Wrestlemania 36 is coming this April from Parts Unknown.
Here's the card. Today, we're just talking about the 3 men's title matches, plus that men's tag, plus all the virus stuff. In March, the rest of the card.
WWF Title Tyler Black v. Brock Lesnar
AJ Styles/Sami Zayn v. Bryan Danielson/Kevin Steen
IC: Ladder Match: Aleister Black v. Nick Nemeth v?
Tag Tites: Edge/Nitro v. Street Profits
Women's Title: Shayna Baszler v. Asuka
Montreal Match: Charlotte Flair v. Becky Lynch v. Sasha Banks v. Bayley
Claudio Castagnoli v Angel Garza
Drew McIntyre v. Jimmy Uso v. Kingston
Legends Boneyard Brawl: Undertaker v. The Fiend Bray Wyatt
John Cena's Final Match: John Cena v. Randy Orton
Bobby Lashley v. Drew Gulak
Kairi Sane v. Rhea Ripley
As early as the Super Bowl, President McMahon addresses the nation about the coming plague; during the rest of the month, WWF goes into hyperdrive, getting as much of the build to Mania in the can as is possible before a shutdown. The country, by and large, shuts down at the end of February.
Counterfactual US obviously manages the pandemic significantly better than IRL US; the McMahon Presidency has been one of dramatic strengthening of the social welfare state and the use of the federal apparatus for large scale infrastructure development. Shutting down nation wide, paying businesses to stay closed and to keep people on their payrolls, paying Americans to stay home (there could be a game element to it; downloaded apps, GPS tracking, those able to limit travel from their home the most get bonus payments) dramatic, early testing - contact tracing -quarranting - the stuff done by the IRL countres most successful would be done here; the kind of Presidency discussed for years as Linda readied her campaign through to Vince's Administration is exactly what you want in place when this type of catastrophe occurs. Tests - eventually vaccines - significantly more likely to be rapidly produced and administered in a country that has devoted itself to giant infrastructure projects funded my significant tax expansion to the wealthiest Americans/corporations.
However - for purposes of "does that mean you can have fans at Counterfactual Survivor Series because things are much better than IRL?" It doesn't. I'm not going down that rabbit hole.
Here's how things look:
1. We've got crowds all February and then there's enough canned stuff to get through much of the rest of the build; we're not going to shoot any empty arena matches to air before Mania, whatever holes we have will be filled by taped packages, distance promos, interviews.
2. Mania's taped; WWF builds an NBA like bubble; needed personnel goes in for a specified period (maybe as long as a month) and tapes months of wrestling, like Lucha Underground. I don't believe there is another live WWF match the rest of 2020 once we shut down at February's end. The bubble opens, they tape a ton, everyone goes home - rinse, repeat the rest of 2020.
3. Royal Rumble 2021 will be the next live show.
4. WM 37 is planned to have some level of fans.
As for the shows - if you've seen pandemic ROH, that's really the Fight Night format I've described for years; matches that are focused in the ring and taped pieces. Sure, normally I want a small but rabid crowd, but X them out and Fight Night doesn't change much.
I think the pandemic provides an opportunity to experiment with something; if you watch The Challenge, for example, and think about the way they present their competitions as taped pieces interspersed with confessional observations - I think there's room here to turn an hour a week into that. I don't want professional wrestling to become that - I like matches, I like sports - but as an alternative presentation; if you've got a bunch of taped wrestling matches, finding new ways to present them in an effort to grow the audience makes sense.
I see that debuting at Mania as a second screen experience; Mania has always been on PPV; all the big four shows were PPV until very recently, none part of the Network package (which always seemed obvious to me). The other 3 have moved to the Network, leaving Mania alone fotr PPV - but given the pandemic, this year it goes to FOX - first time ever - Wrestlemania is free.
That will be the traditional presentation - but on the WWF Network is a "Challenge" type of presentation; with the matches not presented as a live sport, but instead as a movie, the matches have already happened, the partipants have taped confessional pieces cut into their presentation.
As for how matches/angles change without crowds; I think you cut out most of the ga-ga; large ring introductions - fireworks - posing, playing to the crowd that isn't there. Early on there was a lot of "MMA is still pretty good and WWE is not" takes - that's just sport v non sport; cut the bullshit, focus on the ring, which is the general approach here anyway, but more so in 2020.
I don't think heat angles are partcularly effective without fans; which makes a build to a PPV more challenging. I don't think a lot of ringside action is that effective; I don't want to see a well lit arena with empty seats - darken the building, focus on the ring like it's a stage in a theater. So the "brawl around the ring" match that I do a lot, I'll be doing that less.
For spot matches, brawls - they are way away from the ring; something like that football stadium match AEW did. If you want something that isn't a traditional, hard hitting grappling match that largely stays inside the ropes - then go tape that thing in the concourse, in the parking lot - at the Hardy compound, wherever it is.
Let's talk about the card.
AJ STYLES/SAMI ZAYN V BRYAN DANIELSON/KEVIN STEEN
The RAW after the Rumble opens with a promo from Danielson/Steen. Steen explains that Rey took food out of his children's mouths, tried to end his career and he deserved every ounce of that beating. That he wanted immediate vengeance a year prior, but someone told him to be patient, pick a spot, the time would be right. And it was. And that person - was Bryan Danielson.
Danielson says attacking AJ Styles last night was better than any hyperbaric chamber, any stem cell injection, it added years to his career, he could feel the weight, the heaviness of having to be the hero to these people just lifted right off him. All the time he's had to explain just the basics of this sport that he has mastered and they pretend to understand was just eroding his brain cells.
Danielson says a year ago, when he and Samoa Joe were beating each others brains out, he made two phone calls, one was to Kevin Steen, because no different than when he left Ring of Honor to come to WWF, he realized his career was at an inflection point, that the American Dragon was dead and buried, and he needed to have people around him who he could trust to do what was necessary. Kevin Steen is a violent man and this is a violent world.
The other call - well, he'll keep that to himself for now.
And that brings out an angry AJ Styles.
Styles gets in Danielson's face, calls him a coward, tells him no one cares whose DMs he's sliding into, that all he needs to say right now are when he's going to get back in the ring with Styles so he can get his ass kicked...again.
Danielson goads Styles, says he can get that, he can get Danielson back in the ring - on RAW, heck get him in any match he wants. Does AJ want a no holds barred match? Does AJ want Danielson trapped within the confines of a 15 foot high steel cage?
He can get that.
But first - he has to beat Kevin Steen. Two weeks from tonight on RAW.
AJ remains eager. He wants that match.
Danielson continues - but - if you lose - then Kevin Steen gets your title shot. Kevin Steen goes to the main event of Wrestlemania to fight Tyler Black for the WWF Title.
Steen excitedly kisses Danielson on the temple. Styles agrees to the stip.
They build for two weeks.
We get to the match, main event of RAW - Styles v. Steen, AJ putting up his title shot.
The referee is Sami Zayn.
So, this is where you need to have followed along; Zayn's been a referee, positioned on TV as any other referee, since last year's Mania; no physical interactions, nothing designed to draw TV attention, and he's never officiated a single Steen match.
He's hiding in plain sight.
The finish comes when Danielson cheats somehow, Zayn's distracted, AJ is knocked out, Steen has the pinfall - Zayn counts to 2. And stops.
And instead of slamming his hand down for the three count - he stands up - his face transforming as if he'd been waiting years for this moment - he rips off his striped officials shirt - and just lays waste to Steen; and when Danielson runs in - he sends him flying from the ring as well - with a primal scream, Sami Zayn has cleaned house.
That's the last segment in the program that needs to be in front of a crowd. Promos beyond that can all be done via distance. Zayn's a fired up babyface; Steen's a hypocrite, he thinks Rey tried to take his career? Steen stole his entire identity. El Generico was a great professional wrestler and Kevin Steen killed him. Zayn spent years as Steen's best friend, the only guy who always had his back and Steen plunged the knife into him. Steen, however, argues this is what he wanted all along - he killed Generico so Zayn could live and now, Sami Zayn is in the co-main event of Wrestlemania. Styles is disgusted at Danielson; they've gone straight up at each other to see who is the "best wrestler in the world" and because Danielson couldn't beat him he decided to take shortcuts and anything else is just noise. Danielson's stoked - he's having fun, the WWF is about to see a version of Bryan Danielson he's had to keep muted for a long, long time.
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP: TYLER BLACK V BROCK LESNAR
The finish of that Styles/Steen match causes WWF to vacate Styles shot at the title and who gets it, is of course, Lesnar.
Lesnar declared war on the Bullet Club at the end of the Rumble and that continues here; Lesnar makes clear that he's wiping the Bullet Club out of the WWF; one at a time until he gets to Black. Somehow, that has to be enough to get Shoot Nation to let the Bullet Club thing go (Shoot Nation will also quickly be re-engaged with Underground). One by one, Lesnar kills everyone (that can be done after the shutdown as well, Lesnar shows up at Karl Anderson's house and F5's him on his deck, that kind of thing) - he kills Anderson, kills Gallows, doesn't physically attack Renee but scares her into leaving the promotion. They're all gone forever. Lesnar kills Kushida multiple times; he'll eventually come back but it will be a second. Spared is Devitt, as he's been gone since Summer Slam, Lynch, as she played no role in killing Angle and is locked into a thing of her own - and Black, because he's saving him for last.
They can get lots of Jaws mileage out of this, you never know when Lesnar's going to strike - is he about to ...no, he's not - everything's -- oh, no, F5. It's babyface Brock out to avenge Angle and rid the promotion of the nefarious Bullet Club.
Eventually, they're all gone. It's just Black, at home in Florida or wherever.
And Black's happy. All his career, people constantly saying he needs a stable, needs an army, that Tyler Black just hops from group to group to keep him safe - he knows what people say - knows what Ambrose said - knows what Mauro Ranallo says.
At Wrestlemania - Tyler Black stands completely alone. Against Brock Lesnar. 1 on 1 for the WWF Title. And when Black beats him, 1-2-3 - that will prove forever that it wasn't The Shield, it wasn't The Bullet Club - hell, it wasn't even Age of the Fall. It's always been Tyler Black and a bunch of guys he carried to greatness.
IC LADDER MATCH: ALEISTER BLACK V. NICK NEMETH V. ?
Black took Ricochet's IC title and then Underground resumes their assualt from last year on Shoot Nation; it leads to an undercard match to be discussed in March but also leads to this one. Nemeth, recall, was beaten in his hotel room a year prior by Underground and so he's the one who ascends for this shot. There's lots of mix/matching that can be done here - Gable/Benjamin and Murphy/Crews aren't working Mania so they'll do a lot of fighting.
Somehere in the build, Zelina Vega is able to successfully argue that La Sombra should be added to the match - and then at some point during quarrantine, it's made a Ladder Match as part of the "since there's a pandemic we're giving this away for free so let's put on a show for the people" vibe.
In the go home week we're told that Sombra is off the card for unspecified medical reasons and someone will be added to the match.
WWF TAG TITLES: EDGE/JOHNNY NITRO V THE STREET PROFITS
Edge and Nitro returned to the promotion as Clique members with Michaels and won the tag titles; throw in Lee and Riddle and the Clique will be doing a babyface stable march throughout this build. The Profits won this shot in the Survivor Series elimination match and have been doing their IRL babyface announcing shtick. They make fun of guys, it's entertaining. The heat here is age related, Edge and Nitro are older than the Profits, you see, and so are they past their prime or are the Profits too green for this moment? We'll find out.
It's Wrestlemania 36. No guest referee. No dark matches. No managers or valets. The announcers will be remote. It's 2020, weird wild stuff.
8 matches left to set up - we'll do that in March
