Yeah the sad part about 1988 was that Rick Steiner WAS under consideration to win the title not Luger....

 

Sting could've come back and still got his title shot where he & Luger went in as faces but Sting beat him and Luger snapping going back heel again.

I thought the story was that Flair was refusing to put Luger over at Starrcade and then Dusty wanted to go with Rick Steiner beating Flair in under five minutes as a sort of FU to his refusal. Push came to shove and Dusty got canned. What was it that happened then (so I can get the right story of events)?

I thought the story was that Flair was refusing to put Luger over at Starrcade and then Dusty wanted to go with Rick Steiner beating Flair in under five minutes as a sort of FU to his refusal. Push came to shove and Dusty got canned. What was it that happened then (so I can get the right story of events)?

 

That's what I recall reading as well. Was Steiner ever the "plan" or anything more than a hotshot option to punish Flair?

Yeah but the fact that Dusty even thought about Steiner rather than just booking Luger to win was ridiculous at that time.

Luger wasn't even going to be in the main event originally. He was put in after the match was changed because Jim Herd decided Flair needed to beat someone cleanly.

Wasn't part of the reason Dusty chose Rick Steiner was because he was a shooter and could do things the hard way if Flair refused to do it the easy way?

 

Regarding Flair going over Luger at Starrcade '88, wasn't that Larry Matysik's idea who had Jim Herd's ear at the time?

Yes and yes.

I would have had Diamond Dallas Page end Goldberg's Streak at Halloween Havoc after reversing the Jackhammer into the Diamond Cutter.

 

A big one that I have thought about a lot & that could probably be a good conversation: Make Tito Santana the top dog in WWF, instead of Bret Hart (and don't to the El Matador gimmick change) -- target the Hispanic fans instead of Canadian fans. Not that Bret wasn't good but I always wonder how it would have panned out differently. Without Bret on top, there's no Bret/Austin at 'Mania probably, no Montreal Screwjob, etc.

 

Also, Brock Lesnar's Extreme Rules comeback match against John Cena he 100% most definitely should have won. Cena winning that match made zero fucking sense.

Luger wasn't even going to be in the main event originally. He was put in after the match was changed because Jim Herd decided Flair needed to beat someone cleanly.

 

Luger's original opponent on that show was Dr. Death.....who basically left the promotion shortly after that.

Before I contribute with my convoluted mess, I will just say I really like khawk's idea of a Jim Brunzell return in 89. Dylan's idea of Tajiri as ECW champ is definitely better than a Justin Credible reign.

 

In The Undertaker's last real run before becoming a WrestleMania attraction, he disappeared due to a "mysterious" attacker and Kane went around for a while searching for the attacker before revealing that it was him. Before they did the Kane reveal, I thought it would be a neat twist to have them reveal Luke Gallows as the other son of Paul Bearer, the half brother of Kane. He even had the back story as fake Kane which he could reveal was his first attempt to attack The Brothers of Destruction. My original idea had them sticking to the kayfabe death of Paul Bearer, but he ended up returning so they could have even had Paul Bearer be the guy behind it all, looking for revenge against The Undertaker for "killing" him and Kane for not avenging him.

Just wanted to thank everybody here for the suggestions - the show is now available to listen to over in the Publications and Podcasts forum, or you can find it in my sig, as we talked about:

 

- Who should have ran over Steve Austin?
- Who should have ended Goldberg and Undertaker's Streaks?
- Who should have gotten Bob Backlund's title runs?
- How should Warrior's WWF Title reign have been saved?
- Who should have been a Horseman instead of Paul Roma?
- Who should have been the Black Scorpion?
- Who should have been the Higher Power?
- Should Ted DiBiase have won the WWF Title at Mania 4?

 

And a shit load of others that we got...

The main event of Starrcade 94 probably would have been better served being Vader vs Hogan instead of The Butcher vs The Hulkster. Give Vader the big win and then have Hogan start doubting himself instead of being such an unover super babyface for the entirety of 95. Hogan could even get his win back at Bash at the Beach 95 after going through some Dungeon of Doom guys while Vader could wrestle Sting and Dustin and others at PPVs and Clashes. It probably would have softened the WCW fans hatred of Hogan if they saw that he was willing to play ball and actually put over WCW's homegrown talent instead of turning it into a WWF tribute card.

 

It would have also given us a Randy Savage vs Vader match which I can't recall ever happening.

I thought about Luger booking yesterday. Let's say Flair after the Steamboat match and Funk injury vacates the title. Luger picks it up and defends against Steamboat and Pillman on PPV while Flair's matches against Funk become non-title, which half of them are anyway. The Flair/Sting Horsemen angle becomes who should get a shot against Luger, and Luger defending against either becomes a more attractive main event for Starrcade than the Iron Man tournament.

 

So let's say Sting gets the shot against Luger. If Sting wins, Flair turning on Sting for a title shot instantly makes a ton of sense.