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| Updated: Thursday July 2nd, 2009 03:10:45 PM PDT |
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| Jeuron Dove talks possible WWE feuds for next year |
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By Jeuron Dove This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Hello fans. I would like to wish everyone a happy new year. 2008 has come and gone and it was a year for the books. Now we must look forward to 2009 and see what the wild and crazy world of pro wrestling has in store for us. Or rather the world of the WWE. I say that because with the decline of pro wrestling in Japan, some of Mexico and the dominance of the UFC, WWE is clearly the number one wrestling promotion on a worldwide basis. I won’t even factor in TNA due to their incompetence or ROH due to their lack of visibility on a national stage. In order for the WWE to thrive this year they will need quality programs and storylines just as any company does. This past year brought us some memorable feuds such as Undertaker-Edge, Flair-Michaels, Michaels-Batista and HHH-Hardy. Others like Kane-Mysterio just didn’t click. For 2009, some programs apparently on the horizon are HHH-Edge, Hardy-Edge and JBL-Michaels. And at the Royal Rumble in a few weeks Cena and JBL will be squaring off in the Raw main event. This sounds underwhelming to say the least since both had a less than stellar feud last year. Both can talk and have a superstar presence, but that isn’t quite my idea of what a main event for the Rumble should be. But like a lot of Cena matches that are in a clutch position, it could end up being better than we think. After all, Cena got good matches out of Bobby Lashley and the Great Khali back in 2007. The main point I’m trying to get across is that when you really look at the big picture the WWE has very few dream matches left. To me a dream match is a bout between two bonafide megastars that has the potential to do huge business. Some WWE matches that would fall into that category are Michaels-Hogan from Summerslam 2005, Hogan-Rock from Wrestlemania 18, Austin-Rock from Wrestlemania 17 and Angle-Michaels from Wrestlemania 21. You could even throw the Michaels-Flair retirement match from last year’s Mania in there. As you can tell, the dream matches are usually reserved for Mania while the slightly less are for the other big three shows and then the ones beneath that are for the monthly “B” shows. When you look at the current roster there are lot of dream matches or potential ones that have already been done. Most of the top guys have feuded with each other at one time or another and often more than once over the past few years. HHH-Cena headlined Wrestlemania 22 and last year’s Night of Champions. Edge and Batista clashed at both the 2007 and 2008 N.O.C. show and Cena and Jericho feuded in 2005 (Jericho’s last program before he left) in addition to their most recent program. You may notice the cyclical pattern of main events, but that’s wrestling for you. Programs are often recycled with new twists to keep them fresh. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. That is why I have a lot of reservations about a potential Cena-Orton match at Mania. They had quite a lengthy run in 2007 before Cena got hurt and they fought at last year’s No Way Out, in the triple threat at Mania and in the four way at Backlash. I feel that they have nothing left to show me as performers as far as an intense money-drawing feud is concerned. Unless the bookers really get creative with it I don’t see this as being anywhere near the level of the Mania main event from last year. The key to having a continuous stream of good and believable main event quality programs is to constantly push new talent and mix up the current big names. Just about every major star in the WWE today have fought each other at one point or another over the last 6-7 years, but that doesn’t mean that these programs won’t work anymore. Rock and Austin fought at three Manias and each of their matches were memorable. Jericho and Michaels had a great program in 2003 which culminated in one of the greatest Mania matches ever, but I doubt few fans would disagree that their recent feud was way better. I have a list of ten potentially good programs for the WWE in the future. Some of them could draw decent to huge business if they were pushed to their creative maximum while some are just up here for good fun and the quality they can bring to the ring. Keep that in mind as you browse this list and I will provide brief explanations as to why each could work. Also note that they are in no particular order of importance. 1. Chris Jericho-Undertaker These are two of the biggest stars on the roster who to the best of my knowledge have never been in a major feud with each other. Both can go in the ring and on the mic and it’s really a question mark as to why the company hasn’t done it yet. This year would be the perfect timing since Jericho is at the strongest point of his career as a main event level heel and Taker isn’t getting any younger anyway. 2. HHH-Undertaker Two of the biggest stars who haven’t had a big run together since their abysmal 2002 program. It’s funny because 2002 was arguably the worst in-ring year for both and now it’s seven years later and both are two of the top in-ring performers in the company. If promoted right then this could do huge business. 3. Michaels-Undertaker There are already rumors flying around that this could be the main event of next year’s Mania where it’s been largely speculated it will be the swan song for HBK. If that is true then I couldn’t think of a better match to headline that show. Both are legends who have a history of performing well with each other. They fought in what to this day is considered an all-time classic in the first Hell in the Cell match and both stole the show as the last two participants in the 2007 Rumble. It would be the battle between one man with the longest undefeated streak at Mania against the man who inarguably has the greatest ratio of classic matches at Mania. The match itself would simply be a classic. 4. Cena-Undertaker It’s ironic how Taker is in four matches which goes to tell you how important this man is to the company. These two have not had an established program since 2003 when Cena was on the rise on Smackdown. Cena is now at the star level of the Undertaker and it would be an easy natural super babyface vs. super babyface feud. Unless they are in cities like Toronto, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, the crowd reactions would be very interesting. 5. Punk-Jericho This would perhaps be one of the better in-ring feuds of recent years. These two have awesome chemistry together and Jericho along with John Morrison would have to rank as Punk’s best opponent in the WWE. They tore the house down in their match on Raw the other week and it was one of the best television bouts of the year in my opinion. Depending on who plays the role of heel and face (at this rate it’s better if Jericho stays heel) the promo work would be awesome. A lot of people don’t realize that Punk was one of the best talkers in the game during his time as a heel in ROH. He hasn’t really been given a chance to shine on the mic in WWE like he should’ve, but he still has many more years of his career to prove that. We all know that Jericho has been one of the consistently best talkers in the game since 1998 in WCW. This would be a fun program that could deliver on all fronts. 6. Jeff Hardy-Matt Hardy Now a lot of you may be wondering what is this doing up here since they had a bad feud back in late 2001. The big difference between then and now is that both were strictly tag team specialists back then without much in the way of personal charisma (though Matt would develop his on Smackdown in 2002). Today they are two of the top stars in the industry. Both have solid singles careers and each has their own dedicated base of fans. The only way this feud would even have a chance would be for Matt to play the role of the jealous brother and turn on Jeff or better yet cost him the title. Jeff is so beloved by the fans that it would certainly make Matt a high level heel. Matt would be better suited as the heel anyway since he can cut the better promos of the two. This is perhaps the most unlikely feud on this list to ever take place, but it's something to think about. 7. Evan Bourne-Mysterio From the moment these two teamed up on Raw a few months back, many insiders insisted that they be made into a top level team immediately. To the company’s credit they did continue to link the two in their feuds and matches. Mysterio is currently fighting Mike Knox who will presumably be Bourne’s first major opponent when he returns. A feud between these two would be the closest thing the WWE-only era would have that resembled the heyday of the WCW cruiserweight division. Bourne is perhaps the most fluid flier in the business while Mysterio is one of the all-around best workers ever. This could be a feud that would be similar in tone to the best-of-seven series between Benoit and Booker T from WCW where it’s not about hatred as much as it's about respect and proving who is the better man. Give these two at least 15 minutes on PPV and you have a match of the year candidate. 8. Kofi Kingston-Mysterio While this may not scream out being a money program, the in-ring value would far outweigh any other aspects. I must admit that this is the only one I put on the list for purely selfish reasons. The three minutes of a match they had on Raw a few weeks ago was enough for me to want to see them again as soon as possible. 9. Jeff Hardy-Cena This would be similar to the ultimate babyface match of Cena and Taker except that Jeff is arguably the hottest guy in the company next to Cena. And there is a good argument that he is above Cena at the moment. I always felt that the two should’ve had a program after Jeff got hot on Raw in 2007. The crowd reactions would be off the charts since the kids and women love Cena (more men outside the harsh markets like him too) and EVERYONE loves Jeff. This match more than any other (with the exception of HBK-Taker) should headline a Mania at some point. 10. Umaga-Manu The battle of the Samoans. They could go with that selling point all the way and make a pretty good program of it. Both are part of the great Samoan heritage of the WWE and can go in the ring. Umaga is obviously the better monster heel worker, but Manu isn’t bad at this stage in the game. He just needs to work on developing a personality. That could pose another problem as Manu would really have to carry things on the mic since a part of Umaga’s aura is that he doesn’t talk. Depending on how far along Manu progresses in the next year or so this could be interesting. Well I hope you all enjoyed this nice fantasy article. Hopefully some of these programs will happen over the course of the next few months or even years. Like any good fantasy, it won’t mean anything unless is becomes reality someday. Thanks for reading and any feedback is welcomed at the above address. |
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