Saturday, April 30, 2011

How I Would Book It- WWE Extreme Rules 2011

WWE Extreme Rules is this Sunday and is the focus of my latest HIWBI (How I Would Book It) column. As of right now, there is six matches scheduled for the Pay-Per-View. I had originally planned on giving my opinion on all six matches but I will just focus on the three main event matches instead. In my opinion, those three matches are Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian, Michael Cole/Jack Swagger vs. Jerry Lawler/Jim Ross, and The Miz vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison. Here is how I would book Extreme Rules.



Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross vs. Michael Cole & Jack Swagger (Country Whipping Match) 

First of all, I have no idea what a Country Whipping Match is. Luckily for me, the WWE does and they described it on their website:

"The diametrically opposed duos will each be armed with a leather strap to use on their opponents. Although each man and his partner will be allowed to tag in and out, the winning team must prevail by pinfall or submission."
 That sounds like an interesting match and I am glad that they will still have to tag in and out. This feud is still going strong and having The King and JR win seems a little too predictable. I would have Michael Cole win again. Jack Swagger is on RAW now so it makes sense to continue to have him as Cole's trainer. I think if Michael Cole loses, the feud will end very shortly and I don't think it is ready to end yet. Now how are Michael Cole and Jack Swagger going to win? This is the tricky part. I will just skip to the end. Jim Ross and Jack Swagger are both on the outside struggling with injuries. That leaves Jerry Lawler alone with Michael Cole. Lawler whips Cole a bunch of times and gets him in a submission hold. Just before Cole taps, Swagger gets in the ring, breaks the hold, and puts the ankle lock on Lawler. Lawler taps and the team of Swagger and Cole wins. Cole can claim to be still undefeated but Lawler can point out that Swagger was the one who defeated Lawler and Cole would have lost if Swagger was not there to save him.

Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match)

It seems like everyone wants Christian to win this match. Christian has never been the World Heavyweight Champ. Neither has Alberto Del Rio but Christian has been with the WWE much longer. However, Vince McMahon does not often give a World Championship to someone like Christian who has gone several years without winning it. Mark Henry has been with the WWE for a long time and he has never won a World Championship and probably never will. Same thing with Goldust. Christian is 37 years old. If Vince McMahon wanted to give either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship to Christian, he would have done it already (by the way, it would be interesting to know who is the oldest person to win a World Championship in the WWE for the first time). The only person I can recall being well into his 30s and becoming a first-time champion in the WWE is Mick Foley when he won the WWF Championship in 1999 as Mankind. Foley was 33 years old at the time but Foley was a lot more popular than Christian at the time. There might be another example but that is the only one I can think of so Mr. McMahon does not usually give first-time title runs to old veterans. 

Now how Mr. McMahon would book this match does not matter because this is how I would book it but I have to agree with Mr. McMahon's approach. If you have a guy who is regularly not in the main event picture, it does not make much sense for him to all of a sudden become a champion at 37. Not just that, but I do not think Christian is as popular as people say he is. I have a good example of Christian's popularity. I was at the March 28 Monday Night RAW in Chicago this year. It was the one right before Wrestlemania and some guy named The Rock appeared at the end of the show. Edge and Christian had a tag match that night and they came out separately. When Edge came out, the crowd went nuts. When Christian came out, he got a good response but it was not as loud as the reaction that Edge got. The crowd response for Christian said, "We know who you are, we respect what you have done for the WWE, but you are no Edge." The fans like Christian but the reactions he gets are no better than the reactions John Morrison and Kofi Kingston get. He does not get the crowd reactions you see Randy Orton, John Cena, Undertaker, and Rey Mysterio get. Those are the superstars the fans pay to see and that is why they are the ones getting the championships.

All that said, I would have Christian win the World Heavyweight Championship this Sunday. It should be Alberto Del Rio but with him on RAW right now, it does not make sense for RAW to have both major titles. However, I would NOT have Christian win cleanly. If you remember, Mick Foley did not win the WWF Championship cleanly. Stone Cold came out and gave everyone chair shots to the head which allowed Mick Foley pin The Rock for the win. Having Mankind win cleanly may have made The Rock look weak and could have hurt his chances of being a believable champion in the future. The WWE did not make The Rock look weak and they can not let Alberto Del Rio look weak. How can you see him as a future champion if he is getting cleanly beaten by someone who is almost 40? So how is Christian going to win his first championship? It is very simple. With Christian on the ground, Del Rio starts climbing the ladder. Then Edge comes out. Edge knocks Del Rio off the ladder, helps Christian climb the ladder, and Christian wins the belt. Edge and Christian are best friends so this makes sense. This allows the championship to stay on Smackdown without Del Rio looking weak.

The Miz vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison (WWE Championship Triple Threat Steel Cage Match)

I would have this match as the main event. I would also have The Miz retain his championship. What I would have happen is first Cena hits The Miz with the AA. Before Cena can cover The Miz, Morrison kicks Cena in the face and then hits Cena with his Starship Pain finisher move. Morrison thinks about going for the pin but decides he wants to make sure Cena won't kick out so he climbs the cage and prepares to leap off the cage onto Cena. However, R-Truth runs out and shakes the cage until Morrison loses his balance, falls back into the ring, and hits the canvas hard. Meanwhile, The Miz is starting to move and he crawls out of the cage to win the match. This would set up a feud between R-Truth and John Morrison which actually could be a decent feud.

The goal of this PPV would be to get things set-up for the next few weeks leading up to the next pay-per-view. A new champion, a new feud, and the continuation of a feud that is interesting every week. And that's how I would book Extreme Rules.

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