By the fall of 1992, the World Wrestling Federation was gearing up for a New Generation. A lot big names from the 80s had left the company. There wasn’t Hulk Hogan or the Ultimate Warrior to carry the company. Randy Savage was being transitioned into a commentator. The WWF was all about a new, younger roster.
The New Generation started when Bret Hart won the WWF World Championship from Ric Flair on October 12th, 1992. However, according to reports, it wasn’t a sure thing that Bret was going to be chosen to win the championship. Instead, Hart was just one of a few people on a short list to win the title. Apparently, the list included the likes of Tito Santana and Crush.
Of course, the idea of putting the title on Tito Santana doesn’t exactly make sense for the New Generation, but the idea of Crush winning the championship has always made me think… what if Crush actually won the WWF World Championship in 1992?
Crush had first been part of the team known as Demolition to essentially replace Ax due to his health. After a two year run with Smash, Crush would eventuality be repackaged into a fan favorite from Hawaii. This new persona saw Crush play the role of an easy going surfer. He wore bright tights and his finishing hold was a two handed skull vice.
At 6’6’’ and 315lbs, Crush was certainly the ideal big man that Vince McMahon had normally been attached to when it came to being the top guy. Prior to October ’92, Crush largely competed in squash matches and didn’t have a substantial feud for much of the year anyway. Meanwhile, Bret had accomplished quite a bit in ’92 with great matches against Roddy Piper and the British Bulldog earlier in the year.
Does the idea of a Crush vs. Ric Flair bout bring much interest to the table? No, not really if I’m being completely honest. But, the WWF needed a new star and Crush could have been a suitable pick for that role. So, let’s say that on October 12th, 1992, Crush wins the WWF World Championship from Ric Flair. How does the reign go? What does Crush do?
Going into Survivor Series ’92, it would likely cause Crush to team with Randy Savage to battle Ric Flair & Razor Ramon on the show. This would allow to hold off on the Mr. Perfect face turn to allow a proper feud between Flair and Perfect for Mania. Plus, the partnership between Crush and Savage would probably give some good heat on Crush. You can still go the disqualification route with Ramon attacking Crush with a weapon and that could ideally warrant a title match at the Royal Rumble.
It’s kind of difficult to change much of what happened since there wasn’t a lot of established heels at the time. Yokozuna had just gotten there, Bam-Bam Bigelow was just re-debuting for the company. At least Ramon had been in the company for a few months. So, I’d probably just go with that direction and Crush prevails over Ramon.
Now, the Royal Rumble in ’93 gives me two options. Yeah, you can go with Yokozuna winning or insert Lex Luger into the match and have him win the match in his debut match. Since I really don’t want to go with the Yokozuna direction, lets say Lex Luger wins the 1993 Royal Rumble. Considering his gimmick was being a narcissist, he could brag that he defeated 29-other men in his debut match, something that’s never been done before.
The easy going surfer from Hawaii defending the WWF World Championship against a self-absorbed egomaniac taking place in Las Vegas with togas. Oh, what a sight to be seen. In this situation, Luger would have to go over and Crush’s run on top comes to an end. I guess I just don’t see the surfer gimmick being that much of a draw. Luger had a good look and the narcissist gimmick didn’t accomplish nearly what it should have before he was turned into the next Hogan hero.
After his title loss at Mania, Crush could team with his buddy Savage a few times challenging Money Inc. for the WWF World Tag Team Championships, but they come up short. Eventually, at some point the fun loving surfer turns on Savage and goes on his heel run. However, I wouldn’t align him with Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. With a new serious attitude, and winning a feud against Savage, Crush could be a fine challenger for the WWF World Championship when a face has the belt. Personally, I liked heel crush in late ’93 and into ’94.
I’m aware that the Bret Hart run is for sure better than this scenario, but I was just curious to see how it would have played out if Crush had been champion and gone through the same or nearly the same run as Bret.
How would you have booked Crush in this role?
Thanks for reading.