One of the good ones!
You’ve got Cesaro winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Brock Lesnar breaking The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak, and Daniel Bryan defying all the odds to win the WWE Championship, proving that the fans do have power. I also always loved how this Mania felt so much more tight and packed full than others.
But I’d like to take another stab at it because you also had The Shield being wasted in a nothing tag match against The New Age Outlaws and Kane, along with the tag team and women’s divisions being put in thoughtless multi-person matches. There’s also the good but ultimately unsatisfying John Cena and Bray Wyatt match.
So, I’m gonna have a go and try and take WrestleMania 30 from good to perfect.
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H
I’ve not got much to say here. This stays the same as real life as it was a great match and worked perfectly with the story that was being told. Bryan and Triple H needed to have a singles match since Triple H was the head of the snake that was The Authority. It was so satisfying to see Bryan beat Triple H and the injuries sustained in the match helped Bryan become even more of an underdog for the main event. But, as you’ll see once we get there, I’ve got a change to who’s actually in the main event.
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal – Cesaro
Ahh back when we foolishly thought the ARMBAR could mean something. Watching this as a kid I was the biggest Cesaro fan and thought he was going to straight to the main event after this. Unfortunately for various reasons neither Cesaro nor the ARMBAR fulfilled their WWE main event potential.
As for my version, again, this one stays the same as real life. Except Cody Rhodes and Goldust won’t be in it as they’re in another match tonight. Also, this would be the only ARMBAR in WrestleMania history. It makes sense to do it at WrestleMania 30 because it’s an anniversary so celebrating Andre’s legacy feels right. But, doing it every year just makes it feel less special and as we’ve seen over the years it’s gotten a lot less important, now relegated to the SmackDown before Mania.
The Usos vs Goldust & Cody Rhodes (c) Tag Team Championship Match
My first big change. Goldust & Cody Rhodes had a killer feud with Randy Orton and The Shield in mid-2013 that got them both super over. Randy’s RAW matches with both Cody and Goldust are underrated classics, and The Shield vs Cody & Goldust at Battleground 2013 is one of the best WWE tag team matches ever.
But, after they won the Tag Team Championships there was no meaningful follow-up or intention to present them like the audience should care anymore.
In my version, we fix that and transition Cody and Goldust out of The Authority vortex and into a feud with The Real Americans. This helps to involve them back in the normal mix of the tag team division so it feels seamless when, in the build to WrestleMania, they start a feud with The Usos.
This doesn’t have to be a super personal feud as both teams are faces. It can just serve as a great, technical, and exciting wrestling showcase. But, to add a little more story flair, this feud can be a proto Cody Rhodes vs The Bloodline angle by comparing the legacies of both team’s wrestling families.
The Usos get the win after a very equal match that could’ve gone either way. Cody is the one that takes the pin and looks disappointed in himself. This is to foreshadow his eventual rebirth as Stardust and the Goldust vs Stardust feud that should’ve led to a singles match at WrestleMania 31. It doesn’t have to be a quick turn though, this is just the first seed and it can be built on slowly throughout the rest of 2014. Doing this slowly and with the clear end-goal of the break-up and Mania 31 singles match would help the tag team division a lot and give Cody and Goldust a strong direction.
And yes, I’m keeping Stardust. Do I like Stardust? Of course not. Ok maybe sometimes I liked him. I loved the Stephen Amell feud and those first few vignettes with The Ascension as The Cosmic Wasteland seemed interesting. The rest was dreck. Cody clearly had potential for far more than a Goldust cosplay. If it were up to me at the time I would’ve never done a Stardust character at all but I think he’s far too important to Cody’s career so we’ve got to keep him. It shows that sometimes in wrestling (and in life) that not always being perfect actually makes it better in the end.
Nikki Bella vs AJ Lee (c) Women’s Championship Match
This one was a bit tough. I toyed with the idea of having AJ face someone not on the roster at the time in real life but who WWE should’ve signed to improve the women’s division. I looked at people like Cheerleader Melissa, Mickie James, and Candice LeRae but no one felt right.
I liked AJ’s long reign as champion as it helped to build prestige with the championship and I’m keeping her losing it to a debuting Paige on the RAW after Mania. So, whoever I picked to go against AJ would be losing.
In real life, WWE had AJ beat every woman in the roster in a huge multi-woman match that felt undercooked, thrown together, and didn’t spotlight any individuals.
So, instead I’m focusing it on one key rivalry. The rivalry between AJ Lee and Nikki Bella. This might feel repetitive but it was the core of AJ’s reign: the total diva vs the alternative girl. It made for an entertaining and memorable rivalry with a lot of depth to explore beneath their archetypes, like Nikki calling out that it’s unfair for AJ to dismiss her talent and hard work because of the way she chooses to present herself. Also, I’m one of those who thinks that around this time Nikki really steps up her in-ring game. The Nikkisawa forearm is amazing and she should’ve absolutely used the ripcord version that Bryan shows her in Total Divas. Speaking of Total Divas, it raised Nikki’s star power so much so this match against AJ actually feels like quite a big match with two huge stars fighting for the top prize. Also, in my version of history, there’s no Diva’s Championship. It stays as the Women’s Championship, just with a different design to freshen it up and make it look more like a World Title.
Brock Lesnar vs Batista
A dream match with two powerhouses taking it to each other. Batista returns to WWE, eliminating Brock Lesnar from the 2014 Royal Rumble, setting up this match. It’s a car crash with the ringside area getting destroyed and some brawling through the crowd. Lesnar ultimately wins and looks strong for his big 2014 to come.
What about The Undertaker? In my version of history, Taker retired after WrestleMania 28 and his Hell In A Cell Match with Triple H. That’s one of my favourite matches ever and is a perfect conclusion to the four-year arc between Taker and DX. If that had been Taker’s last match, it would’ve been seen as even more legendary and as a perfect emotional sendoff on the level of Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24 and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 26. It also would’ve saved us from some pretty depressing matches as we watched Taker destroy his aging body searching for that one last classic to call it quits on. And it would’ve saved Taker himself a lot of physical and emotional pain.
Yes, The Streak remains intact but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to forever or that this is the very last match in Taker’s career. In real life he wrestled for almost 10 more years after Mania 28 so if need be he could’ve been brought back for any one of those and used in a similar fashion as Stone Cold Steve Austin was at WrestleMania 38 which was universally loved.
My idea – which I’ll go into more in another rebooking – is that a heel “Big Dog” Roman Reigns calls out The Deadman for a match at WrestleMania 33, where we get the end of The Streak and a retirement that’s more focused on Undertaker himself rather than having to share some shine with HBK and Triple H. Maybe this could be the year where Undertaker is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as well.
To me, the only person that really should’ve broken The Streak is Roman Reigns since he became such a big deal for the company for such a long time. So, the equity gained from breaking The Streak goes to great use. I also have no problem with Brock breaking it as it was used to make him into a world-beater that defined the main event picture for the next five or so years. But, he didn’t need it in my opinion to be presented that way as much as a heel Roman Reigns could’ve benefited from it.
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family
Speaking of The Big Dog, having The Wyatts take on The Shield on the grandest stage of them all was a big missed opportunity to me. The Elimination Chamber match is electric and they could’ve followed up with an equally as good sequel that established The Wyatt’s as the next dominant trio after The Shield’s soon-to-be breakup.
Daniel Bryan vs John Cena vs Randy Orton (c) Undisputed WWE Championship Match
So, this one’s a bit different than real life. I have John Cena taking the place of Batista. In fact, it’s a heel John Cena.
Over the years, I’ve flipped back-and-forth on the idea of a Cena heel turn. I thought that I’d settled on the idea that he’d never turn heel. Basically making him a Superman-like figure in the WWE mythos who never betrays his morals no matter the pressure. However, after seeing the heel turn in real life and hearing so much about it, I feel that it should’ve happened, just not in his final year. The Summer of Punk and feud with The Rock in 2012 was the perfect time for it as any earlier there were no top faces to replace Cena. But with Punk, Rock, and now Bryan, he didn’t need to be a face anymore. Ultimately, what got me to change my mind on the heel turn was how much it seemed like John himself wanted to do it. He’s never really confirmed that it’s something he wanted to do since he’s the strangest interviewee on the planet but my read on him is that it seems like it was something he wanted to tick off his bucket list before hanging up the Reebok’s.
So, this main event sees an established heel John Cena who joins The Authority and enters a power struggle with Randy Orton over who is best for business as the face of the company. The Authority seem to favour Cena as he’s a more proven star which creates tension between Orton and Triple H, justifying Triple H trying to get into the main event match. This storyline would also allow us to get a Cena and Orton two-man power trip run (can have a match against Cody and Goldust for the tag belts) which I think would’ve been heaps of fun and created a lot of awesome moments to look back on.
Rebooking Bryan at this time is difficult because his story is so innately tied to bad writing. It’s a really strange phenomenon that can only really happen in wrestling. Like, if I rebook Daniel Bryan vs The Authority to have a much clearer direction of Bryan winning the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania then the fans won’t be as involved in the build to Mania and might not be as rabid in the arenas. It’s a toughy. There’s no way to completely control the crowd reactions so all I can do is rewrite it so that it feels more right to me.
So, Bryan beats Cena at Summerslam 2013. Triple H turns. Orton cashes in. Then Orton vs Bryan is our feud for the next few months with Bryan constantly getting screwed. Bryan moves into the Wyatt Family feud, joining them and then beating Bray. Meanwhile, Orton has a two-man power trip with World Heavyweight Champion John Cena that explodes and results in a unification match at the end of 2013. Bryan enters the Royal Rumble. Makes it all the way to the end but gets eliminated by the winner, John Cena. It looks like WWE have got their dream main event of WrestleMania: John Cena vs Randy Orton. But, Bryan never gives up. The fans make their voices heard and force The Authority’s hand. At Mania, Bryan overcomes all the odds and beats Triple H, John Cena, and Randy Orton all in one night to hold all the gold and prove all the fans right for believing in him. Creating one of the best endings to a WrestleMania ever.