2. 9/11 Never Happens
Background: Before 9/11 the patriotic roots of wrestling had been turned down as it transitioned from a cartoonish Southern form of entertainment, to a layered, tawdry, violent soap opera. The WWE no longer pushed characters like Sgt. Slaughter or Lex Luger in his red, white and blue skivvies, the new American heroes were pimps, thugs and badasses. What Could Have Been: If say, the CIA killed Bin Laden at a casino in Monte Carlo in the 80's, there'd be no 9/11 but a great plot to an action movie and the nation wouldn't be in mourning. There'd be no need to go to war in Afghanistan and no rush to go to war in Iraq (you know, other than all that delicious oil). Plus, George W. Bush probably would not have been elected to a second term in office and the entire landscape of media would have been drastically different. The Aftermath: This eliminates the significance of the September 13th Smackdown, one of the first shows to return to regular programming after the attacks, a fact WWE enjoys mentioning from time to time. You have no nation united in mourning with their favorite WWE superstars, you have no Lillian Garcia singing the national anthem. More importantly, Kurt Angle probably would not have been made heavyweight champion in the weeks that followed. As much as the performers involve genuinely care about the cause, "Tribute to the Troops" is really a great PR resource for the company too. In a world without 9/11 there would be no tribute shows for the few troops posted in Germany or the DMZ.