12 Biggest "What If" Scenarios In WWE WrestleMania History
9. WrestleMania 9: What If Hogan Wins The Tag Titles?
WrestleMania 9 is infamous for a couple reasons: the announcers in togas, and Hulk Hogan bum-rushing his way into an impromptu World title match moments after Bret Hart lost the championship under questionable circumstances.
But earlier on the card, Hogan and Brutus Beefcake took on Money Inc. in a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On paper, this seemed like a no-brainer and an opportunity to give Hogan some gold at a time when the company seemingly was moving on from him as the standard-bearer. But the match ended in a disqualification, dashing those dreams, and fans would have to wait nine years before a Hogan tag title reign.
We all know what came next, but had Hogan and Beefcake actually captured the tag titles, would that have warded off a World title challenge at the end of the show? Double titleholders were still taboo at this stage in WWF history – Ultimate Warrior vacated the Intercontinental Championship after winning the World title just three years earlier.
A satisfied Hogan leaving WrestleMania 9 with gold – albeit tag gold – would have meant that Yokozuna didn’t have the shortest World title reign on the books and instead likely had a yearlong run with the title. Hart would have looked less like a goof for sending Hogan in to fight his battle while blinded on the outside. Hulk could have challenged for the World title down the line and been squashed as he had been in the “prime universe.”
The biggest change in this scenario would have been the nullification of arguably the worst ending to a WrestleMania in history and a smidgeon less criticism directed at the Hulkster.