WWE: Biggest butterfly effect?

[M.C.G. 31]

Roman Reigns suspension or the Curtain Call?

Roman Reigns suspension led to:
- Seth Rollins pinning Reigns clean at MITB
- Dean Ambrose cashing in to win the title; Shield holds the title all in one night
- Ambrose pins Reigns clean
- Reigns goes from likely #1 overall pick as champ to out of the first round
- Smackdown gets the World title with Ambrose; Raw gets the new Universal title
- Finn Balor pins Reigns clean on his first night
- Reigns goes down the card to work for the U.S. Title vs. Rusev
- Balor defeats Rollins to become first ever Universal champ, but tears his labrum in the match and is forced to forfeit it the next day.
- HHH returns, turns on Rollins and Kevin Owens wins the Universal Title.

Curtain Call led to:
- HHH being punished and losing the KOTR 1996 push; Steve Austin is the next guy in line to win it
- Hunter is demoted to the dark match at KOTR 1996; Austin almost misses the finals round due to an injury in his match earlier in the night leading to Austin only knowing who he was facing and trying to come up with a victory promo before stepping through the curtain
- Austin cuts his famous "Austin 3:16" promo setting the stage for the greatest period in pro wrestling.
- HHH is worked up the card, is a member of D-Generation X, and works with The Rock in the IC Title picture putting the two on the map and tied together throughout the Attitude Era.
- In the midst of all this, HBK "loses his smile". The original plan for WM13 was HBK vs. Hart and Austin would have worked Bulldog - instead, due to HBK's "lost smile", Austin worked with Hart in arguably the greatest match in WWE history, ending with the famous picture of Austin refusing to tap in the sharpshooter with a bloody face, passing out and completing a magnificent double turn.
- Austin continues to work with the Harts, and suffers a serious, career-threatening injury vs. Owen Hart at that year's Summerslam where Austin is temporarily paralyzed in the ring.
- Austin is kept on TV but the company runs an angle where they try to protect him which culminates in Austin delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to Vince McMahon for the first time... and the rest is history.

Click to read more...

 

[Emperoreddy]

Is the rule for this something outside of kayfabe effecting in ring stuff?

I feel like Bret deciding to sign WCW might belong on this list as it lead to the screwjob and the creation of the Mr. Mchahon character.

If just these two I say the Curtain Call, though I'm not sure it deserves credit for the change at WM13 and the seeds of the attitude era. Its effect on both the King of the Ring result and the course of HHH's career definitely

 

[Cor]

This is a no contest at the moment. It can continue to change, but right now.....

 

[ColePens]

Boy the end result clearly outweighs the current situation. That's a pretty big advantage for the curtain call.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Another butterfly effect is Bob Backlund getting hurt and a certain upstart Hulk Beatrice Hogan ending up in a match with Iron Sheik.

Edit: Nevermind. Not sure why I thought this wasn't kayfabe. I think Brett leaving was bigger.

 

[Reality Check]

The McMahon character already existed in the USWA with Lawler. Oddly enough with Bret Hart as a heel too. Just never saw the light of day in WWE until after the screwjob.

Which wound up being an absolutely perfect foil for Austin. More so than Hart or anyone else.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Another huge butterfly effect is how Ring of Honor began:

A few months later, Danielson was in Vallejo, CA, for Roland Alexander’s second King of the Indies tournament. This was the first time I ever saw him wrestle live. Alexander had done a similar tournament a year earlier, although the talent was much better this time. Still, it was just a local indie show with names that at the time almost nobody knew. My radio co-host and spiritual younger brother, Bryan Alvarez, who was still wrestling, was booked for the weekend shows, and even though we had been good friends for a couple of years, we had actually never met before. In no way could anyone see the ramifications of what would happen that weekend.

16 largely unknown wrestlers were brought in and the beginning of a major change in underground pro wrestling started on October 26, 2001, before about 300 fans.

The unknown talent brought in included Scoot Andrews from Florida, Doug Williams from the U.K., Adam Pearce from Southern California, Danielson from Aberdeen, WA, Brian “Spanky” Kendrick, also from Washington, Super Dragon from Los Angeles, A.J. Styles from Gainesville, GA, Low Ki from Brooklyn and Frankie Kazarian from Yucca Valley, CA. A couple of guys in the tournament had achieved some stardom already. Christopher Daniels had a reputation as maybe the best unsigned wrestler in the U.S., and was a star in Japan as the masked Curry Man with Michinoku Pro Wrestling. Samoa Joe, while having little name in the U.S., had become a star with Zero-One in Japan. Area wrestlers from Alexander’s All Pro Wrestling school and promotion, Donovan Morgan, Mark “Bison” Smith, Tony Jones, Jardi Frantz and Vinny Massaro rounded out the field.

Alexander had also brought in legends from around the country, including Pepper Gomez, dikk Beyer as The Destroyer, Kinji Shibuya and many others. I ended up sitting with Red Bastien, one of the greatest workers of his time and pioneer high-flyers of the 50s, 60s and 70s, and Nick Bockwinkel, one of the greatest all-around performers the industry ever had

They were enjoying the action. Virtually none of the 300 fans had ever heard of Bryan Danielson, or Spanky, when they got in the ring. Very quickly they had won everyone over and had something like a ****1/4 or better match. While they both liked Spanky, it was Danielson who really caught their eye. Bastien said that people from his generation wouldn’t want to admit it, but Danielson was as talented a wrestler as the best guys of their era. Bockwinkel said that he would have been proud to been in the ring with Danielson when he was world champion. He also told me he wanted to meet Danielson and tell him just that.

When the match was over, we all went backstage. Morgan, who along with Michael Modest was the top wrestler in Alexander’s promotion, was supposed to win the tournament. Bockwinkel went to Alexander and told him he’s nuts if he doesn’t put “this guy over,” pointing to Danielson. Alexander had so much respect for Bockwinkel, that everything changed. Danielson beat Williams in the semifinals the next day, and went about 30:00 with Low Ki in a ****½ match to win the finals.

A short time later, Rob Feinstein, Doug Gentry and Gabe Sapolsky were watching a tape of the tournament. Feinstein claimed he watched the tape first and told Gentry that there’s enough talent there to start a wrestling promotion. Sapolsky was negative at first, because he worked the closest with Paul Heyman in ECW and understood the pitfalls of actually doing a wrestling company. The three names they wanted to build around were Joe, Low Ki and Danielson.

The very first Ring of Honor show was February 23, 2002, at the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia, before 500 fans, headlined by Danielson vs. Low Ki vs. Daniels. Because of the quality of the main event, the promotion was immediately put on the map.

That one show doesn't happen, who knows what happens with Bryan and Punk. Who knows what happens with the landscape of pro wrestling. Who knows what happens with WWE's talent recruitment.

 

[The Lunatic Fridge]

One is a rather short amount of time, the other is triple h geting buried for what, a year?

hasn't been a year for roman's stupidity so we'll see.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Jeff Jarret extorting Vince to do the IC title job to Chyna, which the money lead to the creation of TNA.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Jeff Jarret extorting Vince to do the IC title job to Chyna, which the money lead to the creation of TNA.

Hogan and Bischoff joining TNA had an effect on TNA opposite of the Curtain Call and Reigns suspension, jeez.

Driving away top, homegrown talents, become WWE-lite, moving to Mondays to go head-to-head with Raw... and now we're here, saved by the BROKEN Hardys (do we get BROKEN Matt Hardy without Hogan and Bischoff driving TNA into the ground, though...)


This thread is just ****ing cool to talk about butterfly effects in wrestling.

 

[GKJ]

I mean, the Curtain Call eventually leads to Roman's wellness suspension, you can always connect dots.

Kind of need some more immediacy to the action. I wasn't a fan yet at the time, but does Austin only get over because that happened, or would he gotten over anyways? I tend to lean towards the latter, the guy was too good.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Oh jesus. How could I forget?

CM Punk quitting lead to WWE having to change their planned HHH match at WM 30 to HHH/DB, and that eventually lead to the change in the main event and DB winning the gold in one of the greatest single storylines in years.

Bruins would know more about this, but Butch Reed no showing a taping where he was slated to win the IC belt in the 80s. This lead to Honky getting the belt and starting his record run. During said run he famously refused to job to Macho Man. This lead to Macho going over in the main event in WM4, and the year long storyline of the formation and EXPLOSION of the Mega Powers.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

CM Punk quitting also saved us from Bryan vs. Sheamus and Orton vs. Batista as the main event.

I mean, the Curtain Call eventually leads to Roman's wellness suspension, you can always connect dots.

Kind of need some more immediacy to the action. I wasn't a fan yet at the time, but does Austin only get over because that happened, or would he gotten over anyways? I tend to lean towards the latter, the guy was too good.

It would have happened anyways, but would we have gotten "Austin 3:16" and "that's the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so" catchphrases? Would HHH have been the face of the attitude era? Would WCW have beaten WWE with HHH on top instead of Austin?

 

[Emperoreddy]

I mean, the Curtain Call eventually leads to Roman's wellness suspension, you can always connect dots.

Kind of need some more immediacy to the action. I wasn't a fan yet at the time, but does Austin only get over because that happened, or would he gotten over anyways? I tend to lean towards the latter, the guy was too good.

I think this is definitely debatable. I've read that Austin was still planned for top heel status even if he wasn't going over so history may of still rolled on. It certainly changed the course of HHH's career, which changed the course of history.

I think Shawn's lost smile is separate from the Curtain Call, but its importance has already been stated. Shawn doesn't "lose his smile AKA be hurt, on drugs, and not wanting to job to Bret, we don't get Bret/Austin, and on we go.

 

[Reality Check]

Another huge butterfly effect is how Ring of Honor began:



That one show doesn't happen, who knows what happens with Bryan and Punk. Who knows what happens with the landscape of pro wrestling. Who knows what happens with WWE's talent recruitment.

ROH came from the ashes of ECW.

"Cruiserweight" tournaments such as this had been happening before on the east coast as well. But this would be the first time they would start together in an actual promotion.

The death of ECW also led to continuous chants of "ECW" at WWE events. Which finally led to One Night Stand. Which, after being deemed a success, started the WWE version of ECW.

Which was a failure(obviously) because the wrong people were involved. Except it finally gave the opportunity for one guy in particular to shine. CM Punk.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Vince firing Medusa, which lead to the trashing of the belt, the heating up of the Monday Night Wars, Vince's paranoia of Bret leaving, and on we go.

A dark one. The Benoit tragedy cancelling the Vince's death storyline, which would of resulted in a big Mr. Kennedy push.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

dude, that Vince storyline was gonna be nuts lol

- Linda McMahon would have been arrested for murdering Vince
- The company would have been in the hands of his "illegitimate son" Mr. Kennedy
- Stephanie would have returned earlier
- HHH would have fought for the company
- HHH vs. Kennedy would have main evented Wrestlemania 24 (I think it was WM24? The one in 2008) where HHH would have won back control of the company.


They ****ing loved Kennedy but he was so unreliable.

 

[bruins309]

Oh jesus. How could I forget?

CM Punk quitting lead to WWE having to change their planned HHH match at WM 30 to HHH/DB, and that eventually lead to the change in the main event and DB winning the gold in one of the greatest single storylines in years.

Bruins would know more about this, but Butch Reed no showing a taping where he was slated to win the IC belt in the 80s. This lead to Honky getting the belt and starting his record run. During said run he famously refused to job to Macho Man. This lead to Macho going over in the main event in WM4, and the year long storyline of the formation and EXPLOSION of the Mega Powers.

I wish there was a Wrestling Snopes for this sort of thing because I am not 100% on if that's true or not. He's seen celebrating in the heel locker room, but they could have filmed that later. Part of it is that I have a hard time seeing them putting that belt on Butch Reed.

Here's one:
- Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in 1990 --> Sgt. Slaughter gimmick changes from "America has gone soft" to full blown Iraq sympathizer --> Offends NBC who cancel SNME in early 91

 

[Reality Check]

Kind of need some more immediacy to the action. I wasn't a fan yet at the time, but does Austin only get over because that happened, or would he gotten over anyways? I tend to lean towards the latter, the guy was too good.

Austin didn't really get over in WWF until the Bret Hart feud. The feud with an injured Pillman and subsequent gun incident didn't do much.

He was getting relative, if not a better reaction than Bret at the 96 Survivor Series. But this event was also in New York...which was also an ECW market.

His anti-hero gimmick didn't really start to win everyone over until early 97. Which led to the double-turn between him and Hart.

Austin was supposed to win the title at the in your house ppv after Royal Rumble. Only to drop it to Sid the next night on Raw. Except it was changed due to an injury to Austin. Instead Bret won the title at the PPV, only to have Austin cost him the belt and make their feud even better.

Shawn "losing his smile" also would end up leading to DX. When he returned, he was a face and paired with Austin as tag team champs. Except he was getting booed. Especially with more "smart" fans discovering the internet.

After Austin and Michaels lost the tag belts, Shawn would start an alliance with HHH. Leading him to turn heel in a match versus the Undertaker. Which led to match called Hell in a Cell.

 

[Megahab]

Easily The Curtain Call in this situation. Although I think the impact of the Austin 3:16 promo and the KOTR is a bit overrated. It was an epic promo but Austin wasn't really getting pushed heavy until a few months after his KOTR win when he started feuding with Bret Hart. I think Austin still feuds with Bret Hart even if HHH wins the 1996 KOTR. And it's that feud that was the first real spark to lead Austin to becoming a big star.

The promo after Austin's KOTR did lead to one of the most famous catchphrases of all-time, but I would say Austin still becomes the star he became without that promo.

But regardless, it's still more 100 times more impactful than Reigns' suspension. All Reigns' suspension has led to so far is Owens winning a title that I'm not sure has much value and in an era where most top guys will get a world title run.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I wish there was a Wrestling Snopes for this sort of thing because I am not 100% on if that's true or not. He's seen celebrating in the heel locker room, but they could have filmed that later. Part of it is that I have a hard time seeing them putting that belt on Butch Reed.

Here's one:
- Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in 1990 --> Sgt. Slaughter gimmick changes from "America has gone soft" to full blown Iraq sympathizer --> Offends NBC who cancel SNME in early 91

True I do not that it is one of those urban legends that we aren't sure is true, but if it is true it is a definite butterfly effect. If not then Honky refusing to job to Macho fits as well.

Ahhh so that pretty much lead to RAW?

 

[Megahab]

True I do not that it is one of those urban legends that we aren't sure is true, but if it is true it is a definite butterfly effect. If not then Honky refusing to job to Macho fits as well.

Ahhh so that pretty much lead to RAW?

How so?

 

[Virtanen18]

We need to see a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot more in the coming months before I even truly see Reigns' suspension as a meaningful 'butterfly effect'.

 

[Cor]

I've never seen Roman Reigns and M.C.G in the same room.

 

[Acallabeth]

We need to see a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot more in the coming months before I even truly see Reigns' suspension as a meaningful 'butterfly effect'.

This. In a coupla months, Roman Reigns may be the Universal champion and the face of the WWE feuding with HHH again. The WWE wasn't "changed forever" yet.