Downend2005

All good points in fairness, and fair play for you being able to justify some of the decision making made. I suppose I'd have LOD take the titles at the earliest possible opportunity then and book them strong from there. Fast forward what actually did happen, Have the Nasties beat the Hart Foundation at the Rumble instead, LOD then win the belts at Mania and then have a strong reign lasting into Mania 8 and possibly beyond. That causes a problem with what to do with Bret at Mania, maybe have him win a showcase match against a mid card heel, starting his IC Title push. You can then build up a new heel team in mid to late 91, maybe Money Inc or the Disasters and have them win the belts, before LOD then win the belts back at Summerslam 92 at Wembley. Two big wins at big shows and a long title reign would hopefully go a long way to helping (in 91-92 at least!). Looking forward to next weeks show!

The counter wrestling in the gif is what it is, but it was the 'pause, look at each other, both run in opposite directions, backflip off the ropes into a standoff pose' that got to me more than anything.

I'm a big fan of the podcasts and this was also a very fun show in parts. However, I do think the rebooking shows suffer a bit by just rebooking or changing things for the sake of changing things. One big example is chucking people in a tag team with no rhyme or reason. In this show alone we have Dibiase and Earthquake, Owen and Steamboat and Slaughter and Crush? Corporal Crush was funny to be fair, but chucking people in a tag team just seems a bit of a copout. I remember Adam Bomb and the 123 Kid team from your 95 rebooking show going for the tag belts at a mania too. It's clear from listening to the show you aren't fans of Slaughter. However, rightly or wrongly, he was a key part of the shows, and a top heel, so there wasn't any reason to Job him out so severely, especially when having so few top heels to pick from. Ditto the Nasty Boys. I think the panels opinions of certain workers actually hinder you all creatively. Slaughter could have easily been paired with Duggan, for example. Michaels benefits from a decent push in the podcast, as does Steamboat (at least until he's in put into the Owen team). Thinking about it more, I'd have Michaels beat Jannetty to blow off the rockers story arc, and put Steamboat with Martel, The Mountie, IRS etc, building him up with wins. If you want, you can then put Michaels against Steamboat at Wrestlemania 8, for example. It's still a lower card feud, but both of them have been built with wins and there is a sense of elevation and natural progression to them becoming IC level contenders. I'd actually bring Flair in using a rehash of the Randy Savage debut in 1985. Make Flair seem like a big deal by having a manager 'bidding war'. Have Jimmy Hart, Sherri, Slick etc all pitching for him, even have Heenan offer to return to management full time. He then debuts at Survivor Series in a non wrestling segment, saying he's found the Perfect manager, and bringing out Mr. Perfect in his first appearance since Summerslam at the Bret match. Flair then doesn't debut in ring until the Rumble, where he wins the WWF Title in his first match in. You then build to Hogan vs Flair at Mania. I'd debut Sid in a match at Summerslam (not as a ref) and have him kill a lower card heel in record time. Id keep him face for as long as he stayed hot. Hogan/Jake at Wrestlemania 7 wouldn't have made any sense at that point in time. Piper/Slaughter the same. Not addressing the Rockers split, losing Bret/Piper entirely and changing the 92 Rumble were all head scratchers. Power and Glory getting a mega push as tag team champions (similar to your Shelton mega push in 2006) was a stretch too. It's a good concept in theory, but I think more could be done to ground yourselves in the time when booking as opposed to using hindsight (ie what people became) and personal preferences. I hope you see this as constructive feedback, because as I said, I'm a big fan and the podcast is a really good listen every week.

I would actually keep both the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania world title matches in place. Using the benefit of hindsight though, the Mania match between Hogan and Slaughter would actually be their Desert Storm match which they had at MSG later in the year. I do feel that the Hogan/Slaughter feud itself had reached a natural conclusion at Wrestlemania, and there was no need to extend it into the summer. Savage/Warrior would also still take place at Mania 7 as well, and the match would play out exactly the same. My big angle for the summer setting up the rest of the year would have seen Hogan and Warrior face Jake Roberts and The Undertaker at Summerslam instead of Slaughter, Adnan and Mustafa. Roberts could play up the psychological aspect of Warrior/Hogan both wanting to be the top guy, sowing seeds of distrust between them. I'd also have had Savage as the special referee instead of Sid, as there would be the added wrinkles of Savage's feuds with both Hogan and Warrior in the past to play off of, and this would be a good place to start the Savage/Roberts feud too. Assuming Warrior gets fired after the match, I'd have the Undertaker take him out during the match, leaving Hogan at a 2 on 1 disadvantage. Roberts then tries to use a chair on Hogan, which leads to Savage getting physically involved, resulting in a Hogan win and Jake vowing revenge on Savage, building to Wrestlemania 8, which would have Savage facing Roberts in a cage.

I just haven't got the energy or the inclination to complain any more. Raw is going to be an absolute trainwreck. I saw this on another forum and it sums it up. WWE. Then. Then. Forever.

I haven't read Sunny's book, but I have read this review which might help sway your decision. http://jojomellon.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/a-star-shattered-rise-fall-rise-of.html?m=1 Seems like it's the usual fare from Sytch. As for some recommendations, I have just finished Bob Backlunds autobiography, which is excellent, although it only focuses on his run up to 1984. His Mr Backlund heel run is touched upon briefly though. Another book worth seeking out may be Lions Pride - The turbulent history of New Japan Pro Wrestling by Chris Charlton, which is a decent read, and quite up to date as well.

I would agree that Liger would deserve a 3 on offense. I've really enjoyed this thread and agree with your rankings for the most part, but what did stand out to me was John Cena scoring a 9 for variety and Liger scoring an 8. I'm sure Liger could be argued as a 9, or possibly even a 10?

I'm probably not helping your cause here but there are some surprising omissions based on variety. It could be argued that Taker had memorable matches and/or feuds with Diesel in 1996, Bret Hart in 1997 and Ric Flair in 2002. As you've included the Angle/Rock triple threat match, you could possibly also consider Vader as he was a part of the Final Four match in 1997. So that would bump him up to 18 opponents (19 if you count Vader), and a couple more points on his total.

Was looking for some interesting fancam matches on YouTube and came across this from November 2014. It's worth a watch.

I loved The Mountie. The Big Boss Man feud was good and produced a decent enough match at Summerslam 1991. The jailhouse skits following are still fondly remembered to this day. After that, he went on to beat Bret Hart to win the Incontinental Title. Granted, his win was tainted and he lost it two days later, but the title itself was still treated as being important at the time, and unlike today, transitional reigns were the exception, not the norm. Just having the title was an achievement in itself, and The Mounties short reign actually made him stand out. Not content with having just one awesome entrance theme as part of the Fabulous Rougeaus, he went out and got himself another one! And he achieved all this whilst under the threat of litigation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, meaning he couldn't even use the full Mountie gimmick in Canada. It was cheesy, it was camp, it was controversial, but Rougeau definitely made the best of it.

Stephanie will never do anything close to the Vince and Shane training vignettes. Shane was fun in 1999 with the posse up until the end of the Test feud, but of course the answer is vince by about a million miles.

Still having a program named 'Raw' when WWE is at its most overproduced Jerry Lawler doing that choking sound on commentary when someone is grabbed by the throat. JBL shitting all over the product on commentary Over reliance and deference to part timers/attitude era stars over current stars, also WWE going out of their way to devalue current wrestlers chris jerichos podcast before the interview section Losing streaks after winning a title

There are several, but for now... Proper managers The Dangerous Alliance Goldberg squash matches THAT Sid vs Lee Scott match Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon on commentary The Shield Arn Andersons spine buster War games Vader vs Sting Scott Nortons or Bradshaws powerbomb

Very interesting to see where this goes now. I'd love to see Loss' idea of a Shield reunion occurring and having them take down Lesnar, turning him face (that could even explain Brock going away until his next contracted appearance), but Rollins holding the money in the bank briefcase is a big inconvenience. Plus, the very nature of the Shield's initial breakup and any subsequent reunion would also take some explaining,which isn't neccesarily WWE's strongpoint. I don't think Brock would be keen on splitting from Heyman either. Also, I'm not sure Reigns could ever really recover if Lesnar wins. To draw a comparison, Booker T really had to beat Triple H at Wrestlemania 19. He failed, and despite a later run as King Booker, he was never truly considered a main eventer again. If Reigns loses in the main event, then he may win the title at a later date and even headline future Wrestlemania shows, but he won't be the 'star' they are clearly wanting him to be. Amazing how this announcement has seemingly provided more interest in wrestlemania than the build itself.

I would say I'm now more 'curious' after Lesnars announcement that he has re-signed. Still not enthused, but I'll certainly have an eye on the show now. I probably still won't watch in full, but I'm keener to see how this will play out.

Very interesting. I'm assuming that he must have got a hell of a deal and/or some pretty big assurances about his future direction to publicly announce he's done with MMA completely too. As for mania, does this change the complexion of the main event at all? Brock re-signing does throw the result of the main more into question. This announcement has probably piqued my interest more in the main event than anything we've seen on television.

I just watched the Lesnar/Reigns segment. That reeked of Vince. I think Lesnar should have just destroyed Reigns the very second he had the title grabbed away from him. Instead he looks at him like a goof and then they both look equally ridiculous in that childish tug of war. As for Lesnars signing, they (being WWE) are fucked either way. If he signs and beats Reigns, then Roman is dead as a main eventer. If Brock loses to Reigns, he doesn't stick around for rematches, as Roman can't afford to lose and Brock is no longer special if he loses again. If Rollins cashes in on Roman, and Roman chases Seth (as would make sense) then where does that leave Lesnar? Brock won't be 'wasted' on matches with Ambose, or Ziggler, or Sheamus if he has limited dates. Any potential match with Daniel Bryan is not going to be as hot as it would have been right now, as WWE have successfully neutered Bryan into an IC level guy hanging with R-Truth and Stardust. So there aren't any viable 'super fight' matches available to him either, because booking. Maybe The Rock, maybe Batista, Orton at a push, maybe Rusev if he went face, but I'm fully expecting Rusev to be beaten by Cena at mania or Reigns before that match could potentially happen. And Brock vs Rock, Batista or orton isn't very exciting in 2015. If he doesn't sign, then they have sacrificed the undertakers streak and the wwe title not being visible on their shows without making any significant progress, and again will most likely give vince the idea that nobody should be presented as a star as it gives them leverage. I mentioned this on another forum I post at, but Lesnar is as much a victim of stop/start booking as anyone else on the roster. He's only kept his aura as he is barely around to prevent him from being presented as ordinary, and he has an excellent hype man in Heyman. With everyone else on the roster being made to look rather ordinary, nobody is credible enough anymore. The only real incentive they have for signing him is to keep him away from a UFC or a bellator. And I'm sure Lesnar knows that.

Just listening now, but I've been a longtime listener and always look forward to the next one (maybe I'm one of the quiet ones you refer to at the start of this show!). Very entertaining stuff so far! If I'm not mistaken, I think that the writer of that God-awful 1991 rap 'MC Cool Ernie' Santilli actually was or later became a wrestling journalist, and had a regular column in Powerslam magazine in the UK under the name of Stately Wayne Manor (and later his real name).

I won't be watching. Maybe I'll watch a match or two on the network afterwards, but the booking from January to present has completely killed my interest. This is most probably the least interested I've been in WWE.

I'd be tempted to add another column titled 'won't ever get to the main roster', and in it I'd put the following people... CJ Parker, Marcus Louis, Sylvester Lefort, Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Tye Dillinger Parker is used as enhancement talent and was used more recently to put over Alex Riley on tv. I can't see him turning that perception around. Lefort hasn't been seen at all since he lost a hair vs hair match with Enzo Amore, which ended up with Louis getting shaved bald. Plus, he's been presented as an ultra jobber. the only way he gets onto the main roster is as a manager. It looked as if Louis was going to be doing something with Tyler Breeze (at least it was hinted at), but Breeze has moved on and has been feuding with Itami. He's ultra bland too, so I can't see him ever being in a position for a call up. Dawson and Wilder (The Mechanics) are solid, but can't see them translating well on television. Maybe the best they could hope for is a C-show spot. If you consider that WWE were fairly high on the Ascension, who have been buried since their call up, I wouldn't hold out much hope for these guys. And Dillinger has been in the system before, on tv for a cup of coffee as Gavin Spears in ECW before being released, and now back to developmental. Much like Parker, I think he's stuck in the role of enhancing who they truly want to develop. I generally agree with your other lists, although I have a hard time again picturing people like Bull Dempsey and Mojo Rawley on the main show, although that's purely down to look (Dempsey) and talent (Mojo) reasons. I'd also say that Solomon Crowe and Becky Lynch need a fair bit of work from a presentation standpoint despite their reps previously. I would probably just about add Kalisto to your 'ready' list, and think he could get over quickly if he dropped Sin Cara and got the call as a single, although he wouldn't be one to be high up the card. I also think Enzo and Cass might do well as a team, and has an act that could get some play on the main roster. Alexa Bliss also has good potential, but she would benefit from more experience too.

My card for Wrestlemania XXX... I'd like to think this card was somewhat realistic too and could have happened quite easily. Daniel Bryan vs Triple H (winner faces Randy Orton for WWE Championship) - winner Daniel Bryan Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - winner Cesaro Rhodes Brothers vs Usos (tag team championship) - winner Usos The Shield vs The Wyatt Family (no disqualifications) - winner Wyatt Family Brock Lesnar vs Batista (the beast vs the animal) - winner Lesnar AJ Lee vs mystery opponent Trish Stratus (divas championship lumberjill match) - winner AJ John Cena vs Undertaker - winner Undertaker Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - winner Daniel Bryan Notes The opener is kept exactly the same. Battle royal stays the same, however The Real Americans split takes place after the match The Rhodes brothers deserved to hold on to the tag titles until Mania, and definitely deserved a mania match. The Usos would win in a face vs face 'passing of the guard' type match, handshakes after the match. The Shield and The Wyatts would have had their first match at Wrestlemania and not at elimination chamber, so plug the exact same match in here. Lesnar vs Batista is a fresh marquee match, keeps Batista out of the title picture and still gives him a good spot on the card. Lesnar wins to heat him up for Summerslam AJ would face Trish after claiming she has beaten the entire divas division, she then goes on to beat Trish to further her claims of dominance (Paige then debuts the next night to win the title from AJ) John Cena faces The Undertaker in a match that should have happened at a Wrestlemania. After losing to Orton at the royal rumble, Cena challenges the Undertaker as the streak is the next best thing to winning the wwe title. Undertaker wins and defends the streak for one more year. Daniel Bryan then finally beats Orton to win the WWE Championship, the authority attempt interference but are cut off by the shield (kick starting that rivalry) Bryan wins clean to end the show.

Funny you mention Batista, as I actually think Reigns' push should have been patterned just like Batista's initial push in 2005. Hindsight is what it is, but I think Reigns and Rollins should have both turned on Ambrose when The Shield broke up. The earliest Reigns should have gone face is either at or just after winning the 2015 Royal Rumble.

I think Rusev would have made a great opponent for Hulk Hogan in 80's WWF. Also Cesaro would have been awesome as a member of the Dangerous Alliance in 1992 WCW... Imagine a team of Cesaro and Arn Anderson for example, or teaming with Rude, and opponents like Sting, Steamboat, Pillman, the Steiners, Windham, Dustin...

Simply put, what matches could and perhaps should have happened, but never did? I'm not talking about how the WWF should have signed Sting, Goldberg etc for the invasion (that discussion has already been held enough times), but instead what matches were actually possible and for whatever reason (money, politics, stubbornness) didn't happen. For example, I'm amazed that WWE didn't run Undertaker vs Cena at Wrestlemania this year. It would have guaranteed a monster amount of interest and buys, with the result of an Undertaker mania match actually in reasonable doubt for the first time in years. (Possibly since the Orton match at 21). It's also amazing to think that Taker never had a mania match with Austin or Rock either. He could have easily worked Austin in 2002 and heel Rock in 2003 (okay, it would have meant gutting Rock/Austin 3, but could you imagine the promos Hollywood Rock would have cut about ending the streak?) Austin vs Hogan in 2002 is the big one of course, but what other examples are there?

I've only watched the main event so far, and I'm sadly underwhelmed. This could have been presented as far more 'epic'. This should have been Team Austin vs Team Bischoff like in its presentation. The action itself was fine, but some extra touches could have added to the overall presentation. Personally, I would have loved to have seen Daniel Bryan accompany Team Cena. Given that it was his title win that was the entire catalyst for the authority arc, it would have been fitting that he would have been there to witness its end. It would have also made for some fun interactions with Stephanie at ringside. It would have certainly added to the atmosphere and maybe even convinced more people to tune in either via the network or pay per view. The entire crowd, Bryan and Dolph celebrating together would have made for a great visual at the end of the show. Kane should have been placed in the Mark Henry spot. Orton absolutely should have been involved in the match. He wouldn't have even needed to survive, I could have envisaged him being screwed out the match (it could have been as simple as Mercury and Noble keeping him out of the ring, leading to him being counted out. Orton could have then gone on the rampage, hitting everyone in his path with the RKO, allowing him to keep his heat). I would have preferred Triple H being in the actual match also. The match did Ryback absolutely no favours, and I would have kept him, Rusev, Harper and Rowan away from the match. The whole Harper/Rowan split has been terrible and hasn't much much sense, and Ryback and Rusev shouldn't be dropping falls. I'm glad Rusev didn't eat a pinfall though. The Sting reveal wasn't handled particularly well to me. His appearance didn't look particularly impressive either. The whole randomness of it was strange also, maybe it will play out eventually, but why sting? Why now? And what is his motivation? If it was out of a sense of fair play, shouldn't he have appeared the second Big Show had turned on Cena? Also I know it's done for dramatic effect, but why stop the count to stare at Sting walk down the aisle, especially if your job depends on it? Especially when it's a referee in your back pocket counting? Given that Sting is the dumbest baby face in wrestling history, him strolling to the ring whilst Ziggler is counted down would have been amusing and completely in character 😇 I know it's not the first time that wwe has underdelivered , but given this event was 'free', this match could and should have been so much more.