Alright, I've posted a few of my opinions on how to fix Wrestlemania, and I've decided that I'm just going to post it all, as some of the things are already happening (much to my delight). I've updated some of the card (in yellow) since I wrote this a week ago.
Here it is in its entirety, MY Wrestlemania "corrections":
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So, 'Horse' you say, if you're so clever what then is your master plan to fix Wrestlemania. I mean we're on the road to Wrestlemania right now, and things aren't looking so good. Well, 6 weeks is a long time, and I believe that if the a few precautions are taken, that come April 2nd, we might not be faced with the worst Wrestlemania of all time.
1. WWE Title - HHH vs Cena - Despite the fact that this match should've taken place a long time ago when people still cared about Cena, there's still a possibility for this to go down as a good match. The build-up will be very important here. I want to see HHH out there ripping into Cena for the first few weeks. Do NOT put them in a match together. There's a time and a place for that and it's called Wrestlemania 22, and it's in Chicago. If I'm booking this the fans don't get so much of an in-ring tease out of these two for the next 3 weeks. One week you have HHH doing commentary during a Cena match, the next week vice-versa. Have plenty of stare-downs, and continue to build the tension. Right now these two have little to no history, and we've only got a month to fix that. HHH has his motive, and that's to take back what's his, Cena on the otherhand does not. We also have plenty of reasons to hate HHH, yet so few to like Cena. So, my proposal is to use none other than Maria to fix this. I want to see her continue this little romance with Cena, and then in a few weeks I want to see HHH pedigree her right in the middle of the ring, while Cena can't get down there to make the save. Then we'll watch as Cena carries her limp body to the back. I think doing something like that would actually give the fans a reason to like Cena, and make sure that they still hate HHH. The week after that, you'd have Cena and HHH finally get in the ring, but have security split them up of course. Have McMahon come out and say that his Wrestlemania main event is not going to be ruined. Then the week after that, ideally the Raw prior to Mania, we finally let Cena and HHH go at it, end Raw with the two of them beating the hell out of each other. Perhaps Maria could be back that week, and HHH could be going after her again, and this time Cena could make the save. I believe the crowd would eat that up and then Cena would be viewed as the "night in shining armor" instead of just the guy trying too hard to be cool. At Mania, you have got to let Cena win. It's so critical that Cena goes over. If John Cena is ever going to be a big star, he has to win this match. After that, if the fans still won't take to him, then it's time to give HHH the belt at Backlash and make other plans for Cena. It's also going to be important that Cena and HHH isn't the 8 minute crapfest that Cena vs JBL was last year. Cena is actually capable of wrestling a good match, or at least he was at one point early in his career. This match needs to be around 20+ minutes, and probably gory as hell in order for the fans to get really into it. Tease the finish over and over as necessary, of course Maria has to be down there during the match to potentially muck things up for Cena, but in the end the title has to stay around Cena's waist. If HHH wins this match, it's a good sign Vince has abandoned his idea of Cena being the next big star.
2. I/C Title - No DQ - Shelton vs Flair - A lot of people would probably like to see RVD here. That just can't happen, and I'll tell you why. If you put RVD in this match, then in order to continue his momentum, RVD must win. This in turn de-values the I/C strap as Shelton just won it. Shelton vs Flair isn't going to be a good match to be quite honest. It's a necessary filler though. Have Flair remain off TV next week, to sell his injuries and then comeback the following week and cut a promo demanding a rematch against Benjamin. They could have a match prior to that on Raw or at SNME, and Shelton's momma can make sure her boy doesn't lose the title. The result is at Wrestlemania Shelton faces Flair one last time in a no DQ match. Again, Shelton should cheat in some manner to win the match (true you can't technically cheat in a no DQ match, but you get the idea). Hopefully, this finally completes Shelton's heel turn, and Shelton no longer gets the silent treatment like he did for the most part when he nailed Flair with the oxygen tank. It's gonna be kind of hard to get people to really care about this match, but if the WWE spends the next few weeks working on turning Shelton heel, I think this match could be decent. After Wrestlemania, Shelton should begin a program with a mid-card face, such as Chavo, and hold onto the belt for awhile until he looks strong enough, that losing the belt to RVD isn't going to automatically drop Shelton off the radar again. Ultimately, I'd like to see Shelton drop the title to RVD, but still move up the card, as he's fully capable of putting on a good match.
3. Tag Titles - Kane & Big Show vs Eric Bischoff and 3 Minute Warning - This is the most logical way to re-introduce Bischoff. I know a build-up to this match isn't going to be easy, especially if Bischoff is kept off camera much longer, but who else is there to face Kane & The Big Show at this point? They've already beaten every team on Raw. Ideally the WWE could just unify the belts and have them defended on both shows, but I doubt that will happen. This could be a good time to finally split Kane & The Big Show, as Vince seems to want to put Show in more singles matches again as of late. Remember that "Mr. Jacobs" storyline I came up with for Kane? Why not have Big Show conk Kane in the head with something dense on accident and trigger my scenario? Either way, if you're going to bring back 3 Minute Warning, they're going to need the belts to make people forget how much of a joke they turned out to be last time. If you don't put them in this match, put in someone else that Show and Kane can just crush. You save time, and continue to make Show and Kane look like good champions, until a real challenger emerges.
4. Women's Title - Trish vs Mickie w/ Ashley as the guest referree - I know the Trish, Mickie angle has been going on for quite some time now. I think that's great though. Back in the day there used to only be 4 WWE ppvs per year. As such, each ppv was generally full of matches with a good story behind them. The writers have been very patient with Mickie, and a good pay-off should come at Wrestlemania. I suggest putting Mickie in as many matches on TV as possible leading into Wrestlemania. Finally, two weeks before the big show, have Trish beat Candice if she hasn't done so already, and then have Mickie turn on Trish after the match. Don't do this backstage, do it out in front of the fans so they get a chance to let Mickie really hear it. Then at Mania, you've got your big match between Trish and Mickie. A women's match that people will actually be interested in. We can toss Ashley in as the guest referree for good measure, plus that way she's not wrestling. I thought about tossing in Victoria and Candice or Torrie too and making this a fatal 4 way, but I really think that Trish and Mickie need to have it out. I would have Mickie win, because if Trish wins there's little to continue to feud with, and right now no other woman but Victoria deserves to be wrestling. *well now that Ashley is hurt, she can just be left out of the match*
5. Hardcore Match: Edge vs Foley - Honestly, I don't like this one. I know Mick will make Edge look good, but if you're going to make Edge a main eventer, you can't drop him down here. Foley is basically retired, and paraded around at big pay-offs to make current guys look better. Problem is, Edge has already been to the top of the mountain, and now he needs to be facing someone else that's up there. I'm not sure who else you can use on Raw as there really aren't any top faces left outside Cena, who is getting boo'd most of the time anyway. I'd like to see Edge vs RVD, but perhaps it is too soon for that. Especially with so little time to build up to it. Anway, Edge will pick up the win. I'd like to see Duggan in Mick's corner, to counter Lita. By having Edge win regardless of Duggan being out there, you make Edge look stronger. If Edge wins because of Lita he looks weaker. Common logic lets you know that Edge needs to look stronger if he's going to stay at main event status.
6. Rockers vs McMahons - This could be great if executed properly. I think Vince needs to continue humiliating Jannetty during the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. It's absolutely necessary that Michaels and Jannetty actually team up and win a match or two on Raw though, to remind older fans and introduce newer fans to The Rockers. Hell, I'd even have them come out at Wrestlemania in their old Rockers costumes. A deal of some sort could be reached between Michaels and McMahon, kind of a loser leaves town type of deal. Since HBK is expected to take time off anyway. The match would end seeing Jannetty turn on Michaels and helping Vince win. Later on, it would be explained that Jannetty did it to gain revenge for the infamous Barbershop incident all those years ago. Of course Vince would put an unconcious Michaels in the sharpshooter to win the match.
7. World Title - Angle vs Orton vs Rey - Yes, Kurt is capable of putting on one hell of a match with Orton alone, but the only way you're saving this one is by adding Rey. Putting Rey into the mix does three things: First, you save your Kurt. We all know damn well that Kurt Angle has seen better days. If you toss Rey in there, Kurt won't have to do as many high risk spots, thus preserving what's left of him. Second, you appease the fans. I touched on this before, Rey is more popular than Randy Orton. The people want to see Rey in the match. The build-up between Randy and Rey, although distasteful, is very intense. Third, you add an extra level of unpredictability, if Rey can get in the match, then perhaps he could win it. He did win the Royal Rumble afterall; that is what you want the fans to believe. Whether Rey wins or not would be irrelevant at that point. It should be interesting to see how they handle this situation on Smackdown this week. I think a non-title match between Rey and Angle would help Rey's cause. Let Rey pin Kurt, so again you continue to build up that belief in the minds of the fans that Rey Mysterio really could win the title. Rey can continue to say that this is for Eddie all he likes, just stop having Randy take cheap shots at Eddie, and have him start in on Kurt. After Rey has proved himself over the next month (next 4 SDs) then you finally have Vince himself show up and put Rey into the match, as a way of giving the fans what they want. I think Vince can get away with this, as Vince can do pretty much anything, yet still turn around the next show and keep all of his heat. So, we end up with Rey, Angle and Randy. In the end I have Kurt pin Rey. Right now Smackdown desparately needs a little stability, and only Kurt Angle can provide that. The fans aren't ready to accept Randy Orton as champion (again) yet. Plus a potential Angle vs Batista match is something we haven't seen yet, and the WWE can finally have the Randy vs Batista showdown at Summerslam. By having Kurt pin Rey, Orton doesn't look as weak for not winning the title. Orton would also have a gripe that he was not pinned, and this would allow him to continue his feud with Angle, until Batista returns. *Excellent, Rey is officially in the match, now hopefully the rest of my plans are followed*
8. US Title - 2 out of 3 falls - Benoit vs Booker T - These two have got a great history already. Plus Booker T can complain that he wasn't at 100% when Benoit took the title from him at No Way Out. Let this be the be-all, end-all to one of the greatest upper mid-card feuds in the history of wrestling. A 2-out-of-3-falls match helps bring about that sense of closure that these two need, and Wrestlemania is the best stage to close out a feud. It really doesn't matter who wins the match, as long as they can win clean. Perhaps you can have Sharmell help Booker win his first fall, but then have her sent to the back because of that, so the final fall is just Benoit vs Booker T. Hopefully the Booker man is in good enough shape to go for this one, I'd hate to see him get replaced due to his injury. I'm assuming if he wrestled at No Way Out though, he can go for Wrestlemania. Again, I'm not sure it really matters who wins this one. I'd probably keep the title on Benoit though, as he just picked it up, and Booker could then take some more time off to fully recover, or... start a feud with The Boogeyman. *Seems the Boogeyman feud has already started up, I hope they finish things off on SNME, so the Benoit/Booker T match can happen, perhaps the Boogeyman can beat Booker T on SNME, and then Booker T can beat Benoit, setting up a Boogey vs Booker feud for the tag title.*
9. Tag Titles - Fatal 4 Way - MNM vs Tatanka & Matt Hardy vs Gymini vs Finlay & William Regal - I'm not sure fans are aready to accept the team of Matt Hardy & Tatanka as legit title contenders yet. I think people would accept Finlay teaming with William Regal though, as both hail from western Europe, and both have similar in-ring styles. You could substitute Hardcore Holly for Regal, but I'd much rather use Regal here. The way this is built up to, is first by having Finlay and Regal form a team on as soon as possible. Then you have MNM cheat Tatanka & Hardy out of the titles, and find a way to retain them up to Wrestlemania. Gymini would also be a good throw-in for the match. As long as they beat teams like the Dicks, Kendrick & London, etc on tv they'll look more legit. Putting them in such a match, would help the creative team really gauge how far they have (or have not) progressed. Naturally you don't let Gymini win the match, and I'm not really in favor of Hardy & Tatanka winning either, as at the moment I have no idea why they're even teaming up. The only thing that comes to mind regarding the Tatanka/Hardy alliance is they're both billed from North Carolina. I think putting the titles on my Finlay/Regal team wouldn't be a bad way to go, as fans might finally take Finlay a bit more serious after that. Of course, keeping the belts on MNM would be a safer move. Due to the lack of title changes I have scripted for the entire show, I'd have MNM drop the straps here to keep the overall title picture fresh. *Obviously the Regal/Finlay combo isn't going to happen. Instead let's run with this Finlay/JBL combo. I know it's a step back for JBL, but he's injured right now. Being a hand injury he could probably wrestle with a cast on, but competing in the MITB match as I had originally just isn't going to work. So, put him in tag action and let Finlay carry the work load. You can even have Finlay and JBL win the match, as few would expect this.*
10. Cruiser Title - Free Fall Match - Gregory Helms vs Brian Kendrick vs Funaki vs Kid Kash vs Nunzio vs Paul London vs Psicosis vs Scotty vs Super Crazy vs Simon Dean vs Steven Richards vs Chavo - I'm sure some of these names may be omitted, especially if Psicosis and Crazy are teaming up in the previous match. Remember back to Wrestlemania 2000, when they had that great Hardcore Battle Royal? The 24/7 rule was in full effect, and the title changed hands numerous times over the course of the match. Well, that's what I want to see here, a Cruiser free for all battle royal. Put 15 minutes on the clock and let them go at it. Whoever, ends the match with the belt is declared champion. This way the valuable tv time that Vince doesn't care to give to the light heavyweights doesn't have to be wasted, plus we avoid an exact re-hash of the match at No Way Out. There's other benefits too, as you can have someone pin Helms, then have another wrestler pin that guy, and have Helms get the final pin and ultimately retain the title. A feud could then be born, as Helms would not have pinned the man who pinned him. Another possibility is giving the title to Chavo and moving him back to Smackdown. The Smackdown fans are more familiar with Eddie, and therefore would be more prone to cheering Chavo. I think this would be a great way to move him back over there, just like the WWE did with Helms at The Royal Rumble. *Since JBL is hurt, I'd rather see Chavo in the MITB match, although he could do both. There were a few wrestlers who had other matches and still were in the Hardcore Free for All at WM2000, it'd be cool to see Chavo win this after losing the MITB*
11. Gimmick Match - The Undertaker vs Mark Henry - Taker doesn't want to be in this match, and quite frankly I don't think anyone wants to see it. The Undertaker is sure to win, as he's dominated Wrestlemania for too long, to drop a match now, let alone to Mark Henry. I think the WWE officials have realized that while Henry certainly has the look and demeanor, he lacks the in-ring and mic abilities to be a main eventer at this point. So, why not spice this match up a little bit, and give the people a reason to want to see it, make it a gimmick match. Undertaker has been in so very many gimmick matches, but there's only two I can see as being viable choices here. While we'd all love to see Mark Henry fall off of the cell in a Hell in the Cell match, the last thing the WWE needs is a repeat of the HITC match between the Bossman and Taker, so cross that one off. Then there's the Inferno Match, again, I just think that could get too ugly. Henry probably smells bad enough as it is, I'm sure he'd smell like burning rubber (or blubber) if he caught on fire, so let's go in another direction. That leaves us with either a Buried Alive Match or a Casket Match. I think the Buried Alive is the most long overdue, so that's my pick, but a Casket Match could be interesting too. Just make sure there's some interesting gimmick at play here, and make sure the match is kept to 10 minutes in length. I think by keeping the match short and gimmick-style, you'll keep the fans interest.
12. Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Carlito vs Masters vs RVD vs JBL(Chavo) vs Lashley vs The Boogeyman - The only way this match really works is to make it co-brand. You *could* replace the Smackdown guys with Kane, The Big Show and Chavo and then since there'd be no Raw Tag Titles match, you'd have room for Lashley vs JBL part 2. However, that would leave the Boogeyman displaced, and I don't think fans would really buy into Kane or The Big Show winning this type of match at this point. Most people who have been watching wrestling long enough know all too well that Kane and Show tend to be fillers in cluster matches and never potential winners. If you're going to put Kane or Show into the match, then they really have to win, and since this match is designed to elevate someone's career, I would simply leave Kane & Show out, as they've already been at the top of the card for a long time. Now that my explanation for the participants is out of the way, here's how I book the set-up. Obviously, Carlito has made it clear he wants another Money in the Bank match to take place. Well, I think JBL should insist upon this too. Have him campaign for one on Smackdown, ultimately leading to an inter-promotional match. With Carlito in the match, RVD should naturally want to be in the match. RVD and Carlito have some history and worked a great match together during the #1 Contender Tournament on Raw. Masters has been appearing in more and more of these types of matches lately, so including him is logical as well. Masters can come out next week and campaign for the match too, while he says that he is the future of Raw, and not Carlito. Since JBL cheated to beat Lashley at No Way Out, Lashley should want to get in the match not only to prove himself and get the MITB shot, but to get revenge on JBL too. Finally, Teddy Long can introduce the final competitor in the match... The Boogeyman. The Boogeyman adds a true wild card into the mix, and the fans have already taken to him so quickly. The difficulty then becomes picking a winner. Since I think Angle and Cena should retain, naturally the individual who wins should be someone who can start a feud with one of those two. I believe that the Smackdown title picture is fairly clear through SummerSlam right now, Angle will retain at Mania, then start a program with Randy Orton, until Batista is healthy and enters the mix. So, I'd have to go with a Raw guy to win the match. Edge did such a great job using the Money in the Bank briefcase to his advantage as a heel that I'd hate to see a face win this match. Plus, I'd like to see RVD win the I/C title at some point, before moving full steam into the WWE Title picture. So, that leaves us with either Masters or Carlito. Either one is a good choice here, but my pick is going to be Carlito. I think Carlito seems more like the type that would use that briefcase to help himself win a few matches. Plus if you plan on keeping the Belt on Cena, he's going to need a decent heel challenger. Carlito ended up being the final man in the elimination chamber against Cena, so why not give him a one-on-one shot. Carlito can always bide his time like Edge did last year, all the while building up character by using the MITB briefcase to aid him. If Carlito at any point appears to be losing heat with the crowd, or if it becomes necessary to strip Cena of the title, then simply have Carlito lose the MITB shot to someone else. RIght now, I feel Carlito winning a match like this would make Carlito look worthy of finally getting a title shot. While waiting any longer to push Carlito could leave him on the outside looking in, permanently. *Alright, I've already touched on the JBL injury and Chavo made an appearance on SD last week, so I suggest having Chavo qualify for the MITB match this week on SD, and have him replace JBL*
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ed him up. They spent more time focusing on how bitter he was in his lawsuit against the WWE than they did on his body failure, liver replacement, and other aspects.
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