WrestleMania 29 preview

Read on for what I would do for WrestleMania if I was in charge.

I have a couple of basic rules when I book: If a feud still has enough life in it, keep it going and add heat if possible. Titles are important and title changes should be meaningful. Heels are nefarious and do bad things. Protect talent if they have potential.

Note that these are not necessarily in the order that they should go in, just the order that I'm thinking of the ideas for them.

Pre-show:
Throughout the show, I would have a number of talents who aren't already in matches be interviewed by Booker T. to cut promos backstage for individual audiences. Yoshi Tatsu would do a brief promo (in Japanese?) saying hi to the people of Japan and welcoming them to WrestleMania, Primo and Epico would do a shout-out to Puerto Rico, etc.. After a few of these (none of which would be Antonio Cesaro), Cesaro interrupts Kofi Kingston's speech to Ghana and says that he should be interviewed first before any of the others since he's the U.S. Champion, etc. and puts over Switzerland as the greatest country in the world. Kofi takes offense to Cesaro interrupting him and Booker announces that Cesaro will defend his championship in a battle royal on the pre-show. This involves everyone that WWE wants to pay. I wouldn't involve anyone who isn't already a part of the main roster (Bo Dallas counts as part of the main roster. He's fine.) Anyway, it comes down to Kofi, Cesaro, and R-Truth. Kofi surprises R-Truth by throwing him over, and apologizes for eliminating him. While he's trying to console R-Truth, Cesaro seizes his opportunity to eliminate Kofi and retain the title. I wouldn't mind something of a 3-way feud for the gold from here.

Barrett vs. Miz gets enough time to tell a good story, with Miz trying to win via Figure 4. I'd probably have both guys cut promos before the match. They should treat this match as if it was a part of the main card, importance-wise. Both guys should be trying to make an impact. The finish comes when Barrett gets a thumb to Miz's eye and follows up with the Bull Hammer for the win. The feud continues, focusing on the contrast between the guy who came from reality shows and always has a smiling face for interviews vs. the rough, streetfighting Brit.

WrestleMania:
The 8-person tag descends into chaos. The faces have the strength advantage, and test their opponents. Their opponents get dirty with illegal tags and the like, leading to a big commotion. The heels eventually get the win because of that chaos (catching the faces by surprise). The tag team division gets more focus in the weeks to come, with a number of teams wanting into the title picture. They can argue that Hell No is dysfunctional and Big E/Ziggler just started teaming. It's "unfair" for them to be in the title picture. So, the teams in the division other than those in the Mania title match look to show their worth.

Speaking of the tag team title match, I'd have AJ get on the apron with the MITB briefcase when her team's in trouble, which would prompt Kaitlyn to get on the opposite apron (they'd be on opposite sides of the ring and this would be Kaitlyn's first instinct since it would take longer to go around the ring). Of course, the referee sees Kaitlyn first and tells her to get down. As he's distracted by her, AJ tosses Dolph the briefcase and he nails Kane with it for the win. Big E would have taken Bryan out at ringside beforehand, so he can't help. Rematch at Extreme Rules, which finally leads to Kane and Bryan feuding. I think it's time. Post-Extreme Rules, Dolph could lose focus on the tag titles because he's thinking about becoming World Champion and that's what leads him and Big E to lose the gold. But one step at a time.

Fandango mystifies Jericho, playing mind games. We get a good match, and Jericho has to give Fandango his due. He gets frustrated that he can't put Fandango away. Fandango has Jericho in a tie-up in the corner and the ref separates them. Fandango dances and Jericho charges... right into a Codebreaker. Fandango gets the upset. I assume Jericho's disappearing shortly thereafter, so I don't know if a rematch at Extreme Rules is possible. I'd have Fandango avoid wrestling until the next PPV (if not after), instead spending time gloating about his win. Beating Jericho should be a big feather in his cap. Why compete with anyone else; he just beat a future Hall of Famer? It's found out that Teddy Long signed Fandango to a contract where he can wrestle or not wrestle as he pleases. Booker's understandably upset. Teddy was just trying to sign someone who could shake up WWE. Eventually we get to Miz vs. Fandango for the IC Title.

The Shield vs. Orton, Sheamus, and Show happens somewhat early in the show. It spills out into the crowd. The referee throws the match out, and throughout the night we see the combatants fight backstage and in the parking lot (after being thrown out by security). Eventually The Shield gets in a car and hightails it. The feud continues.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry is a slugfest. Henry brings everything he's got, and Ryback takes it and delivers it right back. Henry expects to dominate and is shocked that he can't put Ryback away. He eventually tries to bring a chair into the ring. Ryback stops him, and the chair is put on the ring steps (alternately, they could have Henry put the chair in-between the turnbuckles but doesn't get to make use of it). The finish comes when Henry climbs the turnbuckle near the chair and looks to splash Ryback. Ryback picks him up from the turnbuckles for Shell Shocked, but Henry uses the chair for the DQ. He gets in some good shots, then drops the chair in the ring and leaves. Ryback eventually gets up before Henry makes it backstage, picks up the chair, and points it at Henry. Of course, we get a chairs match at Extreme Rules.

Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras are at ringside for Del Rio vs. Swagger. Swagger hits the Doctor Bomb (Freedom Bomb?), then talks smack to the legends. Del Rio gets up and surprises Swagger with the Cross Armbreaker for the win. He celebrates with Mascaras, Caras, and Ricardo after the match. On Smackdown (Raw?), Swagger and Colter say that it was robbery that Del Rio won and continue their rhetoric. Rematch at Extreme Rules.

In similar fashion (it's important to keep these matches spaced on the card so the finishes don't overlap), HBK is the reason that HHH beats Lesnar. Lesnar brings his "A" game and looks to cripple the King of Kings, prompting HBK to deliver Sweet Chin Music once taunted. HHH recovers and wins via Pedigree. I'm tempted to do something where Heyman had secretly added the stipulation that if anyone assisted HHH, it would count as HHH losing and Heyman becomes the new COO. Don't even act like that wouldn't be awesome. They could do something later where it's reversed in court and we get HHH vs. Heyman with no Brock to finally end the feud with the face standing tall. I just love the idea of Heyman as COO for a while post-Mania and think people would be curious enough to check it out.

As much as I would LOVE for Punk to end the streak, I think Taker should win and it be a big emotional moment. On Raw, Taker can give a heartfelt speech about what Bearer meant to him. Where we go from there depends on how much Taker has left in the tank. He can either retire or take time off to reflect on life without his "father", or Punk could attack him or something. Maybe COO Heyman eventually fires him? A number of interesting possibilities. At any rate, Punk needs to look strong in defeat. Definitely have him kick out of a Tombstone at least. Taker should be surprised that Punk can't be put away.

And finally, Cena beats Rock after Rock gets cocky and tries to go for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena catches him coming off the ropes and hits the AA to regain the championship. I think they can settle the score at Extreme Rules (Rock's advertised for then). I don't think there's enough left in the feud to stretch much longer than that.

I'll be back tomorrow to cover how the show actually goes down. A Blue Echo podcast is coming up.