6 Times Wrestling History Was Almost COMPLETELY Different

6. Steve Austin Vs Mr...Monsoon?

As soon as the aforementioned classic between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 had concluded, there could be no doubt that a new babyface megastar was born. The new babyface megastar. The good guy who definitionally wasn't a good guy, but at long last fit the profile of the performer mid-1990s fans had been searching for much of the decade. 

It being WWE though, lies are still told about the nature of his rise, even beyond the absolute whoppers relating to the push that supposedly materialised after his King Of The Ring 1996 win. Austin's ascent was meteoric, but it wasn't without certain hurdles, unique side quests, and an incredible amount of happenstance that merged the absolute worst luck with the absolute best. It didn't start the night after he coined a catchphrase that saved an entire country, and even when it kicked off in earnest a year later, there were still kinks to iron out.

Austin lost nothing when he lost to Bret at the 'Show Of Shows', and fans let WWE know every single week. He was the guy that drove the ratings spikes, the guy that drew the loudest reactions in buildings that were growing in numbers, the guy they couldn't get enough of. The Guy. But a guy in many segments needs many enemies. Bret Hart had The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman as his goons in a revived Hart Foundation to supply Steve with warm bodies to drop with red hot Stunners, but Austin had no problem doing the same to his allies in this brand new turf war. He wasn't mates with Shawn Michaels or Ken Shamrock or The Legion Of Doom or - jesus christ, son - The Patriot just because they had common enemies. Mid-babyface-turn Mick Foley actively campaigned to be his friend and still took a kicking until Dude Love forged the oddest of odd couples with "Ol Steve-O". He was out-of-control, and before Vince McMahon took the headset off to take the the spot as the guy to do something about that, all eyes turned to who else but President Gorilla Monsoon.

The pair had a couple of absolutely electric exchanges together that signified the changing times. As early as January, Austin got his famous "you call yourself a gorilla but you're out here hee-hawing like a jackass" line off for a pop back when nobody scored points on Monsoon. By April, he was a weekly headache for a kayfabe front office still represented by the legendary announcer. It was interesting to watch the booking work out where the line was with Austin's anti-authority stance, and how they didn't allow him to truly cross it until Gorilla (by then not somebody who could be physically involved) was out of the way. By the time he was taking out Titan Suits in the fall (itself a necessity due to a neck injury sustained at SummerSlam), it was Sgt Slaughter and Vince McMahon as Commissioner and Owner respectively that took the bumps.