Was recently asked how I'd rebook the infamously bad Vince McMahon win in the 1999 Rumble. Here's my attempt saved...
Well the pre-rumble stuff I'd keep mostly the same but...change it about. Road Dogg/Bossman isn't needed, X-Pac/Gangrel was a decent sprint so add a bit more time, tame down the I Quit for the sake of Mick Foley's health.
Rumble. Take out Vince for starters. Keep the bounty on elimination Austin. Keep DX and The Corporation in the match, and add in The Ministry, so the story is the target on Austin and him having to dodge 3 big stables fighting each other. He can dodge in and out and use his wiles to have folk turn on each other instead.
I'd start with Austin and Ken Shamrock (a tough Corporate obstacle for Vince) and have the ring fill up, have a Job Squad/Brood showdown (keep Scorpio another few weeks before his drugs firing), give Droz a decent push, bring in TAKA, have Dr Death get some revenge on Bart Gunn, storylines churning along in the early third. Around 13-15 Undertaker comes in and teams with the Acolytes to clean house of the Brood, Job Squad, Droz, TAKA types still in there.
They look to have the edge on Austin until Kane comes out next, takes out the Acolytes, Stunner to distracted Taker during Kane v Taker bit, Kane clotheslines him out, and Austin in the same moment gets Kane out by opportunism. Thus getting rid of that "Kane eliminates himself bit" and we've already established throughout 1998 that Kane is one of the few folk who can credibly go toe to toe with Taker so hes not diminished.
Here the Corporation start to build up with Bossman and Test and are equaled by DX. Around the 22nd spot, Austin eliminates Shamrock who has been his nemesis all match, much to Vince's obvious chagrin. Ring fills up with folk for the final stretch: Owen, Blackman, Severn, Val. All 5 of DX but Billy doesn't last long thanks to the "ankle injury".
Now the finishing streak in Fantasy Land (which this is) would be Vince's secret master plan being 30th, aka The Big Show. Who comes in, kill all the tired folk and wins, I could see Austin doing a WCW v nWO finish where he takes out 3 corporation members but is taken out by the 4th in the same 40 seconds.Then if we do the shenanigans about winning the next night when Vince declares no one won the rumble, its already seeding in the eventual face turn.
But in real life Show signed the second his WCW contract ended...in February. So if you want it as realistic as possible, then Austin gets to the final two but is screwed over: who wins? Has to be someone close to Vince for that storyline, which makes it: Bossman, Test or Shamrock. Hmm, better than Vince? Vince screwing over Shamrock without even thinking about it would give impetus for his face turn a few months later of course.
Or you could have it that Austin just won the rumble, bu the sort of needed some sort of road block in his Mania story. Otherwise it was... lost at Survivor Series, beat up Corporation, won vs Undertaker, cost Rock the title, won the Rumble from 1st, won at St Valentines Day Massacre, won at WrestleMania. The whole point was this seemed like the time period Vince had succeeded in keeping the belt away from Austin, making his comeback all the greater. It doesn't really work if hes an unstoppable winning machine for months.
So my shout is instead of Vince have a corporate patsy win the rumble, set the deck so Austin has to beat them and Vince at the St Valentines Massacre, and set up Austins comeback AND a future nemesis for Vince within his own stable. He was so busy looking at Austin, he never checked his defences.
But in general, I think you could have got a great story from Austin v Ministry v DX v Corporation with a side dish of Brood and Job Squad, far far better than the mess we actually got.
Well the pre-rumble stuff I'd keep mostly the same but...change it about. Road Dogg/Bossman isn't needed, X-Pac/Gangrel was a decent sprint so add a bit more time, tame down the I Quit for the sake of Mick Foley's health.
Rumble. Take out Vince for starters. Keep the bounty on elimination Austin. Keep DX and The Corporation in the match, and add in The Ministry, so the story is the target on Austin and him having to dodge 3 big stables fighting each other. He can dodge in and out and use his wiles to have folk turn on each other instead.
I'd start with Austin and Ken Shamrock (a tough Corporate obstacle for Vince) and have the ring fill up, have a Job Squad/Brood showdown (keep Scorpio another few weeks before his drugs firing), give Droz a decent push, bring in TAKA, have Dr Death get some revenge on Bart Gunn, storylines churning along in the early third. Around 13-15 Undertaker comes in and teams with the Acolytes to clean house of the Brood, Job Squad, Droz, TAKA types still in there.
They look to have the edge on Austin until Kane comes out next, takes out the Acolytes, Stunner to distracted Taker during Kane v Taker bit, Kane clotheslines him out, and Austin in the same moment gets Kane out by opportunism. Thus getting rid of that "Kane eliminates himself bit" and we've already established throughout 1998 that Kane is one of the few folk who can credibly go toe to toe with Taker so hes not diminished.
Here the Corporation start to build up with Bossman and Test and are equaled by DX. Around the 22nd spot, Austin eliminates Shamrock who has been his nemesis all match, much to Vince's obvious chagrin. Ring fills up with folk for the final stretch: Owen, Blackman, Severn, Val. All 5 of DX but Billy doesn't last long thanks to the "ankle injury".
Now the finishing streak in Fantasy Land (which this is) would be Vince's secret master plan being 30th, aka The Big Show. Who comes in, kill all the tired folk and wins, I could see Austin doing a WCW v nWO finish where he takes out 3 corporation members but is taken out by the 4th in the same 40 seconds.Then if we do the shenanigans about winning the next night when Vince declares no one won the rumble, its already seeding in the eventual face turn.
But in real life Show signed the second his WCW contract ended...in February. So if you want it as realistic as possible, then Austin gets to the final two but is screwed over: who wins? Has to be someone close to Vince for that storyline, which makes it: Bossman, Test or Shamrock. Hmm, better than Vince? Vince screwing over Shamrock without even thinking about it would give impetus for his face turn a few months later of course.
Or you could have it that Austin just won the rumble, bu the sort of needed some sort of road block in his Mania story. Otherwise it was... lost at Survivor Series, beat up Corporation, won vs Undertaker, cost Rock the title, won the Rumble from 1st, won at St Valentines Day Massacre, won at WrestleMania. The whole point was this seemed like the time period Vince had succeeded in keeping the belt away from Austin, making his comeback all the greater. It doesn't really work if hes an unstoppable winning machine for months.
So my shout is instead of Vince have a corporate patsy win the rumble, set the deck so Austin has to beat them and Vince at the St Valentines Massacre, and set up Austins comeback AND a future nemesis for Vince within his own stable. He was so busy looking at Austin, he never checked his defences.
But in general, I think you could have got a great story from Austin v Ministry v DX v Corporation with a side dish of Brood and Job Squad, far far better than the mess we actually got.
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