Wrestlemania Plans over the last few months

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

From 411/PWTorch:

 

WWE has drastically strayed from the original plan for WrestleMania 21.

 

WWE was planning for months to have the first Triple H vs. Randy Orton rematch at WM21. WWE booked the entire stipulation regarding Orton not being able to wrestle Triple H for the World Title again to set up his Royal Rumble win, thus getting him a shot at Triple H at 'Mania. Of course, Orton's popularity soon sunk while Batista's rose. WWE made the decision to put Batista in the 'Mania main event and have the Orton/Triple H match at the Rumble.

 

Also for much of last year, the thinking was that the top Smackdown match would be Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker. The two pushed heavily for the match. However, Vince McMahon opted to keep the WWE Title on JBL and push John Cena as Smackdown's new top act since Angle has ongoing neck problems and The Undertaker is now only a part-time performer.

 

Most expected a John Heidenreich & Gene Snitsky vs. Kane & The Undertaker match at 'Mania earlier this year. That ended up being scrapped.

 

Matt Hardy was expected to work 'Mania in some new twist to his angle with Lita. However, there real life break up seems to have messed that up.

 

The WWE booking team did not have WrestleMania plans for Eddie Guerrero or Rey Mysterio so the two had to propose their current angle themselves to ensure that they would have a WM match with a proven opponent and a chance to steal the show.

 

WWE's WrestleMania booking clearly shows which guys are at the top of their priority list, that being Triple H, Batista, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, and JBL.

 

The Big Show (who will face Akebono at WrestleMania in a match that has been planned for awhile) looks to be on the next level, with Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, etc. all on a still lower level.

 

Credit: PWTorch.com

 

So, Eddie & Rey, 2 of the most popular guys on the SD roster, and 1 of them arguably one of the few draws in the company (Eddie), had to come up w/ their own plans since the booking team didn't have anything for them to do? I know WWE creative isn't exactly the Algonquin Round Table of wrestling bookers, but their incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

[cbacon 0]

Akebono

 

Who?

[razazteca 0]

Big Show is having a match with a sumo wrestler? Why?

[Molotov The Bear 0]

Because their both big, obviously.

 

And because of that one show in Japan, where Show spent about a minute talking about him.

[Slickster 0]

Akebono vs. Big Show will have crossover appeal for Japan and will be a hossarific one-of-a-kind match for WrestleMania.

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

At least we will see Mysterio versus Eddie stealing the show

The writing team CAN think of a storyline for Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak where Jindrak is turning Face and not for 2 of SD!'s most awesome wrestlers? Wasssupwitdat?! Also, will Jindrak face Reigns at WrestleMania or will it be on Heat?

[yankovic fan 0]

What's the specs on Akebono? Height, weight, etc...

 

Photos?

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

 

 

 

Funny thing is I think he's called Yokozuna Akebono. Yokozuna v2.

[Fökai 0]

What's the specs on Akebono?

He's as tall as 6'8, shortest reported height is 6'6, and he weighs anywhere from 475 to 515 lbs. (his peak wrestling rate).

 

In other words, he's fucking massive.

 

Funny thing is I think he's called Yokozuna Akebono. Yokozuna v2.

 

Yokozuna ('grand champion') is his title - only designated for the elite class of sumotori. By last count, only 68 men hold the distinction, and only two American-born wrestlers, both Hawaiian, have earned the title (Chad Rowan or 'Akebono' in 1993, Fiamalu Penitani or 'Musashimaru' in 1999).

 

When the continental U.S. kids were watching their weekday cartoons, the kids in Hawai'i were watching the New Year's Grand Sumo Tournament.

[Guest Brian]

Yokozuna's only the title for a certain weight class, right? And ther are other titles aren't there?

 

As for Mysterio and Eddy, that really sucks that those two got the shaft. I doubt their een going to have a good match, because I doubt they'll get the time to pull it off given their current circumstance. Unless they get a 20 minute window or the agents totally ignore them, giving the a chance to experiment and hit all their big spots, I doubt it's going to turn out much of anything. Don't get your hopes up, and that is definately not a knock on either of these two guys.

[humongous2002 0]

How the fuck can't creative come out with ideas for 2 of the most talented and over wrestlers on SD today? I guess Vince feels that hispanics would buy Mania just because is the "grandaddy of them all". Once again WWE is showing their double standards with non-WWE homegrown wrestlers.

[Dark Age 0]

Eddie/Rey could be great in a different sense. I'd expect/hope they'll develop a story with Eddie resisiting the urge to cheat throughout the match, until a point where he finally has the opportunity to win the match via cheating, but decides against it, and in doing so, saves his friendship with Rey. I don't want them to job Eddie at Mania (a year after he was champ), but it could work. Either have Eddie prove that he can win without cheating (tease all of Rey's wins over Eddie in the past before that; build something around the Splash Mountain Bomb; Eddie's submission win over Rey in 02; his win with the La Majistral in 03, and all Rey's wins at the end of last year/start of this) after deciding against it, or have it cost him and give Rey the win. Rey going over with a rollup (after Eddie decides not to cheat) could work as Rey would get a HUGE win, but Eddie would keep his heat by staying loyal to Rey. And besides all that, the work leading to the finish should be really good.

 

I don't like how this seems to have been thrown on the card without a care for either guy but, if they keep it smart, it could be a blessing in disguise.

[tbondrage99 0]

Akebono vs. Big Show will have crossover appeal for Japan and will be a hossarific one-of-a-kind match for WrestleMania.

And hey it cant be any worse then last years hossarific match between Goldberg & Lesnar.

[Youth N Asia 0]

If they weren't going to waste Jericho in a gimmick match I'd suggest Benoit/Jericho vs Guerrero/Mysterio. Match could steal the show, and give Eddie a chance to turn on Rey

[Dark Age 0]

They shouldn't turn Eddie. It'd be a huge mistake. It bombed last time, and it would bomb again. As over as Rey is, Eddie's still way more popular. Plus, Eddie's just too sympathetic now. It's hard not to feel sorry for Eddie, the character and the man. I don't think anyone would boo him any more, despite the fact that he's probably the best heel in the company. I could maybe see the crowd booing him against Rey if he absolutely MURDERED Rey in a beatdown, but beyond that, I don't see it. Their best bet is either a repect feud, or, my favourite, have Eddie go tweener for a few months. Use Eddie's real life problems as part of the storyline; he's paranoid, burnt out, at boiling point. He's jealous of Rey and Book's respect for each other. Have Eddie beat Rey and Book in PPV matches, clean, but not want to be alligned with them. Finally, have Eddie win the title at GAB (one year after losing it) and Book, Rey and Chavo all come out and congratulate Eddie, who realises that his friends stood by him through his problems. Cena would be jealous that Eddie wins the title that he couldn't win, BAM - heel turn, Eddie Vs. Cena next year at Mania.

[Youth N Asia 0]

They're going to need heels for Cena...while I'm not for his title run. Other than JBL and his vanilla bunch there are no bad guys to go after his.

 

And Eddie is so far from the top now I'll take anything new. I think if he took the comedy out he could be a great heel.

[Dark Age 0]

The draft could spark things up a little. Heel Jericho challenging Cena could be something good. They'll do a rematch with JBL, obviously. Christian would make a decent challenger as well, or even Kane.

 

If they're going to stick with Cena as a long term champion (and I don't think they will), then it wouldn't hurt to make him a "fighting champion". Defend against faces and heels. That way we got some decent main events with Cena Vs. Eddie, Cena Vs. Rey, etc. Putting Brock on SD when he returns is another big match for John. Brock Vs. Cena I could see headlining Mania22. But, of course, this is all assuming he's the long term champ. I can see him dropping it by GAB.

[The Tino Standard 0]

I have to first put up a qualifier here that I don't watch SmackDown and I have very little idea of what's going on with the show, so I really haven't what Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero have been doing on TV.

 

HOWEVER, I've heard through a trusted source that Eddie and Rey DID, in fact, get to pick out their own angle for WM, but they're not doing a singles match. From what I've heard, the plan is for them to defend the tag titles against the Dudleys. The idea of a ladder match was tossed in, too, but this info is from a couple weeks ago, so I'm thinking the ladder idea is out because of whatever they've got Jericho doing.

[Fökai 0]

Yokozuna's only the title for a certain weight class, right?

Sumotori rank is determined by skill level, not weight class.

 

That way, you get matches between two elite wrestlers, yet they're hundreds of pounds apart -- for example, a storied rivalry in the mid-90s had Akebono (485 lbs.) contending for every tournament title alongside 285-lb Takanohana. At that time, though, the two were the only active 'yokozuna' in sumo (64 and 65, respectively). They were later followed by Takanohana's brother, Wakanohana (66) and the aforementioned Musashimaru (67). Only one more sumotori has been crowned 'yokozuna' since 1999 (Asashoryu).

 

On a cool side note, the brothers Hana were trained by a famed yokozuna in the late 1950's, who trained in the same dojo as Rikidozan. Small world.

 

And ther are other titles aren't there?

 

Here's the pyramid of rank.

 

 

EDIT: I swear, I knew the knowledge I culled from years of watching Japanese programming would come in handy one day.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

Is anyone shocked that they didn't have programs for guys like Eddie, Rey, Jericho and Benoit? I would have been shocked if they actually had long term plans for those guys.

 

Anyway, now that it seems like they've scrapped Benoit-Jericho, I really hope they go through with Eddie v Rey instead of putting them in a tag title defense. At least they'll have a chance (along with Kurt-Shawn) to "steal the show".

 

The Eddie heel turn is a bad idea. I like they way they've got Chavo in there trying to stir the pot. Hopefully what they end up with is Eddie and Rey at odds over the next couple of months, but eventually figure out that Chavo has been trying to mess with them, and they make up at the end.

 

Eddie is usually the most over guy on the show, but with Mania in Cali, I think it pretty much guarantees he'll be the most over, so it would be a tough place to turn him.

 

Show-Akebono is like a freak show. I guess it could work as long as they dont put Akebono on TV and have him sell for anyone. Its pretty much better than anythig I could come up with for them to do with Show. I mean whats out there Show vs OJ? Show vs Bashams in a handicap match? Show vs Heidenreich? All of those ideas suck, at least this match has some freak appeal to it. But damn is it going to suck in the ring.

[The Tino Standard 0]

Eddie is usually the most over guy on the show, but with Mania in Cali, I think it pretty much guarantees he'll be the most over, so it would be a tough place to turn him.

Austin.

 

WM 17.

 

Astrodome.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Eddie is usually the most over guy on  the show, but with Mania in Cali, I think it pretty much guarantees he'll be the most over, so it would be a tough place to turn him.

Austin.

 

WM 17.

 

Astrodome.

And....?

 

You didn't happen to notice that everyone no-sold the turn, did you?

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm sure the Show/Akebono match will be really entertaining. The important thing to remember is that it's only going to last five minutes tops, so two or three high spots should be more than enough to make it interesting.

[Guest Coffey]

Eddie is usually the most over guy on  the show, but with Mania in Cali, I think it pretty much guarantees he'll be the most over, so it would be a tough place to turn him.

Austin.

 

WM 17.

 

Astrodome.

And....?

 

You didn't happen to notice that everyone no-sold the turn, did you?

It still worked.

[The Tino Standard 0]

Eddie is usually the most over guy on  the show, but with Mania in Cali, I think it pretty much guarantees he'll be the most over, so it would be a tough place to turn him.

Austin.

 

WM 17.

 

Astrodome.

And....?

 

You didn't happen to notice that everyone no-sold the turn, did you?

The point is that it didn't stop them from trying. And if they're willing to try to turn freaking STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN heel in Texas, why in the hell wouldn't they try to turn Eddie Guerrero heel in California? What's his tie to the west coast that will guarantee he's the most over anyway? He's from El Paso, not to mention the fact that the guy he would be turning on IS from California.

[bob_barron 0]

It still worked.

 

No it didn't- the Astrodome was still cheering for Austin even though he had just turned heel

[Guest Coffey]

SPOILERS: WWE travels. It worked. They went to new cities after the PPV, and he was a fucking heel. That means it worked.

[bob_barron 0]

SPOILERS: WWE travels. It worked. They went to new cities after the PPV, and he was a fucking heel. That means it worked.

Considering business tanked after Austin turned heel- I'd say it didn't work too well.

 

Creatively it might have been a success as I liked heel Austin, but it didn't work.

[Guest Coffey]

Creatively it might have been a success

Yup.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

The heel turn didn't work at all. The crowd was still completely behind Austin, and they had to turn Austin heel just about every night in order to get fans to boo him. Business wise it was also a disaster as the company started losing fans at a faster rate.

 

Its like the Flair heel turn thing, why do something that just goes totally against what the fans want? The fans get behind Eddie more than anyone in the WWE right now, so why would you want to mess with that? Especially in a town where you know the crowd ins't going to go for it?