Slasher

DB has the belt right now. He had the belt at Summerslam. The boss is proving that it takes more than gaining the belt. You have to ensure to the fans that the belt is here to stay around DB's waist. You have to deal with Triple H personally. The belt becomes an arbitrary thing after. If they build to Mania with DB finally gaining the belt, there at least needs to be a No Way Out cage match with Vinc-errr Triple H first. Just to eliminate that spectre of a threat from that ultimate Mania chase for a main event championship victory. Again if HHH isn't dealt with, how do you explain to the fans, "Triple H gets it now. It just took DB winning the match like he did many times before"?

That makes no sense. How does beating a wrestler prove to HHH any of these things? DB spent a summer beating the Shield, Orton, Cena and others. If that is all it took, HHH wouldn't have turned heel just to screw DB over. Bryan needs to beat HHH personally to send a message that he had what it took to be the man. HHH is the kind of character and man to build his own value to legend proportions. DB needs to pop that balloon.

I'm probably just a moron for thinking the belt at Mania should be a bigger endgame than HHH in 2013-2014. Vince wasn't even the endgame for Austin. Umm yeah he was. The feud effectively ended with that End of an Era match between Austin and Undertaker with Vince's job on the line. Vince turned face shortly after that going into the Triple H feud. Then Austin got injured of course. Of course DB should want to have the belt but how do you ensure he walks out of Mania with the belt with no further shenanigans planned? Neutralizing the big boss threat. If you just have Orton or another heel vs DB for the title with no implications towards consequences for Triple H, the fans are not going to completely buy in. You need to somehow declare "Triple H promises to quit fucking around with DB now" if you run a regular title match. Loss, a third strike plays wonderfully into the angle. If they keep Orton strong then he fails a test, they could easily book a DB vindication angle with him writing Orton out of the company completely and closing that chapter in the larger story of DB vs WWE.

This is why Triple H has to be the end game here for DB. Beating Orton only means dealing with the next HHH obstacle.

Actually, I think that's how Cody gets his job back. Even though it makes no sense timeline wise. I think the "business" Steph wants him to do is to announce the Dusty Finish himself. Even though she invited him prior to this event? Wow she is an amazing psychic.

As long as it isn't something like the "B+ Knee"

I can agree with that. And to be honest, I'm no longer at a point where I enjoy wrestling for the work itself, but rather the creative direction. I am more interested in putting together storylines and angles and shows than I am in what guy did and/or whether two guys were able to put together a good match. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work that those guys put in, but Daniel Bryan is big with me for his sociological experiment of a push than it is because he puts on good matches week in and week out, which he does.

Is Dusty still polarizing? I think most of us love him in our own way. We're a long way from 1987. I don't. I dislike him almost as much as I do Flair.

You had the makings of a decent War Games even before the Rhodes Family angle. You have Daniel Bryan, along with the obvious dissenters like Big Show (whatever happened to his pairing with Mark Henry?), Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes and The Miz. You could also easily get RVD involved if needed, but I don't think Triple H should be wrestling anyways yet, so you really just have Orton and the Shield (although Ryback being roped in is a natural way to add another big time antagonist if needed). On a different note, this will never happen and it probably should not happen, but a small part of me wants to see Brock Lesnar as the outsider wild card factor vs the Regime. The fact the bosses are shitting on Heyman keeps that small hope from being completely squashed. I am just not too interested in the Punk/Heyman storyline and I just kinda want them to refocus the Heyman heat back onto Brock. Part of it is because Axel bores me to tears and he is nowhere near talented enough to stand toe to toe with Punk, therefore it just isn't credible that Heyman believes Axel can take care of the Punk problem for him.

I would prefer the Faces of Fear.

Well yeah. They couldn't have Orton lose the belt he won at Summerslam one month later at a September PPV... unless it was to Triple H WWE has been surprising lately, so who knows... I still think Bryan wins, but is forced to give the title back and is then not allowed anymore title matches due to someone (hopefully Cody) running in....that type of thing...I would LOVE that...especially if, as said before, Cody and Dustin maybe have something to do with the end when it looks like the Shield and Orton are gonna prevail.. That would kick this into HIGH gear....will wait to see what happens... I am the one who brought up the Rhodes interference at NOC but after last night played out with Stephanie's gloating after Goldust lost, I am thinking there is a different payoff planned for that particular angle. Plus the Big Show is too tied in the core storyline with DB and the Regime. I think whatever the outcome is, Show's actions will decide it (forced interference, heel turn or outright rebellion leading to his own termination). I think the Rhodes thing won't be paid off until after the Bionic Elbow man gets involved down the road. They will want to sell the firing as long as possible.

Well yeah. They couldn't have Orton lose the belt he won at Summerslam one month later at a September PPV... unless it was to Triple H

A lot of folks love to hate things. Which really means, to me, that they actually like it.

That is the point. Rhodes is the one guy right now who CAN do something about it. He is already fired. I guess they can still do the angle after Goldust loses, but I see it as an unnecessary thing. Remember, Maddox said Goldust has to win AND Cody has to apologize in order for him to get his job back. So I guess Goldust has to win, only for Cody to refuse to apologize... hopefully leading to the NOC scenario. Which means Orton has to lose to Dustin Rhodes, not a really appealing scenario... even if it is because DB helped Goldust.

I am just saying imagine if Rhodes ran in at NOC, helped Bryan fend off the Shield, and HHH forced either a restart or demanded the belt back on RAW the next night. That should have been the first Rhodes related involvement after his termination. What is the point of bringing in Goldust, eyepoke or not? Rhodes is the wildcard here. He has no reason to fear reprisal now. Use that card LATER.

Honestly that is fucking asinine. Who is the hero here, DB or Rhodes? I said all along, it needs to be DB vs the WWE. Logically you want Goldust to win Cody's job back, but you can't have Orton losing. Then you can't imagine HHH honoring the stipulation if DB interfered to cost Orton. There is just no good reason to extend the Rhodes program right now.

That is some innovative shit.

Not quite "every day parlance", but it's not as uncommon as you'd believe, in either context (as a positive to describe a relationship with a companion or a negative to... well basically the same thing).

How about Triple H getting his own stooges a la Patterson and Brisco, but the old DX crew?

Only problem is I don't want HHH to get involved in-ring just yet. He shouldn't wrestle until Survivor Series at earliest, but definitely not til a PPV of some kind. There's still time to introduce a second tier heel aligned with the HHH faction... someone that would ultimately be a patsy for DB to run through to extend the angle.

Given the roster, who would you introduce? Hero? Ritchie Steamboat? I don't know. Styles? When's Rey due back? It shouldn't be a small guy like Styles or Rey. Having two underdogs vs the World makes no sense in the DB storyline. The perfect candidate would actually have been Kane if not for the Wyatt storyline. How do you know the Wyatt Family wouldn't? Along with Kane? There not the type of characters who would care about paychecks. Plus this is the type of storyline that would cause Bryan to go to the dark side for help, knowing he couldn't get it from the usual roster. The Wyatts, and the way they are, are about as anti-corporate as you can get. Plus, it would set up that Wyatts vs. Shield feud that many people hope for. And it fits the news bit about HHH wanting to push the Wyatts hard. That is a fantastic idea.

I'd hate to sound like a HHH here, but I am not interested in adding CHRIS HERO to the biggest storyline of the year. edit: By that I mean, HHH would not resist burying Hero hard and by extension, DB.

Given the roster, who would you introduce? Hero? Ritchie Steamboat? I don't know. Styles? When's Rey due back? It shouldn't be a small guy like Styles or Rey. Having two underdogs vs the World makes no sense in the DB storyline. The perfect candidate would actually have been Kane if not for the Wyatt storyline. I didn't realize Sami Callihan was only 5'10". I got nothing. They obviously wasted Brody Lee's debut. If they booked Callihan as bigger than his height, he could work. Especially if he brought a huge amount of intensity to his character. Maybe a psycho conspiracy theorist type who lives off the grid. Who wants to mess with that kind of guy, knowing he is one snap away from taking everyone out with an AK-47? But if he comes in as a typical underdog as well as DB, no.

Typically yes I agree, but being fired means more than just one week's paycheck. You are losing a 200K+/year job.

Given the roster, who would you introduce? Hero? Ritchie Steamboat? I don't know. Styles? When's Rey due back? It shouldn't be a small guy like Styles or Rey. Having two underdogs vs the World makes no sense in the DB storyline. The perfect candidate would actually have been Kane if not for the Wyatt storyline.