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If Lesnar doesn’t leave in 2004 how does the course of history change? Does JBL even become a thing?

1.3K views 55 replies 34 participants last post by  Jersey  
#1 ·
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I say yes because he was the biggest heel on SD.
 
#8 ·
I think Lesnar would have taken Batista spot but would have gotten boring around 2008.

Then in 2012 they would have probably got Goldberg or someone to return to increase the hype
No way. Brock was being pushed to be the face of the company from 2002. If he stayed around he would remain the top guy and Cena probably the second guy. So more like Cena would've taken Batista's spot.

Brock would have taken Takers spot.

So most things would have still turned out the same.
Why would he have taken Taker's spot? Taker was part timer from 2004.

I don't think much changes at all. It takes more than one wrestler for a show to change massively
No it doesn't. If you remove the top guy in any era the show changes massively because someone has to cover that spot. Imagine no Cena after 2006 or no Stone Cold in 1998. The show would change immensely.
Brock leaving made room for guys like JBL to get a shot at being a main eventer in the short term, and in the long term helped Cena become the face of the company and Batista a top guy.

Eddie Guerrero wouldn't have been a champion, JBL would've never been a single guy, Cena would've beaten Lesnar at Mania 21.
I think Eddie still get his run since it was part of the Brock vs Goldberg storyline. Probably loses it back to Lesnar after WM. Yeh, JBL doesn't get a main event run.
 
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#11 ·
If you're the WWE and you see John Cena as someone who has the potential to be a top mic worker, it actually makes a lot of sense for him to feud with JBL, who is a good talker. Brock can't talk, so it's a different role.
 
#14 ·
JBL almost certainly doesn't get the belt and the main event push. I still think Cena gets the top spot and I don't think anything would change with Batista, as Lesnar was on Smackdown and things on Raw would have probably still played out similarly with Orton crashing and burning and Batista getting over. They probably wouldn't have moved Batista to Smackdown in 2005 though, they would probably keep him on Raw, moved Cena to Raw, and had Lesnar and Taker be the top two on Smackdown

I think that maybe Batista would be hurt the most, since their presentation is somewhat similar
Batista was well protected in the midcard even while Lesnar was still the face of Smackdown. Both guys were on different brands so I don't think it would have changed much. I think they'd have kept them apart until 2006 or so until one guy was moved to the same show, and they could have had a big money drawing program.
 
#19 ·
I remember hearing somewhere, it may have been on one of Conrad's podcasts, that the plan for Brock after WrestleMania was to feud with The Undertaker. So in that circumstance we could still get the JBL character, but I guess it would have been unlikely he would have got a long title reign so early.
 
#20 ·
Brock was really not very successful, so it just depends how stubborn Vince wanted to be with him. Does he just keep pushing him anyway, or does he move on? In the long term, I think nothing is stopping the Cena train, but stuff might have been different around the edges, sure.
 
#32 ·
Would it though? They could have kept them apart for years and then had a big program whenever they felt like it. If they felt one or the other would step on each others toes, they could have kept them on separate shows.
 
#27 ·
Lesnar would have squashed Goldberg at WM 20, lose to Taker at Judgement Day and then beat Eddie for the title at the GAB in 2004. He would have been asked to drop it to Cena at WM 21.
Vince knew that Lesnar couldn't cut it as a face though by 2004. Lesnar was booked to lose to Taker at Judgement Day since Taker had unfinished business with Brock from No Mercy 2003 and had never beaten Brock one on one. Cena was always going to win the WWE title at WM 21.
Cena's WWE title win at WrestleMania 21 was not even guaranteed, let alone against Brock Lesnar.

There were reports at the time that WWE's initial plan was for The Rock to defeat JBL for the WWE title at WrestleMania 21, and then drop it back to JBL on Smackdown. There were also reports, once the Rock/JBL match wasn't going to happen, that JBL would retain and then lose the title to Cena at SummerSlam, I guess to give Cena a bit more time to chase and for JBL to surpass the one year mark as WWE Champion.

Besides that, as I mentioned before,
the long-term plan was Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 21, so in that scenario Lesnar likely wins the Rumble and jumps to Raw, since he'd been on Smackdown for a number of years at that point.
 
#37 ·
Cena's WWE title win at WrestleMania 21 was not even guaranteed, let alone against Brock Lesnar.

There were reports at the time that WWE's initial plan was for The Rock to defeat JBL for the WWE title at WrestleMania 21, and then drop it back to JBL on Smackdown. There were also reports, once the Rock/JBL match wasn't going to happen, that JBL would retain and then lose the title to Cena at SummerSlam, I guess to give Cena a bit more time to chase and for JBL to surpass the one year mark as WWE Champion.

Besides that, as I mentioned before,
the long-term plan was Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 21, so in that scenario Lesnar likely wins the Rumble and jumps to Raw, since he'd been on Smackdown for a number of years at that point.
Except neither guy is a face at the time. Lesnar flopped as a face in 2003 and they turned him into McMahon's lackey right before Summerslam and HHH didn't want to be a face. Rock was never going to be long there long term in 2005 and wanted to face Sting, Savage or Mysterio Vince wanted him to face HBK which Rock turned down at WM 20.
 
#31 ·
JBL definitely never happens.

I loved JBL's run but that only happened cause Lesnar left, Angle was hurt, Big Show was hurt, and they had virtually no heels left.

If Lesnar stayed, he definitely would have beat Goldberg at Mania, probably win the belt back from Eddie, work with Deadman Taker and put over Cena at Mania 21.
 
#34 ·
Bradshaw getting his JBL gimmick could have happened, as well as a strong US title run with him as an upper midcard fixation, but I don't think he makes the main event and has that long run with the WWE title without Lesnar being gone. A 9 month run in that era was an extremely long run.
 
#41 ·
I'd be good with anything if it kept JBL from becoming a thing.