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Post by warriorlynx on Nov 5, 2018 8:22:05 GMT -5
Everyone knows that Brutus Beefcake (Ed Leslie) was Hulk Hogan's closest friend for most of the 70s and 80s. In fact Hulk at one time even pushed for Beefcake to become his successor. No matter what people might think of him, he was definitely over in the late 80s (for some reason, but I was a fan of his as a kid I admit), but the 90s, definitely not.
Beefcake seemed to have been poised to win the IC title off of HTM at SS88, but a storyline injury forced Beefcake to miss the show. Leslie confirmed that Warrior was meant to replace him and this was the second broken promise for the IC title (he was supposed to get it off of Ricky Steamboat in 87). Once again he had the opportunity at SummerSlam 90 where he was promised to take the title off of Mr. Perfect, but a legit injury would pretty much end his promising career in the WWF.
What if Vince decided to go with Beefcake in 88 or if injury in 1990 didn't happen? How do you think the WWF would've booked him as IC champ?
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Nov 5, 2018 9:16:39 GMT -5
If he had gotten it in 88 then I think he would’ve kept it till Mania V where Heenan would’ve costed him the belt like he did with Warrior, he and Rude would feud for a while and maybe win it back or (since he’s Hogan’s buddy) win the Rumble and face Hogan at Mania VI. Imagine if instead of the Ultimate challenge we got Beefcake vs. Hogan, don’t think it would’ve done as well then. So Beefcake is now the champ and at Summerslam he faces Rude (maybe in a steel cage), captain a team with Hogan at Survivor Series, and betrays Hogan. Hogan wins the rumble and gets his win back from Mania VI at Mania VII against a heel Brutus Beefcake.
If he wasn’t injured in 1990 then he’d get the belt at Summerslam instead of Kerry, be apart of Hogan’s team at Survivor Series, retain it at Mania VII against Perfect, and maybe lose it to Bret at Summerslam.
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Post by JokerFC on Nov 5, 2018 13:05:05 GMT -5
I think if he had gotten it @ SS90 he would have lost it back to Perfect @ WM7 because that was the timeline given to KVE. Unfortunately? Von Erich was a write off & the belt had to be taken off him far sooner than planned. Bossman was then put in an interim feud with him to get up to WM.
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Post by MKSavage on Nov 5, 2018 13:37:45 GMT -5
I don't think Brutus was ever supposed to get the belt, at either time. Honky Tonk Man said that he was just someone to feud with but never in contention for the title. I haven't heard anything about him getting the title in 1990, I think, had he not got in the accident, he would have lost to Perfect at Summer Slam. Perfect may have even had a year long title reign. Though, had he won in 1988, I could see him losing it to Rude at WM5 and Rude dropping it to Warrior at Summer Slam 1989. Possibly a similar situation in 1990, win it at Summer Slam from Perfect, drop it back to Perfect at Rumble 91 or WM7 - if not sooner.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 5, 2018 17:36:46 GMT -5
Him winning it at SSlam 88 would've been ideal considering the finish to the match he had with Honky at WM IV. Imagine the pop if he won the belt and got to cut his hair. Would've been equal to the pop Warrior got.
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Post by warriorlynx on Nov 6, 2018 11:46:30 GMT -5
Him winning it at SSlam 88 would've been ideal considering the finish to the match he had with Honky at WM IV. Imagine the pop if he won the belt and got to cut his hair. Would've been equal to the pop Warrior got. Might have been a bigger pop, cutting HTM's hair would've been epic and was exactly what he needed. |
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Post by The Brain on Nov 6, 2018 14:50:55 GMT -5
Him winning it at SSlam 88 would've been ideal considering the finish to the match he had with Honky at WM IV. Imagine the pop if he won the belt and got to cut his hair. Would've been equal to the pop Warrior got. Might have been a bigger pop, cutting HTM's hair would've been epic and was exactly what he needed. Gotta think where would Warrior be on the card if they did go this route. After all SSlam 88 was Warrior's coming out party so to speak. |
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 6, 2018 23:57:56 GMT -5
If he had gotten it in 88 then I think he would’ve kept it till Mania V where Heenan would’ve costed him the belt like he did with Warrior, he and Rude would feud for a while and maybe win it back or (since he’s Hogan’s buddy) win the Rumble and face Hogan at Mania VI. Imagine if instead of the Ultimate challenge we got Beefcake vs. Hogan, don’t think it would’ve done as well then. So Beefcake is now the champ and at Summerslam he faces Rude (maybe in a steel cage), captain a team with Hogan at Survivor Series, and betrays Hogan. Hogan wins the rumble and gets his win back from Mania VI at Mania VII against a heel Brutus Beefcake. If he wasn’t injured in 1990 then he’d get the belt at Summerslam instead of Kerry, be apart of Hogan’s team at Survivor Series, retain it at Mania VII against Perfect, and maybe lose it to Bret at Summerslam. Even if he did get a run with the Intercontinental belt, I'm pretty sure there is NO way he was going to get that same Warrior push. Not a chance in hell. Brutus was a fun character, but kind of a goofball and just not a guy to be involved in a Wrestlemania main event feud with Hogan. I think even Hulk would agree with that. |
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Nov 7, 2018 8:05:02 GMT -5
Brutus was a fun character, but kind of a goofball and just not a guy to be involved in a Wrestlemania main event feud with Hogan. I think even Hulk would agree with that. Starrcade ‘94 would like to have a word with you.. |
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 7, 2018 8:23:48 GMT -5
Brutus was a fun character, but kind of a goofball and just not a guy to be involved in a Wrestlemania main event feud with Hogan. I think even Hulk would agree with that. Starrcade ‘94 would like to have a word with you.. Hogan was calling ALL the shots when he got to WCW. If he wanted 7 year-old me in the main event it would've happened. Sure, he had more stroke than anybody in the WWF at that time, but Vince was still the final decision-maker and even in his warped mind there was no way he would have approved a Brutus Beefcake main event World title run. Warrior kind of forced Vince's hand as his popularity absolutely skyrocketed to the point where it rivaled Hulk's. It was the perfect storm for a monumental face versus face showdown - something I'm sure Vince was hesitant about doing way back in 1990. Beefcake was a fine babyface who the crowd liked, but he was never on that level and only approached the main event scene when Hogan's insane creative control allowed it. |
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Nov 7, 2018 8:44:37 GMT -5
Starrcade ‘94 would like to have a word with you.. Hogan was calling ALL the shots when he got to WCW. If he wanted 7 year-old me in the main event it would've happened. Sure, he had more stroke than anybody in the WWF at that time, but Vince was still the final decision-maker and even in his warped mind there was no way he would have approved a Brutus Beefcake main event World title run. Warrior kind of forced Vince's hand as his popularity absolutely skyrocketed to the point where it rivaled Hulk's. It was the perfect storm for a monumental face versus face showdown - something I'm sure Vince was hesitant about doing way back in 1990. Beefcake was a fine babyface who the crowd liked, but he was never on that level and only approached the main event scene when Hogan's insane creative control allowed it. It was just a joke, but I do agree that Vince wouldn’t have done that. |
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koreygunz
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Post by koreygunz on Nov 7, 2018 9:52:14 GMT -5
I dont think Beefcake was "supposed" to get the IC belt at SummerSlam 88. The spur angle was done expressly to get Beefcake out of the match and get Warrior in to begin his big push. SummerSlam 90 I believe he would have gone over Perfect for the title had he been healthy, and then dropped it back to him in the fall or possible Rumble 91/WM7. Would kind of complete their arc that started at WM6.
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Post by warriorlynx on Nov 7, 2018 14:16:43 GMT -5
Might have been a bigger pop, cutting HTM's hair would've been epic and was exactly what he needed. Gotta think where would Warrior be on the card if they did go this route. After all SSlam 88 was Warrior's coming out party so to speak. The weasel suit match was going on at the house shows, so maybe Warrior vs. Heenan would've been interesting to see on a PPV. |
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Post by The Brain on Nov 7, 2018 16:32:40 GMT -5
Gotta think where would Warrior be on the card if they did go this route. After all SSlam 88 was Warrior's coming out party so to speak. The weasel suit match was going on at the house shows, so maybe Warrior vs. Heenan would've been interesting to see on a PPV. Yeah I can see Vince putting that on PPV. Haku vs Warrior would've been another option as Haku just became King a month prior. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Nov 7, 2018 17:20:44 GMT -5
Little known fact about the 1990 situation, is that Kerry Von Erich wasn't Vince's first choice to replace Beefcake. He wanted Davey Boy Smith to do so. But by the time they got the proper legal working papers in order, it was too late to use Davey. Davey ended up coming in around October instead.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 7, 2018 19:44:17 GMT -5
Little known fact about the 1990 situation, is that Kerry Von Erich wasn't Vince's first choice to replace Beefcake. He wanted Davey Boy Smith to do so. But by the time they got the proper legal working papers in order, it was too late to use Davey. Davey ended up coming in around October instead. I recall this. I remember his return very well as he squashed The Brooklyn Brawler on Superstars that October. |
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Post by JokerFC on Nov 8, 2018 11:51:43 GMT -5
Little known fact about the 1990 situation, is that Kerry Von Erich wasn't Vince's first choice to replace Beefcake. He wanted Davey Boy Smith to do so. But by the time they got the proper legal working papers in order, it was too late to use Davey. Davey ended up coming in around October instead. Yup.....Smith would have been a much better candidate at this stage. KVE was unfortunately a disaster with his personal issues. Its a real shame. |
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Post by warriorlynx on Nov 8, 2018 12:00:08 GMT -5
Little known fact about the 1990 situation, is that Kerry Von Erich wasn't Vince's first choice to replace Beefcake. He wanted Davey Boy Smith to do so. But by the time they got the proper legal working papers in order, it was too late to use Davey. Davey ended up coming in around October instead. Yup.....Smith would have been a much better candidate at this stage. KVE was unfortunately a disaster with his personal issues. Its a real shame. Hard to say if it was a disaster considering he was working with a prosthetic foot. |
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Post by MrPerfect25 on Nov 8, 2018 13:14:09 GMT -5
I hated Beefcake and I hated that he went over on Perfect at WM6.
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