Jimmy Redman

An aspect of over-scripting these days might be a fear of someone going off the reservation and creating a PR/sponsors/TVPG/Senate campaign nightmare. Something like the Titus Kobe Bryant joke, but on a bigger scale. But yes, I think most of it is simply "we employ a dozen writers, they have to write something".

Bryan before Summerslam is the story of Bryan (and co.) vs The Shield. He couldn't really get too many wins feuding with The Shield at that time, but he was portrayed strongly as the "weak link" who really wasn't, the guy going off on those incredible hot tags that were the highlight of every match (not in a "best work of the match" way, but a "the match is booked and built to highlight Bryan" way). Then HE was the guy who finally beat The Shield after six months. Then he had a mini-feud with Orton in which he got unfairly stopped, won by countout and then won the blow off by making Orton submit. It was Bryan's crazy character, the weak link stuff and his perceived momentum that got him over before Summerslam, not any kind of meta/smark/burying stuff. He wasn't being buried, it was all in kayfabe and he was being pushed. But I agree that most everything after Summerslam, especially the major events like Seattle, Rumble, EC, the cage, etc. have been about the fans being unhappy about his treatment. And that now we are where we are with this, Bryan being perceived to be pushed well or not held down will probably cool off his heat to some extent. Which is the problem with meta booking. At some point you have to put him over, and then what?

Yeah, I feel it's still completely possible that he has a career just based on his look and essentially being the new Jeff Hardy for the girls. But he really doesn't have anything in the way of charisma (or anything else) to back it up.

Austin/Hunter vs Jericho/Benoit is an obvious one. Unless we don't want to count post-WM/post-buyout 2001.

My favourite part of Smackdown was the Rhodes Bros aping the Layla-Aksana non-hot tag finish from my 2013 Top 100. Much obliged to the WWE Spies for that one.

Don't listen to them, the Vengeance/broken ring match is totally awesome.

Because they want to mention their father and not the guy who died in his 30s, and they're hoping nobody notices.

Hogan walking out mid-match to reverse the decision of a match that ended an hour or so ago seems weird.

They were clearly beginning to do Punk-Hunter on TV before Punk left. They were trying to persist with babyface Dave for a while too. The Sheamus match sounded preposterous, but that doesn't mean they weren't doing it.

You'd pretty much be right...if it weren't for Bryan not winning the Rumble and being set to work the Mania midcard while Punk faced Hunter instead, until Punk left. It looks like a coherent story now, but they completely lucked into the last chapter. They were never going to finish it properly.

Why are people giving Punk credit for this? There is no way that the same scenario would happen to him. Sure he would have faced Triple H at WM but that was it. Because if he didn't walk out, Bryan is wrestling Sheamus on the undercard. I wouldn't give Punk credit for it like he orchestrated it, it's more some extraordinary dumb luck.

I think now with Hogan presumably handing the Andre trophy to the battle royal winner, and whatever else, they may keep Hogan involved enough without inserting him into the main angle. And I don't think even they are insane enough to have Hunter beat him at Mania, even with bullshit and a reversal.

My guess is Kofi Kingston. It's always Kofi.

Is that Smiley?

This was one of the last times that the Tombstone Piledriver was perceived as a One Hit KO. That delay was Edge's saving throw. Now pretty much every Wrestlemania you can expect Taker's opponent to survive at least one Tombstone without any delays (or two if your Michaels and or Triple H). I'm on the side of protecting finishers generally speaking, but the Tombstone at Mania is something that makes perfect sense to me. The story of the Streak matches since the first Shawn match has been built around the mortality of the ageing WWE Legends involved. They're all getting older and getting closer and closer to the end, to retirement, and in the case of Taker, to the Streak being broken. His entire mission as a wrestler now is the preservation of the Streak, the one remaining part of his in-ring legacy, but as he gets older it is slipping out of his grasp and that task gets more and more difficult. Flair was the first to fall, he hung on well into old age and was "put down" by Shawn at WM24. Shawn, Mr. Wrestlemania and now the "1A Greatest of All Time", tried to cement his own legacy by doing one last big thing: ending the Streak, and he pushed Taker further than he ever had been before by kicking out of the Tombstone, but in the end he succumbed. Then Shawn faces his own mortality ("without the Streak, I have no career") and was in turn "put down" by Taker at WM26. But still those matches took a gigantic toll on Taker himself in the process. The first match with Hunter is one that Taker wins but barely survives, and The Undertaker actually does a stretcher job to sell it, while Hunter, the loser, walks out under his own power. Taker is getting weaker, one more match could do him in, and Hunter with his typical delusions of grandeur thinks that HE is the next man in the cycle, the one who is going to "put down" the Undertaker at the end of his road, just like Shawn and Flair before. BUT, he can't account for the power of Undertaker, the power of the Streak. Taker isn't just another old timer Legend who needs to be put down, he's the God damn undead zombie UNDERTAKER. He don't get put down. So he still, somehow, pulls it off. But God damn does it take a toll, and he keeps getting older. Then it's Punk, not a Legend but a younger guy in his prime, coming off a year-long title reign. Again, it takes a gargantuan effort from Taker to protect the Streak. One Tombstone just doesn't do the job anymore. Not because LETS KICK OUT OF FINISHERS, but because Taker is older and weaker, and holding onto his powers with his last gasp. And he's in there facing guys who have basically made it their life's mission to End the Streak. They go above and beyond during the match to get it done, wrestling the matches of their lives. They're not kicking out of the Tombstone at Backlash, but here, at Mania, with the most fantastic and impossible-to-achieve prize dangling in front of them, they go the extra mile. They force Taker to do the same, to dig deeper, to find some other way to win. And so far, he has done just that. But really, for how much longer will he be able to? That's why I don't mind the Tombstone kickouts. I love this post. In terms of The Undertaker gradually weakening yet still finding a way to win at Wrestlemania though, how long before it becomes ridiculous? What is Brock Lesnar (and any following opponents) going to have to do in order to continue the method of storytelling you described in your post? The only way kicking out of the Tombstone can be topped now is for somebody to no sell it Puroresu style. Would that really be a good thing? It would work if Taker was the guy doing it, after all, he no sold the GTS last year, and then immediately Tombstone'd Punk for an ultra near fall (which was awesome by the way!) Would it not be extremely hammy if Brock Lesnar were to get Tombstone'd and immediately stand up and do his Pterodactyl scream? There isn't much left in Taker's arsenal that is a definitive match ender. Shawn Michaels was the first person to escape from the Hells Gate, by reaching the ropes whilst in a hold that typically immobilised and always resulted in a submission victory for Taker up until that point. Triple H then ebcame the first person to reverse it when he powered Taker up into a Spinebuster. After this, it was all pretty routine, Punk simply rolled over into a Jacknife cover when Taker slapped the hold on last year. I think the leap from kicking out of a finisher to no selling a finisher is bigger than you're implying. WWE isn't puro or indies where no selling is a staple. I don't envision anyone standing up from a Tombstone, and nor should they. I can maybe imagine a spot like the one from Summerslam where Brock got Pedigreed and immediately did the kimura from his back, just because he's done it before and it would seem like a cool spot to do. Somehow that is a different kind of no selling than standing up or Fighting Spiriting, I dunno. But my point is that it's a gradual loss of powers, and the leap to actual no selling is not a gradual one. They don't have to escalate the level of no selling of a particular move - from death to kick out to no sell or something - to keep telling the story of Taker's twilight decline. They tell it with the entire picture, with how the match progresses and what moves work where, and through the selling and body language of course, particularly Taker's. They can paint that picture even if Brock gets pinned by the first Tombstone.

From memory Punk signed his name over in 2011 after he re-signed.

Now that you say it like that...the Evolution beatdowns are going to be so much worse with no blood.

Casual/non-smark adult fans absolutely still exist and in great numbers.

This is excellent, great work mate.

This was probably the biggest match that I thought might look like an omission from my Top 100, but I really had no problem leaving it out. My thoughts at the time:

This was one of the last times that the Tombstone Piledriver was perceived as a One Hit KO. That delay was Edge's saving throw. Now pretty much every Wrestlemania you can expect Taker's opponent to survive at least one Tombstone without any delays (or two if your Michaels and or Triple H). I'm on the side of protecting finishers generally speaking, but the Tombstone at Mania is something that makes perfect sense to me. The story of the Streak matches since the first Shawn match has been built around the mortality of the ageing WWE Legends involved. They're all getting older and getting closer and closer to the end, to retirement, and in the case of Taker, to the Streak being broken. His entire mission as a wrestler now is the preservation of the Streak, the one remaining part of his in-ring legacy, but as he gets older it is slipping out of his grasp and that task gets more and more difficult. Flair was the first to fall, he hung on well into old age and was "put down" by Shawn at WM24. Shawn, Mr. Wrestlemania and now the "1A Greatest of All Time", tried to cement his own legacy by doing one last big thing: ending the Streak, and he pushed Taker further than he ever had been before by kicking out of the Tombstone, but in the end he succumbed. Then Shawn faces his own mortality ("without the Streak, I have no career") and was in turn "put down" by Taker at WM26. But still those matches took a gigantic toll on Taker himself in the process. The first match with Hunter is one that Taker wins but barely survives, and The Undertaker actually does a stretcher job to sell it, while Hunter, the loser, walks out under his own power. Taker is getting weaker, one more match could do him in, and Hunter with his typical delusions of grandeur thinks that HE is the next man in the cycle, the one who is going to "put down" the Undertaker at the end of his road, just like Shawn and Flair before. BUT, he can't account for the power of Undertaker, the power of the Streak. Taker isn't just another old timer Legend who needs to be put down, he's the God damn undead zombie UNDERTAKER. He don't get put down. So he still, somehow, pulls it off. But God damn does it take a toll, and he keeps getting older. Then it's Punk, not a Legend but a younger guy in his prime, coming off a year-long title reign. Again, it takes a gargantuan effort from Taker to protect the Streak. One Tombstone just doesn't do the job anymore. Not because LETS KICK OUT OF FINISHERS, but because Taker is older and weaker, and holding onto his powers with his last gasp. And he's in there facing guys who have basically made it their life's mission to End the Streak. They go above and beyond during the match to get it done, wrestling the matches of their lives. They're not kicking out of the Tombstone at Backlash, but here, at Mania, with the most fantastic and impossible-to-achieve prize dangling in front of them, they go the extra mile. They force Taker to do the same, to dig deeper, to find some other way to win. And so far, he has done just that. But really, for how much longer will he be able to? That's why I don't mind the Tombstone kickouts.

Where did Bully Ray even go? I haven't been keeping up with TNA. By TNA Logic I fully expect him to turn babyface by the end of this too. Died at them completely nullifying the big Willow debut by having Dixie interrupt it with more bullshit two seconds in. Never change TNA.

Died at that piece of shit finish. Never change TNA.

Yeah, I liked Lesbian Humping at the top of the cage, and the big bumps. Gail is always good for some nutty bumps.