Was watching WrestleMania X8 on WWE 24-7 recently, a show that still boggles my mind on a number of levels.
Allow me to explain in the form of a multiple choice quiz.
Question 1: The main event of your show is Triple H challenging Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship. With what storyline do you book the match?
a. Triple H returning from a horrible quad injury to avenge the very man who put him out of action.
b. The first time the Undisputed Title has ever been defended at a WrestleMania.
c. Take the focus off Jericho and the title, and instead book the storyline around Triple H and Stephanie's divorce, including a dog getting run over and a car getting sawed in half.
Question 2: Stone Cold Steve Austin is facing the nWo's Scott Hall just weeks after the nWo returned to WWE. What's the logical finish to the match?
a. Scott Hall wins after Kevin Nash interferes, giving the nWo some momentum.
b. Scott Hall wins after Vince McMahon interferes, building some momentum for the upcoming brand extension, which is only a couple of weeks away.
c. Stone Cold Steve Austin wins, because, um ...
Question 3: Edge needs a match for the show, which just happens to be in his hometown of Toronto. What do you do?
a. Match him up against his "brother" Christian, blowing off their months-long feud in their hometown.
b. Match him up against William Regal, with whom he has been feuding over the Intercontinental Title for months, and give Edge the win and the belt in front of the hometown fans.
c. Have him and Christian reunite for one night only for a TLC Match against the Hardys and the Dudleys -- the third year in a row at WrestleMania these teams would have faced off in such a match (though the WM16 match wasn't technically a TLC Match).
d. Have him face Booker T in a feud over a Japanese shampoo commercial.
Question 4: What was my favorite moment working backstage for WWE.com during this show?
a. When Lita told me her favorite part of her match were the fans' off-color chants at ringside, questioning her womanly virtue. (I never used the quotes on the site, though she does mention this anecdote in her book).
b. When Stone Cold Steve Austin blew me off after his match, even though he'd told me earlier in the day he'd be up for an interview once the match was over (again, a story he relates in his book).
c. Standing on the arena floor with Shane McMahon during Rock-Hogan and feeling absolute goosebumps from start to finish, and then interviewing The Rock immediately following the match.
Finally, I think we have a winner.
Comments (11)
The booking of the Jericho/HHH fued was insultingly poor indeed.
Hall was originally supposed to beat Austin but Austin nixed it saying it was pointless giving Hall the win as smart money said he would be gone within 3 months anyway. Which he was. But so was Austin unfotunately
Sadly I think the whole HHH/Jericho match was a waste. Everyone knew he was winning the belt and pretty much buried Jericho who was never able to regain that top spot once Hunter was back. Rock/Hogan was awesome just by the crowd reaction.
Amazingly, the crowd reaction to Rock/Hogan match was FAR louder live than it was on PPV!!
I was also on the floor for the match and it was the most insane crowd you've ever seen. The crowd was so physically and emotionally drained by the end of the match that the rest of the show just fell flat. It seemed you could hear crickets during Triple H's match.... and the crowd was half gone by the time he posed at the top of the ramp.
To this day, as a true Jerichoholic, I've tried to forget that the Jericho/HHH match ever happened. It should have been one of the defining moments of Jericho's career. Instead, he was completely buried in every respect by HHH & Stephanie's circle-jerk and then wrongly blamed afterwards when HHH's one-month reign as Undisputed champ tanked. And that's something I'll never be able to forgive HHH for, no matter how long he continues to not dominate the title scene.
What's even more maddeningly annoying about it? The E could have easily realized their wrongdoing and allowed Jericho to walk out of Toronto with the belt. Yes, it would have been the third straight year a heel left WM as the champ, but they had Rock/Hogan right there to be the main event (and given the crowd reaction to it, it should have been).
What a disgrace.
It Sucks How Much Jericho Gets Totally Buried,he is Totally Over and is Great as a babyface and Awesome as a Heel.Yet He always seems to get Buried,it kinda sucks.I agree with Texas Kelly,having Rock-Hogan as the Main Event and Having Jericho-HHH come before it on the Card would have been a great Idea. have Jericho win and Shock Everybody(cause HHH's win was so anticlimactic since everyone expected it)would have been really cool.Jericho could drop the title to Hogan at the Next PPV just like HHH ended up doing,and then HHH vs Jericho Hell in the Cell match at Judgement Day would actually have meant something instead of being and Obvious HHH Builder.
i like jericho but the fact is jericho as the world champion couldnt do anything more for the business and trust me he will never get another run for the wwe championship but sending him to SD to feud with edge for the heavyweight title will give jericho some EDGE
The blown nWo storyline....
I know Hogan/Rock was everyone's dream match (cause I mean
The original angle for the nWo (from 96) had them with a "mystery man" invading the WCW. Why no do the same thing? In order for this to work (and I mean, I know the problem with what I would want to do here), the nWo runs roughshod over the roster for a few weeks, attacking people, disrupting shows, and (most importantly) costing HHH his title match with angle. Rock's getting attacked, HHH getting attacked, and Austin getting attacked.... so Flair (since he was a "half owner") at the time goes to book Rock/Austin/HHH v. the nWo... and the nWo goes one better and says "how's about you find a fourth guy vs. ALL FOUR MEMBERS OF THE nWo?" So throw in the Big Show on the team Titan, or even Flair (I hated the Flair/UT story anyway). Heck, maybe even Jerico or Angle.
So it's Hogan/Hall/Nash/mystery guy v. Austin/HHH/Rock(+1), and before the match, HHH gets injured and can't wrestle... and just like in the original angle, the nWo "mystery guy" isn't there. So it's three-on-three for a while, and it's a 50-50 match for about 12-15 minutes, then the nWo gets ahead...
and HHH runs in to help about team Titan....
and turns N....W...O!!!!
nWo beatdown on Rock, Austin, and team Titan, and Flair, with McMahon orchestrating it.
The next night, HHH is the leader of the nWo, and beats Jericho for the title. Then they do the roster split, and it would probably at least make a little more sense... and then you can do 50-50 booking against the nWo. I'd probably say Hogan/HHH wouldn't last in the nWo together anyway, and Hogan would get turfed by Backlash to set up the nostalgic babyface run.
But you know... what they did was pretty good, too (HA!).
The blown nWo storyline....
I know Hogan/Rock was everyone's dream match (cause I mean
The original angle for the nWo (from 96) had them with a "mystery man" invading the WCW. Why no do the same thing? In order for this to work (and I mean, I know the problem with what I would want to do here), the nWo runs roughshod over the roster for a few weeks, attacking people, disrupting shows, and (most importantly) costing HHH his title match with angle. Rock's getting attacked, HHH getting attacked, and Austin getting attacked.... so Flair (since he was a "half owner") at the time goes to book Rock/Austin/HHH v. the nWo... and the nWo goes one better and says "how's about you find a fourth guy vs. ALL FOUR MEMBERS OF THE nWo?" So throw in the Big Show on the team Titan, or even Flair (I hated the Flair/UT story anyway). Heck, maybe even Jerico or Angle.
So it's Hogan/Hall/Nash/mystery guy v. Austin/HHH/Rock(+1), and before the match, HHH gets injured and can't wrestle... and just like in the original angle, the nWo "mystery guy" isn't there. So it's three-on-three for a while, and it's a 50-50 match for about 12-15 minutes, then the nWo gets ahead...
and HHH runs in to help about team Titan....
and turns N....W...O!!!!
nWo beatdown on Rock, Austin, and team Titan, and Flair, with McMahon orchestrating it.
The next night, HHH is the leader of the nWo, and beats Jericho for the title. Then they do the roster split, and it would probably at least make a little more sense... and then you can do 50-50 booking against the nWo. I'd probably say Hogan/HHH wouldn't last in the nWo together anyway, and Hogan would get turfed by Backlash to set up the nostalgic babyface run.
But you know... what they did was pretty good, too (HA!).
Pretty Decent NWO Idea
Pretty Decent NWO Idea