What Would Have Happened If Vader Beat Shawn Michaels at Summerslam '96

Most of you wrestling fans out there remember the classic match between Shawn Michaels and Vader at Summerslam '96.

It was an entertaining match, but I had always wondered what would have happened to the landscape of the WWF at the time if Vader had won that match and became WWF Champion.

In this article I set out to predict what I think would have happened not only in the short term but in the long term.

Before Vader came into the WWF most of you know he was a former WCW Champion and a quite successful wrestler in Japan. Vader made his debut in the 1996 Royal Rumble, and made an impact immediately, he was known as "the man they call vader" and was a dominate force from day one.

Vader was pushed somewhat quickly to a Title match with Shawn Michaels, but it was something new at the time.

Earlier in the year at Wrestlemania XII Shawn Michaels beat Bret Hart in the Ironman Match and the boyhood dream came true as JR would say.

Shawn's popularity was at an all time high after his win, and most people probably thought he would have a lengthy title run.

This wasn't the case as later in the years where Shawn lost to Sid at Survivor Series and lost the belt.

Now think to yourselves, what would have happened if Vader had prevailed as some thought would happen.

Lets say Vader did win the title, would the WWF have decided to build up to a rematch at Survivor Series, or have a Vader vs. Sid match for the title instead. Or even have a triple threat match.

Personally I feel a Vader vs. Sid match would have been very interesting, granted Sid would not be able to powerbomb Vader, this would of been an added dimension to the match and could have led to a last man standing match.

How entertaining would a Vader vs. Sid last man standing match be, pretty damn good in my opinion.

Now don't get me wrong I am a big Shawn Michaels fan, but I feel he would have benefited from losing to Vader.

They could of written a storyline where Vader at Summerslam put Michaels out of commission for a while. Meanwhile Vader and Sid would have their feud, at Royal Rumble 1997 Michaels could have made a surprise return, and win the Rumble going on to challenge Vader to a rematch at Wrestlemania XIII.

I have always been a big fan of Vader, be that as it may I feel the company would have benefited with a mega heel Vader as champion for a while. But I would like to hear what other people think, the match at Summerslam is talked about a lot and I thought it would be interesting to explore this more.