Rebooking the Wrestlemanias

[Guest Teq]

At Wrestlemania 11, I would have definately had a Bret/Owen rematch with Bret coming out on top instead of that embarrasing Bret/Backlund match with Piper forcing them to eat a mic.

[Guest robrabies]

WM XXII--I would have never had Mysterio win the Rumble if he was going to get jobbed out like that. No one bought him as a threat, and the crowd was not a fan of that finish until the Guerrero's came out. They boo'ed almost all of his offense. You can't have Orton go over because of his dickheadedness and Angle's fumes were washed up at this point. This necessitates a lot of changes--

 

Have Mysterio eliminate Orton but lose the Rumble. These two can have a blowoff here after NWO w/ Mysterio going over due to Orton's antics.

 

Scrap UT vs. Henry. Have UT go up against Angle for the WHT and have UT win clean, and then have him drop it shortly thereafter.

 

Cut 5-7 minutes off of Michaels McMahon, give it to the WHT.

 

Have the first match be the BS and Kane vs. the SS (5 on 2 Freebird style) with BS and Kane retaining.

 

Keep Edge vs. Foley

 

Turn Cena heel by having him help McMahon screw Michaels at SNME. This allows for a face HHH to go up against heel Cena, and have Cena retain to give him uber-heat (plus HHH deserves to lose to a heel at WM for the Title given WM 2000)

 

MITB stays as is.

 

Have the Playboy pillow fight be a C4 barbed wire death match.

[Hawk 34 0]

WrestleMania XX

 

WWE Tag Team Titles

World’s Greatest Tag Team Vs Booker T and Rob Van Dam ©

 

In this world, Booker and RVD move over to Smackdown to set up a one on one program with Haas and Benjamin for what should be a pretty competitive match. RVD and Booker would be the title holders. WGTT win the titles after dissension between Booker and RVD cost them the titles.

 

 

Grudge Match

Chris Jericho Vs Christian

 

This program avoids the pratfalls created once the WWE writers took over the Jericho penned storyline. Trish still turns on Jericho and it still leads to the extension of the program.

 

 

Cruiserweight Title

4 Way Elimination

Rey Mysterio © Vs Chavo Guerrero Vs Jamie Knoble Vs Ultimo Dragon

 

No sense in loading this show with bunch of cruiserweights. This is a Elimination Rules. Knoble and Dragon are quickly gone and it becomes a Chavo-Ray match since that was the focus at the time anyways. Rey retains the title here.

 

Non-Sanctioned Street Fight

Edge Vs The Big Show (US Champion)

-In reality, Edge missed the show by about a month but he was supposedly ready to go at that time. This would be his return match. In order to set this match up, it starts in early January when Edge makes a special appearance on Smackdown. Edge puts over that he never knew who attacked him but didn’t care. It just made him stronger and hungrier. He has a confrontation with the reigning US Champion, The Big Show in which TBS makes subtle references about knowing who attacked him a year ago. Edge, snapping in a rage of paranoia attacks TBS and spends the next month stalking TBS trying to find out the identity of the attacker. Edge isn’t technically cleared to wrestle but TBS is tired of Edge’s attacks and challenges him not for the title but to reveal the identity of the secret attacker. Edge, while still in recovery agrees to a non-sanctioned street fight. Edge wins the match in a weapons filled match and we discover the identity to be Batista whom attacks Edge once again backstage setting up a program between those two

 

Dream Match

Kurt Angle Vs Shawn Michaels

 

Simply the same program done for WM21 but a year earlier with Angle getting the ankle-lock victory.

 

 

John Cena Vs Bill Goldberg

 

In this time, Cena is still teetering on the line between full blown face and edgy popular heel. In an effort to establish their own star over Bischoff’s discovery, they put over Cena to send the departing Goldberg out the door. No appearence by Austin here.

 

 

Rock n Sock Connection Vs Randy Orton(IC Champion) and Ric Flair

 

Batista wasn’t really needed to be in the match and could have just as well served as the bodyguard/manager figure for the night and the match still work as well as it did. We get an extended segment between Rock and Flair in this one.

 

World Title

Eddie Guerrero Vs Triple H ©

 

Simple classic story. Eddy plays his usual underdog role to the bully, HHH. Probably would be been a very interesting build although learning from the Booker T debacle, HHH scales back on the racism route but focuses more on Eddie’s size disadvantage. The match would be quite good leading to Eddie capturing the title here. Two new world champions in one night might seem a little over the top but it’d work here.

 

Tag Team Battle Royal

Dudleyz Vs Le Resistance Vs Super Heroes Vs Bashams Vs Cade and Jindrak Vs Rikishi and S2H Vs APA Vs Billy Kidman and Paul London Vs Akio and Tajiri Vs Nunzio and Chuck Palumbo

 

Short filler match. Dudleyz win last eliminating Le Resistance.

 

Return Match

Undertaker Vs Kane

 

Not the most exciting choice but the fans ate it up and it worked to re-debut the Dead Man nature of The Taker.

 

Woman’s Title

Victoria © Vs Molly

 

No Hair stipulation which led Molly to that horrible character. Just the blow-off to a long slow burned vicious rivalry between the two top female wrestlers of the time.

 

WWE Title

Chris Benoit Vs Brock Lesnar ©

 

They had one match and it was fantastic. After weeks of building up Benoit against Heyman and Lesnar, they aborted the program to satisfy HHH and to give Goldberg his going away gift. Of course, that aspect tanked. In this fantasy world, we assume that Benoit still wins the Royal Rumble and that Lesnar doesn’t let his disgruntled anger lead him out the door and sticks around for at least another couple months. The build-up wasn’t original but it was effective. Two wrestling machines, both a sense of physicality, endurance and submission ability. Benoit captures the title in a classic wrestling match via the Cross-Face

[Guest robrabies]

Not to be a dick, but a lot of people are rebooking these based on consequences that couldn't/wouldn't/didn't take place. Shouldn't the true spirit of rebooking just be rewriting the storylines, not trying to create the impossible like un-making injuries and contract disputes?

[Hawk 34 0]

Not to be a dick, but a lot of people are rebooking these based on consequences that couldn't/wouldn't/didn't take place. Shouldn't the true spirit of rebooking just be rewriting the storylines, not trying to create the impossible like un-making injuries and contract disputes?

 

In my defense, all I've done is simply move wrestlers that were on the active roster in that time period around. (often keeping most matches and angles intact) and possibly moving angles that did happen before or shortly after it into the WM time period or change the intentions of storylines.

 

As for "contract disputes", Lesnar was still with the company at Mania. So it's not as if I changed history. He still leaves on his back. Maybe as punishment, they'd take him off the main event slot and switch that with HHH/Guerrero instead. I did alter face/heel status or which brand they worked for a few of them but that’s hardly rocking the boat. I kept it within the confines of what was going on in the company at the time but with an intent to get as many quality matches on there without being unrealistic (meaning I didn't book Benoit Vs Paul London as the main event because I'd want that to be the main event).

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

There are three big changes that I'd make through WM history (I have ideas for more but these are the biggest ones that wouldn't require a LOT of changes):

 

1. Wrestlemania 9 -> Bret Hart Vs Randy Savage: Bret was still struggling for credibility and wasn't ready to face, let alone lose to, a monster heel. Savage was still the #1 babyface in the WWF in the fans eyes (his pop at RR93 dwarfs everyone else including Bret) and was the Rumble runner up anyway so just switch the ending of RR around and have Savage win and the 10 guys eliminate Yoko earlier (PS: the Rumble itself I'd rebook for the hell of it - whose bright idea was it to have 3 of the 4 most credible guys (Flair, Perfect, Taker) in the match get eliminated by the halfway point?). Atleast WM9 would have ONE standout match from a workrate perspective and having Savage put him over (and then shake his hand) would have cemented Bret as a credible champion.

 

2. Wrestlemania 11 -> Bret Hart Vs Owen Hart: It's a crime that one of the hottest programs the WWF ever did got no blowoff. Piper could still ref and it could be billed as part of a triple main event with BBB/LT and Shawn/Diesel. Bret wins, ofcourse, Owen has another great match under his belt and they could play up Piper's history with Bret at WM much more than they did.

 

3. Wrestlemania 18 -> Steve Austin & Triple H Vs Outsiders; Chris Jericho Vs Kurt Angle -> Rock/Hogan would be the sole main event with two very strong semi-main events. Have Jericho and Angle put on a good match and let Jericho retain and then do the Hogan thing (HHH's 1 month reign was meaningless in the long run). Austin gets HHH's help in dragging a good match out Hall and Nash (I know Nahs was hurt but he was mobile enough to get heavily involved so Hall could've covered enough for him).

[Guest robrabies]

Not to be a dick, but a lot of people are rebooking these based on consequences that couldn't/wouldn't/didn't take place. Shouldn't the true spirit of rebooking just be rewriting the storylines, not trying to create the impossible like un-making injuries and contract disputes?

 

In my defense, all I've done is simply move wrestlers that were on the active roster in that time period around. (often keeping most matches and angles intact) and possibly moving angles that did happen before or shortly after it into the WM time period or change the intentions of storylines.

 

As for "contract disputes", Lesnar was still with the company at Mania. So it's not as if I changed history. He still leaves on his back. Maybe as punishment, they'd take him off the main event slot and switch that with HHH/Guerrero instead. I did alter face/heel status or which brand they worked for a few of them but that’s hardly rocking the boat. I kept it within the confines of what was going on in the company at the time but with an intent to get as many quality matches on there without being unrealistic (meaning I didn't book Benoit Vs Paul London as the main event because I'd want that to be the main event).

 

Given the no-assed effort that Lesnar put forth in WM XX, putting him in a semi-main event would have been disastrous. Also, Edge had a broken arm, which precluded his return for another month (it wasn't just the neck IIRC).

[Robert 0]

WrestleMania XI

 

Main Event:

Diesel © vs Shawn Michaels

Special Ref/Enforcer: Lawrence Taylor

A week or so before the match, have Michaels hit Diesel in the leg with a 2x4 or something. It gives Diesel the whole underdog run with only having one good leg. You also have Taylor as an enforcer to make sure nobody runs-in like Rumble '95. Still bring in the big name, and you cut all the stupid crap from the show.

Winner: Diesel

 

"I Quit Match"

Bret Hart vs Owen Hart

Ref: Roddy Piper

You still get a great match, a good stipulation, and the blow-off to the feud. Piper who also faced Bret Hart at WM 8 can do the whole loyalty thing. Give the match more time, and it will steal the show. You get fun interaction with Piper and Owen on the microphone.

Winner: Bret Hart

 

The Undertaker vs Bam Bam Bigelow

Better to put Bigelow in-front of Taker than Bundy, and Bigelow/Taker could be a good match. You can still do the thing with Kama, and get Bigelow a decent push. It also gives The Undertaker some competition instead of just Bundy, who was JTTS at the time.

Winner: The Undertaker

 

Lex Luger vs Sid

May not be a good match, but it gets the crowd going. Luger is somewhat over, and you do what you want in the match. You can put him over and start a push, or totally destroy him. Sid gets over a dominant heel before his push against whoever they book him against.

Winner: Sid

 

Bob Backlund vs British Bulldog

This one write itself, coming from the SS 94 and Bulldog not being able to the break The Chicken Wing. Build it as Brains vs Braun with Bulldog winning to only be assualted by the returning Yokozuna. You have Yoko squash him, and have Backlund choke him out. You can set up a Bulldog heel turn by asking why nobody tried to save him while he was being beat up.

Winner: Bulldog

 

Tag Titles: Smoking Gunns © vs IRS and Kama w/Ted DiBiase

Easy build-up with having DiBiase wanting gold, and the Gunns being the only one available. Having the Gunns resist giving the titles for money, and have them lose the titles. You can still have Kama stealing the urn, and IRS can still be a factor and not fade away to WCW with that Wallstreet gimmick.

Winner: IRS and Kama

 

IC Title: Jeff Jarrett © vs Razor Ramon

The same build-up, just re-do the finish with having Jarrett win by cheating. After the match, have Roadie/Jarrett beat on Razor and debut Savio Vega.

Winner: Jarrett

 

1-2-3 Kid vs The Roadie

Simple build-up of having these two continue the Ramon/Jarrett feud by having this open up the show. Have Kid win, but Roadie beat him up the match, to make sure that Kid can't help Razor.

Winner: 1-2-3 Kid

[humanoid92 0]

A little bit of a counter to Hawk's WM VII.

 

This show is still in the Sports Arena because I think Hogan vs. Warrior II would have been the only thing that even had a chance to fill up 80% of the Coliseum. And I don't want to book a card with Hogan vs. Warrior II because I'm sticking with Warrior vs. Savage.

 

My card:

 

- Rockers vs. Nasty Boys

Opener to get the crowd going. The winner depends on who you'd want to push more subsequently. I vote for the Rockers, but the braintrust surely would have gone with the Nastys in this one.

 

- Intercontinental Title: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

Either move things up here with Bret taking the IC Title as he did at Summerslam, or have this initial match with Perfect barely retaining but Hart giving him the match of his life, and then do the re-match with Bret winning at Summerslam.

 

- Undertaker vs. Jimmy Snuka

This was a good squash.

 

- Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil

Possibly for the Million Dollar Title. Either you go with the happy ending blowoff with what really happened at Summerslam, or you go with what actually happened at WM.

 

- Blindfold Match: Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel

I like this concept. It's not like they proceeded to run ten subsequent blindfold matches. It was just this one. And it fit the storyline and it was plenty unique and it was fun for the crowd. I've got no problem with this match.

 

- Career Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

Like a lot of people, I'm a sucker for this one.

 

- Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie

You can still do the hilarious jailhouse match at Summerslam. Boss Man wins this one by DQ when the Mountie shocks the crap out of him with the ol' cattleprod. And there's the big kickoff to the feud.

 

- Tag Team Titles: Legion of Doom vs. Demolition

Even if adding Crush was the kiss of death, Demolition was still plenty over in the fall of '90. This feud never got the proper blowoff it deserved. Wouldn't have been difficult to drag this out until WM.

 

- Flag Match: Jim Duggan vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Yeah, Flag Matches are really lame. Take or leave the gimmick. But the Slaughter stuff would have been much better on a smaller scale and Duggan was the perfect guy to oppose him.

 

- WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake

As far as the WWF Title program goes, there are a few schools of thought. A) you get a transitional champion to take the belt off Warrior and put it on Hogan. They went with Slaughter. Other candidates could have been Earthquake or Rude, and even Savage, DiBiase, or Perfect, if they wanted to go that route. B) Warrior jobs the belt back to Hogan. This undoes everything WM 6 did, and really, if you're going that route you might as well just book Warrior vs. Hogan II for WM 7 and do it there. C) Warrior retains the Title and his match with Savage becomes both a Title match and Career Match to close the show. That puts two huge stories into one match, which gives you less mileage, but would still make sense because Savage was initially willing to do just about anything to get a Title shot from the Warrior. For the purposes of this match and shaking things up, I'm giving Quake Slaughter's transitional reign. Although, I actually like the idea of this match better with Hogan entering as Champion. Regardless, Hogan had never pinned Quake and their feud had never really been blown off properly. The Hogan vs. Big Man formula was tired by this point, but Quake always made Hogan extra-watchable, at least to me. Champion or not, maybe you have Quake win the '91 Rumble to provide him with even more credibility leading up to this.

[ryankeast 0]

Lots of good ideas in this post.

 

The Wrestlemania I'm most intrigued in is how people would have booked Wrestlemania 4.

 

Would have people done the whole tournament? Would Macho Man get his chance in the spotlight here with the World Title?

Do you bother with the whole Andre passing the title to DiBiase only for him to be stripped of the title and never recognized as a World Champion in the WWF.

 

I do think Macho Man may have been best paired with Honky Tonk Man for the IC title with Hogan taking on Million Dollar Man in the main event. Savage could then get his chance against DiBiase at Summerslam and gain the gold there?

 

Thoughts? How would you have booked the whole lead up to WM4 and the subsecent month thereafter?

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

Lots of good ideas in this post.

 

The Wrestlemania I'm most intrigued in is how people would have booked Wrestlemania 4.

 

Would have people done the whole tournament? Would Macho Man get his chance in the spotlight here with the World Title?

Do you bother with the whole Andre passing the title to DiBiase only for him to be stripped of the title and never recognized as a World Champion in the WWF.

 

I do think Macho Man may have been best paired with Honky Tonk Man for the IC title with Hogan taking on Million Dollar Man in the main event. Savage could then get his chance against DiBiase at Summerslam and gain the gold there?

 

Thoughts? How would you have booked the whole lead up to WM4 and the subsecent month thereafter?

 

 

Hogan doesn't lose the title to Andre. Instead, DiBiase wins #1 contendership, setting up Million Dollar Man vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania. To play off on the "DiBiase can buy and sell people" gimmick, he beats Hogan with a fast count, revealing after being handed the belt that he paid off the ref. Macho Man, who earlier in the night defeated Andre for a shot at the title (thanks in part to botched interference by DiBiase) decides to take his shot right then and there. Andre's upset with DiBiase, so he's out of the equation. However, MDM still has his paid-for ref, so he accepts the challenge.

 

Macho dominates and hits the flying elbow drop. The ref won't count, so Hulk lays him out and slaps the knocked out ref's hand down, 1-2-3. Macho wins the title for the happy ending and his spot in the limelight. Because of the Dusty-ish finish, we get a hot feud between Mach and DiBiase already set up, with the two exchanging the title a few times before a big blowoff at Summerslam, with Macho going over (cage match perhaps)...and planting the seeds for the next year's WM main event, Hogan vs. Savage.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

WM X7.

 

HHH vs. Angle:

Scrap the HHH running down Austin angle and have Hunter as the face against Angle in a feud over Stephanie. That's an angle that was hot and never resolved. Play it up as no one knows who she'll align with. Either you get the happy ending with Steph choosing face HHH, who then feuds with heel Austin for the belt, or Steph chooses Angle, Hunter snaps and turns heel afterward.

 

UT/Kane vs. Edge and Christian (tag titles):

UT and Kane would win the belts later anyone, so have them destroy these two at Mania.

 

Hardyz and Lita vs. Dudleyz (Bubba, DVon, Spike)

 

Eddie vs. Benoit:

The boiling point of the Benoit vs. Radicalz feud.

 

Jericho (IC champ) vs. Regal (Euro champ)

Title vs. Title

 

Jerry Lynn vs. Dean Malenko (Light Heavy Title):

Dean's long run comes to an end in a good match. Don't need any build, just have a great match with Lynn going over.

 

Big Show vs. All comers (Hardcore):

Big Show says he'll face anyone in a Gauntlet match, taking one challenger after the other in a 15-minute time limit. Rhino comes on last and beats a winded Show in the final seconds.

 

Shane vs. Vince:

WCW champ Booker T debuts, putting Vince down to setup Shane's big elbow and begin the WCW vs. WWF feud with a bang.

 

Rock vs. Austin:

Wouldn't change a thing about this match.

 

This would be one of the last PPV's I would change.

 

I figured someone would say this, so I'd like to defend this choice. Hunter - Angle was one of the best storylines of this era, and they never blew it off. WM would have been the perfect place for this. Same with Benoit's split with the Radicalz...no real blow-off. Shane vs. Vince would have been the perfect time to strike with the first seeds of WCW, why they didn't at the most-watched event is baffling especially since Shane dropped that bombshell right before WM.

[slabinskia 0]

I know I stopped after wm4 but I will do 2 each day.Since everyone seems to be having fun making there own cards, mine will look very similar to some peoples.

 

WRESTLEMANIA V

 

1. ROCKERS VS BRAINBUSTERS

 

Winners: BRAINBUSTERS 17:22

 

2. BRUTUS BEEFCAKE VS HONKYTONK MAN

 

Winner: BRUTUS BEEFCAKE 6:41

 

3. BLUE BLAZER VS MR PERFECT

 

Winner: MR PERFECT 15:35

 

4. STRIKE FORCE VS TWIN TOWERS

 

Winners: TWIN TOWERS 8:05 (heel turn stays)

 

5. HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN VS HAKU

 

Winner: HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN 6:12

 

6. JAKE ROBERTS VS TED DIBIASE

 

Winner: JAKE ROBERTS 15:48

 

INTERMISSION

 

7. TAG TITLES: DEMOLITION VS POWERS OF PAIN/MR FUJI

 

Winners: DEMOLITION 9:17

 

8. BIG JOHN STUD VS ANDRE THE GIANT

 

Winner: ANDRE THE GIANT 4:06

 

9. HERCULES VS BAD NEWS BROWN

 

Winner: BAD NEWS BROWN 3:26

 

10. IC TITLE: ULTIMATE WARRIOR VS RICK RUDE

 

Winner: RICK RUDE 13:30

 

11. HART FOUNDATION/RONNIE GARVIN VS GREG VALENTINE/ROUGEOUS

 

Winners: HART FOUNDATION/RONNIE GARVIN 17:48

 

12. WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN VS RANDY SAVAGE

 

Winner: HULK HOGAN 20:10

 

 

You will note the total wrestling time is very high. Wrestlemania 17 showed that you can put on a 4 hour show without the fans getting bored. The key is that if you give the right matches and if everyone brings thier A game, it can work. Some of the early wrestlemanias seemed long and boring because they were 4 hour shows filled with squashes and silly segments like pipers pit.

 

 

WRESTLEMANIA VI

 

1. HART FOUNDATION VS ROCKERS

 

Winners: HART FOUNDATION 18:32

 

2. TITO SANTANA VS RICK MARTEL

 

Winner: RICK MARTEL 10:12

 

3. BRUTUS BEEFCAKE VS MR PERFECT

 

Winner: BRUTUS BEEFCAKE 13:41

 

4. BUSHWHACKERS VS ORIENT EXPRESS

 

Winners: ORIENT EXPRESS 5:17

 

5. RONNIE GARVIN VS GREG VALENTINE

 

Winner: GREG VALENTINE 15:24

 

6. RODDY PIPER VS RICK RUDE

 

Winner: RODDY PIPER 14:09

 

INTERMISSION

 

7. TAG TITLES: DEMOLITION VS COLOSSAL CONNECTION

 

Winners: DEMOLITION 8:34

 

8. JAKE ROBERTS VS TED DIBIASE

 

Winner: JAKE ROBERTS 15:23

 

9. DUSTY RHODES VS RANDY SAVAGE

 

Winner: DUSTY RHODES 11:29

 

10. HACKSAW DUGGAN/JIMMY SNUKA VS EARTHQUAKE/DINO BRAVO

 

Winners: EARTHQUAKE/DINO BRAVO 4:10

 

11. BIG BOSSMAN VS AKEEM

 

Winner: BIG BOSSMAN 0.38

 

12. TITLE VS TITLE: HULK HOGAN VS ULTIMATE WARRIOR

 

Winner: ULTIMATE WARRIOR 22:51

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Roberts-DiBiase at back to back Wrestlemanias?

 

Some of these are different, not better or worse. I think a rebook should fix some obvious problems, but still maintain contemporary booking patterns/storylines and be realistic.

 

The Wrestlemania I'm most intrigued in is how people would have booked Wrestlemania 4.

 

Would have people done the whole tournament? Would Macho Man get his chance in the spotlight here with the World Title?

Do you bother with the whole Andre passing the title to DiBiase only for him to be stripped of the title and never recognized as a World Champion in the WWF.

 

I do think Macho Man may have been best paired with Honky Tonk Man for the IC title with Hogan taking on Million Dollar Man in the main event. Savage could then get his chance against DiBiase at Summerslam and gain the gold there?

 

Thoughts? How would you have booked the whole lead up to WM4 and the subsecent month thereafter?

 

I would run the tournament. You want a face to leave with the WWF title, but Hogan is taking time off. That leaves you with Randy Savage. You can either hotshot the title and give Savage a shot at Wrestlemania IV, or hold the tournament. We can do a few things to fix up the event however.

 

World Title Tournament

Brutus Beefcake

One Man Gang

 

Randy Savage

Honky Tonk Man

 

Ted Dibiase

Ricky Steamboat

 

Hulk Hogan

Andre the Giant

 

Savage, OMG and Dibiase advance, and Hogan/Andre have their double disqualification. From there you have the original finals (Savage vs. OMG and then Savage-DiBiase), and you maintain the original booking. Steamboat gives Dibiase a good opponent capable of making him look good. Savage/Honky provides a proper blowoff. Honky can't pull shenanigans because he's going for the World title. Savage pins Honky, giving him a clean win but giving a way for Honky to retain the IC title. One Man Gang is just a credible threat later on. The big improvement overall is that we maintain the important booking points of the tournament while cutting a lot of fat.

 

The British Bulldogs/Koko B. Ware vs. Islanders/Bobby Heenan

Demolition vs. Strike Force

20 Man Battle Royal

 

Keep these matches as is. The first match had the comedy moment of Matilda humping Bobby Heenan. The Demolition/Strike Force match established Demolition as tag team champions and set the stage for their two-year run. The 20 man battle royal established Bad News Brown as a heel threat and planted the seed for the Hart Foundation's face turn.

 

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules (dog collar match)

 

Same concept, but with a stipulation to break the monotony of straight wrestling matches.

 

Jim Duggan/Don Muraco/Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Dino Bravo/Butch Reed/Greg Valentine

 

Your upper-card wrestlers left out of the tournament in a six man tag. If you prefer, you can turn this into a six-man free-for-all with a title shot on the line. None are really suited for ladder match work so I wouldn't make it Money In the Bank.

 

Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude

 

The Cheryl Roberts issue gives these two enough heat for a one-on-one match, and outside of the tournament you can book a real finish.

 

Twelve matches in all, which should cut down the card to a manageable three hours. With luck we've improved match quality somewhat while maintaining the important booking points in the event.

[humanoid92 0]

Some of these are different, not better or worse. I think a rebook should fix some obvious problems, but still maintain contemporary booking patterns/storylines and be realistic.

 

I think the approach to rebooking depends on how you look at it. It depends on how much you're willing to stray. Are you just sticking with who they were really hell-bent on pushing at the time and tweaking the rest of the card a little, or completely revamping the direction and just using the talent available to book a completely new card? The way I see it, those are two different ways to interpret the idea, but neither is necessarily better or worse.

 

Jim Duggan/Don Muraco/Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Dino Bravo/Butch Reed/Greg Valentine

 

Your upper-card wrestlers left out of the tournament in a six man tag. If you prefer, you can turn this into a six-man free-for-all with a title shot on the line. None are really suited for ladder match work so I wouldn't make it Money In the Bank.

 

I like what you did with WM 4, especially with the tourney, which I think you re-did perfectly. But how are you gonna pretend a six-man free-for-all, #1 contender's match, or money in the bank ladder match are at all representative of 1988 booking patterns and was even close to a realistic possibility? Six-man matches and #1 contenders matches and ladder matches just did not happen back then. Same thing with your WM 5 card- I like it because it's different with a modern twist and it's fun to think about, but are you really going to tell me it maintained the booking patterns of 1989? It's not realistic at all. So which is it- do the re-bookings have to conform to the styles of the time, or can they be unrealistic with modern twists? I think either way is acceptable, but it seems to me like you're kind of trying to have it both ways here despite speaking out against the unrealistic booking.

[slabinskia 0]

WRESTLEMANIA VII

 

This is a ppv that has become a fan favorite over the years. It has several great matches and very few squashes. I am blowing up the entire card from a booking standpoint which means all of those good matches get sacrificed. Here is what I came up with.

 

1. TAG TITLES: HART FOUNDATION VS LEGION OF DOOM

 

Winners: LEGION OF DOOM 18:49

 

2. RICK MARTEL VS JAKE ROBERTS

 

Winner: JAKE ROBERTS 11:30

 

3. EARTHQUAKE VS TUGBOAT

 

Winner: EARTHQUAKE 2:17

 

4. NASTY BOYS VS BUSHWHACKERS

 

Winners: NASTY BOYS 8:45

 

5. UNDERTAKER VS JIMMY SNUKA

 

Winner: UNDERTAKER 4:20

 

6. SGT SLAUGHTER VS HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN

 

Winner: HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN 12:04

 

INTERMISSION

 

7. HAKU/BARBARIAN VS BIG BOSSMAN/TEXAS TORNADO

 

Winners: BIG BOSSMAN/TEXAS TORNADO 6:27

 

8. RODDY PIPER VS RANDY SAVAGE

 

Winner: RODDY PIPER 16:52

 

9. IC TITLE: MR PERFECT VS BRITISH BULDOG

 

Winner: MR PERFECT 17:33

 

10. POWER & GLORY VS ROCKERS

 

Winners: ROCKERS 14:23

 

11. TED DIBIASE VS VIRGIL

 

Winner: VIRGIL 5:13

 

12. WORLD TITLE: ULTIMATE WARRIOR VS HULK HOGAN

 

Winner: HULK HOGAN 21:47

 

 

WRESTLEMANIA VIII

 

1. OWEN HART VS BRITISH BULDOG

 

Winner: BRITISH BULDOG 16:40

 

2. BIG BOSSMAN VS SHAWN MICHAELS

 

Winner: SHAWN MICHAELS 13:22

 

3. NATURAL DISASTERS VS NASTY BOYS

 

Winners: NATURAL DISASTERS 4:35

 

4. TATANKA VS RICK MARTEL

 

Winner: TATANKA 5:16

 

5. RANDY SAVAGE VS JAKE ROBERTS

 

Winner RANDY SAVAGE 15:54

 

INTERMISSION

 

6. TAG TITLES: LEGION OF DOOM VS MONEY INC.

 

Winners MONEY INC 17:42

 

7. UNDERTAKER VS SID JUSTICE

 

Winner: UNDERTAKER 11:14

 

8. IC TITLE: BRET HART VS RODDY PIPER

 

Winner: BRET HART 13:54

 

9. WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN VS RIC FLAIR

 

Winner: RIC FLAIR 21:20

 

(with hogan leaving after wm8,i kept the belt on flair. I would have flair and perfect double team hogan post match with warrior making the save.)

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I like what you did with WM 4, especially with the tourney, which I think you re-did perfectly. But how are you gonna pretend a six-man free-for-all, #1 contender's match, or money in the bank ladder match are at all representative of 1988 booking patterns and was even close to a realistic possibility? Six-man matches and #1 contenders matches and ladder matches just did not happen back then. Same thing with your WM 5 card- I like it because it's different with a modern twist and it's fun to think about, but are you really going to tell me it maintained the booking patterns of 1989? It's not realistic at all. So which is it- do the re-bookings have to conform to the styles of the time, or can they be unrealistic with modern twists? I think either way is acceptable, but it seems to me like you're kind of trying to have it both ways here despite speaking out against the unrealistic booking.

 

That's a good point, and maybe I phrased it a bit wrong with booking patterns. I think the ideal is that you can modernize things, but it should be something the fans then would buy. Various promotions were running "Tower of Doom" triple cage matches in the late '80s. I think the bigger issue is running such a match on the same card as a 20 man battle royal and an 8 man tournament, so I'm more inclined to stick with the six-man tag.

[humanoid92 0]

Completely re-doing this year's card for the hell of it. In my universe ECW doesn't exist and the brands are blurred because, let's face it, they are anyway. This is just what I came up with after five minutes of looking at the current talent roster:

 

Undertaker vs. Batista

Cena vs. Jericho

Michaels vs. Edge

 

Benoit vs. Kennedy

Lashley vs. Umaga

Kane vs. Khali

 

RVD vs. Punk

Flair vs. Orton

MVP vs. Booker

 

Helms vs. Guerrero

Hardy Boyz vs. London & Kendrick

Haas & Benjamin vs. MNM (Regal & Taylor can sub now that Mercury is history)

 

I'm leaving Lashley and Umaga, even if I still think it's a weird match. I don't want to split them off with other opponents so they get each other. Kane and Khali stays to confine the suck to one match. I guess it's a Taker/Giant Gonzalez tribute match. I'm keeping Batista vs. Taker. Streak vs. Title. It'll be an ugly match but there's at least a legitimate bit of interest there, so whatever. I still think Taker vs. Angle with Kurt as Champ would have been a lot better last year, but that'll never happen now.

 

As much as I like the Cena vs. Michaels build up, I find it hilarious that HBK and UT are the two big World Title challengers heading into WM. Two guys that first won the Title a combined 27 years ago. Can you imagine if the WM 8 hype saw Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund gunning for the Title? I know it's not the same, and I would rather see Shawn and Taker in prominent spots over guys pushed too hard too fast, but you've gotta admit, it is a little weird. Anyway, I want to see Michaels vs. Edge to give Edge an acutal, classic big-time WM wrestling match instead of a brawl with a washed-up Foley who hasn't had a rub to give for years or a clusterfuck ladder match. HBK/Jericho was awesome, HBK/Benoit (w/ HHH) worked, HBK/Angle was good... HBK/Edge would be just about as good. Plus, this also eliminates the Money in the Bank goofiness. Michaels vs. Edge would seem to lead to Cena vs. Orton, but A) I don't want to see that and B) no one would buy Orton in that spot at this point. So that's where I bring in Jericho.

 

You've got to assume Jericho will be back at some point. Throw some money at him. He's a huge fan of WM 3 and Savage/Steamboat so you might as well try to bring him back to be a big part of this show. He'd probably go for it. And when he does return, they might as well not fuck it up and use him the way he should be used. Which means don't fuck around with him and make him a midcarder. A returning, face Jericho against a face Cena who the fans could turn on at any moment would be pretty interesting, and given the way Jericho left, Cena is his natural return opponent. There aren't exactly a ton of top guys. Bring back Jericho.

 

I wanted two legit tag matches with all the singles matches on the card, but that's hard to do considering there are barely four legit tag teams. If they could be built up properly, they would work fine. I haven't really followed Smackdown in awhile, so I have no idea if Kennedy vs. Benoit is played out by now. Same with Benoit vs. Finlay, which I also considered. I admit I haven't seen much of MVP, but I've gotta believe there's a better opponent for Benoit than some new guy in a bodysuit. I'd rather do Benoit vs. Finlay and Flair vs. Kennedy, but that leaves Orton completely high and dry and you know he's going to have to fit in somewhere. So with no Jericho, he gets to challenge Cena and Kennedy gets Flair and Finlay gets Benoit. The face side of the roster is really lacking right now. It's basically Cena, Lashley and all the stale veterans (Shawn, HHH, Taker, Flair, Kane, Benoit, RVD, Hardyz) and then everyone else is a heel. There really hasn't been a fresh new good guy in awhile.

 

It's a shame, but there's really no respectable candidate for IC Champ right now. Umaga doesn't need the belt, and in my situation the Hardyz are uniting for a tag match. Seriously, on the roster right now, who's a good candidate for the IC Title? I don't see anyone. The whole card is composed of guys that have had their run with it and shouldn't have to contend for it (Orton, Edge, Flair, RVD), guys who had their run and turned into glorified jobbers (Benjamin, Carlito), monsters that have no place going for it (Umaga, Kane, Khali), guys that it's way too early for (Kenny), and JTTS (Masters, Eugene, Viscera, etc.). It's rough. I think someone like a heel Punk would work out well as an eventual IC Champ, but apparently he's got other things going on.

 

Anyway, that's my half-assed card. I actually have nothing against the real card. Just thought I'd shake it up a little.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I would have gone the more obvious route for Wrestlemania IV and skipped the tourney for Savage-HTM and Hogan-Dibiase. I'd have Savage go over in hard fought match with HTM to finish off their program. In the main event, I would have let Dibiase, with Andre in his corner, get the victory over Hogan by using every dastardly tactic in the book. After the match, Andre and Dibiase could do a number on Hogan and Savage could come out for the big save. Hogan hulks up and slams Andre, does a quick celebtration and the show ends on a positive note to send fans home happy even with a new heel champion.

 

From there Hogan could go shoot his movie and you can transition into a Savage-Dibiase program with Savage eventually winning the belt at Summerslam in a cage match (maybe Dibiase costs Savage the IC belt shortly after Mania). Hogan returns and you set up the same Megapowers storyline for WM V. I'm not sure that this would have made things better but I just never got into the tournament idea for the original show. I think there were better ways to put Savage over and keep Hogan strong while he left to film No Holds Barred.

[ryankeast 0]

Perfect booking for the tournament there alkeiper. Like it :-)

[slabinskia 0]

WRESTLEMANIA IX

 

1. IC TITLE: SHAWN MICHAELS VS MARTY JANNETTY

 

Winner: SHAWN MICHAELS 20:15

 

2. YOKOZUNA VS HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN

 

Winner: YOKOZUNA 4:37

 

3. HEADSHRINKERS/BAM BAM BIGELOW VS BUSHWHACKERS/TATANKA

 

Winners: BUSHWHACKERS/TATANKA 7:50

 

4. RAZOR RAMON VS RANDY SAVAGE

 

Winner: RAZOR RAMON 15:41

 

5. LEX LUGER VS UNDERTAKER

 

Winner: LEX LUGER 9:05

 

6. TAG TITLES STEINERS VS MONEY INC

 

Winners: STEINERS 20:47

 

7. LOSER LEAVES TOWN: RIC FLAIR VS MR PERFECT

 

Winner: MR PERFECT 23:17

 

8. WORLD TITLE: BRET HART VS HULK HOGAN

 

Winner: BRET HART 18:28

 

 

WRESTLEMANIA X

 

1. BRET HART VS OWEN HART

 

Winner: OWEN HART 20:25

 

2. DOINK/MEN ON A MISSION VS HEADSHRINKERS/BAM BAM BIGELOW

 

Winners: DOINK/MEN ON A MISSION 5:21

 

3. WORLD TITLE #1: LEX LUGER VS RANDY SAVAGE

 

Winner: LEX LUGER 10:45

 

4. SPARKY PLUG VS JEFF JARRETT

 

Winner: JEFF JARRETT 6:30

 

5. SMOKING GUNS VS HEAVENLY BODIES

 

Winners: SMOKING GUNS 13:38

 

6. CASKET MATCH: UNDERTAKER VS YOKOZUNA

 

Winner: UNDERTAKER 13:16

 

7. TATANKA VS IRS

 

Winner: TATANKA 6:10

 

8. TAG TITLES: QUEBECKERS VS 1-2-3 KID/MARTY JANNETTY

 

Winners: QUEBECKERS 17:40

 

9. IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: SHAWN MICHAELS vs RAZOR RAMON

 

Winner: RAZOR RAMON 18:45

 

10. WORLD TITLE #2: LEX LUGER VS BRET HART

 

Winner: BRET HART 15:30

 

 

My Explanation:

 

First off wm9.

 

I went with shawn/marty over shawn/tatanka because of the feud and it would be a better match. I did think the hbk/tatanka match was underrated though.

 

I did yokozuna/duggan because Duggan was Yokozunas first major opponent and I never liked having him in the main event scene.

 

I put the headshrinkers/bam bam in there with the bushwhackers/tatanka to add a second tag match.

 

I went with savage/razor because they were feuding not long before this and I felt that savage could have been used in the ring on the show.

 

I went with the Steiners winning the belts over Money inc because it was happening eventually and it would have made for a great wm match/title change.

 

I like the idea of having flair stay until wm and having that loser leaves town match with hennig happen on the ppv.

 

I had Narcissist Lex Luger go over Undertaker and stop the winning streak dead. I know that is unpopular but I loved the Narcissist gimmick and I would have pushed luger as the heel big time.

 

I went with Bret retaining the title over Hogan which really would give Bret the rub. I would have had Hogan return for the rumble and win it which would give him the wm title shot.Then have him lose clean to bret.

 

 

As for wm 10.

 

Bret/Owen stays the same.no need to change anything there.

 

I put the 6 man on there because I went with a 10 match card and I felt 3 tag matches was necessary.

 

Jarrett/Sparky Plug was a filler match and they could have given a decent match imo. Bottom line is the roster was weak.

 

Ditto tatanka/irs

 

Yokozuna/Undetaker casket match I had take place at wm instead of the rumble because I never had Yoko in the title picture.

 

I went with Smoking Gunns/Heavenly Bodies to add a tag match and I thought it would be a decent match.

 

No need to change the ladder match.

 

I put kid/jannetty in there with the quebeckers because it would be a much better tag match.

 

Now there is some explaining to do.I had Bret go over Hogan at wm9. I had luger go over undertaker to build him as the next top heel.

 

I would have luger win king of the ring.I would have Bret go over savage at king of the ring to get another big win over another top guy from the old regime.

 

I would have luger go over bret to win the belt at Summerslam. Savage is kept strong despite the kotr loss to bret.

 

Bret is still in the family tag match at survivor series where owen starts his heel turn. Luger and Savage are on opposing teams at that ppv.

 

Bret/Owen have their match with quebeckers at the rumble and it goes exactly the same way. Luger defends the belt against undertaker and retains with interference from yokozuna. Savage who is kept strong for his ongoing feud with luger does the photo finish with bret.

 

That leads to the same bret owen match with bret getting a title match at the end. The first title match is champion heel luger going over co rumble winner randy savage. Bret goes over luger in the main event.

 

Thoughts on my changes to wm 9/10 ?

[BigDawgCarl 0]

WM X7.

 

HHH vs. Angle:

Scrap the HHH running down Austin angle and have Hunter as the face against Angle in a feud over Stephanie. That's an angle that was hot and never resolved. Play it up as no one knows who she'll align with. Either you get the happy ending with Steph choosing face HHH, who then feuds with heel Austin for the belt, or Steph chooses Angle, Hunter snaps and turns heel afterward.

 

That feud deserved to be blown off properly.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

WM X7.

 

HHH vs. Angle:

Scrap the HHH running down Austin angle and have Hunter as the face against Angle in a feud over Stephanie. That's an angle that was hot and never resolved. Play it up as no one knows who she'll align with. Either you get the happy ending with Steph choosing face HHH, who then feuds with heel Austin for the belt, or Steph chooses Angle, Hunter snaps and turns heel afterward.

 

That feud deserved to be blown off properly.

 

WM X7 was great, but by not continuining the Hunter-Angle-Steph storyline, I really think the company shot itself in the foot in the long run. Based on my own experiences (which may or may not be indicative of a larger whole), that was by far the best angle for casual viewer interest. I was a senior in high school during that angle, and I knew chicks who weren't ino wrestling who were interested in that angle, and they just dropped it. It was really a sign of things to come, sadly -- huge potential with the ball dropped every year for years.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Taking a different theme with this. What if the WWF held Wrestlemania in 1984? There's little doubt it would draw big, as WWF was regularly drawing sellout at MSG with 5,000 more for closed circuit next door at the time every month.

 

WWF Championship Match

Hulk Hogan © vs. Big John Studd

 

Hulk Hogan's first big challenge as champion, facing the always dangerous Studd. Pinning Studd would kill his future value though in bouts with Hogan and Andre the Giant, so we would want a DQ finish with Hogan retaining.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match

Tito Santana © vs. Magnificent Muraco

 

Santana won the title in February of 1984. Here he retains clean with Greg Valentine interfering afterwards, setting up the hot Santana/Valentine feud.

 

WWF World Tag Team Championship Match

Rocky Johnson/Tony Atlas © vs. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch

 

Adonis/Murdoch won the championship in April. We'll just bump up the title change by a month.

 

Andre the Giant/Jimmy Snuka vs. Roddy Piper/David Schultz

 

WWF ran a match where Andre left with injury, but was disqualified coming back later in the match. I'd run a similar scenario, establishing Piper/Schultz as credible heels.

 

Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Iron Sheik

 

This feud kicked off in February. I would book a standard one-on-one match, ending in a double countout with both wrestlers brawling to the back, setting up future matches with stipulations.

 

Bob Backlund/Ivan Putski vs. Wild Samoans

 

Backlund's swan song.

 

Wendi Richter vs. Velvet McIntyre

 

Richter debuts in the WWE and beats McIntyre in a short match, establishing her as a Womens' title contender.

 

WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Dynamite Kid © vs. Davey Boy Smith

 

Dynamite won the title in Japan in February, and this gives him a showcase. Hey, this is fantasy booking after all.

 

Eight matches, two of which (Dynamite/Smith and Sheik/Slaughter) with the potential to be very good, and some important angles booked. There would need to be celebrity involvement of course, but someone else can worry about that. I would fit the debut of Cyndi Lauper in there somewhere.

[Foshi 0]

So, as a young mark(I was like 7), I watched Wrestlemania 9 a lot and enjoyed the atmosphere. I never realized how terrible it was until I got older and actually could appreciate match quality and so it somewhat saddened me to come to this realization. But last night, I was reading the wrestlecrap review on it and it got me to thinking as to whether or not the card had to be terrible. Did they not have the roster at all or was it just poorly executed?

 

So, since I have no life, I've decided to rebook WM9 my way and invite anyone else interested to do the same. You can change any storylines leading up to it as you see fit and don't have to worry about aftermath and such, just make it a card you'd like for the one day. The only real rule is that you have to use people who were employed at the time, so for instance, while I could be wrong, I think Flair was gone by WM9 and I will not be using him. Anywho, here goes:

 

1) WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels© vs. Marty Jannetty

-Since the RR was a tainted finish and I could watch these two go at it all day, I think it'd be a solid opener. There could be an added stipulation of "no one allowed at ringside" or whatever.

Winner: Marty picks up the IC title

-I think it flows well into their feud that spring. They could shoot the title back and forth.

 

2) Headshrinkers vs. the Natural Disasters

-I was always a huge ND mark, but they were past their prime as a team at this point, so they could give the monster team rub

Winner: Headshrinkers

 

3) Tito Santana vs. Rick Martel

-I didn't want to leave Tito off the card since he technically beat Papa Shango on the preshow and ended his WM career with a win which he more than deserved. It could be billed as Tito's farewell match and they could play up the history between the two.

Winner: Tito Santana

 

4) Luna Vachon vs. Sensational Sherri

-They could've established Luna as a legit threat here for either her role as Bam Bam's valet or a possible women's division revival. I'd say glorified squash, but what would be there I think would have the potential to be decent with these two.

Winner: Luna Vachon

 

5) Yokozuna vs. Crush

-I realize this likely would've been awful, but it might've actually got the crowd going(who had low expectations in 93 for wrestling anyway). Crush was being pushed as this big powerhouse and there could be the tease of him slamming Yoko or whatever. I say a Yoko win with perhaps some underhanded tactics from Fuji just because I hate DQ finishes, but no real reason to make either guy look bad.

Winner: Yokozuna

 

6) WWF Tag Team Championship: Money Inc.© vs. the Steiner Brothers

-This would have saved the workrate of the previous match, I think. The tag titles meant a lot more back then than they do now, so I don't think you hotshot the belts to the fairly new Steiners just yet. Have a spot where the Steiners have the match won, but Dibiase and IRS use "Heel Tactics" to barely retain their titles. Makes the Steiners look good overall and makes it that much more satisfying when the Steiners win the tag titles soon after.

Winners: Money Inc. retains

 

7) Undertaker vs. Doink the Clown

-Kind of ridiculous to consider at first. But, I think of it as a predecessor to the Taker/Goldust feud. Taker as a face had feuded mostly with big guys to this point, I think it'd have been an interesting twist for him to face someone who used mind games like him. Have Doink keep outsmarting Taker throughout the match and avoiding the blunt of his offense and doing whatever it takes to try to win. Eventually, Undertaker would get a hold of him and finish the match off. I think it could've been potentially good storytelling.

Winner: Undertaker

 

8) Mr. Perfect, Tatanka, and Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lex Luger

-The six man tag protects some of the weaker workers in this match and combines a few potential feuds and play up the inability of the guys on each side getting along with each other. I'd say Tatanka would be the silent middle man with Owen as the consumate face and Perfect with some throwbacks to his heel days(using heel tactics, etc.). Also, Razor was on his way to becoming a de facto face because of his reactions so, he could have some dissent with his guys just to play that up and add to it. Ultimately, have Perfect have a dispute with Owen and walk out on his team and Owen perhaps get rolled up in the distraction leading to an Owen/Perfect feud just because that would've been awesome.

Winner: Razor Ramon, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lex Luger

 

9) WWF Championship Match: Bret Hart© vs. Randy Savage

-The sheer thought of this is just amazing to me as these are two of my favorites. You have Bret, the fairly new fighting champion facing off against one of the frontrunners of the previous generation and everyone, storyline-wise, wondering whether or not Savage still has it and Savage saying that he likes Bret, but he loves being champion or something like that. I'd have had Savage win the Rumble(perhaps just an opposite of the finish they did have with Savage figuring out a way to eliminate Yokozuna). Let the two go at it in a face/face scenario with Savage playing the heel in terms of working the match.

Winner: Bret Hart retains

-After the match, Bret and Savage would shake hands/embrace whatever with Savage clearly passing his torch to Bret. Savage could leave as Bret continued to celebrate, leading to the recently returned Hogan coming out for a staredown with Bret as the show ends. This would, in my mind, lead to what I believed was the original plan of Bret going over Hogan at Summerslam to firmly cement him as the top guy.

 

 

This may not have been the best I could come up with workrate-wise, but I like the overall prospect of it. Obviously again, I took liberty with storylines and angles leading up to the PPV. I'd be interested to read what anyone else could come up with or comments on mine.

[Foshi 0]

Sorry, I just realized now there was a rebook wm's thread.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Merged the threads.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

As far as Wrestlemania IX, I remember we had a discussion about it a couple weeks ago that I can't find at the moment. I watched it recently and really it is not a bad show. I think the dislike comes from unpopular booking. Bret Hart lost his title, Tatanka failed to gain the IC title and Hogan/Beefcake lost their bid for the tag titles. Lex Luger, Crush and Razor Ramon all won, making it a good night for the heels.

 

Reading the Wrestlecrap review, I disagree with a lot of it. Tatanka/Michaels was a great opener. Headshrinkers/Steiners was a tremendous tag team match, one of the best Headshrinker matches I've ever seen. There wasn't anything really embarrassing, except maybe Giant Gonzalez. And really, when you have a wrestler with his unique size, you damn the workrate and get whatever you can out of him.

 

I don't think you can take Hogan off the card. The crowd chanted for Hogan during the UT/Gonzalez beatdown, so clearly it wasn't just a case of Hogan outliving his usefulness. The only thing I would do is add Randy Savage to the card. Maybe put him in against Razor Ramon instead of Bob Backlund. Make one of the matches a gimmick match.

[humanoid92 0]

As far as Wrestlemania IX, I remember we had a discussion about it a couple weeks ago that I can't find at the moment. I watched it recently and really it is not a bad show. I think the dislike comes from unpopular booking. Bret Hart lost his title, Tatanka failed to gain the IC title and Hogan/Beefcake lost their bid for the tag titles. Lex Luger, Crush and Razor Ramon all won, making it a good night for the heels.

 

Reading the Wrestlecrap review, I disagree with a lot of it. Tatanka/Michaels was a great opener. Headshrinkers/Steiners was a tremendous tag team match, one of the best Headshrinker matches I've ever seen. There wasn't anything really embarrassing, except maybe Giant Gonzalez. And really, when you have a wrestler with his unique size, you damn the workrate and get whatever you can out of him.

 

I don't think you can take Hogan off the card. The crowd chanted for Hogan during the UT/Gonzalez beatdown, so clearly it wasn't just a case of Hogan outliving his usefulness. The only thing I would do is add Randy Savage to the card. Maybe put him in against Razor Ramon instead of Bob Backlund. Make one of the matches a gimmick match.

 

I think the thread you might be thinking of is the Old School questions thread (page 116 or so), or possibly even the opinions that changed thread.

 

I'm glad to hear your opinions on WM 9... that's pretty much what I've been saying for years. I also would have changed some of the booking around and I agree that Hogan belonged on the card in some capacity. The unpopular booking and the Hogan stuff definitely has a lot to do with the show's reputation, but I think a few other reasons are:

 

- There was no blow-away **** match or huge main event. No Savage/Flair, Bret/Piper, Warrior/Savage, Savage/Steamboat, Hogan/Savage, Hogan/Warrior, etc. No Bret/Owen or Razor/Shawn like the year after. I don't think this is much of a negative because I think 4 or 5 of the 8 matches on the card are legitimate *** matches. And I personally would rather see a card with mostly good matches like this one than a card with one great match and seven or eight glorified squashes like pretty much every WM before 8. But right or wrong, I think that lack of "Wrestlemania match" hurts this in the eyes of most smarks.

 

- If you repeat something enough and enough people start to buy in and it gets repeated over and over and over again, pretty soon it becomes accepted as fact. It's funny how everyone says, "Before I came on the internet I didn't realize how horrible this show was." You know why that is? Because it's NOT a horrible show. Look, before I got on the internet, I knew Savage vs. Steamboat was awesome. I knew Bret fighting a pirate and a dentist was stupid. I knew the Ultimate Warrior was terrible and could only have good matches with Rude and Savage. I didn't need the internet to tell me those things. And before I got the internet I knew WM 9 was a pretty good show. Well, just because the internet says otherwise, doesn't mean they're right. This just happens to be a show that got a bad reputation because of all the Hogan stuff and the factors we've mentioned and people took it to an extreme. Now it's been repeated to the point where if you don't think it's a terrible show, you're a moron. It can't be challenged. Even though if you actually go back and watch the show, the four longest matches are all pretty good and aside from that there's one average match (Perfect), one squash (Razor), one lackluster match (Crush), and one legitimately bad match (Taker). Which brings me to...

 

- Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez. This has become something of an internet joke, what with the popularity of Wrestlecrap. Is it a bad match? Of course. Is it the worst match of all-time? Hardly. Taker didn't have a good feud for three or four years and this is the accepted symbol of that long run of crap, but this feud was no worse than his stuff with Kamala or the bogus Undertaker. And much like it's become a symbol of all the Undertaker's bad storylines from '92-'95, it's also become a symbol for how bad WM 9 supposedly is. You know, even though the whole segment takes up about 10 minutes of the show.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

In regards to Mania IX, you'll never convince me that it was a bad decision to do the Hogan title switch at the end. I know in hindsight it didn't really work out the way they wanted it to, but that was one of the most creative, interesting ends to a PPV ever. There was no way to know going in that Hogan would disappear after the show and the entire storyline would flame out.

 

From 1985 to 1991 the WWF was making money hand over fist. The year Hogan leaves (1992) becomes their first year of financial mediocrity. If I'm Vince, I put the belt back on Hogan every time.