humanoid92 0 Report post Posted February 9, 2004 Given what we've seen up to this point, here's my fantasy booking for Wrestlemania XX. Pre-show: Hosted by The Coach and Al Snow. Usual WM fluff pieces, recap of the weekend in NYC, a few interviews, and video packages for the big matches (HHH vs. Benoit, Lesnar vs. Goldberg, Kane vs. Undertaker, Michaels vs. Rocky, Angle vs. Guerrero, Foley & Flair vs. Orton & Batista, Christian vs. Jericho, Cena vs. Big Show). Wrestlemania XX hits the air with a video with random footage from all the past Wrestlemanias. JR & Lawler welcome us to the show and send it down to ringside for the National Anthem. *Insert current popular singer here* sings the National Anthem. JR introduces a clip of the original Wrestlemania (Andre The Giant bodyslamming Big John Studd, then passing out money to the crowd). The Big Show's music hits, and now Michael Cole & Tazz are our announcers. - US Title Match: Big Show © vs. John Cena Cena tears Show apart with a rap on his way to the ring, causing Show to charge him, but Cena fights him off and dominates him for the first few minutes, clearing him of the ring twice. The second time, Show dares Cena to come fight him on the floor, so Cena obliges and gets the upper-hand before Show dodges a charge and chokeslams him on the floor. Show now is in full control. Cena mounts a brief comeback, but goes for a bodyslam and Show collapses on him for a near fall. Cena is done. Show goes for another chokeslam, which would surely make a pinfall academic, but Cena fights out of it and hits him with the FU. Cena goes for the cover and scores the win and the US Title at 6:47. Not a typical opener, but a good one to get the crowd into it. - Clip of Wrestlemania 2 (The British Bulldogs defeating The Dream Team). - Backstage interview with Chris Jericho. - Christian vs. Chris Jericho JR & Lawler are back on commentary now, for Raw's first match of the night. This is a contrast from the last match. They begin with a few basic wrestling exchanges, allowing Jericho the opportunity to do the famous "Owen Hart wristlock counter". Long back and forth match. After the inital mat exchanges, Christian runs through his offense, but Jericho keeps countering. Jericho, the face, actually controls a good portion of the match with his trademark stuff until Christian suckers him into missing a high-risk move. Christian controls, but Jericho pulls some pinning combinations out of nowhere to show that he's still in it. Christian goes for a small package but only gets a two count before Jericho reverses it and gets a two count of his own. The finish comes when Jericho scores a quick sunset flip out of the corner to get the three count at 18:04. Great match. - Wrestlemania III (Steamboat vs. Savage and Hogan vs. Andre) - Backstage interview with WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. - Some celebrities are shown in the crowd (whichever current ones they can get plus some still-relevant ones from WM-past; Donald Trump, Regis Philbin, Bob Uecker, just to suggest a few). - Women's Title Match: Trish vs. Victoria vs. Lita vs. Jazz vs. Gail vs. Molly Cluster of a match. It starts with two in the ring and one on each corner, but quickly disintegrates into a brawl. I don't really pay attention to the women's division, but I guess it would make sense to put Trish over. 3:43. - Wrestlemania IV (Randy Savage wins the WWF Title) - Backstage interview with Kurt Angle, who is serious about taking care of business. Last year he left Wrestlemania a loser. This year he guarantees he will leave with the Title. - Intercontinental Title Match: RVD © vs. Matt Hardy Several weeks before this, Foley cost Orton the IC Title to RVD on Raw. Quick, exciting match that ends when RVD misses the frog splash and Hardy hits the Twist of Fate for the pin at 10:25. - Wrestlemania V (Rick Martel leaves Tito Santana high and dry) - Backstage interview with The Rock. - 20 Man Battle Royal This is to get a lot of guys on the show and allow a guest commentary spot, preferrably by Uecker. Raw Participants: Test, Val Venis, Lance Storm, Rene Dupree, Rob Conway, Rico, Hurricane, Spike Dudley, Booker T, Jerry Lawler. Smackdown Participants: A-Train, Rikishi, Matt Morgan, Hardcore Holly, Rhyno, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Billy Gunn, Bradshaw, Scott Taylor. Lawler's inclusion came about because he's never actively participated at a Wrestlemania before... so here he is. After he's eliminated, he slaps some hands at ringside and spends the rest of the show in the back, leaving us with a three man announce team of JR, Cole, and Tazz later on. Standard battle royale. The end comes down to Test, Storm, Val, and Rhyno, but Rhyno endures the Canadian Raw triple team, ducks a double clothesline attempt and gores Test. Rhyno tosses all three to win the match at 7:10. - Wrestlemania VI (Jake The Snake hands out Ted DiBiase's money at ringside) - Backstage interview with new US Champion John Cena. - Wrestlemania VII (The Undertaker's Wrestlemania debut) - JR throws it to Howard Finkel and Mean Gene Okerlund in the ring for the Legends Ceremony. - The Legends Ceremony is to honor twenty stars from Wrestlemania past. Here to help Mean Gene introduce them is Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. First to be introduced is a man who was at the first Wrestlemania in MSG, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Next up is long-time fan favorite "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Each guy gets a brief 20-30 second introduction, as they enter the ring and wave to the crowd. Next is Tito Santana, followed by Honky Tonk Man, Road Warrior Animal, Marty Jannetty, and Bam Bam Bigelow. A lot of the guys shake hands and pose for the crowd as everyone is introduced. Bob Backlund, Ricky Steamboat, Earthquake, Sgt. Slaughter, and Rowdy Roddy Piper. Piper takes the mic and does a short speech. Next up is Rick Martel, then Randy Savage, who also gives a short speech. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine is next out, followed by the Iron Sheik, then Hulk Hogan, who gets mic time to address the crowd. Mr. Fuji is the 18th guy out, followed by the Big Boss Man. The crowd gets antsy for the final legend. Gene reads the card, and introduces the next man as part of the original Hart Foundation. The crowd goes insane, as Okerlund announces... Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. The crowd doesn't know what to make of it, so they jeer the Anvil. Neidhart motions for them to calm down, takes the mic, and introduces his former tag team partner, Bret "Hitman" Hart. Bret Hart makes his entrance and the crowd goes insane. The other wrestlers applaud, shake his hand, and leave the ring, leaving Bret alone with the crowd. Bret finally gets to give his farewell speech, and its at Wrestlemania, at MSG, ten years after he won the Title there. It's too perfect. The crowd gives him a standing ovation when he's done. - Wrestlemania VIII (Bret vs. Piper) - Video package of Wrestlemania weekend in New York City. - Michael Cole & Tazz take over announcing duties and talk about the Bret Hart appearance we just saw. - Wrestlemania IX (Umm... Double Doinks, I guess) - The bell rings and the camera focuses on Howard Finkel... "The following contest scheduled for one fall... is for the World Wrestling Entertainment Championship." Here we go... - WWE Title Match: Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero © The story of the match is that Angle is determined to outwrestle Eddie for the Title, but Guerrero, much to the delight of the fans, cheats at every available opportunity, doing everything he can to keep the Title. Angle finally snaps mid-match, and from there it's a battle of subtle cheating, with each man trying to gain every advantage possible, no matter how minor (using ropes for leverage, pulling hair/tights, etc.). The ref is bumped, so Angle, already with the upper-hand, goes to get a steel chair. He tries to use it, but Eddie ducks, dropkicks him, then levels Angle with the chair himself. Eddie plays dead as the ref awakens, sees the chair, and both men down, and doesn't know what to think. Eddie slowly crawls over to cover Angle, but only gets a two count. Both men get to their feet and end up double clotheslining each other. This time it's Angle that makes the slow crawl, and gets a two count. Kurt gets in the ref's face, demanding a faster count, but really he's still upset about Eddie using the chair earlier. Angle goes off on the ref, telling him about the chair... and Eddie sneaks up, pulls Kurt's tights and rolls him up for three at 20:38. Kurt can't believe it. He completely snaps, and levels Eddie with the chair. The ref tries to stop him and gets punched in the face. Kurt dismantles Eddie with the chair, and nails him repeatedly in the Ankle before putting him in the Anklelock, as officials try to pry him off. They finally get him off, and Kurt spits on him and heads back to the locker room. The officials tend to Guerrero. - Backstage interview with an irate Kurt Angle. He gives a great ranting and raving promo about morality and cheating, conveniently overlooking the dozens of times he cheated himself in the match. He says we should be ashamed for cheering Eddie and what he represents because he is nothing but a cheater. Kurt earned every Title he is ever won because he is the best wrestler in the world today. He never cheated to get a thing. Cheating may have gotten Eddie the WWE Title, but it also got him a broken ankle. - Wrestlemania X (Bret Hart wins the WWF Title). - Backstage interview with the Dudley Boys. - Dudley Boys vs. World's Greatest Tag Team This match came about simply because each GM touted their respective teams as the best (one calls themselves the greatest; one has the history of gold to back it up). Both teams are their brand's Champions here, but neither Title is on the line (leading many to believe the match will simply be a draw). Fairly typical tag match that ends with Haas & Benjamin going over at 11:20. - Wrestlemania XI (LT vs. Bam Bam) - Update on Eddie Guerrero's condition. Not much is known yet about the extent of his injuries. - Backstage interview with Chris Benoit. - Wrestlemania XII (Hart vs. Michaels) - Cruiserweight Title Battle Royal: The participants are Rey Mysterio ©, Tajiri, Jamie Noble, Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Paul London, Akio, Sakoda, Ultimo Dragon, Funaki Eliminations occur via pinfall. Lots of high-risk offense as expected. Akio and Sakoda try to work as a team, so eventually Rey and Kidman team up to defeat them. I don't know how to go about booking this one in detail, so we'll just say Rey goes over in the end at 10:05. - Wrestlemania XIII (Hart vs. Austin) - Backstage interview with Brock Lesnar. - Wrestlemania XIV (Pete Rose gets Tombstoned) - Howard Finkel announces the attendance and then they air a Tribute video dedicated to all the Wrestlemania performers that have passed away, including Gorilla Monsoon, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Mr. Perfect, British Bulldog, Road Warrior Hawk, Miss Elizabeth, etc. - Wrestlemania XV (Rock vs. Austin) - Now we're into the meat of the card. JR asks Cole and Tazz to join him, and we have a three man commentary team for the rest of the show. - Video on the Taker/Kane feud. - The Undertaker vs. Kane The bell tolls and the Undertaker returns as the dead man, complete with Paul Bearer as his manager. Strong power match. Taker no-sells a lot at the beginning to drive home the point that he's the old Undertaker. Kane tombstones him, but he kicks out. Kane tries again, but Taker reverses it. Kane kicks out of that, but one more puts him down for the count at 12:49. - Wrestlemania 2000 (The Triangle Ladder Match) - Video on the Foley & Flair/Orton & Batista feud. - Backstage interview with Mick Foley. Revenge is sweet. - Mick Foley & Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton & Batista This one came about after Flair tried to give Orton advice about his match with Foley, but Orton, cocky as he is, dismissed it. Flair was ticked off that the younger guys these days have no respect for veterans, and Orton responded with some choice words. Tempers flared and when they got in each other's faces, Batista separated them... and powerbombed Flair. A beatdown ensued and Foley made the save. The match is a solid brawl, with Foley destroying Orton until Batista makes the save. Flair then takes some punishment, but Foley eventually gets the hot tag and all hell breaks loose. Batista powerbombs Flair through the Spanish announce table, leaving Foley one-on-two. At that point, the heels make short work of him at 15:16. - Wrestlemania X-7 (Benoit vs. Angle) - Video on the Rock/HBK match. This was built up as a legend vs. legend type match. The big name of one era ('94-'98) vs. the big name of another ('99-'02). Between them they have tons of Wrestlemania experience, but they've never wrestled one another. - Backstage interview with Shawn Michaels. These are the big moments he lives for. - Shawn Michaels vs. The Rock Great back and forth match. Several near falls at the end, but the Rock ends up picking up the win at 19:34. They shake hands and share the spotlight at the end, though Shawn is visibly irritated with himself. - Wrestlemania X-8 (Hogan vs. Rock- similar ending to what we just saw, what with the handshake and all). - Backstage interview with Brock Lesnar. - Video on the Goldberg/Lesnar feud. - Backstage interview with Goldberg. - Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg Good power match. Brock kicks out of the spear. Goldberg goes for a jackhammer, but Brock floats over and plants him with an F-5, and it's see ya later Goldberg at 13:31. -Wrestlemania XIX (Brock vs. Angle) - Backstage interview with World Champion, Triple H. HHH talks about how Benoit's dreams and accomplishments win nothing because until he's won the Title, he hasn't accomplished a damn thing. HHH is standing in the way of his dreams. HHH has dreams too. He's one of the best World Champions of all time, and he's going to cement himself as the best of all time by winning the main event of the biggest show of all time. Benoit has had a hell of a run to get to this point, but this is where it ends. - Video on HHH/Benoit. - World Title: Chris Benoit vs. Triple H © They feel each other out to begin with, then really start to get into it, as Benoit subtly tries to set HHH up for the crossface. Benoit goes for a few different submissions early, but HHH is able to counter. HHH finally gains the firm offensive advantage, but Benoit keeps the crowd alive with hopespots, including a quick small package that everyone thought might be the finish. HHH goes for the Pedigree and hooks Benoit's arm, but Benoit reverses, takes him down and slaps on the Crossface, but HHH is in the ropes. That may have been Benoit's big chance; HHH is too smart to let him get close enough to put on that Crossface again. HHH misses a charge, and Benoit snap suplexes him. Sensing his big moment, Benoit heads up top to drop the headbutt... but HHH moves and Benoit's head smacks the canvas, and he appears to be out cold. It looks like HHH's pinfall will be academic. HHH slowly gets to his feet, but instead of covering, slowly sets him up for the Pedigree... and hits it. Benoit is out. HHH covers. 1-2-... somehow Benoit kicks out. HHH can't believe it. He starts to put the boots to him, then sends him off the ropes but Benoit ducks a clothesline, and they collide with a double clothesline. Benoit lands in such a way that he is able to pull a classic move out of nowhere (think Bret/Bulldog Summerslam '92). While down, Benoit grapevines HHH's legs and suddenly turns him over into the Sharpshooter. HHH is trapped in it in the middle of the ring, but refuses to submit. He uses every ounce of strength he has to slowly drag his way to the ropes to break the hold. He finally does, but Benoit keeps on the attack. He hits a backbreaker for a close two count. HHH's shoulder is messed up from earlier in the match, and now his back is injured too. Benoit whips HHH into the corner, but misses a charge, and HHH hits a high knee for a near fall. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but Benoit backdrops out; HHH holds on to try a sunset flip, but Benoit sits down on him for a close two count. They reach their feet at the same time, and HHH goes to pick him up for a slam, but Benoit floats over and takes him down into the crossface out of nowhere. They're in the center of the ring. HHH is trapped. He's drained and can't work his way towards the ropes. Every time he tries, Benoit cinches down more. HHH has no choice but to submit, and an exhausted Chris Benoit wins the World Title at 22:55. Benoit is announced as the Champion and holds the belt. After a minute, many of the faces come out to congratulate him (a la Bret at Wrestlemania X). Jericho is the first one out, followed by Rey, Kidman, Dean Malenko, Storm, Val, Hurricane, Rikishi, Scotty, etc. Then some of the old-timers hit the ring, including Steamboat, Piper, and Bret Hart himself. ---- ---- ---- ---- - I know it's a long card, but remember, this is a five hour event. Considering that, I think the total of the match times is pretty realistic. - I tried to come up with realistic names to participate in the "Legends Ceremony", which is why I left off people like Jake Roberts, Ted DiBiase, Ultimate Warrior, etc. It's doubtful that BOTH Hogan and Savage would agree to appear, and also doubtful that Hogan would do it when the clear focus of the segment is about someone other than himself (Bret), but I suppose it's possible. - I like the outline Scott Keith had for Backlash. I'd have HBK get his attitude back, turn on HHH, and have HBK and Evolution do a beatdown on him to put him out of action for a month. Then have HBK talking about how it should have been his Title shot at Wrestlemania to begin with. Align HBK with Bischoff, and have Eric give him the Title shot at Benoit in Edmonton, then start playing up HBK's efforts in Canada in '97. With Bischoff firmly on his side, it will appear like HBK is going to screw Benoit out of the Title. Then of course, Bret Hart gets involved at the PPV, whether it be as a Special Guest Referree or as a run-in. Shawn goes for the Sharpshooter, and Bischoff (or even Vince himself if they want to go that far) tells the timekeeper to ring the bell, but Bret decks him, Benoit reverses, the match keeps going and Benoit gets a sharpshooter of his own to force HBK to tap out, thus finally blowing off the screwjob and vindicating Bret. Then Bret can go home to Calgary and rest peacefully, and Benoit can continue with his Title reign. When HHH returns, he still has the rematch with Benoit, and a beef with Evolution, be it Shawn, Orton, or even Batista (I'd go with Orton). (Other Backlash matches: Rock vs. Christian, Foley vs. Orton, Jericho vs. Batista). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
