How would you book Mania

[The Legend]

So WrestleMania is two days away, the card is booked, we know everything on those lines. My question is taking the card we have, how would you book each of the matches? Here's what I would do. Looking forward to some discussion on this one.

Andre the Giant Memorial – There’s two steps I would take to booking this match. The first is I would have Vince, or Shane and Stephanie together, announce that the winner of this match gets a shot at one of the titles at Backlash. Give the Battle Royal a tangible reason for happening and the winners something to strive for, other than a large phony gold statue that they don’t even keep. Next step, complete this Dolph Ziggler story by having him win the battle royal and square off against Nakamura at Backlash.

Women’s Battle Royal – This match needs to accomplish a couple of things: Further, the Bayley/Sasha story and second provide a swerve to the finish to help boost more momentum. I’d have Bayley get one over on Sasha by eliminating her as the match winds down, but then have Carmella eliminate Bayley to win the match right after. Carmella needs the boost and needs to look good if whenever she cashes in the briefcase isn’t going to seem like a total joke.

Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali – I’ll confess to not know much about this pairing and the story leading into this match since it’s only been on 205 Live. However, when looking at this match I think it should go on right before the show starts. Let these two have a fast-paced and exciting match and I think I’d prefer Ali wins, he’s fresher and less exposed to his weaknesses than Cedric Alexander.

MAIN SHOW

Alexa Bliss vs Nia Jax – Nia Jax shouldn’t just win this match, she should whip Alexa Bliss all over the place. Let Alexa try a few of her under-handed tactics, but don’t let any of them work for long. Jax should get this match over with quickly.

The Bar vs Braun Strowman & ??? – They have a chance to do something unique with this match, if they just take a risk. Strowman doesn’t want a partner, but they are making him pick one. He should pick the least capable partner possible. Make his partner Curt Hawkins. From there go one of two ways – the safer way is have Strowman win without tagging Hawkins in, the better way would be to have him beat the crap out of Hawkins before it even begins so he can win them by himself. From there drag Hawkins out for tag matches where he either doesn’t get used or gets beat up by Strowman before Hawkins turns on Strowman only to get the biggest beatdown.

Orton vs Roode vs Mahal vs Rusev – Rusev is by far the most over guy in this match, he should walk out champion and take advantage of this Rusev Day momentum for a while. Have him pin Mahal and move on to other feuds.

Miz vs Rollins vs Balor - I'd have Balor appear as the Demon King and go on to win the IC title. Pretty straight forward match up.

Bludgeon Brothers vs Usos vs New Day - Bludgeon Brothers should win, that's easy. I'd have them somehow traumatize one of the New Day members and lead to the breakup of that stable, which has often been great, but I think they've done all they can do at this point.

Flair vs Asuka – There are not many ways this match can realistically go. These two just need to put on the best match imaginable, put everything on the table, reversals, counters, kickouts, rope breaks on submissions, go to town in this match.

Bryan & Shane vs Owens & Zayn – There’s no way that Owens and Zayn are staying fired, which probably means that Owens & Zayn are winning, but that’s not how I’d book it. Shane’s worked as much as a heel as Owens or Zayn in this story and I’d take advantage of that. Unbeknownst to the crowd I’d have Shane strike a deal with Sami, if he costs his team the match Zayn gets re-hired and Owens loses his job. The match goes down, Zayn takes the fall. Afterwards in a backstage segment, Bryan walks in on Zayn and Shane celebrating the move. Bryan objects to Zayn turning on his friend like that, Bryan feuds with Zayn and leads to a match at Backlash where if Bryan wins Owens gets re-hired as well. This can lead to a Zayn vs Owens feud as well where Zayn plays the heel and Owens the face for the first time.

Angle & Rousey vs Steph & HHH – Don’t care much for this match, I doubt any of these four can put on a very good technical pro wrestling match at this stage. The ending is obvious, Steph taps out to an arm bar. Steph can feed Rousey to Jax as punishment in the coming weeks.

Cena vs Undertaker – This match hasn’t been announced, no match should happen at Mania without being announced, but something has to happen between these two. I’d have Cena in the crowd throughout the show, play up the thought that he doesn’t have a match at Mania, then before the main event, Undertaker comes up behind Cena in the crowd and attacks him. The two brawl for a bit and Taker eventually puts Cena down, throw in some Taker theatrics with lights and what not for good measure and then Taker gets to finally retire on top.

Style vs Nakamura – I really hope they give these two creative control over this match. Let them do something interesting and rare, splitting from WWE style. I hope we see more escapes from finishers than we do kick outs of finishers. Let them have a great showing, because this match needs it badly.

Reigns vs Lesnar – I really don’t care too much what happens. This story has been lost from the beginning. Bottom line Reigns wins and hopefully Lesnar returns to UFC.

[Hanley!]

It's hard to book this show, because honestly I just don't like the card. So if I was given creative control even two weeks previously, the card would look quite a bit different. The Undertaker/Cena situation is also a bizarre one to try and book in a way that doesn't annoy either the crowd or myself. But here's what I came up with.


KICK OFF SHOW

Women's Battle Royal: This would include appearances by the Iconic Duo and Nikki Cross. I'd use the match to put Nikki Cross over strong, as she's going to be a call up after Wrestlemania. She eliminates a few women and runs wild until finally being dumped. When she is finally eliminated, she starts going nuts on the outside and destroying women until being hauled off by Sanity team mates Young and Wolfe. Sasha Banks would try to manipulate Bayley once again, only to be eliminated by Bayley near the end of the match. This would set up a heel turn by Banks the following night on Raw. The match comes down to just Bayley and Becky Lynch who get five minutes to themselves. Becky eventually wins.

Alexander vs Mustafa Ali: This feels flat because these guys lack personality. So I'd send them out there and tell them to do all of the flips in their arsenal and blow people away with sheer work-rate. Then Mustafa would win the match with an eye-rake, a roll-up and a handful of tights. Starting this division off with a vanilla face worked horribly last time. Lets kick off this revamp with a sneaky heel as champion.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal: I'd put some NXT names in this, just to add some interest to the match. Not necessarily guys who are moving up though. This is very much a match for wrestlers who haven't got anything going on, so I'd let Samoa Joe make his return, kill everyone and win. If you get one guy over strong out of this match, you've done more than enough.


MAIN SHOW:

US Championship: Start the main show off with a big entrance for a crowd favourite in Rusev. Make this a furiously-paced 12 minute match with Rusev winning the championship.

Raw Tag Team Championships: Bring back Ellsworth to be Braun's partner. Braun does almost all the work, but Ellsworth gets in a couple of comedy spots and even breaks up a pin when it looks like the Bar might put Braun away. Braun and Ellsworth win the championships, though Ellsworth is almost dead by the end of the match.

Rousey & Kurt Angle vs Steph & Triple H: This should be kept short (about 12 minutes again), with Triple H and Angle doing most of the work. Rousey tags in and hits a big suplex on Triple H, forces Stephanie to make the tag and then taps her out with the arm bar. Stephanie does not get to hit moves in this match, lets try to maintain a little credibility.

Elias Concert: Elias is too over right now to be relegated to the Battle Royal. Elias comes out with lots of fanfare for his biggest concert yet. Starts a song about Wrestlemania and how he's the star of the show. Is then interrupted by *insert WWE legend here* who kicks his ass. My preference would be Goldberg (which would also make practical sense). This would be a quick break after one of the biggest matches on the show, and shouldn't drag on too long.

Smackdown Tag Team Championships: I'd give these teams some time. Give them an opportunity to steal the show. The Bludgeon Brothers would dominate a lot of the match, with the other two teams occasionally cooperating to hit spectacular moves on the Bludgeons and keep them down. The Usos would eventually sneak a win by pinning one of the New Day guys, keeping the Bludgeons strong.

Raw Women's Championship: Very short match. Alexa spends a few minutes begging off, powdering, hiding behind Mickie, doing whatever she can to avoid a confrontation. But once Nia catches her, she demolishes Alexa to win the title in moments. It plays to the strengths of both performers, and I think this match would be at the greatest risk of losing fans if it was to go too long.

Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: Bryan has to wrestle most of this match without a tag partner, due to Shane's medical difficulties. This match would be all about Bryan shining and reminding fans what he can do in the ring. Make him look fantastic. But finally, due to a miscommunication with a Shane that hasn't been doing his part, Kevin and Sami sneak a win. They scamper to the back, happy to be rehired, while Bryan soaks up the adulation of the crowd.

Smackdown Women's Championship: Big hype video for both competitors before the match. Big entrances for the both. Build this up as a dream match. Both women should go all out for 15 minutes, with Asuka dominating but Charlotte holding her own. Charlotte manages to escape the submission several times towards the end of the match, but finally gets knocked out with a vicious kick to the head and then pinned.

Smackdown Women's Championship (again): Carmella cashes in Money in the Bank. Asuka kills her with strikes and submits her. Carmella has lost her cash in opportunity. It puts Asuka over strong for her new beginning on Smackdown, and gets the briefcase away from a wrestler who just isn't good enough or over enough to be champion any time soon.

John Cena & Undertaker confrontation: Cena comes to the ring to announce the attendance. He takes a cheap dig at the Undertaker for being a coward. Undertaker appears and the two go back and forth on the microphone for a couple of minutes. Cena repeats the same talking points from the last few weeks. Undertaker says that Cena is only calling him out to keep himself relevant, because he has become a loser. It breaks down into a wild brawl between the two. They're driving each other through barricades and hitting each other with everything they can get their hands on. Then suddenly we hear Sanity's entrance theme.

Eric Young, Nikki Cross, Alexander Wolfe rush the ring and start laying out Cena and Undertaker. Eventually Cena and Undertaker begin to fight back, working together to try and dispatch Sanity. That is until Killian Dain appears and turns the tide. Sanity end the segment standing tall over Undertaker and Cena. This establishes a new heel stable for the main roster (preferably Smackdown) and sets up some matches that you can promote for shows down the line. If Undertaker can still go then you could do a tag match at Summerslam. Dain vs Undertaker and Young vs Cena could be good pairings. And (sigh) if you want to promote an Undertaker vs Cena match for Wrestlemania 35, it still furthers that story.

Intercontinental Championship: I've left this until now because I want it to be dark when Balor makes his entrance. This should be the entrance of the night. Full demon paint, fireworks, spectacle. Make Balor a star. Give these guys time and let them have a great match, then give Balor the clean win over Rollins.

Styles vs Nakamura: I debated making this the main event, but I think I heard that they announced Lesnar vs Reigns was the main event at the Hall of Fame. So I'm putting it on second last. They should be given the mega star treatment with the hype video and the entrances, and should be given the opportunity to go out and have the match of the night. Completely clean, no shenanigans. Nakamura wins. Styles can be drafted to Raw while Nakamura becomes the top face on Smackdown. And the rematch a year or two down the line will be hotly anticipated yet again.

Lesnar vs Reigns: A mean guy match with lots of stiff shots and ugly strikes. Reigns should lean into the heel attitude to keep the fans from going silent. I'd book a finish where Heyman turns on Lesnar and helps Reigns pick up the win. Reigns is coronated yet again, but this time as top heel. The Usos can be drafted to Raw after Wrestlemania, and this is now the brand's top heel act.


That's my show. It's as good as this show is going to get, and I'll fight anyone who says different.

[KaiserGlider]

Intercontinental Championship: I've left this until now because I want it to be dark when Balor makes his entrance.

FYI, since this show is taking place in the same arena as Wrestlemania 30 - Mercedes Benz Superdome - I'm pretty sure it's going to be normal lighting the entire time. In any case, I hope they try to avoid another Wrestlemania 31 situation where it's daylight for most of the cool entrances.

[Str8Shooter]

Not gonna lie, that's a pretty damn good show @Hanley!. Although that Sanity idea is the most fantasy of fantasy booking

[Messiah]

How much of a travesty would it be if Balor doesn't go Demon mode for tonight?

I'm afraid he won't.

[The Legend]

How much of a travesty would it be if Balor doesn't go Demon mode for tonight?

I'm afraid he won't.

He might not, they announced he'd go demon the last time he did, so that has me worried, but while disappointed I wouldn't call it a travesty, a travesty would be either of the other guys winning the belt (although if they do an interesting character development with Miz now as a father I wouldn't mind it). Rollins has no business winning the belt, I just don't think he'd add anything to it right now.

[Str8Shooter]

How much of a travesty would it be if Balor doesn't go Demon mode for tonight?

I'm afraid he won't.

They haven't teased it even the slightest leading up to the match. Meaning either they have no intention of doing it, they are planning on doing it and want it to be a surprise.... or they forgot he does that and didn't even think of it

[Messiah]

How much of a travesty would it be if Balor doesn't go Demon mode for tonight?

I'm afraid he won't.

He might not, they announced he'd go demon the last time he did, so that has me worried, but while disappointed I wouldn't call it a travesty, a travesty would be either of the other guys winning the belt (although if they do an interesting character development with Miz now as a father I wouldn't mind it). Rollins has no business winning the belt, I just don't think he'd add anything to it right now.

'

Yea, Balor losing would be a terrible decision. Rollins is the kind of guy who doesn't really need a title. Ditto with Miz. Balor needs the extra boost of credibility.

I can't imagine they will have him lose though. He is one of my safer locks for the night.

[Hanley!]

Balor should win the title, in cool paint, and get a strong run on Raw.

Rollins should be drafted to Smackdown and become #2 babyface on that brand (Nakamura as champion, Styles drafted to Raw). Rollins has a better chance of becoming world champion on Smackdown later this year, and I guarantee that show would be better for his career.

And yeah, I get that my Sanity booking would never happen, but it would be cooler than whatever it is that they end up doing here. The set up for this Undertaker/Cena thing has been bizarre and bad from a promotional point of view anyway.

[KaiserGlider]

Heyman just trolling or is Hanley gonna be right?

[Hanley!]

This seems like exactly the kind of thing that Heyman would never say if this turn was actually going to happen. So I doubt it leads to anything. You'd have to predict that Reigns just gets the clean win as planned.

[Everlong]

Damn, some likely disappointed people in this thread about Finn Balor