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Post by hbkjason on Oct 11, 2020 4:07:37 GMT -5
What If: Hulk Hogan Stayed With The AWA In 1983? Ok, I do not think there could be a bigger What If than this one right here. Full disclosure here folks, I was like 3 when this happened so I did not live through the early days of Hulkamania. However, I have watched lots of documentaries over the years, granted mostly the ones with the WWE/F spin on them. However, when Vince Jr took the WWF national in 1984 and really stepped up the game, much of that was on the huge back and the 24 inch pythons of Hulk Hogan. He was the massive star that he needed to break through to the mainstream and wrestling today would probably be very different had Hulk Hogan not went back to the WWF. The question is if he decides to stay in AWA, if they decide to make him the champion what happens after this? Does Hulkamania run as wild as it did in the WWF? I for one do not think it would, I know he was very, very popular, but they did not have the vision Vince did for making wrestling the mainstream entertainment phenomenon it would become. To me the more interesting thing is, what happens to the WWF if Hulk Hogan is not there in 1984? Does Vince still try and take the WWF to every corner of the USA, but with a different main attraction? Does that first WrestleMania happen without Hulk Hogan? I know that MTV and the partnership with the Rock n Wrestling connection playde a huge part in making that event so successful, but do they even get attention from MTV or do they even get Cindi Lauper if they have no Hulk Hogan? So what happens to the AWA and the WWF if Hulk Hogan decides to stay put in 1983? |
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Post by PJ on Oct 11, 2020 5:27:03 GMT -5
Honestly I don’t think anything happens or changes to the AWA really. But Hogan doesn’t become the Icon he is and the WWF doesn’t become the juggernaut it became. There’s no such thing as WrestleMania, Hulkamaina or the NWO and wrestling in general doesn’t become as popular as it was.
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Post by Mongo Bears on Oct 11, 2020 7:37:52 GMT -5
I think what PJ said is pretty much exactly right
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Post by figurecollector on Oct 11, 2020 8:57:28 GMT -5
I think it is still a matter of how long he would have stayed. Could AWA have competed with the money bags of the competing WWE and NWA through the rest of the decade when people started jumping ship for $$$? If WWE won, say in 1988 or 1989 imstead, things may have gone forward with Wrestlemania at that point. If NWA had won, would there have been a WCW split? Would an organization like WCCW have gone all in for Hogan? Heel Hogan vs the Von Erichs?
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Post by JokerFC on Oct 11, 2020 10:31:29 GMT -5
AWA gains nothing...promotion was dead on its feet & Gagne wouldn't have used Hogan correctly.
WWF goes with someone else & isn't as sucessful. The combination of Vince's vision & Hogan's own business acumen was bottled lightning.
The business as we know it doesn't exist today....McMahon needed Hogan. Hogan needed McMahon.
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Post by The Brain on Oct 11, 2020 11:00:44 GMT -5
Yep No Hogan in the WWF mean no 80s boom.Nobody else could fill that mega star position thats for sure so with that we'd have a very different scene.I 100% agree that Verne wouldn't use Hogan like Vince did.
Crazy to think about as if Hogan stayed then we wouldnt of got the iconic feuds with Piper,Andre,Savage etc. in the WWF.
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Post by hbkjason on Oct 11, 2020 11:02:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies guys  Who do you feel the WWF gonwith instead of Hogan as their main guy? |
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Post by The Brain on Oct 11, 2020 11:15:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies guys Who do you feel the WWF gonwith instead of Hogan as their main guy? Snuka is a guy that comes to mind.Orndorff is another one I could see. |
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Post by Artie Kendall on Oct 11, 2020 11:17:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies guys Who do you feel the WWF gonwith instead of Hogan as their main guy? Snuka, Slaughter and later Savage. |
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Post by MKSavage on Oct 11, 2020 15:34:24 GMT -5
Yep No Hogan in the WWF mean no 80s boom.Nobody else could fill that mega star position thats for sure so with that we'd have a very different scene.I 100% agree that Verne wouldn't use Hogan like Vince did. Crazy to think about as if Hogan stayed then we wouldnt of got the iconic feuds with Piper,Andre,Savage etc. in the WWF.I remember hearing Greg Gagne say that the AWA was setting up a showdown for Hogan vs Andre in 1983 before Hogan left for the WWF. Don't know if it that is true but, Andre did work in the AWA from time to time so a feud with Hogan and him could have happened. Have to agree with PJ , I don't think the wrestling boom happens without Hogan in the WWF. It possibly could have happened later in the decade if Vern continued to screw Hogan out of the title, and continued to demand Hogan pay him royalties for the shirts that Hogan made and the money he made in Japan. But, with Vince looking to go national in 1982/83 and spending a lot of money, would he have been able to sustain it until late in the 80s to pay Hogan to jump ship??? I don't know. As for who else could have been the top guy, I think Snuka had the look but he couldn't do interviews. One thing that really made it work was Hogan's ability to go on to shows outside of wrestling (MTV, SNL, Late Night Shows) to promote the company. Sgt. Slaughter was possible. I have heard rumors that Vince was looking into the Kerry Von Erich as a possibility at the time. I've also heard of Austin Idol and Dusty Rhodes. Paul Orndorff could have been possible, he had the look and could talk but, I think he worked better as a heel. |
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Post by Nivro™ on Oct 11, 2020 16:58:40 GMT -5
Ill agree with PJ for the most part. Nothing would change with AWA, Verne was just stuck in his ways and he wasnt going to change. Hogan nor WWF would become the giants that they are today. I do think we would still get Wrestlemania however but it wouldnt have been to the level we've seen it become. More than likely it would have just been a big yearly MSG show similar to how Starrcade was just a big Greensboro show for most of its early tenure.
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Post by Artie Kendall on Oct 11, 2020 17:23:11 GMT -5
The problem with AWA is they didn't have Vince.
I know everyone likes to crap on Vince but I think Vince and company find away to have the boom with or without Hogan. Vince is really smart and I think he would have figured it out.
Just as a wild card I'll throw out Billy Graham. If he doesn't drop the Superstar gimmick he could potentially fill that mid to late 80s until Savage is ready. A lot of people forget that both Graham and Savage were heel champions in a baby face territory and people still loved them and they were selling out houses right up until each had to drop the title. But I'm sure Graham and Vince would have had a blow up before it all happens.
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Post by The Brain on Oct 11, 2020 17:32:28 GMT -5
Yep No Hogan in the WWF mean no 80s boom.Nobody else could fill that mega star position thats for sure so with that we'd have a very different scene.I 100% agree that Verne wouldn't use Hogan like Vince did. Crazy to think about as if Hogan stayed then we wouldnt of got the iconic feuds with Piper,Andre,Savage etc. in the WWF.I remember hearing Greg Gagne say that the AWA was setting up a showdown for Hogan vs Andre in 1983 before Hogan left for the WWF. Don't know if it that is true but, Andre did work in the AWA from time to time so a feud with Hogan and him could have happened. Have to agree with PJ , I don't think the wrestling boom happens without Hogan in the WWF. It possibly could have happened later in the decade if Vern continued to screw Hogan out of the title, and continued to demand Hogan pay him royalties for the shirts that Hogan made and the money he made in Japan. But, with Vince looking to go national in 1982/83 and spending a lot of money, would he have been able to sustain it until late in the 80s to pay Hogan to jump ship??? I don't know. As for who else could have been the top guy, I think Snuka had the look but he couldn't do interviews. One thing that really made it work was Hogan's ability to go on to shows outside of wrestling (MTV, SNL, Late Night Shows) to promote the company. Sgt. Slaughter was possible. I have heard rumors that Vince was looking into the Kerry Von Erich as a possibility at the time. I've also heard of Austin Idol and Dusty Rhodes. Paul Orndorff could have been possible, he had the look and could talk but, I think he worked better as a heel. Definitely couldve seen Kerry as a viable option if Vince could get em in.Dude had everything it took to be the top dog of the promotion as seen in WCCW.His demons though wouldve in the end got in the way sadly. |
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Post by MKSavage on Oct 12, 2020 0:06:48 GMT -5
The problem with AWA is they didn't have Vince. I know everyone likes to crap on Vince but I think Vince and company find away to have the boom with or without Hogan. Vince is really smart and I think he would have figured it out. Just as a wild card I'll throw out Billy Graham. If he doesn't drop the Superstar gimmick he could potentially fill that mid to late 80s until Savage is ready. A lot of people forget that both Graham and Savage were heel champions in a baby face territory and people still loved them and they were selling out houses right up until each had to drop the title. But I'm sure Graham and Vince would have had a blow up before it all happens. Yeah, I thought about adding him to the list but, he would have really needed to get back into shape. When he was doing that karate gimmick he looked really out of shape and old. But definitely if he was similar to his 1977 run, he could have made it work. I remember hearing Greg Gagne say that the AWA was setting up a showdown for Hogan vs Andre in 1983 before Hogan left for the WWF. Don't know if it that is true but, Andre did work in the AWA from time to time so a feud with Hogan and him could have happened. Have to agree with PJ , I don't think the wrestling boom happens without Hogan in the WWF. It possibly could have happened later in the decade if Vern continued to screw Hogan out of the title, and continued to demand Hogan pay him royalties for the shirts that Hogan made and the money he made in Japan. But, with Vince looking to go national in 1982/83 and spending a lot of money, would he have been able to sustain it until late in the 80s to pay Hogan to jump ship??? I don't know. As for who else could have been the top guy, I think Snuka had the look but he couldn't do interviews. One thing that really made it work was Hogan's ability to go on to shows outside of wrestling (MTV, SNL, Late Night Shows) to promote the company. Sgt. Slaughter was possible. I have heard rumors that Vince was looking into the Kerry Von Erich as a possibility at the time. I've also heard of Austin Idol and Dusty Rhodes. Paul Orndorff could have been possible, he had the look and could talk but, I think he worked better as a heel. Definitely could've seen Kerry as a viable option if Vince could get em in. Dude had everything it took to be the top dog of the promotion as seen in WCCW. His demons though would've in the end got in the way sadly. Yeah, with what we know now, I don't think Kerry would have worked. He seemed to buckle under the pressure, he had to be stripped of the NWA title because he kept no-showing shows. Vince definitely couldn't have had that with what he was trying to do. He needed someone that would show up to every show, sometime multiple shows a night, doing a lot of press to build the notoriety of the company. I'm not sure Kerry could have done that; he definitely had the look and ability in the ring, but you're right, his demons probably would have derailed his run in the WWF - even then. |
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Post by Nivro™ on Oct 12, 2020 0:14:55 GMT -5
Yep No Hogan in the WWF mean no 80s boom.Nobody else could fill that mega star position thats for sure so with that we'd have a very different scene.I 100% agree that Verne wouldn't use Hogan like Vince did. Crazy to think about as if Hogan stayed then we wouldnt of got the iconic feuds with Piper,Andre,Savage etc. in the WWF.I remember hearing Greg Gagne say that the AWA was setting up a showdown for Hogan vs Andre in 1983 before Hogan left for the WWF. Don't know if it that is true but, Andre did work in the AWA from time to time so a feud with Hogan and him could have happened. Have to agree with PJ , I don't think the wrestling boom happens without Hogan in the WWF. It possibly could have happened later in the decade if Vern continued to screw Hogan out of the title, and continued to demand Hogan pay him royalties for the shirts that Hogan made and the money he made in Japan. But, with Vince looking to go national in 1982/83 and spending a lot of money, would he have been able to sustain it until late in the 80s to pay Hogan to jump ship??? I don't know. As for who else could have been the top guy, I think Snuka had the look but he couldn't do interviews. One thing that really made it work was Hogan's ability to go on to shows outside of wrestling (MTV, SNL, Late Night Shows) to promote the company. Sgt. Slaughter was possible. I have heard rumors that Vince was looking into the Kerry Von Erich as a possibility at the time. I've also heard of Austin Idol and Dusty Rhodes. Paul Orndorff could have been possible, he had the look and could talk but, I think he worked better as a heel. I could have seen Dusty Rhodes getting the nod. The way he was over in some of those MSG matches he had in the 70s in the early WWF days. He was fantastic on the mic, amazing charisma...he had everything Hogan did except "the look" which I think Vince could have made up for with everything else. |
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Post by whydontyoutellme on Oct 12, 2020 13:04:55 GMT -5
I believe that the AWA was almost Hogan's side gig in the early 80s, as he was making more money in NJPW. Seems very unlikely that he was ever going to get where he wanted to go if he stayed in the AWA, and I don't think that the AWA would have taken off with Verne in charge. Main result I'd say is a stagnant wrestling industry in the 80s.
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Oct 12, 2020 15:20:34 GMT -5
The only way I see Hogan staying is if Verne finally allowed him to be the AWA Champ, but even then would the AWA beat the WWF? Heck, Hulk might still jump to Vince if the money was right and if the AWA still wasn't doing well.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Oct 13, 2020 19:51:56 GMT -5
Hulkamania was alive and well in the AWA in 1983. The fact that Verne didn't put the AWA Title on Hogan in 1983 over Bockwinkel is just ridiculous!
Could AWA been as big as the WWF?? No, Verne was happy with the areas he had. But would AWA been around a lot longer and had more of an impact?? Probably so.
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Post by K5 on Oct 13, 2020 23:32:38 GMT -5
Vince would've cornered the PPV market either way and crushed his competitors. Hogan was simply a cherry on top.
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