Has WWE totally screwed the World Title match for WM XXI? *NYR spoilers*

**Fox** · 01-10-2005, 06:36 PM

Freshness is key to success in the WWE (HBK/HHH was fresh, DX was fresh, Austin was fresh, Rock was fresh, Angle was fresh). However, last night at New Year's Revolution, the horribly unfresh Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Title. The last 10 minutes of the match were a battle of the Evolution members, HHH vs. Batista vs. Orton in the most boring 10 minutes of what was an exciting and fast-paced Elimination Chamber match.

HHH vs. Jericho ain't happening. HHH vs. Benoit ain't happening. HHH vs. Edge ain't happening. Because Triple H has the title (and will probably hold onto it until Mania), there is no chance of Benoit, Jericho, or Edge headlining WrestleMania for the World Title.

We're going to see one of the following matches in the main event of Mania:

Triple H vs. Batista

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista

However, there are flaws in every one of these match ups. The triple threat thing was done last year, and I sincerely doubt that Vince will want to run yet another Triple Threat as the main event of the biggest show of the year, not to mention the fact that it's hard to establish two #1 contenders without adding confusion or illogical occurences to the storyline.

HHH/Orton has been done twice (three times if you count the end of the Survivor Series match), and it simply is not WrestleMania main event caliber. Not only that, but Randy Orton's face turn is beginning to fail, and the fans are getting sick of seeing him crammed down our throats as the pretty boy good guy every week. The match wouldn't draw a dime.

Batista/HHH is definitely fresh and has not been done before, but there are a few problems with the idea of the match. First of all, Batista has been built up as a monster tweener in the last month, crushing everything in his sight, so the match would be mostly one-sided. Given that, if Batista won a match that he had been dominating the whole time (with his HUGE 3 move arsenal), the match would end up being horrendously boring.

If the match featured Batista dominating only to lose to the champion, the fans would go home very unhappy, watching the man who's dominated the World Title scene all year walk out of the biggest show of them all with the belt still strapped around his waist. It wouldn't go over.

Second, even if they did come up with a way to book the match in an interesting fashion (i.e. Batista gets a leg injury a few weeks before Mania, allowing HHH to work the leg the whole match and apply the Indian Deathlock for dramatics), Batista isn't READY for a WrestleMania main event. He's definitely gotten better in the past year, but he's still unexperienced and has a very limited move set. This does not make for a good main event match.

So, where does the WWE go from here? Obviously they're going to play out of one these options. Which one do you think would be the best idea?

Personally, I would go an entirely different route. Job the title to Jericho, Benoit or Edge at the Royal Rumble, then have the Evolution feud continue until Mania and finish off the angle WITHOUT the World Title being involved. This would make everyone happy, as some of the more deserving guys would get to wrestle for the World Title at Mania, and Triple H would still get his high profile match, which could even be higher up the card than the World Title match, if he so desires. Then, the WWE Championship match could headline the card and everything would be proper.

What do you think?

01-10-2005, 06:36 PM	#1
Fox "Ask him!" Posts: 10,072	Has WWE totally screwed the World Title match for WM XXI? NYR spoilers Freshness is key to success in the WWE (HBK/HHH was fresh, DX was fresh, Austin was fresh, Rock was fresh, Angle was fresh). However, last night at New Year's Revolution, the horribly unfresh Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Title. The last 10 minutes of the match were a battle of the Evolution members, HHH vs. Batista vs. Orton in the most boring 10 minutes of what was an exciting and fast-paced Elimination Chamber match. HHH vs. Jericho ain't happening. HHH vs. Benoit ain't happening. HHH vs. Edge ain't happening. Because Triple H has the title (and will probably hold onto it until Mania), there is no chance of Benoit, Jericho, or Edge headlining WrestleMania for the World Title. We're going to see one of the following matches in the main event of Mania: Triple H vs. Batista Triple H vs. Randy Orton Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista However, there are flaws in every one of these match ups. The triple threat thing was done last year, and I sincerely doubt that Vince will want to run yet another Triple Threat as the main event of the biggest show of the year, not to mention the fact that it's hard to establish two #1 contenders without adding confusion or illogical occurences to the storyline. HHH/Orton has been done twice (three times if you count the end of the Survivor Series match), and it simply is not WrestleMania main event caliber. Not only that, but Randy Orton's face turn is beginning to fail, and the fans are getting sick of seeing him crammed down our throats as the pretty boy good guy every week. The match wouldn't draw a dime. Batista/HHH is definitely fresh and has not been done before, but there are a few problems with the idea of the match. First of all, Batista has been built up as a monster tweener in the last month, crushing everything in his sight, so the match would be mostly one-sided. Given that, if Batista won a match that he had been dominating the whole time (with his HUGE 3 move arsenal), the match would end up being horrendously boring. If the match featured Batista dominating only to lose to the champion, the fans would go home very unhappy, watching the man who's dominated the World Title scene all year walk out of the biggest show of them all with the belt still strapped around his waist. It wouldn't go over. Second, even if they did come up with a way to book the match in an interesting fashion (i.e. Batista gets a leg injury a few weeks before Mania, allowing HHH to work the leg the whole match and apply the Indian Deathlock for dramatics), Batista isn't READY for a WrestleMania main event. He's definitely gotten better in the past year, but he's still unexperienced and has a very limited move set. This does not make for a good main event match. So, where does the WWE go from here? Obviously they're going to play out of one these options. Which one do you think would be the best idea? Personally, I would go an entirely different route. Job the title to Jericho, Benoit or Edge at the Royal Rumble, then have the Evolution feud continue until Mania and finish off the angle WITHOUT the World Title being involved. This would make everyone happy, as some of the more deserving guys would get to wrestle for the World Title at Mania, and Triple H would still get his high profile match, which could even be higher up the card than the World Title match, if he so desires. Then, the WWE Championship match could headline the card and everything would be proper. What do you think?