WWE Mock Draft: Picking sides for the WWF vs. WCW 'Monday Night Wars'

We're one week away from WWE turning everything on the professional wrestling world on its head with the second brand extension.

You're probably familiar with the basics by now. SmackDown is going to be broadcast live starting next week, just like Raw. And each show will be treated as its own brand, with distinct rosters and (potentially) individual pay-per-views. To get everything set up, WWE is once again holding a draft, just like it did back in 2002.

There were ups and downs with that first brand extension, and WWE has undoubtedly learned valuable lessons from the past. What if, though, we could go further back?

The "Monday Night Wars" between WWE (still WWF at the time, naturally) and WCW were the absolute pinnacle of professional wrestling. It all happened more or less by chance, as the Outsiders' invasion of Nitro set the stage for Hulk Hogan's heel turn and the back-and-forth that followed between the two major wrestling promotions. 

Imagine, however, an alternate universe where WWE had all the capital it needed to buy WCW a few years earlier. Rather than having the "Montreal Screwjob" play out and Bret Hart jumping ship, the powers that be bring the likes of Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Sting, Hogan, and the rest of the wrestlers we all know and love under one roof. And with all that talent, WWE naturally decides to hold a draft for its "WWE" and "WCW" brands.

For the purpose of this (purely for fun) exercise, we're setting the date of the draft as Oct. 27, 1997 -- a Monday, of course. That's reportedly days before Hart signed his contract with WCW, and it's well before that promotion doomed itself with Hogan's refusal to lose cleanly to Sting at Starcade that year.

Who's the first pick? Which promotion leads the way? We took our best shot at answering those questions with a "Monday Night Wars" mock draft of the top 20 wrestlers (with a few honorable mentions for those wrestlers who hadn't quite made their mark by October 1997). A coinflip determined that WWE would have the first pick -- because apparently even in this alternate universe, things are scripted to go in WWE's favor.

This one requires a bit of foresight, since Austin hadn't yet entered his famous feud with Vince McMahon and taken that final leap into super-superstardom. He was already huge in WWF at the time, though, and he'd already delivered his famous "Austin 3:16" promo. The man was a star; the only real argument against him is the injuries that were to come. In this alternate universe, we're going to call an audible and make sure Austin doesn't take that piledriver.

Like Austin, you're buying in early with the man they once called "Rocky Maivia." And like Austin, that's fine, because the signs of greatness were already there. By October 1997, Rock had turned heel and helped the Nation of Domination. All of his best feuds were still to come, as well as a series of face-heel-face-whatever-I'm-The-Rock that defined the Attitude Era. My only case for not taking Rock No. 1 is that his ascent felt specific to what was going on during the Monday Night Wars. Austin's badass, anti-authority gimmick would have worked anywhere; Rock needed the Corporation, and DX, and Mankind, and Vince. Take any of those pieces out of the equation, and Rock's still a superstar; maybe he's not The Rock, though.

On second thought, that's ridiculous. Dwayne Johnson for president!

There's no question about Michaels' stardom during the Monday Night Wars. And in this universe, he doesn't take a back bodydrop onto a casket from Taker, doesn't have his back ruined, and doesn't go into a first retirement right as DX is taking over the world. On the other hand, there's no DX in this universe, which isn't great. But Michaels would find a way to make it work with the Kliq members that ended up in WWE alongside him.

And Triple H will have to make due without Michaels (and DX), as well. Now, before you point out that Triple H going to WCW would throw his climb up the corporate ladder out the window, remember -- in this scenario, WWE owns all of this. He'll be just fine still working for Vince and appearing on a WCW-branded program. Also, how great would it be to still have some of those old WCW pay-per-views? World War 3 was amazing, and Clash of the Champions would be perfect if the powers that be decided to have two distinct heavyweight championships.

This is probably a little high for Mankind/Dude Love/Cactus Jack, and I don't care. He's one of the greatest of all time. Period. Long live Mick Foley.

Ugggggggggh. Next.

OH, YEAH! Savage never got the respect he deserved, you guys. Even here, he ends up behind Hogan. At least in this universe, he's out of Hogan's shadow -- and our creative team is going to book Macho Man as one of the top stars, like he deserved.

If for no other reason than to see the Undertaker gimmick on Monday Nitro.

Same as Taker, but Sting in his prime on Raw. None of these token appearances before a retirement. (You're still the greatest, Sting. Starrcade was a federal crime.)

It'd be tough to split up Hart and Michaels at the height of their feud, but it must be done for the sake of the company. Their rivalry was reportedly driven as much by real-life tension as any scripted dialogue. You can't have them on the same show.

And he's bringing the Four Horsemen with him! ... since they won't have an nWo to feud against.

Jericho's staying with WCW for one reason: Dean Malenko has to stay as well, so that Jericho can deliver the greatest promo in WCW history as the Man of 1,004 Holds. Y2J was pretty cool too, though.

The absolute sleeper of the draft. Hall's one of the greatest talkers ever, and he has one of the best finishers as well. I'm angry at myself for having him this low. Let's move on before I delete this whole thing.

What's up, other Outsider? So here's the question -- does Nash team up with Hogan to form an nWo analog in this version of WCW? Do they convince Triple H to join? Or does Nash form the Wolfpac with Triple H, X-Pac (who isn't on this list because LOL), and a few other friends?

I don't think there's a wrong answer, but the backstage dynamics would probably solve the dilemma.

With how Goldberg was booked right out of the gate in WCW, you have to draft him. And the Spear/Jackhammer combo is pretty great. Other than that, I don't feel great about this pick. Big men can be so boring sometimes.

So, so boring sometimes.

It's great to see the Cruiserweight Classic bringing back the little guys. Mysterio was one of the best in any weight classes, as his "Giant Killer" phase showed. For his sake, we just hope that no one throws him into the side of a TV trailer in this world, since Nash is on the other broadcast.

Another underrated pick, DDP probably doesn't get enough credit because he was buried under Hogan's shadow for so long in WCW. When he was allowed to enter the main event scene, though, he was electric. Self-high-five.

That's right -- Kane and Undertaker are splitting up in this draft. The gimmick where Kane tormented his "brother" was cool for an introduction. After the first few matches, though, it got stale. Why not pit an unstoppable monster, Goldberg, against a figuratively literal demon in Kane?

Cheat to win. Cheat to win. Guerrero was one of the best in-ring technicians of this era, and he was astounding on the microphone when WCW gave him the freedom to work. His first title win in 2004 -- against Brock Freakin' Lesnar -- is one of the greatest moments in wrestling history.

Kurt Angle, Edge, Trish Stratus, Lita

Harlem Heat, New Age Outlaws, Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz 

The first group didn't make the cut because they were a year or more away from really breaking into the professional wrestling scene. They're all amazing, however, and deserve to be on the board as "developmental picks."

The second group is tag teams, obviously. Harlem Heat stood on its own merits in this draft, but the other three didn't -- except maybe the Dudley Boyz, if we count their time in ECW. Without at least two tag teams for each show, though, it felt weird drafting any.

And shoutout to Faarooq and Ken Shamrock, two guys who just barely made the cut here. Also, shoutout to Brock Lesnar. We'd absolutely use a second-round pick on a 20-year-old Beast.

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WWE: Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Randy Savage, Sting, Ric Flair, Scott Hall, Goldberg, Rey Mysterio Jr., Kane

WCW: The Rock, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, Eddie Guerrero, DDP, The Giant/Big Show

There are still dozens of outstanding wrestlers from this era of sports entertainment history that would come off the board next. That's a pretty solid start, however. WWE arguably had better top-tier talent during the Monday Night Wars, but the New World Order balanced everything out. In this draft, it's tough to tell which storylines would make sense and which would have to be rewritten. One thing's for sure, though -- we need a time machine to bring all of our favorite old-school (or middle-school) wrestlers into the same promotion as soon as possible.