Rebooking WWE in 2006

[JaymeFuture]

So, for this week's podcast we're going to look at the WWE in 2006 and attempt to rebook the year with what they had, and would like to hear what you would have changed if you had control.

Would you have brought back DX? Would you have brought back ECW? How far do you go with Edge? How do you deal with the John Cena crowd issue in its infancy? What do you do with the World Title in Batista's absence? Who do you push and who don't you push? What angles would you have done? It's in your hands.

As always the best contributions/suggestions will be read on the show and you'll be credited accordingly, so in what was a very unique year for WWE, what would you have done differently if you had the chance?

[SteveJRogers]

Vince, I know you are on the crazy pills, but NO, you are not fighting God, you are not ruining several OVW callups and feeding Paul and Shawn's nostalgic feuled return of DX indulgence that way!

[JaymeFuture]

Watching stuff back to prep for this - Smackdown is even worse than I remembered, and my God was Vince orange.

[Scarlet-Left]

There're some things you're, kind of, stuck with. For example, Rey Mysterio needs a big push, regardless, and Edge is, definitely, someone you can't drop the ball on.

 

So, pure fantasy (and with the benefit of hindsight), here's some goofy booking from yours truly:

 

Orton wins the Rumble, last eliminating Rey (who still sets a record for most time spent). Cena can beat Edge, but the two should trade the belt back and forth for a while. Angle should, obviously, catch Henry.

 

Start up a programme between Undertaker and Benoit; with Taker heeling it up big time. It should just start with a match on free TV that goes off the rails and devolves into a brawl.

 

No Way Out comes along and I'd have an Elimination Chamber match for the WHC (Mysterio, Taker, Angle, Benoit, Henry, Booker T), with Mysterio going over. The WWE Championship match, earlier (later?) would be Cena v Edge v Hunter, with Edge snatching it.

 

So, in the build-up to Wrestlemania 22, Taker agrees to face Benoit but only if he agrees to put his career on the line, as well as his strap (US title). The main feud on Raw would be between Hunter and Cena (with Edge being an instigator of the highest order), fighting over who gets to face Edge; with Cena getting the best of two or three matches. The WHC picture looks a little cluttered (with Angle having a serious case, and Henry having a smaller one), so the GM books a three-way (Angle v Orton v the Champ) and a singles match between Mysterio and Henry for the belt on Smackdown (basically build it up as David versus Goliath), which puts Mysterio over.

 

Mickie v Trish is fine, I wouldn't change anything. I don't care about the tag belts, none of the teams excite (so, I guess I'd just keep things the same). The cruiser-weights don't need much storyline guidance, just keeping pushing Helms but keep things moving at a fast-paced with multi-man matches and frequent title defences.

 

So, Wrestlemania comes and goes, with Taker leaving as US champ (give Benoit financial security for life, the best brain doctor money can buy and a backstage role as a trainer or something), Orton catches Mysterio and Angle turns (stays?) face by saving Rey from a post-match beat-down. Cena catches Edge, Flair gets the IC belt (why not?) and James takes the women's belt. Going forward with Flair, I'd do the retirement feud but with him saying that, as long as he can stay undefeated, he'll never retire (have him go over Shawn at SummerSlam, with shenanigans, but eventually be knocked down by Shelton as part of a 2007 mega-push).

 

On RAW, the next night, Vince addresses the entire roster. Basically, the brand-split will end at Survivor Series, with both tag belts and both world titles being unified. He wants to downsize the roster so everyone should consider themselves to being fighting to impress him and keep their jobs. He also says that, the night after Survivor Series, he'll announce all of the cuts (the only wrestlers who'll be safe will be title holders and the reigning King of the Ring). On the following Smackdown, Taker vacates his US title (saying that it's beneath him) and the GM books a tournament to replace him (this'll give some mid-carders and the main event guys I'm not using something to do; it doesn't matter who gets the strap).

 

KOTR comes and goes and I'd still give it to Booker T. Backlash flips the WWE title back to Edge and Orton retains his WHC at Judgement Day (against the Undertaker, Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio). ECW ONS still goes ahead, with RVD nabbing Edge's title and kicking off "ECW On Sci-Fi" which is, in my conception, a soft brand (basically, a place for guys from the main roster to settle grudges in hardcore matches, a place for some ECW alumni to mix it up with WWE guys on a lighter schedule and a transitional stage for developmental talent).

 

Vengeance is headlined by RVD v Edge v Cena, with Edge going over. The GAB ends with Mysterio (who's beaten Angle and Taker in singles contests on free TV) pinning Orton.

 

SummerSlam comes, minus Hogan, and both belts are contested in four-ways. Edge retains against, Cena, Big Show and Hunter, and Mysterio retains against Orton, Angle and Taker. RVD beats Sabu for the Hardcore title (which is the only belt on ECW). Flair goes over Shawn, playing dirty the whole way through.

 

DX reunite on Monday Night Raw but as a standard tag team (no comedy segments, no burial of young talent) and quickly capture the tag belts on their brand. Unforgiven comes and goes, with Edge retaining in a ladder match against Cena, and Flair going over Jeff Hardy (playing dirty, again).

 

No Mercy puts Mysterio up against Batista, with the latter going over (as a monster heel). Whether he's been carrying it since the tournament or not, Regal retains the US title against Kennedy. The tag straps can go to London and Kendrick, and Taker can maul some dude.

 

There is no Cyber Sunday, as Survivor Series is treated like a big deal. A lot of the matches heading into it get intense, go long, or devolve into brawls as wrestlers struggle to insert themselves into their nearest title picture. On the day, we have a four-way to unify the world title; it's Edge v Cena v Taker v Batista. Undertaker goes over. The tag belts are unified by London and Kendrick, in a huge upset, over DX (a guy can dream). The US title stays on Regal, I'd push the button on Shelton Benjamin (have him take the IC strap and "retire" Flair). Helms gets (or retains) the Cruiser-weight title. RVD retains his belt and Lita steals the Women's.

 

And that's that, it's (obviously) over-indulgent and not thought-out too well, but there you go.

[fakeplastictrees]

I know I am late to the party and the podcast was done, but I want to add my two cents in anyways.

 

ECW

 

2006 would have never seen ECW if I had my way. I am not a fan of reboots/bringing things back from the dead. ECW, in my book, was a nice period piece and worked well within its time and hasn't aged well outside of that time. Another mark against bringing back ECW is the fact that it was yet another positioning of the 'It was better back then" narrative that WWE to-this-day still pushes. WWE brings up The Ascension (who completely suck) to the main roster and the first thing WWE feels is the best route is to have these guys say they are better than LOD, NAO, Dudleys, etc. (which is good), but then WWE has NAO, Outsiders, etc. come out and be the shit out of The Ascension and proving that The Ascension completely sucks and that the past is better than the present. ECW was that thinking put into a promotion.

 

A lot of the guys in ECW just couldn't go and had no legs outside of ECW as people just didn't want to see them. I can understand WWE wanting to keep Sabu, Dreamer, Rhyno, RVD, and Sandman around, but everyone else was just a question mark. Also, having Sandman around would only be beneficial to the company if he kept his gimmick of caning people, drinking beer, and standing tall at the end of the show. ECW felt like a demotion and was openly stated as such on WWE TV. a decaded removed and I don't see how ECW benefited the WWE landscape today. It gave a platform for Punk? Matt Striker got a longstanding crack at commentary. What else? Lashley was already over prior to going there. Christian had some of his best post-TNA WWE matches there. I am just not sure how it benefited WWE in the long term, which makes me again think they should have just never done it.

 

 

DX

 

Me personally, I would never like to see DX again, but this was bound to happen. So I would want to make it less cringe-worthy. This would have been the perfect time for DX to turn into DX: The College Years, and bring in some new faces with new catchphrases, etc. HHH/Michaels would have to be in it, but I would also add Paul London and Brian Kendrick to the mix. This would get Kendrick and London more over with the fans, give them a nice rub for the future, and setup the fact that the younger generation can hang with the older generation and that the respect goes both ways. The 'comedy' (and I use that word as loosely as possible) of DX would be handled by London and Kendrick mainly with zany backstage skits, etc. with HHH and/or HBK making the occasional cameo in this. I would have also kept these guys away from everything involving McMahon and everyone named McMahon.

 

Brand Split

 

I would have kept the brand split, but I would have structured it a bit better and eliminated the lame brand rivalries. Raw wrestlers would not give a shit about Smackdown wrestlers and vice versa. This would prevent stupid situations like having two guys feuding on a brand, decide to put aside their differences in order to uphold the integrity of that brand. You know, the same brand that would trade them to the other in a heartbeat if that means that brand gets another top star. The I.C. title and Tag Team title would be on Raw and the U.S Title and CW title would be on Smackdown. The Divas title holder and the WHC will at outside the brands. Essentially fighting the top ten of each brand. I explained this in another thread, but in short think of how the UFC does things. WWE would do the same with the top single titles of both the male and female which would also allow for fresh matches and no weird justification for the next WHC match to happen as its based on rankings. The U.S. Title and I.C. Title would gain some prestige as they would be defended as the top championship of the brand and the WHC won't be around every week and would essentially work a post-UFC Lesnar schedule (ditto for The Divas champion).

 

No trades, no 'fired' angles, no free agency. Once 2006 rolls around and the draft is complete-the wrestlers assigned to a brand, stay on that brand for one full year. The only interaction with the other brand comes at The Royal Rumble and maybe one or two cute Survivor Series matches, but nothing more.