Brooklyn Brawlin' 2.18.09: World Title Hysteria En Route to Houston

Posted by Dan Torkel on 02.18.2009

We see Wrestlemania on the horizon, we see the matches being planned, but do we want to watch them...again?

Greetings to all. Well the last two night have been put some pretty tumultuous bumps in the Road to Wrestlemania. At No Way Out, Edge loses the WWE Title in the opener, and wins the World Title in the main event. Cena loses an unlosable match, albeit against an opponent we never saw coming. And Triple H (once again Champion) is back on Raw to stop the McMahon Killing Machine, Randy Orton!

It is funny that WWE 24/7 has had the Rock's DVD in its Legend's Section and I have been catching up on all the craziness of early 1999. Then, under Vince Russo's Crash TV booking style, Rock and Mankind traded the WWE Title 4 times between January 4th and February 15th. Rock then lost the title to Austin a month later. The hot potato belt theory was not so obvious back then because it was all so new and fresh and Austin, Rock, and Foley were such intriguing characters.

Lets start with No Way Out. A great way to start the show and a great surprise with Edge getting eliminated right away... but the second I saw that I and many others new what was going on. But how, are we psychic? No; this JUST HAPPENED! Apparently WWE Creative thinks its fans have short-term memory loss. Survivor Series was only 3 months ago. There, Jeff Hardy was knocked out of his triple threat match, and Edge made a shocking return to capture the WWE Title. In fact, Edge has won 4 of his World Titles via sneaking in at the opportune moment; 1) his first at New Year's Revolution when he cashed in MITB, 2) Stealing MITB and the Title in the same night from Undertaker on Smackdown, 3) Survivor Series 2008, 4) No Way Out. We get it, he is a sneaky bastard.

For those who did not see the swerve coming throughout the rest of show were clued instantly to the ending when Edge took out Kofi before the Raw chamber. This by the way marks the second consecutive ppv, where the internet buzz might have had something to do with the outcome. Last month, Christian was apparently supposed to be Jeff Hardy's attacker, but we all ruined that and they pulled a switcharoo with Matt Hardy. Then with all the buzz being about how the Raw Chamber was SO obvious, they pull another switch and flip Edge back to win it. Kudos to Rey for a superb showing in the Chamber and I actually want Rey to get another push out of this.

Randy Orton vs. Shane was disappointing, but served its purpose. On Raw the fight was great as it sowed the seeds perfectly for Orton vs. Triple H with all the hatred and bloody rivalry behind it. FINALLY Stephanie took her bump with the RKO, and Shane is punted, so that leaves (aside from Linda) only Triple H as the family protector. I knew the WWE would not do Edge/Triple H and Cena/Orton, I just had a feeling that those matches were too safe. For those who are arguing that this match has been done to death, here is a point/counterpoint on potential main events.

Orton vs. Cena -

Historically a great rivalry, they engaged in a big feud in the Summer of 2007, featuring Randy Orton punting Cena's Dad. Orton was also the kayfabe reason for Cena's injury that summer, and upon his return in January Cena wanted blood. He rushed his Wrestlemania Title shot to No Way Out 2008, and won by DQ. At Wrestlemania he was pinned by Orton. Since then, they have had little interaction. This would have been a sloppily put together feud at the last minute that was overshadowed by the McMahon storyline. It also would have made Cena the protector of the McMahons, which is highly out of character for him.

Orton vs. Triple H -

Forgetting the years of background dating back to Evolution and the heel turn on Orton after his first title win, let's focus on just the last year. Triple H and Orton have been feuding since last Wrestlemania when Orton stole Hunter's pin. At Backlash, Triple H defeated Orton for the Title in a Fatal Four way, thus ending the Age of Orton. He then defended it against Orton twice on ppv, once in a cage, and once in a Last Man Standing match, the latter in which Orton suffered a broken collarbone sending him out for months. With Orton out, Triple H was drafted to Smackdown and thus there no retribution for Orton upon his return. The first time they were in the same ring again, it was Orton eliminating Hunter to win the Royal Rumble. That was a week after punting his father in law, and now he has destroyed his brother in law and RKO'ed his wife. Orton is working his way back to Triple H and now not only can conquer his greatest enemy, but take back the WWE Title as well.

Edge vs. Cena was done to death back in 2006, but this matchup has not been done on a serious ppv in a long time. Let's not forget the hatred here, including Edge breaking into Cena's home and beating up his father. They had a monster series of matches throughout the summer of 06 including a great match at Summerslam and a really good TLC match at Unforgiven. One thing that Edge's opportunistic streak sometimes makes fans forget is how good he is in the ring. Last year, his match with Undertaker at WM 24 was my pick for MOTY and his subsequent feud provided many other great matches.

Speaking of matches that have been done before... it looks like we are all getting what we asked for, Taker/HBK. Talk about fresh matches, this has not been done on a major show since the Rumble of 1998 where HBK suffered his infamous back injury that was supposed to be career ending. Now 11 years later, the entire world seems to be craving this match. Hey, based on the past history you can't argue. The weakest of their big 3 matches (Ground Zero, Bad Blood, Rumble), was the Rumble match which was the best Casket Match ever and hovered around 4- stars. Given both their histories with Wrestlemania, I am marking this as the easy pick for MOTN, MOTY, and maybe best non-title match in Wrestlemania history. Is that an unfair amount of hype to live up to? You know, given the participants, No. This is Shawn and Taker, the two longest running employees, in their hometowns, still running at top speed. This is the match many others and I are most excited for.

Then there is the issue of Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania. First Rourke, then Flair, now Piper… wow Jericho is running down a gamut of legends en route to Wrestlemania. Flair wrestling I think is out, and with the event being in Texas, and with the Hall of Fame ceremony, I think if Jericho wrestles it will be against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin claimed recently that Jericho would be of the few people he'd trust in the ring at this point and the match would not have to be a classic 20-minute encounter, but rather a spectacle event like Lashley/Umaga (Trump vs. McMahon) and Big Show/Mayweather. You can have Flair, Piper, and Mickey Rourke, as well as other legends there to run interference and ensure the Austin win so Jericho is protected, (though WWE does not seem to care about protecting Jericho, whether from Cena making him a BITCH, or fans in the parking lot). If Austin does not want to wrestle a full match, I say that Jericho has a Highlight Reel at Wrestlemania with Mickey Rourke as his guest and Flair, Piper, Austin, and the Funks come out to beat the holy hell out of him, ending with Rourke giving Jericho the "Ram Jam."

With the top 4 matches seemingly being Triple H/Orton, Cena/Edge, Shawn/Taker, and Jericho/Austin, it doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for the rest of the card. Wrestlemania in the previous few years have had 7 – 9 matches with more emphasis on the background and details than in ring action. Figuring we will have a MITB V at the show, that will get 6 – 8 guys on the card. What else? They are building to a MVP/Shelton US Title match, but does that make the show, or are they in the MITB? You figure two match slots are filled by some sort of Jeff/Matt blow off, and Christian vs. SWAGGA for the ECW Title (Cue ominous Mr. Burns shuddering noise). Poor Christian. That leaves CM Punk, William Regal, The Legacy, JBL, Rey, Miz and Morrison, Kane, Big Show, Kozlov, Shelton, MVP, R-Truth, the Colons, THE Brian Kendrick, Ezekiel, Mike Knox, Finlay, Dreamer, Evan Bourne(?), Mr. Kennedy (?) and Umaga amongst others. I would have held off Christian's return till Wrestlemania and have him as a surprise entrant in the MITB match where he could win and then spend 6 months on ECW, before jumping to the big shows and using his case. He would still be in ECW, could still feud with Swagger, but his re-entrance to the company would have been seen by all, and not the 13 people who stay home on Tuesdays to watch ECW.

I would have the Wrestlemania card boil down to…

WWE Title – © Triple H vs. Randy Orton – No DQ – This should main event and be a bloody war and it will end exactly like Wrestlemania X-7; with Vince McMahon staggering down to help…RANDY ORTON! Yes, it was all a ruse and they were in cahoots to take down the good for nothings trying to take over HIS company, those being Steph, Shane, and Hunter. Hey Wrestlemania X-7, where was that? Ah yes, Houston Texas!

World Title – © Edge vs. John Cena – If these are the main events then while Orton's match should main event, this probably will to send the fans home happy with another Cena title win. I cannot imagine both heels winning, and also cannot imagine Orton NOT winning. Maybe they go the creative route and have Taker/Michaels main event in a guaranteed send everyone happy match.

Mr. Wrestlemania vs. The Streak - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin w/ Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair, and Roddy Piper in his corner

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy – Streetfight

ECW Title – © Jack Swagger vs. Christian

MITB V – CM Punk vs. JBL vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase vs. Big Show vs. Vlad Kozlov vs. Umaga vs. Finlay

US Title – © Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP

World Tag Titles – © Miz & Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio & Evan Bourne – This is a perfect choice to open the show.

9 matches, spectacle, celebs, big time rivalries, bloodfeuds, and a match between 2 of the greatest of all time… seems good enough for the 25th edition of the Greatest Show in Wrestling.

Next week; a little something different, as we examine title histories and try to figure out the best matches for each title (existing or no long existing). Sample question: If you had to save only 1 IC Title match for all time, is it Steamboat/Savage, Shawn/Razor (Ladder), Bret/Bulldog, or another one totally different? OOOH GOOD FUN! Till then have fun storming the castle.