What This Year's Mania Card Could Have Been

[Big Red Machine]

(Stipulating that Ali still gets injured and Kofi is still booked the way he was on Elimination Chamber and its go-home show… and assuming that the reaction to him was not related to fans being angry about the f*cking up of Becky/Ronda by sticking Charlotte in):

RAW WOMEN’S TITLE: Ronda(c) vs. Becky
UNIVERSAL TITLE: Brock(c) vs. Drew
WWE TITLE: Bryan(c) vs. Kofi
SD WOMEN’S TITLE: Asuka(c) vs. Charlotte
US TITLE: Joe(c) vs. Cena
DREAM MATCH: AJ vs. Orton
SD TAG TITLES: Usos(c) vs. Hardys
NO HOLDS BARRED: Hunter vs. Batista
LUCHA DE APUESTA: Rey vs. Andrade
GRUDGE MATCH: Shane vs. Miz
A LEGEND RETIRES: Angle vs. Balor
THE SHIELD’S LAST RIDE: Shield vs. Corbin, Lashley, & Ziggler
WOMEN’S TAG TITLES: Sasha & Bayley(c) vs. Divas of Doom
GRUDGE MATCH: Braun vs. Drifter
RAW TAG TITLES: Revival(c) vs. Black & Ricochet
TAG TEAM WOMEN’S #1 CONTENDERSHIP BATTLE ROYALE: IIconics vs. Fabulous Glow vs. Fire & Desire vs. Team Samoa vs. Riott Squad vs. Alexa & Mickie vs. Sky Pirates vs. Dana Brooke & Ruby Riott (who are forced to work together out of necessity)
CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE: Murphy(c) vs. Nese
ATGMBR

OR:

WWE TITLE: Kofi(c) vs. Orton
A LEGEND RETIRES: Angle vs. Dragon
RAW WOMEN’S TITLE: Ronda(c) vs. Becky
UNIVERSAL TITLE: Brock(c) vs. Rollins
WOMEN’S TAG TITLES: Sasha & Bayley(c) vs. Divas of Doom
NO HOLDS BARRED: Hunter vs. Batista
LUCHA DE APUESTA: Rey vs. Andrade
GRUDGE MATCH: Shane vs. Miz
GRDUGE MATCH: Drew vs. Braun
GRUDGE MATCH: Dean vs. Roman
SD WOMEN’S TITLE: Asuka(c) vs. Charlotte
US TITLE: Joe(c) vs. Cena
RAW TAG TITLES: Revival(c) vs. Black & Ricochet
AJ vs. MUSTAFA ALI- Ali heel turn
IC TITLE: Lashley(c) vs. Owens (to finish off the angle they started before Owens got injured)
GRUDGE MATCH: Balor vs. EC III
TAG TEAM WOMEN’S #1 CONTENDERSHIP BATTLE ROYALE: IIconics vs. Fabulous Glow vs. Fire & Desire vs. Team Samoa vs. Riott Squad vs. Alexa & Mickie vs. Sky Pirates-
CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE: Murphy(c) vs. Nese
ATGMBR


Yes, I know there are a million matches on each of these shows, but that’s what happens when you have TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS, plus decide you need spots for part-timers like Hunter, Angle, Cena, Shane, Batista, Brock, and Beth on the card, plus decide to jam a new tag team of top NXT guys on the main roster in a situation where they need to be featured heavily.

The point is… doesn’t this look a lot better than what we currently seem to be getting?

[XIV]

Drew vs Brock would have been cool. And it would work, because McIntyre looks like he’d stand half a chance in a fight vs Brock.

Angle’s last match has to be John Cena. There’s no two ways about it.

[Big Red Machine]

Drew vs Brock would have been cool. And it would work, because McIntyre looks like he’d stand half a chance in a fight vs Brock.

Angle’s last match has to be John Cena. There’s no two ways about it.

Why? We've already seen that, and Cena gets nothing from the win. Why not use Kurt to put someone over (or at least give us that Dragon/Angle dream match)?

[NWK2000]

Dunne vs Angle tho.
Or hell even WALTER vs Angle.

[Big Red Machine]

Dunne vs Angle tho.
Or hell even WALTER vs Angle.

Dunne vs. Angle is nowhere near as a appealing to me as Angle vs. Dragon or WALTER or even Balor or Nakamura or Gable. Angle and Dunne are such different styles... and I don't think Dunne's style is one Kurt actually wants to do at this point. He's never been that "stiff for stiffness' sake" kind of worker.

[NWK2000]

Dunne vs Angle tho.
Or hell even WALTER vs Angle.

Dunne vs. Angle is nowhere near as a appealing to me as Angle vs. Dragon or WALTER or even Balor or Nakamura or Gable. Angle and Dunne are such different styles... and I don't think Dunne's style is one Kurt actually wants to do at this point. He's never been that "stiff for stiffness' sake" kind of worker.

If you turned Gable and gave him the win I could see it (Gable and Roode lost all appeal to me once Blackochet came up so why not just call that off). Balor I could see, would cement him nicely as a number 2 babyface (behind Seth). I like Dragon's current position right now and want that to carry on through Mania, so I wouldn't have him drop the belt just to work with Angle. Nakamura peaked two years ago so the midcard is probably the best place for him honestly.

[cero2k]

Drew vs Brock would have been cool. And it would work, because McIntyre looks like he’d stand half a chance in a fight vs Brock.

Angle’s last match has to be John Cena. There’s no two ways about it.

Why? We've already seen that, and Cena gets nothing from the win. Why not use Kurt to put someone over (or at least give us that Dragon/Angle dream match)?

we've been seeing Angle put over people left and right since his return, he's made look like a chump. He has lost so much that a rub against angle is kinda meaningless. Nothing wrong with him retiring to a nostalgia match. I'd do Angle vs Cena, or Angle vs Joe (for personal biases)

[Big Red Machine]

Drew vs Brock would have been cool. And it would work, because McIntyre looks like he’d stand half a chance in a fight vs Brock.

Angle’s last match has to be John Cena. There’s no two ways about it.

Why? We've already seen that, and Cena gets nothing from the win. Why not use Kurt to put someone over (or at least give us that Dragon/Angle dream match)?

we've been seeing Angle put over people left and right since his return, he's made look like a chump. He has lost so much that a rub against angle is kinda meaningless. Nothing wrong with him retiring to a nostalgia match. I'd do Angle vs Cena, or Angle vs Joe (for personal biases)

Then let him face Gable or someone like that who could even benefit from a loss to Angle if it comes with an endorsement afterwards. Or someone like Ziggler who will give him a match that people had clamored for for years, but Dolph is now at the point where no one will care if he loses. I'd much rather see Joe vs. Cena and Dolph vs. Angle than Cena vs. Angle and Joe vs. Rey (or Joe in some heinous undercard title multi-man match that only exists to keep guys they don't want looking like total losers out of the ATGMBR).

[cero2k]

going to play around with the first one since you completely lost me with a kofi vs orton main event on the other.

RAW WOMEN’S TITLE: Ronda(c) vs. Becky

UNIVERSAL TITLE: Brock(c) vs. Drew Seth Rollins

WWE TITLE: Bryan(c) vs. Kofi Nakamura

SD WOMEN’S TITLE: Asuka(c) vs. Mandy Rose vs Charlotte

US TITLE: Joe(c) R-Truth (C) vs. Cena answers the open challenge

DREAM MATCH: AJ vs. Orton

SD TAG TITLES: Usos(c) vs. Hardys

NO HOLDS BARRED: Hunter vs. Batista

Undertaker Squashes Corbin with one move

LUCHA DE APUESTA: Rey vs. Andrade

GRUDGE MATCH: Shane vs. Miz (if we must)

A LEGEND RETIRES: Angle vs. Joe

THE SHIELD’S LAST RIDE: Shield vs. Corbin, Lashley, & Ziggler

WOMEN’S TAG TITLES: Sasha & Bayley(c) vs. Divas of Doom

Universal title NO 1 CONTENDER'S MATCH
Braun vs. Drifter vs Drew vs Reigns

IC TITLE MATCH
Finn Balor vs Aleister Black

RAW TAG TITLES: Revival(c) vs. Black & Ricochet vs Heavy Machinery (I'm assuming that Ciampa is still injured, otherwise it should be DIY here)

TAG TEAM WOMEN’S #1 CONTENDERSHIP BATTLE ROYALE:
IIconics vs. Fabulous Glow vs. Fire & Desire vs. Team Samoa vs. Riott Squad vs. Alexa & Mickie vs. Sky Pirates vs. Dana Brooke & Ruby Riott (who are forced to work together out of necessity)

CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE: Murphy(c) vs. Nese Gargano

ATGMBR

[cero2k]

Then let him face Gable or someone like that who could even benefit from a loss to Angle if it comes with an endorsement afterwards. Or someone like Ziggler who will give him a match that people had clamored for for years, but Dolph is now at the point where no one will care if he loses. I'd much rather see Joe vs. Cena and Dolph vs. Angle than Cena vs. Angle and Joe vs. Rey (or Joe in some heinous undercard title multi-man match that only exists to keep guys they don't want looking like total losers out of the ATGMBR).

I think Gable is the only one I wouldn't mind since we all see it as a passing of the torch, dream match (probably for them too)

[Big Red Machine]

going to play around with the first one since you completely lost me with a kofi vs orton main event on the other.

RAW WOMEN’S TITLE: Ronda(c) vs. Becky

UNIVERSAL TITLE: Brock(c) vs. Drew Seth Rollins

WWE TITLE: Bryan(c) vs. Kofi Nakamura

SD WOMEN’S TITLE: Asuka(c) vs. Mandy Rose vs Charlotte

US TITLE: Joe(c) R-Truth (C) vs. Cena answers the open challenge

DREAM MATCH: AJ vs. Orton

SD TAG TITLES: Usos(c) vs. Hardys

NO HOLDS BARRED: Hunter vs. Batista

Undertaker Squashes Corbin with one move

LUCHA DE APUESTA: Rey vs. Andrade

GRUDGE MATCH: Shane vs. Miz (if we must)

A LEGEND RETIRES: Angle vs. Joe

THE SHIELD’S LAST RIDE: Shield vs. Corbin, Lashley, & Ziggler

WOMEN’S TAG TITLES: Sasha & Bayley(c) vs. Divas of Doom

Universal title NO 1 CONTENDER'S MATCH
Braun vs. Drifter vs Drew vs Reigns

IC TITLE MATCH
Finn Balor vs Aleister Black

RAW TAG TITLES: Revival(c) vs. Black & Ricochet vs Heavy Machinery (I'm assuming that Ciampa is still injured, otherwise it should be DIY here)

TAG TEAM WOMEN’S #1 CONTENDERSHIP BATTLE ROYALE:
IIconics vs. Fabulous Glow vs. Fire & Desire vs. Team Samoa vs. Riott Squad vs. Alexa & Mickie vs. Sky Pirates vs. Dana Brooke & Ruby Riott (who are forced to work together out of necessity)

CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE: Murphy(c) vs. Nese Gargano

ATGMBR

The idea with the Orton/Kofi thing was based off of Wade Keller's scenario where Kofi would win the belt from Bryan at Fastlane and then Orton would basically come out and say "Kofi Kingston is going to headline WrestleMania? Really? Kofi Kingston? Kofi Kingston isn't a main eventer. I'm a main eventer." And they would kind of play off of the history between them (that match was in New York, if I remember correctly), and Kofi would beat Orton clean to solidify him as a main event guy.

I was also going into this with the mindset of what they could have done if they had decided to really set some plans in place after Roman's injury/Survivor Series(other than stuff I know Vince doesn't think about like the tag division), so I was assuming Ciampa and Gargano would be doing their own thing. Also, Nese is a New York guy and there is definitely a story to be told with him and Murphy.

I just don't think Brock vs. Rollins was a good idea for reasons I mentioned above. Seth just never felt like that guy to me. The guy who finally beat Brock at this point feels like it had to be someone new (or at least fresh), which leaves you with Drew, Joe, Braun, Balor, and Lashley, and I think Drew (had been) the least damaged of that bunch and is probably the guy with the biggest long-term potential for the company, so he's the guy I would go with.

Bryan/Nakamura would be heel vs. heel, which WWE rarely does, and I don't think the character they've build with Nakamura would work well as a foil for Bryan.

What is your end-game for Cena/Truth? Does Cena job for Truth? Or do you put the title on a part-time guy? Or do you do a non-finish in a Mania title match that probably won't ever lead to anything. Because I don't see any other options.

And what benefit is there to adding Mandy into the Asuka vs Charlotte match?

[cero2k]

The idea with the Orton/Kofi thing was based off of Wade Keller's scenario where Kofi would win the belt from Bryan at Fastlane and then Orton would basically come out and say "Kofi Kingston is going to headline WrestleMania? Really? Kofi Kingston? Kofi Kingston isn't a main eventer. I'm a main eventer." And they would kind of play off of the history between them (that match was in New York, if I remember correctly), and Kofi would beat Orton clean to solidify him as a main event guy.

I was also going into this with the mindset of what they could have done if they had decided to really set some plans in place after Roman's injury/Survivor Series(other than stuff I know Vince doesn't think about like the tag division), so I was assuming Ciampa and Gargano would be doing their own thing. Also, Nese is a New York guy and there is definitely a story to be told with him and Murphy.

I just don't think Brock vs. Rollins was a good idea for reasons I mentioned above. Seth just never felt like that guy to me. The guy who finally beat Brock at this point feels like it had to be someone new (or at least fresh), which leaves you with Drew, Joe, Braun, Balor, and Lashley, and I think Drew (had been) the least damaged of that bunch and is probably the guy with the biggest long-term potential for the company, so he's the guy I would go with.

Bryan/Nakamura would be heel vs. heel, which WWE rarely does, and I don't think the character they've build with Nakamura would work well as a foil for Bryan.

What is your end-game for Cena/Truth? Does Cena job for Truth? Or do you put the title on a part-time guy? Or do you do a non-finish in a Mania title match that probably won't ever lead to anything. Because I don't see any other options.

And what benefit is there to adding Mandy into the Asuka vs Charlotte match?

realistically, Murphy vs either Nese or Gargano seems unlikely since i'm guessing they'll want to include as most 205 guys as possible. With Gargano is just went since he's a hot ticket that wouldn't have anything else to do anyway and I don't think the 'local' thing matters anyway, not at WM when everyone travels in.

I don't disagree with Drew, but just like the Nakamura on, it be a heel vs heel, and in a way, Drew is not big enough name to main event WM. If we can turn Drew, we can turn Nakamura, who wouldn't need to play into Dragon's gimmick since it's WM and a one-on-one on a big stage could pass as a dream match scenerio. My other idea was Bray/Luke, but that just sounds underwhelming. It's kinda hard to want to respect their booking for the last 3 months and still want to trying out matches for WM

it doesn't really matter what they do with the title afterwards, literally anyone can win it on the post-wm raw if that is an issue. If Truth wins, he defeated his hero and they can even hint cena's done for now. If Cena wins, brapadoo, big match cena returns and wins, handshake after the match. This is WWE and WM, it's not about stories that make sense, it's about memorable feel good moments.

I saw Asuka vs Charlotte last year and I HIGHLY doubt they would let Asuka get her win back. At least with Mandy in changes things up and Asuka can get the win.

[XIV]

Drew vs Brock would have been cool. And it would work, because McIntyre looks like he’d stand half a chance in a fight vs Brock.

Angle’s last match has to be John Cena. There’s no two ways about it.

Why? We've already seen that, and Cena gets nothing from the win. Why not use Kurt to put someone over (or at least give us that Dragon/Angle dream match)?

we've been seeing Angle put over people left and right since his return, he's made look like a chump. He has lost so much that a rub against angle is kinda meaningless. Nothing wrong with him retiring to a nostalgia match. I'd do Angle vs Cena, or Angle vs Joe (for personal biases)

In hindsight they should’ve done a title vs retirement match Joe vs Angle.

But at present, as it’s his last match, you want “legend vs legend” Angle vs Cena has poetry to it, and if Angle wins or Cena, who cares, it will have plenty of decent pops and people would be into it.

[Big Red Machine]

Why? We've already seen that, and Cena gets nothing from the win. Why not use Kurt to put someone over (or at least give us that Dragon/Angle dream match)?

we've been seeing Angle put over people left and right since his return, he's made look like a chump. He has lost so much that a rub against angle is kinda meaningless. Nothing wrong with him retiring to a nostalgia match. I'd do Angle vs Cena, or Angle vs Joe (for personal biases)

In hindsight they should’ve done a title vs retirement match Joe vs Angle.

But at present, as it’s his last match, you want “legend vs legend” Angle vs Cena has poetry to it, and if Angle wins or Cena, who cares, it will have plenty of decent pops and people would be into it.

Good call on the poetry aspect. It didn't even occur to me that Angle vs. Cena would then be Cena's first main roster match and Angle's last one.

[Big Red Machine]

The idea with the Orton/Kofi thing was based off of Wade Keller's scenario where Kofi would win the belt from Bryan at Fastlane and then Orton would basically come out and say "Kofi Kingston is going to headline WrestleMania? Really? Kofi Kingston? Kofi Kingston isn't a main eventer. I'm a main eventer." And they would kind of play off of the history between them (that match was in New York, if I remember correctly), and Kofi would beat Orton clean to solidify him as a main event guy.

I was also going into this with the mindset of what they could have done if they had decided to really set some plans in place after Roman's injury/Survivor Series(other than stuff I know Vince doesn't think about like the tag division), so I was assuming Ciampa and Gargano would be doing their own thing. Also, Nese is a New York guy and there is definitely a story to be told with him and Murphy.

I just don't think Brock vs. Rollins was a good idea for reasons I mentioned above. Seth just never felt like that guy to me. The guy who finally beat Brock at this point feels like it had to be someone new (or at least fresh), which leaves you with Drew, Joe, Braun, Balor, and Lashley, and I think Drew (had been) the least damaged of that bunch and is probably the guy with the biggest long-term potential for the company, so he's the guy I would go with.

Bryan/Nakamura would be heel vs. heel, which WWE rarely does, and I don't think the character they've build with Nakamura would work well as a foil for Bryan.

What is your end-game for Cena/Truth? Does Cena job for Truth? Or do you put the title on a part-time guy? Or do you do a non-finish in a Mania title match that probably won't ever lead to anything. Because I don't see any other options.

And what benefit is there to adding Mandy into the Asuka vs Charlotte match?

realistically, Murphy vs either Nese or Gargano seems unlikely since i'm guessing they'll want to include as most 205 guys as possible. With Gargano is just went since he's a hot ticket that wouldn't have anything else to do anyway and I don't think the 'local' thing matters anyway, not at WM when everyone travels in.
I don't think Hunter thinks this way. He purposely chose to do a #1 contendership tournament instead of just doing stuff for a while and then doing a multi-man match.
As for the "local" thing not mattering anymore, you're not wrong in terms of ticket sales (plus it's all sold out already anyway), but they been teasing the idea that Nese and Murphy might meet for the belt at some point for a while, Nese as seemed like a lot more of a babyface lately, and while "lcoal" thing doens't matter for the crowd in the building that day, it still makes for a better story, which is useful when the announcers need to refer to it in hindsight.


I don't disagree with Drew, but just like the Nakamura on, it be a heel vs heel, and in a way, Drew is not big enough name to main event WM. If we can turn Drew, we can turn Nakamura, who wouldn't need to play into Dragon's gimmick since it's WM and a one-on-one on a big stage could pass as a dream match scenerio. My other idea was Bray/Luke, but that just sounds underwhelming. It's kinda hard to want to respect their booking for the last 3 months and still want to trying out matches for WM
Yes, Drew would need to be turned, but I think turning Drew face instead of Braun after Roman's cancer diagnosis would have been better for both guys and would have been a much more natural turn than turning Nakamura based on what Nakamura has been doing since the AJ feud ended
it doesn't really matter what they do with the title afterwards, literally anyone can win it on the post-wm raw if that is an issue. If Truth wins, he defeated his hero and they can even hint cena's done for now. If Cena wins, brapadoo, big match cena returns and wins, handshake after the match. This is WWE and WM, it's not about stories that make sense, it's about memorable feel good moments.
Which is the problem. I'm saying that they should ditch that mindset.

I saw Asuka vs Charlotte last year and I HIGHLY doubt they would let Asuka get her win back. At least with Mandy in changes things up and Asuka can get the win.
So if Asuka loses again, now you have a story you can come back to in a few years where Charlotte clearly has Asuka's number and you can build up to a future Mania with the story of Asuka wanting to get the monkey off of her back and prove she can beat Charlotte for the title at WrestleMania.

[cero2k]

So if Asuka loses again, now you have a story you can come back to in a few years where Charlotte clearly has Asuka's number and you can build up to a future Mania with the story of Asuka wanting to get the monkey off of her back and prove she can beat Charlotte for the title at WrestleMania.

assuming WWE would ever care enough about Asuka to have her beat their golden girl (which is now an official nickname of charlotte)

[Big Red Machine]

So if Asuka loses again, now you have a story you can come back to in a few years where Charlotte clearly has Asuka's number and you can build up to a future Mania with the story of Asuka wanting to get the monkey off of her back and prove she can beat Charlotte for the title at WrestleMania.

assuming WWE would ever care enough about Asuka to have her beat their golden girl (which is now an official nickname of charlotte)

I'm sure Vince will die before Asuka and Charlotte are both retired.

[cero2k]

I'm sure Vince will die before Asuka and Charlotte are both retired.

Asuka is 37, don't put it past old man McMahon finding a way to drain some young wrestler's life source.