Wrestlemania 40

The build.

Wrestlemania 40 comes to you from Philadelphia.

The announcers (analysts rotate throughout the broadcast) Michael Cole (8th PPV) Corey Graves (10th) Wade Barrett (10th) Steve Regal (29th)

Music from the Rocky catalog plays for all the highlight packages, because of Philadelphia, and because of Rocky III and the Hulk Hogan/Eye of the Tiger of It All, and because a million years ago I decided when I did my last WM, the closing package would be black and white stills to "The Final Bell"  The opening montage will be all the Brother v Brother matches from WM 10, 20, 30 leading to images from the builds for tonights matches, and the end package will be still images from the prior 39 Manias, going backward from tonight all the way through to 1985, so when the final notes are played from the Conti song, a black and white shot of a smiling Steamboat, holding the WWF Title belt aloft is shown.

Additionally, throughout the night are packages of wrestlers stepping alone into one of those immersive theaters to watch "this is your life" clips where they can see themselves from childhood all the way to their first WM appearance.  It's likely an emotional night from Philadelphia - Summer Slam is going to be a much more wrestling focused, stripped down show - this is the blow out.

Dark: Dragon Lee d. Je'von Evans

          Bron Steiner d. Sheamus

          The Culture (Hayes/Williams) d. Axion/Frazer

          Dark Ride Title: Cedric Alexander (w/Culture) d. Ilja Dragunov

 The 19th Dark Ride Champ is Cedric Alexander, the Mania telecast begins with Alexander/Hayes/Williams standing triumphantly on the turnbuckles

The opening highlight package includes clips from the Brother v Brother matches from 10, 20, 30:

-Owen v Bret

-Shawn v Razor

-Eddy v. Chavo

-Shawn v Hunter

-Claudio v Danielson

-Nemeth v Sheamus

-Brock v. Swagger

1. TRIPLE CROWN (Styles/Mysterio w/Nakamura) d. UNION OF CROWNS (Dunne/Bate)

-Styles gets the fall on Bate; Triple Crown is a pretty flexible box, I could see guys moving in and out, as anyone with a TC is eligible under this conceit - there's a Main Event Mafia possibility here, if Zayn and Rey are ever part of a heel faction, this is the mechanism for that.

2. MILLION DOLLAR RETIREMENT MATCH: PRINCE DEVITT d. LOGAN PAUL (w/McAfee)

-Devitt gets the fall, McAfee tries to sneak off with the briefcase, it's partially open and leaking money, McDonaugh appears, taking him out on the ramp, securing the briefcase, still leaking money, Devitt and McDonaugh are reunited and all is right with the world.  There's cash all over the place, roadies sweep it into corners

3. STREET PROFITS d. YOUNG MONEY (Killings/Kingston w/Woods)

-Woods turns here, joining the Profits, who are also turning, as this started as an all babyface matchup.  The Woods/Profits act becomes more serious - I'd like to get Kingston in a babyface tag act with Orton, give them a run, have Orton turn on him setting up the last stretch of both guys WWF careers.

Here come the lumberjacks - the idea is 40 total, given that its WM 40, all in pairs who have some sort of connection with each other; whether on TV or through social media, ideally all 40 have chosen sides, half are with the Rock (the new ownership, new booking direction, etc..) half with Knight (Hunter's side, keeping WWF stuck in the most shlocky parts of its past).  It's possible not all 40 guys are available here (Batista is the biggest stretch).  They all get introductions, it's a long spot, it's WM 40 after all.  

HBK/HHH-M

Windham/Rotundo

Rick/Scott

Undertaker/Kane

Cena/Batista

Bubba/DVon

Waltman/Road Dogg

Helms/Rhyno

Chavo/Carlito

Angle/Haas

RVD/Sabu

Sheamus/Barrett

Booker/Bradshaw

Fit/Regal

Arn/Tully

Raven/Dreamer

Crews/Bernard

DiBiase/DiBiase Jr.

Foley/Snow

Natty/Bret

4. LEGENDS LUMBERJACK MATCH: THE ROCK d. LA KNIGHT

-This is really just fan service; the lumberjacks break down, of course, and start to brawl - eventually, Knight's ridiculous act pushes a step too far and the guys who had been on his side now change their minds, there's a ref bump, Hunter winds up aiding the Rock, Shawn superkicks Knight to get his revenge, as many guys who can do some approximation of a finishing move lay Knight out postmatch - then the guys find the money and hand it to fans in a supersized IRL Andre at WM spot. All the money is now gone - we get a giant dose of nostalgia without it coming at the finish of the main event (everyone liked the finish of IRL 40 more than I did).

5. NO HOLDS BARRED: DEFIANCE (Priest/Dom/Ripley) d. RANDY ORTON/ANDRADE/BECKY LYNCH

-Reed returns and he and Priest wipe out Orton, the finish comes when Andrade inadvertently chairshots Lynch, Ripley gets the fall.  Black sprints to the ring, his match is supposed to be next, he's out of his mind with concern, he's furious at Andrade - eventually they all go to the back.  The set up next step is Black/Andrade, Andrade returned because of what Reed did to Flair and now he has, albeit accidentally, injured Lynch - and then that is designed to set up the Flair/Lynch breakup as they align, understandably with their husbands in the next chapter of their forever on again/off again friendship.  Now, as it turns out, Flair/Andrade are already IRL divorced and Lynch still doesn't have a return date.  Back to this show - Black's match against Escobar is supposed to go next, but there's shuffling around and the women's tag title match is moved up. 

6. WOMENS TAG TITLES: BIANCA BELAIR/BAYLEY d. NAOMI/DAKOTA KAI

-The babyfaces keep, Belair gets the fall.  Quick, painless.

7. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Twisted Sun Gods) d. TYLER BLACK

-Black is distracted, he goes under, and then as quickly as possible runs back to the back - Lynch is going to be gone long enough (maybe really, really long enough) that the severity of what's happened to her can be emphasized by his essentially giving away this match.  I think this might serve as the impetus to put Black back with Langston, either as "Langston pulls Black from darkness" or "Langston gives Black the grit he needs to push harder".  

8. DREW McINTYRE (w/Union of Crowns) d. ROMAN REIGNS (Special Guest Referee: Chad Gable)

-Its the blowoff to the feud - McIntyre goes over, there's more juice left in his ability to have good wrestling matches, in this heel/heel program, it's Drew who establishes himself as the man; he/Dunne/Bate pose, it's time for In Memorium.

In Memorium

Bray Wyatt

Terry Funk

Iron Sheik

Superstar Billy Graham

Billy White Wolf

Adrian Street

Bushwacker Butch

Droz

Killer Khan

Virgil

Butcher Vachon

Ole Anderson

9. IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: JIMMY USO d. JEY USO

-Given the Brother v. Brother theme we've done every decade at Mania, every version of this card for the past couple of years had an Usos ladder match for the IC, with a slight pause given how bad their IRL match was at 40.  Roman runs in on behalf of Jey, we get the return of Solo, he comes out of the crowd to help Jimmy - bumps all around - Jimmy climbs the ladder, takes the belt, the crowd yeets (Jimmy got the Yeet gimmick) and there's a new IC Champ, the 86th IC Champ in history.

10. WOMENS TITLE: IYO SKY d. ASUKA/KAIRI SANE

-There's also a new women's champ, the 18th modern women's WWF Champ - this is the blow off for this feud and really a turning of the page, Asuka has been the ace of the division for years, really her entire run with the promotion, but Sky beat her at last year's Mania and now pins her here, taking the title and establishing that she's the best women's wrestler in WWF.  

11. TAG TITLES: SAMI ZAYN/KEVIN STEEN d. KINGS OF WRESTLING (Gargano/Ciampa)

-It's my ideal final Mania tag title match; Steen and Zayn reunited the year prior, won the belts at the Rumble and now vanquish the challenge from their former stablemates.  

12. WWF TITLE: WALTER (w/Heyman) d. CODY RHODES

-The 66th WWF Champion is Walter.  Nearly 2 years ago, the plan to have Walter win the title at 40 was created, albeit, initially Brock was the penciled in opponent.  Here, Walter and Heyman enter the ring to the ECW theme, Heyman wearing the old duster.  Rhodes fights from underneath, Walter attacking that knee that was injured by the masked man a couple weeks prior.  Codys been the champion for a year - but still feels like the underdog throughout the match, and eventually, succumbs.  

Postmatch handshake, Cody leaves the ring - and with his back turned as he's walking away, the masked man emerges from under the ring, two glass light tubes, he cracks Cody's knee again - he drops like a shot - medical emerges to aid Cody as the masked man, with one light tube, enters the ring - he and Walter nose to nose - Heyman intercedes - theres a moment.....and then Heyman and the masked man hug.  They hug, I tells you, they hug.

Heyman pulls off his mask.

CM Punk.

Punk unzips his black coat, revealing an old school Paul Heyman Guy t shirt - Punk has shockingly joined Heyman, the three men pose for the Philadelphia fans as Wrestlemania 40 comes to a close.

I've got a post ready to go for May, for June - then I'll build to Summer Slam, WWF 150, the final PPV for the Counterfactual, in July.  

The Final Bell

One black and white image from each WM, working backwards.  

40-The Punk unmasking

39-The Zayn/Steen reconciliation hug

38-Cody waving the Bullet Club flag at the top of the ladder

37-Zayn, bleeding through the El Generico mask, on top of the Cell

36-Lynch submitting to Banks in the Montreal Match

35-Kurt Angle held aloft by Shoot Nation after his final match

34-Nakamura with the Bomaye on Lesnar

33-Claudio/Pac swinging ladders onto Steen/Generico

32-The Bullet Club formation

31-Kenta with the Go 2 Sleep on Danielson

30-AJ Lee shaking hands with Natty Neidhart before the first women's PPV match

29-Punk throwing in the towel to end the Danielson/Lesnar match while Bruno and Steamboat look on

28-Danielson kicking Jericho's head in.

27-The huge Underground celebration in the ring, Punk laying on the ground at Bret's feet

26-Bret and Shawn nose to nose before each man's final match

25-Steamboat chopping Punk

24-Edge standing over a fallen Jericho

23-Undertaker tombstoning Michaels, Austin as the referee

22-Cactus sending Van Dam through a flaming table

21-Eddy/Dean/Benoit with their hands raised together as the confetti falls

20-Jericho throwing Christian off the Cell

19-Lesnar shooting star press

18-Hennig submitting to Angle

17-Austin stunner on Regal

16-Carnage from the first TLC match

15-Edge/Christian and Trish turning on the Hardys, joining the Clique

14-Shamrock and Austin bleeding in the Octagon

13-Austin double middle finger to Bret

12-Michaels/Diesel/Razor with the Clique handsign

11-Michaels submitting to Bret in the sharpshooter

10-Owen celebrating with the WWF Title 

9-Michaels/Razor/Diesel brawl with Bret/Owen/Savage

8-Bret and Flair nose to nose

7-Savage in mid air, dropping an elbow on Hennig

6-Bret waving the Canadian flag in Toronto

5-The Brainbusters and Rockers all bleeding

4-Dynamite screaming at Steamboat

3-Hogan dropping a leg on Piper

2-The 4 members of the Hart Foundation all holding title belts, standing on the turnbuckles

1-Ricky Steamboat holding aloft the WWF Title

One show left.  But some other stuff to come beginning next month with...an alternative AEW history.

The Road to Wrestlemania 40

The Rumble

Wrestlemania 40 is next month in Philadelphia.  Brother v. Brother, Sister v. Sister.  

Here's the card.

WWF TITLE: CODY RHODES v. WALTER (w/Heyman)

IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: JEY USO v. JIMMY USO

WWF TAG TITLES: KEVIN STEEN/SAMI ZAYN v. KINGS OF WRESTLING (JOHNNY GARGANO/TOMMASO CIAMPA)

WOMENS TITLE: TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: ASUKA v. IYO SKY V. KAIRI SANE

WOMENS TAG TITLES: BIANCA/BELAIR/BAYLEY v. NAOMI/DAKOTA KAI

ROMAN REIGNS v. DREW McINTYRE (Special Guest Referee-Chad Gable)

MILLION DOLLAR LEAVES TOWN MATCH: PRINCE DEVITT v. LOGAN PAUL (w/McAfee)

TYLER BLACK v. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Twisted Sun Gods)

LEGENDS LUMBERJACK MATCH: THE ROCK v. LA KNIGHT

No DQ: WINNER GETS DEFIANCE NAME: RANDY ORTON/ANDRADE/BECKY LYNCH v. DEFIANCE (DAMIEN PRIEST/DOM MYSTERIO/RHEA RIPLEY) 

TRIPLE CROWN (AJ STYLES/REY MYSTERIO w/Nakamura) v. UNION OF CROWNS (PETE DUNNE/TYLER BATE)

STREET PROFITS (ANGELO DAWKINS/MONTEZ FORD) v. YOUNG MONEY (KINGSTON/KILLINGS)

1. Rhodes v. Walter

-Funny thing happened on the way to Brother v. Brother...the reason to put Walter/Lesnar together in the first place a year and a half ago now was to get to that match here, but something happened, who can recall really?  

-So, the build here is Immovable Object v. Irresistible Force; Walter has been headed to this point for years, nearly unbeaten since signing his deal, 2 time Dark Ride Champ, Tag Champ and now, he's the last man standing in the Dangerous Alliance, he's gone over Roman, and its his time.

-Cody has not lost a singles match in his return - won the IC, only gave it up because of injury, won the WWF Title, holding it now for a year, won the Triple Crown, even has control over the Bullet Club name - hell, he even won the AEW Title from Punk, that was the barely subtextual storyline for the Rumble.  Who voices all of that is Heyman - Cody is on a nearly unprecedented run - but yet - Walter.

-Heyman thanking Cody for getting rid of Punk once and for all.

-All babyface build, Heyman going back to Philly is part of the discussion, Walter doesn't talk very much (he will).  The big angle happens at the go home RAW - there's a face to face between Walter and Cody thats booked in the main event slot, Cody has his hydraulic lift entrance - and he gets attacked like Tonya Harding, kneecapped with a glass tube by a figure all in black - there's chaos - Walter and Heyman and a million security/backstage personnel descend on Cody, there's a blood capsule for a pool of blood shot.  Chaos.

-Throughout the rest of the week, there is doubt about the status of the main event, that doubt is satisfied in the main event spot for Fight Night when Cody sends in a video, he says if he has to come on one leg, he will defend his title against Walter at Mania.

2. Jey v Jimmy

-Each decade, at WM 10, 20, 30, WWF has the same Brother v Brother theme and the IC Title has always been decided in a ladder match - at 10, it was former stablemates Shawn and Razor, at 20, it was cousins Eddy and Chavo, at 30 it was former stablemates Nemeth and Sheamus - and here, its actual brothers, Jey defending against Jimmy.

-As Roman not selecting them when he created his stable was the impetus for the Usos split, that Roman interfered on Jey's behalf to aid him in taking the IC from McIntyre at the Rumble is the primary talking point.  Roman is in the angle, he apologizes to Jey, part of the build with Jey/McIntyre was Drew saying Roman had impressed upon him that Jey was the weak link - Roman makes clear that was a lie.  Roman says he made a mistake not selecting Jey and he apologizes (is Roman on the square, is it manipulation - fair to interpret either motive, but crucially, Roman doesn't run down Jimmy)

-Jimmy feels betrayed by any embrace of Roman - the Usos arent just a tag team that split up, they are twin brothers, 4 time WWF Tag Champs, Yeet (Jimmy gets the Yeet gimmick, he's the babyface, and after Jimmy wins that big Elimination Chamber at the Rumble, that starts to build momentum) they have been together every step of their lives and Roman tore that apart - and now, Jey is cool with him?  

-We get a tag as part of the build, Jey/Roman v Drew/Jimmy - Jimmy's the only babyface there, Drew eventually loses on a countout, he attacks Roman on the outside when Drew is the legal man, Jey aids Roman in fighting him off - Jimmy also pulls Drew back and goes nose to nose with him, we're left with the painful distance between the two brothers only able to be traversed with use of a ladder on the biggest stage of them all.

3. Steen/Zayn v. Gargano/Ciampa

-Ex stablemates collide at Brother v Brother Mania; as discussed in a spoiler in the Rumble write up, the night after the Rumble, Zayn and Steen are set to reform GDI with the Kings of Wrestling - but KoW turns on them.  

-The bitterness is evident - when Steen/Zayn split from Claudio/Pac, Gargano and Ciampa, as the GDI representatives in Dark Ride (or whatever it was called then) felt like they had to pick a side - they went in opposite directions leading to a bitter feud between the two of them - leading to multiple injuries, Ciampa broke his neck - they blame Steen specifically for costing them years from their careers.

-Even after the attack, Steen attempts a form of apology - Zayn won't let him, fuck those guys - climate change isn't Steen's fault, inflation isn't Steen's fault, and Ciampa breaking his neck isn't Steen's fault - if they want to go, then we go.

-They split singles matches in the lead up, full on 50/50; workrate expectations are off the charts for the blowoff match for the belts at WM

4. Asuka v Sky v. Sane

-Asuka and Sky were tag partners years before coming to WWF, aligned in the ring and out; with Sane, they formed an alliance in WWF - as much behind the scenes as in the ring; Asuka turned on Sky, leading to their long feud that seemingly ended a year ago when Sky beat Asuka at Mania -- but Asuka subsequently brought Sane back from Japan, used her aid to win the belt from Rousey - Sky viewed that as a betrayal and the twists and turns lead us here - it's one fall to a finish, and another big time workrate match at WM 40

5. Belair/Bayley v. Naomi/Kai

-Naomi and Kai have really been organizational depth as opposed to featured PPV upper card workers, but here we are - they build a sister v. sister storyline, Naomi going to her longtime friends Belair and Bayley to see if she and Kai could get a title shot, they do - and it starts off as all babyface, but Naomi and Kai eventually just turn on the champs in the build

Those are the title matches - the Dark Ride title will be contested in the pre show, Dragunov defending against the newest member of the Culture, Cedric Alexander.

6. Reigns v. McIntyre

-More ex stablemate collision; Romans stable blew up when Roman lost the title a year ago, Lashley got fired from the stable and never returned to the promotion, Gable turned face and McIntyre (those three brawled during the Gable/Roman Summer Slam match) started his own heel faction with Dunne and Bate and won the IC - losing it to Jey when Roman aided Jey.  

-Real bitterness from both these guys about the breakup, about all the chatter afterward, who gets credit for the Roman stable succeeding, who takes the blame for the breakup - who will be the man going forward.  We find out at Mania.

7. Devitt v. Paul

-Paul retired Cena and ran Edge out of the promotion; following Devitt's losing his feud with Cody, including a stip that he can never wrestle for the WWF Title again, Paul set his sights on ending his WWF career as well.  Paul beat him at the Rumble and so we raise the stakes - if Devitt wins, he gets a million dollars (some combo of cash and bitcoin and NFTs and stock in Paul's energy drink and whatever - its all placed in some sort of very expensive designer bag that will be at ringside.  And if Paul wins - Devitt leaves WWF.  

8. Rock v. Knight

-This starts of course, with Barry Windham.

-Windham lost to Steamboat in the first main event and he will return as a guest at 40, Knight clowns that announcement, if Windham were any good, Knight would be doing one of his old moves better than he ever did.

-That brings out Shawn. The last time we saw Shawn in storyline, Knight superkicked him and tossed him through a plate glass window.  Shawn is hot at the disrespect to Windham, Knight says Shawn can get it too - if he wants to come to the ring and eat a superkick - Shawn attempts to do that - stopped by Hunter.

-Hunter says Shawns medical is clear, he is not fighting again, not wrestling again, Hunter will not let him.  Shawn says he knows - but maybe there's someone who might be able to put Knight in his place.

-That person turns out to be the Rock.  And here's where the simmering "big changes coming, the McMahons are gone, WWF is merging with UFC, who knows what the future holds" element that was set up by Linda after last year's Mania comes into play.  Rock will be on the board of the new WWF, essentially Hunter's boss - Hunter and Rock have never gotten along, and that friction is evident here, and Hunter now gets heated at Shawn for bringing Rock into it.

-The result is a legends match is set up, Rock v. Knight, with Shawn obviously supporting the Rock - and Hunter now supporting Knight (its really anti-Rock, as opposed to "I love LA Knight" - but some element of this is Hunter is what's happening today - and the Rock is both upholding yesterday ('cause Knight's a cosplayer) but also tomorrow (because of the coming merger and some level of creative shift...now, that's really a proxy for the end of the Counterfactual, but that gets us into a really meta place).

-And what that allows us to do is bring back 40 (well, 38, 'cause Shawn/HHH are 2) former wrestlers, ideally all in pairs, with one of the pair supporting Knight and one supporting Rock (like, Rick Steiner sends a video saying he's pro Rock and Scott Steiner sends one saying he's pro Knight, that sort of thing). At WWF 100, we brought back basically every wrestler who was ever on one of the prior 99 PPVs who could come back - at WWF 150, we are not doing that, it's really a small stripped down show - the big show is here, so this is the equivalent of that, 40 (because its WM 40) wrestlers from the past (ideally all former champions if we can swing it) and the divide allows us both to keep that Brother v. Brother storyline and do a lumberjack stip.  

9. Black v. Escobar

-Last singles match on the card, Black's a babyface, Escobar the head of a heel stable, Black beats the other guys in singles matches, the stable beats him down, it's what you expect.

10. Orton/Andrade/Lynch v. Priest/Dom/Ripley

-Almost 2 years ago now, Priest struck first, killing Orton before the inevitable (if history is a guide) happened and Orton killed him (Orton eats his tag partners).  Orton was gone a year, they are 1-1 in this feud and this is for the stable name

-Ripley quit the Horsewomen, joined Defiance, they killed Lynch/Flair, with Reed wiping out Flair in a way to egregious that Andrade quit AEW to return to WWF and get his revenge - he did and now he and Lynch, who returned at the Rumble to help Orton, join together.  Andrade cults multiple "you hit a woman, you are a coward" promos, Reed is down with injury at his hand,  but he is still fueled by vengeance.

11. Street Profits v. Young Money

-The Profits have a Mania slot, they want to pay respect to those who paved the way, they tell Kingston they want he and Killings to reunite for one night; Killings thinks he and Kingston have been a team all along.  At some point, the switch flips and Killings cuts a "maybe I know whats going on but as a defense mechanism I push away knowledge of the dying embers of my career" serious promo - he is largely just a backstage presence and Kingston largely is a twitch streamer, this might be their final WM and they are gonna dig deep against the Profits

12. Styles/Rey v. Dunne/Bate

-Styles/Nakamura are Triple Crown, they added Rey in the build to the Rumble and Rey slides in here against the rest of McIntyre's stable.  

Wrestlemania 40.  Philadelphia.  Brother v. Brother.  Sister v. Sister.  Coming in April