Okay, so the lineup for WrestleMania is pretty much set in stone. BUT… What would *I* do if I had my way? How would I have booked the show? Well, let’s find out… I’ll even post’em in reverse order (much like TNA!) from the main event down to the opening match.
WWE Title Match: Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
I’m sorry, but I gotta agree with what many fans are saying online– a triple threat match for the belt just seems lame. Even if you can get past the match being triple threat (heck, HHH/HBK/Benoit was great at WMXX and worthy of the main event), for some reason Orton/Cena/HHH just seems generic and reeks of a Raw main event or an “off” month PPV main event (such as next month’s Backlash).
Other than the fact that HHH wants to win the belt in the main event at WM, there’s no reason for his inclusion. Cena’s surprise entry at the Rumble was great and if they actually held off on blowing their load on Cena vs. Orton at No Way Out, this would have been a WM-worthy main event with a compelling backstory (Orton attacks Cena’s dad, Orton “injures” Cena screwing him out of the title, Cena win the Rumble and exacts his revenge and regains the belt at WM).
“Career Threatening” Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
Another great WM match that’s already on the card, if only the build up would’ve been better. Flair has looked pretty weak in his wins and it should’ve been Flair himself to impose the “if I lose, I retire” stipulation on his matches. Not to mention, he hasn’t been given the microphone enough during this angle.
World Title Match: Edge (c) vs. Undertaker
They got this one right.
HHH vs. Big Show
I know, it’s been done before going as far back as 7 or 8 years ago, but it’s been at least a few years since they’ve wrestled each other and they could’ve played a bit of reality into the angle with HHH taking offense to the Big Show coming and going from the company whenever he feels like it compared to himself, who lives for wrestling and has injured himself doing what he loves yet he keeps coming back. It’d be passion vs. paycheck.
Belfast Brawl: Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. Vince & Shane McMahon
Father & son vs. father & son. JBL’s placement in the feud really came out of nowhere and I figured *some* sort of Finlay vs. Vince would’ve been a natural progression for this feud. Definitely would have to have some sort of street fight rules to make this work, so Belfast Brawl it is!
Women’s Title Lumberjill Match: Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Mickie James
Remember when Mickie was crying a month or so ago because she couldn’t get a win over Beth? Yeah, I would’ve continued with that story and let it lead to a “last chance” match for Mickie. And for even more cheesecake, the rest of the Divas would be looking their WrestleMania best as lumberjills.
Raw vs. Smackdown: Umaga vs. Batista
We seem to get one of these interpromotional matches every year now and I didn’t want to waste either of these guys in MITB, yet I couldn’t figure out a marquee match for either that would be brand exclusive. Much like in reality, they pretty much became afterthoughts for my WM plans, so they ended up getting stuck together.
United States Title Match: MVP (c) vs. Matt Hardy
There is no reason this match should not be taking place. I know Matt got hurt and they tied that into the Orton/Jeff feud, but Matt is just sitting at home right now doing nothing when as far as I know he’s 100%. It’d be nice to see a secondary title defended at WM again and this match was well on it’s way to being WM worthy. It had a great slow build and their feud/alliance from last year was one of the company’s better angles.
ECW Title Match: CM Punk (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin
Doing a bit of retro-booking, I would’ve had Chavo drop the belt back to CM Punk awhile ago and let Shelton go on a tear through ECW leading up to this match, which I see as the only title feud with potential that ECW has right now.
Inter-Gender Tag Team Match: Melina & Santino Marella vs. Maria & Jerry Lawler
Hey, we need this year’s Playboy cover girl in a match all of her own and it should be against her estranged anti-Playboy boyfriend and a jealous Diva, then I’d have the biggest champion for naked Divas teaming up to help her.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Elijah Burke vs. Chris Jericho vs. JBL vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Carlito vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Jamie Noble vs. Kane
Brawlers and bump-takers, that’s what makes MITB work.
Big Ol’ Tri-Brand Battle Royal: Everyone else not on the card participates.
They like to do these as dark matches for WM these days to get the whole roster on the show, so let’s do that again.
Not a bad line-up if I do say so myself. 11 televised matches in 4 hours, as long as they keep the video packages to a minimum, that’s plenty of time to devote to the actual wrestling.
I think the Flair/Michaels buildup has been pretty good from the beginning, but the whole retirement angle hasn’t been done right until the moment they started the Michaels angle. Also, the promo between Flair and Michaels this past week on Raw was one of the best things I’ve seen in pro wrestling in a long, long time. It was enough to sell me on the show, and it was enough to sell my cousin, who hasn’t been a wrestling fan in 5-6 years. That promo was pure money.
Good stuff though. I’ve subscribed to your blog.
Thanks for the subscribe! Yeah, the last few weeks of Flair/HBK have been great, especially that promo which finally made WM feel important this year. But up to that point, the angle hasn’t had much steam, IMO.
I love Austin’s original pitch, a shame they didn’t go that direction.
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