Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
The ‘If Factor’ are a series of articles that takes a look at real scenarios in pro wrestling that at one point or another were suggested, planned, considered…but did not get the green light to continue. What would the landscape of professional wrestling look like if these ideas came to fruition?
The If: Chyna Becomes WWF World Champion At SummerSlam 1999
In the Summer of 1999, ‘The Ninth Wonder of the World’ Chyna became the number one contender to challenge ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at SummerSlam ’99 for the WWF title. That actually was a reality and happened. Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura was booked as the special guest referee for the match and was briefly advertised as such. Then, inexplicably, Chyna was taken out of the number one contender’s spot and both Mankind and Triple H were added in her place.
According to Chyna’s former manager…Vince McMahon really wanted to put the WWF title on Chyna. McMahon knew it would generate a lot of interest from fans and non fans alike. Her former manager contends that McMahon offered the title to her, but knew that Playboy magazine was vying for her to do a pictorial and Vince did not want his top guy or in this case…Top Gal…doing the adult themed spread. While Vince was unopposed to Chyna posing nude, he was against her doing both. Vince allegedly gave her a choice, either do Playboy or become his world champion. Chyna supposedly chose Playboy and other ventures outside of the World Wrestling Federation as they seemed more promising. Vince McMahon did heavily promote Chyna’s Playboy venture when it debuted in 2000…but her opportunity to become world champion was lost for good.
Jim Ross had another take on the situation claiming that even though Austin liked Chyna and was willing to work with her, he was “too old school” and would never be willing to drop his title to her. Was it Steve Austin that was the roadblock to Chyna becoming WWF champion? Was it Chyna who allegedly chose Playboy magazine over a title run? Was it a mixture of both?