What if Bret never left WWE.....

Miakal

What would've WWE been like if Bret Hart never left?

It's an interesting thought I had the other day. What if Bret just stayed with WWE?

Certainly seeing Austin defeat Bret Hart for the World Title would've been much more impressive than seeing him defeat HBK.

Though, would've Bret jobbed to Austin? Further, would've he put him over completely? Meaning, Bret might give Austin a World Title victory over him but would he allow Austin to be the top dog or would he strip him of it shortly thereafter?

I think that Bret would've eventually put Austin over. I imagine that somewhere down the line Bret Hart would've re-won the title from Austin. There could've been some great matches, as all the actual Bret Vs. Austin matches were classic.

Another question comes into play, would've Austin had a feud with Vince McMahon? That feud was mostly centered on what had happened behind the scenes with Bret. If that situation never occured I doubt we would've seen the feud at all.

To me, that would've been a good thing. The feud was dragged out way too long and could've easily been done in another fashion. Secondly, I think Austin would've helped the company become popular regardless of what storyline he was in.

Would've WWE became worse, better, or the same with Bret?

What changes would've we seen?

stonecold3:16

Worse. Because Bret would've refused to put over alot of talent, and Austin is included there. Thus we would've never seen the Attitude era. Or the great vince/austin feud.

To me Austin/HBK match was great. it could've been better if HBK was 100% or even close. But it would've sucked to see bret in HBK's place and not put Austin over, Because face it, Austin was Huge at the time and he only got bigger. I know this sound harsh, But the bussiness is better off without Bret. Lots of people were made stars who would've never been because of Bret and his refusing to give the belt up. Bret was a great wreslter, he just wasnt a good bussiness man.

joebrian

Hey, maybe its good to have a HHH/Goldberg match. Maybe Goldberg can give HHH a concussion and end his career too.

Y2J The King Of The World

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.

Kane!

Originaltiy rules

I am Daunted by tAlks of an iMmeinAnt returN.

Tyler Durden

Good find. Of course, since it's a 2003 thread a lot of guys haven't seen it before, I certainly hadn't, I wasn't even a member of the forum then!!

It's not even the same as my thread from yesterday since I was asking not if Bret had never left WWE but what would have happened to his career had he never been injured, my question didn't focus entirely on his WWE career.

Good find though, irrelevant, but good!!