How I Would Book… Scott Steiner in WWE (2003)

You know they say all men are created equal. But when you look at yourself and you look at Scott Steiner, you can see that statement is not true. See normally if you go one on one with another wrestler, you’ve got a 50/50 chance of winning. But Scott’s a genetic freak and he’s not normal, so you’ve got a 25% chance at best at beating him. And then you add good booking to the mix… your chances of winning drastically go down.

Unfortunately, WWE did not add good booking to the mix when booking Scott Steiner’s return to the company in 2002. Despite being one of the big free agents available after leaving WCW, Scott’s return just didn’t hit the heights of his run in the dying days of WCW and even some of the highlights of his TNA run. Scott as a star in WWE seemed to not be on the cards.

However, was there a chance to redeem Big Poppa Pump in the post-WCW WWE? Well I think, if handled right, Scott could have been a valuable asset to the company. In fact, I’m going to try to turn his run in WWE into something actually respectable enough where Scott Steiner could potentially become a star again rather than a joke. Here’s How I Would Book… Scott Steiner in WWE.

I’m not going to lie… I have a soft spot in my heart for Scott Steiner. This is a wrestler that was an incredible athlete during his peak WCW days with such charisma in every promo he ever cut. It’s no surprise that he stood out as a star during the later years of WCW as its champion and how he’s garnered this legendary status as a wrestler.

And yes… his wrestling promos have made me laugh over and over again so you can’t help but want more for the Genetic Freak. After all, throughout his career, he’s wrestled a lot of countries…

However, Scott’s career never saw him become a major star in WWE. Scott had world title programs, he won the WWF Tag Team Championship during the early 90s and is fondly remembered. However, even when he was given a major program as a top babyface, Scott seemed to fall flat and was never able to be picked back up again until his release from the company in 2004. Despite the charisma, talent and look Steiner had, it just didn’t work.

Let’s go into his career and see where things didn’t work out for Freakzilla…

Scott Steiner debuted in Madison Square Garden at Survivor Series 2002, where he attacked Chris Nowinski and Matt Hardy to a huge reaction in New York. He was pushed as the biggest free agent that General Managers Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff both wanted to sign for SmackDown! and RAW respectively. Stephanie seemingly had Scott secured for her brand, with a promise of a “signing bonus” if Scott had signed with her. Because Scott was not willing to wait for quality time with Stephanie, the deal fell apart and Scott signed with Bischoff instead. He really was the wrestling version of Johnny Bravo… at least in his mind!

Scott showed up on RAW and challenged new World Heavyweight Champion Triple H for a guaranteed title shot. Triple H and Scott proceeded to have multiple contests to determine who was best between the two of them including push-up contests, pose-offs and arm wrestling contests… yes, this is all true. This led to one of the worst world title matches in WWE history at the 2003 Royal Rumble which ended in a disqualification. To make matters worse, the fans booed babyface Steiner throughout the match and cheered for heel Triple H. Yikes.

WWE inexplicably attempted a rematch between Steiner and Triple H which led to the formation of Triple H’s Evolution stable. Triple H retained the title at No Way Out to end the feud which was never brought up again.

Scott didn’t even appear at WrestleMania XIX and such highlights on RAW included a debate between himself and Nowinski about the Iraq War, with Steiner delivering such a debate points like comparing France to Hell. Yes, that is true. Go look it up.

Scott started a program with Test and his manager Stacy Keibler, with the two forming a tag team. The team didn’t last long as Test turned on Steiner and started mistreating Stacy. Scott and Test fought over Stacy’s managerial services. Scott won her services in a hilarious match at Bad Blood (which we did cover on the Armbar Express many year ago (link available here)) before losing the services back to Test in August. Oh, and Stacy did a lap dance for Steiner on the stage during this storyline. Again, this was a bizarre time for wrestling and Scott Steiner.

Test won Steiner’s services at Unforgiven, with Steiner himself become a servant to Test too. Scott eventually got sick of this and attacked Stacy, as he turned heel and became better friends with Test. They both started mistreating Stacy and I believe it was implied that they were planning to use Stacy as a sex slave. Remember… this was shortly after the whole Katie Vick storyline so anything appeared to be on the table.

Mick Foley eventually fired Steiner and Test, ending the storyline and freeing Stacy from her servitude. Scott was an entrant in the 2004 Royal Rumble match before he was released from his contract.

What a hot mess this was.

When you look at everything I just recapped about Scott Steiner’s WWE run, it’s easy to crap all over the writers for just pure lackluster and disgusting storytelling. Even before the storyline with Stacy, they had Steiner doing push-ups, posing contests and debates which were all just recipes for disaster.

However, Scott was also extremely sloppy with his in-ring work during a lot of his big matches with the company. His match with Triple H at Royal Rumble 2003 was voted the “Worst Worked Match” in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards and if you’ve ever watched the match, it’s understandable as to why. Scott in particular just had a horrendous night.

Therefore, it’s not like you can push him as a great wrestler where he just destroys people and have him wrestle in the main-event each night. To be honest, he simply wasn’t good enough and was just limited in the ring at the time.

However, that doesn’t give the writers a pass with the storytelling either. Even if Scott was limited, he was still wrestling at this time and still demonstrated great charisma when he had the chance. He just needed simple direction that didn’t involve misogyny and stupid competitions.

Here’s where I’ll come in and attempt to re-book Steiner’s WWE career myself. When it comes to booking better than WWE, I’ve got a 141 and 2/3 chance of doing it better!

Scott Steiner’s debut at Survivor Series 2002 stays as it is. It was a really cool moment and you don’t really need to change it. The fans ate up Steiner that night so you keep that segment in tact.

Scott Steiner is still a free agent at this point, who GMs Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon are trying to sign. Steiner initially rejects both RAW and SmackDown! and quits WWE all together. He doesn’t appear again until the 2003 Royal Rumble. The World Heavyweight Championship match is defending champion Triple H wrestling Booker T. Booker seemingly has the match won when Scott Steiner blindsides Booker T and helps Triple H win. Scott Steiner appears on RAW and announces that he’s signed with RAW for a guaranteed title shot. This was the same storyline like in real life so we’re just tweaking the timeline just a little. Triple H has promised Steiner a title shot at WrestleMania XIX by helping him take out Booker T.

Scott feuded with Booker in tag teams and in singles action during their time in WCW so there’s that history there to use as well. Booker responds by challenging Triple H and Steiner to a tag team match. Let’s say it’s Booker and Shawn Michaels against Triple H and Steiner at No Way Out. If Booker wins, it’s a triple threat match for the title at Mania between HHH, Steiner and Booker. If Booker’s team loses, Booker will not be at WrestleMania at all. The match is agreed and Booker’s team win by Booker pinning Triple H. With this finish, you protect Steiner as he didn’t get beat. You put over Booker T heading into WrestleMania XIX by having him pin the champion and it builds a great dynamic. Not only does Triple H have to defend the title in a triple threat, but he’s against a man who has pinned him in a tag team match and a man in Scott Steiner that he’d never wrestled before.

The match is set for WrestleMania XIX – Triple H defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T and Scott Steiner. No, we will not be including the original racial storyline as part of this build-up. Booker T as the underdog against Steiner and Triple H is enough. Booker T wins the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX, as he should have done in real life and all is right with the world up to this point!

After WrestleMania, Booker and Triple H can continue to feud over the title. Meanwhile, Scott Steiner is disturbed by the debut on another ex-WCW wrestler on RAW… Goldberg. Scott can cut these promos for months about how he beat up Goldberg in WCW and decides to create his own streak which is just as good as Goldberg’s was in WCW. Yes, I am copying the angle that WCW did where Sid tried to emulate Goldberg’s streak. However, I am convinced Scott Steiner would be able to make it entertaining in his own right!

This goes on until Bad Blood, where Steiner finally has his match with Goldberg for the first time since WCW. Goldberg beats Steiner and we continue to build Goldberg up ahead of his first World Heavyweight Championship reign in the Autumn. They ended up doing Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner anyway on an episode of RAW. Why not build a program going into Bad Blood and actually try to make some money out of it?

I guess we should finally address the elephant in the room… Scott Steiner’s feud with Test about Stacy Keibler. I am going to try and re-write this but I’m going to try and tell somewhat of a compelling romance story. So here goes….

Test was being managed by Stacy Keibler at this time and was somewhat of a tweener. I think Test was technically a babyface but the fans mostly liked him because of Stacy. They LOVED Stacy at this time. Therefore, we can still initially treat Test as a babyface at first. Test gets interrupted by the new World Tag Team Champions in La Resistance. La Resistance try to recruit the Canadian Test to their cause, with Rob Conway being a Canadian that was a French Sympathiser too. They try to get him on their side as Test was part of the Un-Americans stable in the past. Test says no but he gets attacked by the stable. Scott Steiner makes the save for Test against La Resistance. Stacy is elated by Scott teaming up with Test while Test is initially suspicious. Scott’s still a heel (following on from the WrestleMania and Goldberg storylines), Test is a tweener and Stacy is a babyface which sets up a very interesting dynamic.

This leads to a World Tag Team Championship match at SummerSlam, where Scott Steiner and Test defeat La Resistance to win the tag titles. Stacy hugs Steiner after the match and leaps into his arms, with Test watching on and taking issue with this.

The team defends the titles in a rematch against La Resistance, where Scott is presumably getting cheered more and more and Stacy is being more happy with him than Test. They defend the titles against the Dudley Boyz on RAW, where Test shows some heel tendencies by actually cheating to help their team win the match. This grabs the attention of Eric Bischoff, who recruits Test and Steiner into his team for a Survivor Series match in 2003. It was Team Bischoff vs. Team Stone Cold, with Stone Cold’s career being on the line. Test agrees to join the team but Scott and Stacy are reluctant. The match sees the team start to implode, with Test getting himself disqualified. Scott gets pissed off at Test and Test pushes Scott back into a Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels, leading to Scott getting pinned.

The problems with the team continue going into Armageddon, where they lose the tag team titles to Evolution members Batista and Ric Flair. Test starts blaming Scott Steiner and accusing him of going after his woman in Stacey Keibler. This leads to a grudge match between the former partners to take place at the 2004 Royal Rumble. Scott Steiner wins the grudge match, which leads to Scott, Test and Stacy all going their separate ways.

That about wraps things up for this How I Would Book. It feels a bit of a premature end but Scott did get released after the 2004 Royal Rumble. If I’m being honest, I probably would have continued the feud into WrestleMania if he was still in the company by that point. However, I think we’ve actually created interesting stories with Steiner which were more appealing that goofy debates, love triangles and athletic competitions. Scott Steiner is seen more as a star and even gets a Tag Team title reign out of it.

I honestly can’t imagine a scenario where he could win the championship and it would have made sense to put the title on him. Guys like Booker T, Goldberg, Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam were just far more over than him and most of those guys were just better workers at this time. However, I still think a World Heavyweight title match at WrestleMania was easily do-able and it certainly beats having Scott not being at WrestleMania at all

See WWE… the booking doesn’t lie and spells disaster for you.

Next week, we’ll be looking into another storyline from the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE. We’ll be looking at Triple H’s feud with Kevin Nash from 2003 and seeing if we can do a better job in telling the story between two Kliq members fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship.

That post will be going up on the 18th of May 2024 at 2PM UK time. See you there and remember…

…HOLLA. IF YA HEAR ME.

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five)

#23 – How I Would Book… The 2018 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Feud

#24 – How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four)

How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part Three)

Part One

Part Two

Ah, Samoa Joe on the SmackDown! brand. Away from the packed RAW roster in 2018, Samoa Joe had a chance to flourish as a true main-eventer in WWE. He was in the main-event scene very briefly on RAW but now he was on another brand in SmackDown! Live, during a time where it was heralded as a hot wrestling show. However, while Joe did get opportunities, he ended WrestleMania 35 stuck in a forgettable mid-card feud which must have been frustrating for Samoa Joe fans. Can we elevate Joe to greater heights? Well, I think I can and we’re going to continue to re-book the career of Samoa Joe in WWE. Here’s How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE – PART THREE.

I’ll be honest, I absolutely hated Samoa Joe’s run on SmackDown! Live. He was featured in main-event title programs and had plenty of people to work with, but he was just not utilised to the level that he should have been. His most memorable moments on that brand included taking personal shots at the likes of AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy, with the serious aspect of his character dissipating. It was like we were watching a different Samoa Joe to what was working on RAW, with the emphasis being on him being a jerk rather than him being a badass. It’s one thing if you have smaller guys like Daniel Bryan acting like jerks, because they could be viewed as more “slimey” than the good guys. However, it’s not a role that fit Samoa Joe at all.

Don’t get me wrong, Samoa Joe absolutely did his best with whatever he was given. However, he could have only went so far without WWE taking more liberties with pushing the man as a proper threat to the top babyfaces. Without many major victories to his name, he was just unable to be elevated further. Really, there was no reason as to why he couldn’t win the WWE Championship from AJ Styles during their storyline to at least garner interest in the rivalry.

In this part, I have a pretty ambitious plan for Samoa Joe to thrive as a main-event heel and push him in a way which more than one person can benefit from such a run. So let’s get to it…

Samoa Joe returned on the RAW after WrestleMania 34 to begin a feud with Roman Reigns. I’ll be completely honest, I absolutely hated this feud too. The timing of the program was just not great, with Roman Reigns also feuding with Brock Lesnar at the same time. Joe also ended up just being another victim to Roman Reigns so Roman could recover from losing to Brock at Mania. It was just a waste of a feud for both men and their match in the main event of Backlash ended up being extremely anti-climatic.

To spice up the Brock vs. Roman formula slightly, I’d take their singles match set for The Greatest Royal Rumble show and add Samoa Joe to the mix to make it a triple threat match. It is essential the SummerSlam 2017 main-event but just without Braun Strowman, with Brock defending the Universal Championship against Roman and Joe. Brock retains the championship which leads to Joe and Roman still feuding into WWE Backlash 2018.

The Backlash match was extremely disappointing in real life so you’d need to give it a gimmick to entice the fans a lot more. I’d suggest having a steel cage match for the Backlash match between Joe and Roman to at least spice it up a little bit. You can still have Roman win by escaping the cage and you can also protect Samoa Joe in defeat. Roman continues to stay on RAW while Samoa Joe is drafted to SmackDown!…

Samoa Joe was drafted to SmackDown! as part of the 2018 draft and we’ll stick to this. Samoa Joe likely would have been lost in the shuffle on RAW, given how large they made that roster in 2018. On SmackDown!, he was in the upper-midcard/main-event positions for most his run on that brand. It worked out for him, given he was put in the WWE title picture for a number of months. Therefore, this seemed like a good fit with a lot of fresh faces for him to feud with on a new brand.

His days on SmackDown! are pretty similar to what they were in real life. Samoa Joe wins a lot of matches and gets big wins over the likes of Daniel Bryan to get him ready for his feud with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. The Samoa Joe/AJ Styles match at SummerSlam 2018 still happens but it is not centered around AJ’s family. A personal storyline like this is fine when executed well but it really wasn’t when it came to AJ and Joe. AJ wasn’t particularly presented as a strong babyface when compared to Samoa Joe, who was talking about his family every week. To be perfectly honest, it’s a strange dynamic for the monster heel to be pulling the personal cheap attacks against a much smaller babyface champion. Samoa Joe really shouldn’t need to resort to such tactics.

This is just a feud about how much both men have changed since their days in TNA and ROH, with it coming to a head at SummerSlam where they’ll both wrestle each other for the WWE title. Two TNA “originals” who feuded for the TNA X-Division title would now be fighting for the main title in professional wrestling in WWE. That’s a simple story right there.

Samoa Joe DEFEATS AJ Styles and wins the WWE Championship. Joe not winning the title at this time was really perplexing to me. The AJ Styles title reign was going OK I guess but he was also coming off a really long feud with Shinsuke Nakamura. With Joe winning the title, this would at least add new life to the WWE Championship picture. The AJ Styles title reign was about 9 months long at this point so a change of pace would have certainly helped.

Joe wins the title and then defends the title successfully against AJ in a rematch. There’s plenty of challengers for Samoa Joe to defend the title against for the rest of 2018 and into 2019. He can defend the title against the likes of Jeff Hardy, where Joe can cut the same promos on Jeff that he did in real life and gain some heat. He can defend the title against Daniel Bryan, a man who was never beaten for the WWE Championship when he was forced to vacate the title in 2014. He can even wrestle Brock again at Survivor Series 2018, a rematch from the year before as part of the SmackDown! vs. RAW show. There’s a lot of possibilities.

We’re going to take Samoa Joe all the way to WRESTLEMANIA 35 as the champion, where he’ll be the defending champion against Kofi Kingston and KofiMania. I know a lot of people really enjoyed the Daniel Bryan heel turn going up against Kofi Kingston. That ended up being a clever bit of dramatic ironic with Daniel Bryan calling Kofi the “B+ Player” that didn’t belong in the main-event.

However, I think Samoa Joe could have worked really well in this role too against Kofi Kingston. The whole storyline with Kofi was that Mr McMahon and WWE didn’t see him as championship material. Joe would represent the big man that WWE would usually go for as their ideal champion while Kofi would have to overcome the odds. It actually makes it more of a daunting task for Kofi to beat Joe, especially if you push Joe as he’s usually pushed as an unbeatable monster. It really drives home the David vs. Goliath narrative.

Kofi beats Samoa Joe to end his WWE Championship reign at WrestleMania 35 and KofiMania is alive and well, having overcome all the odds at the biggest stage in sports entertainment…

That wraps up Part Three of this series. The WWE Championship reign of Samoa Joe was something I always had planned since coming up with the idea of this “How I Would Book..” series. The biggest sticking point was replacing Daniel Bryan, who was excellent in the role as the Eco Champion, with Samoa Joe as the man to go up against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania. However, I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to put the WWE Championship on Samoa Joe. Of all the wrestlers that have been in WWE that have never been world champion, Samoa Joe is very high on the list of wrestlers that SHOULD have been world champion at least ocnce. In Part Three, we’ve been able to accomplish this fantasy booking!

Join us in part four where we wrap up Samoa Joe’s WWE career with hopefully more of a bang than with a whimper…

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five)

#23 – How I Would Book… The 2018 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Feud

#24 – How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four)

How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part One)

As of me writing this, Samoa Joe currently reigns as AEW World Heavyweight Champion. Given the incredible talent in the world of professional wrestling at the moment, being a world champion seems a far greater accomplishment now than it’s been in years. It’s a testament to how well Joe has navigated the wrestling waters since his early days in the UWF, ROH and Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling.

Yet somehow, the Samoan Submission Machine did not have such success when he finally arrived in WWE. The idea of TNA mainstays like Samoa Joe ending up in WWE seemed like a fantasy to many but it became reality in 2015 after his TNA contract expired. However, the reality wasn’t so great for Samoa Joe and his fans as he was unable to be elevated to the levels that he was more than capable of in WWE. While there were factors out of WWE’s control that also hampered the Samoan, was it possible to get more out of Samoa Joe during his time in WWE?

Well I think this was extremely possible. Given the promo skills, work-rate and realism of Samoa Joe being a badass, WWE had the tools to transform him into a permanent WWE main-eventer. It was possible for the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and AEW World Champion to become a world champion again in WWE. This is How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE.

Similar to my “How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE” series, there was a lot of misfortunate that fell upon Samoa Joe during his WWE career. Injuries would strike the man down at times where WWE were utilising him in prominent positions which would hurt Joe’s momentum. Therefore, to put the blame solely on WWE’s shoulders isn’t necessarily fair when discussing Samoa Joe’s WWE run.

However, what can certainly be put on WWE’s shoulders is just an unwillingness to push Joe like the monster he was. This was certainly a far-cry from the Samoa Joe that went 18 months undefeated in TNA. He was “pushed” in WWE but he never really had many major victories that would showcase him as a legitimate threat to major babyfaces in WWE. Joe seemed to be booked more on a 50/50 basis when it came to wins and losses in WWE and it was almost like WWE were afraid to really “pull the trigger” in having Joe win important matches.

Look at his feud with AJ Styles for example, where Joe would either lose or win via disqualification against him. Surely that feud would have been elevated to greater heights if Joe had shockingly won the title from AJ Styles, for example, which would lead to a rematch? However, Joe being the world champion just never seemed to be on the cards.

Really, the times when he was booked as a major champion were when he was in NXT. He won the NXT Championship in 2016 and 2021 but neither of these title reigns lasted a particularly long time. His feud with Shinsuke Nakamura was a perfect example of the 50/50 booking that Joe would suffer from.

Before we get into re-booking the WWE career of Samoa Joe, let’s break it down to see where things went right and wrong.

Samoa Joe debuted in NXT at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in May, confronting then-NXT Champion Kevin Owens at the end of the show. They had a match on NXT and… it ended in a no-contest. The feud ended when Owens lost the title to Finn Balor and was promoted to the main roster. In NXT, Samoa Joe would team with new NXT Champion Balor to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. Joe turned on Finn Balor afterwards, beginning a 6 month feud for the NXT title. After losing to Finn at TakeOver: London and TakeOver: Dallas, Joe finally won the championship at a house show in April 2016. Joe won the feud once and for all by defeating “Demon” Finn Balor in a steel cage match at NXT TakeOver: The End.

This wasn’t the end for Joe in NXT, as he would begin a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura afterwards. Nakamura defeated Joe for the title in August, Joe would regain the title in November before losing the title against 14 days later to Nakamura in Osaka, Japan. The feud would end for good in a steel cage match in Australia, where Nakamura retained the title once more and Joe’s NXT run ended… for now.

Joe debuted on the main roster in January 2017 by attacking Seth Rollins to help out Triple H. This storyline didn’t really go anywhere and Joe ended up not even appearing at WrestleMania 33 itself. Joe would stay in the RAW mid-card for a few months until he won a fatal five way match in the main-event Extreme Rules 2017. He defeated Bray Wyatt, Balor, Rollins and Roman Reigns to become number one contender for the Universal Championship. This led to a feud between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe, which was the undisputed highlight of Joe’s run in WWE. The segments and brawls involving these two were excellent, with Joe being presented as a legitimate threat to Brock. However, Joe was unsuccessful in winning the title after a short but great match at WWE Great Balls of Fire.

Joe would have another crack at the Universal Championship in a fatal four way match between himself, Brock, Roman and Braun Strowman at SummerSlam 2017. Again, the segments leading up to the match were great but Joe was unsuccessful in winning the title. I would highly recommend watching that fatal four way match if you’ve never seen it before. It’s a fantastic battle.

It’s around this period where Joe started to get plagued with injuries. He was injured shortly after SummerSlam before returning a few months later to take part in the SmackDown! vs RAW Survivor Series match. He started feuding with the Shield until he injured his right foot at the start of 2018. He returned after WrestleMania 34 to feud with Roman Reigns and lost to Roman at Backlash 2018.

He was then moved to the SmackDown! in 2018 and begun an infamous feud with WWE Champion AJ Styles. The feud saw Samoa Joe take things personally with AJ’s family, making comments towards his children and AJ’s wife Wendy. This led to four title matches on pay-per-view; a match at SummerSlam which ended in a disqualification, a match at Hell in a Cell which ended with AJ tapping out while pinning Joe and matches at Super Show-Down and Crown Jewel where AJ retained the title.

In 2019, Samoa Joe finally won gold on the WWE main roster when he won the WWE United States Championship. The most memorable part of this title reign was Joe defeating Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 35 in a match that lasted less than a minute. Rey regained the title and then relinquished the title back to Samoa Joe. Joe lost the title to Ricochet shortly afterwards. Joe tried to challenge for the WWE title again at Extreme Rules 2019 but was unsuccessful again.

Joe was moved to a commentary position at the end of 2019 on RAW after breaking his thumb. He returned to action to feud with Seth Rollins and his stable in 2020. He appeared in the Royal Rumble match but then injured his head shortly afterwards. Joe was then suspended for violating the WWE wellness policy and returned to commentary after WrestleMania 36. He stayed at the booth until 2021, when he was released by WWE in 2021.

Yes… WWE released Samoa Joe.

…until he returned in June 2021. He was made an enforcer of NXT upon his return and he somehow won the NXT Championship from Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver 36. This would be the only match Joe had upon his return as he relinquished the title in September 2021 due to testing positive for Covid-19. This man could not catch a break at this point.

Joe was released once more by WWE in January 2022.

Yes… WWE released Samoa Joe…. Twice.

For those new to the “How I Would Book…” series, I’ll go over one of the main rules when it comes to re-writing a wrestling angle or, in this case, a wrestling career. If a wrestler gets injured, we must abide by this and take it into account when we book. We cannot pretend that Samoa Joe was perfectly healthy during a time when he wasn’t. Otherwise, it’d be really unfair to compare our booking of him to WWE if we’re not limited in the same way as them.

This also applies for other disappearances Joe had due to Covid-19, wellness policy failures or him being released. These things happened and we’ve got to take them into account too.

With that being said, it’s very apparent when looking back at his WWE career (when he was available) that WWE did want to do things with Samoa Joe. It’s not like that they signed Joe and simply didn’t do anything with him. Even when he was hurt or wasn’t wrestling, they’d put him in positions where he could cut promos or do commentary. Heck, they gave him the opportunity to cut some tremendous promos during his WWE run. Who can forget when he roasted Jeff Hardy during his own 20 year celebration?

However, the issue with Joe in WWE (and even in NXT) was the actual way WWE were booking wrestlers at the time. Except for a select few, there weren’t many wrestlers that were being booked to always win in WWE at this time. Even Roman Reigns would lose far more matches than he should have been at this time.

While booking 50/50 isn’t always a bad thing, Samoa Joe isn’t a wrestler that should receive this sort of treatment with his booking. In TNA, Samoa Joe never lost a singles match in 18 months. He was booked as a dominant TNA X-Division Champion and then continued his winning streak in the heavyweight roster before he ended up losing to TNA’s biggest star at the time. They took the time to make you see Joe as a dominant threat that could and would beat everyone. In WWE, they took a lot more liberties with beating the man. Even when he won championships in WWE, those title reigns usually didn’t last very long. Heck, his 2^nd NXT title reign lasted 14 days.

With this series, I aim to rectify this by booking Joe exactly as he should be booked… an unbeatable badass. Heck, TNA has already given me a strong blueprint to work with in order to build him up to a new audience in WWE. We may as well use it.

And use it I shall….

Let’s start with his NXT run. I initially was going to skip this portion of the “How I Would Book” series for a few reasons. His NXT run was when Joe was booked the strongest during his WWE run and if I’m being perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have put him in NXT at all. If you have someone like Samoa Joe, someone who was a main-eventer in TNA for nearly a decade and already a big wrestler star, you damn sure shouldn’t be considering sending him down to developmental. He was already ready for big feuds in 2015 and really… his NXT run served mostly to get Joe ready to work the “WWE style” of wrestling.

However, after looking at his NXT run, I’m going to re-book his NXT run for a few reasons:

1. Trying to book Samoa Joe on the main roster from 2015 would be extremely hard given that I’d have to write a whole new original story from 2015 based on a lot of assumptions. For the purposes of this series, going from NXT would make things a lot easier for me when writing stories!
2. I honestly think a lot of casual or even hardcore WWE fans likely wouldn’t have known who Samoa Joe was, so putting him on the main roster from the get-go is a massive risk. Sure, it worked for AJ Styles at the 2016 Royal Rumble but I don’t see it having the same affect for Samoa Joe in May 2015. For AJ Styles returning in 2016 and in Florida, it just seemed that the stars were aligned. For Joe, it wasn’t.
3. I actually think I can write his NXT run better than WWE did, so why not?

We begin our story with NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable. I honestly didn’t like the idea of Samoa Joe showing up the way he did in real life. Joe confronting then-NXT Champion Kevin Owens just seemed to come out of nowhere and didn’t really lead to anything substantial. I’d much prefer putting Joe in a match at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable instead. In fact, I’d put Samoa Joe in the ring with Rhyno (yes, Rhyno was in NXT at the time). Rhyno can do an open challenge which is answered by Samoa Joe, who puts him to sleep in a matter of minutes. A great way to expose Samoa Joe to the NXT roster by haing him come along and squash a WWE veteran in Rhyno.

The next few months for Joe is just him beating people left and right. He does not challenge for the NXT title right away. He instead gets quick and decisive victories on NXT each and every week. Not to mention, these quick matches would put less strain on Samoa Joe’s body as well while also making him look like a major threat.

This might sound crazy but for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in August, I’d put Samoa Joe in the ring with a legend… none other than Jushin Thunder Liger! Not only is it a callback to when Joe wrestled Liger in TNA but you make Jushin Thunder Liger’s one and only appearance in a WWE ring be against a viable threat as we’ve presented him so far. I really liked Liger’s match with Tyler Breeze in real life but I’d love to have seen Liger in a more competitive match at Brooklyn. This match is a more of a competitive match for Joe as he tangos with a Japanese legend, but Joe does prevail and earns the legend’s respect.

Regarding the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, his run with Finn Balor pretty much stays the same way it was in real life. I have nothing really to complain about and pairing Joe up with the then-NXT Champion was a great way to set-up a possible match down the road. Have Balor and Joe both pick up victories and win a tag team tournament together before putting them against each other in singles action. It’s simple and effective.

When it comes to Samoa Joe’s feuds with Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura, I’m going tweak these programs slightly as I had issues with the 50/50 booking from the original storylines. The concept of 50/50 isn’t necessarily bad but there needs to be a good reason for it. I’ve also went out of my way to book Samoa Joe as an undefeated threat up until this point, so losses won’t totally devastate him if they’re properly handled.

I start with NXT TakeOver: London, where Samoa Joe challenges Finn Balor for the NXT Championship for the first time. This will be a babyface vs. babyface program for now up until the match but the program is building from their mutual respect coming out of the Dusty Rhodes Classic. They agree that they’ll still be allies after the title match but both want to win the championship. The London match ends with Finn Balor retaining the title like he did in real life. At the end of the night, Finn and Joe go to shake hands but Joe lays out Finn after the handshake. Joe turns heel and this turns from a friendly competition to a full-blown feud…

At NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Joe wins the NXT Championship but does it through shenanigans. Joe tries everything he can to beat Finn fair and square but is unable to put the Irishman away. When the referee is down and Finn is on the top rope, Joe low blows Finn which causes him to drop onto the top rope. Joe hits the Muscle Buster and gets the pinfall victory to win the NXT Championship under controversial circumstances.

With these two matches, we’ve set the stage perfectly for a third match. Finn beat Samoa Joe in London, so Joe had something to prove in Dallas. Joe cheated against Balor in Dallas, so Joe STILL has something to prove in a third match. Joe has to prove it to himself that he can beat Finn Balor clean… and he does it. At NXT TakeOver: The End, Joe beats Balor clean in a steel cage match like he did in real life to put an end to the feud and put his Balor “demons” to rest….

The Nakamura feud that follows is very similar in the sense that you can tell a compelling story with a three match series between Nakamura and Samoa Joe. NXT TakeOver in August starts off the feud by having Samoa Joe retain the title through shenanigans against Nakamura. With this, SHINSUKE NAKAMURA is now the one who needs to prove that he can beat Joe. At NXT TakeOver: Toronto, he beats Joe to win the title from him. The feud concludes in a steel cage match in Osaka, Japan at the end of the year where Nakamura retains the title.

That’s where we’ll leave things for Part One of this series. There was a lot to cover in this part and we’ve only completed the NXT part of his story! However, I do think keeping the losses to a bare minimum works a lot better for Samoa Joe. We’ve given Samoa Joe a lengthy title reign while also putting over his challengers in the process. To me, that is a much stronger way to push him in NXT.

Join us in part two next Saturday, where we’ll tackle Samoa Joe’s run on the main roster in WWE…

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part One and Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five)

#23 – How I Would Book… The 2018 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Feud

How I Would Book… The 2018 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Feud

Picking a subject for this one was difficult. I could easily do another dream match booking scenario, as they usually generate a lot of hits for me. Alternatively, I could do a post based on WCW since I’m reviewing the weekly Nitro episodes. However, I’ve decided to go with a storyline which I regard as one of the worst booked storylines in recent WWE memory. Despite the talent of the people involved, they were saddled with such a miserable storyline and I want to do it justice. Here’s How I Would Book… the Sasha Banks vs. Bayley feud from 2018….

This storyline won the category for Worst Feud of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 2018. It was that terrible and honestly, I felt really bad for the individuals involved. The feud was based of a friendship established during one of the greatest rivalries in NXT history which didn’t translate, or was not properly translated, well in the main roster. It took them until 2020 to get it right.

Sasha Banks had a number of title reigns on the RAW roster but was never able to successfully defend the RAW Women’s championships once. Bayley was the RAW Women’s Champion once and was legitimately over with the fans for a period of time but after an embarrassing feud with Alexa Bliss, Bayley’s career started to go downhill. By the time that storyline started officially at the 2018 Royal Rumble, after years of being teased, neither girl was in a prominent position on RAW at all.

Although they weren’t prominent, the storyline was pushed hard from its inception. However, it fizzled to the point where it legitimately felt that WWE changed their minds with every episode of RAW that they did. It was bad and there was no real pay-off, unless you count them winning the Women’s Tag Team titles at Elimination Chamber as the pay-off.

Let’s break down the storyline and see what went wrong:

As I said, tension between Bayley and Sasha had been in the works for years despite no “official” program together. Bayley arrived on the main roster in 2016, where she and Sasha both tried to defeat Charlotte Flair to win the RAW Women’s title. As mentioned, Sasha beat Charlotte multiple times for the title but was unable to successfully defend her championship once. At Roadblock 2016, Charlotte beat Sasha in a match where Sasha would no longer be able to challenge for the title as long as Charlotte was the champion. Enter Bayley…

After unsuccessfully challenging for the title at the Royal Rumble, Bayley won the title on Monday Night RAW thanks to help from Sasha. At Fast Lane 2017, Bayley beat Charlotte again, thanks again to Sasha. This ended Charlotte’s 18 match winning streak on pay-per-views. Bayley defended the title against Charlotte, Sasha and Nia Jax at WrestleMania 33 which led to Sasha stepping up to Bayley for a singles title shot on the RAW after WrestleMania.

This angle led to nothing as Alexa Bliss arrived on RAW to beat Bayley and win the women’s title. Both Sasha and Bayley fought for the title but was mostly dominated by Alexa Bliss heading into 2018. At the 2018 Royal Rumble, Sasha eliminated Bayley from behind in the match which seemingly started the break-up of this friendship.

Although Sasha legally did nothing wrong in the match, Sasha was portrayed as the heel in the feud as she eliminated Bayley as her back was turned and talked trash after she did it. The idea of this storyline was to hint that Sasha was walking all over Bayley in the friendship and she betrayed her again in the Elimination Chamber. Eventually, Bayley started to screw over Sasha. She would pull off antics such as refusing to tag her during a six woman tag match. Even though Sasha was not really in the wrong for the Rumble or the Chamber matches, Bayley was going out of her way to screw her own friend out of matches on RAW.

It became a depressing teenage soap oprea between Sasha and Bayley, mostly with Bayley being stroppy and acting immature and Sasha acting like a bitch to Bayley. Eventually, this broke out into backstage brawls and a fight in the ring after Bayley could take no more of being berated by Sasha. In the women’s battle royal at WrestleMania 34, Bayley eliminated Sasha from behind just like the Royal Rumble. This led to Bayley… not even winning the match as Naomi won instead.

They eventually had a match on RAW but this resulted in a No Contest when the Riott Squad attacked. Both girls continued to have problems for WEEKS where they would both struggle in tag team matches and singles matches against the Riott Squad. General Manager Kurt Angle warned them to make peace or face the consequences. After losing a RAW tag team match, Bayley attacked Sasha which was either a heel move or a huge babyface moment for Bayley. You decide.

Bayley and Sasha were both forced to go to therapy where they would get into lousy segments with Dr Shelby, the anger management therapist that helped out Kane and Daniel Bryan during their problems in 2012. Eventually, the angle was seemingly dropped when Sasha said she loved Bayley and this led to them becoming friends again. That was the end of the storyline.

*Sighs*

The biggest problem with this storyline was it almost felt like the storyline stood still with regards to the direction. Sometimes the storyline would have a big angle where the girls fight to suddenly having them tease dissension or have no dissension at all. Eventually, they just gave up on the angle with no real pay-off and it really did none of the girls any favours. The fans rejected this angle and Bayley and Sasha were more despised because of it. If anything, this became the catalyst to the both of them turning heel in 2019.

When Bayley debuted on the main roster, the fans had high expectations for a massive Bayley vs. Sasha program to follow up from their time on NXT. Bayley beat Sasha twice in NXT and so that’s something to use, as well as their real-life friendship, when building towards a third match in WWE. If anything, people were desperate for Sasha become a heel as she’d become stale as a babyface. What better way to do it than have her turn on everyone’s favourite in Bayley?

So how would I book this? How could I make a storyline that was voted the worst feud of the year, and is considered by some to be one of the worst storylines of all time, and transform it into a memorable and satisfying rivalry? Well, allow me to break down how I would have done this storyline if I was able to turn back the clock….

I’m going to start booking this angle from Roadblock 2016 onwards, when Sasha lost the Iron Woman match to Charlotte and was banned from competing for the RAW women’s title as long as Charlotte was the champion. This plot-point is not a bad place to start when it comes to building this feud up. It gives Sasha a personal interest in seeing Bayley beat Charlotte for the title. If Bayley beats Charlotte, Sasha is back in the title picture.

Bayley beating Charlotte at WrestleMania 33. Breaking Charlotte’s PPV streak and winning the title was literally the best thing they could have done for WrestleMania 33. Having Bayley beat Charlotte on RAW for the title instead and again at Fast Lane brought an premature end to what could have been an excellent WrestleMania pay-off for the Charlotte title reign and Bayley’s pursuit of the championship.

I’d keep Bayley away from Charlotte until WrestleMania. I’d have Bayley win a match at the Royal Rumble to earn a RAW women’s title match at WrestleMania 33. Charlotte dismisses Bayley as a threat but is still concerned enough that she sets Nia Jax on her. Charlotte promises Nia a title shot if Bayley is taken out. Sasha, of course, comes to Bayley’s aid against Charlotte and Nia. Sasha helps Bayley beat Nia Jax, giving Charlotte ammunition to taunt Bayley ahead of their title match at WrestleMania 33. Charlotte can cut promos about how Bayley not being able to do anything without her freind Sasha with Bayley vowing to prove her wrong.

Sasha could do an angle where she turns Dana Brooke against Charlotte to try and rattle the champion. Sasha is looking to give Bayley every advantage going into the WrestleMania 33 match, for her own personal gain. Eventually, Bayley beats Charlotte to end the PPV winning streak at WrestleMania and become RAW Women’s champion. Sasha raises Bayley’s arm but can’t help but glance at Charlotte and then the title…

Now let’s think about this. Bayley did what Sasha never could… she ended Charlotte’s winning streak on PPV. This would play into the psyche of Sasha in the months to come. Sasha can come out on the RAW after WrestleMania and declare that she is next in line for a title shot. However, Charlotte gets the nod as she has a rematch clause which is cashed-in at Payback. Sasha is engaged in a feud with the new RAW superstar Alexa Bliss.

Sasha tries everything to become the number one contender but, because of shenanigans here and there, she is always prevented from facing Bayley. Sasha starts cutting promos, effectively whining about waiting months to fight for the title again because of a stipulation from Roadblock that was unfair. After this, she had to wait more time to win back the title that was always hers. This could come off as whiny and bitchy as the fans would slowly start to turn on Sasha.

As Bayley is defending her title as a fighting champion, all Sasha does in complain. Eventually, Sasha gets a big opportunity. Sasha wins a gauntlet match on RAW to earn a RAW women’s title match. This sets up Bayley defending the Women’s Championship against Sasha in Brooklyn, calling back to their first match two years before that was also in Brooklyn. The stars were aligned. This is Sasha’s first championship opportunity in 2017, it’s against her alleged friend and it’s someone who I don’t think she’d ever beaten before this point. Please correct me if I’m wrong about that last point…

As for who wins, I’m going to have Sasha regain the Women’s Championship. I’ll be completely honest, I was considering having Bayley beat Sasha every time they wrestled. I was going to take a page out of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio feud in 2005, where Eddie could never beat Rey, and apply it to this feud. After all, Eddie was one of Sasha’s favourite wrestlers so her playing the role of Eddie would be kind of cool.

However, I think the timing would be right to have Bayley drop the title. It was around this period where the fans started to boo Bayley anyway. I’m not saying that this would happen in this storyline, as she didn’t get embarrassed by Alexa Bliss beforehand. However, I think you risk having the fans turn on Bayley if she beats Sasha outright again. The fans may want to see Sasha winning the title as a change of pace. So, in this storyline, Sasha wins by reversing a Bank Statement attempt by Bayley, and covering her to get the win. However, Sasha is shown grabbing the ropes for leverage to win the RAW Women’s Championship.

I think this finish would work brilliantly for a few reasons. Firstly, this type of finish in New York would get such heat from a hyped-up crowd as they’d have Sasha cheat to win rather than having her get a clean victory. Secondly, it’s clear that Sasha is influenced by her hero Eddie Guerrero with this finish. It’d actually create a cool dynamic where Sasha cheats just like Eddie, but the fans turn on her while they cheered him. I think that’s a cool hypocrisy she can call out to get heat later on during her run as champion.

Thirdly, I think this finish is ambiguous enough where it’s not a COMPLETE heel turn. If Bayley calls her out the next night, Sasha can try to convince Bayley that it wasn’t personal and it’s what you need to do to win and be competitive. She insists that she is still Bayley’s friend but in this ring, she will do whatever she needs to do to win. I’d say Bayley can forgive her for now as Sasha is her friend but wants her rematch for the RAW Women’s Championship.

She gets it at No Mercy in a fatal five way match. Bayley has somebody like Emma pinned until Sasha steals the pin away from her. Survivor Series 2017 is a very interesting show. It’s RAW vs. SmackDown!, so the RAW Women’s Champion wrestles the SmackDown! Women’s Champion. In this story, it just so happens to be Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair who are the cha,pions. Sasha has something to prove as Charlotte beat her in their last match. Bayley encourages Sasha and wants her to beat Charlotte fair and square. Sasha does her best but ultimately loses to Charlotte clean. Bayley, who was one of the survivors in the RAW vs. SmackDown! Survivor Series match, tries to comfort Sasha but Sasha is not having it. She snaps at Bayley and attacks her, completing her heel turn for good and laying her out. Bayley is out of action for a couple of months for now as Sasha continues to reign as champion.

Bayley makes her return as the #30 entrant of the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match. Sasha, who would have been watching the match, comes into the ring to confront Bayley. However, Bayley FINALLY attacks her and sends her packing as she continues to wrestle in the match. Bayley makes it to the final two with Asuka, but is eliminated. Asuka wins the Rumble match to set up Charlotte vs. Asuka for WrestleMania 34 like in real life.

Meanwhile, we set up Sasha vs. Bayley for WrestleMania 34. Bayley wins the first ever women’s Elimination Chamber match to earn a title shot at Mania 34. The two best friends clash one more time at WrestleMania 34 where Bayley regains the title and closes the book on her feud with Sasha for now.

That’s where we’ll end the storyline. I’ll be completely honest, this was a difficult one to write. I started writing this almost four years ago and, as I picked it back up again, I either had to try and remember where I was going to take the storyline or just come up with a new idea all together. I came up with an idea which I think is very faithful to the characters and builds genuine interest in seeing the conflict between Sasha and Bayley. At least I think so anyway!

Do you have a different approach or a different idea for this storyline? Let me know by leaving a comment and I’m open to suggestions for storylines to book in the future. I do have a few ideas in mind but I’m very curious as to what the readers think I should tackle next. Until then, take care of yourselves and I’ll be back with more How I Would Book… content.

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four)

RETRO EXPRESS: WCW NITRO #18 (JANUARY 1ST 1996) – WCW KICK OFF 1996 WITH HULK HOGAN VS RIC FLAIR

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of an ongoing series where we’re reviewing every episode of WCW Nitro from start to finish. Links to the previous posts are at the bottom of this post. We hope you enjoy.

WCW were victorious in the battle between themselves and NJPW at Starrcade 1995. They won the series 4-3 as Sting and Lex Luger hoisted the trophy up and celebrated with the rest of Team WCW. Sting and Luger then turned their attentions to each other and Ric Flair in a triangle match for a crack at the WCW World Title. They both lost as Flair picked up a count out victory and then, due to interference from the Four Horsemen, Flair won his 12th world title by beating the WCW World Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

 

Date: January 1st 1996

Brand: WCW

City: Atlanta, Georgia

Rating: 2.5 (The first time in 3 weeks that Nitro lost to RAW in the ratings)

Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Bobby Heenan

 

A brief warning to those who are unaware about wrestling history from 1996. This company is about to flipped completely on its head in terms of the type of content they would be producing. Here we start in 1996 with Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan competing for the WCW title. A year from now, big turns will take place, major signings will take place and very much the product will be nothing like what it is now.

 

Randy Savage vs Arn Anderson

For those wondering, in the off chance you didn’t read my review for WCW Starrcade 1995, Randy Savage and Arn Anderson squared off here because Arn cost Savage the title at Starrcade. He ran down and laid out Savage with the brass knuckles and Flair covered Savage. This match was done as a blow-off if you will for that finish and it was actually a good scrappy match.

I also want you to keep this in mind because Savage was visibly shown to be seething at Arn as he attacked the man. This was a man pissed off that he lost the title and he was looking for retribution. He huffed and puffed as he beat up Arn in this match. He even ran into the ring to attack Arn for the opening bell. He raked at Arn’s eyes and Arn raked Randy’s eyes. This was a dirty, scrappy fight in its core with both men doing whatever it took to lay in punishment.

Arn worked the arm and smashed Savage’s arm into the post. He locked on an arm lock for a few minutes. He hit a big DDT out of nowhere which actually got a big pop to which Savage got his foot on the rope. I actually like that he hit the signature out of nowhere. It wasn’t like a formula where you wait for the end for the big moves to be hit. Arn wanted to win so he hit a big move at the first chance he could after working on the arm.

Arn tried to use the brass knuckles as the Horsemen ran down. Savage reversed it and used the brass knucks himself for the win. I liked the finish of Savage pulling one over on the heels by giving them a piece of their own medicine. A smart babyface being able to out-think the Four Horsemen. I liked this.

Benoit and Pillman ran down and pleaded to the ref afterwards. By the way, the Horsemen had a t-shirt on. I’ve just put the picture on the blog and it’s such a pretty t-shirt which I’d very much wanted to track down. I was able to find it on Amazon and I’ve submitted the order, as there was a wrestling t-shirt seller that did have this shirt available in my size. I’m very much happy with this purchase.

 

Chris Benoit vs Steven Regal

Speaking of the Horsemen, Chris Benoit had a match with Steven Regal. It was a sublime piece of professional wrestling and it told a very simple, subtle and effective story. They started off with the test of strength and soon as Benoit grounded him, Regal battered away with headbutts.

Regal went to work with European uppercuts so it had the same feel to Savage vs Arn in that it was scrappy but it was more of a defined scrappiness where both men are scrappy with the intention of just winning the match. Savage and Arn wanted to like hurt each other because of their bad blood. For Regal and Benoit, it was just business.

Benoit dropped Regal right on his head with a German suplex to which Regal responded with a beautiful butterfly suplex. Regal took even more punishment with a big electric chair drop. Regal, I don’t know what it was, but he sold and sold for Benoit in a bumpier fashion than usually. He took some hard hits for Benoit.

In terms of evening things up in terms of hurting themselves, Benoit missed a diving headbutt and then Regal wailed on him with headbutts. These were like the most realistic but safest headbutts you could possibly pull off though. This was not like Shibata levels of insanity with these headbutts.

Regal tried a tombstone but Benoit reversed it into a tombstone piledriver of his own but Regal rolled to the floor. If this had not happened the night before with Benoit and Liger, this would have probably played way better to this crowd and to me. By the way, Regal didn’t even try to wrap his arms around Benoit for protection when taking this Tombstone Piledriver. Regal waved his arms in panic as Regal had some serious faith in Benoit to deliver the move to him. In Regal’s defense, Benoit pulled it off fine from the looks of it. Eric Bischoff then said Benoit “perfected that move as of late.” I thought: “Oh yeah, how about when Benoit tried it at the PPV but Liger reversed it?” I’d say “perfecting the move” from a kayfabe point is stretching it.

Benoit missed a springboard splash to the floor and smashed into the concrete floor. Regal rolled Benoit into the ring and pinned him. A great match and you know what, it told a story where Benoit kept taking risks and in the end, he misjudged a dive and it ended up costing him the match. This was an awesome match. I’d go out of your way to go watch this ten minute perfectly sound and solid wrestling match.

 

Brian Pillman cut a promo on Benoit and Arn with Mean Gene coming down to the ring with the mic. Pillman chewed out Benoit and Arn for losing. Benoit said that the only way Benoit can be beaten is sheer luck. Benoit says he’s proven himself. Pillman goes into Arn and he talks crap about the Dungeon of Doom again. Arn talks about Pillman starting fights that they didn’t need right now. He tells them they need to protect the world title for Ric Flair. Arn tells them there’s nothing to achieve going after Mr Wonderful and the Dungeon of Doom. Zodiac, Taskmaster, The Giant and Jimmy Hart suddenly all go down to the ring. Zodiac and Taskmaster try to attack the Horsemen but THE GIANT is the one hold them back with just his two massive arms as Jimmy Hart pleads with the Dungeon of Doom.

 

Sting and Lex Luger vs The Super Assassins w/Col. Parker

One of the true highlights of this episode was the Super Assassins. These two were in fact The Barbarian and The Warlord of all people. These were flanked by Col. Parker. These guys couldn’t have looked like bigger geeks. The Super Assassins waddled down with their arms out like robots. It was like their singlets got stuck in a frame and they walked around like the frame was still on.

They come out in this gear. I have no idea if these guys were supposed to look like super heroes, ninjas or luchadors but they did not come out looking like Super Assassins! Anyway, they come out to have a horrible match with Luger and Sting. They even had a split screen during this match because Sgt. Pittman comes down to the announce booth and ask Steve “Mongo” McMichael for help. Pittman went to Bobby Heenan previously, he went to Jimmy Hart on Nitro and now he’s resorted to going to Mongo for help!

By the way, to anyone who said they were only willing to cutaway from cruiserweight matches on Nitro, they were willing to cut away from STING AND LEX LUGER in action so they could do a segment with SGT. CRAIG PITTMAN. Mongo basically told Pittman to get lost.

Sting, as this is going on, is beating up the Assassins by himself. So when they finally cut away from Pittman and the announcers, we just catch Sting rolling out of the ring and onto the floor. I have no idea what the Assassins did to suddenly get the heat on Luger and Sting. Maybe they threw a ninja star at him. But all of a sudden, the Assassins overcame Sting and went to work.

When I mean “they went to work”, a Super Assassin gets Sting in a dominator/backbreaker position and then just… vibrates. No word of lie. He doesn’t like bounce up and down like Luger with the torture rack. He stands and vibrates like The Yeti at Halloween Havoc with Sting on top of him selling. It’s one of the funniest submission attempts I’ve ever seen.

Sting wrestles for the tag. As the Assassins distract the ref, Luger gets the hot tag but the ref didn’t see it. The Assassins did a suplex/spear combination but the ref is too busy arguing with Luger to pay attention. An Assassin hits a powerbomb. The Assassin goes on the apron, fixes his gear and goes to the top but he misses a top rope splash.

This finish was exceptionally badly executed. Luger got a hot tag to a big pop. Luger goes to work. Luger goes for the Torture Rack on an Assassin. Luger waits for the Sting to get in the ring so he turns around and spins into the second Assassin as he has the first one on his shoulders for the Torture Rack still. Sting finally wakes up and gets in, he does a chop block on the other assassin and eventually gets him into the Scorpion Deathlock so Sting and Luger can do a double submission spot. The Assassins finally tap out after all of this.

It took them forever to get to that position where both men are doing submissions on the Super Assassins. All they had to do was get the Assassins into position and it took them like 30 seconds to do this. Other wrestlers that have been locked in the torture rack by Luger lately for like 5 seconds before they tap. This move has been put over big as of late. This Assassin, because of this screw up where Luger is waiting for Sting, lasts like 20-30 seconds in the Torture Rack! They inadvertently made that Super Assassin look incredibly strong in this match!

This match was amazingly horrible!

 

Mean Gene does an interview with Jimmy Hart and The Giant. Mean Gene cracks a joke and then Jimmy Hart goes: “Are you really that short or are you just standing in a hole?” Mean Gene suddenly gets all defensive and goes “STOP IT.”

Jimmy cuts this promo as Mean Gene just keeps looking up at the Giant. Jimmy said some stuff as my notes read. The Giant yells at Hogan for costing him the title a few weeks ago and attacking him with the chair. The Giant said Hogan was gonna get his like he’s never got it before. Mean Gene concludes by saying: “I have no idea what he just said.”

 

Ric Flair (c) vs Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

It is rather astonishing to me that the WWF never did this match at WrestleMania when they had the chance. This was legitimately the biggest match you could have possibly booked between two of the biggest wrestlers in the history of wrestling. Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair. They had it RIGHT THERE, I think they even announced it on TV, and then it just… never happened.

…thankfully we had Nitro and we got it for free on TNT,

There was noticeable boos for Hogan but it was more like 60/40 in favour for the Hulkster. I don’t wanna make comments on someone’s age but man Hogan’s lack of hair was really visible here. Keep in mind that it wasn’t until Vince Russo called him bald on TV where he did a lawsuit for someone slandering his hair! Did Hogan not re-watch this match? Hogan looked so old and if there’s anything he didn’t need to make himself look any older was this hair without a bandanna and him in his traditional yellow tights. Thankfully, he’s getting a new wardrobe around 6 months from now so it’s all good!

Flair chopped away and then Hogan started no selling it. I’d say this gimmick of Flair chopping at someone but the other dude no-selling was getting old, as Luger and Sting did this the night before. However, the fans were still going nuts for this as Hogan rained in the punches. Ric Flair cuts off Hogan and Hogan does a horrible bump to the floor.

Hogan had a horrible night here. He just didn’t look impressive at all. Hogan does a big clothesline to Flair and Flair crashes onto the apron. Ric works on Hogan. Bischoff said you can hear the fans going “Hogan, Hogan” to which I didn’t hear a thing watching this on television. I then heard the fans going WOOOO and cheering as Flair locked on the figure four leg lock.

Hogan turns it over and Jimmy Hart runs down. Hogan is distracted as Flair stomps on the leg to regain the heat. Flair did a stalling suplex to Hulk Hogan which is quite a feat of strength considering how tall and big Hogan was here.

Flair goes for a cover but Hogan hulks up out of it. Hogan fires away does the big boot and Leg Drop as Jimmy gets on the apron. Arn hits Hogan with the brass knucks and Hogan NO SELLS THE BRASS KNUCKS. Of course if anyone was going to no-sell getting hit with brass knucks, it’s Hulk Hogan!

Hogan gets the brass knucks thrown at him and the referee sees Hogan with the brass knucks and calls for the DQ. At the very least, it made sense to me why the referee immediately didn’t question it as they’d had a big match at Starrcade where brass knucks were involved. Hell, the opening match on this episode of NITRO had a finish where brass knucks were involved!

Hogan then fires away at the Four Horsemen with the brass knucks as the Horsemen beg him off. I assume they begged him off because Hogan, I guess is still on probation so if Hogan wails on them with brass knucks, Hogan would be in trouble with WCW… in storyline.

The Giant runs down with a big chair stool. I have no idea in which coffee shop The Giant got this stool from but Savage stopped him and made the save too a big pop! This time Zodiac backs The Giant away.

Mean Gene did a interview with Hogan and Savage. Hogan and Savage challenged Arn and Flair to a tag team match for next week. Savage said they had a secret weapon but Hogan tells him not to spoil it. Hogan said they’re gonna go to infinity and beyond. These two were rather going nuts!

Bischoff did actually have a good line. Bobby said they should make Jimmy Hart a referee to which Bischoff goes: “Make Jimmy an appetiser.” That I liked.

I liked this episode of Nitro. We got some really good scrappy matches with Regal vs Benoit and Arn vs Savage. We got a big world title main-event, we got our Super Assassins and it really didn’t seem like a chore to watch at all. It seemed very easy to watch the show, absorb and understand the storylines and motivations and to be prepared for next week where we have the Mega Powers reuniting to face the Four Horsemen. It was a great show.

WCW Nitro Reading Order

• #1 – September 4th 1995
• #2 – September 11th 1995
• WCW War Games 1995 – September 17th 1995
• #3 – September 18th 1995
• #4 – September 25th 1995
• #5 – October 2nd 1995
• #6 – October 9th 1995
• #7 – October 16th 1995
• #8 – October 23rd 1995
• WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 – October 29th 1995
• #9 – October 30th 1995
• #10 – November 6th 1995
• #11 – November 13th 1995
• #12 – November 20th 1995
• WCW World War III 1995 – November 26th 1995
• #13 – November 27th 1995
• #14 – December 4th 1995
• #15 – December 11th 1995
• #16 – December 18th 1995
• #17 – December 25th 1995
• WCW Starrcade 1995 – December 27th 1995

TNA Review: Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy Final Deletion Match LIVE REACTION

How’s it going everybody? Thomas Robinson here with the Armbar Express, giving you a rare TNA post. This TNA post is actually rather justified in the fact that we’re talking about the match that is on everybody’s lips as of me writing this…

The highly-anticipated Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy ‘Final Deletion’ match took place on this week’s edition of Impact Wrestling. The match took place in a backyard arena designed by Matt, which is actually a callback to the start of the Hardy Boyz’ careers. The two of them started out as backyard wrestlers and in a way, they still wrestle with that same mentality. The match could only be won by pin fall or if a submission was “recorded” by the referee! This was for the ownership of the Hardy name.

Let me just state that I thought this match was incredibly entertaining, which is the whole point of professional wrestling as a whole. As a wrestling fan, it can sometimes be really frustrating to watch Monday Night RAW. The reason for this is because a lot of their content is repetitive and a lot of their content is incredibly micro-managed. When I watched TNA this week, I just sat back and relaxed. When I saw RAW’s line-up for the July 4th show, there was nothing there that stood out as must-see television. For TNA, I just knew that this match was going to be nutty and unpredictable. As expected, I was right. The Final Deletion match was nutty and unpredictable. That makes for HUGELY must-see television.

Only a match like this involving the Hardyz could feature a spot, where Matt is shooting fireworks and Jeff is shielding himself with a trash can lid! It was like a superhero movie, like if Ironman was shooting laser beams at Captain America!

As a technical wrestling match, there was nothing really to it. It wasn’t like they spent the first few minutes chain wrestling or anything. However, they did a tremendous job at telling a story. Both men were having fun as they did all they could to end this blood feud once and for all. There was an amazing amount of suspense to this match as they delivered false finish after false finish. The music, while seemingly cheesy, added to the suspense and the direction of the match. It was a wrestling match that was put together like it was a movie.

I encourage anyone reading this, whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, to watch this match on YouTube. There are a lot of times, as a wrestling fan, where I’m praying that a family member or a friend doesn’t walk in as I’m watching a goofy segment. With this match with Matt and Jeff, I would encourage those family members and friends to grab some popcorn and watch it with me. These are two kids that let their imagination run wild, with the assistance of a production crew from one of the top wrestling companies in the world!

I had such high expectation for this match that I just felt the need to record my own reaction upon watching it for the first time. The earlier segments of the show, where Matt unleashed his drone holograms, were not recorded but they were pretty incredible stuff. However, down below is the recording of my reaction to the match. I’ve not done a lot of these reactions in the past, so this is rare territory. Please comment with your opinions on the recording of the audio and things like that. Who knows? Maybe this could lead to more live reactions in the future!

Have fun in watching and/or re-watching this unforgettable match between two brothers, which included fireworks, trees, tasers and fire!

Update On Cody Rhodes’ Independent Endeavours

Out of the wrestlers that have recently left or have been released from WWE, Cody Rhodes’ time on the independent scene will look to be the most interesting of all. For you see, Cody Rhodes has a plan of what to do. Not that everyone else that was released hasn’t got projects in the pipeline already but Cody has a recently compiled a list, that he tweeted  out at the end of May. The list consists of specific wrestlers, events and other wrestling goals that he hoped to achieve now that he’s in the independent circuit.

The list is very thought-provoking and I have embedded it below in case anyone hasn’t seen it or has seen it and just needs a quick reminder…

After 8/19 pic.twitter.com/txeAKw9SSN

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 28, 2016

Cody had an ambitious list but the son of the “American Dream” has suddenly become a hot commodity, with his summer schedule already starting to be booked up. How well is he doing in terms of his list? Well, let’s run down the matches and projects that has already been announced by Cody or by those he’s doing business with.

 

EVOLVE

On August 19th – https://t.co/KS4g8UCXfJ pic.twitter.com/eGMIXyh8wf

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) June 2, 2016

An early announcement  was Cody’s involvement with the wrestling promotion EVOLVE, a company which does have a partnership going with WWE. I think in terms of keeping the door open for himself to return in the future, it does benefit him to work with a company that’s at least on good terms with WWE. EVOLVE’s actually been able to open the doors to everybody. TNA’s Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway both showed up there recently and cut shoot promos on WWE. I’m not sure whether Cody will actually “shoot” on WWE, but Cody might be working more than his originally advertised appearance at EVOLVE 66 on August 19th.

This match is rumoured to be involving Rhodes wrestling Chris Hero, which does tick a wrestler of his “hit-list” of matches.

 

 

Cody Rhodes vs Mike Bennett

Now I don't feel so outnumbered…

it's a miracle #BennettsVRhodes pic.twitter.com/NanuOoUVqZ

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) June 3, 2016

Scheduled for August 26th is an interesting one, as Cody will be accompanied by his wife Eden (who also left WWE recently) when he takes on TNA star Michael Bennett. Michael will also be accompanied to the ring, with Michael’s wife Maria also being at the show.

Michael’s being groomed for big things in TNA, so it’s interesting for Cody to do business with a TNA star right off the bat. I know that TNA’s contracts aren’t as secure as WWE’s contracts, allowing anyone to take independent dates, but it’s still an intriguing endevour. Also, Eden could easily be playing the role of “personal ring announcer” as listed on Cody’s list!

 

Cody Rhodes vs Kurt Angle

Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY On Sat., 8/27 first time ever @CodyRhodes and @RealKurtAngle pic.twitter.com/bC4MnLQ4E8

— Northeast Wrestling (@newwrestling1) May 31, 2016

One of the earliest matches announced for Rhodes was a mouth-watering one to say the least. With “Angle” on Cody’s list, it has been announced that he will be taking on the Olympic gold medalist at an event in New York on August 27th.

This will be the first time that these two will ever face off and it’s quite a slobberknocker of a match. These two are perfect for each other in terms of the pacing of each other’s work. Angle can work quick and slow matches, as can Cody. With Kurt currently not signed by TNA or any other major promotion, probably the biggest name on Cody’s list is already in the bag.

 

Cody Rhodes vs Pat Buck

https://twitter.com/WeAreWrestlePro/status/740231142838788098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

A lot of independent fans will know a lot more about Pat Buck than me but this match was actually of the more recent announcements regarding Rhodes. Cody mentioned on Twitter after this was announced that he lost to Buck in his first ever professional wrestling match at Corydon, Indiana. I guess it’s time for him to get his revenge ten years later!

He’ll be wrestling there on September 10th and interestingly enough, Buck is not the only Buck on Cody’s list….

 

PWG Battle Of Los Angeles

pic.twitter.com/GrbrnwPNRj

— PWG (@OfficialPWG) June 6, 2016

PWG fans will be a huge fan of this announcement. Cody is confirmed to be taking part in a major indie event in Los Angeles called Battle Of Los Angeles, and it’s very safe to assume that he’ll be able to tick off a number of wrestlers on that list. I know a lot of PWG fans that are going crazy over the news. I’m a fan of PWG myself, even though I don’t check them out NEARLY as much as I should. It’s a major coup for the company and his participation will really raise the prestige of this tournament.

 

And that about covers everything for Cody’s announced matches in the near future. If I’ve missed anything, please notify me with a comment or on Twitter by tweeting @ArmbarExpress. However, these are the only ones that have been retweeted or confirmed by Rhodes on his personal Twitter as of June 7th 2016 so I’ll stop right here. I’m sure a lot of these other names will be ticked off real soon.

It’s interesting that ROH’s Moose and Roderick Strong are on the list, as those two names have been linked with a move to WWE. If Cody wants these two, he’s got to act fast. There’s no guarantee that those two will budge, so it could just be the case of Rhodes just biding his time anyway. A lot of the names on that list currently wrestle for ROH, so that could very well be a permanent new home for Rhodes. I personally thought that Cody might be tempted to do some dates in Japan, with NJPW really rising in popularity.

Any other independent wrestlers that you want Cody Rhodes to face? Should he go to NJPW? Should he got to TNA? Should he got to ROH? Should he go to Lucha Underground? Give us your thoughts and be sure to follow @CodyRhodes on Twitter, as he’ll be sure to shed some light on future projects.

How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road To Wrestlemania 32

After years of speculation, the “Phenomenal One” AJ Styles has signed a WWE contract and is now a part of the WWE universe. After more than a decade as the face of TNA and years of experience in Japan, we finally get to see AJ Styles throw down in the WWE. However, with his arrival comes many questions. This is someone that has made a name for himself in the independent scene, who is now in unfamiliar territory. This was one of the worries Vince Russo had, when he heard AJ was starting up in WWE. How do you treat him? Well, we’ll see if we can make things comfortable for the newcomer. Here’s How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road To Wrestlemania 32.

To say that this is AJ’s first rodeo with WWE would actually be untrue. AJ was actually in the developmental territory for the WWF as he was starting out in wrestling. His initial run is highlighted by a WWF Metal appearance, when he wrestled the Hurricane. Now though, he enters the company as an established wrestling superstar. His reaction at the 2016 Royal Rumble tells you just how much of a hot commodity he is. People want to see AJ Styles and WWE have pulled quite a coup with the signature of AJ Styles.

Signing these top stars is all well in good, but it means nothing he is not booked accordingly. AJ’s actually coming in during an exciting period for the company. He’s too big enough star to be lost in the shuffle for Wrestlemania period. In fact, he helps WWE tackle their issue of having the stars at their disposal. AJ will probably be getting a big match at Wrestlemania.

However, which match is right for AJ? Which match will firmly establish him as a future main-eventer in the company. Well, let’s take a look at the options.

As hinted by the elimination of AJ at the Royal Rumble and based off reports from Wrestling Observer, it appears that WWE has some kind of plan with AJ and Kevin Owens. That would actually be a good feud going into Wrestlemania for Kevin, after losing his feud to Dean Ambrose. Going up against AJ, who has already got instant overness, will benefit Kevin and maintain his own overness. It makes sure that he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle and has direction, keeping his momentum up at the same time. However, is this the best thing for AJ too? Well, let’s take a look at the other options.

On Monday Night RAW, AJ beat Chris Jericho. This was followed by a resistant handshake by Jericho, who seemed confident that he was going to beat AJ. If this were to lead to a Wrestlemania match, I think this would be a great Wrestlemania debut match for AJ to really shine. Their match on RAW was pretty good and I think it’s just a matter of getting used to each other. Since they’ve already competed on television, there’s no harm in putting it on during the house shows leading into their big match. Then again it would take away from their big Wrestlemania match, if they fought several times before that. Surely AJ’s big Wrestlemania match should be a special one right?

When looking at the active roster at the moment, it would seem that our options for AJ are limited in terms of true star power. However, there are other mouth-watering prospects for AJ at Wrestlemania. Wouldn’t it be truly fantastic to see a triple threat match with fellow high-flyers Kalisto and Neville? You could put the United States Championship on the line if you wanted, but it’s really debatable about if AJ’s first title win should be the US Championship. Alternatively, he could challenge the former US Champion Alberto Del Rio. That would be an unique mix of styles… no pun intended. Dolph Ziggler could be a great opponent for him, as Ziggler would be capable of keeping up with the speed of AJ. Sometimes, Dolph has a tendency of working too quick for a lot of wrestlers. Thankfully, AJ has worked in environments that features a lot of fast-paced action and is very quick himself… even at 38 years old.

When looking at all of those options, it’s a tough call which ever way you slice it. However, I believe the right man to face AJ… is Dean Ambrose.

This is the perfect way for AJ’s status as an upper midcard/main eventer to be cemented early on. Dean’s just coming off being in the final two of the Royal Rumble and has a lot of momentum at the moment. My scenario would have AJ challenge Dean for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania… and win the belt.

Here’s what’ll happen.

Dean’s match at Fastlane is already set. He will face Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match with the winner going up against Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania. He’s taken care off until then. For AJ, it’s a lot more tricky.

AJ Styles’ only just debuted, so no major feud is already in place. This interests me. We’ve got a great opportunity to throw AJ in with a number of upper midcarders right off the bat. My idea would be for Kevin Owens to start off Monday Night RAW, complaining that he is not in the picture for any championship. He demands a shot at something when Alberto Del Rio comes out. He does the same and demands a rematch for the US Championship. Chris Jericho comes out and throws his name into the hat for a title shot. This results in Stephanie McMahon making two matches for that episode of RAW, claiming that she’ll be watching. It’s Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio… vs AJ Styles.

Owens and Jericho fight to a double DQ and AJ beats Del Rio. This leads to Stephanie claiming that she’ll need one more match to decide who is truly worthy of an opportunity. Jericho, Del Rio and Owens are booked in a triple threat match, which is won by Owens. Stephanie decides to give all these men an opportunity to earn a title match of their choosing at Wrestlemania (except the WWE World Heavyweight Championship of course). If the winner selects the Intercontinental Championship, he will challenge for the title on the night after Wrestlemania if Dean wins at Fastlane. I’m pretty sure that covers that aspect of the storyline. We want to make Stephanie seem that she’s got everything figured out. If Dean ends up winning, she’s got a back-up plan. Whether’s it’s stripping Dean off the title after Fastlane or scheduling the title match for RAW, we want to keep the Intercontinental title in the mix.

At Fastlane, it’ll be a fatal four way match. It’ll be Chris Jericho vs Alberto Del Rio vs Kevin Owens… vs AJ Styles. At Fastlane, AJ picks up the win. On RAW, we get an all-champions tag team match. It’s United States Champion Kalisto and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose vs the WWE Tag Team Champions the New Day. The New Day cause a DQ and do a three-on-two beatdown, when AJ comes down to the ring to even things up. When the New Day flee, AJ decks Dean with the Pele. He holds up the Intercontinental Championship and declares that he will challenge for that title.

In the weeks leading up to the event, AJ talks about how he’s no rookie when it comes to professional wrestling. He’s been wrestling for nearly two decades and has been successful everywhere he’s been. He’s says WWE will be no different. AJ talks about hearing “stories” and “myths” of how those that love professional wrestling are treated like dirt in WWE. AJ says that he doesn’t care about those stories and the “backstage politics” won’t stop him from being the best in the world. He vows to win the Intercontinental Championship and surpass the title reigns of every other great that’s ever held the belt.

It’s not a heel turn but it’s AJ showing ambition. AJ’s letting off some of the cockiness and arrogance in him without becoming a full-blown heel. AJ will also NOT hit the Styles Clash on anyone during this road to Wrestlemania. He can win matches by heel locks or corkscrew splashes, but he’ll never win with the Styles Clash. He’ll never use it. The anticipation builds to Wrestlemania, where AJ and Dean meet. The people are starting to think “will this be the day he hits it?”

NOTE: On this week’s edition of SmackDown!, AJ Styles actually did hit the Styles Clash on Curtis Axel. This does annoy me because you had a great opportunity to really put over the move. It should be a move which you should build anticipation for, like when Hideo Itami kept teasing the GTS on NXT. Make the fans wait and wait. Make them wonder whether WWE are not allowing AJ actually hit the move because of how dangerous it can be if something goes wrong. WWE spent the entire Royal Rumble having AJ try to hit the Styles Clash, only to be stopped by someone in the match. Why not continue that until at least Wrestlemania? Why throw it away for an episode of SmackDown!, which does not have an audience like RAW or Wrestlemania? 

If we’re lucky, these two are given 20 minutes to wrestle on that show. AJ and Dean give each other anything but they both keep kicking out. AJ goes for the Pele on Dean but Dean moves out of the way. AJ ends up hitting the ref somehow. Dean hits Dirty Deeds on AJ but the ref is down. As Dean wakes up the ref, AJ low blows Dean. The ref is still not up and Dean gets back up slightly from the low blow. AJ goes to the outside, picks up the title and hits Dean with it. The referee finally wakes up and makes the count but Dean kicks out. AJ brings up Dean and yells in his face, which leads to Dean spitting at AJ. AJ gets mad and finally hits the Styles Clash to pick up the win and win the championship.

That is how I’d do it. I feel the Intercontinental Championship is the right belt for AJ to have and I feel he should have it sooner rather than later. After he’s done with Dean, it actually sets up a nice little feud with one of NXT’s top stars. Someone that is reportedly on his way to the main roster soon. That man… is Samoa Joe.

That about does it for this edition of “How I Would Book.” I’m pretty sure a lot of people would have wanted somebody other Dean. A lot of people probably want AJ to go up against a true star like Brock Lesnar or Triple H. Others might want to have AJ go up against someone like Daniel Bryan or Kevin Owens. I’m sure there’s TNA fans that would want to see AJ going up against a debuting Samoa Joe AT Wrestlemania. I’m positive that NJPW fans will want to see AJ in some incarnation of the Bullet Club. However, I feel this is the right way to throw AJ into WWE as a serious player. Dean Ambrose is currently a main-eventer in WWE, which makes the timing perfect for AJ and Dean to tear the house down in Dallas. Whether WWE does it my way or a different way, I just hope that the road to Wrestlemania for AJ Styles is a phenomenal one.

Have any suggestions for a How I Would Book? Simply tweet me at either @ArmbarExpress or @TomRobinson5199 on Twitter with your suggestions. Do also check out the rest of the content on my blog. I do a lot of other cool fantasy booking blog posts with my playthroughs of fantasy booking game Extreme Warfare Revenge. And there’s all sorts of other wrestling content as well. You never know, you might just like what you see!

EXTREME WARFARE REVENGE: TNA 2010 PART 13 – AGAINST ALL ODDS

Previously on TNA EWR…

It was not exactly the greatest of days in terms of ratings as we only got a 80% overall, with none of the matches put on able to get into the 90s. However, we’re hoping to rectify that with our 99th card booked in this particular game (including Impact and other shows) and we’ve got quite the show in store.

John Cena won the first battle in the feud between himself and Samoa Joe but things are going to get interesting as their rematch at Against All Odds will be a Last Man Standing Match!

TAKA Michinoku will defend the X-Division Championship against Christopher Daniels and Alex Shelley in a triple threat match, with Daniels intending on dominating the X-Division before challenging for the TNA World Heavyweight title.

AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy will settle their differences with interim general manager being the special guest referee, Brother Devon and Jay Lethal will settle their differences in a tables match and Chris Sabin will take on Jeff Jarrett in a hardcore match.

The rest of the card features a grudge match with Bobby Lashley and Abyss working together to take on Beer Money Inc, Rey Mysterio takes on Mr Anderson and Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black will challenge “Deadly Sin” Raven and Rhino for the TNA Tag Team Championship. Can Lynn and Black dethrone the champions that have reigned for around eight months?

Pre-Show – El Hijo Del Santo Announced As The Newest Signing For TNA

In the TNA EWR update, I mentioned that there would be two HUGE new editions to the roster that would be announced. At Against All Odds, the first new signing was revealed as El Hijo Del Santo. Despite his age, Del Santo’s overness was still very strong. Seeing as how he was available as an active wrestler, I decided to snap him up. It got a 90% rating, which is a great start to his TNA career. I’m not really sure where I’m going to be going with Del Santo but I’d like to see him in a big role. Let’s see how this goes.

 

Match 1 – Jay Lethal def. Brother Devon in a tables match

I’m happy with the rating for this. If you’ll recall, their six man tag team match at Genesis score a 75% rating so I’m happy with the huge improve. It increased by 10% as Lethal beat Devon. After this feud has finally wrapped up, Lethal will be in the hunt for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I will explain later on.

 

Match 2 – Chris Sabin def. Jeff Jarrett in a Hardcore Match

Very happy with the results for this one. As promised in the Genesis post, Sabin got the win at the end of the feud. He was really the one that needed it and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here. I do have a short term plan for him and hopefully, that plan will pay off. This is Sabin’s chance to break out as a serious title contender. Samoa Joe interfered which caused Sabin to win.

 

Match 3 – Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black def. “Deadly Sin” Raven (c) and Rhino (c) to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship

NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! After eight months of reigning as the tag team champions, the Deadly Sin finally drop the gold to Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black. Jerry’s gotten really over in the last few months and Black has really risen up as well. With Raven and Rhino’s overness dropping as of late, I figured now was the time to get the titles off Deadly Sin. Tyler is really the one that I want to elevate but Jerry I think will be a good partner for the foreseeable future. I still like the mix of master and student as champions.

 

Match 4 – Rey Mysterio def. Mr Anderson

The two don’t really click in terms of in-ring work but they’re both over enough to make up for that. I probably should have paired Mysterio up with another X-Division star but I wanted to give Anderson a big feud too. Mysterio gets the win here. I haven’t really decided who is going to win the feud as there’s arguments for both men to win. It’s very tough to call at the moment.

 

Match 5 – “Beer Money Inc.” Bobby Roode and James Storm def. Abyss and Bobby Lashley

Beer Money grab the win. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have went with Beer Money to win considering they’ve won a lot of PPV tag team matches in the past four or five months. However, I still wanted to play out the Abyss/Lashley dysfunctional spiel. On Impact, Abyss ended the partnership by attacking Lashley. Lashley’s not turning face or anything but at least Abyss can focus on being TNA Global Champion

 

Match 6 – AJ Styles def. Jeff Hardy with Kurt Angle as the special guest referee

Kurt accidentally ate the Pele from AJ which was the ref bump. As Kurt was out, Jeff gained control. He went to the top for a Swanton Bomb when the lights out. When the lights came back on, Sting appeared with a baseball. Jeff went to jump at him but was clocked with the bat in mid-air. Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop with Angle getting up. Sting goes to leave but Angle hits the Angle Slam. AJ hits the Styles Clash on Jeff and Angle reluctantly goes to count and AJ wins the match. A 92% rating. A very solid match between AJ and Jeff. Great results. I also have some news on Kurt Angle which I’ll mention later on after the PPV.

 

Match 7 – Alex Shelley def. TAKA Michinoku (c) and Christopher Daniels in a triple threat match to win the TNA X-Division Championship

An 89% rating for a triple threat match which I was very proud of. Shelley’s got an incredible amount of overness and I thought it was time to take advantage of that fact to elevate the X-Division title. Shelley wins and I’m very much looking forward to booking his reign as champion!

 

Match 8 – John Cena (c) def. Samoa Joe in a Last Man Standing match

Jarrett got retaliation for earlier as he helped Cena win the match with a Attitude Adjustment off one announce table onto the other. A solid finish to the PPV with the 94% rating. Joe vs Cena was the hottest angle in the company in the last two months. I give them both credit for that. I’d hate to have Joe lose twice in a roll but I didn’t want Cena to lose the title just yet!

 

So the news as I alluded to earlier. There’s two bits of news to discuss before we sign off…

1. Jay Lethal, Chris Sabin and AJ Styles all won their matches at Against All Odds. Angle, who wants to reward the X-Division, put them all in an Impact Series. Over the next few weeks on Impact, Lethal, Sabin and Styles will all be put in matches with each other. Firstly, Sabin will take on Lethal. Following that will be Sabin vs Styles, with Styles vs Lethal following that. At the end of the series, a triple threat match will take place between all three men. The man who wins the most matches in this series will be the new number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Destination X.
2. Kurt Angle suffered an neck injury which means he will be out for the next eight months. It’s not like I can use him in a non-physical role or anything. I can’t put him on the shows. It’s a blow considering the storyline I’m trying to tell so I had to write him off the show. Sting Pillmanised Angle to take him out of the picture on Impact. It’s annoying but I do have an end game which I can still stick to despite the injury.
3. The second newest signing will be revealed on the next edition of TNA EWR!

Stay tuned for that and have a great day!

EXTREME WARFARE REVENGE: TNA 2010 PART 12 – GENESIS

Previously on TNA EWR…

Kurt Angle is now running the ship in TNA after Hulk Hogan was taken out by a mystery attacker. Kurt Angle is the interim general manager while Hogan is away and he’s got quite a show to run now that he’s in charge. On Impact, Kurt talked about having tough shoes to fill in. Kurt admitted that he wouldn’t be wrestling as much but he would do what’s best for Impact. He decided that what’s best for Impact is to find out who attacked Hogan in the first place. The prime suspect is Sting, so Kurt has decided to call out Sting to appear on the Genesis pre-show to find out the truth.

John Cena’s new challenger for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship is Samoa Joe, who attacked him following his title defence against AJ Styles. Joe told Cena that he’s not here to smile for the crowd. Joe’s here to dominate and be the best wrestler in the world. He called Cena a fraud and Joe vowed to win the title.

AJ Styles was given another chance to compete for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when he was put in a fatal four way match with Samoa Joe, Mr Anderson (due to his win over Christopher Daniels at Final Resolution) and Jeff Hardy for the number one contendership spot. In a big fatal four way on Impact, Mr Anderson was taken out by Daniels with Styles looking to pick up the scraps. AJ went for the cover but Jeff broke it up by hitting AJ with the Swanton. As Jeff gets up, Joe locks him in the choke for the pass out to become the number one contender.

Since then, AJ has been angry at Jeff for costing him the TNA World title. The match has been made for Genesis as the two men that have fought for the title in the past will fight again.

As mentioned earlier, Mr Anderson beat Christopher Daniels at Final Resolution. Anderson said that Daniels sucked and was not championship material. Daniels, of course, got involved in Anderson’s fatal four way match. Daniels told Anderson that he was just as good as anyone on the roster and wanted to prove it to Anderson at Genesis in a no disqualification rematch. The winner got to challenge for whatever title he wanted. Anderson agreed but wanted Daniels to agree to never compete for the TNA World title again if he lost. Daniels agreed as he was confident in shutting Anderson up.

Chris Sabin confronted Jeff Jarrett at Final Resolution and challenged the TNA Owner to a match. Jeff said no as he wanted to help run TNA with Hogan out. Sabin attacked him in response which led to Jarrett getting angry. After a few teases,  Jarrett finally agrees to give Sabin a match.

And finally, “Extreme Coalition” member Stevie Richards jumped ship from TNA to WWE. The group promised that a new member will join the group that would become the leader. In a shocking swerve, Brother Devon was revealed as the new member when he turned heel and attacked Jay Lethal. Lethal gets a team together including himself, Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black against Devon and the tag team champions Raven and Rhino.

Pre-Show – Kurt Angle/Sting Confrontation

Kurt Angle talks about the Genesis PPV and promises to deliver one of their best events yet. He talks about rising stars like Tyler Black getting their chance to shine at Genesis and TNA originals like Jay Lethal, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley all breaking out as top stars. Although he initially was unsure about these young stars, he realises now that these men are giving professional wrestling a good name and wanted them to give it their all.

Before the future can start though, Angle said that we needed to address the past. Hulk Hogan was attacked and Angle wanted answers. Angle noted that Sting was very critical of Hogan in the last few months and named him the prime suspect. He calls him out. Sting came out and told Kurt that he had nothing to do with Hogan getting attacked. Sting talked about Kurt Angle being the right man to replace Hogan. Sting said that Hogan brought in old-timers from WWE, WCW and ECW that didn’t deserve to be in TNA while Angle is looking out for the future. He respected that and wants Angle to continue the good work.  However, he told Kurt to back off. Sting told Kurt that while he respected him, Kurt should not get in Sting’s way. Kurt told Sting that he couldn’t allow him to be the vigilante that’s taking out all of the talent. Kurt said that he and Sting have fought side-by-side and against each other several times in TNA but was not going to let Sting run rough shot. Angle said that if he finds out that Sting is lying about Hogan, he was going to break his ankle. Sting tried a cheap shot but Angle ducked and hit the Angle Slam. He went for the Ankle lock but Sting got away.

This segment was the strongest segment of the night which is not saying much. It also sucks that the best segments on the show wasn’t even on the main card!

 

Match 1 – Matt Morgan def. Hernandez

Two big guys battle it out here in the opener. Hernandez is surprisingly over despite losing his feud with Kaz so I decided to give him another big man to deal with. Matt Morgan is probably the top monster face we’ve got in the company so it makes sense. Not to thrilled about the 77% rating but then again, I was not expecting it to be in the 90s or anything. I’ll give them credit as they surprisingly didn’t get the worst rating on the show.

 

Match 2 – “Extreme Coalition” Brother Devon, Raven and Rhino def. Jay Lethal, Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn

I know six man tag team matches usually don’t get to great a rating but I felt these six got robbed a bit. To put this match as the worst match on the PPV was a bit heavy. I think maybe the contrasting styles might have had an effect somewhat but you’d expect people like Lethal, Devon, Raven and Rhino at least to pop at 80% rating with their overness.

 

Match 3 – Rey Mysterio def. Alex Shelley in a falls count anywhere match

The winner of the match of the night award at Final Resolution was also the joint top rated match for Genesis! Shelley and Mysterio just clicked together really well and this feud as helped out Shelley in the long run. Shelley was the only one that got over from the rivalry according to the road agents! Mysterio was already at 100 which was the highest he could go but the fact that Shelley caught up to him is quite impressive. I have big plans for Shelley believe it or not.

 

Match 4 – Abyss (c) def. Bobby Roode and James Storm in a triple threat match to retain the TNA Global Championship

I was very disappointed this one because whenever I throw Abyss in a singles match with either member of Beer Money on Impact, it’s usually in the upper 80s to mid 90s. Kinda surprised with it being the second worst match on the show. Abyss retains the Global title for now. We’ll see how well he does as champion because he’s pretty over at the moment.

 

Match 5 – Jeff Jarrett def. Chris Sabin

I have no idea why I thought this but I was positive that this match was going to be the worst match on the show! I thought the styles just wouldn’t click but it turns out I was wrong. It got a 82% rating and was one of only four matches to get into the 80s for this PPV sadly. However, Jarrett got the win. Sabin cheap-shotted after a handshake. Jarrett goes over here but I do plan on giving Sabin the win in their rematch because he’s getting quite a bit from this feud and I feel he should be the one that goes over in the end. For now though, Jarrett gets the first win in this feud and retribution for the attack at Final Resolution.

 

Match 6 – Christopher Daniels def. Mr Anderson in a no disqualification match. The winner would earn a championship match at whatever title he desires. If Daniels lost, he would never receive a TNA World Heavyweight Championship

The 77% rating was disappointing but I kind of get why it got the rating it did. I get frequent road agent notes that Anderson and Daniels don’t really click in the ring. Daniels won the match and I’ll reveal now that Daniels WON’T be going after the TNA World title. Daniels decided that he needs to prove to himself that he was a true champion before going after the title. He wanted to win the TNA X-Division title instead and then call out the TNA World Heavyweight Champion in the future. I have a VERY interesting X-Division program in store that will have TNA World title implications. Daniels is super over so he will be in the mix.

 

Match 7 – AJ Styles def. Jeff Hardy

AJ beat Jeff after Bobby Lashley interfered on AJ’s behalf. AJ, Lashley and Abyss had an unofficial alliance in the past and since Abyss is focusing on the Global title, Lashley decided to help AJ against Jeff here. I expected a bit more but at least it was in the 80s. Not a bad match.

 

Match 8 – John Cena (c) def. Samoa Joe via disqualification retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Despite the disappointing ratings from this PPV, I’m very thankful that the main event was at least the joint best match of the show! It got a 85% rating. Joe gets disqualified for hitting Cena with the belt. Joe does a vicious beat down after the match and holds the title up high in the end. I don’t want to put the belt on Joe at the moment but I also want him to show that he could kick Cena’s ass. I know it seems that Joe was stupid by getting himself DQ’d during a title match but trust me. There’s method to the madness. He was the last man standing in this battle and with that, you all probably know where this is going!

 

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you at Against All Odds, where Kurt Angle will introduce a new signing to our show as mentioned on the TNA EWR update!