fantasy-booker-t

[fantasy-booker-t]

The Kurt Angle Classic

Tournament to face Angle in his retirement match at Wrestlemania

John Cena

Chad Gable

Shelton Benjamin

Matt Riddle

Jason Jordan

Drew Gulak

Johnny Gargano

Andrade

Matt Riddle takes it for the biggest debut possible. Made man out of the gate.

[fantasy-booker-t]

[fantasy-booker-t]

Booking a damn Territory

If I was putting together a big budget indy promotion today this is what it would look like.

Rule: No WWE, No Bullet Club

Rule: Intergender

Rule: groups must put forward competition in every division to be considered a Faction

Championships

Featherweight

Cruiserweight

Heavyweight

Atlasweight

Tag Team

24/7 Hardcore

Featherweight <150

Freakshow Shotzi Blackheart

Mormon Muscle Tessa Blanchard

Taya Valkyrie

The Burning Men Jack Evans

Unity Christina Von Eerie

Death Undead Bride Su Yung

Death Rosemary

La Revolución Ivelisse

Jazz

James Ellsworth

Freakshow Swoggle

Cruiserweight <200

Mormon Muscle PAC

La Revolución Bandido

Death Rey Horus

Jimmy Havoc

Sonny Kiss

Unity Matt Cross

Freakshow El Chupacabra

The Burning Men Reborn Matt Sydal

Zack Sabre

Heavyweight <280

La Revolución Tetsuya Naitō

Jay Lethal

Sami Callihan

Freakshow Joey Ryan

The Burning Men Dalton Castle

Death Switchblade Jay White

Juice Robinson

Unity Adam Thornstowe

Mormon Muscle Eli Drake

MJF

Atlasweight >250

Willie Mack

Cage

La Revolución Ricky Banderas

Mormon Muscle Jeff Cobb

The Burning Men JR Kratos

Unity Luster the Legend

Freakshow PCO

Death Punishment Martinez

Ishii

WALTER

Voices

Commentator/ Ring Announcer AJ Kirsch

La Revolución Konnan

Unity Kevin Gill

The Burning Men Paul London

Death Sinn Bodhi

Factions

La Revolución

Leftist latin-american insurrectionists taking over by any means necessary

Mormon Muscle

Self-righteous hypocritical saints preaching from the Iron Pulpit like the Power Team

The Burning Men

Delusional burner bros that never saw a corner they wouldn’t cut, a girl they wouldn’t harass, or a drug they wouldn’t take

Unity

Reliable straight-edge hardcore crew who keep that Positive Mental Attitude

Freakshow

Fun circus of campy gimmicks assembled by ringmaster Joey Ryan

Death

Satanic, overserious, sadistic cult energized by bloodshed

[fantasy-booker-t]

Bullet Club Invasion

WHY?

- Establish Kenny Omega & Cody Rhodes as main event talent

- Get over the Young Bucks & Guerrillas of Destiny as money-drawing tag teams like New Day & Usos

- Mix up the midcard with Hangman & the Villain

- Build a new monster in Bad Luck Fale

- Energize Rousey & Baezler for a main event run

- Once in a Lifetime matchups

- $$$ for years

After the Main Event of ALL IN

Triple H comes out trying to sign them all to NXT contracts.

The club are offended. They cut the promo of their life against Hunter, and throw him a personal Superkick Party for his efforts.

BC raids NXT.

Takes the ring, weapons in-hand. Locker room comes out on the ramp, led by Regal.

Villain:”So glad you’re all here. We’re holding TRYOUTS!”

Massive brawl.

Shayna turns and joins BC. T-shirt.

Undisputed Era ends up on their side as well, in an uneasy understanding (acknowledging Adam Cole’s past.) Bucks Superkick his head off.

BC pull off multiple raids on NXT. No house shows; keeping indy dates the whole time. This sets up the following card for the

Takeover before Survivor Series:

- Cody vs Regal

- Omega vs Gargano

- Villain vs Aleister vs Ciampa (Ciampa wins the title after BC interference)

- Hung Bucks vs Undisputed Era (Non-title, Falls Count Anywhere)

- GOD vs War Raiders

- Baezler vs NXT - Gauntlet. (Shayna beats Brandi Rhodes with a fingerpoke of doom. Retains NXT title)

- Fale vs Lars Sullivan

Survivor Series

The main event is a RAW vs SDL traditional SS match. Sami, Kevin & Daniel are all eliminated early. Then Bullet Club crashes the party.

10-on-7 brawl. Kami laugh and go to the back. Daniel Bryan is conflicted. The main event is wrecked. Locker room empties, sans several key allies. BC bails through the audience. Cameras follow. Fight their way to the parking lot. Escape in Cody’s limo.

RAW After SS

Ronda Rousey joins the Bullet Club

SDLive After SS

Gallows & Anderson join up with the OG Bullet Club (GOD & Fale). AJ & Daniel are unsure.

WINTER PPV MATCHES

- Kliq vs Bullet Club (BC squashes the old guard. HHH is furious. Hall, Nash & X-Pac pay respects with a Too Sweet mid-ring.)

- Kami vs Young Bucks (for entry into the Bullet Club; Sami & Kev get in)

- Cody vs Miz

- Omega vs Bryan

- Bucks vs Revival

- GOD vs Deleters of Worlds

- AOP vs GOD

- Braun vs Fale

- Villain vs Elias

- Hangman vs Cena (Texas Bullrope Match)

- Rousey vs Asuka

Royal Rumble

The only one allowed to qualify was Kenny Omega at #1. The rest of BC come down with him and surround the ring. Every other superstar has to come through them to get in the ring. They catch Omega when he’s tossed out. Super effective for ~15/30 people in. They start cutting promos between entries. Then comes Braun Stroman. Havoc & destruction. With the Monster Among Men focused on Kenny, the ring starts to fill up.

Kofi recovery spot: Kenny is already on the outside crowd-surfing on the BC, and Kofi lands on his back. They push both wrestlers back into the ring at once.

AJ helps Kenny. Bryan goes WWE.

Ultimately, Kenny goes the distance. Omega vs the champ at Mania.

ROAD TO MANIA

AJ Styles is officially back in the BC.

Tease a rift between OG, Elite & WWEBC.

- SHIELD vs Bullet Club (Balór, Omega & AJ) in Elimination Chamber; Seth Wins.

- Ambrose vs Villain (NODQ)

- GOD vs Usos

- Hangman vs Jeff Hardy

- Bucks vs New Day

- Cody, Brandi & Marty vs Rusev Day

- Cena vs Fale

Wrestlemania

- HHH (w/Steph) vs Cody Rhodes (w/Brandi)

- Shane vs Hangman

- Rollins vs Omega (Universal Title)

- Young Bucks vs Hardys vs New Day vs Usos (Tag Team Ladder Match)

- Scurll vs Balór vs Dunne (3 Falls for Cruiserweight, UK & US Titles)

- Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Title)

- Fale, Tonga, Loa, Gallows, Anderson & AJ vs Braun, Roman, Cesaro, Sheamus & Dean

- Shayna Baezler vs Asuka (SD Women’s Title)

- Daniel Bryan vs Kevin Owens (World Title)

- Brock vs Cena vs The Rock

- Samoa Joe vs Miz vs Wyatt vs Nakamura (#1 contender)

- Andre Battle Royal (Lashley wins)

AFTERMATH: BULLET CLUB EXPLODES!

Tama Tonga leads a revolt, first kicking out new members, then confronting Cody directly.

Omega bounces. He has Champ shit to worry about.

Huge gang warfare match at Backlash.

Rousey & Baezler rule their respective rosters for a year, then clash at next year’s Mania.

Tama, AJ, & Cody lead their own factions.

[fantasy-booker-t]

205 Revived

Triple H appoints a new GM: Jamie Noble, Assistant Manager Drew Gulak, and Head of Security “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne. They also announce a major signing: “The Savior” Jay Lethal.

(Recruit Lethal over Ricochet because Jay cuts great promos. Pete Dunne slowly turns on Lethal, Batista-style)

Lethal runs his mouth on Raw, SD & NXT, dominating jobbers in 30 seconds, flanked by Dunne & Gulak.

GM Noble creates a rigged tournament for the cruiserweight title, favoring Lethal, presented as a PowerPoint by Gulak.

Balór takes notice on Raw, Xavier interrupts on Smackdown. The big men factions take advantage on the big shows, but the weight limit is enforced on 205 Live. A 3-way chase ensues with Lethal sliming his way out of matches.

GM Noble introduces a Cruiserweight Trios Championship to further gild his administration and prevent mutiny from Dunne. He appoints 4 team captains: Lethal, Woods, Balór & Kalisto.

Lethal’s team is clearly Gulak & Dunne. Kalisto reforms the Lucha Dragons with Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik with Chavo Guerrero as their manager. The other two are in a difficult positions because New Day & The Club are over the weight limit. Xavier conducts a contest on UPUPDOWNDOWN. The winners are TJ Perkins & Cedric Alexander.

Finn teases The Young Bucks on twitter, but when it’s time to reveal, Akira Tozawa & Hideo Itami emerge. They are the Kaiju - Big In Japan.

These 4 teams escalate their rivalry over 3 months, culminating in a massive hardcore blowoff match. Jay Lethal plays the coward again, and Pete has finally had enough. He plasters the champion, cuts a mid-match promo on him, and walks out on his team. The next singles feud is The Savior vs The Bruiserweight. Big In Japan emerge battered and bloody, but victorious. They soak in the victory mid-ring... until the lights cut out. Lights on: Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly surround the kaiju and lay them out. The Undisputed Era have arrived.

[fantasy-booker-t]

Cruiserweight Division 2006

Revitalized, not disgraced

What a massive missed opportunity in not raiding the indies - AJ Styles, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, and KENTA in their primes, instead of years after the fact.

start on Smackdown, then serving as the ECW undercard - Rey Mysterio brings credibility to the title after his World title run - Spike Dudley like a mob boss - Jamie Noble, Chavo Guerrero, Tajiri, Super Crazy, Jerry Lynn, Psicosis, and Sabu as grizzled veterans

[fantasy-booker-t]

Rebooking The Invasion

I’ll start up front with a cheat: The ideal time to start was a year earlier at Wrestlemania 2000. Looking at the lineups from 2000 vs X-7, everything from the 4-way main event to the Hardcore battle royal was set up perfectly to stage the invasion in 2000. (My changes are italicized)

Tazz wins WWF Hardcore Title. (Battle Royal)

Edge & Christian win WWF Tag Titles (Triangle Ladder Match vs Hardys & Dudleys)

Radicalz (Eddie, Benoit, & Malenko) defeat 2 Cool (Sexay, Rikishi, & Hotty)

Jericho wins Euro Title (⅔ Falls, Angle retains IC Title)

New Age Outlaws defeat Godfather & D-Lo (w/ Ice-T)

HHH (w/ Steph) wins World Title [vs The Rock (w/ Mr. McMahon), Cactus Jack (w/ Linda), & Big Show (w/ Shane)]

________________________________

The following Raw, Shane McMahon appears on Nitro. Legendary moment. Then on Thursday, he starts WCW in earnest by taking over Smackdown.

WCW roster: The Radicalz [Benoit, Eddie & Malenko (Light Heavyweight Champion)], Big Show, Jericho (European Champion), and the WCW Top 5: Sting, Goldberg, Booker T, DDP & Scott Steiner (last United States Champion).

Linda McMahon responds by bankrolling Paul Heyman out of spite – hence Cactus Jack as her Wrestlemania pick. ECW fights WCW for TV time on Thursday nights all year long.

ECW roster: Cactus Jack, RVD, Raven, Dreamer, Tazz (Hardcore Champion), Bubba, D-Von, Sabu, Al Snow & Terry Funk.

________________________________

Mr. McMahon is horrified, vicious and vengeful. Vince stands in the ring fuming. He calls out his daughter, Stephanie (DX come to the ring with her) and tries to cajole her into being on his side. She won’t have it.

“YOU’RE ALL FIRED!” Vince screams, piss and vinegar and doom.

HHH says, “I thought you might say that, so I brought some friends with me,” and out comes the NWO. DX & NWO join forces and literally throw Vince out of power, along with anyone who tries to defend him.

NWO roster: HHH (World Heavyweight Champion), Nash, Hall, Hogan, HBK, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Justin Credible, Chyna & X-Pac

Mr. McMahon needs to regroup. He puts together a stable to defend his company from the NWO, WCW, and ECW: The Federation.

Federation roster: The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, Angle, Edge (Tag Team Champion), Christian (Tag Team Champion), Bradshaw, Farooq, Matt & Jeff Hardy

Stone Cold says, “F*** all this bullshit. If you wanna see Stone Cold whoop everybody’s ass, gimme a hell yeah!” and becomes the lone wolf assassin. Austin moves freely among the shows. He hunts titles, raises hell, and pisses off all the McMahons.

________________________________

Aside from Austin & each roster’s top 10, everyone else is future-endeavored or on a match-by-match contract. This limits the total roster (and budget) to 41 wrestlers. It opens up dozens of new matches, while keeping the audience simmering on WCW/WWF dream matches. The main players stay in their respective stables, but debuts and defections keep things unpredictable. Each pay per view is branded by faction, except the big 4, as major crossovers. Summerslam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble culminate in faction warfare. After Wrestlemania, this stabilizes into Monday Night Raw and Thursday Nitro.

________________________________

Championship Matches at Wrestlemania X-7 (* = winner)

Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship: Austin vs Sting vs RVD*

Undisputed World Tag Team Championship: Hardy Boyz (WWF) vs Dudley Boyz (ECW) vs Edge & Christian (WCW)* vs New Age Outlaws (NWO) in TLC 2

Undisputed World Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero* vs Justin Credible

Legends Championship (inaugural): Ric Flair* vs Terry Funk in a Submissions Match

Intercontinental Championship: Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels*

United States Championship: Chris Jericho vs Raven*

Hardcore Championship: Sabu vs Vampiro* in Falls Count Anywhere

Women’s Championship: Trish Stratus* vs Chyna

Also,

Hogan vs Rock* (Icon vs Icon)

Triple H, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash vs Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page & Goldberg*

Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker & Kane) vs Radicalz (Benoit & Malenko)

________________________________

NWO is defeated and collapses. ECW is integrated into Raw & Nitro. Vince is Chairman, Steph runs Raw, Bischoff runs Nitro. HHH is scrambling for new stooges to watch his back.

________________________________

Austin, Hall, Nash, Foley, The Rock, Goldberg, Farooq, Chyna, Justin Credible, X-Pac, Terry Funk, DDP, Raven, and Malenko all leave within the next 2 years, and Tazz moves to commentary. This makes room for new blood & re-debuts: Lesnar, Orton, Batista, Cena, Rikishi, Mysterio & Goldust.

[fantasy-booker-t]

Rewriting WWE History

Ideal WWE Eras If historical perspective ruled WWE rather than egos and politics, I think it's possible to have avoided the down periods and missed opportunities of the last 30 years.

Here's how I break it down.

- In a national, post-territory product, top stars need to turn over every 5 years to stay fresh.

- Starting in 1985 at Wrestlemania 1, with a little nudge here and there, we can define 7 eras of the WWE

- 3 Central Top Stars per era should get the mega push and stay shiny while at the top of their game. The previous era may have seen their rise, but they need a legit stand at the mountaintop in order to make the next era of stars.

85-90 "Rock N Wrestling Era"

Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant

The big move here is the decision to court Flair and feature him. The Hogan-Flair dream match would have made Wrestlemania 2 memorable, and later, Flair vs Andre would have been iconic as well.

90-95 "New Generation"

Macho Man, Hitman Hart, HBK

Hogan's run and ego kept WWE from progressing, and it hurt Randy Savage the most. When the Megapowers collided, it should have been a passing of the torch. Savage could have kept momentum going for the company, building classic affairs with HBK & the Hitman. At the start of '96, we'd see the Macho Man pass it on to Stone Cold in a barnburner.

95-00 "Attitude Era"

Stone Cold, The Rock, Mick Foley

Hard to argue with success. I just wish they'd hit their stride a year or two sooner.

00-05 "Ruthless Aggression"

Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, RVD

This one could have happened, but never really got off the ground right, setting up a loss of confidence in the product we still feel today. At Wrestlemania 2000, we had a McMahon in each corner for a Fatal 4-Way main event. They brought Mick Foley back just 4 months into retirement. It may have popped a buyrate, but it was bad business, simultaneously delegitimizing retirement, keeping the broken down Foley in the ring, and not elevating a superstar to main event status. In hindsight, if Eddie Guerrero was clean in 2000, he should have been the wild card in place of Cactus Jack. Let's skip the notorious Invasion angle, as that's a whole other can of worms. I'll just assume they at least establish Rob Van Dam the right way.

At the brand split, we have Lesnar as Smackdown Champ, and RVD heading up Raw. This was originally the plan, too, but Triple H's ego wouldn't allow it. So it goes.

05-10 "PG Era"

John Cena, Edge, Mr. Kennedy

This era most feels the deaths of great wrestlers like Guerrero, Benoit, Pillman and Hart. RIP. The current and previous generations are fraught with drug abuse, as well, so stars like Jeff Hardy never fulfilled their potential, and much-needed legends weren't around to advise & elevate the undercard.

Nonetheless, John Cena and Edge still rise. While I'm fantasy booking here, Mr. Kennedy gets his full due, so a fantastic antagonist & talker can properly put asses in seats.

10-15 "The Lost Era"

CM Punk, Samoa Joe, MVP

This may be the biggest missed opportunity of all. This whole period feels meandering, except for the late rise of CM Punk. Let Cena pass headliner status to him in 2010, and trust the Second City Saint to run the damn ball.

Secondly, MVP has gotten shafted his whole career. I don't want to call racism, as I wasn't privy to the backstage environment, but it sure as hell looks like it from the outside. When Montel Porter speaks from the heart (not the script), he is world-class, bringing a unique style and demographic into the WWE Universe.

Finally, missing Brian Danielson and Samoa Joe in their respective primes borders on criminal negligence. Given Joe's size, promo ability and work style, I wager he'd have sat on top longer. He barely edged Mr. Bryan off this list.

15-20 "Reality Era"

Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns

At last, we appear to be back on-track. The Shield has been executed brilliantly. With NXT in place, and Shield at the top of the card, WWE is finally setting up a new era of growth for the business.

[fantasy-booker-t]

Stardust: Assassin

Cody Rhodes is pouring everything into a role that Vince McMahon doesn’t want to get over. Here’s how to make Stardust a main event assassin; a next-generation Kane.


The Rhodes Boys
 We start at the end of 2013. Cody and Dustin Rhodes made their papa Dusty proud with the tag team title win against the Shield, reinstating them onto the roster and getting over huge as good guys in a division populated with monsters. Milk this face run for all it’s worth because as the old saying goes: the devil doesn’t change, the devil changes you. Moving on from the Shield, the Rhodes pick up strong wins off of smaller teams for a few PPV’s while the real threat waits in the shadows. Come Wrestlemania season, the Wyatt Family comes out to hunt. Luke Harper & Erik Rowan turn on the mind games hard, causing Dustin Rhodes to slip back into his Goldust persona in order to turn the Wyatts’ psychology back on them. Cody is unsure of his brother’s tactics. They go into Wrestlemania, a team divided. The Wyatts win the WWE Tag Team Championship from the Rhodes Brothers when Cody doesn’t play into a strategy that Goldust was trying to work.

The Dust Brothers 
Cody sees their loss as his fault, so he follows Goldust’s lead into erratic behavior as a battle strategy. Cody re-debuts as Goldust’s new tag partner, Stardust. They earn another shot at the Wyatt Family at Extreme Rules, escalating this feud to more bizarre heights in a Family Reunion Lumberjack Match. The ring is surrounded by anonymous members of the Wyatt Family in sheep masks. The Dust Brothers outwit the Family, recapturing gold, but catching a 20-man beatdown afterward. This ain’t over. Money in the Bank sees a ⅔ Falls Rubber Match for the Tag Team titles, which the Dust Brothers win cleverly. Also on PPV, RybAxel grinds out a win against the Usos. They are the new #1 contenders.

Look Into The Abyss…
 Ryback is “da big dawg”, so he challenges the Dust Brothers to a Dog Collar Match at Battleground. Canine-based buildup and promos ensue. Goldust lays on the madness thick, so Stardust starts overcompensating to keep up. Ultimately the match ends with a rough-looking Stardust tying up Ryback in the ropes with their own chain and making the screaming beast tap out with a new submission hold (dubbed Alienation). He doesn’t release the chain until way after the bell, then continues beating Ryback with it. Axel bails from the ring, scared of the chain-wielding freak. Goldust has to pull his brother away. This is the turning point for Stardust.

And The Abyss Looks Into You.
 Stardust has snapped. His promos start getting scary; psychopathic. We get the impression he wears the facepaint around the house, and is alienating the people around him. His matches are vicious shows of dominance. Now it’s Goldy’s turn to be uncomfortable. The next contenders for Summerslam are the Usos. During the match, Stardust does not break in the corner, savagely beating Use for the DQ win and injuring Jimmy in some way. Stardust relishes the damage. Night of Champions sees the Dust Brothers finally defeated by the Usos with a pin on Goldust. Stardust is quite upset. A tag team tournament decides who goes up against the Usos at Hell in a Cell. Dust Brothers are out in the first round by disqualification. Soul-searching time. At this point, Stardust is an unpredictable predator. He makes creepy passes at the women and men backstage, and his ego is massive. He enters the room and every one is suddenly uneasy. Serial killer qualities. Stardust soon decides it’s time to “destroy the universe”.

Destroying the WWE Universe 
Every week, Stardust challenges a local wrestler or a member of the audience to a match, which he dominates, gloating the entire time, then breaking or injuring the challenger and soaking in their agony. For a time, Goldust doesn’t want to believe his brother is so far gone, but by TLC, he can’t watch anymore. Stardust continues killing innocent jobbers without him

Brother vs Brother
 At the Royal Rumble, Goldust eliminates Stardust. This sets off Stardust, as he tears up ringside, then snipes Goldy, eliminating him as well. Throughout February, they interrupt each others’ matches and brawl backstage. Stardust wants a submission match at Fastlane, which ends in a double countout as they brawl into the parking lot. Goldust is a lot tougher than Stardust reckoned, so he jumps into his glittery Porsche and drives off. Stardust starts stalking Goldust now. He hides in the background of Goldust promos and makes cell phone videos of spying on his brother. At Wrestlemania, this all will end. Falls Count Anywhere – a hardcore brawl ending with the Celestial Assassin pinning the Bizarre One on the catwalk in Levi Stadium. Call the medics! Goldust doesn’t move from that spot for the duration of the following match.

Dean Ambrose
 Stardust is proving to be the scariest psycho in the asylum, and that doesn’t sit well with the Lunatic Fringe. A hardcore feud of psychological torture and heavy weaponry at Extreme Rules and Payback, and through the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, where they find new fixations.

Intergalactic Champion of the Universe
 Stardust retreats to the shadows and rafters again. He makes a spy video targeting the Intercontinental Championship, which he only calls the Intergalactic Championship. Cue Summerslam match. New champ. He holds the belt until TLC, where he drops it in a multi-man match.

Sting 
This is a transition feud to launch Stardust to the upper echelon. Finally Stardust faces someone who uses the same tactics as him: sniping from the rafters. They take the fight to the crow’s nest. Stardust puts down the Vigilante at Wrestlemania 32.

Perennial Contender
 From this point, Stardust is primed to be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture as a monster of the month or as a dangerous enemy threatening the champion’s sanity. He is a gatekeeper for toughness when newbies are coming up.

As a smooth pureé of Sting, Goldust, and Kane, he has finally found his place in the WWE Universe.

[fantasy-booker-t]

Lucha Underground. Damn.

[View the story "Lucha Underground. Damn." on Storify]

[fantasy-booker-t]

The Four Horsemen: Apocalypse

Dolph Ziggler, Hideo Itami, Titus O’Neil, Antonio Cesaro w/ Ric & Charlotte Flair THE SETUP Hideo Itami debuts at Wrestlemania, winning the Andre Battle Royal. Cesaro & O’Neil begin teaming together, and leave Mania holding Tag Team gold. Dolph holds onto the IC Title through Wrestlemania. THE BEGINNING The next night on Raw, during Hideo’s official trophy presentation by Ric Flair, he gets congratulated by Ziggler, Cesaro & Titus. Ric proclaims that these four men are no longer the future, they are the present. You see the spark of inspiration in his eye when he gets the idea for reforming the horsemen here. Hideo challenges the US champion, saying he’s going to get that gold. Flair adds, “And you know what, he’s gonna get it. What these men want, they take!” No mention of the Horsemen name yet. This week, WWE shows video of Flair taking these men out on the town – dinners, clubs, new clothes, private jets. All appear in public together. They are superstars. The following Raw, Flair brings them all out and makes the official declaration: these are the next generation of the Four Horsemen. They are not heels, though. This is a group of friends lifting each other up to have better lives. They are notably in each others’ corners for matches, but not cheating. They endure through brutal contests to come out stronger on the other side. At Extreme Rules, Hideo wins the US Championship, everyone else retains. Charlotte Flair starts celebrating with them. This run continues with short-term opponents through Summerslam. THE PRESSURE All the pressure of maintaining champion status is getting to them. They have to keep their titles to keep up their lifestyle, so they start winning by any means necessary. Rough edges start to show. They get rude and dismissive in interviews. There is simmering resentment for Ric Flair for taking their spotlight. This is all slow build in the months leading up to Survivor Series. THE TURN At Survivor Series, there is an eponymous match between the Horsemen and another stable made up primarily of good guys. Flair gets so cocky that he makes himself the fifth man in the Horsemen’s team. This doesn’t sit well with the rest of the team, and Flair ends up costing them the match. The following night on Raw, the Horsemen turn on Ric. They beat up the old man, blaming him for their loss and for hogging the spotlight when it was their time to shine. Charlotte joins them in the beatdown. They declare, “We are not the ‘Four Horsemen’ that died thirty years ago. No, this is the Apocalypse!” THE APOCALYPSE New entrance music & ring gear. Kings of the multi-man beatdown. The only wins are wrought by blatant cheating. They lose some titles, but get their heat back in the aftermath. Excessive brutality. Huge TLC match. Dominant in the Royal Rumble (but don’t win). THE COLLAPSE By this point, all five have lost their championships and the respect of the fans. There is infighting among themselves. All four want the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. They all get into the Elimination Chamber main event. Forming ⅔ of the competition in the chamber should provide them an advantage, but they implode right at the moment of their greatest opportunity. The champ retains. The Apocalypse has been dismembered, and are absolutely furious with each other. Destroyed by pride and greed. THE AFTERMATH Build to a huge Wrestlemania 4-Way grudge match. Hideo & Ziggler learn some lessons from their fall, and soft transition to babyfaces. Their size & movesets make it hard for them to stay heel on their own. Titus & Cesaro get more and more consumed with disgust, hate and wrath. “We had it all! We had the main event of Wrestlemania locked up and YOU failed us! YOU did it! Now we’re sucking chum down here with the rest of the locker room. I am making it my personal mission to destroy you and step on your bodies to reach my brass ring.” This feud stretches through Wrestlemania, Extreme Rules and Payback in a few permutations – tag matches, gimmick matches, elimination matches… Then another feud collides with this one for Money in the Bank. Ziggler emerges with the briefcase, and openly sets his cash-in date for Summerslam. At Battleground, Dolph finishes his business with Apocalypse and moves on. At Summerslam, he finally wins the title he has gone through hell for over the past year: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

[fantasy-booker-t]

3 Wrestlemanias

Event gimmicks are forced. Wrestlers and storylines move in and out of cage matches with no rhyme or reason, so they don't have the impact on the audience that they should. I get the idea to sprinkle big attractions throughout the year to pop a buyrate, though. But I think there's a way to schedule them in a logical way that can make the escalation of main event stories and the build of new challengers work.

In 2014, the schedule looks like this:

Royal Rumble

Elimination Chamber

Wrestlemania

Extreme Rules

Payback

Money in the Bank

Battleground

Summerslam

Night of Champions

Hell in a Cell

Survivor Series

TLC

The first problem is that Payback, Battleground, and Night of Champions are generic, purposeless, have no name recognition, and don't draw a dime. Let's get rid of them.

Secondly, Wrestlemania season is the only part of the year with a proper build-up and blow-off. The Rumble creates a #1 contender, Elimination Chamber builds multiple stories and characters at once in a giant attraction, Wrestlemania is the main event, Extreme Rules is the grudge match denouement.

The rest of the year is built for small spikes. Payback builds to MitB. Battleground to Summerslam. NoC to HiaC. Survivor Series to TLC. Longer rivalries aren't shaped like that. I suggest Wrestlemania always has the best buildup because its event structure works best. There's no reason not to do the same twice more throughout the year. They can make August and December just as impactful as April – to the audience, to the mainstream media, and to their bottom line.

I suggest this schedule:

Royal Rumble – February

Elimination Chamber – March

Wrestlemania – April

Extreme Rules – May

Money in the Bank – June

War Games – July

Summerslam – August

Hell in a Cell – September

King of the Ring – October

Survivor Series – November

Superbrawl – December

TLC – January

Every 4 months, there's a new contender to the title, a multi-man build to a main event, and a rematch grudge blowoff. Each brand has its own flavor and history, even if they serve the same purpose. A battle royal is not a ladder match is not a tournament, but the result is the same – legitimately establishing new blood in the main event. This also creates two more Wrestlemania-level paydays in Summerslam and the Superbrawl. Unity within variety.

Unfortunately, this won't happen for two reasons. WWE hates any good idea if they didn't come up with it, so War Games and the Superbrawl are DOA. Also, they built their business on their big 4 ('Mania, Summerslam, Survivor Series, and the Rumble) and would be averse to shifting to three pillars instead.

Regardless, I still hold that they could triple their Wrestlemanias and ease the strain on Creative with this simple change-up.

[fantasy-booker-t]

Survivor Series

Survivor Series is a tradition and a big time match that can create a moment in a wrestler's career. Remember CM Punk getting cheered over The Hardys & DX in his WWE rookie year? This event can be a way to get someone over big time without spoiling one-on-one matchups. This year's teams, though, are uninspiring.

Team Cena

John Cena - stale white meat babyface

Dolph Ziggler - IC Champion, great at losing matches, no character

Big Show - even more tired than Cena

Sheamus - corny cartoon no one cares about

Ryback - thrown in the microwave after injury, no character

The Authority

Seth Rollins - Money in the Bank holder, sellout heel

Corporate Kane - creepy middle manager, probably digs S&M

Rusev - US Champion from Russia, hot evil girlfriend

Mark Henry - king of the short-term push

(likely) Cesaro - Swiss strongman, former Paul Heyman guy, in purgatory

Everyone but Ziggler, Rollins, Ryback, and Rusev are cold. Tired. No heat. I would not pay to see them. They've been in the same uncompelling spots for too long, and need fresh flint to throw hotter sparks.

So let's start this over. The Authority runs the company as tyrants for the last couple years, never truly getting their just desserts. They injure everyone who threatens their control – see Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, RVD, Randy Orton, even Jack Swagger. The audience wants nothing more than to see Triple H & Steph thrashed and thrown out of power.

There are a few remaining rebels, though. John Cena is the biggest moneymaker in WWE, and won't be pushed around. Dean Ambrose has been hounding Seth Rollins for months, and as a former member of the anti-authority Shield, he's a wildcard with huge fan support. Bray Wyatt certainly has his own following, but is unpredictable and likely to turn on partners. Ryback is too big and angry to do what anyone says.

HELL IN A CELL

Ryback returns here. Bray Wyatt does his hologram gimmick to cost Ryback his match. Unstable and furious, he tears up ringside looking for the family. Wyatt/Ryback is off to the races hot.

Hell in a Cell (Ambrose/ Rollins) has a satisfying finish. Career-defining moment for Dean. Last words before the end of the show is Stephanie McMahon backstage at the monitor saying, "This is a problem."

MONDAY NIGHT RAW AFTER HELL IN A CELL

Daniel Bryan makes an appearance to update on his health. He may never be cleared to wrestle again and puts all the blame directly on The Authority. Huge sympathy and fighting spirit. This brings out Ambrose, who offers some drastic solutions. Cena comes out as a reasonable man also siding with Bryan. Then Cena's buddies, The Usos, come out. Then Jack Swagger: We the People stand together. Yes. Dolph Ziggler. Yes. Sheamus. Yes. Big E & Kofi. Yes. The crowd floods ringside. Occupy Raw redux.

Mr. McMahon (!) takes the stage and declares he needs to push The Authority to get these animals on a leash. If HHH & Steph can't put them down at Survivor Series, he'll have to do it himself. At Survivor Series, The Authority are fighting for their careers.

IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS

The Authority's cronies injure anyone that tries to side with Ambrose and offer big bonuses to anyone who takes them out. They try to buy members of their Survivor Series team, but no one bites. There is little faith in The Authority's future, and heels are cowards. Triple H comes out and announces that he has found his team. Rollins, Kane, Himself, and... The Ascension! He talks them up. NXT is the future and no one has been more dominant than The Ascension. Squash matches show The Ascension as killers. The rebels are in trouble.

Meanwhile, Ambrose's team has dwindled down to just Ambrose, Cena, and the Usos. On the last Raw before PPV, the rebels are in the ring talking about their uphill battle. The Authority surrounds the ring, 5-on-4.

Then Sami Zayn's music hits and the odds are evened. Show-closing brawl highlighting Zayn.

SURVIVOR SERIES

Dean Ambrose

John Cena

Jimmy Uso

Jey Uso

Sami Zayn

vs

Seth Rollins

Triple H

Corporate Kane

Konnor

Viktor

Order of elimination: Corporate Kane, Jimmy Uso, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Konnor, Viktor, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Triple H

Dean Ambrose is the sole survivor.

AFTERMATH

Mr. McMahon fires his daughter & son-in-law. Brings in William Regal to replace them. Out of the frying pan & into the fire.

Usos feud with Ascension.

Ambrose enters the WWE Heavyweight Title hunt. 3-way TLC match at the TLC PPV: Brock Lesnar/ John Cena/ Dean Ambrose

Sami Zayn hotshots to Seth Rollins. Rollins loses at TLC by intentional countout. Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank on Dean Ambrose after a brutal Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. Most hated man in the company.