There was a rumor a few years back that around 1992, when Vince McMahon was standing proudly over the American wrestling market with his trademark sly smirk, he thought to himself: “This simply is not enough! I am simply not content with being the top wrestling company in this country! No one can compete with me! Not Ted Turner, not Jerry Lawler, and especially not that old fossil Vern Gagne! No, I want more than this, my empire deserves much more!”
And so the story goes, Vince McMahon decided to implement his own Manifest Destiny. The only question was – in which direction does he start?
To the north is Canada, a country that takes its wrestling seriously, spoiled for ages by promoter Stu Hart and his rigorously trained sons, and a litany of others who proved tough enough to survive the fabled Hart Dungeon.
Vince already had somewhat of a toehold in the country anyway, as they had already absorbed the popular Maple Leaf Wrestling promotion, and had been using its former booker, Jack Tunney, as its figurehead authority for many years.
To the south, you had Central and South America – uncharted waters indeed. It’s no secret that fans south of the border not only take their pro wrestling seriously, it’s almost a religion all of its own!
Wrestlers are literally treated like movie stars. Heck, El Santo was in more movies than James Bond! With a fan base that takes so much reverence in its wrestling, it would be silly not to try to claim a piece of the pie, or quesadilla as it were!
Both were worthy areas for Vince’s envisioned expansion. But who would lead this conquest? Who would be the center of attention and the main draw?
After all, Hulk Hogan had taken a leave of absence from the WWF due to the recent steroid scandal and his Hollywood commitments (prophetic, huh?), Ric Flair had been the champion up till now, but he was feeling homesick for the Carolinas and WCW, and was ready to depart once his commitments to Vince were met. It was then that Vince had an idea.
“Why not make our champion someone who the native people can relate to? One of their own!”
That planned expansion to the Moon may have been a bit far-fetched, though.
The obvious choice for a Canadian expansion was a young former tag-team wrestler by the name of Bret Hart. After years as a member of the successful Hart Foundation tag-team with Jim Neidhart, Bret had a memorable run with the Intercontinental Championship, holding it on two different occasions.
Not to mention he had torn the proverbial roof off of Wembley Stadium in the main-event of SummerSlam 92. An even greater feat considering that Wembley didn’t even have a roof! He had proven he could headline a major PPV, and was having great matches with the likes of Curt Hennig, Jacques Rougeau and Davey Boy Smith. He could almost literally set Canada on fire as the champion!
No! Too literal! TOO LITERAL!
On the other hand, Vince’s choice for an expansion into Central and South America was… Tito Santana.
Wait, what?
The idea confused Tito as well.
You may be confused right now, because Tito Santana’s career path was on the opposite spectrum to Bret’s.
Santana was one of Vince’s top draws in the mid 80’s, holding the Intercontinental Championship, feuding with the likes of Greg Valentine, Don Muraco and Randy Savage. After that, he was placed into one of the most underrated tag teams in history, Strike Force, where he and partner Rick Martel went on to win the Tag-Team Championships (ironically enough, from The Hart Foundation). However, the past few years had not been as kind to Tito, serving as a jobber-to-the-stars of sorts, getting other wrestlers over at his own expense.
He had taken a short break from the WWF, and had recently returned as “El Matador”, a bullfighter gimmick. Despite being as hokey as it sounds, Tito had been making the best of it and was having some great matches. Not to mention Tito was a likable guy who had the respect of the locker room respect as a veteran, and could work a good match with just about anyone.
With a renewed push and some key wins here and there, Vince could very well have his new champion right under his nose!
After some careful consideration, Emperor Vince decided that more money was to be made south of the border, and the grooming of Tito Santana began. El Matador was winning on television more frequently, and it looked like Tito was headed towards a career renaissance.
A showdown with Flair for the strap was inevitable. And then, in the blink of an eye…it was over. As quickly as it began, it came to a screeching, crashing halt.
On October 12, 1992, Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Vince had called an audible, and did a complete 180 on his original plan. After being blinded by the riches of a proposed Mexican expansion, he came to his senses and realized that not only would a Canadian expansion be more seamless, he had a breakout star in Hart on his hands, and it would be wrong to not strap a rocket to his back with all this momentum. Sound familiar?
Does it, Vince? DOES IT?!?!
You know the rest of the story, Bret went on to become one of the greatest WWF Champions of all-time, having legendary feuds with Yokozuna, Steve Austin, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Tito Santana, however, went back to jobbing before he finally left the WWF for good in 1993.
But looking back, you have to wonder how different the WWE and the American wrestling scene as a whole would be today had Vince stuck to his original plan of pushing Santana.
For one, you have to wonder how long the push would have even lasted to begin with. As you know, Hulk Hogan returned from his hiatus not long before WrestleMania IX, famously beating Yokozuna in less than a minute in an impromptu match for the WWF Championship. Bret’s push took a hard hit then, but once Hogan was gone from the company for good just a few months later, Bret was back feuding in the main-event once more. Could Tito, a guy who had been putting other wrestlers over for years, have survived a career hit like that?
How would having to wait in the wings behind Tito Santana have affected Bret’s legacy? At what point would he have hit the main-event scene? Or would he ever have gotten the chance? Would the Montreal Screwjob ever have happened? Would Bret have never gone to WCW? And further, would the birth of Stone Cold Steve Austin have ever happened at all? And if that never happened, would the WWF have ever won the Monday Night Wars?
These are all wild hypotheticals, but it’s something you have to wonder. It’s sort of like The Butterfly Effect. If one event in history changes, it could set off a radically different sequence of events, leading to a completely different future.
But hey, who knows? Maybe Tito would have went on to become the best WWF Champion of all-time? Hey, stop laughing! I saw that!
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