Post-Rumble 2014 Booking

[Big Pete]

Elimination Chamber
​

John Cena v Daniel Bryan v Sheamus v Antonio Cesaro v Christian v Randy Orton (c)

Key to this match is building up the significance of being the Undisputed Champion and headlining Wrestlemania XXX. I'd make a point that this is a match that Randy Orton has never won and may not be able to win. Everybody is out to get him, even an attempted alliance between Orton/Cesaro goes haywire.

I'd be doing everything to make sure the lesser opponents look strong going into the match. Cesaro I'd be trying to hype as this underrated superstar who's in form and can absolute monster opponents.

Christian would be the plucky veteran who may not be able to go toe to toe with all the superstars, but he knows how to pick his spots, can wrestle circles around most and is going to give it everything to headline Wrestlemania XXX. I'd also try and develop some kinship between him & Bryan - both were in similar situations with their World Title victories and either one of them will make it their destiny to win.

Sheamus is easy to book - returning from a serious injury looking to fulfill his potential and just looking to kick arse inside a structure that plays to his needs.

I'd play this up as Cena's lost opportunity at the championship victory and as somebody who's considered the franchise and has had the most success in the Chamber, he's going to do everything to walk into Mania as champion. He also can't wait to beat the ever living s**t out of Orton in this match after what he did to his father and how lucky he got at Rumble. In the end, the Wyatts will mess it up for him. I'd be teasing a Taker/Cena match, have Cena go around to some neutral interview and name Taker or Rock as potential opponents he'd like to face and Wyatt can pick up on that.

DB is DB. He's got to go up against three pillars of the WWE (Cena, Orton & Sheamus) and somehow beat them in this savage match just to reach the top and he's convinced he can do it because he's the best in the world and nothing will stop him.

I'd give DB the victory too, maybe screw him out of the championship again (not sure if I want to yank the title away for the third time, but a Mania victory would feel sweeter if he won the belt) and go from there.

Wyatts v Shield

Shield are the babyfaces, Wyatts the heels who are constantly getting in the heads of The Shield and playing on their distrust of one another. It's played up to be Ambrose/Reigns but in the end, it's Rollins who screws it up for The Shield in a violent fashion to effectively end their stable.

The Animal vs. The Beast
Winner Earns the Rumble Shot
Batista v Brock Lesnar
I'd have Paul Heyman begin this crusade that targets the ego of Batista. At first, the Animal just laughs it off, but Heyman gets to him. "The only reason you're going to Mania is because Brock wasn't in the Rumble. You'd be nobody if Brock stayed around etc. etc." and Batista finally accepts the challenge and they have a quick-ish power match where Lesnar wins and we have our championship match. Crowd boos Batista, and he flips out.

AJ v Naomi
AJ is the longest reigning champion, Naomi the fresh-up start. Both received their first break around the same time but one has made the most of it, while the other is appearing on a gawdy E Reality TV show where she exposes her fraud of a relationship for all the world to see. Make AJ into a super bitch and Naomi as an ass-kicking babyface. Done.

Rhodes Brothers v New Age Outlaws
Rhodes Brothers are clearly starting to have their communication problems, Goldust has been acting weirder and has gone totally Rain-Man at this point while Cody is clearly frustrated. NAO have been doing everything to get out of defending the belts and are mostly working six-eight men where they work like 2 minute spots, quickly tag out to the partners and will tag into take the victory.

I'd try and build this up more on the microphone. Even have Cody draw attention to the fact that their Authority Brown Nosers and it wasn't that long ago they were shitting on HHH. Stuff like that to build heat.

Now who the hell faces off against Taker? :lol: Is Sting free? :sarcasm:

 

[Big Pete]

Bumping this...

Survivor Series 2014

WWE is in a lot of creative trouble right now. The problem is there aren't a lot of stars and the show has been very ho-hum for a long long time. Any effort to push mid-card talent is usually quashed very quickly so it doesn't given fans any incentive to follow these guys because they know there's only so far they can go and even those prizes don't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

So here is how I would fix it...

Team WWE (John Cena, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback & Zack Ryder)

vs.

Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Cesaro, The Miz, Curtis Axel)

Yes, you read those teams right. I believe Survivor Series is a great opportunity to give undervalued talent an opportunity to shine and I believe in certain cases, they suit the theme of the match.

It'd be a very multi-faceted story but basically the gist is that Team Cena is out to put the Authority in it's place. The Authority is all on the same page, Team Cena isn't for a variety of reasons and having to deal with those problems would make up the drama of the story going in.

Winner: Team Cena. Orton ends up being the hero on the day after some anxious moments like Axel basically sacrificing himself to take out Cena.

Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt

This is going to be a very difficult angle to book but I'd just let Bray call Ambrose out on who Ambrose is and why he can't exist inside the WWE system while Ambrose can call Bray out for being a wannabe Undertaker and he isn't afraid of his tricks. Lots of smoke and mirrors stuff with Ambrose unable to get his hands on Bray until the show.

Winner: Bray Wyatt - I'd be putting a lot of eggs into this match because if Dean is going down...it's going to take one hell of a match and that's what I'd give the fans. The match would be 70/30 in Bray's favour with all sorts of bells and whistles thrown in. Story I'd be getting them to tell is that Ambrose is one hell of a tough son of a gun, but Bray is more powerful now than he ever was before.

I considered having the Ascension or Corbin interfere and costing Ambrose the match with Reigns making the save. But have no idea on what sort of shape Roman is in and I think fans are sick of seeing BS finishes in Ambrose matches. Time to give them a straight finish.

Sheamus vs Rusev

Lana wants to CRUSH the US Championship and honour a more suitable country with a prouder history - like Russia. Sheamus receives all sort of pressure from the locker room that he can't let the US down and that he may not be from America but he's got to realise what that championship stands for. I'd even have a guy like a Harley Race cut a promo - really hype the match up to mean something.

Winner: Rusev - Of course. We're still in the rise period but to protect Sheamus a little, Lana may get involved at a critical juncture to give him an out, but by and large, it goes the way of every other Rusev match with both guys just laying into each other.

AJ Lee vs Nikki Bella
I'd let Nikki try and bully AJ for being different, making fun of her tattoos, child-like demeanour and how she cannot wait to put her in her place at Survivor Series. AJ would come back with calling her fake, insecure and telling her it doesn't how much she's improved because at Survivor Series, she will walk out diva's champion.

Tension arises over Brie Bella's role. There's a few times she comes in and costs AJ matches - reminding her and the fans that Nikki has a trump card that could well and truly come into play.

Would also play up the fact that Nikki has only held the diva's championship once and only held it for 6 days. Obviously, she wants to amend that.

Winner: AJ Lee. The plan backfires, Brie out-smarts her sister and inadvertently costing her the match while AJ continues to shine in front of any sort of challenge. This may lead to some sort of tag match at TLC with one of the stips playing into the match.

Wild Card Survivor Series Match
Adam Rose, R-Truth, Erik Rowan, Tyson Kidd & Jack Swagger

vs.

Damien Mizdow, Torito, Fandango, Kofi Kingston & Booker T

This would be announced on Smackdown as 'breaking news' with the tag line that any superstar could appear in the match and that this is a great opportunity for somebody to stand out and make a claim.

Winner: Damien Mizdow. This would largely just be a fun exhibition opener that doesn't over-stay it's welcome but the booking here would be deliberate with Mizdow again coming off strong and adding another feather to his cap.

Team Big Show (Big Show, Big E Langston, Bo Dallas & The Usos)

vs.

Team Mark Henry (Mark Henry, Luke Harper, Titus O'Neil & The Ascension)

Henry & Show go at it like old bulls. It eventually boils down to which one is better at Pro Wrestling, who has the better instincts and the better judgement so they decide to settle it at Survivor Series, they put down their teams and have at it.

Have both men scout their teams, with Show being a lot more open about his, while Henry is like - oh, you want to go with these guys? Alright - and he'll reveal his by having his guys sneak attack their guys.

Dallas would be by far the most interesting pick - but it's Show just trying to get to Henry. I reckon it could lead to some fun backstage skits and even a fun Bo Dallas/Big Show tag team.

Winner: Team Henry. This would be a relatively short match, but plenty of power on show. Harper would really stand out as I'd like to push him for an eventual IC feud with Dolph.

Tag Titles
Goldust and Stardust vs Los Matadores

This appears to be the direction they're going in - so let them work the dead spot on the card as a 'come down' match. I reckon both teams could be up for the challenge and would work a fine 8 minute match.

Winner: Dust Brothers - Matadores would put up a good showing, but Dust Brothers just pick up the advantage at a critical juncture and cement themselves as a dominant force in the tag division.

 

[Big Pete]

TL;DR

Survivor Series 2014

Team Cena (John Cena, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback & Zack Ryder) vs. The Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Cesaro, The Miz, Curtis Axel)

WWE Tag Team Match
Stardust vs Los Matadores

Team Show (Big Show, Big E, Bo Dallas, The Usos) vs Team Henry (Mark Henry, Luke Harper, Titus O'Neil & The Ascension)

No Holds Barred
Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt

Diva's Championship
Nikki Bella vs AJ Lee

US Championship
Alexander Rusev vs. Sheamus

Wild Card Survivor Series
Team Raw (Adam Rose, R-Truth, Erik Rowan, Tyson Kidd & Jack Swagger) vs Team SmackDown (Damien Mizdow, El Torito, Fandango, Kofi Kingston & Booker T)