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It’s January, which should be the time of year that WWE ramps things up as we travel down the Road To WrestleMania. It should be the most exciting time of the year for WWE. But, this year it’s not. In fact, there isn’t a WrestleMania in recent memory where WWE has gone into their biggest show of the year with more uncertainty than they will in 2016.
Daniel Bryan. Seth Rollins. Randy Orton. And now, John Cena. All injured and probably not available for WrestleMania. WWE is going into the biggest show of the year with a decided lack of top names to market for the company’s biggest event. Part of the problem falls squarely at the feet of the Creative process. After a decade of an over-dependence on Cena, largely at the expense of newer, younger talent, WWE has wasted a lot of assets on their current roster. Despite what Vince McMahon says about being able to tell the fans to believe in someone whenever he wants them to, that just isn’t the case a lot of the time. People watch the product and if they tell us a wrestler doesn’t matter for an extended period of time, we believe it. It becomes a perception that is very hard to change. Due to the process of not protecting younger talents, the company is left with a large number of talented wrestlers who should be perceived as more than they are by the fan base.
There is not much that they can do to fix that problem, other than commit to changing the perception of the fans have of guys that the company has done disservices to in the past (for instance, stop talking about the size of Neville’s ears and start talking about how amazing the guy is). It doesn’t mean they should stop trying, it means they have to make the most that the can with guys they haven’t damaged (or damaged too badly).
Also, with Cena turning 39 on his next birthday, and given the years of heavy workload that he has on his body, the company needs to start planning for the future now. Cena has been a legendary rock for McMahon to lean on, but to continue that habit would be detrimental to the long-term health of the company. Cena has been a huge asset to WWE, and should continue to be one in the future, but as he gets older, WWE needs to be smarter about how they use him. He has become the nice outfit you wear out to a special dinner. It’s time for the youth in the company to be the clothes that one wears every day.
Luckily for WWE, Cena’s surgery happened on January 7 instead of March 7. They still have time to salvage the situation and that should start with The Royal Rumble in about two weeks.
It’s no secret that going into the Rumble every year, there are only a handful of guys that have a legitimate chance of winning it. The fans know that too, which often makes the match very predictable most of the way. This year, with the aforementioned names probably out of the match, it already has more of a wild card feel to it. Add in the fact that Roman Reigns’ WWE Title is on the line and it adds to the unpredictability, or at least it should. So I propose this:
WWE needs to pick five or six talents to make the main guys for the near future and have the final grouping come down to them. If it’s me, I go with Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett and Sheamus. When it got down to those guys, instead of wrapping up in a few minutes the way that the bout usually does, it goes another 15 to 20. Everyone is fighting for their lives, doing all they can to win and not be eliminated. Roman holds on to win against all odds, and then is met with a challenge from Brock Lesnar on Raw the next night to prove he is the real champion at WrestleMania. In that match, you have them go toe-to-to for a long, dead even match where both guys were this close. You could even do a spot where Roman had the match but the ref was dazed and missed ten seconds of a count. In the end, you book the old Misawa-Kawada finish where both guys were strong and it could have gone either. Brock could even give Roman the “put over” nod after the match. Then, when the announcers bring up the downed reft next night, Roman says that is an excuse and he doesn’t make excuses. Brock won, he lost, and he is going to get better so he can win his Title match. You could build it to SummerSlam where Roman gets the win in a hard fought match and “earns it” in the eyes of the fans.
I get that the knee-jerk reacting in the company would probably be to go with Triple H vs. Roman Reigns. That would be a mistake. Roman is your champion. HHH is a middle aged executive, albeit an all time great. But what does Roman beating him do really? Not a lot for the long term. The best way to use Triple H is not with Reigns. It’s with Dean Ambrose.
After Roman retains at the Rumble, HHH comes for revenge, only to be told by the WWE Board that they are watching the actions of Vince McMahon and HHH, and if they go after Roman, they will face the consequences. Roman has begun his program with Lesnar, so he doesn’t need HHH in his crosshairs anyway. HHH, pissed off, says fine, I can’t go after Roman, but I can go after his buddy, Ambrose. They could tell a story where HHH gets the early heat but then Ambrose comes back and gets HHH so mad that he agrees to have a match against Ambrose at Mania that he never planned on having. Instead of putting the career stipulation on the match, which totally telegraphs the finish, you have Triple H calm down the next week and then go back into snarky mode, saying he can’t wait until after Mania because he will beat Ambrose up so badly, etc. You also have H use his power to set up everything in his favor. I like doing a bit where HHH sells how overconfident he is by saying things like, “Every week, I will make you a different character Dean. One week, you are Dean “The Dumpster” Ambrose. The next Dean-oink The Clown. Then El MataDean.” Of course, Dean then wins at Mania. In the mean time, and afterward, you are selling a lot of Lunatic Fringe shirts. And with Cena on the shelf, you need new guys to sell march for you.
The NXT Title needs to play a part in this as well. They have a huge show Mania weekend and are touring nationally now. There is no reason that they shouldn’t have time on Raw (while of course headlining their own shows), and it would probably help sell Network subscriptions and tickets to people who want to see more, especially Takeover events. It’s imperative that the NXT Title only consist of NXT talents doing what they do in their promotion. It has to be treated as different than WWE. I love the idea of doing a four man tournament at Fastlane in February with the winner getting a shot at Finn Balor at Mania. And how about if AJ Styles wins that tournament? Styles vs. Balor at Mania? Yeah, that works for me.
Because you are now using the NXT Title on Raw (and enhancing your brand), you don’t need the US Title and IC Title anymore. One is enough. So finally, you do the unification match that has been rumored for years. The program can be set up at the Rumble, when Owens faces off with Del Rio and they cost each other the WWE Title. It would put interest on the match and one belt would mean more than two going forward. Then as part of the HHH angle, they can get the IC Title off of Ambrose. Viola, we now four solid matches for Mania:
*Reigns vs. Lesnar
*HHH vs. Ambrose
*Balor defending the NXT Title (against AJ Styles, Samoa Joe or Apollo Crews)
*Unification match between Owens and Del Rio
And then, there’s The Undertaker. Knowing Vince the way I do, he would put Braun Strowman in that spot. That is not the move to make. I love Strowman’s size, but he is still very new to the business. He is learning and there is something there, but I don’t see it working with Taker at this time, especially following up last year’s match with Bray Wyatt. I have a solution.
Taker enters the Rumble. He does the Kane bit where he comes in and takes out five or six guys to show he is strong. Guys start to realize they need to get heat on him if they want to win and do for five minutes. Then, Baron Corbin debuts and goes right after Taker, they go out together and brawl to the back. Who is this new monster that went after the Phenom? Find out at WrestleMania. It would be fresh and Corbin has shown he is a big match guy.
Now you have five interesting matches, and younger talents in a position to be elevated going forward, keeping your fans interested and selling your product.
Another potential angle that the company could try is to bring in The Bullet Club in as an invading faction. Over wrestling’s history, those kinds of angle have done very well. There is no reason that this one couldn’t too. In fact, it could bring a much needed element of urgency and realism to the show if the Bullet members come in and take over. Of course, there is also the Divas Title as well. The point is, right now WWE has maybe one or two big matches for Mania. If they implement this plan, they have at least five. If Cena or Bryan can work, all the better. If they can’t, you have a strong core of a lineup and are building for your future, which will be here before you know.
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