 to September 2000 in order to get some long overdue surgery (The Rock filling in as top babyface and Triple H becoming the biggest heel in the industry in his absence), and Austin retired from in-ring in 2003 at the age of 38 (aside from a brief return this year). It's not exactly out of the realms of possibility for Austin to avoid this injury and still be wrestling full time well into the 2010s.
1. What if Vince McMahon wasn’t able to get Hulk Hogan back from AWA in 1983?
This is an interesting one, McMahon was set on national expansion so it's likely he'd try to find another figurehead. Sgt. Slaughter was the next obvious face, other options are Paul Orndorff, The Junkyard Dog, or Roddy Piper. Some people mention Kerry von Erich although it seems unlikely that he would leave World Class in 1983-4, he was also completely unstable and would never have survived on the WWF touring schedule. None of them are as big a star as Hogan. OTL, McMahon almost went bankrupt by expanding too quickly and betting everything on Wrestlemania. It's possible that without Hogan, he fails. When he bought the WWF there was a clause that if he failed to make scheduled repayments the company would revert to the ownership of Vince Sr. and Gorilla Monsoon. Or he could just expand slowly, which will give the territorial system some breathing space.
Apparently the two backup options McMahon was considering were Kerry von Erich, as mentioned, and Jimmy Snuka. The latter presents plenty of issues that were already present. As for von Erich, he could get to the top but it'd be difficult to keep him there for one reason or another (pulling him away from home, his own personal demons, and pater Fritz no doubt trying to weasel his way into that sweet New York money). So, the Texas Tornado might get Vince where he needed for the first WrestleMania... but might not get him to where he wanted for WrestleMania III. Having to replace your star attraction early on might actually be a blessing in disguise for the Fed, since they might not have the same trouble they did trying to crown a replacement to Hogan OTL. A little variation in the top of the card and less obsession about a dominant Top Guy be it Hogan, Austin, Cena or Reigns might actually be beneficial.
On the other side of this, AWA still have Hulk Hogan. He's still oozing with charisma and has a unique, head-turning look. The AWA also presumably still has Gene Okerlund, Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura and Wendi Richter. Keep in mind too that the catalyst for the Rock 'n' Wrestling wasn't Hogan but a feud between Cyndi Lauper and Lou Albano that led to an MTV special where each of them managed a wrestler (Fabulous Moolah for Albano, and Wendi Richter for Lauper).
If Von Erich is The Guy and eventually goes back to WCCW within a couple years then the Dallas the promotion now has wrestling's hottest star. Well, maybe tied for hottest with Hogan. Imagine Fritz Von Erich and Jerry Jarrett still going in on a joint promotion headlined originally by Kerry coming off his WWF run and Jerry Lawler. Could actually make a fourth national promotional viable.
Yes, fourth. The other player not talked about is whoever manages to latch onto the Ted Turner empire. Be it Mid-South or Jim Crockett. Why not both? OTL they were done for and had to be sold to the Turner Empire after McMahon fucked them over with Starrcade 1987 by running Survivor Series on the same day and telling any PPV providers who ran the JCP event that they'd not get the WWF one nor would they get next year's WrestleMania. However, as mentioned, maybe WrestleMania III isn't quite as big as it was OTL without Hogan/Andre. Maybe Vince lacks the clout for this threat to have as big an impact, or maybe he lacks the cojones to even make the threat in the first place.
Would be great if the four national promotions last into the cable TV boom of the 1990s! The nights we wouldn't have wrestling we'd have
Star Trek.
11. What if Goldberg had not injured Bret?
This happened? Never seen Bret bring it up before.
The prospect of Bret Hart wrestling beyond 2000 is an enticing one. He's not going to WWF/E right away given his history, so can expect him on the Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Scott Steiner, Sting circuit doing things like WWA. When a competitor is formed (an alternate TNA, continuing WWA, or whatever) he seems the best choice to be Top Guy there. Even "the best" is underselling it since he'd be a bloody great choice. Maybe them Jarrett Boys realise this from the off and bring him in before it even starts. Maybe having to appease Bret causes some things to change like not adopting Vince Russo's proposal name of TNA as a play on T&A.
They're still going to have their problems money wise, but imagine a *TNA with Bret Hart on top, maybe his status brings in other potential headliners like Sting, Savage, Shamrock whilst still having JJ. You'd presumably still have the X Division as well as tags and women's divisions actually given time and care. They could be in a lot better a place by 2006, when...
16. What if Chris Jericho or Goldberg was the mystery signing for TNA in 2006, and not Kurt Angle?
I doubt they'd be able to afford Goldberg for long. Jericho in some ways might be a better choice than Angle. Angle unfortunately only went to TNA after WWE told him it was either enter rehab or they'd fire him. Jericho had been gone from WWE for a year at that point, if his entry into TNA is anything like his return to WWE in 2007 with the same viral marketing techniques it could easily become one of the most interesting things in wrestling before he even shows up.
Since Christian is already there you've got an instant feud opportunity and neither of those two Canadians every really had issues with putting younger guys over.
Of course, WWE could always lure people back with money. Jericho left WWE on far better terms in 2005 than he did in 2018.
