| Wow, that'd be a huge one. It's not a secret that I'm not a fan of Bret after his temper tantrum at Survivor Series '97, but he could get the job done in the ring (though he wouldn't do "the job").
The way I see it, if Bret hadn't taken his ball and ran to Atlanta, Austin vs. McMahon wouldn't have happened. Vince had no heat until he stood up to Bret and didn't let him demean the WWF and the WWF Title (why he got so much heat for that never made sense to me anyway). Nonetheless, before SS97, Vince was a play-by-play guy on-screen, and not so much an authoritative character. After SS97, he became a huge heel, which lead to Austin/McMahon. Without that feud, the WWF wouldn't have become huge and squashed WCW. And, without Bret getting $7M a year to go to WCW and do nothing, they very well could have been able to stay around and could very well still be in business, possibly even still the #1 promotion (no Austin/McMahon, no WWF takeover). The WWF could even have been put out of business...who knows?
One thing is for sure, though: there would be nowhere near that quantity of McMahon's on TV that there is now...I think...
So, the way I see it, Bret leaving was a blessing in disguise for the WWF. Austin/McMahon brought WWF back to the top spot, WCW sank under the pressure of the WWF and its out-of-control budget. Who knows really what would have happened, but I think that things turned out for the best as far as WWE is concerned. |