I’m back once again writing another column. I’ve been writing a lot lately because I’m working third shifts and getting back into the swings of wrestling again. I am also trying to give pulse fans what they paid for and not a penny less…..
Since my joke failed more than Perkin’s contest on Blake Griffen’s dunk , I’d like to now jump things.
What has frustrated me a lot over the past years has been WWE’s creative team trying too hard to make an angle as epic as possible, especially when it doesn’t have to be. A blueprint example of the WWE’s creative staff trying too hard was Randy Orton vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania 25.
Right before Randy Orton was about to be fired from Vince McMahon, Orton stopped him by slapping him in the face. When Vince McMahon went down, Randy Orton punted his boss right in the skull. Afterwards, Randy Orton ended up winning the Royal Rumble and was projected to face John Cena at Wrestlemania.However, the WWE threw a curveball and had him face Triple H to follow up on the McMahon story.
If you pretended that Triple H never got a divorce on TV with Stephanie or forgot about Shawn and him humiliating Vince and Shane McMahon, it was very well plotted out feud. In fact, all the WWE had to do is keep the momentum going without the wrestlers losing any of their credibility and provoking them from fighting until the PPV (because you didn’t want to water down the tension heading into the Wrestlemania match).That seemed logical and simple enough, but instead of doing that, they did the opposite and tried to be too cute and creative.
Shane McMahon attacked Randy Orton for kicking his dad before HHH and Randy Orton even wrestler, and even though Randy Orton ended up defeating Shane McMahon, he lost tons of momentum because Shane (a middle-aged man who looked out of shape for wrestling standards) not only kicked Orton’s ass but also Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibias’ at the same time before his match at Elimination Chamber. Not to mention the only reason Orton defeated Shane McMahon was because of Rhodes and DiBiase’s help. The only thing the WWE established out of this feud was if Shane McMahon can almost beat Orton with help from his buddies, it should be a walk in the park for Triple H.
They actually did approached the feud appropriately when they create a contract that provoking Triple H from attacking Randy Orton unless Orton touched him. However, 4 days later: Randy Orton attacked Triple (with help of course), making the contract null and void.
Just when you thought it was impossible for them to ruin this angle more, the WWE’s creative team managed overcome the impossible when they put together a very hokey and campy segment, where Triple H went to Randy Orton’s house to attack him. Words cannot do justice on how poorly booked it was, but what was even worst was Triple H got offense and some revenge on Orton.
The WWE had a hot segment heading into Wrestlemania, but they killed its momentum by trying to get too cute and creative. People try to blame Randy Orton and Triple H for the lackluster match, but I truly believe they were doomed from the start because the WWE creative team botched the angle.
The following year, the WWE botched Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26. There was heat there already from their past and Vince McMahon turning on Bret Hart after pretending to apologize.
Instead of building off of McMahon turning on Hart again as well as all the screwjob drama, they did this hokey storyline where Vince McMahon didn’t want to wrestle Bret Hart so Hart and Cena faked a car accident to trick McMahon into believing Hart was hurt so he’d wrestle him. It ruined the purpose of the feud and the heat to boot.
There have been a lot more angles which started out great and had a lot of promise that fell victim of WWE’s “creative” staff woes, but fortunately the creative staff doesn’t have to try as hard this year because……
(1) The Rock vs. John Cena is the selling-point of the PPV. The match is a dream match that many wrestling fans have wanted to see for the last half of decade. There is personal heat between the two that has been well established on TV, there is left over heat from their vendetta last year, and both wrestlers can certainly talk people into buying the PPV via microphone.
When you put all those components together, there is enough intrigue there for people to want to see the match. So, John Cena doesn’t need to sleep with Rock’s wife, John Cena doesn’t need to hit Rock with his car, and/or Stone Cold Steve Austin doesn’t have to be the special guest referee that might screw the Rock or John Cena.
(2) The Undertaker vs. Triple H match already has already developed a story heading into their match. The streak in peril will always be an angle in itself, plus having Triple H possibly wrestle his last match if he losses is another component to this match. When you add all those up, that is all you need in order to sell the match. Nothing more or less.
(3) Assuming Chris Jericho and CM Punk will happen at Wrestlemania, the only thing they need is a microphone to sell a match because they’re great talkers who can create just as much, if not more, intrigue with their words rather than actions. They’re witty, sophisticated wrestlers who understands everything about the business and what wrestling fans want/don’t want. They could even write their own feud. Both have booking minds and have written successful material own their own.
Thus the WWE’s creative staff doesn’t need to come up with these convoluted angles in order to sell this Wrestlemania. The matches already have back stories and can make do with keeping everything simplistic. The WWE has to virtually try to screw up this Wrestlemania so hopefully they don’t do the seemingly impossible and mess up what is shaping up to be a great Wrestlemania.
