The Wrestling Doctor 03.03.09: The Wrestlemania XXV Main Event Scene

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR

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THIS WEEK’S PATIENT: THE WRESTLEMANIA XXV MAIN EVENT SCENE

Note: this column is written and submitted prior to the conclusion Raw, so the events of the March 2 show could not be taken into consideration. If for some ungodly reason Randy Orton decided to face Edge or Jack Swagger, stop reading now and ask yourself why you are still a wrestling fan.

This week the Wrestling Doctor has the latex gloves on and the two likely Wrestlemania XV main events on the table. The bouts between John Cena / Edge and Triple H / Randy Orton have been well-built so far, but the history between the men creates some challenges for delivering something unique for the big event.

The Problem: Exciting the fans on a Wrestlemania level about this year’s probable main events.

The challenge of both of these feuds is that both have been done to death.

John Cena and Edge headlined three pay-per-views in one-on-one contests against each other in 2006, as well as a triple threat match. They also fought on a Saturday Night’s Main Event, a Raw cage match, and were involved in a wide variety of free television situations and multi-person matches.

The upside for the WWE is that their 2006 feud was brilliant. This war made both Cena and Edge into a legitimate top stars, despite their earlier accomplishments, as both men proved that they could carry a sustained program from start to finish. The reasons behind a long program must be dramatic and powerful if the storyline is to work, and only the two wrestlers involved can communicate that reality to the audience. Cena and Edge provided the necessary passion while growing their own characters in delivering what was a fantastic piece of main event booking. There is no reason to believe that the two cannot reignite that intensity for Wrestlemania.

A weakness that Cena and Edge are facing now is the reasoning behind the feud. The 2006 rivalry was based around the ways into which Edge weaseled his hands onto the WWE Title and the great heelish lengths he went to keep it. Even Edge’s attack on Cena’s Dad was a means for the Rated R Superstar to gain an psychological advantage on Cena for their Summerslam 2006 encounter. Their current feud is based on the way that the Edge weaseled his hands onto the World Title and the great heelish lengths he is willing to go to keep it. The only real difference between the feud then and the feud now is the belt involved. The feud also ended decisively with Cena’s TLC win. Reviving an already resolved feud for an event as big as Wrestlemania will require something more than a traditional title match.

Triple H and Randy Orton are in a similar situation. They feuded in 2004 during Orton’s brief face run, but the feud that is stuck in the minds of the fans is the rivalry they had over the WWE Title in late 2007 – early 2008. They traded the title in one night at No Mercy 2007 in a traditional and then a last man standing match. They took a break before reigniting their feud last February, and were two thirds of the triple threat WWE Title match last year at Wrestlemania XXIV. The Game won the WWE Title from Orton in a fatal four way match at last April’s Backlash, with the two former Evolution members spending 18 of the bout’s 28 minutes in a one-on-one situation. The next month at Judgment Day Triple H retained the belt with a steel cage match win over Orton, and followed that up 25 days later with a definitive win in a last man standing bout at One Night Stand.

Cena and Edge have a decided advantage in that their feud last occurred three years ago, while that of The Game and The Legend Killer is still fresh in the memories of people who bought last year’s Wrestlemania. However, the addition of Randy Orton’s attacks on the McMahons – and the first on-air acknowledgement that Triple H and Stephanie are married – has added a personal element to the current situation absent from their prior engagements. The dueling Starrcade main events between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes in 1984 and 1985 serve as a great parallel to the HHH-Orton situation. The first match between Flair and Rhodes was about the NWA World Title and $1 million. The second match was about Dusty’s revenge on Flair for breaking his leg; taking the NWA World Title from the Nature Boy was the Dream’s way of hitting the champ where it hurt most. Nothing sells a wrestling feud like personal revenge, and Triple H has reasons in spades to exact a pound of flesh from Orton at Wrestlemania.

The Prescription:
Both main event feuds may be hard to sell in a standard match. Cena and Edge have put each other through tables, nailed each other with chairs and ladders, and fought around public water works. The fans expect to at least see the level of intensity that the two put forward in 2006. Cena wants to give Edge a mouth-shutting beat down, while the World Champion is a character who will do anything to retain his title. On the other hand, Randy Orton took out Triple H’s wife on national television. Triple H has a clear desire to maim Orton – at a minimum. Meanwhile, the master of the RKO wants to make sure that Triple H cannot get revenge, and that will take an effort outside of the WWE’s regulations. A traditional match is not going to provide the context for any of these four guys to do what the fans believe must be done.

The WWE has traditionally stayed away from stipulation matches for Wrestlemania WWE and World Title matches. There have been some – a steel cage (II), a 60-minute Iron Man match (XII), a fatal four-way (2000), a no-disqualification (X-7 – only announced on the actual show), and three triple threats (XX, XXII, XXIV) – but stipulations have not been the rule of wrestling’s biggest day.

There is a belief that Wrestlemania sells itself in large part, so that big title matches do not require a lot of bells and whistles outside of a well-built storyline. The stipulations can be saved for lesser pay-per-views. This year, however, the WWE has backed itself into a corner with its main event storylines. Both Cena / Edge and Triple H / Orton need some type of special stipulation fit into their current storylines and to settle the disputes between them. No one believes that a simple three-count will provide the satisfaction demanded by these four men.

Cena and Edge have already done TLC at Unforgiven 2006, and a main event match based around ladders on the same show with a Money in the Bank match is highly unlikely. A street fight or something similar may work but has been done before. Such a brawl also does not as well play into the current storyline as one might initially think. The storyline is all about Edge and Vickie Guerrero being on a power trip. A more viable option would involve Vickie stacking the deck against John Cena. For example, the match could be no-disqualification for Edge but not for Cena. Falls could count anywhere for Edge but not Cena. Essentially, Edge could do what he wants – including incorporating tables, ladders, and chairs in an unofficial capacity – while Cena would be tightly restricted. A special referee, such as Big Show, could be an added as a further disadvantage for Cena. (Too bad they have already re-introduced Christian, as the ref’s role would be the perfect place to bring him back). The stacked deck option would fit into the storyline of the Cena / Edge feud and work for their characters.

Triple H and Randy Orton must have more. They have already fought in cage and last man-standing contests. A simple no-disqualification match or street fight would not work for their history or the intensity of their present situation. A Hell-in-a-Cell would fit on a story line level, but is probably not feasible in a dome facility like Houston’s Reliant Stadium due to the ceiling height and construction. Other strikes against HITC are that the WWE likes to save such a match to help move non-Mania shows, and they just ran the somewhat-similar Elimination Chamber last month.

The one match that is truly deserving of the current Triple H-Randy Orton situation is Three Stages of Hell. The WWE has never run such a bout at Wrestlemania, and HHH and RKO have never squared off in one. The match provides the appropriate atmosphere for the level of animosity accompanying this feud, and opens the door to creative variation for the WWE writing team.

The classic Three Stages of Hell match between Triple H and Steve Austin at No Way Out 2001 consisted of a traditional fall, a street fight, and a steel cage. The HHH-Shawn Michaels TSOH at Armageddon 2002 was a street fight, steel cage, and ladder match. I cannot think of other TSOH matches in the WWE, but there may have been one or two others (readers?).

I would prefer that the deciding fall be in a cage, but I am assuming that lowering a structure at Reliant Stadium is logistically impossible (but with the WWE crew, who knows.) As such, I am not considering a cage as a feasible option. My preferred stipulations would be a lumberjack match; a stretcher or street fight fall; and last man standing. Lumberjacks would fit perfectly into this feud, as Orton has heat with the entire locker room for trying to shut down Wrestlemania. Why not let him pay before his peers? A stretcher fall fits into Orton’s past of taking out legends and McMahons alike. A street fight would be another option, as Triple H has a rich history under the stipulation and it would bleed well into the last man standing fall. Last man standing would be an appropriate deciding fall, as both Triple H (One Night Stand 2008) and Orton (No Mercy 2007) hold a victory over the other in such a bout. The third fall of their Wrestlemania XXV match would essentially be the rubber match of their series. It is safe to say that sledgehammers will be involved.

It is cliché to say that Wrestlemania is the ultimate event in wrestling, but it is also true. The featured matches of this year’s edition should clearly stand out from other chapters in the history of these feuds. The stories leading into these two main events have been well done, but the WWE has a long way to go before April 5.

Post-March 2 Raw Addendum: The Triple H-Orton promo was THAT DAMN GOOD. The hands-off clause, the history, and the personal aspect of this feud are great. This rivalry gets stronger by the week – but they need to give Triple H a match where he could break Orton’s neck. As for Cena-Edge, it looks as if it wil be Cena-Edge-Big Show. This one just keeps getting dumber..