FLAIR

[topdollar]

You can't stop greatness. There's no doubt that people would still bow down to Ric Flair--even without the tragedies to David Von Erich & Magnum T.A. I know David spent some time in Florida, but I doubt that he would've left Texas to be a traveling champ like Flair was. Also, I always thought Magnum would've went to WWF as Terrence Magnum(like Thomas Magnum). Vince would've had vignettes of Magnum on the beach with bikini babes as well as Magnum riving a red sports car to hype his arrival. At least, that's what I always pictured.

[Chad Olson]

It seems they were building a Magnum vs. Jimmy Garvin feud at the time of Magnum's car crash, so I'm not sure about him winning the title at Starrcade '86. I've also heard theories they were doing a short feud and then switching back to Magnum vs. Nikita for an I Quit match at SC'86. It's hard to say where Magnum would have ended up.

I think David Von Erich might have gotten the short reign instead of Kerry, but I'm not sure about him as a long term national solution in the ever evolving mid 80s landscape. I still think Fritz would have struck out on his own, or Vince would have finally got the alliance with Fritz that he appeared to covet. Even JCP was considering leaving the NWA, which is why the "Big Gold" belt doesn't say "NWA" on it, only "World Heavyweight Champion".

Regardless of Magnum and DVE's path, there's no denying the charisma and inside the ring greatness of Ric Flair. That would have made him an icon no matter who the competition.

[Swarm]

Absolutely. I don’t buy into the theory that either MTA or DVE would have had long reigns spanning years. Both were more like Ronnie Garvin - popular faces who would have made nice transition champs. Maybe the real question is would Flair be an 18 time champion rather than a 16 time champ if they had not suffered those tragedies.

[natureboi]

I don't believe Magnum would have risen above IC champion level in the WWF. He had a great look for a southern promotion but not for a McMahon promotion. Remember Flair taunting him over his buggy whip arms? He was a decent talker in a generation of great talkers. His best chance was to stay in Crockett while his pal Dusty held the book.

[on_the_edge]

I think so. I do not think David would have been much of a road block. Magnum maybe. I think the bigger thing, and bigger is the right word, is if Flair had not been in the plane accident. From what I have read he was going for a bigger, power lifting type build until that accident. Due to his back he had to lose weight and change his style. If no accident who knows how his career might have turned out.

[Blehschmidt]

Flair becomes a legend no matter what. He's Ric Flair.

IMO Magnum TA's trajectory depends solely on how close his friendship with Dusty Rhodes really was. We all know Dusty loved the spotlight, and most of that time period was spent with Dusty holding the book. So, would he be willing to make Magnum "the man" on the babyface side of things? Would have been real interesting to find out. If he was, I think we would have seen plenty of Flair/Magnum title changes into the 90's.

As for David, I tend to agree that he probably wouldn't have gotten the long reign. However, he did have a few things working in his favor that his brothers didn't. David was a superior worker, he was willing to work heel, and he seemed to be the only one in the bunch who was willing to stand up to Fritz. So maybe if he had been made champion, he would have told the old man to shove his shit, and could have branched out. Quite frankly, I am of the opinion that if David had lived, the whole story of the Von Erichs would have ended quite differently.