What if...

Owen Hart wouldn't have died that infamous night in 1999? Owen (in costume as the Blue Blazer) was scheduled to win the Intercontinental Title that night from the Godfather. The Guru thinks Owen would have eventually become WWE Champion and have become a bigger wrestler than his brother Bret. It would have been tough to get through Austin and the Rock in those days, but maybe the WWE would have done it to stick it to Bret. Owen had a better all around game than Bret did, and definitely had better heel mic skills, so maybe he could have carried the company.

Magnum T.A. hadn't had his car accident? On October 14, 1986, Magnum lost control of his car in the rain and wrapped his Porsche around a telephone pole, leaving the left side of his body paralyzed. This resulted in Nikita Koloff (who he had a big feud with over the U.S. Title) being turned face and wrestling Ric Flair at that year's Starrcade. I don't know if it would have been Magnum that would have wrestled Flair instead, but Magnum was slated to eventually become the NWA Heavyweight Champion. Magnum was over huge as a face, and had the best belly to belly suplex I've seen (not the overhead variety mostly used today). Ronnie Garvin would never have seen the NWA title.

Ric Flair had gone to the WWE in 1988 instead of 1991? According to Flair's book, it would have been Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair at the first SummerSlam for the WWE title. Flair had gotten sick of the way Arn and Tully were getting underpaid and was also upset that then booker Dusty Rhodes was making him look weak as champion. This would have been Savage and Flair at the peaks of their careers, not when they wrestled in the mid 1990's in WCW. Granted, those matches were decent, and when Flair and Savage did meet in 1992 at Wrestlemania VIII, it became the Guru's all time favorite match, but this one may have been even better. If Flair would have left, we wouldn't have had Flair/Steamboat and Flair/Funk in the upcoming months after that. It also may have been the end of the NWA (turning into WCW at that time) right then and there. Speaking of which...

Hogan and Flair would have wrestled at Wrestlemania VIII? This was two plus years before their encounter in WCW at Bash at the Beach. At the time, Hogan had fallen out of favor with Vince with the steroid scandal and had his legendary *cough* retirement match with Sid Justice. The stage would have been bigger, the buildup would have been huge, and even though Flair was slated to lose, this would have been the biggest match on the biggest stage. This one could have been bigger than Hogan/Andre due to who they were. Maybe Flair would have gotten to beat Hogan and win the title back instead of having to deal with politics (or more of them at least) during the 1994 feud he had with the Hulkster.

Arn Anderson had never mentioned the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? This moniker was not planned from the start, but it obviously stuck with Flair, Arn, Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard. Due to them having the titles, each other's backs, a great manager, getting all the women, as well as riding in private jets and limousines, they were the epitome of greatness. Would the steam have been there to fuel future stables like D-X, the New World Order, and Evolution (Flair helped with that, obviously)? I say no. The New World Order is the best heel stable since then, due to the dominance WCW had in the ratings with them at the time (before they watered down and ruined the stable over time). Nothing can be the Horsemen. My best friends are called the Horsemen for a reason. And both stables were helped by having Flair and Hogan, respectively, as their leaders. The name helped make the group even bigger.

The Montreal Screwjob had never occurred? Let's see here. Mr. McMahon would not have been started, Bret could have given up the title the next night on RAW, he could have pulled an Alundra Blayze and dropped the WWE title in a trash can on an episode of Nitro, we wouldn't have had the "Bret screwed Bret" quote, Bret would make more appearances for the company these days, and they wouldn't have been able to do the same thing the next year at Survivor Series. Bret didn't want to drop the title to Shawn in Canada, and that needs to be criticized. For as long of a company man as Bret was, he didn't need to refuse to lose the belt in his home country. Too many egos, too much paranoia, and Vince not being able to pay Bret at the time caused this.

HHH had never married Stephanie McMahon? The Internet wrestling sites would have collapsed. Maybe you wouldn't be reading this post right now. HHH won his first WWE title in 1999, but didn't even marry Stephanie until 2003. He was still dating Chyna at the time of his first title win, so he still would have been a champion. He is the greatest heel champion in WWE history, and they could always come to him to carry the company when another champion wouldn't do as well. He also would have not been in Vince's will. Hogan has pulled more politics and had sweeter deals than HHH has. John Cena and Randy Orton have not been held back by HHH; right now, injuries are holding them back. Give Undertaker a WWE title match against HHH, and people will feel like he has more competition on Smackdown.

The scissors fight would never have occurred? Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious got into a hotel bar scuffle in England and Arn suffered multiple stab wounds. Both wrestlers were taken to the hospital, and Sid eventually got fired due to wrestlers threatening to walk out on the company. This elevated Ric Flair to wrestle Vader, and Flair won the title in his hometown of Charlotte. Hulk Hogan noticed this match, and it planted the seeds for Hogan to eventually come to WCW (thanks to Flair). Who knows if or when we ever would have seen Hogan/Flair, and their 1994 encounter was already too late. Yes, they had house shows in the WWE, but as the Guru says, "If it didn't happen on TV, it never happened." No Hogan in WCW means a possibility of there not being a New World Order, WCW not dominating the ratings, and maybe Vince would have had less reason to tell Bret to go to WCW and two paragraphs above this wouldn't have happened.

No Monday Night Wars? Tuesday Night Nitro doesn't have the same meaning, does it? This is when wrestling was at its best, the product was better due to the competition, and we had the Attitude Era versus the New World Order. WCW had the money to lure big names from the WWE using Billionaire Ted's checkbook, RAW was only live every other week and WCW would give away results (including Tony Schiavone's infamous comments about Mick Foley's first title win) to hit below the belt. Flair and Bischoff's lawsuit against each other led to Flair being off TV, and the tide started to change. Ratings were much higher, and we will never see the same thing again. When TNA starts getting Smackdown ratings, call me. They have to double them and then some. Stone Cold may not have been as big, the Rock may not have been as big, and we probably would have less pay-per-views, since Bischoff started the monthly things.

Ric Flair would never have been able to wrestle again after the plane crash? I wouldn't own two Ric Flair DVD's, Dusty Rhodes would have carried the NWA, Sting wouldn't have been made a star, Barry Windham wouldn't have been made a star, Ricky Steamboat would never had gotten the respect he deserves (and in my opinion, still doesn't until they induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame), no Horsemen, no heel stables, Jim Crockett goes bankrupt, Vince overtakes the world of pro wrestling faster, territories would have collapsed (and did), and the first Wrestlemania would have had Dusty Rhodes wrestling King Kong Bundy. This one would have destroyed the wrestling world. The only good thing (if you can say that) that came out of this was that Flair lost weight (he had tried to become a big powerlifter like Ken Patera) and wouldn't have been a brawler. The pilot was killed, Johnny Valentine was paralyzed, and the other passengers were seriously injured, so I don't mean to sound insensitive.

And last, but not least...

What if Sting had come to the WWE? Does Sting come in the mid 1990's? Is he still blonde instead of crow? I don't know when the Stinger would have come, or if he would have come when they were bought out in 2001, but he does have an interview on YouTube about that. Let's take some names that came from WCW. Dusty Rhodes became the "Common Man" (but a cool ring theme) and wore polka dots. Harley Race became "King" Harley Race. Vader never held the WWE title after jumping ship. Dusty and Harley were done carrying companies/territories; also, the first two came after the apex of their careers (Vader wasn't as much past his prime like the aforementioned two). Lex Luger was pushed, but the Lex Express tanked. Guys who hadn't reached the apex of their careers include Paul Levesque, Mean Mark Callous, and Stunning Steve Austin. These guys now go by HHH, the Undertaker, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, three of the greatest in the history of the WWE, all future Hall of Famers, and got their starts in WCW. Vinnie Vegas became Big Daddy Cool (Diesel) and was a big name when he came back to WCW as Kevin Nash, one half of the Outsiders. You know Razor Ramon/Scott Hall better than the Diamond Studd, don't you? Cactus Jack was a midcard guy in WCW; as Mankind, he was a three-time WWE Champion. If Sting comes because he's sick of Bill Watts being a tyrant, we get our dream Bret Hart/Sting matches (not when the two were later in years in the late 90's). Sting could have been carrying your company instead of Yokozuna. Vince took a guy from Venice Beach, California in Hulk Hogan and profited. Sting had a bazillion times the talent and workrate and was also from Venice Beach. How about Hogan vs. Sting at Wrestlemania VI? That's not counting Sting's knee injury. Bret/Sting at Wrestlemania IX? Sting/HBK at Wrestlemania XI? Even though Sting wouldn't have had Ric Flair (unless he would have come with him in 1991), I am positive Vince would have been able to market Sting and use him the right way. Vince would have been foolish to bury or punish Sting like he supposedly did to other wrestlers.

There you have it, folks. Those are a few questions for you to ponder while you're at home or at work (you're a slacker if you are pondering this at work). The Guru gave me abuse for too many Flair things, but he had an impact on the sport, last time I checked. By he, I mean Ric Flair, not the Guru. The only "What if" question that pertains to the Guru is him being hired by WWE and he was in charge of WWE archives. We'd never see him again, and he'd only have to be fed bread and water. He would look like Steve Carell in Evan Almighty after a few months, and he'd greet you at the door with a hip toss. Hire him, Vince.