The purpose of this thread is two-fold: 1.) to see who has any of their rebooked cards from the old PW saved (and/or can recreate those cards here on the new PW), and 2.) to get people talking about and posting new rebooked cards.

This is really Strobe's idea, and it makes a lot of sense. I missed his old rebooked 'Manias, and so hit him up via PM to see if he still had 'em backed up somewhere. He reminded me of Kilgore's epic rebooking work, and then I remembered Baker's work and some others.

If anyone recalls the Official PW Rebooks of WrestleManias VI, XI, and 2000... please feel free to post those in here too. If for no other reason than a totally selfish one, I want to (re)create a repository here of everyone's masterful rebookings.

In the meantime, I'll try scouring the Wayback machine to see if I can't somehow magically stumble upon old PW pages.

Thanks for remembering my shit. Most of my rebooks I didn't save, I would just do them quick on PW, BUT I do have my Wrestlemania 1-5 rebook which predated Strobe's collective thread and was a thread where people just rebooked whichever WMs they felt like. Also my Bret Hart WCW rebook, which was only five or six weeks, and I dread to even re-read.

I have a wordpad document called "P Dub" last modified in 2015. I have some cool stuff saved (History of the Big Gold Belt, Explaining a Year on Earth by Wrestler, match reviews, a Kevin Nash Christmas poem), but obviously nothing from 2016/2017.

Sadly, the only rebooks I saved were my fanfic projects. I wrote down all the major show results (and some Raw's from 95-96 WWF) in a notebook.

I have entirely too many PW projects going on right now but I'll come back to this thread when I have the time. I should remember most of the 'Mania's I rebooked, plus some of the WCW shows I tried my hand at.

Jan 16, 2018 1:54:57 GMT Kilgore said:

Thanks for remembering my shit. Most of my rebooks I didn't save, I would just do them quick on PW, BUT I do have my Wrestlemania 1-5 rebook which predated Strobe's collective thread and was a thread where people just rebooked whichever WMs they felt like. Also my Bret Hart WCW rebook, which was only five or six weeks, and I dread to even re-read.

I have a wordpad document called "P Dub" last modified in 2015. I have some cool stuff saved (History of the Big Gold Belt, Explaining a Year on Earth by Wrestler, match reviews, a Kevin Nash Christmas poem), but obviously nothing from 2016/2017.

I fucking LOVED your rebooked early 'Manias. If you have them, can you repost those works of beautious glory?

So, as stated in the PW HoW HoF Restoration Thread, I'm currently wringing out the Wayback Machine for all it's worth. In doing so, I haven't yet located the thread that Kilgore mentioned, BUT... I have found a similar thread from 2013. Here's the link: web.archive.org/web/20150914234728/http://forums.prowrestling.com/showthread.php?t=118669

And I'll copy/paste over as much as I can in case the Wayback Machine ever goes down or purges this link.

Page 1 of hopefully 3+, posts in chronological order...

Baker said:

Inspired by Kilgore's thread on the main events of WM 1 & 2....

Which Wrestlemania (or at least WM main event) would you change, and how?

WM 9 is begging to be redone but I can't make heads or tails out of that one. The booking in late 92/early 93 was just plain weird. Hogan was a part-timer. Flair had just left. Bret went from midcarder to world champ in the blink of an eye. Yoko won the Rumble a few months into his WWF run. Savage was again relegated to part-time status.

As for main events...

Hogan/Orndorff for WM 2.
Hogan/Flair for WM 8. It sucks to lose Flair/Savage, which is one of my favorite 'Mania matches, but this was the dream match of the time.

...

marman512 said:

I would have booked Hogan vs a heel Snuka at WM 2.

I thought Hogan vs Slaughter was really lame, but there were so few decent heels on the roster at the time, that Slaughter was ok. I would have rather seen Savage take the title from Warrior, but a second Savage vs Hogan Mania main event wouldn't have worked.

I'm ok with WM 8 because Hogan wouldn't job to Flair and I couldn't stand another Hogan world title run.

WM 9 was alright until Hogan forced himself into the main event.

WM 10 wasn't bad either, but I was hoping for Luger vs Hart because we saw Yoko vs Hart the year before.

...

thedude said:

I always say the main event of Wrestlemania 25 should have been either Jeff Hardy winning the WWE Championship for the first time from Edge or John Cena vs Edge having the same awesome last man standing match they had at Backlash the following month.

...

Big Pete said:

Wrote this out on another forum

Wrestlemania X-V

WWF World Championship Match
Steve Austin vs. The Rock (c)

This was the right match up but I thought the build left a little to be desired. It seemed to be more about Austin/Vince than Rock/Austin which is how it should have been about. I would have played up that The Rock is the new poster boy, he represents what everyone wants to be and he's a hero the kids can look up to.

Play it up like that, reference their history and feed the rivalry between the two. It would lead to a more epic match, rather than Austin finally getting his hands on that no-good pretty boy cheat.

Hell in a Cell
Mankind vs. The Undertaker

Looking back at the Undertaker's streak, one of the big exceptions that stands out is the lack of Mick Foley. These two formed such a great rivalry in 96 yet they never met on the grandest stage, I would like to fix that.

Storyline would revolve around Taker recruiting wrestlers for his Army of Darkness and targeting Mankind due to his prior affiliation with Bearer and his World Championship. Foley adamantly refuses which ends up costing him big time as Taker ends up costing him the belt.

Seething, Foley will continuously try and attack The Undertaker but all his attempts are stopped by the Ministry until finally he gets his hands on him. Taker offers him to fight him mano-e-mano but on one condition, it has to be in the match that defined him it has to be Hell in a Cell and that this time he will finish the job.

I'd even consider a realistic tinge with Foley weighing up his own integrity versus his family. McMahon being a heartless basterd tries to coax him into still having the match by saying he'll set his family up for life if he'll take it but Mick is unsure whether he can put his family through the stress.

Match itself would be a bit different in that it will mostly take place inside the cell, Taker beats the holy f**k out of Foley, but Mick keeps fighting back. When it looks like he's going to get the upper hand, the Brood emerge and allow Taker to put Mick away. I'd then conclude the match in the same fashion as SummerSlam 08, with Foley being sent straight to hell.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Ken Shamrock vs. Triple H (c)

This would be pretty simple. Shamrock is after revenge after HHH deceived him in thinking it'd be a fair face vs. face match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre only for it to turn into a Corporation hatchet job and Ken is pissed.

Basically, I thought Ken deserved better than what he got and I believe this would make for a better IC & HHH match.

WWF European Championship Match
X-Pac vs. Shane McMahon (c)

I really enjoyed this feud and match. The only change would be that I couldn't have HHH turn on X-Pac. Instead, it would be Test who would have been fired around 6 weeks back but returned to help Shane back.

Would be a mystery as to why until it later comes out that he's secretly seeing Stephanie and it leads to that (cringy) storyline.

Reason Shane keeps the championship is that I plan on having him arrogantly retire it as I don't believe there's any room for it on the show.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
New Age Outlaws vs. The Acolytes (c)

Acolytes are the dominant tag team of the company and will only accept matches on one condition - if you lose, you split up or leave. So far this has ended the Godwinns, Headbangers, D. O. A, Supply & Demand and most importantly, LOD.

NAO are back together after the Acolytes injured Road Dogg and as one of the greatest tag teams in WWF history have put their legacy on the line to take down this team.

Will they succeed?

Six Man Match
Kane, Goldust & Al Snow vs. The Brood

One of the themes of this Wrestlemania will be the Ministry of Darkness and how the WWE are banding together to face them. This match is basically here to get Kane on the card admittedly but the idea will be that his time will be comprised of wrestlers who were at one point affiliated with the group (will make up an angle for Snow, probably to do with Head) & they've banded together to deal with this annoying group of up and comers who keep interfering them in matches and hitting them with the blood bath.

Brood may pick up the win pinning Goldust, Kane would get the last laugh though.

WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. Terry Funk (c)

I know Terry was working for ECW at this point but they were basically a development company for the WWF at this stage. The idea here would be that Owen is the anti-hardcore, anti-Attitude wrestler and he can't stand to see a 55 year old man wrestle with reckless abandon and inspire a new generation to do the same. Enough is enough and it's time for a change he says.

Bit of a comedy match with Owen taking silly cartoon type bumps but somehow finding himself with the belt - to his dismay.

Might have room for another match but have no idea whether it's worth putting Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Val Venis etc. on the card when there really isn't an angle for them to work. I'd save them for Backlash, if only to present Wrestlemania as this big significant event that not every jabroni can work the show.

...

Baker said:

My original plan to rebook WM 9 was a flop. Then I tried tackling 15 but the booking leading up to it was such a mess that I couldn't remember most of the feuds or face/heel alignments so I gave up. It was pretty much a worthless OP but it may generate some good stuff.

For example, BigPete's WM 15 is better than the real version even if some key guys (Jarrett, Goldust, especially Big Show) got left off, Funk was long gone, and the six man tag is a stretch. I especially liked the Undertaker/Foley match and Acolytes storyline.

I'll post the WM 11 card I came up with for my failed attempt at fan fic later today.

...

Big Pete said:

I think I was on a Funk binge and wanted any excuse to include him on the card.

If I was to re-work it, Al Snow would be hardcore champion and the angle would go ahead with Owen being this anti-hardcore figure who reluctantly becomes it's champion.

Show still needs a women's match right? How about Jarrett/Debra vs. Brown/Ivory vs. Venis/Sable. Some silly match where the audience gets to see the women all dolled up while the men work a solid 3-way match.

6 man I'll just make into a Corporation vs. Brood match with Kane, Bossman & Test facing off and scoring the victory. This eventually leads to the Brood breaking off from the Ministry and becoming the face team that ends the Acolytz reign.

I've got no qualms leaving the Big Show off Mania. I'd save him for Post-Mania and build him up as an absolute ass-kicker similar to how Bam Bam was built in ECW.

Still no Goldust which isn't nice. Perhaps he could feature in the filler women's match with Luna and be the repulsive/comedy factor?

...

Zoinks McJinkies said:

There was a topic similar to this in Fan Fiction Idol. I chose to rebook WM15.

The main event of Rock & Austin would remain, however I'd probably reduce the ref bumps.

We'd get Cactus Jack vs Vince McMahon, No Holds Barred, Corporation banned from ringside, with Shawn Michaels as referee. This would be a more violent version of the Vince/Bret match, with Vince getting murdered for a good 15 minutes, even eating a Sweet Chin Music after trying to buy Shawn off for help, so Mick could get the revenge on Vince he never had.

Instead of Bossman, Kane would face Undertaker in the Cell... and Win. This helps Kane, and the streak would never be as prominent, which doesn't harm Undertakers awesome career, and in fact helps out a ton of future manias, as Undertaker matches become less predictable.

I forget exactly the rest of the stuff I booked, but I know it included Big Show winning the Hardcore Championship in a 4 Way, so he could have a lengthy, destructive reign of terror.

...

shinobimusashi said:

Wrestlemania XXIX

WWE Championship
CM Punk(C) vs John Cena

Punk cheats his way out of the Rumble and Elimination Chamber to stretch out that awesome title reign. Save that epic match they had on Raw a few weeks ago for the grandest stage of them all. Would have been the perfect opportunity for a double switch with a few changes made to the storylines going into it. Cena wins the belt and turns heel with Punk turning back into a face. The Punk/Taker/Bearer storylines were god awful leading into this show imo, and the match didn't redeem that as good as it was.

The Rock vs Brock Lesnar

I just want to hear The Rock make fun of Brock's little chicken legs. That's all. My god in heaven I've never seen such a hulked up dude with such tiny legs in all my life. They should work that into the stories of the matches. Triple H should have beaten him with an Ankle lock or a kneebar or something at Mania. Go do some fucking hack squats BOY!

Undertaker vs Chris Jericho

Jericho is the best worker on the WWE roster right now. I think this match would have been an instant classic and one of the best in Mania history. Taker vs Punk was phenomenal, but for the sake of two great matches instead of one I would have went with this.

WWE Championship #1 Contenders Match
Shaemus vs Ryback

Makes more sense considering how the Rumble was booked and the direction they are going with Ryback now. Probably would be an awesome match if given time.

WCW Championship(I'm going to go ahead and start calling this belt what it is)
Jack Swagger vs Del Rio

I liked this feud & match. Maybe throw in the Ziggler cash in since I don't have any ideas for him.

Fandango vs The Miz

Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs Team Hell No

Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton

The next big thing imo. Give him a chance to shine solo and get a clean win over The Apex Predator.

IC Championship
Mark Henry vs Wade Barrett

Henry wins by DQ in the preshow.

...

Wolfman said:

WM 1: Hogan and Snuka (with Mr. T in his corner) vs Piper and Orndorff. This way Snuka could have had some sort of finish to his Piper feud before he left the WWE for awhile.

...

Kane said:

Wrestlemania 16

Wwe championship
The rock vs hhh
The rock wins the royal rumble and goes on to face hhh at wm. foley stays retired.

Kane vs big show
Two big men going at it.

Tag team championship(Triangle ladder match)
Edge & Christian vs the hardy boyz vs the Dudley boyz

Intercontinental championship
Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit

European championship
Kurt angle vs Eddie g

Hardcore open

6 man tag match
DX vs too cool & rikishi

...

The Champ said:

WrestleMania XXVII (27)

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge (c) vs. Christian

CM Punk vs. Wade Barrett

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

WWE Tag Team Championship
Kane and Big Show (c) vs. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio

Divas Championship
Michelle McCool (c) (w/ Layla) vs. Trish Stratus

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

...

SM said:

Here is what I would have done for WM 18:

The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan

Women's Title 3-Way
Jazz(c) vs. Lita vs. Trish Stratus

Undisputed Title Match
Steve Austin(c) vs. HHH

World Tag Team Title Match
Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit(c) vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

Kurt Angle vs. Curt Hennig

Street Fight
Undertaker vs. Ric Flair

Booker T vs. Edge

World Tag Team Title 4-Way #1 Contender's Match
Kane & Big Show vs. Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. Billy & Chuck

European Title Match
DDP(c) vs. Christian

IC Title Match
William Regal(c) vs. RVD

...

The Champ said:

WrestleMania XXVII (27)

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge (c) vs. Christian

CM Punk vs. Wade Barrett

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

WWE Tag Team Championship
Kane and Big Show (c) vs. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio

Divas Championship
Michelle McCool (c) (w/ Layla) vs. Trish Stratus

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

...

SM said:

Here is what I would have done for WM 18:

The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan

Women's Title 3-Way
Jazz(c) vs. Lita vs. Trish Stratus

Undisputed Title Match
Steve Austin(c) vs. HHH

World Tag Team Title Match
Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit(c) vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

Kurt Angle vs. Curt Hennig

Street Fight
Undertaker vs. Ric Flair

Booker T vs. Edge

World Tag Team Title 4-Way #1 Contender's Match
Kane & Big Show vs. Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. Billy & Chuck

European Title Match
DDP(c) vs. Christian

IC Title Match
William Regal(c) vs. RVD

...

Baker said:

Wrestlemania 22

Pre Show Battle Royal
Chris Masters wins with an impressive double elimination of Mark Henry & Viscera. Think something like Michaels at the '96 Rumble

1. Tag Title Match
Big Show/Kane (c) vs. Spirit Squad

The two monsters are so confident in their abilities that they allow all five members of the Squad to compete. Monster miscommunication allows the male cheerleaders to hit their five man powerbomb on Kane to pick up the upset victory. They have a brief Owen/Angle-like celebration after the match before the pissed off big men put their differences aside for the moment and chokeslam all five of them. Then Show & Kane start fighting one another.

2. Money In The Bank
Rob Van Dam vs. Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina & Joey Mercury) vs. Carlito vs. Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs. Ric Flair vs. Matt Hardy

It comes down to RVD & Book fighting for the briefcase while the other four men are wiped out on the floor after a crazy Nitro dive. RVD kicks Book off the ladder and grabs the briefcase to pick up the victory.

I wanted to get a bunch of high flyers in this match. Book was red hot but didn't have an opponent and Flair was channelling his inner Terry Funk during this period so that's why they're in.

3. Grudge Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay

These two were involved in a Smackdown feud at the time. Nothing fancy here. The hot new prospect Lashley wins in about eight minutes with the dominator.

4. Grudge Match
Chris Benoit vs. JBL

I'd change the booking leading into the show a little here. I'd have had Orton beat Benoit for the US Title via JBL interference (Dastardly Customers gotta stick together) either at NWO or on some episode of Smackdown.

Either guy can go over in this battle of former world champions but I'll give Benoit the duke because faces should generally win grudge matches at Wrestlemania.

5. Women's Title Match
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James

The real version is one of my favorite WWF women's matches so I wouldn't change a thing. Mickie goes over here.

6. US Title Match
Randy Orton (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

I was so not into the forced Rey Mysterio world title push. His eventual title reign sucked too. I'd have still pushed Rey to an eventual world title run. I just would have been much more subtle about it. Orton was his usual jerk self leading up to this match.

Rey wins the US title with a frog splash for Eddie.

7. Grudge Match w/ Relaxed Rules
Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin w/ Vince & Shane McMahon

I had no desire to see Vince or Shane McMahon wrestling in 2006. Shelton would have been the perfect choice as a hired gun to take on Shawn. I was a big fan of the guy from 2003 til about the time of WM 22. He had been on the cusp of stardom a few times. A 'Mania match against a bona fide WWE legend the caliber of Michaels could have been just the thing to put him over. They could even build off their Raw classic the previous year.

This would morph into relaxed rules because of the McMahon's bullying the ref. Both guys hit a ton of crazy stuff and the McMahon's get involve when Shelton is in trouble. Michaels pulls out the win against all odds with another flash sweet chin music.

Then from there you could either have Shelton become meaner in order to appease his McMahon benefactors or have him turn on the McMahon's and get a push as Shawn's protege.

8. Hardcore Match
Edge w/ Lita vs. Mick Foley

Another match where I wouldn't change a thing. This was my favorite match at this Wrestlemania. Edge wins via spear through flaming table.

9. World Title Match
Kurt Angle (c) vs. Undertaker

The NWO match these guys had the prior month was favorite 2006 WWE match and I think it would be even more remembered had it happened on the grandest stage of them all.

We'll say 'Taker beat Henry and Angle beat JBL at No Way Out in order to build up to this match. Or you could just have this be a rematch with the story being Undertaker can't beat Angle.

Undertaker wins the title with a triangle hold in what is hopefully another classic.

10. WWF Title Match
John Cena (c) vs. Triple H

HHH won the Royal Rumble in this alternate universe. Cena is the same Cena he was in real life. The boos grow louder every week. Entrances stay the same. CM Punk as Cena's gangsta is even funnier today than it was back then. HHH's Conan the Barbarian entrance accompanied by two theme songs is pretty much both the most HHH thing ever and the most pro wrestling thing ever.

HHH wins clean as a sheet with a Pedigree in the middle of the ring to a thunderous ovation.

Cena turns heel the next night on Raw.

...

@Greywolf said:

Wrestlemania 29

No Holds Barred / WWE Championship
John Cena vs. The Rock
this time it should have been a fight, not another match.

CM Punk vs. The Undertaker
best match of the night, so keep it.

World Heavyweight Championship
Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho
Ziggler cashes on Del Rio, Jericho wins chamber.

Last Man Standing Match
Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar
only match I think that would have worked for those two.

Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus
slug fest that'll bring in the UK like crazy.

Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, & Hell No vs. The Shield
Swagger should have been suspended and this would have been clean up patrol. WWE brings in a fourth for The Shield, that The Shield threatens with, calling him their sword during their promos. Ohno debuts at Mania as their sword.

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
Orton eliminates Rhodes at the Rumble and Cody seeks revenge.

Big Show vs. Ryback
don't care for Show or Ryback, give either man their Mania moment and I get a bathroom break.

...

OK, I'm afraid of losing my progress, so I'm splitting these posts up. Also, sadly, for my sanity, I'm skipping "conversational/discussion" posts and trying to keep it just to the rebooked card posts. Maybe in the future I can drag in the conversation from back then about the cards. Or we can just have new conversations!

For some reason I can't access Page 2 right now, so skipping ahead to Page 3 for the time being!

Pinkman said:

Wrestlemania 25

World Heavyweight Championship vs The Streak
John Cena [Champion] vs The Undertaker
John Cena retains the championship inside the Elimination Chamber at No Way out and effectively, he has no challengers for the title at Mania. Jeff picked Edge to challenge, Orton/HHH is in motion, Batista is injured, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho are occupied elsewhere so instead, Cena challenges the one guy he has never faced since he made it big four years ago - The Undertaker. Undertaker eventually accepts and we now have the biggest streak match in history. Cena’s already credible enough to make people think he could beat the streak but he’s also held it long enough (since Survivor Series) to make people think he could also lose it since this was before Taker only showed up for one match a year. Not to mention that you can play up to the fact that for the last two Mania’s, Undertaker has defeated Batista and Edge to win the World Championship, can he make it three-times in a row while extending his streak? In the match, John Cena kicks out of the tombstone, last ride and even escapes the Hells Gates that WWE spent all of last year building up to as the biggest submission hold in the WWE but Taker kicks out of everything Cena has, multiple AA’s, the STFU, Cena even busts out new moves on Taker but still cannot get the job done. Eventually we get a ref bump, and Cena grabs the WWE Championhip, and contemplates smashing Taker with it, ala Sami Zayn/Neville at NXT Takerover but unlike Zayn who threw down the belt, Cena gives in to the dark side and wallops Taker in the face with it and for extra measure, gives him an AA on the title. Cena ends the streak, crowd almost riots and we get the Cena heel turn, Cena holds onto the belt for another year until he’s finally defeated at Mania 26 by CM Punk.

WWE Championship
Edge [Champion] vs Jeff Hardy [Royal Rumble Winner]
I’d have booked things a bit differently, instead of having Jeff win the title at Armageddon, I’d have Edge just beat Hunter one on one at that PPV with Jeff once again being taken out mysteriously (Since he’d have been taken out at Survivor Series and had the stage pyro blown up at him in real life), Edge could defeat that Vladmir guy to end his superpush once and for all and Jeff would go on to win the Royal Rumble. Jeff wins clean to win the title and give this storyline a proper conclusion and a ‘feel good’ moment for Wrestlemania.


Matt Hardy vs Christian
I believe the original plan was for Christian to return and be aligned with Edge, and be revealed as the guy who kept attacking Jeff Hardy during Survivor Series 08, who blew him up with Pyro and burned his house down but since it got leaked on the internet, WWE changed it to Matt vs Jeff instead with Christian being relegated to ECW. Here, we can just have Matt remain a face and have him defend Jeff, plus with it WWE falsely labelling this Mania as the ‘25th Anniversary, you can play up to Matt and Christian’s historic matches at Mania 16 and 17 in the Ladder and TLC matches. Christian would go over Matt to continue his momentum and head into a Christian/Jeff feud for the title so that can have a proper conclusion down the line.


Street Fight
Triple H [Champion] w/Stephanie McMahon vs Randy Orton
I’d have kept the majority of this storyline the same, Orton punts Mr.Mahon on the go-home show before Royal Rumble, but ends up losing the Rumble due to Shane McMahon interference. From there, you can continue the storyline with Orton punting Shane, laying out Steph for trying to defend her brother and now, HHH is pissed that Orton man-handled his wife, with Orton coaxing HHH into giving him a match to avenge for Orton turning on him during Evolution, stealing his title and effectively set him back several years, not to mention you can play up on their feud a year previous with HHH legitimately breaking Orton’s collarbone at Extreme Rules, now Orton wants revenge by wanting to end HHHs career.You can avoid the retarded ‘Orton has IED! He cannot help himself attack people!’ ‘lulz nah I’m just kidding, I don’t have IED’ thing they threw into the mix. During the match, you can have Legacy attack HHH and wipe Steph out, then have Batista’s big return (which happened the next night anyway) and have him clean out Legacy but Orton still steals the win by punting HHH in the head. Can move on to an Orton/Batista feud after this and end HHH/Orton at Summerslam.

Final Encounter
Shawn Michaels w/Ric Flair vs Chris Jericho w/Mickey Rourke
More rebooking but instead of Jericho retaining against Shawn in the Ladder Match at No Mercy, I’d have Shawn win the World Heavyweight Championship instead, and then just like in reality, Cena wins the title at Survivor Series but this time from Shawn after Jericho interferes and hits a codebreaker on Shawn. At Armageddon, you do the Cena vs Jericho match for the title, but Shawn returns the favour by Superkicking Jericho. At the Royal Rumble, Shawn can eliminate Jericho early in the match but Jericho returns later on to eliminate Shawn (in a reversal from the 03 Rumble with Jericho eliminating Shawn early and Shawn coming back to eliminate Jericho). This leads up to Shawn and Jericho agreeing to end their almost year-long feud at Mania, with Flair wanting to be in Shawn’s corner in case Jericho tries anything and in return, Jericho brings in Mickey Rourke. Shawn wins to end the feud and after the match, Rourke can floor Jericho with a punch just like in real life.

WWE World Tag Team Championships vs WWE Tag Team Championships
Miz and John Morrison [World Tag Team Champions] vs Primo and Carlito [WWE Tag Team Champions]
I’m still annoyed to this day that WWE bumped this match to the dark show in real life just so they could give Kid Rock a 15 Minute (!!!!) concert. I’d completely scrap that and give him this match, can play out like it did in reality, they only did eight minutes and Primo/Carlito can go over.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk vs Kane vs Rey Mysterio vs MVP vs Big Show vs Shelton Benjamin vs Kofi Kingston vs JBL vs Finlay
Routine MITB ladder match, Punk wins his second MITB in a row and announces he’s pulling a Mr.Kennedy, cashing in one year in advance at Mania 26.
For the dark match, you can just have that lame Divas battle royal.

...

Gordon Downie said:

WretleMania 13

WWE Championship: Shawn Michaels (C) vs. The Undertaker

Everything that happens at the Rumble remains as is, Austin wins the rumble after already being eliminated and Michaels wins the title (didn’t lose his smile) and holds it until WM. At the Final Four PPV Taker wins the fatal 4 way after Austin screws Bret once again to set up their match and Undertaker goes on to face HBK and wins the title after Bret Hart came out twice and got involved in the match like he did with Taker and Sid. This caused Michaels to leave and go home like Bret did the year before and he doesn't return until the summer to team with Austin. This match also serves as a good prelude to Hell in a Cell later in the year.

Submission Match: Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

I wouldn’t change a thing about this match, its one of the best matches in the companies history. Only thing I would change is I wouldn’t have Ken Shamrock as the guess referee, I would just have a normal ref. Why…..

Ken Shamrock vs. Vader

Shamrock makes his WWE in ring debut against Vader who challenges Shamrocks toughness because he comes from a different world of ultimate fighting. They had a hard hitting stiff 8 or 9 min match that Shamrock wins by making Vader tap. Shamrock is about to unleash hell on the WWE

Goldust vs. Triple H

I wouldn’t change a thing about this match either. This is one of the most underrated mid card feuds from that era, these two had great chemistry together.

Intercontinental Title: Rocky Maivia (C) vs. Mankind

Mankind gets DQed after him and Paul Barer attack Rocky with the urn and then Rockys old man makes the save like the original match. Would have been cool to see thes two go at it back then given the history they eventually had together.

WWE Tag Team Title: Owen Hart & British Bulldog (C) vs. Legion of Doom

Owen and Bulldog retain the titles. These were the two best tag teams at the time and would have had a great match together.

Chicago Street Fight: Ahmed Johnson & The Godwinns vs.The Nation of Domination

Same basic match but Ahmed teams up with Henry and Phineas instead of LOD.

The Great Sasuke vs. Taka Michinoku

Later on in the spring the WWE starting bringing this guys in to start up their own Light heavyweight devision. These two had a great opening match at In Your House Canadian Stamped but it would have been a great way to start this WrestleMania and get the crowd going.

I didn’t know what to do with Sid, he went from being in the main event to not being on the card at all. Maybe team with Ahmed in the street fight but who would be the 3rd, The Godwinns just made more sense. Or maybe after Michaels beat him at the rumble he lost his smile and went home. haha

...

@Kilgore said:

I had fancied doing a BigEvil style rebooking of the 1980's Wrestlemanias, but I'm really good at mapping Fan Fic stuff out in a spreadsheet, and then writing absolutely none of it to make it readable to any other human. So I'll do a really abridged version of it in this thread:

Wrestlemania 1

The Build:

My 1984 is very similar to reality. The only big difference is Backlund doesn't disappear, and he turns heel after going crazy from the loss to Sheiky. It's not quite Mr. Backlund madness, because I don't think he had that in him yet, but he's still clearly out of his fucking mind. It's a slow build to heel status, though. He fights jobbers, puts them in the chicken wing, and doesn't let go after winning. He's acting like a lunatic, he's getting booed more and more, but he's not really involved with any babyfaces you would care about yet. Until late 1984 – At a TV taping at MSG, they try to give a lifetime achievement trophy to Bruno Sammartino, Backlund interrupts it, outraged that they're not paying tribute to him after his own great run. He attacks Bruno, puts the chicken wing on him and his heel turn is confirmed.

Hogan/Mr. T/Snuka vs. Piper/Orndorff/Cowboy Bob plays out very similarly, except the Hogan/Mr. T vs. Piper/Orndorff tag match takes place on MTV, and not Wrestlemania, as that Tag Match is a teaser for Wrestelmania singles matches, which is probably how they would have done it a couple years later.

The Card:

WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Hulk Hogan © vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Body Slam Match
Andre the Giant vs. “Big” John Studd

Singles Match
Bruno Sammartino vs. Bob Backlund

Cage Match
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff

Singles Match
Mr. T (with George Peppard) vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Greg “the Hammer” Valentine © vs. Tito Santana

WWF Women's Championship Match
Leilani Kai © vs. Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper)

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The US Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda) © vs. Iron Sheik & Ivan Volkoff

Singles Match
Junkyard Dog vs. Don Muraco

Singles Match
King Kong Bundy vs. SD Jones

Singles Match
Ricky Steamboat vs. Bret Hart

Results:

Hogan defeats Piper by pin (legdrop).
Piper would have never actually agreed to this, which is why it took place on MTV, and was a future WCW Nitro finish special, but this is fiction, so it happens here. 1980's Hogan by the numbers, and Piper does the clean job.

Andre defeats Studd by bodyslam.
It's the exact match that happened, which is not the most exciting notion, but what the fuck else are these two going to do?

Backlund defeats Sammartino by submission (chicken wing).
For the past couple months, on his way to the ring for his matches, Backlund has been bringing a really shitty Lifetime Achievement trophy of his own that he obviously made himself, which comes into play here, when he uses it to hit Bruno over the head with. This knocks Bruno out, Backlund puts him in the chicken wing, and the referee does the arm-check-three-times-thing, where Bruno doesn't respond.

Snuka defeats Orndorff by pinfall.
This is my reality, and while escapes are still in play in the WWF, you can pin now too! Snuka looks like he's going to escape, but he chooses to fly instead, recreating the Don Muraco moment, with big splash from the top of the cage, for the pinfall victory.

Mr. T defeats Orton by pinfall.
George Peppard is a man who often has a plan, and it once again comes together when he rips the cast off of Orton, throws it to Mr. T, who uses it to put the Cowboy's lights out. George Peppard loves when his plans come together, which means I love this.

Tito Santana defeats Valentine by submission (figure four) to become the new IC champ.
Decent workrate match by 1985 standards.

Sheik/Volkoff defeat US Express by however the fuck it atually happened.
Title Change! To the heels!

JYD defeats Don Muraco by pinfall.
JYD fights more Mid South in my WWF, so this match is a little better than you're picturing. Very brawly, and ends with JYD hitting the Thump for the win.

Wendi Richter defeats Leilani Kai by however the fuck it actually happened.
Title Change!

King Kong Bundy defeats SD Jones by pinfall.
This is a squash match, in more ways than one. Not only do I like the Wrestlemania tradition of one squash match, I like this squash match in particular. King Kong Bundy splashing SD Jones is part of my childhood.

Steamboat defeats Hart by pinfall
This match almost happened. I don't know how it would've played out in 1985, but I imagine they would have put together a pretty good match by 1985 standards. Since I don't know what their finish would have been, I'll just say Hart tries a cross body block, and Steamboat rolls with the impact to surprise pin Bret for the win. They both liked those sudden pinfalls, so they'd probably approve.

Expect one or two of these every night until I get to WM9/WM10.

...

Strobe said:

Gordon Downie's card has helped me, through theft of some of his ideas, to iron out my Mania 13 card.

WrestleMania 13

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDERS MATCH (Free for All)
The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon*
Furnas & LaFon win in a short, simple match to become #1 contenders on the pre-show.
8 mins

The Great Sasuke* vs. Taka Michinoku
There is no reason for this not to be able to happen here, as at Canadian Stampede they were simply brought in for the show and the RAW. Introduce the juniors earlier than they actually did, with the intention of copying WCW and setting up a division. Gives a fast-paced start to the show.
10 mins

WWF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The British Bulldog* [Champion] vs. Owen Hart
After their classic in the Euro Title tournament final increasing the tension between the pair, I would continue that here if only to get another great match on the show. They would still be tag champs, as that added to the Hart Foundation which would reform shortly after this show.
16 mins

'NO HOLDS BARRED'
Ken Shamrock* vs. Vader
Shamrock debuts on the big stage against the one guy that could work a shoot style match with him. I’d have done packages in the build to introduce fans to the style and some of the submissions (especially the Ankle Lock) that Shamrock would be attempting. You would have to do the rules of victory by submission or knockout only – on one hand you could argue that hurts the uniqueness of the Bret/Austin stip but on the other it is a completely different style of match and Austin not tapping would look even more badass after Vader had.
13 mins

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Hunter Hearst Helmsley* [Champion] with Chyna vs. Goldust with Marlena
As happened on the show, but cut in half to tighten it up, which I feel would help. This would be for the IC title as I would never have had Rocky (who would not be on the show) win it. Effective in getting Chyna over, who was ultimately crucial in getting Triple H over.
7 mins

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT
The Legion of Doom (Animal & Hawk) & Ahmed Johnson* vs. The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega) with Wolfie D, J.C. Ice, D’Lo Brown & Clarence Mason
Enjoyable enough, gave something different for the time and got guys on the card, especially the Road Warriors in Chicago.
11 mins

'Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels* vs. Sycho Sid
HBK would have lost the title at Mind Games in this rebooking, so who knows what his reaction to that would have been. So Michaels would have not taken on Sid at Survivor Series or the Rumble, making this a fresh match-up. HBK goes over as Sid was not going to be used much more.
15 mins

'SUBMISSION' MATCH
Bret 'Hit Man' Hart* vs. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
No changes here (except no Shamrock as ref) as this is my favourite match in WWF/E history, plus it did the perfect job of solidifying the double switch, setting up Austin as the future star, also setting up the Hart Foundation reunion and all the fun that followed in 1997. Even with different booking (Taker winning the Rumble), you could still do the Rumble spot with Bret eliminating Austin not seen by the refs and Austin coming back in to eliminate Bret illegally, with Taker ultimately eliminating Stone Cold.
22 mins

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Mankind [Champion] with Paul Bearer vs. The Undertaker*
I would have capitalised on the early success of the Mankind character's work with Taker and have him win the title at Mind Games from HBK. The next month he could bury the Undertaker alive, only this time in a title match, so he would need to win the match as well. So now Mankind has defeated Taker at KOTR, SummerSlam and Buried Alive. Mankind would keep the title and Taker would return at the Rumble, winning the match, setting up his chance for revenge at Mania. Taker would win with the Tombstone, giving him his first big Mania moment. People might think it is ill-advised to run a main event that was the fourth in a series, but the story would pull it through and the rest of the card had hooks. Plus, there is no way it would have drawn less than the actual card did.
18 mins

Actual ring time: 112 mins
My ring time: 112 mins

This actually could've been the best WrestleMania of all time (although it was never going to have a huge feel), whereas in actuality it is one of the weakest since we left the Hulkamania era. You'd have great variety on the show and the match quality would likely be superb. You have a juniors match (Sasuke/Taka), a European-style technical match (Bulldog/Owen), a shoot style match (Shamrock/Vader), a garbage match (Nation/LOD+Ahmed), a big man/little man match (HBK/Sid), an old school style gimmick match (Bret/Austin) and a main event that culminates a long, personal feud (Taker/Mankind).

...

TheIcon said:

Wrestlemania IV

Bad News Brown wins a battle royal- As happened as this was the Hart Foundation's face turn with Bret destroying BNB's trophy.

Demolition vs. Strike Force for the WWF tag team titles- Again as happened to set up the Martel/Santana feud.

Heenan Family vs. The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware- Once again as happened, the Bulldogs were going back to Stampede.

Jim Duggan vs. Greg Valentine- A heavy hitting match with new face Duggan going over.

Andre The Giant vs. Bam Bam Bigelow- Bigelow gets the win here to help convince him to stay longer. This keeps up his momentum from late '87 as one of the top faces in the company.

Steel Cage Match: Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts- Jake gets real bad ass here after Rude has been hitting on Cheryl for many weeks. Brutal cage match with both breaking the mandate of no blood. Jake gets the win after a series of DDT's, the man is pissed.

Rick Steamboat vs. Ted DiBiase- Classic encounter with DiBiase going over via shenanigans. Eventually this will involve Savage later in the summer due to his history with Steamboat and DiBiase sticking his nose in Savage's business.

IC Champion Honky Tonk Man vs. Ultimate Warrior- The famous squash 4 months early and on a bigger stage.

Once again Hulk Hogan defeats Andre the Giant cleanly in front of 33 million people on the Main Event to further entrench his legacy. No fuckery with twin ref's and buying titles as this muddled the perception of Hogan and hurt the prestige of the WWF title. After being Hogan's number 2 for close to six months Randy Savage wants a shot at the belt since he's getting impatient and tired of Hogan having the limelight. So we have:

WWF Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage- Booked just like the Warrior/Hogan match two years later but better because Savage. Savage goes over clean to start his run. Eventually he ducks Hogan but is forced to a rematch at V with the same booking irl.

...

Kilgore said:

Wrestlemania 2

The Build:

On the first TV Show after WM1, Piper and Orndorff break up in epic fashion. Piper blames Orndorff for everything, and humiliates him on Piper's Pit. Hogan comes to Orndorff's aid, and they become allies. Instead of the break up happening after WM2, like it did in reality, it happens on a SNME in January instead. And it's just as awesome. This sets up their big Cage Match at WM2, and King Kong Bundy is off in a monster feud with Andre, which starts when King Kong Bundy splashes Hogan multiple times on Orndorff's behalf, and Andre cleans house for the save. Piper and Snuka resume their feud, and get a Wrestlemania blowoff. Randy Savage comes into the WWF the same, but challenges for the IC Belt a month or two later at Wrestlemania 2 instead. Steamboat got himself into a feud with a crazy Texan named Terry Funk. There is no real origin other than Terry is out of his mind. Backlund started patronizing JYD, not approving of the way JYD carries himself, like a common dog, and such. Why would one do such a thing? The genius wrestler also doesn't respect JYD's wrestling ability and repeatedly says how he doesn't respect JYD, the man, either, which is classic-1980's-borderline-racist-pro-wrestling. Why? Because he's black? Anyway, Backlund added a stipulation that he would shake JYD's hand if he loses. The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs have established themselves as the tag team workhorses, and they're in separate bouts, with the Bulldogs getting a title shot against the Dream Team, as they did in real life. Jake Roberts squash against George Wells stays, because George Wells acting with the snake is a great pro wrestling moment. Harley Race is scheduled to make his debut at WM2.

The Card:

WWF Heavyweight Championship Cage Match
Hulk Hogan© vs. “Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff

Body Slam Match
Andre the Giant vs. King Kong Bundy

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Tito Santana© vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Singles Match
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The Dream Team© vs. The British Bulldogs

Singles Match
Harley Race vs. Pedro Morales

Stipulation Match: Loser shows Winner Respect
Bob Backlund vs. JYD

Singles Match
Terry Funk vs. Ricky Steamboat

Singles Match
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. George Wells

Singles Match
George “The Animal” Steele vs. Don Muraco

Tag Team Match
The Hart Foundation vs. The Killer Bees

Results:

Hogan defeats Orndorff by pinfall
It's essentially the SNME Cage Match, with both men escaping at the same time and the match getting restarted. Only on the restart, Hogan wins by pinfall instead. They continue their feud for the next six months, with Orndorff and Heenan crying robbery on the "tied" escape.

Andre the Giant defeats King Kong Bundy by bodyslam
This is both because I don't know what else to do with Andre, and also to make the body slam at WM3 even bigger. Big John Studd couldn't do it. King Kong Bundy couldn't do it. No way Hogan could...

Savage defeats Santana by pinfall to become the NEW Intercontinental Champion
I have little recollection of their actual match, which isn't a great sign, but that's the match here, on a bigger stage.

Piper defeats Snuka by submission (sleeper)
Piper heels it up like a sombitch, takes every shortcut he can, and eventually puts Snuka to sleep for the night, and for pretty much his career.

The British Bulldogs defeat the Dream Team by pinfall to become the NEW Tag Team Champions
The real WM2 match, exactly

Harley Race defeats Pedro Morales by pinfall
Harley Race passes JYD and Backlund down the aisle and shows them no respect, and then he squashes Pedro Morales for an impressive debut.

JYD defeats Backlund by pinfall
Backlund looks horrified by JYD's antics, as his wrestling eventually loses to the unorthodox JYD. After the match, not only does Backlund shake JYD's hand, but he gives him a man hug, and the two walk out of the ring, and down the aisle together, as the crowd approves of Backlund finally coming back to his senses.

Steamboat defeats Funk by DQ
It's their COTC 7 match, where Terry gets pissed off and nails Steamboat with a microphone after 10 minutes of fun action. Terry beats up Steamboat after the bell, and JYD comes out for the save, and stays out there as his match is next.

Jake Roberts defeats George Wells by pinfall
Their WM2 match, and post match.

Don Muraco defeats George The Animal Steele by DQ
George does something really stupid to get himself DQ's because he doesn't know any better.

The Hart Foundation defeat The Killer Bees by pinfall
A nice fast paced match to get things started. Hart Foundation hit the Hart Attack, and get the win.

...

Kilgore said:

Wrestlemania III

The Build:

Hogan vs. Andre and Savage vs. Steamboat is perfection, and I'm not changing a thing. Piper has a face turn and actually teams with Hogan around the country as he continues his feud with Orndorff and Orton. Piper and Orndorff have their blowoff at Wrestlemania, culminating this three year Hogan-Piper-Orndorff-Orton-feud. Mr. T. is even in Piper's corner to keep an eye on Orton, who is in Orndorff's. Backlund is a babyface again, and finds himself in a feud with Harley Race, which was hinted at, at the last Wrestlemania. These two former aces of the previous era, are looking to put the other to pasture, as their Wrestlemania match has a stipulation that the loser must retire. The British Bulldogs and The Hart Foundation's feud remains very similar, Dangerous Danny Davis, and all. The only difference is the 6 Man took place on a SNME, and the Tag Titles will be on the line in a regular tag match at Wrestlemania. Hillbilly Jim and his little friends vs King Kong Bundy and his little friends remains, because minus appearing on Married with Children, Bundy squashing a dwarf is the greatest thing he will ever do, and I'm not taking that away from him. Honky Tonk Man and Jake Roberts fought on the real WM3 for reasons I don't remember, but those reasons are why they fight on mine. And also, the hot new Tag Team, Strike Force, have their toughest test yet against former Tag Champs, The Dream Team, which puts a new wrinkle in the Santana-Valentine rivalry. Sgt. Slaughter returned in January to feud with Sheik/Volkoff. Demolition debuted in January. Jim Duggan debuted in February. Which brings us to Wrestlemania.

The Card:

WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Hulk Hogan© vs. Andre “the Giant”

Singles Match
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper (with Mr. T) vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (with Bob Orton)

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
“Macho Man” Randy Savage© (with Elizabeth) vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (with George Steele)

Retirement Match
Bob Backlund vs. Harley Race

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The British Bulldogs© (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith) vs. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart)

Singles Match
JYD vs. Terry Funk

Singles Match
The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts (with Alice Cooper)

Tag Team Match
Demolition vs. The Killer Bees

Tag Team Match
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Sgt. Slaughter and A Mystery Partner

Mixed Six-Man Tag Match
Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid, and Little Beaver vs. King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, and Lord Littlebrook

Tag Team Match
Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel) vs. The Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake)

Results:

Strike Force defeat The Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake) by submission (Boston Crab)
Martel forces Beefcake to submit via Boston Crab. Dino Bravo comes out, and he and Valentine kick Beefcake out of the Dream Team.

Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid, and Little Beaver defeat King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, and Lord Littlebrook by DQ
Bundy avalanches a dwarf. This is greater than your favorite Wrestlemania moment.

Sgt. Slaughter and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan defeat The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff by pinfall
Slaughter introduces his mystery partner, Jim Duggan, who gets a heroes Wrestlemania debut. He also gets the hot tag, and gets the win for his team for the impressive debut. This also begins his USA Mascot gimmick.

The Hart Foundation defeat The British Bulldogs by pinfall to become the new Tag Champs
A Jimmy Hart megaphone blast to Dynamite's neck behind the ref's back ends this after 13 minutes of blistering action.

JYD defeats Terry Funk by pinfall
A wild brawl that sees JYD win after a powerslam.

The Honkytonk Man defeats Jake Roberts by pinfall
Classic HTM victory, as Jake is about to DDT him to Hell, Jimmy Hart grabs Jake's ankle. Jake goes to fuck up Jimmy, and HTM rolls him up for the win. HTM gets out of dodge before Jake can get revenge, but Jimmy is stuck in the ring, and Alice Cooper, who accompanied Jake, introduces him to Damien.

Bob Backlund vs. Harley Race defeats Bob Backlun by pinfall to end his career
1970's style match, slow paced, but only fifteen minutes, but Harley beats Backlund clean, with a belly to belly suplex. Bob stares at the 90,000 in the ring, sheds a tear, and leaves to a standing ovation. His career is over.

Ricky Steamboat defeats Randy Savage by pinfall to become the NEW IC Champ
The smarky thing to do is make this the Maple Leaf Garden match, but fuck that. Nothing changes. It was 1987 perfection.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper (with Mr. T) defeats Paul Orndorff (with Bob Orton) by submission (sleeper)
Wild brawl, that ends with Piper putting Orndorff to sleep, to finish a three year arc, with the principal characters that brought us to Wrestlemania 1. Cowboy Bob Orton comes in to start shit with Piper, but Mr. T taps Bob on the shoulder, waits for him to turn around, and then lands a left cross that knocks his lights out. Piper and Mr. T walk the long Wrestlemania aisle all the way back to Hollywood.

Demolition defeat The Killer Bees by pinfall
This is a squash. The Killer Bees are never seen again. Demolition become the most dominating Tag Team in the WWF.

Hulk Hogan defeats Andre The Giant by pinfall
So the match isn't great, but I'm not changing anything about it. All anybody remembers is that staredown, the failed bodyslam attempt, the successful bodyslam attempt, and the leg drop, anyway.

This next gap between Wrestlemanias is where things will really change. 1987/1988 will see the debuts of Ted Dibiase, Butch Reed, Rick Rude, Ultimate Warrior, and...



















Ric Flair.

...

Big Pete said:

Wrestlemania 26

While everyone else puts together all these really cool old-school cards, I thought I'd take a look at the 2010s and see how I go configuring it to my liking.

So that brings me to Wrestlemania 26 and the reality is that the WWE got a lot right with this card so it's really just mixing it around better to accentuate the positives and even going as far to cut a few matches to make for a more focused show. This is how I would have gone...

Match #1
If Rey loses he must join the Straight Edge Society
Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk (w/The Straight Edge Society)

These two put on one of the best short matches I've seen on the actual show but that's almost a back-handed compliment and so I'd to fix that by giving them more time and a spot on the card that's more memorable. Beyond that, nearly everything would remain the same except for the finish where Rey would win with some sort of roll-up maneuver to set up later matches in their feud.

Match #2
Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton

This is one of those matches as a booker that I loathe but since so much time was invested in the Legacy angle, I may as well give this some sort of pay-off. The first change I made is that I eliminated Ted Dibiase Jr entirely from the equation. I think his involvement only serves to complicate the angle when really it needs to be kept as basic as possible. If you guys can recall, during the Guest Host era of Raw, one of the best episodes featured Cody Rhodes turning on his father when he was the guest host of the show. That segment drew a lot of interest and for me proved that Cody had to be the guy who turned on the group. So you'd go through the motions of having Cody turn babyface on Orton at the Rumble, defeat Orton in a Elimination Chamber qualifier in a big Monday Night Raw main event only to get assaulted by Orton before the match knocking the Elimination Chamber down to 5 participants. Both guys are seeking closure and it leads to this blow-off match at Mania. Ideally, the babyface goes over in this scenario but realistically Cody wasn't quite at that level around that time and I think you should go out of your way to protect workers like Orton, so Orton withstands a good showing by Cody who pushes him, hits a fluke RKO and that's where the angle concludes.

Match #3
WWE United States Championship Match
Christian vs The Miz (c)

So one of the biggest FU moments of 2010 had to be Ezekiel Jackson of all people defeating Christian for the ECW Championship and retiring the belt for good. That decision didn't really seem to serve any point other than screwing with Christian and messing with the fans to remind them what WWE's version of ECW was about - pushing 'superstars' over wrestlers. I'm saying piss on that, Christian ends up the final ECW Champion and you push his arrival on one of the brands as a big deal. In the end, he winds up on Raw where he makes it clear he wants to become the WWE Champion but ends up having to face the detestable Miz instead under the guise of 'If you want to become WWE Champion, you've got to go through me at Wrestlemania'. And I'd book Christian over The Miz since I think your mid-card championship should be your work-horse championship and Christian deserves a push right off the bat.

Match #4
Sheamus vs Triple H

I wouldn't change anything about this deal. I can't remember much about the build-up but I thought this helped build Sheamus immensely.

Match #5
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Jack Swagger vs Drew McIntyre vs John Morrison (c)

Normally I'm not a fan of triple threats but I think the card needs some variety.

I really didn't like how any of these three were booked up to this point so I'd fix that leading into the match. Swagger in my WWE Universe would have been drafted over to Smackdown and not Raw where he would have been given a steady push before he ultimately qualifies for this match. Drew I would have pushed much harder but I would have done more than just made him the 'Vince McMahon' guy and maybe would have gone as far to give him the Bravehart face paint for the big PPV matches ala Finn Balor and just made him into an ass-kicking heel who goes over the likes of Kane, Finlay, Regal and so on. Meanwhile, Morrison would retain the same gimmick he had in ECW where he's this unflappable poet who lives inside his own world. I'd cut all the crappy sports entertainment esque segments from Morrison and just book him like he's The Rock, except instead of channeling Muhammad Ali, it'd obviously be Jim Morrison.

I'd let Morrison score his big Wrestlemania win here since I'd be looking to push him as the next big babyface of SmackDown and have him drop it later to McIntyre on his way up.

Match #6
World Championship Match
Edge vs Chris Jericho (c)

I really liked this pairing and the only thing I would have changed is the whole stupid spear bit because I absolutely hated Edge's spear. I'd focus more on how personal their feud is and how it can be traced as far back as 2002. Same result with Jericho going over and I'd be looking to book Smackdown around him on top.

Match #7
Vince McMahon vs Bret Hart

Yes, I'd still include what may be the worst Wrestlemania match in history just to capitilise on Bret's return and give him a sense of closure. It just wouldn't go 11 minutes and would be used later in the show to help space things out a bit. I always liked how Kane/Taker fulfilled that role at Wrestlemania 20 and think it works better than the token diva exhibition that feels like an utter waste of time.

Match #8
WWE Championship Match
John Cena vs Batista (c)

Only thing I would have changed here is how Batista acquired the belt. I hate it when they book those BS improntu matches, it completely undercuts a lot of booking and brings up plot holes that can easily be avoided. I'd just have Batista score the cheap victory at Elimination Chamber with Cena earning the right to qualify in a big main event match up against Sheamus. Everything else would remain the same.

Match #9
Retirement vs The Streak
Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker

I wasn't a big fan of how predictable this match was but it'd be silly to knock it off the show or really change anything. Arguably one of the best Wrestlemania main events of all time and a fitting way to end Michaels' career in the WWE.

-----

So basically I kept a lot in place but changed around the order, modified matches or completely cut them with minimal additions. One of the matches I cut was the Money in the Bank match which I've never been a huge fan of and think it needed to go. I don't buy into the theory that Wrestlemania should try and fit in as many guys as possible - it should be the best of the best which is why it needed to go. I scrapped the tag match and The Miz and Morrison into their own matches. If we were short on time, I'd put together a tag match made up of unique teams to ensure the division remained strong after the underrated Jeri-Show run but it'd require more thought and a lot of explanation in order to sell. Originally I had a women's match but realised I'd forgotten about JoMo and I don't think that's right. If I was booking the diva's around that time, I would have taken more advantage of Gail Kim's return and had her working with the likes of McCool, Phoinex, Melina, Natalya etc in meaningful matches and I'd be trying to capitilise on what the Knockouts were doing on TNA with these talented group of girls. Because I absolutely hate the alternative of making them into 'Divas' and having them work token exhibition matches that nobody could possibly care about.

...

@SM said:

Here is my rebooked WM 22 card:

Wrestlemania 22

WWE Title Match
John Cena(c) vs. HHH

Bobby Lashley vs. Mark Henry

WHC Match
Randy Orton(c) vs. Rey Mysterio

Shawn Michaels vs. Booker T w/ Vince McMahon

Women's Title Match
Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James

Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle

Hardcore Match
Edge w/ Lita vs. Mick Foley

World Tag Team Title Match
Big Show & Kane(c) vs. MNM

IC Title 3-Way Ladder Match
Shelton Benjamin(c) vs. RVD vs. Carlito

...

@Peepshow said:

Another WrestleMania that really bothered me was 23, I get you cant have block buster matches fill your card but Lashley v Umaga and Kane v Khali were borderline unwatchable for me, I mean seriously who books this shit and thinks it is good?? Anyway here goes my Mania 23 attempt:

WWE Championship
Shawn Michaels v John Cena (c)
Not much changed here except Shawn isnt rocking the DX shit going in, after HHHs injury he reverts back to proper HBK not DXBK. Oh and yes this would still end the show, the style of match it was ect is more suited to the main event rather than middle of the card.

Womens title
Melina (c) v Ashley

McMahon v Trump
Umaga v Jeff Hardy
Rebooked as a spot fest, Jeff Hardy risking his body health yadi yada to beat Umaga, Trumps reasoning could be along the lines of I take risks all the time in business and so does this man in the ring ect and makes a much better match than fucking Lashley v Umaga.

Randy Orton v Edge
This would serve as a temp babyface run for Orton, they were having tension after coming out of the DX v R-RKO feud and people seemed to be siding with Randy, I would have gone with that and had the match, their Raw match was excellent and no offence to MITB but there are certain guys who are above MITB and these were certainly 2 from that year.

WHC
Batista (c) v Undertaker
Kept the same

US Title
Chris Benoit (c) v Bobby Lashley
Nice babyface v babyface encounter, puts Benoits title in serious trouble, Benoit would carry Lashley, all works pretty nicely

Ric Flair v Carlito
Ric Flair showcase match

MITB
Kane v Finlay v Matt Hardy v Kennedy v Khali v RVD
They can do their body slam shit in this match and the other 4 guys can work their asses off to make it work

King Booker v CM Punk
Fast paced opener, CM Punk the grounded level headed babyface, Booker the stuck up snob, books itself

Dark Match
ECW 8 Man tag

...

🤯 said:

For whatever reason, Peepshow inspired me to take a crack at redoing WrestleMania 23 as a starting point for a rebooking. I'm going to try to take an approach involving minimal changes (i.e., just tweaking vs. totally overhauling) while trying to keep in mind the storylines, feuds, rosters, etc. at the time. I'm also going to steal a page out of Strobe's playbook and include rough match times as a way to validate that my proposed rebooking could've worked in the same time allotted to the real card. With that said, here we go...

WrestleMania 23 [04/01/2007]: Detroit, MI; Ford Field (80,103)

Dark: Mixed Tag Team Match
Finlay & Hornswoggle def. The Boogeyman & Lil' Boogie [approx. time > unknown]
Goofy little feud from SmackDown! to throw on the pre-show. Keep the match short, simple, silly, and fun.

1) 8-Man "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match
Ken Kennedy def. Kane, King Booker (w/ Queen Sharmell), Ric Flair, Carlito, Chris Masters, CM Punk, and Elijah Burke [approx. time > 0:25:00]
Cut 4 minutes from the actual match time... just tighten things up; make it more of a sprint in places if necessary. Exciting high spot-heavy match to energize the crowd. Kennedy, Kane, and Booker are representing SmackDown!; Flair, Carlito, and Masters are representing RAW; and Punk and Burke are representing ECW. Use MITB to encapsulate feuds from each brand... I'd have Flair going into this as IC Champ with a running 3-way feud on RAW between him (face), Carlito (tweener), and Masters (heel). Flair would've picked up the title in an upset over Umaga after interference from Bobby Lashley... who'd be getting payback for Umaga costing him his US Title. Flair would be in full "Terry Funk" mode in this match. Meanwhile, the ECW guys would be pissed off that their brand was only given two slots in MITB instead of 3 like the other brands. Give those two slots to the young up-and-coming faces of the new ECW brand, CM Punk and Elijah Burke. Have them beefing over the fact that Punk refuses to join Burke's New Breed faction. I'd possibly consider having Punk as the ECW Champ headed into this... possibly giving him the title instead of Lashely at December to Dismember. Kennedy, Kane, and Booker would all just be kinda "there" to round out the ranks and represent the Blue Brand.

2) Singles Match for the United States Championship
Chris Benoit (c) def. Montel Vontavious Porter [approx. time > 0:10:00]
I'd keep this match the same as in real life, as it set up a pretty fun little feud in the wake of 'Mania that proved MVP could really go in the ring. Place it here as a nice little "technical wrestling" breather/sleeper match so that the crowd can get its wind back after MITB.

3) Grudge Match
Randy Orton def. Edge [approx. time > 0:01:00]
I could've sworn that this is where they were headed in real life, but then everyone got cold feet when Edge injured his jaw... or at least that's what I vaguely recall. That's why they got thrown into MITB in real life, right? And that's why Edge got written out of the MITB... right? Heading into this, it seemed like Rated RKO was on the path to implosion. Let's push that a little harder. Both are heel, but Randy is leaning more face... maybe simply because Edge plays such a good slimy heel. Instead of being pussies about it, do the opposite with Edge's jaw injury... play it up and work it into the feud/match. Have Edge terrified of the RKO or punt because of the ramifications either could have on his injured jaw. But then, to keep both of their heel heat, make it all a Vince Russo SWERVE!!~!! Bell rings, Orton and Edge go toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring... butting heads, talking trash, etc. and THEN?! Edge lays down, and Orton puts his boot on Edge's chest for the 1-2-3. In a post-match backstage interview, Rated RKO explains themselves: To protect his jaw from further injury as the result of an RKO or punt, and to reunite Rated RKO, Edge agreed to lay down. Something... I dunno. I'm sure it'd piss people off; so, therefore, it'd accomplish it's mission of keeping Edge and Orton as red hot heels headed into the Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Championship at Backlash.

4) 8-Man "Extreme Rules" Tag Team Match
The ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and the Sandman) def. The New Breed (Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von, Mike Knox, and Kevin Thorn) [approx. time > 0:04:00]
I'd keep this match more or less the same as in real life... just change some of the players, and shorten it to tighten it up. I'd add the "Extreme Rules" stip since this is ECW's showcase match. Matt Striker, as the co-leader of the New Breed, eats the pinfall because I'd actually have some interest in keeping the rest of the guys on the New Breed's team somewhat strong and protected. Van Dam and Sabu would bust out and run through their signature steel chair spots, and Dreamer and Sandman would whip 'em into oblivion with Singapore canes. Quick, fun little highlight reel match with the faces going over to make the crowd happy and get them back after possibly losing them or pissing them off too much with the last match. This is the swansong for any remnant of the ol' ECW though. Coming out of 'Mania, the brand really starts to transition into WWECW. This quick, total, and utterly embarrassing defeat would probably lead to the dissolution of the New Breed at least. In fact, I'm picturing the ECW Originals having their moment... maybe a little Sandman-led beer bash and bow. Then, after the ECW Originals have left the ring, have Brown/Knox/Thorn take turns hitting their finishers on poor, pathetic Striker. Striker transitions into a non-wrestling role after this when he returns to TV.

5) Singles Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
The Undertaker def. Batista (c) [approx. time > 0:15:00]
I'd keep this match the same. I liked it and what it set up post-'Mania. In an alternate, alternate universe... I might've gone with Cena/Batista and 'Taker/HBK at this 'Mania. Who knows!?

**********
To give the crowd some space to breathe between two main events... do the HOF presentation here, maybe that dancing backstage skit, etc. Weren't they trying to emulate the Hogan/Andre body slam moment 20 years ago with the Kane/Khali match? I don't think they needed a match to reproduce that moment. Maybe have Eugene and Jim Duggan come out to honor the HOF inductees or something? Just get them in the ring... only to be interrupted by Daivari, who's leading the Great Khali out to the ring. Khali brain chops Eugene and Duggan into oblivion, prompting --SURPRISE!-- Hulk Hogan comes out with the finger pointing... YOUUUU!!! Hogan gets in the ring; Khali goes for a brain chop; Hogan blocks; 3 punches knock Khali back into the ropes; Khali rebounds into a big boot... the Punjabi Giant is staggered and vulnerable... and WHAT!?!? Hogan picks Khali up and body slams him in a picture perfect recreation of that hideous body slam from the Silverdome. Hogan and Eugue have a posedown while Duggan waves Old Glory around behind them.
**********

6) "Battle of the Billionaires" Hair vs. Hair Match (w/ "Special Guest Referee" Stone Cold Steve Austin)
Bobby Lashley (w/ Donald Trump) def. Umaga (w/ Vince McMahon & Alejandro Armando Estrada) [approx. time > 0:10:00]
I'd keep this match the same too. The only things I'd really change are in the build-up. I don't think I'd have Lashley ever go to ECW. I'd just build him up and do his super push on SmackDown!, and he would've had one helluva US Title reign... which would've only ended after interference from Umaga (maybe at No Way Out?). In turn, Lashley costs Umaga the IC Title. I debated having this be IC Champ vs. US Champ on top of everything else, but it seemed a little overkill... and it wouldn't leave me with a very good reason to keep Benoit/MVP on the card in a one-on-one match. I just realized this would mean Lashley (as a face) drops to a face Benoit. Maybe Lashley drops to Finlay instead, and then spooky interference from the Boogeyman causes Finlay to drop it to Benoit on the road to 'Mania. I dunno... whatever, fuck it.

7) Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Elimination Match for the Unified Tag Team Championship
The Hooliganz (Brian Kendrick & Paul London) (c) def. The Redneck Wrecking Crew (Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch), MNM (Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury), and the Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt) to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship [approx. time > 0:15:00]
Instead of waiting to do this in a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, I'm pulling the trigger now in a fun match that is nevertheless ultimately kind of a breather. The Hooliganz, with the longest tag team title reign in WWE history, don't even get on the card... and it's kinda dumb to keep the other set of tag titles tied up on Cena/Michaels. So this is the fix I propose. Maybe have Rated RKO or even Undertaker/Batista cost Cena/Michaels their tag titles on the road to 'Mania... or hell, have either Cena or Michaels cost their own team the titles by screwing the other guy. I dunno. Long story short, I always was a mark for Cade & Murdoch... so I'd have them be the heel tag team that picks up the titles on RAW (if you really dislike this, feel free to replace them with the World's Greatest Tag Team). Meanwhile, the Hooliganz have made history on SmackDown! by setting the record for longest WWE Tag Team Championship reign. They make a claim of being the best tag team/greatest tag team champions, etc. Newly crowned champs Cade & Murdoch take exception to this. And a match is made to unify the tag titles. The unified champs will defend on all brands. Despite being split between RAW and SmackDown!, MNM and the Hardy Boyz have been on-and-off feuding with each other over the past few months. They get inserted into this after they each get a final title shot at No Way Out, but ultimately cost each other... actually, some miscommunications between Nitro and Mercury cost MNM their match against the Hooliganz. Pissed that they lost, MNM certainly can't let the Hardyz win their match and go on to face the Hooliganz at 'Mania... so MNM runs in during Hardyz/Redneck Wrecking Crew. Long story short, this mess gets turned into a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Elimination Match at 'Mania. The Hardyz avenge the run-in at No Way Out by eliminating MNM. Pissed, MNM attacks the Hardyz after being eliminated, making the Hardyz an easy elimination for the Redneck Wrecking Crew. The Hooliganz eliminate the Rednecks to unify the titles. Post-'Mania, we get the real final blow-offs. The Hardyz want a shot at the Hooliganz for the unified titles... feeling they were kinda screwed again by MNM... and they also want final vengeance on MNM. MNM wants to get rid of the Hardz once and for all, and also leverage themselves into place for a title shot. MNM/Hardyz: The Final Chapter is booked... winners gets the title shot; losers can't tag again... EVER! Hardyz go over so that I can fire Mercury only a month later than in real life.

8) Lumberjill Match for the Women's Championship
Melina (c) def. Mickie James [approx. time > 0:07:00]
Instead of the shitastic match featuring the latest Playboy-posing Diva, give Mickie the spot and a chance to have another solid Divas match at 'Mania. I'd set this up like: Melina wins the title off Mickie after harassing her for weeks... Mickie exercises her rematch clause against a reluctant Melina, and Melina gets herself DQ'd with a shot to the face with the title belt. Melina forces Mickie to earn another rematch, which Micke does... only for Melina to get herself counted out this time. Between this and Melina treating every other Diva like they're beneath her, this all sets up the Lumberjill stipulation in a way that has more reason behind it than simply getting more tits and asses on PPV. When finally forced to actually defend her title against Mickie, Melina manages to pull it off... of course, not without some dirty tactics.

9) Singles Match for the WWE Championship
John Cena (c) def. Shawn Michaels [approx. time > 0:23:00]
I'd keep this match as it was, but shorten it by about 5 minutes... partly because a half-hour is a looong time for any match to go, and partly to make their RAW broadway stand out in comparison. Again, in some alternate-alternate rebooked WWE Universe, I probably try to do something like blow my load on an early WrestleMania XXV by giving away Cena/Batista and Undertaker/HBK here so that I can feasibly work toward Cena/Undertaker while both men can still go and when it would really mean something.

Actual in-ring time: 1:48:02
My in-ring time: 1:50:00

...

WHEW!

Page 2 is working now!

@Peepshow said:

WrestleMania 27 seems to be a big candidate for a re-book, I think most people have covered the mistakes of Christians role, Randy Orton v Cena instead of Miz ect so I am going with 25:

WWE Championship
No Holds Barred
Triple H (c) v Randy Orton
I have no problem with them re-matching them two as the build up was excellent, its just the match I would change and have them have the match involving Legacy, the McMahons ect, all out war. You can also do Batistas return which tips the scales to Triple H.
Winner: Triple H

The Streak
Undertaker v Shawn Michaels
Winner: Undertaker

WHC
Ladder Match
Edge (c) v Jeff Hardy v Christian
Christian comes from ECW to clear his name from being linked to those Jeff Hardy attacks, Edge attacks, Christian keeps getting involved with Edge, Matt Hardy hasnt turned at this point, Edge wins the Rumble Match v Hardy via Big Show interfearence instead, culminating with this. Long term plan is CM Punk was responsible for the attacks out of jelousy of Jeffs status in the company whilst 'living in the moment' ect.
Winner: Jeff Hardy

IC Title
CM Punk (c) v Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio

MITB
Kane v Kofi v MVP v Shelton Benjamin v Matt Hardy v Mark Henry
Winner: Kofi Kingston

Diva Battle Royale
No Santino/Santina
Winner: Kelly Kelly

Chris Jericho v Ricky Steamboat.

...

@spaldoni said:

I'm going to try Wrestlemania 10. Here goes,

Yokozuna vs Lex Luger- World Title Cage Match
Bret Hart vs Owen Hart
Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon- IC Ladder Match
Quebecers vs Smoking Gunns- Tag Title Match
Randy Savage vs Jerry Lawler- Falls Count Anywhere, why not let them do it one last time for old times sake
Earthquake vs Crush
Rick Martel/Jeff Jarrett vs Heavenly Bodies- fun heel vs heel match
Tatanka vs Bam Bam Bigelow
Alundra Blaze vs Luna Vachon- Womans title match
Bob Backlund vs 123 Kid- Backlund snaps here. What better place than the Garden at Wrestlemania
Pre Show Battle Royal with Adam Bomb winning

...

JohnnyPresley21 said:

As always WM X8


WWF Title:
Stone Cold Steve Austin(C) .Vs Triple H

Hollywood Hulk Hogan .Vs The Rock

WWF Tag Team Titles-TLC-"The Finale Encounter"
Edge and Christian(C) .Vs The Hardy Boyz .Vs The Dudley Boyz

Kurt Angle .Vs Mr.Perfect

No Holds Barred:
Ric Flair .Vs The Undertaker

IC Title:
Rob Van Dam(C) .Vs Chris Jericho

The Outsiders .Vs A.P.A

European Title:
Diamond Dallas Page(C) .Vs Booker T

Big Show .Vs Kane

Women's Title:
Jazz(C) .Vs Trish Stratus .Vs Lita

- - - Updated - - -

Here's another one for WM IX


WWF Title:
Bret "Hitman" Hart(C) .Vs Hulk Hogan

IC Title:
Shawn Michaels(C) .Vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage

The Undertaker .Vs Yokozuna

WWF Tag Team Titles:
Money Inc(C) .Vs The Steiner Brothers

Mr.Perfect .Vs Razor Ramon

Lex Luger .Vs Crush

Bob Backlund .Vs Doink the Clown

The Smokin' Gunns .Vs The Headshrikers

...

@thedude said:

Wrestlemania 27

WWE Championship
CM Punk vs John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge vs Christian

Undertaker vs Triple H

Intercontinental Championship
Wade Barrett vs Kofi Kingston

Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show

The Miz vs Rey Mysterio

Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton

United States Championship
Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania V



This would not be held in Atlantic City. That crowd was shit and they should have learned that from the previous year. Also, no Run DMC rap and wasting 20 minutes on a shit Piper’s Pit.

The Brain Busters* (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) with Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan vs. The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)
These guys were having good matches pretty much all the way up to Mania and then didn’t face each other on the big show. It just didn’t make sense. This was the perfect place to end their series with Arn & Tully picking up the win as they are on their way to being tag champs in the future.

Tito Santana* vs. Rick Martel
I would’ve had Martel reform Strike Force when he returned in January 1989 and have the Brain Busters/Strike Force match and team split at the Rumble, setting up this grudge match for Mania.

WWF TAG TAG CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Demolition* (Ax & Smash) [Champions] vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem & The Big Boss Man) with Slick
These guys were going to work together after The Powers of Pain feud and produced better matches, as while The Towers were big men they could also move well and make the champs look good. So I’d have the Demo/PoP feud, which started with the face-heel swap at Survivor Series, end at the Royal Rumble. Demolition could not get good matches out of the PoP so it was better to get that feud out of the way quickly as it was only good for turning Ax & Smash face.

Mr. Perfect* vs. The Blue Blazer
I would have given them a little longer but not much as I liked this being a sprint. Perfect wins, continuing his unbeaten run.

‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase with André the Giant and Virgil vs. Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts*
I would’ve kept André on DiBiase’s payroll as an enforcer and occasional tag team partner. André was beyond singles matches at this point. Ted and Jake can work a nice little match with Virgil and André interfering and work in the Giant fearing the snake, which would have been involved in the build. Jake picks up the pin after the DDT but is attacked post-match. This would have been a far better way to reintroduce Piper, rather than the awful Pit segment, with the Rowdy One helping to even the odds.

The Hart Foundation* [Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart & Jim ‘the Anvil’ Neidhart] vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus [Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau] with ‘The Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart
These guys were having good matches pretty much all the way up to Mania and then didn’t face each other on the big show. Wait! Haven’t we read this before? Just like the Brain Busters/Rockers, it makes no sense as to why this match was not on the card.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Ultimate Warrior [Champion] vs. ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude* with Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan
No need to change anything about this. Rude made Warrior look great and becomes the IC champion with help from Brain.

WWF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Rockin’ Robin* [Champion] vs. Sensational Sherri
Sherri deserved a Mania match and these two could work a fun, short one. Plus, it keeps Robin from singing “America the Beautiful”.

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage [Champion] vs. Hulk Hogan*
with Miss Elizabeth in a neutral corner
Nothing to change here. It would come across even better with a superior crowd.

Looking at the card here, this could have been a truly great WrestleMania. Instead it was one of the worst with too many matches that had too little time.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania VIII



WrestleMania VIII took place at the Hoosier Dome on April 5th 1992 in front of over 62,000 people. People who deserved a better card. So that's what I'm going to give them.

New Foundation* (Jim 'the Anvil' Neidhart and 'The Rocket' Owen Hart) vs. Orient Express (Kato and Tanaka) with Mr. Fuji
Owen and Neidhart opened the Royal Rumble against Tanaka and Kato with a good match. I would have that match open Mania instead.

Sid Justice vs. The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer
I would’ve had the Rumble match go exactly as it did but have Justice and Hogan make up afterwards with Justice staying face. He and Taker could've had a short brawl, where Justice eventually loses his head at his inability to put Taker away and gets disqualified for a chair shot. Taker looks strong for sitting up from the chair shot in typical style and Sid is eventually calmed down backstage, but has shown a heelish side...

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper [Champion] vs. Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart*
I would change nothing about this from the pre-match interview until Piper placing the belt around Hart’s waist. One of the best WrestleMania matches.

‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels* vs. Marty Jannetty
Michaels had turned on Jannetty in the famous Barber Shop segment and they were set to meet at Mania, before Jannetty ended up getting himself put under house arrest. I’m letting myself have this though. They could’ve produced an excellent, fast-paced match, where the heel Michaels uses underhanded tactics to get the win, launching his singles push.

'NO DISQUALIFICATIONS, LOSER LEAVES WWF' MATCH
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage* vs. Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts
A feud that deserved a Mania blow-off. After the snake bite and the events of Tuesday in Texas, this would be an out-of-control, wild brawl. Jake was going to be leaving anyway and their feud was so personal that a Loser Leaves stipulation fits perfectly.

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Money Inc. ('Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) [Champions] with 'Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart vs. Legion of Doom* (Animal and Hawk) with Paul Ellering
It was ridiculous that L.O.D. only did an interview at the show. I would’ve had them regain the tag titles.

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair* [Champion] vs. Hulk Hogan
Ignoring Sid’s contract clause or whatever, this should’ve been the main event. I would’ve loved to hear ‘The Brain’ during this one. I would have Hogan closing in on victory but have a ref bump, followed by Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (both obviously would’ve required signing) attacking Hogan. I’d have Hogan fight them off and hit Flair with the boot and the leg drop but there is still no ref. Arn and Tully would attempt to attack Hogan again, but Sid would come down with the chair to help him out and they’d chase them off. Sid would then betray Hogan with a chair shot and a powerbomb, allowing Flair to pick up the win when the ref recovered. Hogan was off to make movies, so now the Four Horsemen (Flair, Sid, Arn and Tully) would rule the Federation.

That might only be 7 matches, but the actual event only managed 9 (with Bulldog/Berzerker cut due to time constraints) and 1 of those was less than 2 minutes. Tatanka/Martel, a pretty nothing match that continued Tatanka's push, could possibly be added just before the main event as a breather for the fans.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania IX



WrestleMania IX was the moment to push the WWF into the New Generation era. That is the basic idea behind my card.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels* [Champion] vs. Marty Jannetty
I had this on my rebooked Mania VIII card as well. In real life, Marty messed up the chance for a Mania VIII match by getting himself put under house arrest and talk is he was fired for being drunk during their Rumble 1993 match, causing another Mania match to not occur. Michaels would go over here, solidifying him as the IC champ and as a future star.

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Headshrinkers [Champions] with Afa vs. The Steiner Brothers*
I would have had the Samoans become the tag champs in late 1992 as opposed to Money Inc. The match that took place at Mania was fun enough. With the titles on the line, they may have done even more to try to impress. The Steiners win to become the faces of the tag division.

Bam Bam Bigelow* vs. ‘The Rocket’ Owen Hart
I thought about putting Lawler here instead of Bam Bam, but I prefer the idea of giving Bam Bam this match and having Lawler’s in-ring debut the next night on RAW (as happened in reality). The WWF really did not use Owen anywhere near enough as this time. They really did not seem to rate Owen to the point that I remember reading in Bret's book that they originally suggested that Bruce be the brother that Bret feuded with in 1994. After thinking of this match, I looked to see if they worked together and they actually had a fun match on Superstars 2 weeks after Mania. They should have had that match at the big show.

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. Doink the Clown
Evil Doink had serious potential with Matt Borne behind the wheel. His character was great and he could work, as his matches with Bret, Perfect and Jannetty testify. He could try to play mind games with Taker leading up to a match, where Taker would pick up the win.

Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna* with Mr. Fuji
Yokozuna would be squashing everybody and looking unstoppable. Hogan would return as the American hero who was out to stop the evil foreigner from terrorising the Federation. Have it work out similar to the KOTR match but without the photographer. Have Yoko kickout of the leg drop, then have Hulk unsuccessfully attempt to slam Yoko (putting over this feat and leaving it for someone later down the line), then have Fuji use the salt, allowing Yoko to hit the leg drop for the win. Post-match Banzai drop with Yoko “squashing Hulkamania”. Hogan puts over a new monster heel in a huge way.

Razor Ramon* vs. Tatanka
By this point it was known Tatanka was not going to be a big star and he had an unbeaten streak to use. It was wasted on Ludvig Borga later on in 93. I’d have Razor (who would not have had a title match at the Rumble in this rebooked universe) talk up how he was going to be the first man to defeat Tatanka and then do so at Mania. A big win for him and Tatanka would still be a good midcard guy.

‘LOSER LEAVES WWF’ MATCH
‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect*
This is cheating, but I’m going to say that Flair was convinced to extend his stay by two months to get the end of his Perfect angle at Mania. Hopefully, being at Mania, they'd produce a better match than their underwhelming one from RAw

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage [Champion] vs. Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart*
I would not have Savage lose the belt to Flair and instead have a second year-long reign with Bret winning the Rumble. These two could have had one of the great Mania main events with Savage eventually succumbing to the Sharpshooter. He would place the belt on Bret, much like Piper did with the IC belt at the previous Mania, putting him over as the new face of the WWF and Bret would go on a long title reign.

If Flair could not have been convinced to extend his contract, then I'd have introduced Lawler sooner (he was with the company from December 1992) and he could work a program with Perfect.

So looking to the future after the event, we have newly established guys in Bam Bam, Razor, Doink, Lawler (who would be debuted in the ring after Mania) and Yoko to join HBK on the heel side of things. Diesel as well would be joining soon. These guys could work with Bret, Savage (who can continue as an elder statesman, giving rubs to the younger talent), Taker, Perfect (who was kind of tweener-ish in that he would still break the rules) and Tatanka. Bret would do his fightingest champion shtick and could have great face-face matches with Perfect and rematches with Randy as well as working with the heels. Luger (with his Narcissist gimmick never existing) could be introduced as a face as well, but not the Lex Express or mega push. With 1-2-3 Kid soon debuting, he, Owen and Marty could tear it up on the undercards, sometimes in tag matches. Raven was brought in later in 1993 as Johnny Polo and should’ve had good matches with these guys on the undercard. Just need some more tag teams, such as the Heavenly Bodies and Quebecers (who did join later in 1993), to join the Steiners and the Headshrinkers.

The WWF had some great stuff in 1993 but some awful stuff as well. The ratio of good-to-bad could have been far better. I would not have introduced any of Giant Gonzalez, Men on a Mission, Adam Bomb, Ludwig Borga, Bastion Booger or Damian Demento.

----------------------------------------------------------------

After a WrestleMania like I booked, they could have built towards a SummerSlam card like this:
WWF Title: Bret (Champion) vs. Lawler – Lawler’s feud with the Hart family was so much fun.
Yoko with Fuji vs. Taker with Paul Bearer – Taker working with a big man was the standard around this time and he could have a fun match with Yoko, who could move and timed his bumps brilliantly.
IC Title: HBK (Champion) with Diesel vs. Savage – working with a legend would get HBK over as a future star even more and Diesel playing a part helps him out too.
Tag Titles: Steiners (Champions) vs. Heavenly Bodies – had a good match at SummerSlam, the Bodies should have won the titles.
Perfect vs. Doink – they showed in their KOTR qualifier that they could have a very good match.
Luger vs. Bam Bam – Bigelow is an agile big man with bumping ability and can make Lex look good.
Razor vs. 1-2-3 Kid – this great angle deserved a PPV blowoff.
Headshrinkers vs. Jannetty/Owen – could easily produce a fun tag.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania XI



WrestleMania XI came at a time when the WWF roster was weak. However, they still didn't utilise the talent fully in my opinion.

Hakushi* with Shinja vs. 1-2-3 Kid
Hakushi had recently debuted and an exciting, high-flying match with the 1-2-3 Kid would've been a great way to open the show and give this new character mainstream exposure.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Razor Ramon [Champion] vs. 'Double J' Jeff Jarrett* with The Roadie
In this rebooked universe, I'd have their Rumble match happen here.

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. Bam Bam Bigelow with 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase
Since Undertaker was feuding with the Million Dollar Corporation and I don't want an American footballer in the main event, I would book him against the best worker from that faction, Bam Bam.

British Bulldog* vs. Owen Hart
I'd have this feud stem from Bulldog knocking himself out on the steps at Survivor Series and Owen faking concern to influence his mother to throw in the towel on Bret. It seemed so obvious, I am amazed it never happened. With these two in the ring, a great match would be expected.

WWF WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Bull Nakano [Champion] vs. Alundra Blayze*
They had a fun match the night after on RAW. They should've had it at Mania.

'Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels* vs. Sycho Sid
When Sid returned I'd have him turn Michaels face by viciously attacking him, setting up a match. Michaels bouncing around for Sid was always fun.

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Bret 'Hit Man' Hart [Champion] vs. Diesel*
I would've had the crazed Backlund keep the belt until the Rumble where Bret would regain his title. Diesel would've stayed heel, as having Diesel, Bret, HBK and Taker all as faces was a mistake by the WWF. I'd have Diesel win the Rumble and face Hart. These two always worked great together and I feel they would've produced an excellent WrestleMania main event, with Diesel winning the title for the first time and having Bret, HBK, Taker, Razor and Bulldog all to work with.

I've chosen not to include a tag match, although the Smoking Gunns against Kid/Holly, after Kid returns following the injury angle they did in January, could have worked instead of Kid/Hakushi. Luger and Yoko are the two big names I haven't managed to find a spot for on the card.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania XV



This Mania was terrible. Russo was all over this. In the build, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg each won the title the other was chasing, meaning they were no longer against the men they were feuding with. Swerve~! Tag contenders decided by a battle royal earlier in the night, with the two men fighting after the match, leading to... nothing. Commissioner HBK removing Vince as ref for the main event only to give away his run-in by saying no one from the Corporation would be allowed at ringside, but maybe he’d let Vince come down.

People might long for a return to the Attitude era but, outwith the main event scene, the in-ring work was probably the weakest in company history. All a wrestler needed to do then was say their catchphrase before a match and hit a couple of signature moves and the fans were happy.

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart* [Champions] with Debra vs. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James and Badd Ass Billy Gunn)
The Outlaws were over big and since the WWF had so few tag teams at the time, splitting them was a mistake. Then again the entire idea to push Billy Gunn was a mistake. Roadie carried the team. The Outlaws coming out first would have gotten the crowd going right off the bat. Anyways, this could be a win that at least gives Jarrett and Owen a chance to get over properly as a team. The crowd would probably still only care about Debra.

WWF HARDCORE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Hardcore Holly* [Champion] vs. Al Snow
These hardcore titles matches were fun enough at the time, but forgettable as soon as they were over. They batter each other with weapons and Holly would get the win, cementing his new Hardcore persona.

The Acolytes* (Bradshaw and Faarooq) vs. The Brood (Edge and Christian) with Gangrel
The feud with the Brood and the Ministry was too quick, with the Brood joining them almost as soon as it started. I would’ve had the feud begin earlier than it did and end here. This could’ve been a fun enough match with the power guys against the young high-flyers, who come up just short. Then Mideon and Viscera could’ve appeared to assist in taking the Brood away, leading to them joining the Ministry.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Val Venis [Champion] with Ryan Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock*
Storyline was simple. Val is shagging Ken’s wee sister and older brother don’t like it. No reason for Goldust to get involved. Not saying this would be that good, but it would be better than the throwaway four-way we got.

Triple H* with Chyna vs. X-Pac
I’d have Triple H and Chyna turn on DX around Royal Rumble time, setting up a grudge match between these two former friends. Helmsley would get the win to start his push towards main event heel status.

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. Kane
Undertaker and his Ministry were going after McMahon, his Corporation and his family. Vince should’ve turned to the Deadman’s brother, Kane. I’m not really booking this for match quality, as the only Taker/Kane match I like is Mania XIV, which is more down to Kane’s booking at the time as an unstoppable monster. Plus Ministry Taker, while a great character, didn’t really produce great matches. But at least this would’ve made sense. Pitting the Boss Man against him was a terrible decision, made even worse by making it a Cell match. Taker would pick up the win.

‘LAST MAN STANDING’ MATCH
for the WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Rock [Champion] vs. Mankind*
Around this time Mick was starting to break down but his feud with Rocky was lots of fun. After screwing him at the Rumble in the ‘I Quit’ match, I’d have Rocky avoid Mankind but eventually have to face him in a Last Man Standing match (explained below). Mankind would win at the end of a brutal war, going home from the big event with the big strap.

Stone Cold Steve Austin* vs. Mr. McMahon
The defining feud of the era. Austin had his big title win the year before, so I don’t feel bad not putting him in the title match. The Rumble match would go down exactly as it did. McMahon would give up the Mania spot, without realising it would be given to the runner up Austin. In his desperation to keep Austin away from the title, McMahon would propose a match with Austin at Mania, where if Austin loses then he never gets a title shot ever again. Austin can’t resist the chance to get his hands on Vince with no repercussions and agrees to it, but only with certain stipulations. Nobody can interfere during the match and he gets to pick whom his #1 contender spot goes to, with them selecting the title match type. He picks Mankind, who has not been given a rematch since being screwed out of the title at the Rumble. I know that sounds a bit Russorific but it is the best way I can see to get both matches on the card. Vince would come out first before Austin makes his way to the ring. Just before getting in the ring and before the bell rings, Austin gets attacked by a debuting Paul Wight, who destroys Stone Cold, throwing him into the ring steps on multiple occassions and flattening him with a chokeslam through the announce table. Now the match officially begins and Vince is all cocky, taunting Austin. Obviously Austin would get the upperhand eventually, administer a serious beating to Vince and Mania would end with a Stunner and beers with McMahon on his back in the ring.

I don’t think this would be a great WrestleMania, but I think this is about as good as could’ve been produced around this time. I guess I should add Sable coming out and talking about her Playboy shoot and how great she is or something. Triple H gets a nice start to his heel push. Mankind gets a huge moment of winning the title at WM. Big Show gets a highly impactful debut, which should’ve led to a long dominant streak, and we get an iconic moment of Austin defeating Vince at Mania.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania 2000


Obviously this WrestleMania was seriously hurt by the injuries to Austin and Taker. Foley should’ve been left alone after No Way Out. That was a great moment ruined by bringing him back.

WWF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Dean Malenko* [Champion] vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
They would have their Backlash match here.

Kurt Angle vs. Tazz*
After the unclear nature as to whether Tazz had ended Angle’s undefeated streak or not, it seemed logical they would meet at Mania to resolve it.

WWF HARDCORE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Crash Holly [Champion] vs. Hardcore Holly*
I would’ve had the 24/7 rule suspended for the day of WrestleMania. Crash would come in exhausted due to having to always be on guard leading up to Mania. He would put in a good effort, but be defeated by his cousin.

WWF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Eddie Guerrero* [Champion] vs. Perry Saturn
I’d have Eddie, rather than Angle, win the European Title. With Malenko and Guerrero holding titles and Benoit chasing the IC Title, Saturn would get envious and offer a friendly challenge to his fellow Radical, creating some tension within the group. Guerrero would retain.

‘TRIANGLE TAG TEAM LADDER’ MATCH
for the WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) [Champions] vs. Edge and Christian* vs. Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt Hardy)
Definitely the best match on the actual show. No need to change anything.

Big Show* vs. Rikishi
Both men were over at the time and a battle of the big men would give the show something different.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Chris Jericho [Champion] vs. Chris Benoit*
The two-fall triple-threat match was actually incredibly underwhelming. This would’ve been a lot better and I’d have Benoit take the title.

‘STEEL CAGE’ MATCH
Kane* vs. X-Pac with Tori
Cage matches should end a feud. I don’t understand why these two had their cage match so early on. Kane would get his revenge.

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Triple H [Champion] with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. The Rock*
The Rock never got his WWF Title victory in the main event of WrestleMania. This would’ve been it. Although, over time, I'm enjoying the idea of Triple H retaining here more and more.

Chyna being left out would've seemed weird at the time, as she was over, but I was never a fan so I've left her out.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania XX



I remember being incredibly excited throughout the year for WrestleMania XX. WrestleMania XIX had been excellent and the 20th edition was going to be returning to Madison Square Garden. The show was going to be 5 hours long, giving it enough time for plenty of long matches, and the roster was stacked. Like the others I have put in this thread, I am creating the card as I would have done at the time. So I’m not worried about spoiling the Rock/Cena dream match or giving Benoit the belt. I also wouldn't use that stupid tagline "Where It All Begins... Again".

Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero*
I wanted a great 20-minute wrestling match that could open the show, similar to Bret/Owen from ten years before. They could have had a similar match to the one they did have for the title at WM XX.

WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Booker T and Rob Van Dam* [Champions] vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
The tag scene was terrible at this time, but one of the tag belts should definitely be on the card. I feel this could have been a passable 5-minute match and better than the four-way we got.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Chris Jericho [Champion] vs. Christian*
These two were always capable of putting on at least a solid match. They didn’t need the Trish storyline, just a classic friends turned enemies feud. Christian would take the belt.

WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Ultimo Dragon [Champion] vs. Rey Mysterio*
The cruiserweight clusterfuck was a joke but I can understand both it and the two four-way tags, as it gets more people on the cards and gets them WrestleMania bonuses. The only other option instead of Dragon/Rey would’ve been to replace Ultimo with heel Chavo accompanied by Chavo Sr. However, I wanted to see this. They had an all-time classic together 8 years previously at World War 3 in WCW and while Ultimo wasn’t near the same performer, I feel he and Rey could’ve put on a great little match. Ultimo should’ve won the title early after joining the company with them playing up his history. He would then dominate the division, leading to the Rey match at Mania. That way Ultimo could have left the WWE having accomplished his dream of working ‘Mania and MSG, along with having had a great match, and Rey would’ve gotten a win over a junior legend on a big stage.

‘STREET FIGHT’
Randy Orton* vs. Cactus Jack
We got this match at Backlash but I wanted it at 'Mania. I would have had Mick cost Orton the IC strap to Y2J before WM as I want the IC title defended at the biggest show of the year, plus if it was on the line here it would have made the winner too obvious. It would definitely have to be Cactus rather than Mick and this would have been (as it turned out to be a month later) a huge win for Orton. Mick as always was very happy to put a youngster over.

HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2004
Stone Cold Steve Austin, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Harley Race, Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat, ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase and Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan
I felt that the HOF inductees at WM XX were not as strong a selection as they should have been. Stone Cold’s in-ring career finished at WM XIX and while this may have seemed a bit early for some, it would have given a nice finality to his in-ring career. He needed to be on the show. Piper is one of the great heels in WWF history and headlined the first WM. Race is one of the great NWA champions and performed at the biggest show ever, WrestleMania III, where Steamboat had one of the all-time great matches. DiBiase main evented WM IV and Heenan is one of the greatest managers, commentators and wrestling personalities ever. It would have been a lineup befitting the occasion.

Hulk Hogan vs. ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair*
Bear in mind that this card assumes me getting to book for a number of months before the specific ‘Mania, therefore my rebooked WM VIII main event didn’t happen. Hogan would have returned as the “biggest star of all time”. Flair would come out and claim that while Hogan might be the biggest, Flair is the “greatest wrestler of all time” and wants to prove it on the biggest stage. This would lead to a battle of the legends. They could have easily put on a really fun, shortish, legends match that the MSG crowd would’ve been into, with Flair managing to steal victory, giving him his first ever WM win.

The Rock vs. John Cena*
I remember thinking this match would be a great idea at the time. It is amazing how big Cena has become since then and that these two main evented 8 years later. At this time, Cena was still doing his rapper gimmick and I thought he and Rock could have had fun promos, leading to a match where Rock would give the younger man the rub.

WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Trish Stratus [Champion] vs. Lita*
The two most popular female wrestlers of the era would’ve been the perfect women’s match for this showcase event. Have Trish turn heel and take the title, be it at Survivor Series or Royal Rumble. The crowd would’ve cared for this and they could’ve worked a nice little match. They had the history going back to the T&A and Hardy Boyz days.

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. Goldberg
Goldberg would move to SmackDown!, attack Taker, put him out of action and run through a string of people to show him as a dominant force. He talks of himself as the master of the streak and says Taker will be a coward if he doesn’t put his WM streak on the line against him. Old school Taker returns and they have a hard hitting, back-and-forth match. Definitely would have been better than Taker/Kane and is another huge name to add to the streak.

“THE FINAL ENCOUNTER”
‘LADDER’ MATCH
for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Triple H* [Champion] vs. ‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels
I feel this may have been a great way to end their feud (and it should’ve ended here). A ladder match at MSG, 10 years after HBK had the first ever ladder match in WWE history (well they usually acknowledge it as such). They could have played up the ten years on thing and whether or not HBK would fall short again, which he ultimately would cleanly without interference from Evolution.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Brock Lesnar [Champion] vs. Chris Benoit*
With Heyman doing all he could to stop Benoit getting the title and Benoit's only way of getting his shot being winning the Rumble from number 1, it made sense for him to go after Lesnar and win the title on SmackDown!, overcoming all the odds. I think this match would have been amazing, obviously ending with the Crossface. While not quite as great a moment as both Eddie and Benoit in the ring with the titles, Eddie coming out to congratulate his friend at finally winning the world title, perhaps along with Dean Malenko and others, would have still been a fine moment. This could have led to a feud between two friends over the title to see who was the best. Eddie would get more and more annoyed at Benoit being just too good for him, leading to a heel turn and title reign. Also if the news of Lesnar leaving had leaked like it did (they may have tried harder to prevent it leaking, with him being the main event), who knows how it would have affected the main event.

While WM XX was a good enough show I don't feel it was as great as it could have been. I think the card I have presented here would have been a better show overall and worthy of the year-long hype that the show received. I guess Kane and Big Show could have a battle of the giants for the US Title on the pre-show or something. I understand it looks like there are a lot of matches needing time on the card and that’s true. But with the rough lengths I’d want the matches to go, the ring time would only be about 20 minutes longer than the actual show’s ring time, which could be made up from there being less entrances (as there are less people on the card) and shortening the promo packages a bit. It could be made to fit.

...

Baker said:

I have nothing better to do so I might as well give WM IX a try.

I'd make some pretty radical booking changes over the latter part of 1992 into 1993. Flair doesn't randomly drop the strap to midcarder Bret Hart in October. Naitch remains champ going into Survivor Series. SS plays out the same way with Mr. Perfect turning on Flair to team with Savage. HBK successfully defends the IC belt against somebody like Tito. Bret beats Da Mountie in a midcard match. Flair/Perfect is the big feud to close out 1992.

Perfect beats Flair for the belt at Royal Rumble. Then beats him again in a Raw rematch with "Title vs. Loser Leaves Town" stipulations. Bret gets an early draw but manages to win the Rumble, last eliminating the mighty Yokozuna.

Beefcake returns in early 1993. Yoko squashes his surgically repaired face. This leads to Hogan coming out of retirement to take on the big man. Perfect/Bret is your WM IX main event with the story being this match is representative of the more athletic "New Generation" style of wrestling. Most everything else remains the same.

Wrestlemania IX

WWF Title Match- Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
-Bret wins a match similar to KOTR 93. Maybe draw it out five more minutes or so.

Time permitting filler match to get guys on the card- Bigelow/Headshrinkers vs. Kamala/Duggan/Bushwhackers

-Doesn't really matter what goofy collection of babyfaces get this match. The heels go over strong.

Grudge Match- Hulk Hogan w/ Brutus Beefcake vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji

-Yoko shocks the world by squashing Hulkamania. Kids are crying. The announcers are apoplectic. Yoko just did what nobody thought was possible. He's now a made man. The match is similar to KOTR 93. You can even keep the photographer interference.

Grudge Match- Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez

-Gonzalez sucked, but he was huge enough that I can see why WWF used him. The young fans of the time (myself included) were into this feud. Taker wins clean to end this feud and send Gonzalez back to Argentina.

IC Title- Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Savage

-Have HBK strut around proclaiming that he's the "Greatest IC Champ of all time." Savage takes exception to this and the match is on. "Macho" was criminally underused during this period. Give 'em 20 minutes and I'm sure this would be considered yet another WM classic for two guys who have a lot of WM classics. HBK retains the title via cheating.

Grudge Match- Doink vs. Crush

-I enjoyed this feud. Keep everything the same.

Grudge Match- Razor Ramon vs. Tatanka

-Work some kind of angle to kick off this feud. Have Razor beat down Tatanka after a hard-fought loss or mess with his head dress or something. Razor was a good jerk heel and Tatanka was a popular babyface. This would have worked. Tatanka wins in about ten minutes to continue his undefeated streak.

Generational Battle- The Narcissist vs. Bob Backlund

-The impressive newcomer Narcissist beats yesterday's news Backlund in a relatively quick match.

Tag Title Match- The Steiners vs. Money Inc.

-The Steiners were hot newcomers widely considered to be the best team in wrestling. I'd put them over the wily heel champs here in a "feel good" WM moment. This should be a good opener to get the crowd pumped. The two teams have a bitter feud over the next couple months.

*I didn't buy Bret as a top guy until he won KOTR. His 1st title reign seemed entirely out of left field to me. He was the first guy I ever viewed as a "midcard world champ." Giving him the Rumble victory and a big WM win over Perfect should correct that.

*Bret vs. Yoko would be the big WWF Title feud throughout the spring. I'd have Yoko go over Bret at KOTR. Narcissist would win KOTR by beating Duggan or Jannetty, Savage and Perfect "clean" with the running forearm of doom. Then he'd turn "Made In The USA" Lex Luger just like in real life, only this time he'd have tons of momentum from the KOTR victory. Lex beats Yoko for the belt at Summerslam. I really think they dropped the ball on Luger. If you want to make a new Hogan, you have to go for it! Luger's push was so half-assed from Summerslam on.

...

@WickedOne said:

I will give Wrestlemania X a try.



WWF Championship
Yokozuna (c) vs Lex Luger – I have always felt there was never a payoff for the Lex Made in the USA face turn. I would have that happen here. Lex kicks out of the drop, slams Yoko, new Champ folks.

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match
Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels - I wouldn’t change a thing.

Bret Hart vs Owen Hart – Wouldn’t change a thing.

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Quebecers (c) vs Rick and Scott Steiner – Steiners win the straps.

Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs Crush No Holds Barred – I think you had to have a blowoff to this feud as it was a big part of the build to mania, I would just change the match type.

#1 Contender for the WWF Tag Team Championship 4 way Elimination Match
Heavenly Bodies vs Men on a Mission vs Headshrinkers vs Bushwackers – Headshrinkers win and the feud with the Steiners is set.

Diesel vs “The Model” Rick Martell - The Diesel push starts here. With no Undertaker Diesel gets to show his stuff on the big stage. Plus, I am a Martell mark.

Bam Bam Bigelow, Jeff Jarrett, and Luna Vachon vs Doink, Sparky Plug, and Dink – Much like the Savage v Crush feud, there had to be a Doink v Bam Bam match on the card.

123 Kid vs IRS – This would be my opener.

...

Baker said:

Now it's time for the least sexy rebooking ever; my Wrestlemania XI!

*This is unsexy for a reason. I've rebooked 1995 in its entirity and don't want to blow my load on this one show. The main storyline I'd change going into this show is LT/Bam Bam. That would be scrapped in favor of LT/Lawler. Lawler would get great heat. People would want to see LT shut the big mouth of the "Burger King." Lawler also knows how to sell something like this. And a Lawler loss in WWF isn't going to hurt anybody. I'd keep Bam Bam strong as a heel.

*Backlund drops the belt to Diesel at Royal Rumble in this universe. It was stupid on WWF's part not to milk Backlund's awesome delusional heel gimmick for a few months longer. Backlund and Owen own WWF TV from November 94 to January 95 in this universe.

Wrestlemania XI

WWF Title Match- Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels

-Keep this the same. Michaels wins the Rumble. Sid. McCarthy and Anderson. Yada yada yada.

Special Celebrity Grudge Match- Jerry Lawler vs. Lawrence Taylor

-Lawler cheats and taunts and pulls out every low down, dirty, old school heel trick in the book, but it's not enough to overcome the football playing powerhouse that is Lawrence Taylor. LT wins with a football tackle to the delight of the WWF Universe.

Submission Match- Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund

-There was no reason for this match to suck as much as it did. These guys had great matches on Superstars and at Survivor Series. I'd give it a few more minutes and just hope for the best.

IC Title Match- Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett

-Have Jarrett retain by cheating. Roadie interference or guitar shot. Doesn't really matter. The idea here is to make JJ the new HTM.

Grudge Match- Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy

-Yeah, I know Bigelow is the sexier pick, but I have plans for him down the line. Bundy was a pretty big deal until this show. At least he was to me, anyway. He's also expendable after this show, so a loss here doesn't matter. Taker goes over clean in what is hopefully a better match than we got irl.

Tag Title Match- Owen Hart/Mystery Partner [Yokozuna] over The Smokin' Gunns

-I thought the Owen/Yoko team was brilliant so I'm not changing a thing here. Owen was this delusional little squirt who went out and got Yoko simply because he had defeated Bret. They also had a good thing going where Yoko would do the damage and Owen would sneak in for the glory. Owen & The Gunns would also have a feud dating back to late 1994 in this universe. See, the Gunns beat Owen/Anvil in a tag tourney match. This led to Owen turning on Anvil and driving him from WWF.

Grudge Match- Hakushi vs. 1-2-3 Kid

-These two can have a little feud over "Who is the best high flyer in WWF?" Hakushi is relatively new and I'm still building him up, so he goes over Kid here. (Kid will get his win back at Summerslam)

Tag Team Grudge Match- Allied Powers vs. Tatanka/Bam Bam Bigelow

-This finally blows off the disappointing and never-ending Tatanka/Luger feud. Lex pins Tatanka clean with the running forearm of doom. IRS' interference backfires. Bigelow dominates in his segments. It's now clear that Bigelow is the star of the MDC

The Aftermath

-Michaels turns face, feuds with Sid, and eventually wins both KOTR and the IC Title. He's booked as "the next big thing" throughout the remainder of 1995.
-Sid joins the MDC just like irl. He gets a lot of big matches throughout the year but usually loses.
-Diesel feuds with the MDC throughout Spring and Summer. Then he moves on to Bret and Camp Cornette.
-Undertaker feuds with the MDC and a returning Papa f'n Shango throughout Spring and Summer.
-Bret wrestles random guys until again entering the title picture in fall.
-JJ loses the IC Title to Razor at IYH: July. Razor loses it a month later at Summerslam to HBK in a ladder match.
-Razor brings in Savio as his new buddy. Savio and Kid do not get along. The three men feud throughout the latter part of 1995.
-Dibiase fires IRS, Tatanka and Bundy. They form a wacky lower card babyface trio. Tatanka reverts back to his old face routine. IRS is now a fun-loving goofball who hands out "refund" checks to ringside fans. Bundy becomes a jolly fat guy because WWF loves jolly fat guys.
-Sid and Bigelow are now MDC Elite. They're the top heels, messing with Diesel, Taker and HBK, until fall when Camp Cornette takes over.
-Owen/Yoko feud with the Allied Powers, trading the belts back and forth, until DBS turns on Luger in July. Camp Cornette becomes nearly unstoppable with Bulldog.

...

@LigerBomb said:

i'd rebook this years Mania
Wrestlemania 29
1) World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Zigger
i'd have Dolph book himself in a world title match at Wrestlemania still playing the heel who arrogantly spends the build up declaring he is that good
he can beat Alberto one on one on the biggest stage. Dolph wins clean, the story of the match is Dolph beating Alberto throughout the match with Alberto
resorting to heel tactics to try to win and have a double turn (which based on reactions wouldn't be hard) and have Dolph win clean.

2) WWE tag team championships: Team Hell No (c) vs The Shield (Ambrose/Rollins with Reigns at ringside)
Using the history from T-L-C i'd build to a big tag title match for mania between Hell No and The Shield in a straight up match. give them 15-20 minutes to
let all four work, have Roman Reigns interfere with a spear to set up the finish and have The Shield win the tag titles at Mania and allow The Shield to defend
under Freebird rules going forward and hold the titles for a long time.

3)Ryback vs Big Show
I'd book this for pure spectacle. Will it be good, no! however i'd book Ryback to win after lifting Big Show and putting him away with a Shell Shock to get him
not only a big win on pay per view against a top guy but a big time wrestlemania moment that sets him up as a serious monster going forward with some credibility
at least with casual fans for a feud with Cena or whoever for the title going forward.

4)Number One contenders match: Sheamus vs Jack Swagger vs Mark Henry
Lets give these guys something a little meaningful to do and put them in a number one contenders match for the world heavyweight title for whenever. Not only do we
leave mania with a direction for the world title with a new champ and a new contender but with my booking of Henry going over it sets up a strong heel to face a new
the new baby face champion and have Ziggler overcome the monster (similar to HBK vs Diesel in 96).


5) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
I would book a rematch between these two at Wrestlemania as opposed to the rematches they had. 1) Their first match was a spectacle and was far more exciting that Cenas
matches with Rock or Brocks matches with HHH. it would be a marquee match between these two guys, just a physical as their last encounter but i'd have Brock go over to continue
rebuilding his mystique and aura of being a monster while it continues Cenas downward spiral which i would spend another year actually building upon (and actually have him loose
clean to top guys due to mistakes on his part and rebuild his character so a year later at next Mania he builds himself up to win next Rumble and win next years Mania wwe title main
event)

6)Fandango vs Chris Jericho
the only thing i would change is i'd give them another 6-7 minutes to make it a 15 or so minute match and have Fandango win the same way and continue the feud as is as it's been quite
good.

7)The Rock vs Randy Orton
Turn Orton heel at Royal Rumble and have him cost The Rock the title vs Punk there and build the match based on Ortons rumoured real life frustration at Rock getting a title shot after nearly
a year away with only one win. I'd book Rock to win but in a tight contest to allow for a rematch with Orton and also a Cena rematch on different ppvs such as Summerslam and Survivor Series
with both guys getting their wins back and the Rock has passed the torch to two guys (3 if the title match with Punk is booked right).

8)Main Event: Streak vs WWE Championship: The Undertaker vs CM Punk (c)
Instead of booking the build based on Paul Bearers death i'd book it around CM Punks record breaking title run versus Undertakers wrestlemania undefeated streak. Punk was kept strong during his
reign and if booked to go over the rock at mania he would challenge The Undertaker for mania with his title on the line in order to break the streak at mania and truly become the best in the world.
simple money booking. keep the streak alive and book a rematch for the next ppv and have punk reclaim the belt leading to next years mania to drop it to cena for previously mentioned story reasons.
IMO opinion there's money in that.

on paper i think it's better than what we got and what we continue to see week after week. thoughts?t we got and what we continue to see week after week. thoughts?

...

@spaldoni said:

I'm going to try Mania 7 with some differen't storylines going in.

Ultimate Warrior(c) vs Hulk Hogan- World Title Bout
Mr. Perfect(c) vs British Bulldog- IC Title Bout
Roddy Piper vs Randy Savage- Same reunion ending with Randy and LIz
Hart Foundation(c) vs Power and Glory-Tag Title Bout
Hacksaw Duggan vs Sgt. Slaughter- Bootcamp Match
Legion of Doom vs Demolition
Ted Dibiase/Rick Martel/Tito Santana vs Virgil/Rockers- Ok Dibiase proves he can buy anything so he pays for the services of Strike Force to reunite for one night against Virgil and a team of his choice. If Vigil and his team win then Virgil gets a one on one match with Dibiase at SummerSlam. I just thought this storyline sounded fun and having the Rockers with Virgil would of made this a fast pace exciting match with a great story.
EarthQuake vs Greg Valentine
Undertaker vs Kerry Von Erich
Jake the Snake vs Jimmy Snuka w Mr. Fuji- I have Snuka turning heel earlier in the year. I think the build and promos would of been great. Snuka playing the savage heel saying that he's not afraid of snakes and he loves to eat them. Would of been great.
Big Bossman vs Mountie
Nasty Boys vs Bushwhackers
Koko B Ware vs Haku w/Barbarian

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania VII attempt #1

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Hart Foundation (Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart & Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart) [Champions] vs. The Rockers* (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)
Rockers deserved the titles and a big Mania moment. As usual, a Rockers match is the perfect opener. The crowd would be fired up and a title change to boot.
15 min

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. The Texas Tornado
Kerry was the previous IC champion, but was not going to make the transition to the main event, so he is the perfect big name for putting over Taker in his Mania debut.
5 min

‘DESERT STORM’ MATCH
Sgt. Slaughter with General Adnan vs. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan*
Slaughter was not fit to be a top guy in 1991. Although given how big of a star he was before leaving the WWF in 1984, it was nice to see him with the strap. Also, he worked really hard during the turncoat run to make it as good as it could be. Vince would not have let you avoid booking some war exploitation, so I am putting the angle in the midcard, where it would work perfectly with Duggan. Both men could work amazing violent and bloody brawls in the mid-80s, so hopefully they could have rolled back the years here. I am stealing the match idea and spots from the MSG main event that Hogan had with Slaughter in between Mania and SummerSlam – I would have this be an abridged version of that match. ‘Desert Storm’ means no DQs with the winner determined by the opponent’s unconditional surrender. Duggan would wear camouflage and throw powder in the eyes to start, before bloodying Slaughter up. During his attempted comeback Slaughter would do the great spot where he falls over lifting the chair above his head due to blood loss. A Duggan fireball counters an attempted boot shot then Duggan uses the boot before a Camel Clutch of his own forces Adnan to surrender by throwing in the towel.
10 min

‘BLINDFOLD’ MATCH
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts* vs. ‘The Model’ Rick Martel
Some people criticise this match but it is great fun and fit the feud perfectly. The crowd loved it. Nothing wrong with a good comedy match on your card for a change of pace and this would also be perfectly placed after the violence of the match before.
9 min

The Legion of Doom* (Animal & Hawk) vs. Demolition (Crush & Smash) with Mr. Fuji
Sure, no one cared Demolition by this point, but if you are ending them as a team, you can do better than having L.O.D. squash Power & Glory and jobbing Demo to Tenyu & Kitao (who the fans did not know and had no reason to care about). L.O.D. ending Demolition (even if it is Smash & Crush) as a team at Mania would at least have been a slightly memorable moment.
6 min

‘RETIREMENT’ MATCH
‘Macho King’ Randy Savage with ‘Sensational Queen’ Sherri vs. The Ultimate Warrior*
One of the best segments the WWF ever produced. I’d change a couple of things – 3 elbows instead of 5 and a less anti-climactic finish. But the whole Liz reconciliation and the plants crying in the crowd would be untouched.
21 min

The British Bulldog* vs. The Warlord with Slick
Cool-down match after the emotional high of the Savage/Liz reconciliation. This was surprisingly decent and was a good way of continuing Davey’s rise after his comeback.
8 min

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Mr. Perfect* [Champion] with Bobby ‘The Brain Heenan vs. The Big Boss Man
These guys could work a decent match like they did on the actual show, without the need for André and have Perfect get the cheap pin.
10 min

‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil* with ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper
This was a match had to happen eventually. It was a good idea to save the Million Dollar Title victory for SummerSlam.
8 min

‘STEEL CAGE’ MATCH
for the WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP
Earthquake [Champion] with 'The Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart vs. Hulk Hogan*
They had something great with Earthquake. He looked like a killer for taking Hogan out, could work and could talk. He should have cheated to beat Hogan at SummerSlam (Earthquake Splash with a chair on Hogan’s chest introduced by Bravo with the ref knocked down), he and Hogan could do a double countout in a Survivor Series tag to keep both strong, have Quake beat Warrior for the title (with Savage interference) at the Rumble while Hogan wins the Rumble match. This sets up the rematch against the man that Hogan has not managed to beat. Add in the steel cage match stip to give it extra spice for the fans with the kayfabe reason to stop the type of interference from the SummerSlam match.
20 min

Actual ring time: 117 min
My ring time: 112 min

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania VII attempt #2 (only 3 match changes, but significant ones)

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Hart Foundation (Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart & Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart) [Champions] vs. The Rockers* (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)
Rockers deserved the titles and a big Mania moment. As usual, a Rockers match is the perfect opener. The crowd would be fired up and a title change to boot.
15 min

The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer vs. The Texas Tornado
Kerry was the previous IC champion, but was not going to make the transition to the main event, so he is the perfect big name for putting over Taker in his Mania debut.
5 min

‘DESERT STORM’ MATCH
Sgt. Slaughter with General Adnan vs. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan*
Slaughter was not fit to be a top guy in 1991. Although given how big of a star he was before leaving the WWF in 1984, it was nice to see him with the strap. Also, he worked really hard during the turncoat run to make it as good as it could be. Vince would not have let you avoid booking some war exploitation, so I am putting the angle in the midcard, where it would work perfectly with Duggan. Both men could work amazing violent and bloody brawls in the mid-80s, so hopefully they could have rolled back the years here. I am stealing the match idea and spots from the MSG main event that Hogan had with Slaughter in between Mania and SummerSlam – I would have this be an abridged version of that match. ‘Desert Storm’ means no DQs with the winner determined by the opponent’s unconditional surrender. Duggan would wear camouflage and throw powder in the eyes to start, before bloodying Slaughter up. During his attempted comeback Slaughter would do the great spot where he falls over lifting the chair above his head due to blood loss. A Duggan fireball counters an attempted boot shot then Duggan uses the boot before a Camel Clutch of his own forces Adnan to surrender by throwing in the towel.
10 min

‘BLINDFOLD’ MATCH
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts* vs. ‘The Model’ Rick Martel
Some people criticise this match but it is great fun and fit the feud perfectly. The crowd loved it. Nothing wrong with a good comedy match on your card for a change of pace and this would also be perfectly placed after the violence of the match before.
9 min

The Legion of Doom* (Animal & Hawk) vs. Demolition (Crush & Smash) with Mr. Fuji
Sure, no one cared Demolition by this point, but if you are ending them as a team, you can do better than having L.O.D. squash Power & Glory and jobbing Demo to Tenyu & Kitao (who the fans did not know and had no reason to care about). L.O.D. ending Demolition (even if it is Smash & Crush) as a team at Mania would at least have been a slightly memorable moment.
6 min

‘RETIREMENT’ MATCH
‘Macho King’ Randy Savage with ‘Sensational Queen’ Sherri vs. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat*
Steamboat was ready to come in before he did. Savage and Liz were wanting to get off the road to try to see if they could make things work and start a family. So if you have Warrior/Hogan in the works, Steamboat is the perfect opponent. They have the history and would put together a great match with Savage trying the bell trick again (as he did on Warrior in actuality). Steamboat comes back in a big way, avoiding the fire-breathing deal. The whole Liz reconciliation and the plants crying in the crowd would be untouched.
18 min

The British Bulldog* vs. Earthquake with 'The Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart
Since Earthquake had lost most of his steam at this point due to Hogan always beating him (unlike the booking of my other card), I'd use the little he had left to put over Davey Boy strong.
8 min

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Mr. Perfect* [Champion] with Bobby ‘The Brain Heenan vs. The Big Boss Man
These guys could work a decent match like they did on the actual show, without the need for André and have Perfect get the cheap pin.
10 min

‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil* with ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper
This was a match had to happen eventually. It was a good idea to save the Million Dollar Title victory for SummerSlam.
8 min

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Ultimate Warrior [Champion] vs. Hulk Hogan*
Warrior/Hogan II. It seemed so obvious, yet it never transpired. Could it have sold out the LA Coliseum? We'll never know, but if one match could at this point, surely it was this. Build is simple: this is the one guy that has defeated Hogan and he needs to see if he can beat the power of the Warrior. Perhaps some flashes of heelish tendencies from Warrior throughout the build and match if he could be convinced to do so.
18 min

Actual ring time: 117 min
My ring time: 107 min

A rebooking of my rebooking, as LOD/Disasters really should have been blown off here considering how long it had been going for, and features more fleshing out of the Horsemen idea, a cage and one less match.

...

Strobe said:

WrestleMania VIII

While a lot of the older WrestleManias were laid out with lots of matches, including many short ones, with clear peaks and valleys, the idea of this would be that each match was a big deal and to try to keep it at a peak throughout, eventually building all the way up to the finish. So this involves the dickhead move of not giving many people their Mania paydays. You could do four dark matches: Money Inc. vs. Slaughter/Duggan, Bossman/Virgil/Tito vs. The Nasty Boys/Mountie, Bulldog vs. Berzerker and Tatanka vs. Martel (or put one of the latter two in between Savage/Jake and Hogan/Flair if you think the crowd would need a breather and it could always be cut if time was a factor).

‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels* with Sensational Sherri vs. Marty Jannetty
Michaels had turned on Jannetty in the famous Barber Shop segment and they were set to meet at Mania, before Jannetty ended up getting himself put under house arrest. I’m letting myself have this though. They could’ve produced an excellent, fast-paced match, with Sherri providing her usual great involvement on the outside. Michaels would use underhanded tactics to get the win, putting him over for something later in the night...
15 mins

Sid Justice vs. The Undertaker* with Paul Bearer
I would’ve had the Rumble match go exactly as it did but have Justice and Hogan make up afterwards with Justice staying face. He and Taker could've had a short brawl, where Justice eventually loses his temper at his inability to put Taker away and gets disqualified for a chair shot. Taker looks strong for sitting up from the chair shot in typical style and Sid is eventually calmed down backstage, but has shown a heelish side...
8 mins

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper [Champion] vs. Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart*
I would change nothing about this from the pre-match interview until Piper placing the belt around Hart’s waist. One of the best WrestleMania matches.
14 mins

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) [Champions] with ‘The Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hartvs. The Legion of Doom* (Animal & Hawk) with Paul Ellering
It was terrible that L.O.D. only did an interview on the show and that this feud that had been going since the previous SummerSlam did not get a conclusion. If you let them do an interview then you can let them do a match. To keep the tag titles on the house shows while Hawk serves his drug suspension, I’d have the Disasters win the belts on a house show, which makes them seem like even bigger threats and gives L.O.D. a title win on the big show. Have them debut Ellering in a backstage interview (he was brought in to legit babysit them) and do the SummerSlam motorbike entrance, before a short match where this feud finishes.
8 mins

‘STEEL CAGE, LOSER LEAVES WWF’ MATCH
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage* vs. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts
If any feud deserved a Mania blow-off, it was this. I would change the booking from This Tuesday in Texas slightly. When Savage went to use the bell, the ref should have taken it off him, letting Jake hit the DDT for the win. That way you get the amazing post-match and Savage still hasn’t pinned Roberts. A steel cage match seems perfect, but WWF had a no blood policy at the time (which Bret and Flair ignored at the actual event anyway) and stupid escape rules. I’d still have it in a cage, with victory only coming via pinfall or submission and they can take the fine for blading. Jake was leaving anyway and their feud was so personal, involving Savage being reinstated, so a Loser Leaves stipulation fits perfectly. You could have a typically amazing Jake promo before a Savage one where he tells Liz to stay in the back. During the match, Jake has a bloody Savage primed for another snake bite but Liz comes out. I’d have her slap Jake (revenge for Tuesday in Texas), allowing Macho to recover and go crazy on Jake, busting him open. Savage would make Liz get him the bell and use it on Jake’s throat off the top rope, flashing back to a darker side of his past with Steamboat. But instead of pinning him, he would go back up again, this time to the top of the cage and hit the flying elbow for the win. A bloody Savage hitting the elbow on a bloody Jake from the top of a cage would be a “WrestleMania moment”. This would have been an all-time classic Mania match/segment.
12 mins

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair* [Champion] with Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan
Ignoring Sid’s contract clause or whatever, this should’ve been the main event. The dream match of the 80’s that was finally possible on the biggest stage in early 1992. If they had built this properly (i.e. during all of this actually treating Flair like a big deal, talk him up as a wrestling marvel that could threaten Hogan, have Hogan take it all seriously and don’t run it forever on the house shows) it would have felt huge. These two locking it up in front of that size a crowd for the WWF Title – just massive. The whole Survivor Series and This Tuesday in Texas deal, leading to the Royal Rumble match title win for Flair was great but there is one thing I would change. I’d have Flair pinning Piper with his feet on the ropes on the This Tuesday in Texas PPV rather than as a dark match (a big win helping Naitch get more over, but the feet on the ropes means it wouldn’t take away from the clean job to Bret here). I would have loved to hear ‘The Brain’ during this one. I have no doubt they could have pieced together a great match. Hogan would be closing in on victory, but we would get a ref bump, just before Hogan hit the Big Boot and Leg Drop. With no ref to count the fall, Shawn Michaels would come down and join Mr. Perfect in attacking Hogan. Hogan would be attempting to fight them off, when his friend Sid comes down with the chair to chase them off. Sid would then betray Hogan with a chair shot to the back and a powerbomb, allowing Flair to pick up the win when the ref recovers.
20 mins

A shocking finish with the Sid turn and a heel winning the main event for the first time. Perfect and Michaels would re-enter and hug with Sid and Flair. We now have a WWF version of The Four Horsemen, with Heenan going mad on commentary. But this would not be the end. Savage would come down to try to help Hogan, but the new Horsemen would prove too much. Then some very familiar music would play. It is the return of THE WARRIOR! After 7 months away, The Ultimate Warrior would sprint to the ring and the new heel faction would be chased from the ring. A huge moment, as we have Hogan, Savage and the returning Warrior together in the ring for a relatively feel-good close to the show, while the Horsemen are kept looking strong.

Actual ring time: 83 mins
My ring time: 77 mins

Looking to after the show, we now have The Four Horsemen of Flair (WWF Champion), Sid (the muscle), Perfect (unfortunately unable to wrestle at this point so keep him in the executive consultant role to start with) and Michaels (rising star) with Sherri (valet) and Heenan (manager). Hogan was off to make movies, so Savage would enter into a feud with Flair (Savage and Liz divorced right after Mania so this feud would not involve her). Sid (let’s pretend he accepted the drug suspension and chose to stay) would feud with Warrior and Michaels (getting a great rub being part of the group) would feud with Bret over the IC title.

So SummerSlam in this rebooked universe would be in Washington D.C. featuring Bret/HBK in the first ladder match (this location and match were the real-life considered alternative to Wembley and Bret/Bulldog) with Sherri helping Shawn win the IC, Warrior defeating Sid and Savage taking the belt off Flair. With the Horsemen coming out the worse from SummerSlam, they would try to create dissension claiming one of Savage or Warrior has sold out, leading to a match on an October SNME (basically have the real-life SummerSlam deal here). I would have tried hard during this entire stretch to keep Sid and Warrior happy, while trying to convince Hogan to come back early for a huge Survivor Series main event (when Perfect was fit again for the ring) of The Horsemen against Hogan, Savage, Warrior & Bret. This would be the start of grooming Bret for the top spot and you could build to him beating Savage for the title at Mania IX (Savage putting the belt around his waist like Piper here, putting him over as the leader of the New Generation).

...

@Garfan said:

Wrestlemania 4

WWF World Championship Match

The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase(c) w/ Virgil and Andre the Giant vs Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan

When Dibiase comes in and starts trying to buy the WWF title he gets a firm no from Hulk Hogan. When he tries to buy the managerial services of Miss Elizabeth "the best manager and most beautiful woman in the WWF" he gets a brutal beating from Randy Savage. Dibiase pays off the Hart Family to beat down Savage during an IC title match until Hulk Hogan makes the save. Savage and Dibiase were already rumored to wrestle at Wrestlemania 4 and when Dibiase wins the title it crooked fashion it's confirmed and for the belt.

Hogan and Andre come out later on in the match

Winner: Savage in a similar match to the real one

Wrestlemania's First Handicapped Match

Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant and Bobby the Brain Heenan

Hogan was scheduled to defend his title against Andre the Giant on Main Event but a phone call from Heenan informs them they won't be at the arena in time for the match. Ted Dibiase comes out and says the fans expect a match and he knows Hogan hates to disappoint his Hulkamaniacs. So Dibiase makes him an offer, give him a title shot, and if Hogan wins the match he'll donate a million dollars to Hogan's favorite charity. During the match Andre and Heenan arrive. A distraction by Virgil and Heenan allows Andre to help Dibiase and they deliver a spike piledriver to Hogan giving Dibiase the title.

Hogan is furious and wants Andre again but he's also sure that Heenan had a key part in the plan so they make a handicapped match. To sell the piledriver Hogan wears a neckbrace all the way up to Mania.

Hogan wins by pinning Heenan

WWF Intercontinental Title Match

The Honky Tonk Man(c) w/Jimmy Hart vs Brutus the Barber Beefcake

real world booking, same result

WWF Tag Team Title Match

Strike Force(c) vs Demolition w/Mr Fuji

real world booking, same result

Six Man Tag Team Match

The British Bulldogs and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat vs The Islanders and King Harley Race

Real World booking except since Heenan has a match they give his spot to Race and the Bulldogs partner is upgraded a bit too. Finish has Steamboat go for the flying bodypress on Race while the ref is distracted, Haku does a falling headbutt to the back of Ricky's head and rolls them so Race is on top for the pin.


Six Man Tag Team Match

The Hart Foundation and Bad News Brown w/Jimmy Hart vs The Rougeau Brothers and Koko B. Ware

Brown is a newcomer all the heels want to manage and he convinces him to tag up with the Hart Foundation to show what they can do. Faces get a countout win when a miscommunication between Bret and Brown leads to them fighting away from the ring

1-on- 1

The Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules w/Virgil

real world booking except with Heenan busy Dibiase offers a substitute cornerman. Virgil gets decked during the match

1-on-1

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs the One Man Gang w/Slick

Duggan eliminated Gang to win the first Royal Rumble, Gang wants payback. Gang gets dqed when he used Slick's cane, Duggan gets the 2 x 4 and lays into him.

1-on-1

Ravishing Rick Rude w/Virgil vs Jake the Snake Roberts

Rude does the thing with Cheryl Roberts to start their feud early. This match is quickly turned into a brawl outside the ring, Virgil throws Rude into the ring giving him the countout win. Virgil gets DDTd and will sell it till the main event.

1-on-1

The Rock Don Muraco w Superstar Billy Graham vs The Natural Butch Reed w/Slick

Reed wins with a cane shot. Post match Graham gets the cane and chases them off

1-on-1

Bam Bam Bigelow w/Oliver Humperdink vs Sika w/Mr Fuji

Bigelow wins with a catapult splash after avoiding a corner charge and dropkicking Sika down

1-on-1

Greg the Hammer Valentine w/Jimmy Hart vs Hillybilly Jim

Valentine wins with the figure four

...

Now we just gotta hold out hope for Page 4!!~

Ok, so everything I posted seems to be all that could be scrounged from the Wayback Machine (at least for now).

Hopefully what I was able to find and repost brings back memories and encourages folks to refine/recreate/repost some of their old beloved work.

For now, I'm shifting to the present, as I need help. I'm looking at you specifically, Strobe, but I'm sure others can help too. I'm presently working on a rebook of WrestleMania V. I know I recovered a version of your WMV, but I swear I recall you having other versions on the old PW too where you elaborated on your card assuming you had to pack as many matches onto it as the real WWF was doing at the time. That's something I've always loved about your rebooking approach... The constraints of super realism.

Anyway... This was a time period I really only truly enjoyed retroactively. So the timing of certain feuds escapes my memory, and I have to rely on results archives. Sometimes results just don't really convey how long or how well feuds were getting over, dragging on, etc. So I need PW's help with my card!

Of course, I'm sticking with the Mega Powers Explode main event, and most likely Warrior defending the IC title against Rude. But almost everything else is potentially open to change.

Here's what I've got right now...

WWF Title: Savage (c) vs. Hogan: Liz in a neutral corner
- Too iconic too change, no reason to change, nothing would've been bigger, etc.

IC Title: Warrior (c) vs. Rude (w/ Heenan)
- Feels like the biggest threat to Warrior, right? Had DiBiase really fallen so far in a year's time that he wouldn't have been a viable IC title contender here? Maybe he had. This is where not having real-time memories hurts me.

Flag Match: Duggan vs. Bravo (w/ Frenchy)
- If this feud hadn't drawn on too long and could've reasonably been blown off here, then that's what I'd like to do instead of giving each guy something else/more random here. Maybe turn it into more of a "capture the flag" match instead of their actual flag match in order to save the loser from having to eat a pinfall?

Hercules vs. King Haku (w/ Heenan)
- Keeping this, but building up the former slave vs. king aspect, because why not? Debated going with Herc vs. DiBiase here, but not sure if the timing would've made sense. Need others to weigh in and advise. Part of me feels like it makes sense for Herc to conclude his business with DiBiase before 'Mania and bring it full circle by coming back to feud with the man who originally sold him into slavery, Heenan. Heenan sics arguably the baddest dude in his stable -i.e., Haku- against Her.

Ronnie Garvin vs. Bad News Brown
- Bad News is always tough with "realistic" rebooks, just like Piper, in that he was notorious for not wanting to job clean. This feels like a perfect solution to me. A battle of two of the toughest bad-asses in the WWF. Garvin can easily eat a final here in a hard-fought loss. It'll set him up for his feud with Valentine, and especially the Retirement Match stipulation, in the wake of 'Mania.

Hart Foundation vs. Rougeau (w/ Jimmy Hart)
- Like Strobe's idea. In my mind, I see Jimmy sending pre-R&B Double Trouble (Valentine & HTM) after HF first, with HF thwarting them perhaps in January or February on some bigger show. This sets up HF to finally get PPV retribution against the Rougeaus. Meanwhile, pre-R&B Double Trouble need to redeem themselves.

Bushwhackers vs. Valentine & HTM (w/ Jimmy Hart)
- Personally, I'd rather sacrifice Valentine & HTM to the new-on-the-scene Whackers in a short match, and save the Rougeaus for a more work-ratey match against the Hart Foundation. Have this be like pre-R&B Double Trouble's chance to redeem themselves after failing Jimmy in his quest for proxy revenge against HF. A humiliating defeat here separates Hammer and Honky temporarily as a team, and gives Greg motivation to prove himself in his subsequent feud with Rugged Ronnie.

Rockers vs. Brain Busters (w/ Heenan)
- Again, I liked Strobe's idea here. Only change would be giving it a cleaner finish since the leg sweep/hold down on a suplex attempt spot gets used in Warrior/Rude (although honestly I like it better here). Thinking Busters just murder Marty with a spike piledriver to go over strong and set them up for a title program with Demo. Plus, Marty costing the Rockers their WM debut match gives fuel to the fire for Shawn's eventual turn.

...

Now we get into my conflict areas...

I'm probably the biggest/only Powers of Pain fan on PW, but do I keep them as the tag title challengers here? How played out was their rivalry with Demo in real-time by this point?

In a weird way, the POP fan in me would rather have them squash the fading Young Stallions at 'Mania to start reestablishing themselves as a threat.

Meanwhile, the Twin Towers, who'd just tangled with the Mega Powers, seem deserving of something more... And they'd be feuding with Demolition a bit after 'Mania, so what about slotting them in in place of POP at 'Mania (to jack another Strobe idea)?

This leaves me without a credible heel team to pit the reunited Strike Force against to set up their split... But Strobe seems like he might've been onto something yet again. Do you split up Strike Force earlier in the year and have Rick Martel and Tito Santana go one on one against each other here?

In real life, 'Mania was the first time Strike Force reunited on TV... Which seemed weird, considering Martel was back on TV in early January, and his injury angle led to Tito seeking vengeance on his behalf. I feel like they maybe should've immediately reunited for a match perhaps against heel POP (who'd de facto turned on Tito, the very man who brought them into the WWF to help avenge Martel), and then have the walkout occur there. Gives you a couple months to build Martel up as a heel in advance of the 'Mania showdown. The only things I don't like about this are it's two tag team explosion angles being blown off at 'Mania, and it deprives us of a 'Mania moment in Martel's walkout.

If I save the Strike Force split until 'Mania, I probably just feed them to the Twin Towers and then keep the Demo/POP+Fuji tag title match.

Then there's the other singles matches...

Jake Roberts and André the Giant both feel like they deserve singles matches, but Andre really doesn't seem like he's suited healthwise for it anymore. Then there's the Big John Studd aspect. Do you just keep this whole deal as-is, or try to shoehorn Ted DiBiase into it to make it Jake/Studd vs. DiBiase/Andre (w/ Virgil & maybe Heenan)? My hesitation here is that this route adds another tag bout to an already tag-heavy card. Do you do an Andre/Stud WM1 rematch with roles reversed and Heenan in a different corner this time, and Jake/DiBiase in a match that sure sounds a lot better on paper than Jake/Andre?

If DiBiase isn't tied up directly with the Jake/André stuff or facing Jake, I assume just keep him with Brutus Beefcake. This would mostly be because the only other guy I can see pairing with Brutus would be Mr. Perfect, but that works better next year IMO when the Perfect Record is more of a thing and Perfect/Beefcake makes more sense spinning out of the Perfect/Hogan feud. I vaguely recall Strobe once having the idea of programming Beefcake with Ron Bass here, but Ron Bass is a name I'd like to keep off the 'Mania roll call is possible.

As far as Perfect, I'm honestly debating an administrative move to condense the number of matches. As cool as the Blue Blazer match was for the time, I'm seriously debating replacing Blazer with Red Rooster and blowing off the Rooster/Heenan/Brooklyn Brawler angle earlier... perhaps at the Main Event in February? Perhaps even sorta loosely pair Perfect with Heenan here to make it make more sense. Perfect and Heenan weren't an actual pair yet, and/but Perfect wasn't paired with Genius yet either... So maybe this proto pairing works in a foreshadowing sense?

I think that covers all the musings. Depending on overall match count, I'm ok with doing a women's title match... But I'm also ok going without. Then there's the Piper's Pit/Brother Love segment. Is this the best use of Roddy Piper? Jimmy Snuka also made his return here. Were these surprise returns? Could either Piper or Snuka have been used better? Perhaps an unlikely one-time only alliance between old rivals to squash the Bolsheviks? I dunno.

Help me, guys!

Yeah, all of those are my older, less realistic cards. We had 2 different Rebook a WM threads and I'm sure that one you scoured was the older one. I'll try to get my other ones posted tonight.

I think the only slightly unrealistic thing I did on my final Mania V card was keeping Ron Bass around an extra few months to do the hair vs. hair blowoff at Mania rather than the Jan SNME.

Jan 17, 2018 17:24:33 GMT Strobe said:

Yeah, all of those are my older, less realistic cards. We had 2 different Rebook a WM threads and I'm sure that one you scoured was the older one. I'll try to get my other ones posted tonight.

I think the only slightly unrealistic thing I did on my final Mania V card was keeping Ron Bass around an extra few months to do the hair vs. hair blowoff at Mania rather than the Jan SNME.

Yes, so stoked! Can't. Wait. (i.e., Fuck. Work.)

I still really like my card for WM 22. Thanks for bringing it back to my memory 🤯

🤯 Thanks for reposting all of those. Didn't remember a lot of them including Kilgore's glorious Wrestlemania I w/ Backlund vs. Bruno and George Peppard~! Just be glad I didn't see/remember that because the Double George P's would have been all over New Generation Wrestling  :lol:

My Wrestlemania 12  & 13 rebooks from my fanfic project must have been on Page Four. Luckily I had them written down in my trusty notebook.

Wrestlemania XII

Free For All

10 Man "Everybody Gets A Payday Battle Royal" w/ Aldo, Holly, Lawler, Mr. Backlund, Brother Isaac, Dumpster, Fatu, Bradshaw, Horowitz & Mero

*Brother Isaac is Isaac Yankem. In this universe he was brought in as Waylon Mercy's mute brother under the tutelage of Brother Love. He continued Waylon's feud with Undertaker following the elder Mercy Brother's disappearance back to the Southern district of Parts Unknown.

Mero wins in his surprise debut to kick the show off with a bang and prove anything can happen in the WWF! Mero eliminates Brother Isaac early to show what a big deal he is. Comes down to Mero vs. the wily veteran duo of King & Mr. Backlund. "The Wildman" flummoxes them with his high flying to overcome the odds for the win.

Huckster vs. Nacho Man- Not essential but let's make the pre-show a big middle finger to WCW.

1.  Godwinns (c) New Rockers vs. Smoking Gunns vs. Bodydonnas- WWF Tag Title Match

Build- There was no tag tournament in this universe because the Gunns weren't champs when one of them got hurt. The Underdogs (Horowitz & Hakushi) ended Camp Cornette's 5 month+ title reign at Raw Bowl to pay off that "worst to first" storyline. Then they dropped the belts to the Bodydonnas at Royal Rumble to end that lengthy storyline. Godwinns then beat 'Donnas at IYH February as I rushed that feud. This is the Gunns return. They're the heavy favorites. It's also the New Rockers debut. Doing an early 4 Way here plays off the success of Raw Bowl which marked the first time it was a thing in WWF.

Match- New Rockers pull off the big upset, eliminating the champion Godwinns, and finally the Gunns. It begins with them doing the awesome Matt Hardy deal of coming out twice because the first time they weren't getting enough cheers  :lol: Then they cheat like mofos to solidify their heel status and cap it off by doing what the original Rockers never could, proving once and for all that Leif > Shawn.

Aftermath- New Rockers beat the Godwinns at IYH April, upset the Gunns again at IYH May, win another 4 Way (w/ the Smoky Mountain Boys (Smothers & Anthony) in the Bodydonnas spot), and finally lose the straps to the Gunns at IYH July in a "Do Or Die" match for the Gunns.

2. Ringmaster vs. Savio Vega- Million Dollar Title Match

Any changes aside from Austin still using the Ringmaster name are minimal. Ringmaster wins just like in real life.

I had Austin remain The Ringmaster until the night after losing the Strap Match at IYH May where Austin announces he threw the match to get rid of Dibiase while denouncing "that Ringmaster crap." This is the night "Stone Cold" is born. Thought it would be much more impactful this way than the gradual way they did it in real life. Plus I was a Ringmaster fanboy  :ahh:

3. Ahmed Johnson vs. Sean Waltman

Build- One of the biggest and best stories of the last 5-6 months has been Waltman's identity crisis and spiral into depression. He turned on Razor to become Dean Douglas' "Graduate Student" in September. Dean "sold" him to Dibiase the night after Survivor Series. He would team with Sid as "The Million Dollar Kid" in Dibiase's "Million Dollar Duo." Sid & The Kid rode high for a while (would have been a fabulous buddy movie- surely could have been the one WWF Studios hit) before Kid's bff abruptly left him hanging high and dry. Dibiase then told Kid his services were no longer required since he was now concentrating exclusively on The Ringmaster. Kid rebounded by helping Goldust defeat Razor for the IC Title. Goldie's new "friend" was now a mini-Goldust called "The Golden Child." But the same ol' story repeated itself. After a month of "friendship" Kid was dumped by Goldust after losing a Crybaby Match to Razor @ IYH February. Kid is now depressed, on a big time losing streak, and well into his grungy dirtball look. Basically, WWF's Raven, but far less successful. In a clear sign of mental deterioration, he picked a fight with undefeated badass Ahmed Johnson.

Match- Ahmed wins a squash around the 5 minute mark. They had a good match in real life on a February Superstars where Kid made Ahmed look like a million bucks. This is basically that match with a clean finish (real life version had Razor & JJ get involved for a schmozz ending). 

Aftermath- Kid's mental deterioration continues when he challenges Warrior to a match at IYH April. This time he loses in under a minute. This is his last high profile match. Ahmed continues to pick up steam in route to winning the IC Title from Goldust at KOTR.

4. Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs. Jake Roberts & Roddy Piper

Build- Camp Cornette had been feuding with WWF management since late '95 when Gorilla started booking them in "unfair" matches. Cornette sued WWF after being manhandled by Ahmed. Then they complained about the odds being stacked against them when they lost the tag titles in the Raw Bowl. Vader injured Commissioner Monsoon in January. Piper took over for Gorilla and continued management's unfair treatment of Camp Cornette. Commissioner Piper was not allowed to touch any member of Camp Cornette or he would be relieved of his duties. Cornette took full advantage of this, taunting Piper at every opportunity. Eventually Piper had enough and finally socked the Louisville Lip to an epic pop. "You can't fire me! I quit!"- Commissioner Piper. 

Jake had also been feuding with Camp Cornette, specifically Bulldog, since his return at Royal Rumble. Piper challenged Camp Cornette to a tag match after saving Jake from a CC beatdown.

The hook from this, aside from just being a feud, is Camp Cornette vs. Company Legends.

Match- Camp Cornette wins when Bulldog pins Jake.

Aftermath- Camp Cornette feuds with a variety of wrestlers, mainly WWF Champion Shawn Michaels. Piper has one more big feud vs. Goldust before heading to WCW. Jake continues coming up short in his feud with CC alongside new friend Yokozuna before mostly putting over other heels.

5. Vader vs. Yokozuna

Build- Yokozuna had been on the outs with Camp Cornette ever since he lost them the tag titles by getting pinned by Hakushi in the Raw Bowl. Royal Rumble saw Yoko get into it with Cornette's newest charge, Vader (if only they could have co-existed!). The last straw was when Yoko got slammed and pinned by Camp Cornette nemesis Ahmed at IYH February. Yoko was fired the next night on Raw. He'd been out for revenge ever since.

Vader was suspended the night after Royal Rumble due to his vicious attack on Commissioner Gorilla Monsoon just like in real life. Only in this universe we got bizarre "Rocky Mountain Fight Club" segments where Vader beat up a bunch of jabronies in his Rocky Mountain headquarters while on suspension (think something like WCW's classic mini-movies). Vader's suspension was lifted due to some slick lawyering by Clarence Mason after Piper punched Cornette. From then on it was obvious that we'd be getting this big time Colossal Jostle on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Match- Vader wins in fairly dominate fashion around the 7 minute mark.

Aftermath- Vader continues his warpath all the way up to Summerslam when he takes the title from Shawn Michaels. Yoko aligns with Jake to continue their mutual feud with Camp Cornette. He comes up short and appears less and less as the year marches on.

*Owen & Bulldog vs. Company Legends and the money match of Vader vs. Yoko are much more Wrestlemania-worthy than the Camp Cornette vs. 3 Random Babyfaces match they ran in real life. Plus I get to give Next Big Thing Ahmed a 'Mania win this way.

6. Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Same as real life, though I may hold off the Sable stuff for a while.

Aftermath- Warrior squashes Kid in April and Lawler in May before suffering a shocking defeat to Vader at KOTR. He is never seen again. HHH goes on a losing streak against the likes of Mero & Jake before turning things around in the summer.

7. Goldust (c) vs. Razor Ramon- IC Title- Hollywood Backlot Brawl

*Ignoring Razor's real life suspension was the biggest liberty I took with this card. 

This was a hot feud and it continues here with Razor in Piper's role for this match. The Hollywood Backlot Brawl was goofy but fondly remembered (for some reason) so I kept it. Same deal as real life. The match started early in the show. Goldust fled in a gold cadillac. Razor gave chase in a white Bronco. We'd get some scenes of this nonsense in between the other matches. And now they're finally in the arena. A scantily clad Goldust wins with a low blow and a handful tights after Razor's anger gets the better of him.

Aftermath- Goldust retains the title over Piper in April & Taker in May (with Mankindterference) before dropping it to Ahmed at KOTR and going onto even bigger and better things. Razor loses to Vader in April and heads to WCW.

8. Undertaker vs. Diesel

Same as real life. Nothing changes.

9. Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels- WWF Championship Match

This is either a 2 out of 3 Falls Match that goes 59 minutes with Michaels winning 2-1 or an Ironman Match with Michaels winning 2-1. Either way works. The key is to have some actual falls. Bret scores the first fall in either case. This is also important. And if it's an Ironman it ends with HBK locked in the Sharpshooter.

*This card was so much better than the real life version. And the only liberty I may have taken aside from including Razor is show length. 

*I'll drop my Wrestlemania 13 either later tonight or tomorrow.

Jan 17, 2018 22:20:04 GMT Baker said:

🤯 Thanks for reposting all of those. Didn't remember a lot of them including Kilgore's glorious Wrestlemania I w/ Backlund vs. Bruno and George Peppard~! Just be glad I didn't see/remember that because the Double George P's would have been all over New Generation Wrestling  :lol:

My Wrestlemania 12  & 13 rebooks from my fanfic project must have been on Page Four. Luckily I had them written down in my trusty notebook.

So I couldn't really end up accessing the actual Page 4 page, but I figured out a different view somehow and was able to determine the archive only stretched into early 2015 for what I was able to access. There were apparently only like 4 posts on Page 4, and judging by the names and nested structure of the posts, I'm guessing it was just discussion of previously posted cards.

I haven't totally given up the fight, but it's starting to look more and more bleak...

web.archive.org/web/20170627105053/http://forums.prowrestling.com:80/forumdisplay.php?f=6&page=2&s=74ce6d4026faf55c9faa7b85560e4125

The above link takes me to a page with posts dated in 2017, but there's no search function to find the latest rebooking thread. Then, to complicate matters, navigating to subsequent pages of threads somehow jumps me back to a 2015 archive.

Then I had the bright idea to check my Chrome history, and thankfully I never delete my history (I guess I've been married too long or spend too much time on pro wrestling message boards to worry about my wife finding the times I accidentally look up porn in non-incognito mode). Anyway... I found the URL to the actual thread I think:

forums.prowrestling.com/forum/94717-rebook-a-wrestlemania/page8

The only problem is that I haven't had any luck searching it or any parts of it on the Wayback Machine yet.

Well, fuck me, I didn't save my more recent rebookings. I'm pretty sure I remember them well anyway, so not too much of a biggie.

A lot of these questions depend on when you are taking over the booking from. The reason I liked my Mania V card so much is that it really has minimal impact on what came before or after it. I am just creating a much better card (in terms of things having story and meaning) and, if anything, helping things coming out of Mania. It is part of what makes Mania V such an odd show, in that all these long-term feuds were finished up just before Mania and then you had these matches with no real story or feud or heat involved and that ultimately led to nothing (e.g. DiBiase/Beefcake, Bravo/Garvin, Foundation/not-yet-R&B, Brown/Duggan). The show did phenomenal business anyway due to Hogan/Savage (it sure as hell wasn't all these fresh match-ups with no build), so why not fill the show out with feud enders with guys who had been working each other on the roads for months?

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

IC Title: Warrior (c) vs. Rude (w/ Heenan)
- Feels like the biggest threat to Warrior, right? Had DiBiase really fallen so far in a year's time that he wouldn't have been a viable IC title contender here? Maybe he had. This is where not having real-time memories hurts me.

DiBiase had bought Hercules as his slave on TV in October and Warrior/Rude did their posedown at the Rumble. If taking over earlier, DiBiase could've definitely been a good choice at the time for Warrior's first big challenger. Hercules may seem like a big drop down for DiBiase from Hogan/Savage, but it was also a feud that he could ultimately win, unlike one with Warrior.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

Hercules vs. King Haku (w/ Heenan)
- Keeping this, but building up the former slave vs. king aspect, because why not? Debated going with Herc vs. DiBiase here, but not sure if the timing would've made sense. Need others to weigh in and advise. Part of me feels like it makes sense for Herc to conclude his business with DiBiase before 'Mania and bring it full circle by coming back to feud with the man who originally sold him into slavery, Heenan. Heenan sics arguably the baddest dude in his stable -i.e., Haku- against Her.

This would have been a lot better if they had been playing up Herc trying to get Heenan, like you said. I still prefer to do the DiBiase/Hercules blowoff here (in reality, they worked the blowoff on the Feb 3rd The Main Event two months before Mania). Hardly a stretch to just wait it out until Mania. Although, I agree that Hercules should really be going after Heenan following the DiBiase feud and the way I've booked doesn't really leave him a Heenan Family member to feud with.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

Bushwhackers vs. Valentine & HTM (w/ Jimmy Hart)
- Personally, I'd rather sacrifice Valentine & HTM to the new-on-the-scene Whackers in a short match, and save the Rougeaus for a more work-ratey match against the Hart Foundation. Have this be like pre-R&B Double Trouble's chance to redeem themselves after failing Jimmy in his quest for proxy revenge against HF. A humiliating defeat here separates Hammer and Honky temporarily as a team, and gives Greg motivation to prove himself in his subsequent feud with Rugged Ronnie.

I don't like that Honky and Hammer were just thrown together randomly for a few matches in early 1989 when it wasn't going to mean anything (they were going to feud with Snuka and Garvin respectively coming out of Mania).

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

Rockers vs. Brain Busters (w/ Heenan)
- Again, I liked Strobe's idea here. Only change would be giving it a cleaner finish since the leg sweep/hold down on a suplex attempt spot gets used in Warrior/Rude (although honestly I like it better here). Thinking Busters just murder Marty with a spike piledriver to go over strong and set them up for a title program with Demo. Plus, Marty costing the Rockers their WM debut match gives fuel to the fire for Shawn's eventual turn.

You make a very good point about not doing that finish. Heenan interference leading to a spike piledriver works for me.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

I'm probably the biggest/only Powers of Pain fan on PW, but do I keep them as the tag title challengers here? How played out was their rivalry with Demo in real-time by this point?

It finishing at Mania was about right and it being handicap was the correct call. They had done the double turn at Survivor Series with PoP turning heel and aligning with Fuji. So Demo finishing the feud and getting revenge on Fuji was the correct finish, protecting PoP a little.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

Meanwhile, the Twin Towers, who'd just tangled with the Mega Powers, seem deserving of something more... And they'd be feuding with Demolition a bit after 'Mania, so what about slotting them in in place of POP at 'Mania (to jack another Strobe idea)?

Since Demo/PoP really should end at Mania and the Twin Towers were still working the Mega Powers up until they split in early Feb, it would be pretty hot-shotty to just do Demo/Towers at Mania with little build. It was better as the feud coming out of Mania. I go for them against Strike Force, who had not teamed in a WWF match since July 1988 (it may have been longer for on TV). Hype it big as Strike Force's first match in 9 months, former tag champs against this new monster team that was taking on main eventers. And Martel looks like a bigger dick for leaving Tito to get annihilated by these two big men. Tito gets more sympathy, have him do a stretcher job even, and their feud is even hotter.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

Jake Roberts and André the Giant both feel like they deserve singles matches, but Andre really doesn't seem like he's suited healthwise for it anymore. Then there's the Big John Studd aspect. Do you just keep this whole deal as-is, or try to shoehorn Ted DiBiase into it to make it Jake/Studd vs. DiBiase/Andre (w/ Virgil & maybe Heenan)? My hesitation here is that this route adds another tag bout to an already tag-heavy card. Do you do an Andre/Stud WM1 rematch with roles reversed and Heenan in a different corner this time, and Jake/DiBiase in a match that sure sounds a lot better on paper than Jake/Andre?

Jake/Andre was a big deal at the time and I remove Studd (to be explained) as ref. Andre has to be in-ring at this show. He was fucked but still one of the huge stars and Jake was also mega over, and the fans dug the storyline of Andre fearing Damien. I just shorten it to 5 min to make it not such a slog of a match. And Studd as ref just distracted from the Jake/Andre confrontation that had been built anyway.

Coming out of Mania, the plan was to run Andre/Studd again (with the face/heel roles switched this time) along with Haku/Duggan (and they could work tags as well to help Andre). Studd was given the Royal Rumble win, so him claiming to be the true royalty of the Fed would've set up a natural issue with King Haku. They can face off here, with Andre interfering to help his Heenan Family buddy and cost his old rival the match, bringing out Duggan to even the score and setting up both of these feuds. They did this on TV a month after Mania, except with no royalty feud to enhance it.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

As far as Perfect, I'm honestly debating an administrative move to condense the number of matches. As cool as the Blue Blazer match was for the time, I'm seriously debating replacing Blazer with Red Rooster and blowing off the Rooster/Heenan/Brooklyn Brawler angle earlier... perhaps at the Main Event in February? Perhaps even sorta loosely pair Perfect with Heenan here to make it make more sense. Perfect and Heenan weren't an actual pair yet, and/but Perfect wasn't paired with Genius yet either... So maybe this proto pairing works in a foreshadowing sense?

I am now trying to remember if on my latest rebooking I had Perfect join the Heenan Family here, very early, and did Perfect/Rooster. I think I maybe did.

Jan 17, 2018 16:45:03 GMT 🤯 said:

I think that covers all the musings. Depending on overall match count, I'm ok with doing a women's title match... But I'm also ok going without. Then there's the Piper's Pit/Brother Love segment. Is this the best use of Roddy Piper? Jimmy Snuka also made his return here. Were these surprise returns? Could either Piper or Snuka have been used better? Perhaps an unlikely one-time only alliance between old rivals to squash the Bolsheviks? I dunno.

If Piper had wanted to do a match, he would've. Piper's Pit was the best use of him, Brother Love being involved made sense since his talk show had replaced the Pit (and Prichard's Piper impression was pretty great) and so did Downey Jr. as he was a pop culture figure of the time. It just needed to be cut in half for time. Although you could argue doing Snuka's return on Piper's Pit and alluding to their feud and the coconut incident could've worked well.

I prefer to have Snuka make his surprise return to interrupt a Honky song performance (after Honky says he doesn't have a match because everyone is too scared of him, so he'll sing a song instead), since they were going to feud post-Mania. His actual return on the show was one of the most bizarre pieces of booking ever. Garvin and Bravo are both in the ring ready to start their match when out of nowhere Snuka comes out and is announced, he poses in the ring, leaves and the guys go about their business and have their match.

-------------------------------------------------

My Mania V card was something like this:

Brain Busters vs. Rockers
Jim Duggan vs. Dino Bravo - Flag
Twin Towers vs. Strike Force
Bad News Brown vs. Blue Blazer
Ted DiBiase vs. Hercules
Demolition vs. Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji - Tag Titles
Ronnie Garvin vs. Greg Valentine - Retirement
Brutus Beefcake vs. Ron Bass - Hair vs. Hair
Andre the Giant vs. Jake Roberts
-----intermission------
Piper's Pit with Brother Love & Morton Downey Jr.
Hart Foundation vs. Fabulous Rougeaus
King Haku vs. Big John Studd - For the Crown
Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster
Honky song interrupted by returning Snuka
Bushwhackers vs. Bolsheviks
Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude - IC Title
Rockin' Robin vs. Sherri - Women's Title
Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan - WWF Title

That is 17 segments plus an intermission, which may seem excessive, but I remember I timed it out and it could've been made to work. The in-ring work was far from the best at this time, so doing tightened up versions of everything with a hot crowd (hold it anywhere but the Trump Plaza) and stories behind the matches would've resulted in a fun, rewatchable show.

Apart from all the feud enders I already discussed, I give Bad News a guy he knows from Stampede in Owen to put him over strong (Brown is sort of stuck here, since he was working the loop with Savage in Harlem Street Fights, but Savage has turned heel to take on Hogan). I just fast forward by a few weeks the Garvin/Valentine deal that was all planned out (admittedly hurting the TV a little). I keep Bass around a couple of extra months to finish that feud on the big show. Newcomers the Bushwhackers go over the team they were working with on house shows in early 1989, just do a quick 3-4 min deal like they did on TV around this time; Whackers interrupt Soviet anthem, get quick win. And the Robin/Sherri feud should've gotten a spot on the big show (Sherri cut a random short promo shitting on Robin and Liz, but did nothing else on the show).

I guess Perfect doesn't need to officially join the Heenan Family yet. He could just be convinced by Heenan to help him out since the rest of his Family members are busy. They did face off on Superstars 5 weeks before Mania with Brawler interference after all. If Bass staying is seen as too much, then perhaps Perfect/Beefcake (they did work together a few times in early 1989) and Rooster/Heenan are the best options.

Strobe, THANK YOU! You're the fucking man.

My Mania VI card was something like (not in order):

Hercules & Paul Roma vs. Bolsheviks (dark)
Hart Foundation vs. Powers of Pain
Bushwhackers interrupt Rhythm & Blues' performance
Rockers vs. Orient Express
Colossal Connection vs. Demolition - Tag Titles

Earthquake vs. Ronnie Garvin
Dino Bravo vs. Jimmy Snuka
Rick Martel vs. Tito Santana
Big Boss Man vs. Akeem

Dusty Rhodes vs. Bad News Brown
Mr. Perfect vs. Brutus Beefcake
Randy Savage vs. Jim Duggan - For the Crown
Jake Roberts vs. Ted DiBiase - Million $ Title
Roddy Piper vs. Rick Rude - Cage

Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior - WWF Title vs. IC Title

Hercules & Roma started teaming pre-Mania as a face team with no name yet. This could go on the show proper, but I think I had it as a dark match. Foundation are going to be feuding with champs Demo out of Mania and need to look strong, with something more than just squashing the Bolsheviks. I like the idea of having Powers of Pain contractually obligated to finish up their tag matches (despite Fuji having sold their individual contracts already) and them losing to Bret and Anvil. It is a stronger win for them and you can protect Barbarian and Warlord by saying they were missing the guidance of their manager. Fuji's new client OX need to start out with a win and do against The Rockers. Demo obviously win the belts back and Andre face turns. R&B and Whackers being in a segment rather than match, as happened in reality, works better for me.

Ronnie Garvin had just won his feud with Jimmy Hart client Greg Valentine in the submission match at the Rumble so Hart using Quake for revenge works well; perfect fodder for putting Quake over, plus Garvin wouldn't be a cunt like Herc and just get up from the Quake Splash straight away. I think it may have been yourself 🤯, during the PW Rebook, that came up with the great visual of Snuka losing after missing his Superfly Splash (most likely with Quake distracting Snuka long enough to allow Bravo to recover and then move) and then eating the Quake Splashes post-bell (Quake being in Bravo's corner of course). It is still a bafflement that Martel/Tito didn't happen at Mania VI - they'd feuded on all the big shows for a year without the singles blowoff, Martel was going over and Tito was jobbing on this show anyway. Bossman goes over his partner.

This next upper midcard region was where most of our discussion came in the PW Rebook. The biggest problem in 1990 was lack of over and credible heels for Warrior to work with. I go for what I think is the most even spread of the big names against each other. The Savage/Duggan and Piper/Rude feuds get stretched out a touch longer and it allows Savage and Rude to go over big names (since Piper wouldn't need to be pinned, he might actually agree). Dusty was pretty new and therefore going over, so we can use Bad News (who is on his way down) and that leads into Savage/Dusty out of Mania (where Savage goes over again). Perfect's streak stays alive so that Warrior can take it at SummerSlam. Jake/Ted goes down basically as it did, Ted gets the belt back via cheap win and eats a DDT post-bell.

If I remember correctly, in the PW Rebook, we went for the big-time semi-main Savage/Piper and I think Rude just went over Snuka (like on the real show). I can't remember if people chose Jake/Ted and Dusty/Brown or did the feuds that would come later that year in Jake/Brown and Dusty/Ted.

Ultimate Challenge as it was, of course.

This means that I got everyone on the card who wrestled that night, except Koko (opener against Martel) and Brawler (dark match with Roma), so I'm happy with that. The only thing I don't like is it not working for Liz to be on the show and keep the Savage/Liz story going through the Manias. It isn't going to work for her to accompany Duggan, especially not with Macho winning.

Interesting point about the break in the Savage/Liz 'Mania story arc. Does that make it worth keeping the Randy/Dusty mixed tag match as-is, or is there maybe a way to work it as a singles match? I guess either way, Randy's likely coming out on the losing end...

I'm pretty sure the PW Rebook voted for Jake/Brown and Dusty/Ted, but I'm not 100% sure.

Been reading 1988 and 1989 results to try to figure out the pre-R&B Valentine and HTM tag team deal. Wiki says they were unofficially called "Double Trouble" on commentary. Their not a worthy pair, IMO, for that sweet team name. That aside, were they really just paired together before they were Rhythm & Blues simply because they were both Jimmy Hart clients? If nothing else, they could've at least been called the Intercontinental Connection based on them both being former Intercontinental Champions.

Honestly, I'm probably working a little too hard to try to feel more comfortable with keeping Valentine & HTM tagging together at 'Mania V just to help condense the match count by a match or two. :lol:

So, I'm really getting lost on this deep dive into the Greg Valentine/Honky Tonk Man tag team thing... and I just had a random observation: Hammer looks like the actress who played old Allie from The Notebook.

Also, I feel like I'm really digging the non-R&B version of Valentine & HTM. I'm starting to feel like they could've been a sweet team. I wish they'd been kept together and spared the R&B gimmick. For alliteration's sake, just go with the Colonel's Intercontinental Connection (since Jimmy Hart was a.k.a. "The Colonel" apparently... didn't remember that).

Wrestlemania XIII

*Having not actually gotten this far yet in my fanfic project, this one is not written in stone. 

Free For All?- Leif Cassidy vs. 2 Cold Scorpio?

*This may well go on a Raw either before or the night after this show.

Scorp beat Leif at IYH December and got a slightly stronger push here than in real life WWF (also no Flash Funk. His name is 2 Cold Scorpio, dammit). This had been a quasi-feud ever since with the two meeting (mostly on Superstars) a few times. Scorp had won all those matches. And he wins again here. But this time he offers Leif a post-match proposition when he puts Al over as a great wrestler and tells him to cut the crap. Al thinks about it before renouncing his Leif Cassidy gimmick, announcing his name is Al Snow, and shaking Scorpio's hand. The two form a new tag team- The Cold Front. 

1. Furnas & LaFon vs. Headbangers vs. Godwinns vs. New Blackjacks- #1 Tag Title Contenders Match

Either F&L or 'Bangers win. If F&L win, they end up getting attacked by The Cold Front either here on in their tag title match (a loss) to set up an undercard tag team workrate feud. But the 'Bangers probably take this to keep them strong since I have plans for a Headbangers/LOD feud (that the 'Bangers lose, of course) going forward. The other two teams are already fading down the card and become jobbers with music when they show up from here on out. 

2. Rocky Maivia (c?) vs. Billy Gunn- IC Title Match, maybe

Fatu sticks around a little longer in this universe to feud with the Nation on behalf of Ahmed, who had previously aided the big Samoan in his feud with evil relatives, the Samoan Gangsta Party. He may or may not become the Sultan at some point. He will not be on a Wrestlemania card. Since Billy Gunn is getting the teeniest, tiniest push (winning a heatless feud over Bart, basically) he gets Wrestlemania job duty against failing project Maivia. I'm leaning heavily towards not giving Rocky the IC Title in February (or Austin & Owen down the road) and keeping it on Helmsley until he loses to Foley at Summerslam. The only thing preventing me from writing in stone is what effect it might have on Rocky. Was that failed title reign THAT important to The Rock he would become? I personally don't think it was, but I'm not yet 100% convinced. Anyway, Rock obviously wins a heatless match.

3. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c?) vs. Goldust- IC Title Match, probably

Pretty much their real life feud. Chyna does wonders for Helmsley heat. The dastardly duo even does the unthinkable by getting the most hated man in WWF, former IC AND WWF Champion Goldust, over as a face. This being for the IC Title would add to the heat with Goldust desperate to regain the title he lost back in June.

4. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk- ECW Rules Match

One of my better ideas. Lawler has been beefing with ECW since February. He issued an open challenge to any member of the "Bingo Hall Brigade" to face him at 'Mania in a REAL arena. Funk, who was familiar to even the newest WWF fans due to his Rumble & Shotgun appearances earlier in the year, answers. Heyman joins the commentary team to put over ECW and hype Barely Legal. Funk wins with a piledriver onto stuff or a crooked moonsault through stuff.

5. British Bulldog (c) vs. Owen Hart- European Title Match

The ex-Camp Cornette members are still tag team champions but their relationship has been going south ever since Davey beat Owen in Germany to become the inaugural European Champion. This starts out as a scientific match but Owen starts fighting dirty after Bulldog keeps getting the better of him. Then Bulldog starts to cheat. It degenerates into a fight. Bulldog outcheats Owen to win. Owen refuses a post-match handshake and walks to the back alone, muttering the entire time. Their relationship appears beyond reconciliation. 

*Which makes it all the more memorable when Bret brings them back together the next night in an all time great wrestling moment.

6. Vader vs. Mankind- Grudge Match

Vader had been WWF Champion from August-November and been a perennial contender ever since. Mankind had been on the periphery of the WWF Title scene since September. This is a de facto #1 Contender Match that came about when the two formed an uneasy alliance to team against the top babyfaces a time or two. To the surprise of absolutely nobody they could not get along. They can't go all out here with weapons and stuff because there are already 3 wild weapony brawls on this show. So instead they just throw bombs at one another while Foley bumps big for about 12 minutes. Mankind wins in a mild upset as these two sort of switch Main Event-Upper Midcard positioning here.

7. LOD & Ahmed Johnson vs. Nation of Domination (Faarooq/Savio/Crush)- Chicago Street Fight

No idea if this holds up but it was tons of fun at the time as an early ECW style match in WWF. So nothing changes here. Babyfaces go over.

8. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin- Submission Match w/ Special Guest Referee Ken Shamrock

Nothing changes here. Duh.

9. Sid (c) vs. Undertaker- WWF Title Match

The WWF Title history is a little different in this universe but Sid still wins the belt from Bret the night after IYH February. This is never going to be a great, or probably even good match, but we'll cut the time in half (I really hope whoever booked their real life match to go 21 MINUTES was permanently blackballed from the wrestling business the second it ended) and hope for the best. Taker wins, obviously.

Always with the Wrestlemania's....How very boring! Let's do something else....Let's rebook arguably the worst WWF pay per view of all time....

King of the Ring 1995

*Also from my Rebooking the New Generation fanfic. I just know I'm eventually gonna end up posting the whole thing in this thread  :lol:

1. Shawn Michaels vs. Hakushi- KOTR Match- HBK wins an action packed 14 minute opener.

2. Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Savio Vega- KOTR Match/IC Title Match- JJ is forced to defend his IC Title here due to Savio scoring the pinfall in a tag match teaming w/ Razor against JJ & Roadie the previous month at IYH to give this KOTR show an added hook. JJ wins to retain and advance.

3. Owen Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith- KOTR Match- Allied Powers vs. Camp Cornette was the big tag feud at the time. This show conveniently features the members of both teams locking horns in tournament matches. The bulk of this is fine scientific wrestling. Then it degenerates into a schmozz with Lex & Yoko getting involved. Lex accidentally costs Bulldog the match. This is the catalyst for Davey's heel turn the next month.

4. Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger- KOTR Match- Short and sweet. Double countout. Owen gets a buy to the finals.

5. Men on a Mission vs. Smoking Gunns- MOM had just turned heel after losing to the Gunns at IYH May. MOM goes over here. 

6. Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler- Kiss My Foot Match- Just like in real life only this one doesn't lead to any evil dentists.

7. Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett- KOTR Match- Their IYH July match, hopefully. I had Razor beat JJ at that show to win their feud. It made more sense to me that way. BUT that means we'd lose out on the HBK/JJ classic (Jarrett's career best match imo) so I bumped it up to this show.

8. Diesel & Undertaker vs. Sid & Bam Bam Bigelow- A huge improvement over the real life KOTR 95 tag. This one sees Papa Shango (a huge improvement over Kama) come out to curse Undertaker in mid-match. 'Taker convulses. Diesel has to take on the near-700 pound Million Dollar Corporation alone. He puts up a valiant effort before being pinned following a Sid powerbomb and a Bigelow splash. The Corporation continues the beatdown until HBK makes the big save. Owen then rushes out to jump Michaels from behind. Setting up...

9. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart- KOTR Final- HBK wins the tournament with a flash SCM in a heated, action-packed short match. The chaotic, one thing leads to another booking here is an homage to ECW since this show took place in Philly.

*This is not at all an illogical show. I didn't bring in 17 different guys who were working WCW, ECW or Japan in real life at the time. Real life WWF could have put out this exact same card. Instead it was filled with a bunch of scrubs, guys in the wrong roles, and Mabel winning the tournament. Sad.

*I'll just post my Summerslam '95 tomorrow rather than doing a little Aftermath writeup. 

Still quite possibly the greatest rebook ever, Baker-man. For sure the best ever KOTR rebook.

Also, between your genius idea for Lawler/Funk at WM13 and Strobe getting me thinking about wrestler's multi-'Mania story arcs, I got to thinking about how Lawler never had a 'Mania match or even moment really until 2010 or whenever it was that he wrestled Michal Cole. That always seemed inexcusable to me. So, for a different spin on rebookings, I'd like to hash out some ideas for Lawler's alternative history of 'Mania matches and moments.

WrestleMania IX
Jerry Lawler vs. Bob Backlund
Razor had a legit hurt knee around this time apparently, which is why his match with Backlund was so short and shitty. In my alternative universe, whether he's still hurt or not, I'm pushing the Bad Guy a little harder and either programming him against Macho Man or The Hitman here, or possibly feeding Owen to him. Reminder to myself: This post isn't about Razor, just explaining how/why I'm freeing up Backlund...

Anyway, here's the setup: Lawler is new on the scene in the WWF, coming in around the same time Backlund returns. Lawler takes issue with all the love and fanfare Howdy Doody is getting, and talks all sorts of shit about Backlund on commentary. Ever the good-spirited sportsman, Backlund finally has had enough of Lawler's verbal diarrhea and offers to shut Lawler up in the ring in a wrestling match at 'Mania. Lawler views it as a joke, but accepts nonetheless because the King deserves to be featured on the 'Mania card, and says he'll relish in the opportunity to expose and humiliate Backlund as the past-it old codger that he is.

Come 'Mania, King grabs a mic before the match gets underway to cut one last promo on Backlund. An arrogant King makes the mistake of turning his back on Backlund, and Lawler is so lost in his own words that he doesn't hear the bell ring to officially start the match. He turns back around only to have his promo interrupted by a small package for the Backlund win in 3 seconds of official match time.

Overall, the segment is short enough that I think it could be slipped in without causing a time issue. The win is fluky enough that King really isn't that hurt. In a way, he accomplished his mission of exposing and humiliating someone: it just so happened to be himself (i.e., he beat himself by allowing his arrogance to give Backlund an opening). The win for Backlund fits, as it's the good guy underdog out-clevering the loudmouth bully. It also gives other faces in the Federation something to needle Lawler over for the next year or so.

Lawler joins the announce team after the loss and regains his heat though some scathing, on-point, hilarious color commentary.

WrestleMania X
Jerry Lawler vs. Randy Savage
Big Evil (Big Evil?) had this idea in his 1994 WWF rebooking on the old PW, and he wrote it so well. I think this would necessitate bending the rules a bit or keeping King around despite his legal issues at the time. Big Evil had this feeling very shoot, drawing on Lawler's legal issues, Savage's marital issues with Liz, their history in Memphis, etc. I dug it all and still do. Crush can be fed to Luger or Tatanka or Earthquake or something. Considering how personal and heated the Savage/Lawler program would be (think Savage/Roberts or Savage/Flair) I'm open to keeping the Falls Count Anywhere stip just to allow this to be the hardcore brawl it deserves to be.

Lawler jobs again, but this time in a hard-fought bloody war.

WrestleMania XI
Jerry Lawler & IC Champion Jeff Jarrett (w/ The Roadie) vs. Lawrence Taylor & Razor Ramon (w/ The 1-2-3 Kid); Roddy Piper is the special guest referee
My next post in this thread might end up being my rebook of WM11, but for now I'll just tease with this idea that occurred to me for the first time when we were trying to collectively rebook WM11 on the old PW.

Draw on Lawler's Andy Kaufman experience for feuding with celebrities. Pair Lawler up with a natural partner in fellow Tennessee treasure, Double J. Avoid doing a Rumble rematch for the IC title at 'Mania. Save that for RAW or Superstars or IYH. Replace Kid with Walter Peyton if you can get him for the NFL tie-in and callback to him being Razor's cornerman at SummerSlam '94. Throw in Piper based on his history of being a special guest referee at 'Mania and also his history with King from last year.

Between the celebrity involvement, Piper being involved, and this being a tag match... The homage to the original 'Mania main event is STRONG. And the Kliq is happy to have one of their own in Razor (plus maybe Kid) --NOT Bam Bam-- directly involved in the co-main event.

For the third year in a row, Lawler eats the pinfall at 'Mania with LT scoring it after his flying clothesline spot. This gives Razor an indirect win over IC Champ Double J, which could be fodder for both sides to use in the build up to their title rematch; i.e., Razor's team beat Jarrett's team... Yeah, but Razor didn't beat Jarrett! Etc. Etc.

WrestleMania XII
Jerry Lawler vs. Ahmed Johnson
Based on the way Ahmed was getting pushed at the time, it seems weird to put him on the losing side of a six-man tag at 'Mania instead of giving him a dominant squash win. Lawler seems like an easy plug-in for continuing Ahmed's earlier Jarrett feud after Jarrett split from the WWF. I imagine this being a relatively short squash just due to the fact there's an hour+ long match also on the card.

WrestleMania XIII
Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk OR Goldust (w/ Marlena)
I fucking LOVE Baker's idea for this.

On the chance Vince doesn't want to go for something interpromotional at 'Mania, slot Goldust in instead. Similar to the Backlund feud, Lawler's been riding Dust on commentary since late '96. Maybe they have some sort of interaction in the '97 Rumble. Anyway... Sets this up, and Goldust turns full face and eventually picks up a win over Lawler at WM13, perhaps with some Marlena interference, and then humiliates the homophobic Lawler with gay antics afterward.

Goldust can then go into his HHH feud between 'Mania and KOTR, at which point HHH can transition to feuding with Mankind/Dude Love. Meanwhile, at 'Mania, maybe just do Rock/HHH: The Prequel for the IC Title.

WrestleMania XIV
Jerry Lawler & Brian Christopher vs. LHW Champion Taka Michinoku & Scott Taylor
So I'm hesitant to give Lawler a win here, as he's developing a nice 'Mania losing streak. :lol: But maybe this is where Lawler's 'Mania match streak ends, period. I'm running out of steam and don't have any obvious ideas for '99 or 2000 beyond him emceeing some women's contest so that he can ogle puppies.

Anyway, the setup here is Lawler waging a war against the Light Heavyweight division, with his not-son Brian Christopher acting as his occasional proxy. Let's say Taka was defending the title at No Way Out of Texas against Taylor... Only for Lawler & Son interference to cause the match to be thrown out. That will somehow get us to this tag match, which still end with a Russo swerve of Taylor turning on Taka to form Too Much with Christopher and help hand Lawler his first 'Mania victory.

...

Ok, that's all I've got for now. Maybe 1999 could've featured Lawler wrestling Chyna? Then, in 2000, maybe Rikishi in a stinkface match? Assuming he's not just emceeing a WrestleMania bikini contest featuring Miss Kitty? I dunno...

Anyway, there's those rebooking ideas!

So I haven't timed this out, so I've got a "long" and "short" versions of my rebooked WrestleMania XI. Since the real WM11 only had seven matches, I'm throwing down my short version first with the thought that it would be more realistic from a timing perspective...



WrestleMania XI: The Short Version


Match #1) Grave Consequences Gauntlet: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Million Dollar Corporation (Bam Bam Bigelow, Tatanka, Irwin R. Schyster, and King Kong Bundy) (w/ Ted DiBiase)
[approx. time = 12 min.]
So, by this point, the Million Dollar Corporation is really nothing more than a gaggle of jobbers. The only one with any real upside IMO is Bam Bam, but even he needs some major retooling. At least in a gauntlet match context, Bam Bam can be protected a bit. But I've got zero problems feeding a slew of midcard nothings to 'Taker to pad out his 'Mania resume. Plus, it's 'Taker... so him running through four guys isn't really THAT much of a stretch.

I started writing out the booking for the actual match, like the entry order and how all the eliminations would go down, but fuck it... it's not really important. Key point is that 'Taker steamrolls through Bundy, Tatanka, and IRS. Bam Bam says fuck it and walks off after narrowly avoiding a Tombstone, getting himself eliminated via count-out (and thus earning the ire of the Million Dollar Man).

So what's the "Grave Consequences" aspect of the stipulation, you ask? Well... If the MDC had won, DiBiase would've gained control of Undertaker's urn and Undertaker would've been forced to join the MDC. However, because Undertaker won, the MDC is forced to declare bankruptcy and presumably desolve. DiBiase later explains though that he filed for Chapter 11 instead of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which allowed him to reorganize the MDC as an entirely new entity: the bigger, better, badder... DiBiase Industries!

***


Match #2) The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & Davey Boy Smith) vs. The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray & Tom Prichard) (w/ Brother Love *sub. for Jim Cornette*)
[approx. time = 6 min.]
I'm swapping the Blu Twins out for the Heavenly Bodies on the assumption that the Bodies would bump better and ultimately produce a more entertaining match.

Depending on how far back we reach to start tweaking booking, perhaps this could actually be a slow-simmering side feud for Luger. After all, the Bodies were hired guns for Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation back when the group was feuding with Luger. Maybe you just keep that going somehow between November and now? Or just say "fuck it" and let this be a straight-up squash.

The finish I'm picturing is Del Ray going for a moonsault and Davey Boy catching him on his shoulder and hitting a running powerslam. I'm not sure how realistic that is, but I'd let Davey Boy cycle as many roids through his system as needed if he thought there was a chance he could pull something like this off. The idea is that the win is somehow so impressive that it puts the Allied Powers at the head of the line for tag title shots coming out of 'Mania.

Lastly, I just get a personal kick out of picturing Bruce manage his brother. On top of that, I feel like the Heavenly Bodies gimmick and Brother Love gimmick could kinda fit together (tie them together through the Heavens somehow... I dunno). It's a one-off, one-night-only thing anyway. Love is doing a favor for Cornette, who's apparently tied up with some surprise that he's helping Owen Hart orchestrate.

***


Match #3) Women's Title: Bull Nakano (c) vs. Alundra Blayze
[approx. time = 6 min.]
Alundra wins the title at 'Mania instead of the RAW afterward. Me being a mark for these ladies and their rivalry is really what gets them on the card. Plus, without it, I'd have a six match card, which seems awfully thin on paper for a 'Mania... even if the real one only had seven matches.

***


Match #4) Tag Title: The Smokin' Gunns (Billy & Bart) (c) vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna *Owen's mystery surprise partner* (w/ Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette)
[approx. time = 8 min.]
I always struggle with this match in my rebooking attempts. It's such a great moment for both Owen and Yoko, and it's hard imagining a better situation to create this random team. Other drafts of a rebooked WrestleMania XI see me trying to use Owen, Yoko, Lex, and Davey Boy all in singles matches... but then the card ends up featuring a lot more matches than the real life one did, and I lose the moment for Owen and Yoko. I've also toyed with having Men on a Mission coming into 'Mania as the defending champions instead of the Gunns so that I could get a behemoth battle between Mabel and Yoko, with the thinking being that a huge loss on a big stage could be the impetus for M.O.M. to turn heel. In such a scenario, I try to find a way to squeeze a rednecks vs. hillbillies six-man onto the card, pitting Bob Holly and the Gunns against Henry Godwinn and the Blu Twins. But alas, I feel compelled to keep this card's match count short, and for lack of strong feelings about any alternative ideas, I stick with the match that the WWF actually went with in real life.

***


Match #5) I Quit: Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund
[approx. time = 16 min.]
As with the previous match, I can't really find anything better for either Bret or Mr. Backlund without fucking up the rest of the card or else turning it somehow into an eleven-match card. So, we stick with this. However, we pull Piper since he detracted from the match as its special guest referee. Hopefully having only six matches on my card means that Bret and Bob have a little more time to expand their match into something of quality (as the short time they had to work with in real life, especially for an I Quit stipulation, seemed to be another issue too). Bret ultimately gets his win back over Mr. Backlund to end their series of matches as the overall victor, 2-1.

I can't figure out the details at the moment, but a potential alternative (depending on how far back my rebooking efforts go) would be to have a Diesel/Backlund return match here with Backlund seeking revenge for Diesel ruining his title reign and thus life. That match would really serve as nothing more than a quick squash to highlight Diesel and likely write Backlund out. It would have its administrative purposes too, being so short would mean that I might be able to squeeze a seventh match onto the card. Meanwhile, the WWF title match becomes champion Bret defending against 1995 Royal Rumble winner Shawn.

***


Match #6) Lawrence Taylor & Razor Ramon (w/ The 1-2-3 Kid -OR- Walter Peyton *if available*) vs. Jerry Lawler & IC Champion Jeff Jarrett (w/ The Roadie)
{Guest officials include: referee Roddy Piper, ringside enforcer William Shatner, ring announcer Nicholas Turturro, timekeeper Jonathan Taylor Thomas}
[approx. time = 12 min.]
Original WrestleMania throwback!!!~ I'm running out of write-up wind. See my post about Lawler's rebooked 'Mania matches/moments for the rationale behind this. I debated making this the main event, but figured Diesel and Shawn would be less likely to throw a hissyfit if they got to go on last. Plus, maybe Diesel and Shawn will get the HHH/Y2J/WM18 treatment and realize that going on last just because you're the title match doesn't really mean you're the main event. I dunno... I'm running out of steam!

***


Match #7) WWF Title: Diesel (c) (w/ Pamela Anderson & Jenny McCarthy) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sid)
[approx. time = 20 min.]
Same as in real life since I couldn't convince myself to pull the trigger on Bret/Shawn and Diesel/Backlund. Only difference is both ladies side with champ Diesel from the get-go. Not that that really matters. But fuck it. When it comes to having people in your corner... Shawn likes big dudes behind him, and Diesel likes being sandwiched by two chicks. Different strokes for different folks. Or should I say different attitudes for different dudes?

---

EDIT: So, according to Wikipedia, it looks like real life match times for WrestleMania XI total up to approximately 1 hour 20 minutes. I'm gonna go back now and see if I can make that amount of time work for my matches above. Wish me luck!

EDIT2: Aaannd back after timing things out. I think it could work with those times. :meh:

It is a shame that we never saw Lawler wrestle at a Mania during the 90s but he was always doing commentary, so I understand why.

Some good 1995 rebookings there. It was such a horrendously mishandled year. I always say it, but the face/heel rosters were obscenely unbalanced, especially post-Mania when HBK and Bigelow turned. Diesel, Bret, Taker, Michaels, Razor, Bulldog, Luger and Bigelow were all faces during that period. So you had stuff like Mabel's main event push, Bret feuding with midcarders and Taker feuding with Bundy and Kama.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

My most recent Mania VIII (not in card order) from memory is pretty much what you'd have expected the card to be if you were watching the TV in late 91/early 92:

'Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels* vs. Marty Jannetty
In reality, Jannetty got himself caught with coke and resisted arrest in late January and ended up under house arrest for 6 months. Let's just pretend that didn't happen and we get The Rockers Explode as intended.

British Bulldog* vs. The Berzerker with Mr. Fuji
These guys were working each other on the road and were supposed to work the show but it was cut for time. Does anyone know if they just paid for less PPV time? Given that Mania VIII was like an hour shorter than some of the prior Manias, so matches being cut for time wouldn't make sense otherwise. I'm having up to 4 hours though. They had a fun little sprint at MSG taped on Dec 29th and aired on Prime Time on Feb 3rd. Something like that here would do just fine.

MILLION DOLLAR CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase* [Champion] with 'Sensational' Sherri vs. 'El Matador' Tito Santana
The end of the DiBiase/Virgil feud splintered off into DiBiase/Matador and Virgil/Repo feuds with them also working some tags. DiBiase would visit Mexico, including Tito's home, and mock him. Since I am doing LOD/Disasters as originally planned, there is no need to rush into the Money Inc. team, which can wait until after Mania, as can Sherri leaving Ted to go with HBK.

10-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH with Ray Combs as guest ring announcer
Big Boss Man*/'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan/Sgt. Slaughter/Virgil/'The Rocket' Owen Hart
vs. Irwin R. Schyster/The Nasty Boys/Repo Man/The Mountie with 'Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart
Bossman was feuding with IRS, Duggan/Slaughter with the Nastys and Virgil with Repo. Mountie was still working with Bret on house shows so the most sensible person to be his opposite here is his younger brother Owen, freed up now that Anvil had gotten himself fired again. Slaughter was going to be feuding with Mountie coming out of Mania, so it would have worked well to do a spot here to set that in motion. Repo was going to working with Bulldog, so him doing something nefarious to his brother-in-law Owen could work. Then again, shock stick or tow rope spots in the Family Feud tie-in 10-men where the faces win anyway probably wouldn't work too well.

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) [Champions] with 'Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart vs. Legion of Doom* (Animal & Hawk) with Paul Ellering
Hawk got suspended but to keep the tag titles on the road, I'd just have the Disasters win them at a house show; then LOD return with a new purpose and with Ellering at their side. Do the SummerSlam motorcycle entrance here and LOD regain the titles to a huge pop. It may seem unfair that Hawk basically got no punishment for his fuck-up, but LOD were hugely over, this match should've happened at Mania to conclude the story and the newly-formed Money Inc. can feud with them post-Mania.

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper [Champion] vs. Bret 'Hit Man' Hart*
As happened. Not one thing to change here, from the pre-match interview to Piper putting the belt around Bret's waist.

Sid Justice vs. The Undertaker with Paul Bearer
Sid starts to lose it when he just can't keep Taker down and gets himself DQed by smashing him with a chair. Officials calm him down eventually, but a heel side has been shown...

CAGE MATCH
'Macho Man' Randy Savage* vs. Jake 'The Snake' Roberts
Intense and hate-filled. No escape rules here, just pinfall or submission. Jake brings the snake bag into the ring with Savage tied in the ropes, bringing out Liz, who Savage had told to stay in the back. Jake grabs Liz and teases the slap, but changes him mind. He then starts pointing to the bag, as if he is thinking of setting the snake on her. An enraged Savage struggles and powers out of the ropes and destroys Jake with a savage flurry. Savage then holds up Jake, allowing Liz to get her retribution slap, before he hits two top-rope Elbow Drops followed by a third from the top of the cage for the win. If Jake is leaving, then add a Loser Leaves WWF stip; if not, then do the SNME post-match angle here with Taker's face turn, leading to a Taker/Jake feud.

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
'Nature Boy' Ric Flair [Champion] with Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan*
Hogan looks like he is closing in on victory when there is a ref bump. Perfect attacks, causing Sid (with the same chair from earlier) to appear for the save but he turns, smashing Hogan with it. The ref is up in time to see Sid powerbomb Hogan, giving him the win by DQ but Flair retains the title. Flair, Sid and Perfect are laying a beatdown on Hogan but a banged-up Savage tries to make the save, but the numbers are too much until... Warrior's music hits and we get his big return to chase of the heels. Hogan, Savage and Warrior celebrate with pyro to close Mania on a high for the fans in the stadium and watching at home. Savage/Flair and Warrior/Sid are the feuds coming out of Mania.

🤯 The idea of WWF Lawler being in a hard fought, bloody war just doesn't work for me. That's not who WWF Lawler was.

I do love my Lawler/LT & Lawler/Funk ideas though. Both would have been perfect.

I had never heard of Honky & The Hammer teaming as Double Trouble. They're no Double J & Double A.

Summerslam 1995

*Yeah, I just know I'm going to end up posting all my Royal Rumble '95- Wrestlemania XIIIish fanfic stuff in this thread at some point 

*Dean Douglas appears in backstage segments throughout the show to grade matches and wrestlers.

1. Owen Hart & Yokozuna (c) vs. Smoking Gunns- Tag Title Match

I had Owen & Yoko lose the belts to the Allied Powers at IYH May only to regain them at IYH July when Davey turns on Luger, setting Camp Cornette up as tag champs under "Demolition (Freebird) Rules." 

Owen & Partner (Anvil, Yoko, Bulldog) vs. Gunns for the tag titles was a thing I kept lazily coming back to whenever Owen didn't have anything else going on. Owen & Partner once again get the better of Billy & Bart here.

2. 1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi

Mostly their real life match with a few new tricks. Skipterference once again backfires on Hakushi (Skip wanted to help Hakushi after costing him a recent match against Barry Horowitz). Kid capitalizes to gain revenge for his 'Mania defeat.

3. Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Bob Holly

Their real life match. HHH wins in his PPV debut.

4. Barry Horowitz vs. Skip

Their real life match. Hakushi turns babyface on Skip. Horowitz Wins! Again.

5. British Bulldog vs. Lex Luger- Loser Leaves Town?

Bulldog turned heel on Lex to join Camp Cornette at IYH July following a series of Luger miscues over the preceding months. Making this a Loser Leaves Town Match may be a bit "unrealistic." Loser Leaves Town or not, Bulldog wins, and Lex is soon out the door.

6. Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Not much of a story here. They had an inconclusive Raw match, or something. Basically both guys just needed a match. They had both been kept strong for most of the year. Bret hasn't lost since the original Survivor Series Screwjob, though most of his big match wins have come against midcarders (Backlund at 'Mania, Hakushi in May, Lawler at KOTR, "King's Champion" The Black Knight (Yankem) in July), while BBB had been on a roll until losing to Diesel in the main event of IYH July. Bret goes over here. Perhaps this is where Jean Pierre Lafitte steals Bret's jacket.

7. Undertaker vs. Papa Shango- Casket Match

What real life Summerslam '95 should have been. Shango (& Lafitte) stole The Urn a few months before this. Shango put a curse on it. The curse paid off at KOTR '95. Taker disappeared for a few weeks. He returned. A Casket Match was set. Taker gets his revenge here. Real life match went 16 painful minutes so we're cutting this one in half. Sadly, this is Shango's swansong. I love him and all. Yet I also find him really tough to book.

8. Razor Ramon (c) vs. Shawn Michaels- IC Title Ladder Match

Razor beat JJ for the IC title at IYH July to end their long feud. HBK earned a title shot at KOTR by beating then-champ Jarrett. So HBK challenged Razor to a friendly match. Razor accepted the challenge on the condition that it would be the very match he had won at WM 10- a Ladder Match. Michaels accepted. HBK wins. This is basically their real life match, only with less botched finishes.

*The Dean grades Razor "F for Failure." Razor punches him. A feud is born.

9. Diesel (c) vs. Sid- WWF Championship Match

Sid had been Diesel's primary rival since Wrestlemania. They wrestled to a draw at IYH May. Sid (& Bigelow) won a tag match over Diesel (& Taker) at KOTR. They've also been tied up with other guys at times (Diesel w/ Bigelow, Sid w/ Michaels). This is the blowoff. Diesel wins a match that hopefully exceeds expectations and gets to **.

*Real life Summerslam '95 wasn't that bad of a show. But no Blu Brothers, Bertha Faye or Isaac Yankem, coupled with Papa Shango > Kama, and Sid being a much bigger "name"/draw than Mabel means this show still smokes the real life version.

Speaking of Mabel, he gets a much more low key midcard push here. At this point he's either about to squash, or had already squashed Mo, bringing Men on a Mission to its logical conclusion. Mabel also gets kayfabe credit for ending Adam Bomb's WWF career and ridding the WWF of Man Mountain Rock. Next he beats May-July rivals the Gunns in separate singles matches. This Mabel mini-push is just to build him up in order to be a credible first victim for Ahmed Johnson at IYH October.

If Baker is going to do some 1995 WWF then by god I am going to do some 1998 WCW.

SuperBrawl VIII
February 22, 1998

The Card:

World Championship Unification Match

Sting © vs. Bret Hart ©

No Holds Barred Tag Team Title Match

The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) © vs. The Mega Powers (Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage) 

Cage Match

Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig 

United States Championship Match 

DDP © vs. Eddie Guerrero 

Singles Match 

Goldberg vs. Rick Martel 

Singles Match

Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner  

Television Championship Match 

Booker T © vs. Dean Malenko 

Tag Team Match

Vicious & Delicious (Scott Norton and Buff Bagwell) vs. The Giant & Lex Luger 

Cruiserweight Championship/Stipulation Match 

Chris Jericho © vs. Juventud Guerrera  

Raven's Rules Tag Team Match

Chris Benoit & Davey Boy Smith vs. Raven & Saturn 

The Build:

I've gone back and forth on how to introduce Bret Hart into WCW, but the only thing that remains constant is that he comes in with WCW recognizing him as the WWF World Champion. JJ Dillon can have some kayfabe wrestling body that recognizes the Screwjob as a No Contest meaning Bret Hart is still champion and WCW now owns the WWF title lineage. This is a match built as sport to unify the pro wrestling championship for the first time in 50 years (NWA/WCW/WWF). I even Photoshopped a WCW 1992/WWF Eagle belt hybrid for Bret Hart to wear in the lead up a few years back for my aborted WCW Rebook.

SPOILER: Click to show

The nWo has split up.  It's basically Rock and Wrestling (nWo) vs. New Generation (Wolfpac) as The Mega Powers vs. The Outsiders symbolizes this perfectly.

Flair vs. Hennig get the blowoff that they never really got. Hennig, having nearly killed Naitch in a War Games match will now be trapped in the old NWA cage with the legend, and Flair guarantees it's Hennig's turn to bleed.

DDP vs. Guerrero already have a long history in WCW, and a DDP open challenge for his US Belt had the former champion, Guerrero answer it. 

Goldberg is in month three of squashing people and "former world champion" Rick Martel is built as his toughest challenge yet.

Scott Steiner turned on his brother at Souled Out. Either he's with Hall and Nash or Hogan and Savage, it doesn't really matter for this, he's just transformed into Big Poppa Pump and has his older brother wanting to kill him.

Booker T and Dean Malenko went to a time limit draw on Nitro two weeks ago and get extra time to settle to the score on PPV.

Vicious and Delicious are Hollywood aligned and have had separate problems with Giant and Luger over the years, Norton trying to outhoss Giant, and Buff trying to outflex Luger. This gives them all something to do with rumors that The Giant might join the nWo again now that his nemesis Nash is gone, and Hollywood is looking for a new big man.

Chris Jericho has been the biggest asshole in wrestling for two straight months now, even injuring Rey Mysterio Jr. in the process and agrees to give Juvy a title shot only if Juvy puts his mask on the line. Jericho owns Rey's knee, now he wants to own Juvy's mask.

Chris Benoit has been tied up in a feud with Raven and his crew for a couple months now, desperately needing a hand to even up the numbers advantage Raven has some. His old Stampede buddy, Davey Boy Smith showed up to be that man. Now Benoit and The Bulldog look to update the British Bulldogs with Benoit in the Dynamite role, with Raven & Saturn as their first victims.

Jan 21, 2018 6:29:03 GMT Kilgore said:

If Baker is going to do some 1995 WWF then by god I am going to do some 1998 WCW.

SuperBrawl VIII
February 22, 1998

The Card:

World Championship Unification Match

Sting © vs. Bret Hart ©

No Holds Barred Tag Team Title Match

The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) © vs. The Mega Powers (Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage) 

Cage Match

Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig 

United States Championship Match 

DDP © vs. Eddie Guerrero 

Singles Match 

Goldberg vs. Rick Martel 

Singles Match

Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner  

Television Championship Match 

Booker T © vs. Dean Malenko 

Tag Team Match

Vicious & Delicious (Scott Norton and Buff Bagwell) vs. The Giant & Lex Luger 

Cruiserweight Championship/Stipulation Match 

Chris Jericho © vs. Juventud Guerrera  

Raven's Rules Tag Team Match

Chris Benoit & Davey Boy Smith vs. Raven & Saturn 

The Build:

I've gone back and forth on how to introduce Bret Hart into WCW, but the only thing that remains constant is that he comes in with WCW recognizing him as the WWF World Champion. JJ Dillon can have some kayfabe wrestling body that recognizes the Screwjob as a No Contest meaning Bret Hart is still champion and WCW now owns the WWF title lineage. This is a match built as sport to unify the pro wrestling championship for the first time in 50 years (NWA/WCW/WWF). I even Photoshopped a WCW 1992/WWF Eagle belt hybrid for Bret Hart to wear in the lead up a few years back for my aborted WCW Rebook.

SPOILER: Click to show

The nWo has split up.  It's basically Rock and Wrestling (nWo) vs. New Generation (Wolfpac) as The Mega Powers vs. The Outsiders symbolizes this perfectly.

Flair vs. Hennig get the blowoff that they never really got. Hennig, having nearly killed Naitch in a War Games match will now be trapped in the old NWA cage with the legend, and Flair guarantees it's Hennig's turn to bleed.

DDP vs. Guerrero already have a long history in WCW, and a DDP open challenge for his US Belt had the former champion, Guerrero answer it. 

Goldberg is in month three of squashing people and "former world champion" Rick Martel is built as his toughest challenge yet.

Scott Steiner turned on his brother at Souled Out. Either he's with Hall and Nash or Hogan and Savage, it doesn't really matter for this, he's just transformed into Big Poppa Pump and has his older brother wanting to kill him.

Booker T and Dean Malenko went to a time limit draw on Nitro two weeks ago and get extra time to settle to the score on PPV.

Vicious and Delicious are Hollywood aligned and have had separate problems with Giant and Luger over the years, Norton trying to outhoss Giant, and Buff trying to outflex Luger. This gives them all something to do with rumors that The Giant might join the nWo again now that his nemesis Nash is gone, and Hollywood is looking for a new big man.

Chris Jericho has been the biggest asshole in wrestling for two straight months now, even injuring Rey Mysterio Jr. in the process and agrees to give Juvy a title shot only if Juvy puts his mask on the line. Jericho owns Rey's knee, now he wants to own Juvy's mask.

Chris Benoit has been tied up in a feud with Raven and his crew for a couple months now, desperately needing a hand to even up the numbers advantage Raven has some. His old Stampede buddy, Davey Boy Smith showed up to be that man. Now Benoit and The Bulldog look to update the British Bulldogs with Benoit in the Dynamite role, with Raven & Saturn as their first victims.

Honestly, this feels even bigger than a Starrcade. It's hard for me to imagine WCW topping this the rest of the year, if not the rest of their existence. This feels like a context in which Bret might actually be super motivated to turn out an all-time classic with Sting. Then the rest of the card is epically strong.

*Since Kilgore did a WCW show I'll take a break from the 95-96 WWF to share my favorite pay per view from the 93-94 WCW rebook I did a few years back.

Halloween Havoc 1993

1. Nasty Boys vs. Paul Orndorff & Paul "Romeo" Roma

Nastys had recently returned as babyfaces. The Paul's recently came together to do something about their mutual losing streaks. Nastys go over here. Their run as faces does not last long.

2. Too Cold Scorpio vs. Maxx Payne

Solid undercard match up. These guys were on about equal footing push-wise as relatively successful up and comers. Scorp had his one month TV Title reign ended by Lord Steven Regal last month at Fall Brawl. Payne had been a gatekeeper type who beat the guys he was supposed to beat while losing to the real stars. Scorp goes over here. Payne turns face soon after this.

3. Ron Simmons & Ice Train vs. Harlem Heat

Train is Ron's protege getting a big Next Big Thing push. Heat tried recruiting him to make their team a trio. Train turned them down to remain with his mentor. Now Harlem Heat is out for revenge. Train & Simmons go over to set them up for a tag title shot next month.

4. Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Davey Boy Smith- TV Title Match

A natural match up. His Lordship won the TV Title from Scorpio last month at Fall Brawl. Now he must defend it against his fellow countryman. Regal pulls off the upset to solidify himself as the hot new heel.

5. Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat- US Title Match

The US Title scene was probably the weakest part of the 1993 portion of this project. With four singles titles, a thriving tag scene, and a fairly small roster something had to give. The US Title picture was that something. Steamboat wins the belt here in a friendly scientific match mainly to free Dustin up for a big Starrcade match I had planned. Steamer goes onto lose it to Rude at Starrcade because repeat matches are what my 1993 US Title scene was all about.

6. Midnight Horsemen (Arn & Eaton) [c] vs. Hollywood Blondes- Tag Title Match

Arn & Eaton won the belts from the Blondes in August. Blondes were on the winning side in War Games the previous month at Fall Brawl to earn a title shot. Blondes go over here as this version of the Horsemen quickly fades away due to Eaton being phased out and Arn being stabbed by Sid. Blondes stay together until Starrcade and have a heated feud over the US Title in early '94.

7. Sting vs. Sid- Grudge Match

This had been an on and off feud since the spring. Sid beat Sting in their lone singles match earlier in the year. They competed in a bunch of tags with both men occasionally being on the winning side. This is the blowoff. Sting wins clean via Scorpion. Sid turns babyface by respecting Sting. This does not sit well with Sid's ally Vader. They have a WCW Title match at the November Clash. Vader squashes him as punishment for the Arn stabbing. Sid leaves.

8. Ric Flair vs. Rick Rude- NWA Title Match

Rude earned the title shot by being on the winning side last month in War Games. Flair goes over here to set up a big WCW Champion vs. NWA Champion unification match with Vader at Starrcade. Rude regains the US Title on that same show as a consolation prize.

9. Vader vs. Cactus Jack- WCW Championship Texas Death Match

The most hyped match of the year. This feud has been brewing since Vader injured Jack way back in April. Cactus returned with a vengeance at the end of August's Clash and won a wild brawl over Vader & Race's hired gun Maxx Payne in September, earning Payne's respect in the process. Cactus brings the fight to Vader in a wild brawl but comes up short in the end thanks to that dastardly old scoundrel Harley Race.

Jan 22, 2018 1:50:52 GMT 🤯 said:

Honestly, this feels even bigger than a Starrcade. It's hard for me to imagine WCW topping this the rest of the year, if not the rest of their existence. This feels like a context in which Bret might actually be super motivated to turn out an all-time classic with Sting. Then the rest of the card is epically strong.

Well, my Starrcade was going to be at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

You guys are killing it with these WCW rebooks!

Were Arn & Eaton actually called the Midnight Horsemen?! I hope so. That's a bad ass name. If not, kudos again to the creative genius of Baker-man.

Jan 22, 2018 2:00:55 GMT Kilgore said:

Jan 22, 2018 1:50:52 GMT 🤯 said:

Honestly, this feels even bigger than a Starrcade. It's hard for me to imagine WCW topping this the rest of the year, if not the rest of their existence. This feels like a context in which Bret might actually be super motivated to turn out an all-time classic with Sting. Then the rest of the card is epically strong.

Well, my Starrcade was going to be at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Oh, shit... What do you do with Goldberg then?