For Your Consideration…Game On or Go Home

Columns

Welcome to FYC.

Big column planned this week, but first I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome back. I got some really great e-mails (and will publish and respond to one in a minute) and some nice comments, so keep ‘em coming. Anyway, while I promise a column filled with keen insight, I have a feeling it’ll be a little shorter than my magnum opus last week. And without further ado…

I got this e-mail from “Seosamh” and decided that since someone took the time to write out their thoughts on last week’s Matt/Jeff angle (I would insert the link here but that would take time and energy I just don’t wanna waste…so if whoever’s editing this feels like sticking it in, more power to ya), I would give them a more public forum to spout their particular brand of crazy. I’ll give some feedback under it. In the meantime, enjoy:

“I read your for consideration column, and I agree with most of it. However I’ve been thinking of something different the WWE could do. What if they brought Christian back as a face to help Jeff? Than we could get a mix up that we haven’t seen before but w/ familiar characters that have a reason to feud? Edge and Matt vs Jeff and Christian would be pretty cool. And it kinda makes sense. Matt has already turned on Jeff and sided with Edge for the points you made. But something to do with Christian is bringing him in as the cocky face nobody trusts. He didn’t leave on good terms with Edge and he could have been watching from elsewhere growing more and and more sick of Edge’s actions while he was away. And Matt helping him by turning on Jeff could be what snapped him into taking action. Except Jeff won’t trust Christian because he’s Christian. So it will be a strained alliance that Jeff really doesn’t want but has nobody else to really turn to. And again because he’s Christian he can use the “nobody ever trusted me when i was trying to help” excuse to turn heal again. So up until Mania you have some mixed teams tagging that would be great to see. Christian could cost Edge the belt before mania to Big Show. That way you can have a Big Show vs HHH singles match that people prefer for their championship and would be a pretty good main event. And Hardy feud could culminate in a fatal fourway between the Hardy’s, Edge and Christian at Mania that could be a sick match to see. At that point they would all hate each other and we have never seen them all go at it before. But it uses the classic rivalries already set in place in a fresh way but with the anniversary feel to it. Jeff could win the match for his retribution and fans will be more than satisfied. Even if they wanted a Hardy vs Hardy singles match, Edge could face Christian in a singles match as well that would basically be the same feel. WWE is all about rehashing the same stuff anyway and at least it adds 2 matches that make sense and would be good to see. But we all know none of that will happen.
Big Show or Kaslov vs Undertaker one on one should be Takers match. Big Show deserves it more (even if he would lose) being the bigger name he deserves a spot on the card. But it would be fun to see Taker take Kaslov’s undefeated streak at Mania. However he’s new enough that not having him at Mania people really won’t notice and he can keep his streak a little longer. More than likely to have to job it to HHH eventually. Umaga is useless, have him return at Mania to try and fail at costing Taker his one on one match to start the inevitable feud he is going into with Taker.
In a pure fantasy never happen hope for scenerio: Have Cena turn heel and “injure” Orton costing him his Mania shot. It has never been done, the rumble winner getting screwed out of his shot? He can do it mean and dirty so people don’t like it even if it happened to Orton. Have him just go ape $#!T crazy on everybody not caring about good or bad. Have him take out JBL backstage in a dirty fashion. Rock was a clean cut smiling gimp before he turned heel and thats when people loved him. Cena already has fans but just as many people hate him. Have him go almost “Stone Cold” on everybody. Just have him not care anymore because he is sick of getting booed and people trying to screw him over. I dont mean make him be a talk and act like Austin. Just have him not care about anybody but himself. This could lead to either Shawn being the big face that will go on for the belt and with the attempt at trying to reign in crazy Cena. It’s a mania rematch but with 2 big names that people will come back for and are both big enough the headline Mania 25. Or if they have to waste Shawn against JBL at mania, turn Jericho face again and have him take the spot. This does a few things. If you go with Jericho it utilizes him in a way he deserves. And It leaves Orton to come back with fire like never before. He will actually be justified in all of his anger and violent attacks. We have seen babyface Cena against Orton. But later on Crazy doesn’t care Cena vs revenge fueled hate Orton could be a pretty sweet brawl that could go either way. Cena’s fans are stupid loyal so turning him won’t necassarily lose them. Especially if its almost an anti hero heel turn. Its just nobody will know what to expect. Cena more than likely go over Orton as is at Mania anyway. So save it. WWE likes keeping him with the belt and he is already established as strong. Having a darker Cena retain over Shawn or Jericho is plausible and you’d get a great main event. Heels in WWE are usually weaker and use screw job antics to get by. But a big name heel that the faces lose to clean will keep fans on their toes. The Cena haters will still hate but it will fuel the story. His fans will still be his fans. Sure some haters might end up liking him and some fans might turn but they’ll balance each other out.
But instead we’ll get the Hardy vs Hardy match we’ve seen. The Orton vs Cena match we’ve seen. A HHH vs Edge match we’ve seen (possibly with Big Show). And an Undertaker vs jobber monster (Umaga or soon to be Kaslov) match we’ve seen. Jericho will get lost in the shuffle with nothing real to do. So since Wresltmania 25 is going to be a bunch of mediocre or rehashed stuff, here is my dream never come true scenerio. Cena turns heal sets Kane on fire. Takes out Orton, JBL and Jericho (they arent using him anyway) before mania. He beats Shawn (again) through BS fashion injuring him. You get the star power main event. People go crazy because they deserve a better finish. Kane shows up right after fully masked and in the ripped muscular shape he used to be in and devestates Cena to win a the title like he has really deserved for a long time. Come on the guy jobs to everybody they want to make look strong. Make him good again and give him a good run.
What do you consider?

Whew. That was some real fantasy booking right there, but Seosamh did what a lot of fantasy bookers don’t…attempt to back it up. First, there’s the issue of bringing back Christian as Jeff Hardy’s ally. While I agree that Matt Hardy & Edge versus Christian and Jeff Hardy would be a fairly unique match, I just don’t see the WWE going that way. Christian is a born heel, and as we’ve seen in the WWE and TNA, face Christian just isn’t as fun. Also, the point of having Matt be the one who turned on Jeff instead of Christian be the assailant was to free up Edge to work the main event of Wrestlemania. Jeff Hardy was given what he was promised LAST Royal Rumble, and that was a slot in the main event. Last year Jeff and Randy Orton had a surprisingly hot feud that fizzled thanks to yet another Wellness Policy violation. The WWE let Jeff spend a bit of time in the dog house, but now they felt like it was time to make some money off of all of those pops and t-shirt sales. Jeff’s time as World Champion was more or less a test run, and I think the sustained reactions and decent ratings were indications that the fans are willing to buy the face-painted freak as a main event superstar.

On the other hand, keeping Jeff and Edge in a sustained feud is not the stuff of Mania main events. It’s one thing to put Jeff in the main event of Armageddon (admittedly one of the lesser shows) or the main event of the Rumble (a show that is main evented by the Royal Rumble match itself), but it is quite another thing to put Jeff in the main event at Wrestlemania 25. By having Matt be the culprit, he can pull Jeff away from the Edge-Vickie world and make a seamless transition into Bret/Owen II (yes, it’s hacky and lazy to compare this to that, but screw it). This frees up Edge so that he can (deservedly) main event Mania off of his own heat. Bringing in Christian would undercut the fact that Edge has enough charisma and clout to headline the biggest show of the year on his own record. Matt Hardy versus Jeff Hardy will be a classic at Mania, and Edge versus whoever will get to take its rightful place in the main event.

You mentioned Big Show versus Triple H as another possible main event, and while I applaud you getting on my “Big Show should be in the main event at Mania” bandwagon, I don’t think the WWE would ever force us to watch this match on the biggest show of the year. Show should be added to the Edge/Hunter match, but he just can’t hold down the top tier on his own.

I also agree that JBL/HBK should be at Mania, but it does in fact look like the WWE wants to blow this thing early at No Way Out to allow Shawn to face the Undertaker in the inevitable Mr. Wrestlemania versus Mr. Streak showdown. I, for one, cannot blame the WWE for doing this. While I think Koslov or Umaga deserve a chance to work a Mania program with Taker, I think having the two biggest WWE guys in history going at it would be a fitting way to celebrate the 25th Anniversary on Wrestlemania. Shawn and Taker are the two “loyal” guys in the Vince penned WWE history. As far as they are concerned, the Undertaker never wrestled under any other moniker for any other promotion and since Shawn never went to WCW, he’s the flagship WWE guy. Shawn Michaels versus the Undertaker is a feud that could really become the number three match on the card behind the world title matches.

As for turning Cena heel? Just forget about that pipe dream. John Cena may never turn heel again, and for Vince that’s just fine. John Cena makes more money for the WWE in merchandise sales than Austin did, so you better believe he’ll always be a babyface (…always meaning until he’s no longer financially viable). Randy Orton is a killer, killer heel. There were those lame rumors that Batista was going to turn and take over Legacy, which I’m kinda glad died. My fear is that Batista will come back looking for revenge, and use Snuka and Manu as his army of jobbers. Whatever happened to those two anyway? I really wouldn’t lose sleep if Manu were future endeavored, for what it’s worth.

So, Mania is now shaping up to look like this (consider this a revision of last week):

Triple H v. Edge v. Big Show
John Cena v. Randy Orton
The Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels
Stone Cold Steve Austin v. Chris Jericho
Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy
MITB: Punk/Rey/Miz/Morrison/MVP/Kennedy/Benjamin/Kendrick
Maria v. Michelle McCool (or Beth Phoenix v. The Hot Intern Chick)
Jack Swagger v. Evan Bourne

That leaves out a whole lot of people, namely every monster on the roster. What the hell is the WWE intending to do with Mike Knox, Kane, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Jamie Noble, Umaga, and Festus. Also, what about JBL? If Taker is fighting Shawn, suddenly the freakshows and Bradshaw have nothing to do on the biggest show of the year. My fear is that the Money in the Bank might have one or two big men thrown in there, which will break up what could be a fast-paced match. Maybe the big guys will all get lumped into another battle royal or something (which I’m fine with…as long as it’s a dark match, of course). Oh well, the suspense is building.

Speaking of suspense (talk about a completely non-linear transition), let’s get to this week’s column…


For Your Consideration…Game On or Go Home

On Monday Night RAW, Randy Orton took one more step towards unstoppable dastardly heel. Last week, a lot of people were critical of the fact that Orton’s opening promo was him with lawyers and psychiatrists who were spouting all kinds of nonsense. People thought his threats of injunctions against Wrestlemania were weak-assed and boring (being a law student I kinda dug it, though one cannot technically file an injunction against Wrestlemania in a wrongful termination suit stemming from a disclosed medical condition, but this sure as hell isn’t a Westlaw column, so I’ll just let the WWE slide on that one), but they were actually the first sign of subtlety by the WWE.

I am going to let a cat out of the bag that should have been sealed up really tight…Creative isn’t dumb. I know. Brian, Ed, Chris, Freddie, Michael, Stephanie and the rest of that “crew” knows what they are doing. Randy Orton has been in that ever so dangerous tweener position for quite some time. For reasons no one could really pinpoint, fans seem to love Orton when he’s a heel. Turn him face and he’s dead in the water, but keep him heel and the crowd will scream like hell for him. Why? Because he became too much of the “cool” heel. I raved for months about Swagger because he’s not a cool heel. Edge’s insanity has been so brilliant that he sure as hell isn’t a cool heel. Orton, on the other hand, has the swagger (no pun intended) and the attitude to make him seem like more of a badass than he did in his hotel trashing and womanizing days. Orton’s image has been carefully cultivated by the WWE for years. Remember when he was suspended for 30 days for a behavioral violation a few years back? I’m still convinced that was a work. It got the Internet fans to stop blowing Orton and saying he was cool. It made smart marks hate Orton just as much as the marks were supposed to. Now, with the biggest show of the year looming, the WWE needs to make sure that Orton isn’t still a cool heel.

The problem, folks, is that Randy Orton beat the crap out of Vince McMahon. The last guy to really do a number on Vince? Steve Austin, the guy we were supposed to boo. So this put Creative in a quandary. Attacking face Vince should have vilified Randy, but the pop when he won the Rumble was clear as day. So how do you get the fans to hate him? Turn him into a coward.

Randy Orton could have come out on Monday last week and gloated about his Rumble in. He could have told Stephanie flat out that firing him would kill Wrestlemania. He could have stood up to authority and said he answers to no one and does whatever he wants. But he didn’t. He made excuses. He hid behind suits. He threatened the WWE with lawyers and doctors rather than take it like a man. Suddenly, the cool and edgy guy was nothing more than another spineless punk. Boo!

Then, at the end of the show, Shane got his licks in. People were outraged that Orton was made to play the fool by getting punked out by McMahon. People thought that Shane-o-Mac was booking himself like Hulk Hogan, but Creative, ladies and gentlemen, is smart. This week on RAW, Randy gave a logical explanation as to why he didn’t fight back. He didn’t fight back because the RAW locker-room would have torn him to pieces. I personally would have liked him to go with the angle that he hustled Shane into the match, but to each his own.

The chess pieces were all set up for Randy Orton to stay over as a bad guy who we could hate. He hid behind lawyers, he blamed a medical condition, and he attacked the only McMahon who is over with the fans. Then…Creative did something stupid. As Shane and Stephanie were walking through the corridor on the way to whatever fictional office they had set up, Randy and the Legacy attacked. They laid out Shane and laid him out but good. Boo! Boo you Randy Orton! You’re a dastardly heel and you suck!

Sadly, it didn’t end there. Stephanie had been knocked down and Randy was going to punt her. Shane put himself in harms way to save his sister and took the kick to the ribs. It was a noble move and allowed Shane to redeem himself after the apparent tiff between the siblings, but it opened up Pandora’s Box in a way that the WWE never anticipated…

Randy Orton physically attacked Stephanie McMahon. He knocked her down and was going to kick her in the head. Nobody in recent memory (absent the Stunner Austin delivered to her a few years back…but that doesn’t count) has laid their hands on Stephanie. She, being the de-facto GM of RAW, called in the Undertaker for next week’s show, which is a logical move. It makes sense that the head of the show who was just assaulted would call in the big guns to do her dirty work. Taker and Orton have a long history with each other and it should make for a decent match until the inevitable Legacy run-in. One problem comes to mind, and I hope you all caught on to where I’m going with this.

Stephanie McMahon has always been an interesting character. She’s hated when she’s a heel and she’s hated when she’s a face. One second she’s Vince’s little girl, the next they’re trying to kill each other. The final quagmire with Stephanie has always been her wink-wink-nudge-nudge relationship with Triple H. We all know they are married. They were “TV Married” for a while, but even when that fizzled, those “in the know” and even those not “in the know” knew that Vince’s little girl was married to The Game.

They’ve been too cutesy for too long for us to play coy now. Randy Orton knocked down Stephanie and tried to kick her head off. Randy Orton attacked Triple H’s wife, and the WWE cannot ignore this. If we’re supposed to turn a blind eye to the “insider” comments, fine. But this has pushed it to the breaking point. For the sake of storyline credibility, Triple H needs to get involved. The problem is that Triple H versus Randy Orton leaves two big gaping holes at the top of Wrestlemania.

Hunter could (read: COULD, not will) win the Elimination Chamber and become World Champion and then Randy could challenge him. But then you’re cutting off Edge’s chances to main event Wrestlemania, cutting out the Big Show from any chance of being in the match AND leaving John Cena without a credible opponent. The WWE could do Hunter/Orton for the World Championship, but would Randy even go to Smackdown? Would Hunter come back to RAW? Would we then get Edge/Cena? Too many scenarios open up with this, and I don’t think the WWE has all of the angles figured out.

Hunter the character might not care about Stephanie, but we all know that there’s a meta level to the Hunter character. He’s the character who’s in on the joke and let you know it. Having him admit that they’re married and that he wants to kill Orton would ensure that the fans don’t back Randy and that a legit face with true heat is going to murder the dastardly devil. Sadly, by doing this, you’re throwing the entire company out of alignment.

Hmm…Mania might have gotten more interesting than people give it credit for. Thoughts? Insights? E-mail me at awheeler316@yahoo.com and as always we’ve got the comment section down below.

This has been for your consideration.