Slasher

Well I think Ryback makes for a natural big man foil for the McMahon regime. DB can't be all they focus on, ultimately. I know Cena is a guy Vince has said he doesn't really endorse, but Ryback can easily slide in that powerhouse babyface role a la...well, Goldberg vs nWo.

Wow, that is awful, benj. I almost feel like that was a troll post.

I think he meant without him getting the tough shooters around involved. If Bret punched Vince without permission (yeah yeah I know), I am sure Vince could have gotten someone like Dan Severn or someone, who was there, to go after Bret.

One of the things that people who know me would say is that I love fantasy booking. I've even parlayed it into some weird independent consulting gig with the WWE once upon a time, and I've always kept notes on what I'd do booking wise when I watch wrestling. So I guess I'll just use this thread as a personal playground for some booking ideas. Depending on the mood, I may do week to week booking with detailed information, and other times I might just do monthly recaps. Feedback, of course, are always welcomed. The first topic I will touch upon is 2002- The age of the brand split in the WWE. I will rebook from the beginning of the split up to Wrestlemania 2004. Will post tonight or tomorrow. After the football game at least.

Silly me, I knew I was missing something here

I am not really arguing that I guess, but I will point out that Shawn was a much more attractive looking guy during his rise and his run on top. Not that DB is hideous or anything but he is too wild man looking for what the WWE generally looks for. Triple H was Shawn's butt buddy for years. It would stand to reason they have a generally similar vision for what wrestling is. I do like the idea cm funk laid out of HHH going mad with McMahonism for that to work though.

That may be so. If nothing else, they laid out that foundation with that news item about Vince being down on someone and HBK defending the mysterious guy. They could spin it as it being about DB, even if he said otherwise.

I sort of agree that they shouldn't do title changes if the storyline is DB overcoming all odds to get it, but I never got the impression Orton is it, the face of the operation. Yes HHH touted him as the face of the company, but it only felt kinda like "this is the best option right now" sort of thing. The real villain is Triple H. Austin vs McMahon did not end when Austin beat the Rock. It will have to end when DB beats HHH, and does it convincingly. If my wishful thinking plays out here, DB will be what permanently retires HHH from active competition.

He could still be a babyface who just believes the McMahons are right. He doesn't have to actually play a heel. He could even do a similar "I'm sorry, I love you" superkick on DB leading to a pinfall. He could walk away from the ring tormented. Give a speech the next night about how much he loves DB and respects what he brings to the WWE, but... they are right. He doesn't have to stick around for the abuse. When he comes back down the road after DB is finished up with the whole storyline, his involvement would be forgotten. This shouldn't be how it is played out but it is a way for HBK to turn on DB without turning heel in the name of Jesus Christ, his savior.

Problem is that I like Orton, and he is obviously a major key player right now in the angle but I can't see a 7+ month reign for him in store. I am thinking the belt switches out at some point, either to HHH or even if it is to a face/tweener, it can still fit in the McMahon "corporate image".

I still like the idea of HHH being the endgame. He is the King of Kings. Orton did not even do a single move in capturing the title. DB felled to the Pedigree in losing the belt. I am thinking DB fails at TLC vs the Shield or something in a handicap ladder match for the Rumble title shot, and so he gets back in the title picture with the stacked Rumble. You could even still have HHH come in #30 or better yet, Batista in a surprise one off, only for DB to overcome that. Edit: Expanding on the Rumble idea, you could even have HHH announce at a RAW the week before the PPV that to make things more interesting, he would offer a bounty reward for anyone that eliminated DB from the Rumble. This way you have him either fighting or getting beat on the entire match. One thing that never impressed me about Benoit or Rey's wins were the amount of time they spent laying around while other angles played out during the matches. I know they and DB would need a breather but you could have someone laying him out for a few minutes at a time.

It would make more sense for HHH to put DB #1 in the Rumble instead of allowing him to challenge for the belt straight up. Keep in mind, as Orton proved a few years ago, winning the Rumble ensures you have a Mania title shot no matter what. If DB wins the Rumble on top of all the challenges he overcomes before then, he would probably be cemented as a main event lifer.

Yeah I have this EWR file that I started back in 2005 or something, and I play occasionally still to this day-- put a good twenty years of game time on it. It is always awesome to look back in my history and see the company I created evolve from a regional fed to something that actually drove the WWE out of the business and taking its place as the defacto wrestling fed to be. The big names that were in the games back in 2005 are of course gone and the guys that came up from scratch in my farm are on their way out as well. And there is a great sense of pride seeing a lot of no names become global stars and my titles having so much prestige and history behind them.

I am thinking similar to what they did two years ago- Bryan defeats Cena, Orton cashes in and HHH counts the pinfall a little bit too excitedly. DB takes offense and does a program with the boss HHH where HHH tells him he has to prove himself to him.

I am not a Taker basher by any means, but he is more likely to want to put over a WWE main event type guy who has a long bright future as well as the credibility NOW to do it. Plus he has been only interested in wrestling guys he can trust to tell a good story and help him cover his ass in the in-ring aspect of the match. He probably wouldn't trust Ohno in putting on a great match, vouched or not. I think in all honesty, Cena is the ONE guy he will lay down for at Wrestlemania unless Daniel Bryan proves himself as a cemented main event act before Taker does hang it up. You did bring up an interesting thought. What if Taker ends his Mania career undefeated, and instead retires at Survivor Series instead later that year in a loss? Very plausible. That said, it is all good.

You have to remember, the streak is pretty much entirely Taker's call nowadays. You have to convince HIM why putting over Kassius Ohno in that match is a good idea...no scratch that, you have to convince him why WRESTLING Ohno at Wrestlemania, cold, is a good idea. Think you can do that?

There is a reason why one MITB case is red, and the other is blue. Of course you can work around it, but I don't see a pressing need to put the world title on Orton, that we need to ignore the rules. Hell Orton was announced as being part of the #1 contenders triple threat match and no one blinked. You are getting quite defensive here as well. No one was attacking your character here or anything. I like the idea of putting up my version just for comparison and I will do so eventually soon.

Loss, I agree that the fans can be re-trained to accept that less is more but with the amount of tv we get, it is harder to keep interest as it is, and that is with the frequent title changes. Punk did tremendously well in his year reign... Cena and HHH, on the other hand, did not. So it is difficult to imagine in this current climate that it would work.

With what Loss said, there was a time when there WAS demand for Christian to be the world champion. He's not there anymore, obviously, but neither is Del Rio, Sheamus, Orton, etc etc. RVD is debatable, but let's see how long that lasts before fans stop caring about him too. In this company, the only guys that fits the criteria is Cena, Punk and Bryan... and with TV being what it is, you can't have the belt on them all the time or you risk burnout.

Wasn't really talking about the home videos either.

I think Flair means more about the WWF marketing machine, and I agree with that. That department was the best thing about the WWF for years, and miles ahead of JCP at that point.

But Cena is all natural, he says so!

Sure but I could book a TNA invasion angle leading up to Mania 30, ending with AJ Styles ending Undertaker's streak if I used my imagination, but where is the fun in that? I would rather construct something that has a better than 60% chance of happening, even if logic doesn't always figure in the equation.

Ohno over the Taker? Uhhh.... no. Just no. Plus, Orton's MITB is strictly for the WWE title. He can't cash in on the World title.

I would play too if given a fantasy booking challenge, like "Book 1990 WCW using talents that they actually have, or talents they could realistically get"... if it gets too alternate universe-y, it isn't as fun.