If the Higgs is as per standard model, it seems reasonable to suppose that its discovery would make very little difference to the immediate course of physics.
So first and importantly they discovered a higgs and they have determined its mass at 125-126GeV. The two facts are equally important.
Ok pre the discovery of the Higgs here are the 96 theories predicting a Higgs particle. Any theory predicting that there was no higgs including hundreds of string theory variants was immediately invalidated.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/0708.3344.pdfSo although the standard model existed before the higgs scientists spent time discussing literally hundreds of theories as well as the standard model.
In fact if you remember my prediction I said no higgs because I liked a variants of string theory not the standard model.
So the falsification of hundreds of theories is actually good for science because it settles alot of arguments and thoughts. It may damage a few egos along the way but it means we are not wasting time testing and arguing about tests on hundreds of different theories.
Ethan put up a good discussion on the compaction
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/10/17/have-we-reached-the-end-of-particle-physics/So it actually works the other way to what you think these moments of compactions in fields actually aid science because we don't waste time discussing and experimenting and arguing over things that are clearly wrong.
Thus the field advances much faster in these periods because there is only a few theories left that havent been falsified.
So yes the standard model was around before the higgs discovery but it was not universally accepted I was testiment to that. Post the higgs we know that whatever theory comes next must be at a minimum compatable with the standard model and then it will expand out to explain new stuff the standard model doesn't.
