The best time of the year for WWE fans is upon us. There is one event every year that not only brings WWE fans together but crosses over and gives wrestling mainstream appeal. That event is bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than the World Series, bigger than the NCAA tournament, bigger than any prizefight. In a way it’s like combining all those events into one. That event of course is WrestleMania. I have a long standing hobby of fantasy booking future WWE Pay Per Views. That isn’t really something to be proud of, in fact it’s probably something I should be ashamed of. That said, now that I have my own website I figured I’d post some of my ideas and see how many(if any) come to fruition.
When I work on projects like this, I don’t always book what I want to see. I book a combination of what I want with what I think WWE could/should do. I try to look at it as if I’m a part of the WWE creative team. For example, I might not want to give Roman Reigns the push WWE always does. In this piece, I have to if I want it to be anywhere close to accurate. The match I may want to see more than any other could be Tyler Breeze vs Tony Nese for The Universal Championship(it isn’t) but that would be ridiculous. If you are going to be this much of a nerd for WWE, you might as well try to be accurate.
The first Pay Per View following WrestleMania is the World’s Greatest Royal Rumble. I should start by saying these events aren’t really Pay Per View anymore. As most WWE fans know, these events are now shown on the WWE network and don’t cost you anything above the $9.99 per month network subscription fee. I don’t have much to write about the World’s Greatest Rumble. I doubt this event will have much impact on long-term storylines. There have already been matches announced that I think may change after WrestleMania and the looming Superstar shakeup will make the show less relevant from a long term booking standpoint. It is almost a glorified house show. The women won’t be on the card which also makes me not want to write about it out of principal. I do see a title change here with The Woken Hardy’s winning the Raw Tag Team Titles. Who they win it from is still very much up in the air.
SUPERSTAR SHAKEUP
The Superstar Shakeup will happen soon. How soon? We don't know yet. It's a good bet to before of at the Backlash PPV. Here are a few names I might think switch brands, return or get called up.
Raw
AJ Styles, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Rusev, Aiden English, Dolph Ziggler, Tye Dillinger, Mojo Rawley
Charlotte, Naomi, The Uso's, Carmella, Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin, Lana
From NXT – Authors of Pain, Iconic Duo Peyton Royce and Billy Kay, No Way Jose
SmackDown Live
Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Neville, Bray Wyatt, Apollo, Titus O'Neil
Asuka, Sasha Banks, Sheamus/Cesaro, Kaitlyn, Princessa Sugehit, The Revival
From NXT – Andrade "Cien" Almas, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Zelina Vega, Kassius Ohno
I'm sure the real roster moves won't look anything like this. Most of these moves make sense to me. I have storylines in mind for almost everyone involved. I wonder if WWE does that sometimes. I have some wild predictions with Neville, Kaitlyn and Princessa Sugehit. I doubt all three of them will return but I do think we'll see a few unexpected returns.
BACKLASH
That brings us to WWE’s May “PPV” Backlash on May 6th. Backlash should tell us a lot about what the summer of 2018 holds in store for WWE fans. This should be the first show after the Superstar Shakeup. There are rumors the shakeup may even happen at Backlash. I think that would be a great idea. It’s fresh and would make the show seem like a big deal. Here are some matches I think may go down at that show.
Roman Reigns(C) vs AJ Styles(Universal Championship) – AJ will drop the World Heavyweight Championship to Nakamura at WM34 and get his rematch against Reigns after moving to Raw. Not much of a story is needed for this and it should be a great match. AJ is someone who has actually gone over Reigns clean so he has the credibility needed to be Reigns first opponent as Universal Champion.
John Cena vs Bobby Lashley – This will also be an easy story. Cena is still the biggest name in WWE and a loss to Taker wouldn’t change that. Win or lose at WM, Cena is the best opponent for a returning Lashley. It would be very similar to when Lesner returned after a long break to confront Cena on Raw the night after WrestleMania. Unlike with Lesner, I would hope WWE has Lashley go over in this feud.
Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn – Daniel Bryan is by far the hardest wrestler in WWE to fantasy book right now. There are so many factors that could determine what WWE will do with him. It really is impossible for someone outside of the WWE locker room and the doctors to know what Bryan’s schedule will be. I’ll continue the Bryan/Shane vs Owens/Zayn feud. Bryan vs Zayn could be one of the best matches of the year and a great choice for Bryan’s return to singles competition. I have Zayn winning this one with help from Kevin Owens and an unexpected new ally. Bryan losing this early in his comeback isn’t ideal but is necessary for his next program.
Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens – I’m not sure which way they will go with the tag match at WM. Shane turning heel could be the plan and would make sense. I don’t think it’s the best idea as Shane is one of the most over characters WWE has. That said, the best storyline for Shane would have him turn on Bryan. Having Daniel Bryan lose his first match back at WM would leave the fans with a bad taste in their mouth. I’ll go with a heel turn from Shane at Payback instead. The story will be that Owens and Zayn weasel their way into another chance to keep their jobs. They both get singles matches at Payback and if they win, they keep their job. Daniel Bryan will want to face Owens and have Shane face Zayn. Bryan will say that Owens has gotten too far under Shane’s skin for Shane to perform at his best. Shane will disagree and insist on facing Owens. The match between Owens and Shane will be early in the show and Owens will win easily proving Bryan’s point…or so we think. At the end of Bryan’s match with Zayn, Owens will come to the ring to interfere with Shane also coming out to get Bryan’s back…or so we think…Shane turns on Bryan giving Zayn the win and keeping both Owens and Zayn on SDL while forming a new super alliance with the now heel boss Shane-O-Mac.
Nakamura(C) vs Rey Mysterio(World Heavyweight Championship) – I think we’ll see Mysterio on SmackDown and this could be billed as a dream match. I don't really think it is. It would be pretty good though. Nakamura wins.
Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe – Easy story to tell as Joe and Rollins have been rivals for a long time but never gotten a proper feud. They should get 15 minutes to have a good match but there will be an angle at the end. I’d have Authors of Pain interfere creating a three man team with Joe to set up a big match at the MITB PPV. I’d also have Ambrose return to a huge pop here and make the save for Rollins. Samoa Joe put Ambrose on the shelf if you remember. I like when storylines tie together and that would happen here.
Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin – Strowman moves to SmackDown Live and beats Corbin fairly easily in his first match with the brand. Strowman is also very hard to book. It’s hard to maintain his monster gimmick and have him lose. If he can’t lose it’s hard to have him in a long program. There are just so few opponents that can have a believable match with him. Is Corbin one of them? I’m not sure but he’ll get his chance here. If he does put on good matches with Strowman he’d be setting himself up for a better spot down the line.
Sasha Banks vs Bayley – They deserve a singles match at a PPV to finish their feud. I’d have Bayley be the one to turn heel as her character is currently dead due to poor booking. The loser of this match leaves Raw for SmackDown. I’ll have Bayley win since she is getting the heel turn and is more desperate for a push than Sasha. All the women are booked poorly by WWE(with Charlotte being a possible exception) but Sasha hasn’t been booked nearly as poorly as Bayley.
Bludgeon Brothers(C) vs The Bar(SmackDown Tag Team Championship) – Bludgeon Brothers win the titles at WM. They defend the titles against the Uso’s and New Day before the Superstar Shakeup and look dominant. This could be a long feud with plenty of decent match combination possibilities if you include singles matches. No title change here. I wouldn’t have a clean ending either. It would be cool if they just had a brawl and never started a match. The Bludgeon Brothers should have the belts for at least 4 months. A feud against The Bar could take up a lot of that time. I don’t think you’d have to turn The Bar face to make this match. They could become tweeners a lot like the Uso’s early this year.
If they introduce 205 Live Tag Titles this would be a good place to do it. Likely on the pre-show. I’d like to see Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne or Hideo Itami and Tozawa win them.
I wanted to start a huge mid-card program here between Balor Club and the Undisputed Era. The injury to Bobby Fish has put that on the shelf for now. If WWE were to debut Undisputed Era the night after WM they would get a huge pop and a program between the two factions would get a ton of heat. It would be hard for even WWE “creative” to screw that one up. It’s a shame that can’t happen this year and I wouldn’t debut Adam Cole without his cronies.
MONEY IN THE BANK
WWE’s June PPV is Money in the Bank of the 17th. The show will have two co-branded MITB ladder matches. For the second year in a row they will have a men’s and women’s ladder match, hopefully they book this year’s winners A LOT better than last year’s Baron Corbin and Carmella debacles. I don’t think WWE creative does a very good job if you couldn’t tell. I actually came up with a great ending for Carmella’s MITB reign with her cashing in on Alexa at WM. The way I would do it is have Nia beat down Alexa until she’s ripe for the picking. Before Nia can score the pin, I’d have Carmella come out and hit Nia with the briefcase leading to Alexa being disqualified and that match being over. Carmella immediately cashes in and wins the title from Alexa. I know what you’re thinking, Carmella is on SDL. I know, don’t overthink it. Wrestling is scripted. They can do whatever they want. Do you really think Carmella is going to cash in and beat Asuka? Either way it probably won’t happen. It is a nice thought though, you know giving a MITB winner a huge push.
Men’s MITB Ladder Match – Lashley vs Cena vs Styles vs Big Cass vs Strowman vs Neville vs Cien Almas vs Mysterio. Knowing WWE’s love for big men, I have Strowman and Cass as the favorites. I’m going to pick Cass to get the win. Strowman doesn’t need it and I have a good program for a Big Cass cash down the line. I have Neville in this match. I’m not sure if Neville will return but I think it’s very possible despite what everyone else has reported. If not Neville I think there will be a veteran who returns to SmackDown to help strengthen that roster. It could also be someone like Wade Barrett or Damien Sandow.
Women’s MITB Ladder Match – Charlotte vs Bayley vs Nia Jax vs Naomi vs Becky Lynch vs Natalya vs Zelina Vega. I’m not sure how many participants will be in the MITB matches or if they’ll have the same amount. I’m using eight for the men and seven for the women. The participants don’t matter much since most women are booked like crap as I mentioned earlier. I have no faith in WWE creative to use this match to help build women contenders. Hell, they usually can’t even turn the MITB winner into a legit contender. That said I’ll continue my Carmella WM cash-in scenario. After WM Carmella and Alexa will face each other for the title while also teaming up to find ways to weasel out of facing Nia one on one. When Nia wins MITB that will no longer be an option for them and Nia will finally get her well-deserved first championship.
Ronda Rousey vs Nikki Bella – This will be Rousey’s first singles match in WWE. Nikki Bella recently challenged Rousey to a match at WM35. While that’s not anywhere close to good enough for Rousey at WM, it’s just fine for her first singles match. Have Nikki win the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal…errr…Women’s Battle Royal and make the match. I have Cena active until this PPV and then taking time off for Hollywood so it makes sense for Nikki to be around as well.
The Shield vs Samoa Joe and Authors of Pain – With two MITB matches on the show we really don’t need a Universal title defense to build hype for the show. Especially if we finally get that long awaited Shield reunion. Not having the Universal Championship defended is the norm anyway. The reunion won’t last long. I’ll get to that shortly. I’d have Ambrose take the pin which will put wheels in motion for a big program in a couple months.
Nakamura(C) vs Kevin Owens(World Heavyweight Championship) – Sami Zayn is in the Kevin Owens corner, Shane McMahon at ringside. Daniel Bryan will still be GM and name himself special guest referee to make sure Sami and Shane don’t screw Nakamura. As much as I like Nakamura, I don’t see a long title reign in the cards for him. WWE hasn’t been firmly behind him since he almost ended Cena’s career last year. He’s also not as over with the fans as it might seem. They pop huge for his entrance and often get quiet during his matches. This is yet another instance where it is no fault of the wrestler but 100% on WWE creative. Nakamura should have come in from NXT and dominated. Instead, they had him working 20 minutes matches against performers we’ve seen jobbed out for years in Dolph Ziggler and Jinder Mahal. That wasn’t the right way to build him and it shows. This wouldn’t be a great title reign for Nakamura at all. However, he would have gotten his WrestleMania moment and would have a World Title to his credit. He certainly ends up in a better spot than he is now. This also sets him up for a longer title run down the line where he can chase the title against a hated heel and win, which should have happened in his feud with Jinder. Daniel Bryan should accidently cost Nakamura the match and be forced to count Nakamura’s shoulders down after his mistake. Great drama.
Finn Balor(C) vs Rusev vs Dolph Zigger(IC Championship) – I have Finn winning the IC Title at Mania. I wanted something really hot for Finn after Mania, this is the best I could come up with for him with Undisputed Era being unavailable. Balor Club would be called out by Rusev Day and Dolph Ziggler at the Superstar Shakeup leading to this match. Dolph would say he has backup and bring out Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable with him. There could be tag matches between Rusev Day, The Club and Gable/Benjamin as well as 6-man tag matches during the build up to this match. There are a lot of match possibilities for Finn Balor during this program. He could have great singles matches against Dolph, Rusev, Gable and Benjamin. I have Rusev turning face shortly after this. Dolph could be a good opponent for him. Hopefully they book it better than the lame love triangle they tried with Lana before.
Asuka(C) vs Ruby Riott – One problem WWE may have with Auska on SDL is lack of credible opponents. This is a good example. It’s not exactly a hot program but Riott has the numbers game and Asuka can beat up on Logan and Morgan during this program. I also think SDL will have a problem having two Japanese wrestlers that have trouble speaking English on the same show as World Champion. It’s another reason I think Nakamura may not have a long reign. WWE seems more committed to Asuka, that’s one thing I actually agree with them on.
Bray Wyatt vs Bobby Roode - I’d like to see Bray Wyatt get a big push. He may not have many opportunities left with how poorly WWE has booked him. He could return from the Lake of Reincarnation with a sick new gimmick. That’s what I’m hoping for. Maybe he discovers Sister Abigail and they finally bring in a character to play her. I certainly hope he doesn’t become Abigail himself but if I were a betting man that’s what I would bet on. I'd like to see WWE find a Sister Abigail character and call up someone like Kassius Ohno from NXT to form a new Wyatt family. Bray wins here. Roode also hasn’t been booked well and can use a heel turn. I’d give his face run a little more time and try to come up with a big angle before turning him.
Jinder Mahal(C) vs Apollo(US Championship) – This has pre-show written all over it. Jinder will win the US Title from Randy Orton at WM or shortly after, before the Superstar shakeup. Apollo gives him an opponent he can beat. This could actually elevate Apollo a bit as well. Apollo is another wrestler who has had terrible booking. I do like Titus Worldwide and hope to see them get a mid-card push in 2018.
EXTREME RULES
Extreme Rules will be held on July 15th. I’d like them to go back to having every match taking place under extreme rules. I doubt they’ll do it, I just hope they don’t do something lame like a stairs match. Regardless of what they do, the roster has tons of talent. If WWE can set up storylines like I have here on paper they should have plenty of hot programs taking place over the summer.
Roman Reigns(C) vs Samoa Joe(Universal Championship) – Reigns and Joe have had plenty of matches. Just like Joe and Rollins, they really haven’t had a proper feud. That is happening here. Joe won’t go over but I’d give them 25 minutes and hope they can have a 4 star match or better. This should be a clean win for Reigns so he can move on to another program for SummerSlam.
Kevin Owens(C) vs Daniel Bryan vs Nakamura vs Sami Zayn(World Heavyweight Championship) – This continues a long running program that now includes Nakamura. Bryan has stepped down as GM so he can try to get his hands on Owens and take the title from him. Owens retains. Bryan and Nakamura struggle to work as a team after Bryan cost him the title at MITB. That leads to one of them taking the pin and setting the stage for a dream match at SummerSlam.
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose vs Authors of Pain – Rollins and Ambrose would be great first opponents for AOP. WWE could use building tension between Rollins and Ambrose as a way for AOP to go over in their first big feud. Ambrose takes the pin again which makes him look like the weak link and builds towards a huge angle at SummerSlam.
AJ Styles vs The Miz – Miz will finish his program putting over Finn Balor before Backlash and the Superstar shakeup. Miz will be off TV for a couple months so the fans can forget about the loss and give him time to spend with his wife and their newborn baby. Upon his return, he gets right back in an upper mid-card program vs AJ Styles. Miz gets the win to further the feud.
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa – Blood feud. This could be the hottest feud on the main roster after both are called up from NXT. There is no reason to end this feud at Takeover and they could easily go for another 3 months. I’d have this be double stipulation where the winner takes on Jinder for the US Title at SummerSlam and the loser goes to 205 Live(leaves SmackDown).
Braun Strowman vs Rey Mysterio vs Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Neville vs Baron Corbin – This is an Extreme Rules #1 contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. I already have a multiple person match for the title on this card so this is overkill and lazy booking for sure. That said, WWE creative uses lazy booking all the time and is growing more and more fond of multi-man matches. This could actually be very good. My main goal on SDL is putting over Bruan Strowman and setting him up for a title run. The build for this match hits a home run in that regard. None of the wrestlers in this match could have a quality program with Strowman one on one. They would all be great opponents for Strowman on SmackDown leading up to this match. Could you imagine a long feud between Rey Mysterio and Braun Strowman? I sure as hell can’t….BUT….a match on SmackDown that is billed as a first time ever David vs Goliath match would be a great main event. An Extreme Rules match with these competitors could be great. I don’t think any of these wrestlers set up as a great opponent for Strowman after he wins the title which why it makes sense to put them all in this match as a way to get him over. Four of the five wrestlers in this match were in the MITB ladder match in June and Corbin will have beef with Strowman. It should be an easy story to tell. Strowman wins and gets his title match at SummerSlam.
Peyton Royce and Billy Kay vs Mandy Rose and Sonia Deville – Shortly after WM I’d have Paige announce her retirement in the ring leading to an Absolution face turn. Royce and Kay will have a mean girls type gimmick similar to what Bliss and Mickie James are currently doing with Nia. I think the Iconic Duo can do a much better job of it. Royce and Kay would make fun of Paige not being able to compete anymore which should get them a lot of heat. They win here to set up a title feud against Nia.
Nia Jax(C) vs Carmella vs Alex Bliss – Nia cashes in on Raw sometime before this. She destroys both Carmella and Bliss in a triple threat match to end a long feud between the 3.
Elias vs Tye Dillinger – Pre-show fodder. I’d like to see Dillinger in a decent singles feud. That can happen here if they do it right. WWE hates those 10 chants. I think I have a way to drown them out. More on that later. Elias gets the win as WWE clearly is not pushing the Perfect 10.
SUMMERSLAM
This used to be WWE's second biggest show of the year. I'd like to see them get back to that. They won't do this many matches. I have set up a lot of big matches for this card. WWE should do the same thing and book more wrestlers in quality programs so come a big show like SummerSlam they are looking for ways to get everyone on a stacked card.
Roman Reigns(C) vs Seth Rollins(Universal Championship) – The Shield has been back together for about three months now but Rollins has been angling for a title shot against his buddy Roman the whole time. Ambrose would like to be in the mix but has suffered multiple losses since returning to Raw. Rollins will win some kind of #1 contenders match to earn this shot. Ambrose will be left off the card and will be bitter about it. Ambrose will think the losses he’s taken are the result of being left behind by Reigns and especially Rollins. The tension will have been building for months and the smart fans will certainly see the heel turn coming. There are many occasions where WWE won’t do something because it’s obvious. I don’t think that is smart. Most things that are obvious to fans are obvious because they should happen. Ambrose will turn on his Shield buddies to give us a huge angle to end the show.
Daniel Bryan vs Nakamura – Dream Match. I’ve already written enough about what should be a strong contender for match of the year. It really doesn’t get any better than a match between these two with the build I’ve given it. This should go at least 20 minutes and possibly over 30.
Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte – Dream Match. This is the biggest women’s match WWE can do. I’m not going to wait for it. The story would be easy to tell. The most dominant woman WWE has had for the last five years against the biggest star WWE has ever signed. If Rousey can go in the ring this could be the kind of match that could elevate the woman closer to equal footing with the men. I’m not sure when or if Rousey will lose in WWE. I don’t think it should happen here but it would be smart for Charlotte to win a match against her during this feud so they can do three or four matches over a few months. Rousey will definitely go over in the end.
Bobby Lashley vs Randy Orton – Dream Match! Just Kidding. I'll bet WWE will tell us it is. I’m not sure how hot this program would be. The storyline would be simple. Lashley will have beaten Cena and now he’s looking for the next biggest notch to put on his belt. That would be Orton. I think Orton is old and stale but he still gets good reactions from the fans so he still has value. That value is shown here as he puts over Lashley setting him up to be the next contender for Roman.
Kevin Owens(C) vs Braun Strowman(World Heavyweight Championship) – This could be a really good feud with Sami Zayn also involved. It would be great to give Strowman his first title win at SummerSlam but I’m not going to have that happen. Sami will interfere causing KO to be disqualified. Maybe they could do a really creative finish where KO actually gets the pin but Braun doesn't look weak. I doubt it. It’s not a good finish but it will lead to what will basically be a handicap match at the next PPV Hell in a Cell. Strowman will win his first title there and look dominant doing it. I think SummerSlam can handle two non-finishes in their title matches with the strength of the other matches on the card. I also think SmackDown should get three months out of a program between Strowman and Owens/Zayn. Having him win the title his first shot would make that hard to accomplish. It also gives Owens a three month title reign rather than two which would look better on his WWE resume.
Balor Club vs Samoa Joe and Authors of Pain – I really like three man factions in case you couldn't tell. I think it's easier for fans to cheer groups than most wrestlers by themselves. Pushing Balor Club would really help Finn get over. They don't even need to win this match. The more they are in the ring as a unit doing the too sweet thing the better for Balor. Anderson or Gallows would take the pin here. Just being in a match at SummerSlam would be by far the biggest match they've had in WWE. Samoa Joe could win the IC title in this feud. I'm not sure how I would book Finn after SummerSlam. It would depend on how much Balor Club is getting over. Balor would be a good candidate to win the Royal Rumble. It would be really cool if he held the IC the whole year and then won the Universal title at WrestleMania like Ultimate Warrior.
AJ Styles vs The Miz – AJ and Miz start a program at Extreme Rules. AJ wins here to go over in the feud. They will both obviously be on the SummerSlam card. AJ always draws big pops and Miz always draws huge heat. That will make this a hot program.
The Woken Hardy's(C) vs The Uso’s(Raw Tag Team Championship) – The Raw Tag Team Championship will be tied up between the Hardy's and Uso’s form the Superstar Shakeup up until this point. It would probably be smart to book a title change or two over that time. This probably wouldn’t be their first PPV match. These teams actually haven’t wrestled that much and both have fresh gimmicks. That should make for a great feud. Raw desperately needs a great tag team feud and these teams are two of the best ever in WWE. It doesn’t really matter who wins because the winners are being fed to AOP. I’ll go with the Hardy's winning, possibly in a deletion match at the Hardy compound.
Jinder Mahal(C) vs Johnny Gargano(United States Championship) – Gargano wins his feud against Ciampa to get this match. Mahal is the perfect type of heel to put over Gargano for his first title win. The fans should eat this up. Another big reason I don’t want Strowman to win his first title at SummerSlam is because I want this to be Gargano’s moment. I don’t want a bigger title win to take away from it. I think Gargano could be a huge star. Giving him the US title this early in his career at event like SummerSlam would show how big a star he can be.
Bludgeon Brothers(C) vs New Day(SmackDown Tag Team Championship) – Bludgeon Brothers will have been dominant champions for over four months. Harper and Rowen will finally have a little success outside of the Wyatt Family. They can drop the titles here. New Day would be sympathetic faces having lost to Bludgeon Brothers many times. It's been a while since New Day has been champion, they are the right team to beat the Bludgeon Brothers. WWE could put it over as the biggest win for the New Day which would seem like a big deal. Bludgeon Brothers can move on to matches against Bray Wyatt and Ohno and Braun Strowman.
Asuka(C) vs Sasha Banks(SmackDown Women’s Championship) – Sasha is probably the best opponent they’ll have for Asuka on SmackDown. They could consider turning Sasha heel if she isn’t already after her feud with Bayley. It would be better one of them were a heel. It might be best if Asuka turned heel. I have a feeling she isn’t getting over the way WWE wants her to. If that continues this would be a good spot to take the title off her. The story for Sasha would be she has to start from the bottom after losing to Bayley and moving to SmackDown. That’s why I don’t have her in the women’s MITB ladder match. They could either have her turn heel because of this of build her way up as a baby face. In either scenario she would probably be more over than Asuka at that point. I’ve heard that WWE wants to do Asuka vs Rousey at WrestleMania 35. That does sound good and it would make sense for them both to be undefeated when they do it. I don’t think that is best for the women’s division and it might be obvious that isn’t the right direction by summer. We’re at a time where they are heavily pushing an idea of a women’s revolution. They aren’t backing up with their booking. I don’t think having two women bury both divisions would help that. I’m worried they are going to eventually put both women’s titles on a part time Ronda Rousey. I don’t think the women’s division would thrive if they did that.
Rey Mysterio vs Andrade "Cien" Almas – Mysterio and Almas would build a feud through the MITB ladder match and #1 contenders match at Extreme Rules. It would turn into a feud to see who is the best Mexican wrestler in WWE. Almas should go over. I'm not sure that would happen. They could make it a mixed tag match and give Mysterio a partner like Becky Lynch or Princessa Sugehit from the Mae Young Classic. That would even the odds against Cien and Zelina.
Nia Jax(C) vs Peyton Royce(Raw Women’s Championship) – Billy Kay would be in Royce corner and it would be more like a handicap match. It wouldn’t matter, Nia would win easily in a match that would probably be on the pre-show. It could be a decent program with the Iconic Duo body shaming Nia. I’m not thrilled with the body shaming angles but I think WWE loves them and it’s an easy way to get sympathy for Nia. I’ve always thought a mean-girl bullying type feud between Iconic and Nia could be very good.
Rusev vs Elias – A program between Rusev and Elias would be gold in my opinion. They could battle it out by doing songs about each other. Well that would be Aiden English territory. The fans react huge to both these guys. There’s no reason to think either wrestler will have cooled off four months from now. This could be a long feud that really helps get both guys over. Elias had a match against Tye Dillinger at Extreme Rules. I’d have the result of that be Tye joining Elias to team against Rusev Day. Dillinger would drop the Perfect 10 gimmick other than saying every Elias song is a perfect 10. I think the fans would forget about those pesky 10 chants that hijack matches and maybe Dillinger could get a push down the line. This would be similar to what WWE did with Axel and Dallas joining the Miztourage. It’s been really good for them. Putting Dillinger in a position where he actually gets on TV couldn’t be worse than where he is now.
Post SummerSlam Storylines
Hell in a Cell – The main event at HIAC in September will be Reigns vs Rollins vs Ambrose. It's been building for months, the fans would eat it up if done right. Braun Strowman will win the SmackDown Live Championship over Kevin Owens(and Sami Zayn) in the other HIAC match.
Big Cass Cash In – Tables Ladders and Chairs is the October PPV. Reigns vs Bobby Lashley will be the main event in a TLC match. Both men will be down late in the match after a big spot, Big Cass will cash in, climb the ladder and grab the Universal Championship. This saves Reigns and Lashly from having to take a pin.
Reigns vs Lahsley – Shortly after the TLC PPV either Reigns or Lashley will win the Universal Championship from Big Cass. Cass might keep it for a month or two. I would expect Reigns to be champion again by WrestleMania but it wouldn't surprise me to see Lashley have it for couple months. Reigns and Lashley will likely have a long feud in WWE this year.
Braun Strowman vs Bray Wyatt and Kassuis Ohno – The main reason I want Ohno on the main roster as a follower of Bray Wyatt is so he can have matches with Braun Strowman. I think Ohno might be able to have a better match against Strowman than anyone on a WWE contract. It would take a while to build Wyatt back up to a title contender. Giving him Sister Abigail and Brother Kassius and have him win for a few months should do the trick. WWE could get a couple months out of this feud without Strowman losing. I would like to see Luke Harper against Strowman as well.
Authors of Pain as Raw Tag Team Champions – They will have gone over Rolliins/Ambrose and Gallows/Anderson by now. They will win the titles from the Hardy's and defend them against the Uso's. That would keep them busy for a few months.
205 Live – I don't know how to book the cruiser weights. I don't watch the show. I would make two big changes. Tape the show before Raw or SmackDown when the crowd is hot. Call up better wrestlers. Guys like Pete Dunne, Roderick Strong, Tyler Bate, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch have more talent than most the roster. They've made guys who were huge stars in Gran Metalik and Hideo Itami seem like ham and eggers on 205. I'd hate to see Gargano or Ciampa get wasted on this show if it stays in it's current form. There just isn't any excitement to the brand. Adding Drake Maverick was a good start. Getting a hotter crowd and better wrestlers would be the next steps.
