Post by Rain on Oct 26, 2014 12:36:28 GMT 1
Russo está haciendo una columna de como ÉL bookearía RAW y es interesante algunas cosas que propone como que Cesaro se una a Rusev. Leedlo por vosotros mismo y decidme si os gustaría. Está en inglés y no, no tengo ni el tiempo ni la paciencia para traducirlo entero jeje. Ahí va.
usso Books Raw
My system in booking RAW is going to be as follows: Following every pay-per-view, I am going to lay out a general direction for not only the following night’s RAW, but where I would go leading up to the next pay-per-view. In this case – Hell in a Cell. When I was back booking a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, we would book from PPV to PPV, knowing where we were going month to month, but really building each week in between with as much intrigue as possible.
Heading into the second week of TV, things will then change a bit, as I will try to stay within the storylines and angles that the WWE has laid out, offering an alternative to how I would cover the direction that Creative has already set in place. In other words, I will work within the mainframe and parameters that they have built, and use what is already there to craft the best show possible.
Last night at NOC, in my opinion, there were some things done well and some not so well. Some things to build on — some things that need fixing. Going into tonight’s show, this is the overall direction that I would be heading in, if I had a clean slate.
While I’m aware there will be some people that enjoy my vision and others that disagree, please note that these are simply MY opinions…MY suggestions. There is never a 100% right or 100% wrong way to write a TV show — it’s all subjective. I simply hope you’ll find these weekly features just as I mean for them to be: entertaining alternatives.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Twitter by using the hashtag #.....BooksRAW. I simply ask you keep them respectful.
With all that out of the way, let’s get to work!
GOLDUST/STARDUST — NEW WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPS
Let’s change something up right off the bat, and not just book the Usos rematch the next night because of their “traditional” rematch clause. Leave it there for now — it’s not going anywhere. I would book a non-title match tonight between Goldust and Stardust vs. Luke Harper and Erik Rowan. I am already intrigued because it’s two heel teams (although Goldust and Stardust aren’t your typical heel team).
We all know that Harper & Rowan have been fading as of late, and I think we need to fix that. These two were on a roll and then their momentum just came to a screeching halt. In this match ,I’d make it an all-out brawl with Goldust/Stardust going over. At the end of the match, I’d have the blackout with Bray appearing in the middle of the ring after the bell. Here, the fans think that Bray is going to attack Goldust and Stardust, but he doesn’t. In fact he hits Harper & Rowan with Sister Abagails leaving them both laying.
The story here is that Bray has seen enough of their fall and he will ultimately bring them back to prominence through a level of tough, violent love that he has never before displayed. Bray, Harper and Rowan now bring their game to an all-time high. This would lead to a match at HIAC between Goldust/Stardust and Harper/Rowen for the WWE Tag Team Titles. Rowan/Harper would label the match “Hillbilly Hell” — a hardcore match where anything goes. Yeah, I get it – the kids. However, this is PAY-PER-VIEW, and we wouldn’t see anything more violent than the cinder block curb stomp on Ambrose that we saw on RAW only a few weeks ago.
SHEAMUS — WWE US TITLE
A couple of things to accomplish here…
For starters, WWE Creative made Sheamus look strong last night, and I would think that’s to get him ready for Rusev, as that would be the obvious angle. What I would do here to make things interesting, is to have Mark Henry avoid a return match with Rusev, because he knows now that he can’t beat him, and put his sights on Sheamus and the US Title to save face with the American fans. Of course, in the process you are turning the veteran Henry heel, who keeps repeating that he’s “doing it for the fans and America”, but you are also putting the spotlight on Sheamus, making him strong, and getting him ready for Rusev.
Sheamus and Mark Henry would then collide at “Hell in the Cell”.
I’ll have more on Rusev in a moment…
MIZ — WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION
In my opinion, WWE made a big mistake taking the belt off of Ziggler last night, and I would adjust that tonight. I would book the rematch between Ziggler and Miz tonight on RAW for the IC Title, and I would book it as a LADDER MATCH. I would have Sandow come out and cause Miz the accidental loss, setting up a feud between Miz and Mizdow which would help take Sandow to the next level, and get him out of his comedic role. As far as Dolph Ziggler, now the WWE Intercontinental Champion once again, read on…
BRAY WYATT/DOLPH ZIGGLER
I would have Bray set his sights on Ziggler and the IC belt. Little different spin here.
Whereas others have not drank Bray’s “Kool-Aid” in the past, I would have Wyatt’s words begin to have a David Koresh-like effect on Ziggler. This could give Ziggler’s character more of an edge, and less of an 80′s pop star feel. This may be the character adjustment that Ziggler needs to break out of the mold that he has been trapped in. Remember Brian Pillman?
This would lead to Bray/Ziggler for IC title at Hell in the Cell. So many possibilities here that would get BOTH guys over.
RUSEV
FAR AND AWAY, this was the best thing they did on Night of Champions last night. They made Rusev look strong — almost invincible — and they need to keep him that way. I’m going outside the box as we get Sheamus ready here.
From now until Hell in the Cell, I would go a much different route with Rusev. I couldn’t help last night but hear JBL dog Mark Henry after his loss to Rusev, much the same way he did Swagger after SummerSlam. I would have Lana come out on RAW tonight and call JBL out on this, by asking him if he thinks he could do any better. This would lead to both Rusev and Lana goading JBL week in and week out, until Rusev finally gets some massive heat on him. This of course would lead to JBL lacing them up one more time, and taking on Rusev at Hell in the Cell.
It’s the small details that matter — like JBL’s constant chatter about the Americans constantly coming up short against Rusev. Why wouldn’t you have Rusev and Lana use that to get over more? You put those things in place — simply follow up on it.
DIVA SITUATION
OK. This will take some sorting out. I think I would have Paige calling out AJ demanding her rematch tonight. AJ would come out and accept. Then, Stephanie comes out with Nikki Bella. Stephanie makes it CLEAR that Nikki was “entitled” to win the Divas Championship last night, and because Paige submitted and Nikki never lost the match, Nikki will meet the winner of AJ/Paige tonight for the WWE Diva’s Championship. At some point during the in-ring, have AJ really get in Stephanie’s face and insult her.
This would lead to a backstage scene in the back where Stephanie is telling the referee assigned to the Paige/AJ title match match to do whatever he has to do in order to raise AJ’s hand. Stephanie wants Nikki to embarrass AJ tonight based off AJ just belittling her in the ring. At the finish of the Paige/AJ match, the ref does just that – he quick counts Paige giving AJ the victory and awarding her the belt. Paige is furious after the match, and violently drops the referee.
We come back later on for the Nikki/AJ title match. Stephanie is on color. With Nikki selling and the ref tending to her, Stephanie takes the Diva’s belt from the desk and nails AJ with it. Nikki goes for the quick cover, but AJ kicks out last minute!
Now Stephanie begins acting as Nikki’s full-time manager. She’s screaming orders at Nikki telling her to put AJ away. This brings Paige to the ring, who drops Stephanie outside of the ring, enabling AJ to go over and retain her title.
This story not only keeps AJ/Paige story going, but it also leaves Stephanie and Nikki Bella married.
This would then lead to a tag match at Hell in the Cell – Paige/AJ vs. Nikki/Stephanie WITH the Diva’s title on the line.
In an effort of fairness, since Stephanie is involved in the match, and the WWE Board of Directors wants to make sure that there’s no hijinks with the referee again, they name a special referee to officiate this contest. Who is that special referee? Brie Bella, of course!
OTHER STORIES/ANGLES
CESARO
Tonight, Cesaro shocks the wrestling community by announcing backstage during an interview that he is resigning from the WWE. He cites the politics involved with the job as his main reason. Later in the night, on his way out of the building, Cesaro, a native of Switzerland, is approached by Lana. Lana gets in Cesaro’s head and gives him the “what else did you expect from America?” speech.
A few weeks down the line, at the right moment, Cesaro makes a save for Rusev, and Lana officially announcers the start of her “United Nations” that are going to take over the sport of professional wrestling in America.
ADAM ROSE/BO DALLAS
I’d like to see these two undercard talents get utilized more. Maybe Bo goes the route that Adam needs to start “Bolieving” more in himself, rather than depend on his followers. Maybe Bo starts stirring the !@#$%^ between Adam and his party goers in an angle that would give much more depth to both Rose and Dallas.
SWAGGER
Does Jack Swagger turn on Zeb Colter and become Lana’s American representative in her “United Nations” movement? Swagger’s luck hasn’t been too good under Colter’s tutelage. Even though there would be history there with Swagger and Cesaro, it might be more compelling if done these circumstances due to the fact that this will be a higher-profiled storyline.
MAIN EVENT STORYLINE
We open up tonight’s show RED HOT, right where we left off last night. The show begins with John Cena beating the bejesus out of Seth Rollins in the backstage area. The two brawl all around the back, with Cena dominating Rollins. The two finally brawl out into the arena and Cena is taking it to Mr. Money in the Bank for costing him the WWE title last night. Finally, Triple H arrives on the scene with security. Once Cena is contained, he demands that Triple H grow a set and give him a match with Rollins tonight. Much to the chagrin of Rollins, Triple H grants his wish.
We follow that up in the back after commercial where Rollins is questioning Triple H. Triple H assures Rollins that there is nothing to worry about because Cena will never get to him tonight — he has other ideas. Enter MONSTER Kane. Triple H orders Kane to eliminate Cena during the course of the night.
In a third pre-tape, Randy Orton enters Triple H’s office. Orton demands to be put in the title shot picture after his impressive win over Jericho last night. Triple H harshly barks back at Randy, saying that it’s not about him — it’s about TONIGHT and the FUTURE of the WWE. Triple H makes it clear to Orton that Rollins is now THE GUY and he needs to take a back seat and live with it.
Throughout the show we see a series of bumpers (short pre-tapes in and out of commercial) with Kane looking for Cena.
Finally in a later pre-tape, Kane is attacked by Cena in the back when he is least expecting it. A violent John Cena takes out Kane, leaving him a non-issue in his match with Rollins tonight.
In the final pre-tape, we see Triple H call Orton back in his office. Triple H backtracks and apologizes to Orton about his earlier comments. He reminds Orton that they are indeed a team, and that he needs the Viper to have Rollins’ back tonight.
We go to our match with Rollins/ Cena. It’s all John Cena until Rollins does something desperate to get the former WWE Champion off of him — perhaps a blow/kick to the groin. With Cena selling and the ref checking on him, Rollins goes to the ropes and screams at Orton (who accompanied him down to the ring) for Orton to give him his case. Orton calmly gets up, picks up the case off the announce table, walks over to Rollins…and LAYS HIM OUT WITH IT! Rollins falls back into the ring, Cena covers him for the 1-2-3.
Cena and Orton exchange looks, before Triple H comes to the stage. We go off with Triple H staring down Randy Orton.
Two matches for Hell in the Cell:
Orton vs. Rollins match (possibly a ladder match) for the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Hell in the Cell match: Lesnar vs. Cena for WWE World Title
Keep in mind, I’m at a certain advantage because I don’t know the availability of some of the talents for this show. I would leave Brock off, I know we don’t have Reigns, and I’m not sure about the status of Ambrose or Jericho, so I just left them off.
Russo Books Raw
When I made the decision to book RAW, I knew that as we moved closer to the next pay-per-view, that the show was going to become more difficult to book. I would now be restricted to their –WWE CREATIVE – storylines and direction. The first week following Night of Champions was simply a piece of pumpkin pie, being that I could be as created as I wanted, going in any and all directions in setting the first of the four weeks how I saw fit. The following week wasn’t too difficult either, being that the WWE tends to just, more or less, replay what happened at the pay-per-view, moving laterally without any real forward progress made. But now, three weeks in, it’s time to do what I was exceptionally good at doing at times, and that’s trying to make chicken salad out of chicken !@#$%. Take what the WWE has already offered, work within their guidelines, and just make it the best I possibly can..
Also note: I made sure that I stayed up with the storylines through Smackdown this week, in order to be totally up to speed with all angles..
OPENING SEGMENT.
Creative has been teasing Ambrose and Cena for weeks now, and it’s time to go there. On Friday’s SD, it seems that they painted a picture where Ambrose was in trouble in the ring, he looked for the hot tag from his partner Cena (in their match against Kane & Orton), but Cena booked to go after Rollins. That latest episode gives Ambrose all the more question to call Cena out to question his true alliance..
Cena comes out, the two get into a verbal spat THAT LEADS TO PHYSICALITY, which I doubt the WWE will do for whatever reason. Security is sent to pull the two apart. Out comes The Authority. Triple H states that he’s going to give Cena/Ambrose what they have been screaming about for weeks — a match against each other. Cena says that he’ll gladly accept the match, as long as it’s inside a steel cage so that the Authority can’t interfere. Ambrose then says that he’ll accept the match if the winner gets Rollins and his Money in the Bank suitcase is up for grabs..
Hunter grants both stipulations..
TOP OF SEG 2.
In the locker room – and PLEASE change it to a locker room — Rollins is LIVID. He can’t understand why Triple H agreed to the winner of Cena/Ambrose getting Rollins. Triple H explains to Rollins that the steel cage does indeed have a door, and that both Orton and Kane will be given a set of keys. Rollins feels relieved, but now Orton and Kane refuse. They say they have been fighting Rollins’ battles long enough, and as of now—they are officially done..
An irate Hunter cuts a promo on both Kane and Orton, and books them in a match against EACH OTHER tonight. The two leave, Hunter assures Rollins that everything will be alright..
ZIGGLER vs. CESARO – LADDER MATCH FOR IC TITLE.
If you remember, which I’m sure you don’t, Ziggler stole a victory from Cesaro last week, and pinned the Miz to retain his IC title. That incident sets up this match. Being that it’s a ladder match — a spectacle — it will draw more casual fans. The two have a HELLUVA match, with LANA coming out to the stage and watching the last few minutes. Ziggler goes over in a very close contest, and shakes Cesaro’s hand at the end. Cesaro lifts Ziggler’s hand and puts him over to the crowd..
When we come back from break with have a pre-tape where Lana approaches Cesaro and cuts a promo on him, telling him that he is getting soft and now he’s been reduced to looking for acceptance from the American fans..
Still like my idea of Bray waiting in Ziggler’s locker room after his match, and putting him over after his victory..
GOLDUST/STARDUST vs. ROWAN/HARPER FOR WWE TAG TEAM TITLES.
Now that we know that Harper is going solo due to last week’s vignettes, have him be an absolute lunatic in this match. Have an all-out war here, with Harper getting his team DQ’d. After Harper proceeds to lay out both Gold/Stardust after the bell, have him turn around and dismember his own partner Rowan. Did Bray put him up to this? We don’t know, but it would set up a feud that would turn Harper monster heel, and Rowan babyface..
NO TOTAL DIVAS.
Forget the shameless plugs for their Diva show, outside of their two storylines with AJ/Paige and Brie/Nikki, not much is going on here. If you want to plug the show, then take a :60 clip from E! and play the thing..
BRIE/PAIGE/AJ STORY.
Paige is scheduled to get her rematch with AJ tonight for the Diva’s Championship. She is summoned into Stephanie’s office where she is told that prior to her match with AJ, she will have a 3-way hardcore Diva’s match with Alicia Fox and Brie where her title shot will be put on the line. Whoever wins, will face AJ Lee later on for the Diva’s Championship..
PAIGE vs. BRIE vs. ALICIA FOX — HARDCORE DIVAS MATCH FOR #1 CONTENDER.
Brie takes a beating, but somehow sneaks over Alicia in the end, after Paige and Alicia had gotten into it..
Later on in the show . . ..
AJ LEE vs. BRIE BELLA for DIVA’S TITLE.
Nikki and Stephanie come out ringside. Nikki gets refs attention, Stephanie goes to screw Brie, but accidentally screws AJ in the process. Brie backs into the Diva’s Title. This sets up Brie/Nikki with title on the line, AJ/Stephanie and also Paige/Alicia Fox—so now the Diva’s are set up with three angles that all mean something..
KANE vs. RANDY ORTON.
Randy Orton goes over Kane clean. Kane’s not happy. To be continued..
CENA vs. AMBROSE CAGE MATCH—WINNER GETS ROLLINS.
Helluva match. At appropriate time, Cena takes big bump off top of the cage. Cena sells his kness as if he’s been shot. Ambrose can clearly walk out of the cage and win the match, but he checks on Cena and calls for medical assistance. Cena, to the shock of everyone—wraps up Ambrose in a small package for the 1-2-3. Cena was feigning the injury. Cena moves on to meet Seth Rollins..
RUSEV vs. BIG SHOW.
Show goes down to the ring waving the American flag. Show dominates early, but makes a mistake allowing Rusev to get him in the Accolade. Show taps out and is hurt. Rusev takes the American flag and hands it to Lana who walks off with it..
After commercial, Sheamus cuts a promo in the back on Rusev – he will put his US TITLE on the line RIGHT NOW to get American flag back. He talks about others “falling short”, but guarantees he will get the job done! On that note, Mark Henry interrupts Sheamus and has some objections to what he just said. Henry violently attacks Sheamus in the backstage area and leaves him lying..
ROMAN REIGNS/MIZ PROMO.
Reigns cuts a promo hyping the crowd by giving his return date. At the end, Miz/Mizdow come out to the stage. Miz announces that going forward, cameras will be following him 24/7 documenting his life. Mizdow repeats every word that Miz says. Miz says that there will be a camera on him at all times, and everything will be documented on WWE.com. He encourages Reigns to watch for inspiration while he’s home licking his wounds..
BO DALLAS/ADAM ROSE.
See last week..
JOHN CENA vs. SETH ROLLINS–MONEY IN THE BANK CASE ON THE LINE.
With Kane and Orton out of play, Triple H has one more card up his sleeve. He walks out with Seth Rollins wearing a referee’s shirt, as he will be officiating the main event..
Rollins/Cena have a helluva match. With Cena in charge, there are a couple of real slow counts on Triple H’s part. Finally Cena has had enough, and he gets in Triple H’s face (Rollins rolls out of the ring). The wrestler comes out in Hunter, as he takes off his referee’s shirt and stands toe-to-toe with Cena. The two go. As Cena starts getting the best of Hunter, Kane and Orton hit to save Hunter. Cena fights them off, but is grounded. The three have their way with Cena until Ambrose hits the ring and lays out the heels. Ambrose lays out Kane, Orton and then Hunter. He then goes to help up Cena. Once Cena is on his feet, Ambrose proceeds to lay out Cena as payback for what happened in cage earlier. Ambrose then looks around for Rollins , but Rollins has cowered. Ambrose leaves ringside..
With the coast clear, Rollins rolls out from underneath the ring. He covers the fallen Cena and screams for Triple H to come in and make the count. Triple H crawls back into the ring, and as the official referee of the match, counts Rollins 1-2-3 over John Cena. Seth Rollins is the winner of the match via pinfall..
This, in my opinion, sets up a three-way for the main event in Hell in the Cell between Cena/Ambrose/Lesnar (despite the fact rumors suggest Lesnar won’t be defending his title at HIAC), with Rollins stating that he WILL INDEED cash in his Money in the Bank case after all three have killed each other.
__________________
My system in booking RAW is going to be as follows: Following every pay-per-view, I am going to lay out a general direction for not only the following night’s RAW, but where I would go leading up to the next pay-per-view. In this case – Hell in a Cell. When I was back booking a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, we would book from PPV to PPV, knowing where we were going month to month, but really building each week in between with as much intrigue as possible.
Heading into the second week of TV, things will then change a bit, as I will try to stay within the storylines and angles that the WWE has laid out, offering an alternative to how I would cover the direction that Creative has already set in place. In other words, I will work within the mainframe and parameters that they have built, and use what is already there to craft the best show possible.
Last night at NOC, in my opinion, there were some things done well and some not so well. Some things to build on — some things that need fixing. Going into tonight’s show, this is the overall direction that I would be heading in, if I had a clean slate.
While I’m aware there will be some people that enjoy my vision and others that disagree, please note that these are simply MY opinions…MY suggestions. There is never a 100% right or 100% wrong way to write a TV show — it’s all subjective. I simply hope you’ll find these weekly features just as I mean for them to be: entertaining alternatives.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Twitter by using the hashtag #.....BooksRAW. I simply ask you keep them respectful.
With all that out of the way, let’s get to work!
GOLDUST/STARDUST — NEW WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPS
Let’s change something up right off the bat, and not just book the Usos rematch the next night because of their “traditional” rematch clause. Leave it there for now — it’s not going anywhere. I would book a non-title match tonight between Goldust and Stardust vs. Luke Harper and Erik Rowan. I am already intrigued because it’s two heel teams (although Goldust and Stardust aren’t your typical heel team).
We all know that Harper & Rowan have been fading as of late, and I think we need to fix that. These two were on a roll and then their momentum just came to a screeching halt. In this match ,I’d make it an all-out brawl with Goldust/Stardust going over. At the end of the match, I’d have the blackout with Bray appearing in the middle of the ring after the bell. Here, the fans think that Bray is going to attack Goldust and Stardust, but he doesn’t. In fact he hits Harper & Rowan with Sister Abagails leaving them both laying.
The story here is that Bray has seen enough of their fall and he will ultimately bring them back to prominence through a level of tough, violent love that he has never before displayed. Bray, Harper and Rowan now bring their game to an all-time high. This would lead to a match at HIAC between Goldust/Stardust and Harper/Rowen for the WWE Tag Team Titles. Rowan/Harper would label the match “Hillbilly Hell” — a hardcore match where anything goes. Yeah, I get it – the kids. However, this is PAY-PER-VIEW, and we wouldn’t see anything more violent than the cinder block curb stomp on Ambrose that we saw on RAW only a few weeks ago.
SHEAMUS — WWE US TITLE
A couple of things to accomplish here…
For starters, WWE Creative made Sheamus look strong last night, and I would think that’s to get him ready for Rusev, as that would be the obvious angle. What I would do here to make things interesting, is to have Mark Henry avoid a return match with Rusev, because he knows now that he can’t beat him, and put his sights on Sheamus and the US Title to save face with the American fans. Of course, in the process you are turning the veteran Henry heel, who keeps repeating that he’s “doing it for the fans and America”, but you are also putting the spotlight on Sheamus, making him strong, and getting him ready for Rusev.
Sheamus and Mark Henry would then collide at “Hell in the Cell”.
I’ll have more on Rusev in a moment…
MIZ — WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION
In my opinion, WWE made a big mistake taking the belt off of Ziggler last night, and I would adjust that tonight. I would book the rematch between Ziggler and Miz tonight on RAW for the IC Title, and I would book it as a LADDER MATCH. I would have Sandow come out and cause Miz the accidental loss, setting up a feud between Miz and Mizdow which would help take Sandow to the next level, and get him out of his comedic role. As far as Dolph Ziggler, now the WWE Intercontinental Champion once again, read on…
BRAY WYATT/DOLPH ZIGGLER
I would have Bray set his sights on Ziggler and the IC belt. Little different spin here.
Whereas others have not drank Bray’s “Kool-Aid” in the past, I would have Wyatt’s words begin to have a David Koresh-like effect on Ziggler. This could give Ziggler’s character more of an edge, and less of an 80′s pop star feel. This may be the character adjustment that Ziggler needs to break out of the mold that he has been trapped in. Remember Brian Pillman?
This would lead to Bray/Ziggler for IC title at Hell in the Cell. So many possibilities here that would get BOTH guys over.
RUSEV
FAR AND AWAY, this was the best thing they did on Night of Champions last night. They made Rusev look strong — almost invincible — and they need to keep him that way. I’m going outside the box as we get Sheamus ready here.
From now until Hell in the Cell, I would go a much different route with Rusev. I couldn’t help last night but hear JBL dog Mark Henry after his loss to Rusev, much the same way he did Swagger after SummerSlam. I would have Lana come out on RAW tonight and call JBL out on this, by asking him if he thinks he could do any better. This would lead to both Rusev and Lana goading JBL week in and week out, until Rusev finally gets some massive heat on him. This of course would lead to JBL lacing them up one more time, and taking on Rusev at Hell in the Cell.
It’s the small details that matter — like JBL’s constant chatter about the Americans constantly coming up short against Rusev. Why wouldn’t you have Rusev and Lana use that to get over more? You put those things in place — simply follow up on it.
DIVA SITUATION
OK. This will take some sorting out. I think I would have Paige calling out AJ demanding her rematch tonight. AJ would come out and accept. Then, Stephanie comes out with Nikki Bella. Stephanie makes it CLEAR that Nikki was “entitled” to win the Divas Championship last night, and because Paige submitted and Nikki never lost the match, Nikki will meet the winner of AJ/Paige tonight for the WWE Diva’s Championship. At some point during the in-ring, have AJ really get in Stephanie’s face and insult her.
This would lead to a backstage scene in the back where Stephanie is telling the referee assigned to the Paige/AJ title match match to do whatever he has to do in order to raise AJ’s hand. Stephanie wants Nikki to embarrass AJ tonight based off AJ just belittling her in the ring. At the finish of the Paige/AJ match, the ref does just that – he quick counts Paige giving AJ the victory and awarding her the belt. Paige is furious after the match, and violently drops the referee.
We come back later on for the Nikki/AJ title match. Stephanie is on color. With Nikki selling and the ref tending to her, Stephanie takes the Diva’s belt from the desk and nails AJ with it. Nikki goes for the quick cover, but AJ kicks out last minute!
Now Stephanie begins acting as Nikki’s full-time manager. She’s screaming orders at Nikki telling her to put AJ away. This brings Paige to the ring, who drops Stephanie outside of the ring, enabling AJ to go over and retain her title.
This story not only keeps AJ/Paige story going, but it also leaves Stephanie and Nikki Bella married.
This would then lead to a tag match at Hell in the Cell – Paige/AJ vs. Nikki/Stephanie WITH the Diva’s title on the line.
In an effort of fairness, since Stephanie is involved in the match, and the WWE Board of Directors wants to make sure that there’s no hijinks with the referee again, they name a special referee to officiate this contest. Who is that special referee? Brie Bella, of course!
OTHER STORIES/ANGLES
CESARO
Tonight, Cesaro shocks the wrestling community by announcing backstage during an interview that he is resigning from the WWE. He cites the politics involved with the job as his main reason. Later in the night, on his way out of the building, Cesaro, a native of Switzerland, is approached by Lana. Lana gets in Cesaro’s head and gives him the “what else did you expect from America?” speech.
A few weeks down the line, at the right moment, Cesaro makes a save for Rusev, and Lana officially announcers the start of her “United Nations” that are going to take over the sport of professional wrestling in America.
ADAM ROSE/BO DALLAS
I’d like to see these two undercard talents get utilized more. Maybe Bo goes the route that Adam needs to start “Bolieving” more in himself, rather than depend on his followers. Maybe Bo starts stirring the !@#$%^ between Adam and his party goers in an angle that would give much more depth to both Rose and Dallas.
SWAGGER
Does Jack Swagger turn on Zeb Colter and become Lana’s American representative in her “United Nations” movement? Swagger’s luck hasn’t been too good under Colter’s tutelage. Even though there would be history there with Swagger and Cesaro, it might be more compelling if done these circumstances due to the fact that this will be a higher-profiled storyline.
MAIN EVENT STORYLINE
We open up tonight’s show RED HOT, right where we left off last night. The show begins with John Cena beating the bejesus out of Seth Rollins in the backstage area. The two brawl all around the back, with Cena dominating Rollins. The two finally brawl out into the arena and Cena is taking it to Mr. Money in the Bank for costing him the WWE title last night. Finally, Triple H arrives on the scene with security. Once Cena is contained, he demands that Triple H grow a set and give him a match with Rollins tonight. Much to the chagrin of Rollins, Triple H grants his wish.
We follow that up in the back after commercial where Rollins is questioning Triple H. Triple H assures Rollins that there is nothing to worry about because Cena will never get to him tonight — he has other ideas. Enter MONSTER Kane. Triple H orders Kane to eliminate Cena during the course of the night.
In a third pre-tape, Randy Orton enters Triple H’s office. Orton demands to be put in the title shot picture after his impressive win over Jericho last night. Triple H harshly barks back at Randy, saying that it’s not about him — it’s about TONIGHT and the FUTURE of the WWE. Triple H makes it clear to Orton that Rollins is now THE GUY and he needs to take a back seat and live with it.
Throughout the show we see a series of bumpers (short pre-tapes in and out of commercial) with Kane looking for Cena.
Finally in a later pre-tape, Kane is attacked by Cena in the back when he is least expecting it. A violent John Cena takes out Kane, leaving him a non-issue in his match with Rollins tonight.
In the final pre-tape, we see Triple H call Orton back in his office. Triple H backtracks and apologizes to Orton about his earlier comments. He reminds Orton that they are indeed a team, and that he needs the Viper to have Rollins’ back tonight.
We go to our match with Rollins/ Cena. It’s all John Cena until Rollins does something desperate to get the former WWE Champion off of him — perhaps a blow/kick to the groin. With Cena selling and the ref checking on him, Rollins goes to the ropes and screams at Orton (who accompanied him down to the ring) for Orton to give him his case. Orton calmly gets up, picks up the case off the announce table, walks over to Rollins…and LAYS HIM OUT WITH IT! Rollins falls back into the ring, Cena covers him for the 1-2-3.
Cena and Orton exchange looks, before Triple H comes to the stage. We go off with Triple H staring down Randy Orton.
Two matches for Hell in the Cell:
Orton vs. Rollins match (possibly a ladder match) for the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Hell in the Cell match: Lesnar vs. Cena for WWE World Title
Keep in mind, I’m at a certain advantage because I don’t know the availability of some of the talents for this show. I would leave Brock off, I know we don’t have Reigns, and I’m not sure about the status of Ambrose or Jericho, so I just left them off.
Russo Books Raw
When I made the decision to book RAW, I knew that as we moved closer to the next pay-per-view, that the show was going to become more difficult to book. I would now be restricted to their –WWE CREATIVE – storylines and direction. The first week following Night of Champions was simply a piece of pumpkin pie, being that I could be as created as I wanted, going in any and all directions in setting the first of the four weeks how I saw fit. The following week wasn’t too difficult either, being that the WWE tends to just, more or less, replay what happened at the pay-per-view, moving laterally without any real forward progress made. But now, three weeks in, it’s time to do what I was exceptionally good at doing at times, and that’s trying to make chicken salad out of chicken !@#$%. Take what the WWE has already offered, work within their guidelines, and just make it the best I possibly can..
Also note: I made sure that I stayed up with the storylines through Smackdown this week, in order to be totally up to speed with all angles..
OPENING SEGMENT.
Creative has been teasing Ambrose and Cena for weeks now, and it’s time to go there. On Friday’s SD, it seems that they painted a picture where Ambrose was in trouble in the ring, he looked for the hot tag from his partner Cena (in their match against Kane & Orton), but Cena booked to go after Rollins. That latest episode gives Ambrose all the more question to call Cena out to question his true alliance..
Cena comes out, the two get into a verbal spat THAT LEADS TO PHYSICALITY, which I doubt the WWE will do for whatever reason. Security is sent to pull the two apart. Out comes The Authority. Triple H states that he’s going to give Cena/Ambrose what they have been screaming about for weeks — a match against each other. Cena says that he’ll gladly accept the match, as long as it’s inside a steel cage so that the Authority can’t interfere. Ambrose then says that he’ll accept the match if the winner gets Rollins and his Money in the Bank suitcase is up for grabs..
Hunter grants both stipulations..
TOP OF SEG 2.
In the locker room – and PLEASE change it to a locker room — Rollins is LIVID. He can’t understand why Triple H agreed to the winner of Cena/Ambrose getting Rollins. Triple H explains to Rollins that the steel cage does indeed have a door, and that both Orton and Kane will be given a set of keys. Rollins feels relieved, but now Orton and Kane refuse. They say they have been fighting Rollins’ battles long enough, and as of now—they are officially done..
An irate Hunter cuts a promo on both Kane and Orton, and books them in a match against EACH OTHER tonight. The two leave, Hunter assures Rollins that everything will be alright..
ZIGGLER vs. CESARO – LADDER MATCH FOR IC TITLE.
If you remember, which I’m sure you don’t, Ziggler stole a victory from Cesaro last week, and pinned the Miz to retain his IC title. That incident sets up this match. Being that it’s a ladder match — a spectacle — it will draw more casual fans. The two have a HELLUVA match, with LANA coming out to the stage and watching the last few minutes. Ziggler goes over in a very close contest, and shakes Cesaro’s hand at the end. Cesaro lifts Ziggler’s hand and puts him over to the crowd..
When we come back from break with have a pre-tape where Lana approaches Cesaro and cuts a promo on him, telling him that he is getting soft and now he’s been reduced to looking for acceptance from the American fans..
Still like my idea of Bray waiting in Ziggler’s locker room after his match, and putting him over after his victory..
GOLDUST/STARDUST vs. ROWAN/HARPER FOR WWE TAG TEAM TITLES.
Now that we know that Harper is going solo due to last week’s vignettes, have him be an absolute lunatic in this match. Have an all-out war here, with Harper getting his team DQ’d. After Harper proceeds to lay out both Gold/Stardust after the bell, have him turn around and dismember his own partner Rowan. Did Bray put him up to this? We don’t know, but it would set up a feud that would turn Harper monster heel, and Rowan babyface..
NO TOTAL DIVAS.
Forget the shameless plugs for their Diva show, outside of their two storylines with AJ/Paige and Brie/Nikki, not much is going on here. If you want to plug the show, then take a :60 clip from E! and play the thing..
BRIE/PAIGE/AJ STORY.
Paige is scheduled to get her rematch with AJ tonight for the Diva’s Championship. She is summoned into Stephanie’s office where she is told that prior to her match with AJ, she will have a 3-way hardcore Diva’s match with Alicia Fox and Brie where her title shot will be put on the line. Whoever wins, will face AJ Lee later on for the Diva’s Championship..
PAIGE vs. BRIE vs. ALICIA FOX — HARDCORE DIVAS MATCH FOR #1 CONTENDER.
Brie takes a beating, but somehow sneaks over Alicia in the end, after Paige and Alicia had gotten into it..
Later on in the show . . ..
AJ LEE vs. BRIE BELLA for DIVA’S TITLE.
Nikki and Stephanie come out ringside. Nikki gets refs attention, Stephanie goes to screw Brie, but accidentally screws AJ in the process. Brie backs into the Diva’s Title. This sets up Brie/Nikki with title on the line, AJ/Stephanie and also Paige/Alicia Fox—so now the Diva’s are set up with three angles that all mean something..
KANE vs. RANDY ORTON.
Randy Orton goes over Kane clean. Kane’s not happy. To be continued..
CENA vs. AMBROSE CAGE MATCH—WINNER GETS ROLLINS.
Helluva match. At appropriate time, Cena takes big bump off top of the cage. Cena sells his kness as if he’s been shot. Ambrose can clearly walk out of the cage and win the match, but he checks on Cena and calls for medical assistance. Cena, to the shock of everyone—wraps up Ambrose in a small package for the 1-2-3. Cena was feigning the injury. Cena moves on to meet Seth Rollins..
RUSEV vs. BIG SHOW.
Show goes down to the ring waving the American flag. Show dominates early, but makes a mistake allowing Rusev to get him in the Accolade. Show taps out and is hurt. Rusev takes the American flag and hands it to Lana who walks off with it..
After commercial, Sheamus cuts a promo in the back on Rusev – he will put his US TITLE on the line RIGHT NOW to get American flag back. He talks about others “falling short”, but guarantees he will get the job done! On that note, Mark Henry interrupts Sheamus and has some objections to what he just said. Henry violently attacks Sheamus in the backstage area and leaves him lying..
ROMAN REIGNS/MIZ PROMO.
Reigns cuts a promo hyping the crowd by giving his return date. At the end, Miz/Mizdow come out to the stage. Miz announces that going forward, cameras will be following him 24/7 documenting his life. Mizdow repeats every word that Miz says. Miz says that there will be a camera on him at all times, and everything will be documented on WWE.com. He encourages Reigns to watch for inspiration while he’s home licking his wounds..
BO DALLAS/ADAM ROSE.
See last week..
JOHN CENA vs. SETH ROLLINS–MONEY IN THE BANK CASE ON THE LINE.
With Kane and Orton out of play, Triple H has one more card up his sleeve. He walks out with Seth Rollins wearing a referee’s shirt, as he will be officiating the main event..
Rollins/Cena have a helluva match. With Cena in charge, there are a couple of real slow counts on Triple H’s part. Finally Cena has had enough, and he gets in Triple H’s face (Rollins rolls out of the ring). The wrestler comes out in Hunter, as he takes off his referee’s shirt and stands toe-to-toe with Cena. The two go. As Cena starts getting the best of Hunter, Kane and Orton hit to save Hunter. Cena fights them off, but is grounded. The three have their way with Cena until Ambrose hits the ring and lays out the heels. Ambrose lays out Kane, Orton and then Hunter. He then goes to help up Cena. Once Cena is on his feet, Ambrose proceeds to lay out Cena as payback for what happened in cage earlier. Ambrose then looks around for Rollins , but Rollins has cowered. Ambrose leaves ringside..
With the coast clear, Rollins rolls out from underneath the ring. He covers the fallen Cena and screams for Triple H to come in and make the count. Triple H crawls back into the ring, and as the official referee of the match, counts Rollins 1-2-3 over John Cena. Seth Rollins is the winner of the match via pinfall..
This, in my opinion, sets up a three-way for the main event in Hell in the Cell between Cena/Ambrose/Lesnar (despite the fact rumors suggest Lesnar won’t be defending his title at HIAC), with Rollins stating that he WILL INDEED cash in his Money in the Bank case after all three have killed each other.
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