The scary thing about this is that the ship can still be righted at this point.
The Cornette Call: A Pro Wrestling Timeline
- Thread starter Megafighter3
- Start date
Why would they go with that specific spot and story? The whole reason for the Finger Poke of Doom was that it was more or less a heel turn for both Nash and Hogan at the time, and existed just to bring back the nWo a good year after they stopped being relevant as essentially a desperate gamble to beat RAW in the ratings. Given the changes to the booking for both HBK, Nash and indeed the Outsiders I don't see the plot going the exact same way. Not to mention IIRC the Finger Poke was on a Nitro, not a PPV. I can't see them cutting the PPV a good 20 minutes short. On top of that, you have to take into account the personalities differences between Hogan and Michaels. Shawn is insanely proud of his in-ring skill and his ability to deliver in big match situations, while Hogan is at most merely indifferent. So I can't really see HBK willingly doing a non-match just to set up a heel turn.
Because it's not about the story for the Kliq. It's not about face or heel or business. It's about doing what they want when they want. It's about ego. They basically did the Fingerpoke because they could, because Bischoff would let them do it. They probably sold Bischoff on how no one would see it coming and they're right. No one could have seen this coming. Plus, this could be a long-game jab at Vince for how he reacted to the Curtain Call. "Look at us, Vince! You got mad at us hugging on a house show? We'll take a look at this!" This is basically the Kliq reinforcing their boy's club at the top.
But again why would that specific spot pop into their head at all? Why would a guy like HBK go for that? To him, a show of power is either refusing a job at the last second or a lot of times making the other guy look like a moron in the ring. It just seems strange they'd go with a plan that IIRC was started by Bischoff. Honestly, the more likely situation is like the HBK/HHH "match" for the European title where they fucked around for two minutes doing fake crisis cross spots before HBK laid down for the three and then jumped right up.
I'm not doubting they'd have a joke match to prove something, I'm just wondering why it's literally the exact same spot used in OTL.
I have honestly never heard anyone pin the Fingerpoke on Bischoff. At most, they point to him giving the audible for Schiavone to bury Foley, but not the Fingerpoke.
Neither have I heard or seen someone do this to Eric, but pinning it on him is probably how the fandom sees Eric Bischoff, even though at the end of the day, Eric wasn't the omniscient micromanager of booking that everyone would think he would be. Gotta remember that at this point in otl, Kevin Nash himself is the head of the booking committee. So its very easy that if Kevin. Shawn, or Trips are on that committee ittl, their conversation with Eric probably went like this:
Eric: Shawn's gonna poke you in the chest and win the title. Then what?
Kevin: Then we get the band back together on the back of Goldberg. Bill goes away for a couple months and then goes on a tear to kill us.
Eric: Okay, do your thing.
Royal Rumble 1999: Part 1
15k in the Anaheim Pond in California, geared up for the Royal Rumble with five other matches leading into that.
We'll find out at the end of the Royal Rumble.
15k in the Anaheim Pond in California, geared up for the Royal Rumble with five other matches leading into that.
- Heat: D'Lo Brown/2 Cold Scorpio d. Too Much.
- Heat: Big Bossman d. Mabel.
- WWF Light Heavyweight: Christian (w/Edge) d. Jeff Hardy (w/Matt Hardy) The Hardys continue to go against the Brood, Jeff taking the fall to the Unprettier. Edge spears Matt again because that's always fun.
- WWF European: Gangrel d. Lance Storm (w/Chris Candido) Coming off their tag run, Storm and Candido try to claim singles gold, but they're overwhelmed by the Brood, Storm falling to the Impaler.
- WWF Tag: Mankind/Al Snow d. The Headbangers (Mosh/Puke) in a No DQ Match. We get some fun hardcore brawling with the Headbangers looking to claim the tag belts against the team of Foley and Snow but Puke takes the Snowplow followed by a Mandible Claw as the hardcore friends keep.
- WWF IC: Jeff Jarrett (w/Jim Cornette) d. Billy Gunn (w/Road Dogg) Billy gets a shot here and continues the anti-gimmick thing. "Real though bastard. But he calls himself a cowboy and now he just shakes his butt around, you ain't-a wrestler, Billy. You're just a New York punchline!" Road Dogg adds tot eh fun of being the former Roadie, maybe bring up that Jarrett used to be a country music singer, which rankles Double J. Figure Four to Billy Gunn wraps this up. It's not a big name to put against the new IC champion, but it sells the gimmick well.
- WWF World: Ken Shamrock d. Dr. Death Steve Williams. I was considering having him drop to the Rock, but a few thoughts crossed my mind, most importantly that I didn't want Rocky to suffer a transitional reign by having him drop two months later at WrestleMania, so let's throw Dr. Death at Shamrock because that sounds like fun. Dr. Death has mainly been working on TV, but he's been dominant in that role (and he didn't suffer an injury at the hands of Bart Gunn in a godawful shootfighting tournament ITTL, yay!) so we can sell him as a #1 contender to Shamrock. We get that good stiff fun that daddy like and Shamrock gets him in the ankle lock. Can anyone beat this man?! Who's going to face the World's Most Dangerous Man at WrestleMania?!
We'll find out at the end of the Royal Rumble.
Royal Rumble 1999: Part 2
And let's get to the Rumble!
#1: Stone Cold Steve Austin
#2: Bret Hart
Kicking off with Austin and Hart locking up. The two go for a few minutes before the next entrant comes out.
#3: Golga
Golga comes in and the two stop their fight and work together on trying to toss the big freak out.
#4: Headbanger Puke
Puke makes his way in to join in the group tossing Golga out.
#5: Edge
And here comes Edge to give them the edge needed to finally get Golga out of the ring (30, Golga) before going right after Puke. Bret and Austin continue their fight.
#6: Gillberg
Who's first? Well, Golga, but I guess Gillberg is second, getting chucked out by Edge and Puke (29, Gillberg)
#7: Steve Blackman
Blackman goes in after Puke and Edge.
#8: Dan Severn.
Severn breaks Blackman off, so we have Austin/Hart, Edge/Puke and Severn/Blackman
#9: Tiger Ali Singh.
Goes after Edge and Puke, but gets sent out immediately. (28, Singh)
#10: The Blue Meanie
Hey! It's ECW's The Blue Meanie! He does some comedy dancing for the crowd before getting hit with a Stunner by Austin and clotheslined out. (27, Meanie)
#11: Headbanger Mosh
I just don't have any use for Mabel in a Rumble, so we give this spot to Mosh as the Headbangers double team Edge.
#12: Road Dogg
Road Dogg goes after the Headbangers, making a tentative alliance with Edge to fight them off.
#13: Gangrel
And the alliance is shut down as the Brood come together on the Headbangers, pushing Road Dogg aside.
#14: Kurrgan
The Headbangers, The Brood and Road Dogg all work together to toss another Oddity out. (26, Kurrgan) before splitting off again.
#15: Al Snow
One half of the tag team champions, Snow goes charging in, leaving Head in Mankind's capable hands. Al goes right after Road Dogg. Blackman gets tossed out by Severn (25, Blackman) but this ring is still pretty full...
#16: Goldust
Goldust, feeling a bit bold and gold, goes right after Severn. Currently, we have Bret/Austin, Goldust/Severn, Brood/Headbangers and Snow/Dogg (Snow Doggs?)
#17: The Godfather
Pimps Up! We have a loaded ring here, we're gonna need to clean it up a bit.
#18: Kane
Here we go! Kane joins up with the Brood, tossing out the Headbangers (24, Mosh) (23, Puke) and they work to send out Severn (22, Severn) and follow up with a chokeslam to get rid of Godfather (21, Godfather)
Kane goes after Goldust now while Snow Doggs put their fight on Hold to keep the Brood at bay.
#19: The Rock
Because of course, Shamrock isn't in the Rumble, so we have the Rock coming in, getting involved in the ongoing Bret/Austin battle.
#20: Billy Gunn
Billy Gunn jumps Mankind in the back before he enters, taking Head and crushing it. This freaks Al out and causing him to wild on the Road Dogg, Billy running for the ring to help out his tag partner. Together, they toss out Al (20, Snow) before they go to work with the Brood.
#21: Test
Test. This is a Test. Test puts himself in the Goldust/Kane fight for now. Fights are Bret/Austin/Rock, Kane/Goldust/Test, and Brood/Outlaws. Loaded Rumble tonight, eh?
#22: Big Boss Man
Boss Man goes after Test, but he gets snuffed out and tossed. (19, Boss Man)
#23: Mankind
The other half of the tag champs, Mankind takes Triple H's spot and gets rid of Test (18, Test) and going for the Rock. Meanwhile, the Outlaws eliminate the Brood (17, Gangrel) (16, Edge) and decide to help Goldust with Kane, though Road Dogg is a casualty of this fight (15, Road Dogg) (14, Kane)
#24: Val Venis
Goes in right after Goldust, helped by Billy Gunn.
#25: Chris Candido
Candido adds to the midcard mix, going after everyone with some quick suplexes.
#26: Mark Henry
HHenry starts tossing around the midcarders for a bit, just bossing the whole thing for a bit and tossing out Candido (13, Candido)
#27: Jeff Jarrett
You'd think Jarrett would be about to eliminate Goldust, given his hatred for it, but Jarrett has a soft spot for Dustin and helps him against Val and Billy.
#28: D'Lo Brown
Comes in to help out Henry as we now have three teams fighting each other: Val/Billy vs. Jarrett/Dustin vs. Henry/D'Lo and still Bret/Austin and Mankind/Rock.
#29: Owen Hart.
Owen comes in to help his brother, putting Austin at a disadvantage. On the other side of things, Mankind is suddenly jumped by Al Snow, screaming about Head as he drags Mick out of the match himself. (12, Mankind) leading Rock to help out Austin against Owen and Bret. A good mix-up with the Harts having feuded with Stone Cold and Rocky quite a few times.
On the other end of the ring, Venis and Gunn getting tossed out (11, Billy) (10, Val) before the Southern wrestlers and the former Nation members mix it up. One more to go...
#30: Hulk Hogan.
You guys probably forgot Hogan was still in the WWF, huh? Yeah, he hasn't been seen since 'Mania, but that's because of difficulties with Vince. He and Vince have been arguing over when to have him return to the ring and Vince has had more interest in other stars (Austin, Rock, Shamrock, Bret, sometimes Foley) over old, broken Hogan. However, we have him come in at the #30 spot instead of Chyna and he goes right through the midcard mix, sending out D'Lo with ease (9, D'Lo) followed by Goldust (8, Goldust) then Jarrett (7, Jarrett) and Mark Henry (6, Henry) sweeping them all aside before clamoring for the main eventer scramble.
Immediately, Owen is sent out by Hogan (5, Owen) and we have a final four. Rock goes right after Hogan himself while Austin and Bret continue their war.
Surprisingly, Hogan gets sent out by the Rock (4, Hogan) before getting dumped out by Austin himself (3, Rock) leaving Austin and Bret, who started this match off, to be the ones to finish it.
We go as long as we can, but then just as Bret's about to come back from being sent over the ropes, Hogan comes back and yanks him right off (2, Bret)
Austin has won his third Rumble in a row! Austin is going to WrestleMania XV! Stone Cold! Cold Stone! Cone Stold!
And let's get to the Rumble!
#1: Stone Cold Steve Austin
#2: Bret Hart
Kicking off with Austin and Hart locking up. The two go for a few minutes before the next entrant comes out.
#3: Golga
Golga comes in and the two stop their fight and work together on trying to toss the big freak out.
#4: Headbanger Puke
Puke makes his way in to join in the group tossing Golga out.
#5: Edge
And here comes Edge to give them the edge needed to finally get Golga out of the ring (30, Golga) before going right after Puke. Bret and Austin continue their fight.
#6: Gillberg
Who's first? Well, Golga, but I guess Gillberg is second, getting chucked out by Edge and Puke (29, Gillberg)
#7: Steve Blackman
Blackman goes in after Puke and Edge.
#8: Dan Severn.
Severn breaks Blackman off, so we have Austin/Hart, Edge/Puke and Severn/Blackman
#9: Tiger Ali Singh.
Goes after Edge and Puke, but gets sent out immediately. (28, Singh)
#10: The Blue Meanie
Hey! It's ECW's The Blue Meanie! He does some comedy dancing for the crowd before getting hit with a Stunner by Austin and clotheslined out. (27, Meanie)
#11: Headbanger Mosh
I just don't have any use for Mabel in a Rumble, so we give this spot to Mosh as the Headbangers double team Edge.
#12: Road Dogg
Road Dogg goes after the Headbangers, making a tentative alliance with Edge to fight them off.
#13: Gangrel
And the alliance is shut down as the Brood come together on the Headbangers, pushing Road Dogg aside.
#14: Kurrgan
The Headbangers, The Brood and Road Dogg all work together to toss another Oddity out. (26, Kurrgan) before splitting off again.
#15: Al Snow
One half of the tag team champions, Snow goes charging in, leaving Head in Mankind's capable hands. Al goes right after Road Dogg. Blackman gets tossed out by Severn (25, Blackman) but this ring is still pretty full...
#16: Goldust
Goldust, feeling a bit bold and gold, goes right after Severn. Currently, we have Bret/Austin, Goldust/Severn, Brood/Headbangers and Snow/Dogg (Snow Doggs?)
#17: The Godfather
Pimps Up! We have a loaded ring here, we're gonna need to clean it up a bit.
#18: Kane
Here we go! Kane joins up with the Brood, tossing out the Headbangers (24, Mosh) (23, Puke) and they work to send out Severn (22, Severn) and follow up with a chokeslam to get rid of Godfather (21, Godfather)
Kane goes after Goldust now while Snow Doggs put their fight on Hold to keep the Brood at bay.
#19: The Rock
Because of course, Shamrock isn't in the Rumble, so we have the Rock coming in, getting involved in the ongoing Bret/Austin battle.
#20: Billy Gunn
Billy Gunn jumps Mankind in the back before he enters, taking Head and crushing it. This freaks Al out and causing him to wild on the Road Dogg, Billy running for the ring to help out his tag partner. Together, they toss out Al (20, Snow) before they go to work with the Brood.
#21: Test
Test. This is a Test. Test puts himself in the Goldust/Kane fight for now. Fights are Bret/Austin/Rock, Kane/Goldust/Test, and Brood/Outlaws. Loaded Rumble tonight, eh?
#22: Big Boss Man
Boss Man goes after Test, but he gets snuffed out and tossed. (19, Boss Man)
#23: Mankind
The other half of the tag champs, Mankind takes Triple H's spot and gets rid of Test (18, Test) and going for the Rock. Meanwhile, the Outlaws eliminate the Brood (17, Gangrel) (16, Edge) and decide to help Goldust with Kane, though Road Dogg is a casualty of this fight (15, Road Dogg) (14, Kane)
#24: Val Venis
Goes in right after Goldust, helped by Billy Gunn.
#25: Chris Candido
Candido adds to the midcard mix, going after everyone with some quick suplexes.
#26: Mark Henry
HHenry starts tossing around the midcarders for a bit, just bossing the whole thing for a bit and tossing out Candido (13, Candido)
#27: Jeff Jarrett
You'd think Jarrett would be about to eliminate Goldust, given his hatred for it, but Jarrett has a soft spot for Dustin and helps him against Val and Billy.
#28: D'Lo Brown
Comes in to help out Henry as we now have three teams fighting each other: Val/Billy vs. Jarrett/Dustin vs. Henry/D'Lo and still Bret/Austin and Mankind/Rock.
#29: Owen Hart.
Owen comes in to help his brother, putting Austin at a disadvantage. On the other side of things, Mankind is suddenly jumped by Al Snow, screaming about Head as he drags Mick out of the match himself. (12, Mankind) leading Rock to help out Austin against Owen and Bret. A good mix-up with the Harts having feuded with Stone Cold and Rocky quite a few times.
On the other end of the ring, Venis and Gunn getting tossed out (11, Billy) (10, Val) before the Southern wrestlers and the former Nation members mix it up. One more to go...
#30: Hulk Hogan.
You guys probably forgot Hogan was still in the WWF, huh? Yeah, he hasn't been seen since 'Mania, but that's because of difficulties with Vince. He and Vince have been arguing over when to have him return to the ring and Vince has had more interest in other stars (Austin, Rock, Shamrock, Bret, sometimes Foley) over old, broken Hogan. However, we have him come in at the #30 spot instead of Chyna and he goes right through the midcard mix, sending out D'Lo with ease (9, D'Lo) followed by Goldust (8, Goldust) then Jarrett (7, Jarrett) and Mark Henry (6, Henry) sweeping them all aside before clamoring for the main eventer scramble.
Immediately, Owen is sent out by Hogan (5, Owen) and we have a final four. Rock goes right after Hogan himself while Austin and Bret continue their war.
Surprisingly, Hogan gets sent out by the Rock (4, Hogan) before getting dumped out by Austin himself (3, Rock) leaving Austin and Bret, who started this match off, to be the ones to finish it.
We go as long as we can, but then just as Bret's about to come back from being sent over the ropes, Hogan comes back and yanks him right off (2, Bret)
Austin has won his third Rumble in a row! Austin is going to WrestleMania XV! Stone Cold! Cold Stone! Cone Stold!
There we go! That would've undoubtedly been one hell of a match.
Great Rumble by the look of things. I wonder, is Halftime Heat still a thing ITTL?
I kind of neglected Chyna for a good while ITTL, which really was a mistake on my part, so I guess it's retcon time. The most likely result is that Joanie Lee is part of the Outsiders package as an enforcer for Triple H. Slide her into some of his TV title defenses and have her hit a low blow or a forearm smash to neutralize the opponent. Maybe she does a few matches during the brief return of the women's division. If there's a PPV where she can lose to Hokuto for the Women's title, I'll plug that match in.
It is. Just not sure what match is on there. Maybe Shamrock/Bulldog. Can't really do Rock/Mankind as they don't have a feud going on.
Honestly, this being WCW I could see them hiring her for that role, forgetting to introduce her, never bring her on screen, keep her around backstage for years, then finally fire her, all while paying her somewhere in the ballpark of 200,000 dollars a year.
True. Well, at least her relationship with Triple is steady. No chance of Stephanie McMahon ruining that.
February 1, 1999
Rey Misterio Jr. has announced his departure from World Championship Wrestling. Konnan, who had left with him, attributed the release to "difficulties with upper management" and would elaborate to the problem in shoot interviews down the line.
"Bischoff, he never got lucha. He never understood it and why it was so important. He came to me and Rey, and he told Rey 'We want you to drop the mask.' Rey was confused. He said it would make him more marketable. Shit, dog. You see how much he was making selllin' fucking masks? And you wanna make that money go away? He kept arguing with us on this and I said 'You wanna make him more marketable? Put a fucking belt on him!' Bischoff wouldn't go for it, man. So we walked."
Rey Misterio Jr. has announced his departure from World Championship Wrestling. Konnan, who had left with him, attributed the release to "difficulties with upper management" and would elaborate to the problem in shoot interviews down the line.
"Bischoff, he never got lucha. He never understood it and why it was so important. He came to me and Rey, and he told Rey 'We want you to drop the mask.' Rey was confused. He said it would make him more marketable. Shit, dog. You see how much he was making selllin' fucking masks? And you wanna make that money go away? He kept arguing with us on this and I said 'You wanna make him more marketable? Put a fucking belt on him!' Bischoff wouldn't go for it, man. So we walked."
Best decision rey can make. Go to mexico, work for paco or AAA for a few, come back when vince comes calling. Preserve your gimmick and avoid all the shit down south