So Jim Ross today said that Conor McGregor has the it factor of an Attitude Era star in the WWE. This got us to thinking; what would it have been like if McGregor had been a wrestler around the turn of the millennium. Here are a few storylines...
3 June 1998 - Who slept with Chyna?
In the middle of May word breaks that somebody has slept with Chyna. Triple H and his new DX recruit X-Pac are not at all pleased. After week's of teasers the pair tell the Monday Night Raw crowd they know who it is, and that everybody knows the man protecting him!
It all comes to a head on 3 June when Triple H calls out the injured Shawn Michaels, and orders him down to the ring. The Game accuses his DX teammate and best friend of protecting the man he knows to have slept with his girlfriend. When Michaels refuses to admit he knows the man who did it, Triple H storms off in disgust.
'Be a man Shawn! Tell us who he is! Hand him over to us!' shouts Triple H as he leaves the stage. Just at that X-Pac – has clearly had enough of Michaels' lying – charges down to the ring and starts beating on the inured HBK. Just at that, the music begins to play.....
OH MY GAWD KING! WHO IS THAT GUY KING!? HE'S BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF X-PAC!
'That guy' is Conor McGregor. He is revealed as the man who slept with Chyna. The Dubliner has been taken under the wing of Michaels, who has chosen him over Triple H. His finisher is the Spinning Sweet Chin Music, a spinning heel kick to the head that is absolutely lethal.
McGregor feuds with X-Pac
The war between McGregor and X-Pac rages for months until McGregor beats him in a TLC match at Survivor Series. He survives Chyna coming down to the ring and turning on him by hitting him with a steel chair. In winning, McGregor throws X-Pac off the top of the ladder, out of the ring and through the announce table. X-Pac suffers a legit knee injury and is ruled out for four months.
Welcome to....Raw.Is.Jericon....
In early 1999 McGregor teams up with new WWF star Chris Jericho to form one of the most hated tag teams in the company. However when X-Pac makes a shock return during a Jericon v New Age Outlaws tag team title match, McGregor turns on Y2J and helps X-Pac beat the crap out of him. The once bitter rivals are now a team.
Kindnapping Spike Dudley
The pair play a huge role in what was the golden era of tag team wrestling. Early on their partnership they feud with The Dudley Boyz, kidnapping Spike. On one particular episode of Raw, in a match between The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian, Devon is about to pin Edge for the tag titles when McGregor arrives through the crowd driving a bulldozer and pushes the ring straight out of the stadium.
However, their biggest rivalry was with The Hardy Boyz, with whom they had many a great cage match. Unfortunately the rivalry came to an end when Mark Henry accidentally sat on Conor McGregor backstage and the resulting knee injury sidelined McGregor for months, meaning he faded out of the PPV picture.
McGregor returns during The Invasion
At the height of the invasion of WWF by WCW and ECW, Shane McMahon goads his father, saying that WCW wasn't his only big money signing. He tells Vince that he'll find out what he means on 3 June.
Sure enough, two years after his debut to the day, McGregor makes his long awaited return. He cuts one of the best heel promos in living memory, telling everyone of how he only was convinced to come back due to the 'shitload of moolaa' offered by Shane O'Mac. Indeed McGregor starts to use the same Here Comes The Money' entrance music as the new WCW owner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1k2SNtq79c
His run as the most hated in wrestler in WWF didn't last long however due to a feud with Chuck Palumbo. While McGregor was trying to play the role of bad guy against Palumbo – who had just been thrown out of the Alliance – his repeated line 'Who the fuck is Chuck Palumbo!?' was loved by live crowds and thus caused him to often be cheered. Like Stone Cold, McGregor was just too damn entertaining to be considered a true heel any more.
McGregor leaves the WWE
In early 2002 the Dublin native left the WWE to begin training as an MMA fighter. It was thought he would never return....
Dun Dun Dunnnnn....
In the 2006 Royal Rumble it looked like nothing was going to stop the king of PG, Rey Mysterio from winning the main event. The kids' favourite had last almost an hour and just one more entrant to come in, he looked like the favourite to earn the title shot. That was until....
GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY! MCGREGOR! IT'S CONOR MCGREGOR!
McGregor beats the absolute crap out of Mysterio, winning the Rumble in the process. However he calls out Vince McMahon and tells him that he and his PG era can shove a WWE title shot up their arse! He left the WWE and immediately joined the UFC.
