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Wrestling & MMA / Re: MAJOR names headed to WWE
« on: January 13, 2016, 04:08:05 PM »
One of my favorite posts on this site was Freakfish's thoughts. He had well thought out booking plans and reasons behind each of them. And more importantly, something planned moving forward. This is my best attempt at a similar post.
--I think they have a real chance to build more goodwill with Roman by separating him from the title picture and get into a blood feud with HHH. You want to get him over even more as a face? Have him fight HHH at Mania with the stipulation of career v The Authority being kicked off TV for good. Yeah it's storyline, but if he's "responsible" for getting rid of the heel authority figure angle, he'd endear himself to fans. Less talking, more badass brawls and he can cement himself in the main event picture as a face moving forward.
--I think there's two directions they're contemplating with KO for Mania: Brock and the Undertaker. I think the injury to Cena foiled a program with Taker (according to Meltzer) so they know they could crowbar Owens in there and he'll carry the feud on the mic, much like Bray did. If they go Taker/Owens, then I guess they go Brock/Wyatt? That would be a fun feud, and Brock working his way through the family to get to Bray at Mania is the kind of old school booking I love.
--What in the world do they do with the Bullet Club and Nakamura? I have an idea for Nakamura, but it's dependent on a few things. He's so over as a face, so it's quite a dicey move, but here's my scenario: Brock loses to Bray at Mania, who keeps the WWE title. The next night, Heyman comes out with Brock, and talks about selling high, and knowing when to end a good thing, and that's why he's firing Brock and introducing his newest Heyman guy. Brock goes to attack Heyman, but the lights go out. Nakamura's titantron appears and his music hits (apparently WWE bought the rights, thankfully). You've accomplished a few things by doing this: you've made Nakamura a huge deal, you've given him a mouthpiece, and you have one hell of a program that could last through Summerslam with Nakamura/Brock. If you hold any of the New Japan guys back until after Mania, it's Nakamura. The smart crowd will pop huge and add to the first impression a lot of people will have of him.
--This leaves us with Styles/Bullet Club. Tama Tonga is also a free agent, which plays into my scenario nicely, because I feel like the Bullet Club needs four guys for future booking plans. I have Styles enter the Rumble along with Tonga, Gallows, and Machine Gun. They clean house, and then Balor's music hits as the next entrant. You know what's coming. You don't have the rights to the Bullet Club (New Japan owns it), but you do have the Balor Club. I think Styles is a natural babyface and Balor plays a heel better than he does a face. They turn on AJ, dump him out, and you have a Balor/Styles program moving forward for Mania. After Mania? You could move Styles into a feud with Owens, while the heel Balor Club feuds with a face Wyatt Family, with Balor/Wyatt competing for the WWE World Title. Around SummerSlam I make the title switch to Balor, just in time to defend against a returning megaface: Seth Rollins.
--I'd also like to reform The Shield down the line to back up Rollins vs The Balor Club, but I don't have a plan fleshed out enough to post yet. The point of all this? You have Reigns over as a face away from the title, and you've completely shaken up the top of the card. The Authority is gone, and I wouldn't mind Regal being the face GM that rarely makes an appearance. Something similar to what he does now on NXT or like Jack Tunney. Also, if you notice, I don't have rematches ad nauseam. IMO, that would be the first thing Regal enforces as the new face (the night after Mania). If you lose your title, there's no longer an auto rematch that allows creative to coast for another month. Back to the back of the line and fight your way back up. So coming out of Mania, you have the following programs to lead you into Summerslam:
Balor/Wyatt for the WWE title
Balor Club/Wyatt Family
Lesnar/Nakamura
Owens/Styles
Reigns/Ambrose? (I didn't touch on this, but I haven't thought of Reigns post Mania. I wouldn't mind Ambrose also being a Heyman guy, and turning on Reigns. A stable of Nakamura, Ambrose, and Joe would be a badass group. It seems like the WWE is going back to stables, and this would be a good use of the 3.)
Everybody has a logical reason for feuding with the other, and most importantly, it's fresh matchups. This is something that is sorely missing from the product right now because of the gross misuse of the auto rematches and 50/50 booking.
--I think they have a real chance to build more goodwill with Roman by separating him from the title picture and get into a blood feud with HHH. You want to get him over even more as a face? Have him fight HHH at Mania with the stipulation of career v The Authority being kicked off TV for good. Yeah it's storyline, but if he's "responsible" for getting rid of the heel authority figure angle, he'd endear himself to fans. Less talking, more badass brawls and he can cement himself in the main event picture as a face moving forward.
--I think there's two directions they're contemplating with KO for Mania: Brock and the Undertaker. I think the injury to Cena foiled a program with Taker (according to Meltzer) so they know they could crowbar Owens in there and he'll carry the feud on the mic, much like Bray did. If they go Taker/Owens, then I guess they go Brock/Wyatt? That would be a fun feud, and Brock working his way through the family to get to Bray at Mania is the kind of old school booking I love.
--What in the world do they do with the Bullet Club and Nakamura? I have an idea for Nakamura, but it's dependent on a few things. He's so over as a face, so it's quite a dicey move, but here's my scenario: Brock loses to Bray at Mania, who keeps the WWE title. The next night, Heyman comes out with Brock, and talks about selling high, and knowing when to end a good thing, and that's why he's firing Brock and introducing his newest Heyman guy. Brock goes to attack Heyman, but the lights go out. Nakamura's titantron appears and his music hits (apparently WWE bought the rights, thankfully). You've accomplished a few things by doing this: you've made Nakamura a huge deal, you've given him a mouthpiece, and you have one hell of a program that could last through Summerslam with Nakamura/Brock. If you hold any of the New Japan guys back until after Mania, it's Nakamura. The smart crowd will pop huge and add to the first impression a lot of people will have of him.
--This leaves us with Styles/Bullet Club. Tama Tonga is also a free agent, which plays into my scenario nicely, because I feel like the Bullet Club needs four guys for future booking plans. I have Styles enter the Rumble along with Tonga, Gallows, and Machine Gun. They clean house, and then Balor's music hits as the next entrant. You know what's coming. You don't have the rights to the Bullet Club (New Japan owns it), but you do have the Balor Club. I think Styles is a natural babyface and Balor plays a heel better than he does a face. They turn on AJ, dump him out, and you have a Balor/Styles program moving forward for Mania. After Mania? You could move Styles into a feud with Owens, while the heel Balor Club feuds with a face Wyatt Family, with Balor/Wyatt competing for the WWE World Title. Around SummerSlam I make the title switch to Balor, just in time to defend against a returning megaface: Seth Rollins.
--I'd also like to reform The Shield down the line to back up Rollins vs The Balor Club, but I don't have a plan fleshed out enough to post yet. The point of all this? You have Reigns over as a face away from the title, and you've completely shaken up the top of the card. The Authority is gone, and I wouldn't mind Regal being the face GM that rarely makes an appearance. Something similar to what he does now on NXT or like Jack Tunney. Also, if you notice, I don't have rematches ad nauseam. IMO, that would be the first thing Regal enforces as the new face (the night after Mania). If you lose your title, there's no longer an auto rematch that allows creative to coast for another month. Back to the back of the line and fight your way back up. So coming out of Mania, you have the following programs to lead you into Summerslam:
Balor/Wyatt for the WWE title
Balor Club/Wyatt Family
Lesnar/Nakamura
Owens/Styles
Reigns/Ambrose? (I didn't touch on this, but I haven't thought of Reigns post Mania. I wouldn't mind Ambrose also being a Heyman guy, and turning on Reigns. A stable of Nakamura, Ambrose, and Joe would be a badass group. It seems like the WWE is going back to stables, and this would be a good use of the 3.)
Everybody has a logical reason for feuding with the other, and most importantly, it's fresh matchups. This is something that is sorely missing from the product right now because of the gross misuse of the auto rematches and 50/50 booking.