We are in the middle of the Road to WrestleMania. And by now, I’m sure most of us aren’t too thrilled with what is ahead. If you had asked me two months ago, I would have told you that I think this could be one of the better Wrestlemanias in recent memory. Now? I’m looking more forward to the crowd potentially taking over the show and just crapping all over the rumored Batista/Randy Orton main event.
The problem the WWE always has is that they make things way more complicated than they need to be. It also doesn’t help that the WWE seems to be completely out of touch with their audience. Maybe it will take the crowd just walking away and not buying tickets for the WWE to finally get the message. If it finally gets to that point maybe the WWE will realize that they can’t continually slap their fans in the face and expect them to come back.
Now everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, likes to play armchair booker. That is what we do as Internet wrestling fans. We complain about the product and talk about how our ideas would be so much better. Well, the good news for me is that I have a place to write about my ideas! Some of you might know what my general idea was for a WrestleMania card a few month ago. But I have an expanded card from that. At least for me, I would be much more entertained with this card compared to the current one.
It all starts at Battleground, where Daniel Bryan successfully wins the WWE Championship from Randy Orton. No outside interference from Big Show. No stupid ref bumps. Bryan wins the Title. Three weeks later at Hell In A Cell, Daniel Bryan successfully retains the WWE Championship. After Triple H gets taken out by Bryan’s running knee, Shawn Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music. But Bryan ducks and Michaels connects with Orton instead. Everything else storyline wise stays the same.
The next night on RAW, Triple H starts to get a little bit upset. He doesn’t like the fact that Daniel Bryan continues to stay on top and is becoming the face of the WWE. Big Show comes back on RAW and delivers the KO Punch to Bryan. Show then agrees to do the bidding for HHH and takes on Bryan at Survivor Series. Randy Orton, meanwhile, challenges John Cena for the World Title. This is a situation where I have no problem with Cena/Orton happening. Two top stars fighting over what was at the time considered the secondary Title. Orton will do anything to get a Title back. And in this scenario, I would have Triple H announce two weeks before Survivor Series that the winners of these matches will fight in a Title unification match at TLC.
Bryan and Cena both retain their Titles at Survivor Series, leading to a unification match at TLC. In the weeks leading up to the show, Triple H tries to tease that he is siding with John Cena. They would almost pull off a similar storyline like Randy Savage/Ultimate Warrior from SummerSlam 1992, where they teased Ric Flair being in someone’s corner. Triple H gets fed up with Big Show and feeds him to the Wyatt Family at the PPV. And in all honesty, I’d give Randy Orton the PPV off from a match perspective. I might have him come out and try to interfere in the Title match only to be thwarted by Cena and Bryan. Bryan picks up the win at TLC and once again has his hand raised by Cena to end the show as Triple H looks on with anger and dismay from the stage.
To close out 2014, the Wyatt Family takes out John Cena. This sets up a Royal Rumble match between Cena and Bray Wyatt. Triple H, so hell bent on getting the WWE Title off of Daniel Bryan, brings back Brock Lesnar to challenge Bryan for the Title at the Royal Rumble. While all of this stuff is happening with Bryan and HHH, CM Punk’s story has not changed one bit. He still has his matches with The Shield and a beef with the Authority. Punk is forced to enter at #1.
I’ll give John Cena the win over Bray Wyatt at the Rumble. Some may not agree with it but Bray is good enough on the mic that he can regain any heat lost. Brock Lesnar defeats Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Bryan’s all out effort gets a standing ovation from the crowd as he leaves the ring. The Rumble match is packed with star power. John Cena is in there as is Randy Orton. Orton hits the ring and is dominant, but a returning Batista throws him completely off. And yes, I’m keeping Batista’s return a complete surprise. Batista eliminates Orton. We get to the Final 4 of Batista, Cena, Roman Reigns and Punk. Orton comes back out to distract Batista, allowing Reigns to eliminate him. Reigns is eliminated as Punk ducks and Reigns goes over the top rope. After Cena and Punk have a little mini match as the final two, Punk finally wins after dumping Cena over the top rope.
We get to the Elimination Chamber and the Chamber match itself is packed. Its Lesnar vs Bryan vs Cena vs Orton vs Batista vs Sheamus. Batista pays Orton back for elimination him at the Rumble by pining him here. We get down to the Final 2 of Lesnar and Bryan. Bryan gets the YES Lock applied on Lesnar. Triple H comes out and tries to get a lead pipe to Lesnar but Bryan intercepts it, but the distraction is enough to allow Lesnar to recover and hit the F5 on Bryan, allowing Lesnar to retain the Title. CM Punk takes on Kane here, and I’m sure he won’t mind this time since he’s main eventing WrestleMania. We also have the Intercontinental/United States Championship Unification match, which is won by Big E after a distraction from the Wyatt Family.
And now we get to WrestleMania. As I said, some things are left untouched. I would still have had Goldust and Cody Rhodes break-up, leading to a singles match at Mania. I’m putting together a Tag Title Match here as well, along with an IC Title Match. Money in the Bank is happening here too. No reason to have a PPV for it if you ask me. So what does my WrestleMania card look like? Here it is:
Pre-Show Battle Royal to determine the last spot in the Money in the Bank match.
-This gets everyone not on the card their WrestleMania payday.
Money in the Bank: Christian vs Antonio Cesaro vs Kofi Kingston vs Alberto del Rio vs Evan Bourne vs Titus O’Neil vs Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler
-As I said above, I just don’t see any reason for there to be a Money in the Bank PPV if it was up to me. The match is filled with a handful of veterans. The favorite would be Antonio Cesaro, with Titus O’Neil being a possibility if the WWE really wants to get behind him.
Cody Rhodes vs Goldust
-I really don’t have a problem with how the WWE is getting to this point. It makes sense so far.
Fatal 4 Way Match for the Tag Team Championship: The New Age Outlaws (c) vs The Usos vs Rybaxel vs Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara
-The Usos have become some of the top performers the WWE has to offer. They deserve a run with the Tag Team Titles and should get it here.
Divas Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs Naomi
-With the recent injury I would assume the WWE holds off on this match til Mania. I personally would like to see Emma or Paige here, but Naomi has busted her butt to get where she is now. So similar to the Usos, she gets her Mania moment here.
Intercontinental Championship: Big E Langston (c) vs Mark Henry
-With only three major Titles left, you have to have the Title defended here. Mark Henry turns heel on his return and gets frustrated with Big E for not coming to his aid when Brock Lesnar attacked him.
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family
-To me, this is a big enough match that it should take place here at WrestleMania. I would personally hold off on the break-up of The Shield for a little bit longer and let them run as faces for a little bit. If they break-up now, I fear Roman Reigns won’t have the same amount of momentum now as he would in a year.
Batista vs Randy Orton w/Ric Flair as Special Guest Referee
-Here is a spot where Batista/Orton would have been acceptable. It shouldn’t main event your show, but it would be absolutely fine as a top undercard match. I would play up their Evolution history during the build, and let Flair referee the match. And with the way I would have had Batista return, I don’t think he would be getting booed at this point at all.
John Cena vs The Undertaker
-It’s the match pretty much everyone would love to see, except the people in the WWE. I’ve stated numerous times that I would love to see Cena in this spot. And again, the build is simple. Cena can bring up beating The Rock at Mania last year. And since he’s failed to regain the WWE Title, he wants to do the next best thing possible at Mania and that’s end The Streak. And you’re off making money.
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H
-This is really where this should have been leading all along. After Bryan gets a good three month reign with the WWE Title, he moves on to take on the man that has been a thorn in his side for the six months.
WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs CM Punk
-It is a rematch that main events WrestleMania, but unlike last year, it is one that I’m pretty sure the WWE Universe would like to see again. I would have faith in Punk to get a good wrestling based match out of Lesnar. And if you want to recreate ten years ago, you have Punk and Bryan celebrating in the ring to close the show. Bryan finally defeated HHH, and Punk gets back on top of the WWE to close the show.
Yes, that’s ten matches. But you have four hours to fill. Give the Divas and the IC Title 10 minutes. The Tag Titles, MITB, Batista/Orton, Shield/Wyatts and Rhodes Brothers around 15 minutes each. Your top three matches get around 25 minutes. That’s about three hours right there. No reason everything can’t fit.
So that is how I would have got to WrestleMania 30. I’m sure a lot of you have different opinions. Feel free to share your thoughts below.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
