Was going to let things ride til Wrestlemania but with the
recent and somewhat surprising development of Brock Lesnar announcing his
decision to re-sign his contract with the WWE, I’m going to devote some space
to teasing out some different possible scenarios that could play out in the
main event of Wrestlemania this coming Sunday, March 29.
But first, I’m going to draw a bit of attention to something
I just did on here while this past Monday’s RAW was airing, which I think is
pretty cool. A fantasy scenario struck in my mind that had Wrestlemania ending
with Roman Reigns going over Lesnar to win the Heavyweight championship, but
maintaining his currently questionable audience support by getting the win amid
a surprise Shield reformation. The idea came off so clean in my head, my brain
just kept on going, developing the events that would set this in motion, the
reaction on the RAW after Wrestlemania, and some of the aftermath. It seems
particularly unnecessary with Brock now a lock for WWE’s future, and the notion
of WWE booking Reigns as the winner much less a certainty that it might’ve been
before. Yet, I’m still fairly interested in seeing how people would react to
these ideas, if others find them viable, and on par or perhaps even better than
what the WWE’s creative department has been serving up. I wonder if some
aspects of this lark, like the establishment of a new dominant heel faction to
take the place of the tired Authority premise and a merging of two marginal
titles, would speak to wrestling fans with the same likes and dislikes of the
current programming.
Anyway, is right below in 3 parts, and I do appreciate you
taking a few moments to check them out:
I’d like to think this little exercise in fantasy booking
might get out there and garner some positive attention among wrestling fans, or
even a slight bit of public ridicule would be cool, though I think it’s more
realistic to think it amounts to a speck of spit being spinning in a typhoon. Lord knows there are already more than enough
things about wrestling already out there. Now this is a very crude not
interesting to look at blog. It starts with the words alone. But if interest is
out there, I’d like to think it could grow into something more.
On that note, I ask that if there is any aspect of the above
that seemed cool, praiseworthy, or in any way amusing, please spread the word
around with a tweet of a link or what have you. And of course, if you have your
own thing going (blog, podcast, or what have you) there’s the tried and true
‘you shout out my thing, I’ll shout out yours’ deal.
So then, let’s talk about BROCK-A-MANIA…
Here are some things that we know, or think we know to be
true, as we approach the main event of Wrestlemania: Brock Lesnar (champion) w/
Paul Heyman Vs Roman Reigns (challenger) for the WWE Heavyweight Championship.
1.
Brock
Lesnar appeared on ESPN Tuesday and announced that he would re-sign his
contract with the WWE and end his in ring endeavors as an MMA fighter. This
came after a long bout of negotiations and, during this time, the UFC publicly
expressed their interest in bringing Lesnar in to compete for them. At some
point during these negotiations, Lesnar walked out on the middle of a RAW
program following the most recent WWE special FAST LANE, which he was scheduled
to appear on. This was attributed to a large dispute between him and Vince
McMahon.
2.
Roman
Reigns has been positioned to be the number 1 contender and challenger to
Lesnar at Mania, a situation that was cemented with Reigns winning the 2015
Royal Rumble match. Reigns’ promotion to the top of the card has been met
by criticism among fans and wrestling insiders alike, citing reasons such as
Reigns lacking speaking skills, in ring ability, and generally being too green
to be positioned at the highest point in the company. Reigns’ victory at the
Rumble and subsequent appearances have bared the mark of very heavy handed
direction from WWE creative and booking teams, and included bringing The Rock,
Reigns’ real life cousin, to stand side by side with him during his Royal
Rumble victory. Leading up to FASTLANE, at which the main event featured Reigns
and Daniel Bryan facing each other for the opportunity to main event
Wrestlemania, it was being reported among wrestling news outlets that the main
event of Wrestlemania was going to be changed to a triple threat match between
Lesnar, Reigns, and Bryan. Reigns won the match at Fastlane, though, and was
once again placed as the sole challenger to Lesnar at Wrestlemania.
3.
The
Rock has been contacted by the WWE in an effort to arrange for him to appear at
Wrestlemania. It would entail The Rock flying to San Jose from New York
after a scheduled appearance on Saturday Night Live the night before. This was
reported days before Lesnar went on record to talk about re-signing his
contract with WWE.
4.
Brock
Lesnar has gained a steady following among fans. At the Royal Rumble,
Lesnar’s performance in a triple threat match against John Cena and Seth
Rollins made him look like a hardworking fighter. Since then Paul Heyman’s
dynamic promos on behalf of the champion have positioned them as something of
an antiauthority figure combination, with Heyman referencing the fact it would
benefit the WWE to have the belt taken from Lesnar. These statements were made
while Lesnar had still been suggesting the possibility of leaving WWE and
returning to MMA. Now that Lesnar is with WWE, the situation may be different.
But those edgy promos have still given Lesnar a significant groundswell in
popularity.
--------------------------
OK, with these forces at play, let’s talk possible
Wrestlemania main event scenarios, of which these are just a few.
1.
It’s all
one big swerve and Brock Lesnar is heading to MMA. I’m starting with this
one because I think it’s the least likely. I pretty much feel it’s out of the
realm of possibility. But, this being pro wrestling, where reality and fiction
has long been blurred, I don’t want to rule it out altogether. If it did
happen, it would be one of the biggest misdirects in wrestling history and
hands down the biggest in recent history. What keeps this from being likely is
that the statement was made so publicly. Also, we are far from the days of Andy
Kaufman and Jery ‘The King’ Lawler, purveyors of the long, straight-faced con.
More than ever, the story of wrestling is talked about openly, like in the
instances where Vince and Triple H were interviewed by Steve Austin on his
podcast following RAW. This scenario would also only make sense if Brock left
the WWE with the title, thus putting the company in a huge lurch, but why would
they then publicly draw attention to this? On the other hand, if Reigns were to
win, it would be a more suspenseful story to keep fans in the dark about
Brock’s decision to stay or go away from the WWE.
2.
Reigns
wins with an assist from Paul Heyman. Betrayal will always be a part of a
good pro wrestling story. This outcome would allow for Reigns to be paired with
someone who is very good at speaking, taking some of that pressure off the
inexperienced star, and also let him ride some of the fan backlash that he has
experienced. My problem with this possibility is the fact that it is hard to
rationalize Heyman doing this. He has no reason to be upset with Lesnar and
Brock has shown no signs of weakness. Why abandon a ship that isn’t sinking?
Still, if the WWE and Heyman wanted to come up with a reason, they could come
up with a reason: say, Heyman senses Brock’s shelf-life is getting shorter, or
he sees Reigns as a more marketable commodity to attach himself too. It would
also give the potentially popular Lesnar a chance to build toward a highly
anticipated comeback for vengeance. Still, I think the successful team of Brock
and Heyman is too special to cast away like that. If Brock was going to be
turned into a face, it could be done with the Heyman still at his side,
delivering dynamic antihero verbal campaigns.
3.
Lesnar
retains the title and gets into confrontation with The Rock OR Lesnar loses the
title and gets into confrontation with The Rock. After considering both of
these, I realized they are pretty much the same. Simply the championship is in
a different position, and the importance of the belt is largely debatable
depending on how it is being cast in storyline. But, both these outcomes are
what I would consider the WWE staying the course. They are the most obvious.
Reigns winning would have been most likely before Lesnar re-signed with WWE,
and now, Google ‘The Rock’ and ‘Wrestlemania’ and you get loads of reports on a
rumored build toward Brock taking on The Rock in a rematch at Wrestlemania in
2016. While wrestling fans like surprises and outcomes that challenge
expectations, WWE has been known to sometimes go with the philosophy that the
most clear cut course is best. My issue here is that in either case, the
supposed future star of Roman Reigns would be completely overshadowed. If he
won, it would be a very slighted victory if moments later, the focus shifted to
The Rock wanting a second chance at facing Lesnar. If Reigns lost, then the
idea of The Rock stepping up to the challenge makes the idea of matches being a
competition, even a fictional one, very hard to swallow. The Rock has been out
of action for a while. He can come back sometimes, electrify the crowd, and
even hit a rock bottom from out of nowhere, but that is far from being the key
player in a main event program. His work with John Cena in 2012 and 2013 had
drawn a lot of criticism from fans underwhelmed by the performance. While pro
wrestling involves a LOT of suspension of disbelief, putting The Rock in a
higher spot than the supposed future talents of the WWE, like Reigns, does
nothing to sustain the show long term.
4.
Lesnar
wins but Seth Rollins cashes in the Money In the Bank contract from out of
nowhere and wins the title. On any other show, I could see this as a viable
option. But at Wrestlemania, I put it in the next to impossible department. For
one thing, it could be done on Raw the next day instead. The main event of
Wrestlemania has been given enough prestige to the point that it is a big deal
for the winner to be victorious on his own terms. With that in mind, a win like
this would diminish Rollins as well who has potential to some day headline and
win a Wrestlemania main event. Why make his first one a tainted victory like
this? To play devil’s advocate, the fact that a cash-in victory has never
happened at Wrestlemania does give it a certain novelty factor, the kind that
makes wrestling history so maybe being the first and possibly only wrestler to
cash in at Wrestlemania wouldn’t be so bad afterall?
5.
A
defeated Reigns is consoled by his cousin The Rock but then suddenly turns on
him. This is my favorite possibility, though at the same time, one I would
deem pretty unlikely, if only because I don’t see WWE taking that many chances like
they once did. The Roman t-shirts have been printed up, he has been branded a
hero. But, since this is all speculation, allow me to explore this unlikely
avenue…Ever since The Rock arrived at the Royal Rumble to help his younger
cousin, things have seemed to shift away from Reigns’ favor. Boos got louder,
his main event spot at Mania was no longer a certainty. Sure, in reality the
slide began before the Royal Rumble happened. But a good heel always suffers
from a delusional perspective. So with a lousy year ending in losing grasp of
the ultimate prize, what better reaction to have than lash out? And what an
amazingly dramatic story it would be, told simply and visually, as Reigns
walked toward the rope and suddenly speared his unsuspecting older family member.
Heel heat like nothing we have seen in a long time would instantly rain down
(sorry) on Roman. Yes, a babyface hero’s rise to the top may be derailed. But
the making of an extremely polarizing heel whom people would feel compelled to
tune in to see week in and week out would be a worthy tradeoff.
Which scenario do you like or do you have your own in mind?
Let me know what you think. Hit the comments!
Twitter: @mondocurrymark
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