Warrior as Champion in 96?

[koreygunz]

I rewatched the "Destruction of Ultimate Warrior" DVD and in the part where they talk about him no showing events in 96 it shows an event advertisement. Its advertised for July 25 and lists the main event as WWF Champion Ultimate Warrior defending veruss Vader. It also lists Taker vs Mankind, Ahmed vs Goldust, and Bulldog versus Sycho Sid. Were there plans to have Warrior take the title off of HBK in the summer of 96? All the other matches seems to follow the storylines from that time.

It also surprised me to see Sid on the card. I know Sid took warrior's place in the July PPV tag match, but I guess it would appear there were plans to bring Sid back in even before Warrior was fired.

[Patrick Bateman]

I don't know how they would've trusted him with another reign after his first was a flop.

[hbkrules]

I don't know for sure but it seems unlikey that they would have had shawn drop the title so soon after getting put over so well by bret, it really would have diminished WM 12.

[Chicago]

Absolutely not, as far as I'm concerned.

Shawn carried the company while Bret was away, and the only competition to his title was Vader and, later, Sid.

There were never any plans for them to feud, either, especially seeing as how both were fighting for the same team up until Warrior's departure.

[Andrewghbk99]

I read somewhere, i dont remember where though, that the Ultimate Warrior was suspose to be in Sids place at the 1996 SVS. But with Warrior getting fired, Sid was the replacement.

[Jimmy]

There's never been any clear answer on whether it was a typo or if there were thoughts of giving Warrior the title.

[HugoOne]

I bet when they brought him back, they had future plans, but nothing immediate, to give him the Championship. When it flopped immediately, they changed their mind.

[nibs92]

i read in a magazine that the posters on the dvd were doctored and the ultimate warriors image was put on it to try and show he was an important part of the card. then when he no showed he let the company, the fans etc. down, thus painting him in a bad light. i'll try and find the article and give more detail.

[LeighD]

I find it hard to believe HBK would drop the title to Warrior so quickly after winning it at WM XII. WWF had built Shawn's quest for the title for nearly half a year and it would have been stupid for the company to cut his reign so short. Unless Warrior's popularity really hit new heights! Plus the feel from the internet reports was a pushing of HBK vs. Vader at SummerSlam with Warrior facing Davey Boy Smith.

However I think Warrior was scheduled to be in the title picture around Survivor Series (most likely in Sid's role). But originally Vader was set to face HBK at Suvivor Series and possibly win the belt. But realistically, I don't think anything was set in stone as plans change month to month, week to week. I do think Warrior would have been in the title picture at one point down the road.

[Emerald Enthusiast]

Jun 4, 2009 10:20:45 GMT -5 LeighD said:

I find it hard to believe HBK would drop the title to Warrior so quickly after winning it at WM XII. WWF had built Shawn's quest for the title for nearly half a year and it would have been stupid for the company to cut his reign so short. Unless Warrior's popularity really hit new heights! Plus the feel from the internet reports was a pushing of HBK vs. Vader at SummerSlam with Warrior facing Davey Boy Smith.

However I think Warrior was scheduled to be in the title picture around Survivor Series (most likely in Sid's role). But originally Vader was set to face HBK at Suvivor Series and possibly win the belt. But realistically, I don't think anything was set in stone as plans change month to month, week to week. I do think Warrior would have been in the title picture at one point down the road.

I agree with this. I think Vince would have much rather gone with an established champ than Sid. That's only speculation on my part but Sid's brief reign always struck me as oddly timed.

[Boy Wonder]

Jun 4, 2009 10:20:45 GMT -5 LeighD said:

I find it hard to believe HBK would drop the title to Warrior so quickly after winning it at WM XII. WWF had built Shawn's quest for the title for nearly half a year and it would have been stupid for the company to cut his reign so short. Unless Warrior's popularity really hit new heights! Plus the feel from the internet reports was a pushing of HBK vs. Vader at SummerSlam with Warrior facing Davey Boy Smith.

However I think Warrior was scheduled to be in the title picture around Survivor Series (most likely in Sid's role). But originally Vader was set to face HBK at Suvivor Series and possibly win the belt. But realistically, I don't think anything was set in stone as plans change month to month, week to week. I do think Warrior would have been in the title picture at one point down the road.

Dang it, I really wish Vader got to win the belt at some point in his career

[k5]

by this time warrior had reached his peak and was on the decline, i doubt wwe would put the strap on him.

[Next Man’s Yeeter]

I wondered this after seeing the DVD, too, but yeah, it later came out that WWE just doctored a poster to make Warrior look worse by being a no-showing champion. I don't know why they bothered, though.