Extreme Rules preview

Read on for what I would do for Extreme Rules if I was running WWE Creative. THESE ARE NOT PREDICTIONS.
It's obvious to me and a lot of people that WWE could use a big change right about now. There are a number of areas that I believe could be improved upon in the company: importance of titles, heels actually being treated as threats, new stars being pushed, long-term planning, etc.. Fortunately for WWE, I have a plan. Let's look at how each match would play out if I was in charge:

A caveat before I begin: I'm not booking from a perspective of who I "like" more, or who I think is more talented or who "deserves" it. A loss doesn't mean I dislike someone or am "burying" them. It's primarily about the storylines, which to me are the keys to getting people to tune in and buy PPVs.

The Miz beats Cody Rhodes clean on the pre-show, then announces his intention to challenge for the IC Title. On Raw, he wins a battle royal to become the #1 Contender, and eventually will beat Wade Barrett for the Title.

Dean Ambrose and Kofi Kingston get promos before their match to give it more importance. Kofi talks about the honor of being U.S. Champion, etc.. Ambrose decides not to have Rollins and Reigns in his corner for his match. This costs him as Kofi retains (clean). Kofi and Miz will be bastions of hope for the little Jimmys as the midcard champions going forward. Evan Bourne and Alex Riley can return to help them. Miz respects Riley's hustle and brings him back despite their past issues.

Ambrose is frustrated at his loss, and Rollins and Reigns insist that he join them at ringside for their match. Kofi joins Hell No at ringside to counter this. I've probably seen or suggested this ending about a million times, but it's simple and effective: Ambrose goes to interfere on his team's behalf. Kofi alerts the referee, and of course the referee focuses on him while Ambrose successfully hits his finisher on Bryan. Kane comes in and eats a spear from Reigns (Ambrose is safely at ringside at this point and the ref doesn't see a thing) and we have new Tag Team Champions.

Fandango and Summer Raw debut a DWTS-eqsue mirror ball trophy that Fandango "won" years ago, courtesy of WWE's prop department. Of course, this comes into play in the finish: Fandango or Summer Rae hit Jericho with it, KOing him and getting him the win. Fandango can say that he beat Jericho 2 PPVs in a row, while Jericho's protected since he didn't lose clean.

Nothing fancy with Orton vs. Show or Sheamus vs. Henry: everyone puts on their A-game, and Orton and Sheamus "overcome the odds" of their larger opponents for the win. Building younger stars (younger than Henry and Show at any rate) is important. Ideally, Orton and Sheamus look like they'd be believable as future World/WWE Champions as I can see them as focal points down the line - Orton less so with the Wellness strikes.

Del Rio beats Swagger after both guys show what they're made of. This is a story of two guys at the top of their games who hate each other's guts and want to be World Champion. I'm split on whether to involve Ricardo, Colter, Big E, AJ, Kaitlyn, etc.. It depends on how much time the match has.

HHH vs. Lesnar does NOT go on last: the focus at the end of the show shouldn't be on 2 part-timers. Anyway, after a solid brawl, Lesnar has HHH down and goes to escape through the door. Heyman hands him a sledgehammer through the open door. Lesnar goes to finish HHH off with it, and in true face fashion HHH turns the tables to get the win. I can just picture Heyman's reaction to his client losing because of Heyman wanting him to use the sledgehammer.

Ryback vs. Cena is a WAR. Ryback is made to look like he stands a chance against "Super-Cena" and isn't just a flavor of the month. The finish comes when The Shield interfere and put Cena through the announce table. Cena can show signs of life, but he doesn't get back up before 10 and actually sells the brutality. The Shield leave Ryback alone, which the announcers question. They do NOT end the show with Cena standing up from the beating. He's still recovering when they fade to black.

On Raw, Cena is SERIOUS. After the worst year of his life, he finally regained the WWE Title. And then he loses it because of The Shield? Yeah, he shouldn't be out there joking and smiling after that. We end the show with Ryback talking about being champion, etc. and Cena interrupting. The Shield take him out, but again leave Ryback unscathed. Later we find out that Ryback paid off The Shield to take Cena out (after their last attack on him). If anyone knows how dangerous they can be, it's Ryback. It's made clear that this is a business arrangement more so than them being on the same page (they could turn on him down the line). Who is helping Ryback pay for this, you ask?

Well, 8 days from Extreme Rules, HHH comes back to address his win over Lesnar (give us a week to digest things and hype his appearance). As he's gloating, he meets an old foe: John Laurinaitis. While HHH is content to write Mr. People Power off, Laurinaitis talks about how things have been going great for HHH lately: he beat Lesnar twice, he got Bruno into the Hall of Fame, he replaced Laurinaitis as VP of Talent Relations, etc.. But all that's about to change. Because Laurinaitis has been scheming behind-the-scenes and there are people who don't like HHH's way of handling things. He cares more about getting in the ring and DX reunions and such than running WWE as COO. So, it's taken a long time and a lot of under-the-radar maneuvering, but Laurinaitis has finally got it straightened out. HHH has been replaced as COO. And the new COO? HHH appointed him before WrestleMania when he signed a contract he didn't read. The new COO (cue entrance music) is PAUL HEYMAN.

Heyman (alongside Laurinaitis) is going to make life a living hell for the babyfaces and favor the heels. Lesnar can show up as little or as often as he wants, etc.. It's a new era for WWE and some changes get made. Basically they have carte blanche to change a lot of things: announce teams, who gets pushed, etc.. Heyman wants heels to win all of the titles and so on. I think it's just the big angle WWE needs to build interest back in the product.

I'll be back tomorrow to cover how things actually go down.