Brooklyn Brawlin’ 02.04.09: No Way Out of Good Booking Ideas

Greetings to all for the first post Super Bowl Brawl session. It was a great game and again reminded me of Wrestlemania as we are now building to the Super Bowl of Pro Wrestling, the 25th edition of Wrestlemania in Houston Texas. Raw last night did a lot to clear up and lay out the No Way Out card. Randy Orton will face Shane McMahon in a No DQ match, and Shawn Michaels and JBL will, as expected blow off their feud. That sets up a fairly stacked card with the 2 Elimination Chambers, the return of Shane O-Mac, and JBL/HBK. But lets delve a bit deeper into these matches for a second.

World Title Elimination Chamber – (c) John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Rey vs. Mike Knox vs. Kofi –

– This is already being discussed as the worst on paper Elimination Chamber match ever. There was one a few years ago at New Year’s Revolution with Chris Masters and Carlito in it, but that led to Edge winning his first WWE Title. This one seems borderline inexcusable. First to qualify was Kofi Kingston. Now I understand he is a former IC and World Tag Champion, but then again at this point, who isn’t? This guy is a total mid carder, and has been booked as such since losing the IC Title to SANTINO! His major victories have been fluke style wins, including his fluke win over Kane to get into the match.

– Speaking of Kane, this guy hasn’t been a serious threat to a serious World Title in years (No, I don’t count the ECW Title). He got in this match by virtue of getting Undertaker to fight Randy Orton. He lost his qualifier to a guy half his size and his major feud was against Rey Mysterio to whom Kane lost every big match.

– Speaking of Rey Mysterio, this actually can be fun. Being faces, he and Cena have never had a serious feud or big time matchup, and the Chamber setting can be interesting with Rey’s springboard-y offense. But again, does anyone buy Rey winning the World Title a month before Wrestlemania. His one title reign in 2006 came due to his association with Eddie Guerrero and he is kept around and pushed because of his merchandise sales.

– Mike Knox? Really? I didn’t know Gene Snitsky grew a beard. This guy was steroid positive, mocked openly by DX a few years ago, and then suddenly comes to Raw from ECW and is getting a title shot.

– And finally Chris Jericho. Memo to WWE Creative… If you want to build a serious threat to your Champion, DO NOT HAVE HIM TAP LIKE A BITCH ON FREE TV TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE PPV! Cena and Jericho had a great TV match totally ruined by another Jericho castration. First the Wrestler of 2008 jobs cleanly at Survivor Series to Cena who was out for months. Then in the rematch he taps like a bitch. Now you are building to the ppv and instead of showcasing Jericho’s knowledge of Cena, or history with the Elimination Chamber, they have a free TV match where Cena wins squeaky clean via tap out.

This all said, I think the entire IWC and wrestling watching world would be in SHOCK if Cena loses here. Here’s an idea. With Orton winning the Rumble, and claiming his shot at Wrestlemania, have The Legacy (Rhodes and Dibiase) claim the final 2 spots in the Chamber. Even if they lose, their job is to wear down the winner (Cena) for Orton at Wrestlemania.

WWE Title Elmination Chamber – (c) Edge vs. Triple H vs. Big Show vs. Undertaker vs. Kozlov vs. Jef Hardy –

Pardon the spoilers here, but according to the SD reports, these are the 6-men in the cell. This is how you book a match. In a match like the Elimination Chamber, the Champion should never be such an overwhelming favorite. Here, Edge looks FUCKED as Champion. Triple H, and Taker can in win here, plus Show and Kozlov are dominating forces. Jeff will likely lose again to set up his feud with Matt Hardy, but at least the former champ is getting a shot. I think Edge will likely retain, unless they want to go a different direction with the WWE Title match.

Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton – No DQ –

– This will be fun, hopefully bloody, and violent and will no doubt end in Randy’s total destruction of Shane. But again, with the way Orton’s been pushed, does anyone buy Shane winning here. It will a total train wreck and Shane even admitted, he doesn’t care about winning. Random Raw Thought – If Orton would’ve punted Stephanie, it would have been my all time favorite moment in Raw’s history. I would love to see Randy destroy Shane here, and have Triple H win the SD Chamber match to become the WWE Champion. Orton could then face him at Wrestlemania and torture Stephanie more. In honesty, Orton has more of an issue with Triple H then Cena, being Triple H ended the Age of Orton and injured Randy Orton before going to SD.

JBL vs. HBK –

– We see the light at the end of the tunnel here. It is Taker vs. HBK in Houston Texas. First the ominous confrontation at the Rumble, now the end of the feud between JBL and HBK. I love JBL until he enters the ring and then he is awful and borderline unwatchable. HBK should get righteous revenge here, and then be challenged by Taker soon after. I can’t wait for next Monday when they will be together backstage.

Other Random E Thoughts –

1) Christian – So is the WWE really that concerned with internet rumors? I guess so. If the story is true, then they went with Matt turning on Jeff to counter popular belief it was Christian returning. Where does that leave Christian though? Matt has not officially taken the blame for Jeff’s “accidents” so maybe they just delayed the inevitable and gave Matt a fresh start as a heel for fun. I think Christian should go back to Raw actually, (I know everyone wants E&C vs. Hardys). He left the company after a feud with Cena, and can have great matches with Jericho, Rey, Punk, and HBK as well. SD is loaded now with talent, and Raw could use the boost while Batista is out.

2) McMahons – Are we in 1999 again? Between Vince’s return and punting at the hands of Orton, Shane’s returning and Stephanie on TV all the time, it feels a lot like late 1999 into 2000 again, only minus Stone Cold. Wait… isn’t he getting inducting into the Hall of Fame? I would not be shocked if Orton ends up meeting the future inductee before Wrestlemania, being the last time they saw each other was Cyber Sunday when Austin hit him with a Stunner, and an RKO and punt on Austin would re-legitmize his Legend Killer moniker.

3) Punk – This is the time to turn Punk heel and push him to the moon as the cocky, straight edge prick he was in ROH. Post Wrestlemania, he can feud with Michaels, based on Michaels’ checkered past compared to his straight edged lifestyle. Punk would be fantastic here, calling HBK a hypocrite and triggering a series of 4 star matches. Punk would also be a good challenger against Cena. Punk has kind of been in limbo as a face on Raw, winning the Tag Titles, jobbing the tag titles, feuding with Regal, etc. He has not had a good feud ever. Even as Champion, he had a shorty feud with JBL, a one and done with Jericho, and he never even got good revenge on Randy Orton for taking him out as Champion. Punk as a heel would be perfect and him taking out Jeff would have been an awesome angle. Jeff’s lifestyle is everything that Punk goes against.

Well I am done for now. A quick word on the fantasy booking stuff. I love it, and I enjoy doing it. Last week it was about 50/50 with commentors either loving or hating my ideas. If you think you have the goods, in terms of fantasy booking, email me and I will post the best suggestions next week. Till then, be good and have fun storming the castle.