MEM VS The Frontline: WWE

[wrestlingfan]

Just been thinking of how I enjoyed TNA in 2009 and reading this old article on BR gave me an ideahttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/427836-what-if-topic-of-the-day-if-main-event-mafia-was-from-wwe

How would you book a Main Event Mafia storyline in WWE? I feel this is something that could've went on 2011/2012 (It can still go on today considering all the people I will name are still with the roster) and ended with the rise of the Shield to give the young ones the win. The whole feud would've started with the young ones enjoying success with CM Punk as WWE Champion with only HHH to come back, and spoil the party saying that it's time WWE goes back to the old days of true wrestlers and not primadonnas. The old era. The era of Attitude & Ruthless Aggression. People always complain WWE can't build new stars but they wouldn't be able to do that until the old guys beat the new guys which we haven't seen much of.

The Veterans (43 World Championships Between All of Them):

HHH: This man is a 13 time world champion and the heir of the WWE. He presents the pinnacle of success in the business. Would book him as the Leader who feels that the young guys just aren't good, hence the drop in ratings since he was headlining the company. Believes CM Punk mocks the Attitude Era in which he ushered in and is just a scrawny little tatooed kid who needs to recognize his place and where he stands, and should just shut up.

John Cena: The man is the face of the company and the biggest star that has lashed out of the fans, and feels its only because of him that the company is still alive. And that the young guys lack the passion he has. He would be the moral conscience of the group. The Sting to HHH's Angle, eventually causing tension between two.

Chris Jericho: The Mental Mastermind who is just so narcisstic and selfish, that he cares nothing less about the battle between the factions and only gold. Is only siding with the Mafia, because his intellect tells him that a group of legends could never lose to a bunch of green rookies.

Randy Orton: The psychopath and paranoid guy of the group, that feels karma may one day come after him for "killing" all those Legends, and joins the group, cowardly to protect his own hide from a young guy who might take his place.

Mark Henry: The hitman of the group, that feels even at 40 he can still beat out anyone on the roster. After enjoying his new found success as World Heavyweight Champion, he feels the young guys should allow someone like him who's gave their years to the company, to let him enjoy the fruit of his labor. That only when they get 20 years in the business can they then get their World Title shot.

Brock Lesnar: The man who's only in it for money. He doesn't like HHH, and he doesn't like Cena, but he knows if he's on the Mafia's side, he's sure to get alot of paychecks and power.

vs.

The Rookies:

CM Punk: The man who has an utter dislike for HHH believing he's a kiss-ass who sucked his way up to the top of the business. The current Voice of the Voiceless who believe it is talent and young guys that should be at the top of the business and not just veterans who for the most part only got to the top because they had muscles.

The Miz: A man who has a grudge against Cena, because while he was busting his ass on ECW, Cena was hogging the main-event. That Cena along with JBL was another one of those guys who just saw him as the kid from Tough Enough. But he's now a man who's ready to be a star, ready to be one of the legends.

Dolph Ziggler: A cocky young guy who like Jericho cares little about the true ethos of this debacle, and only cares about Championships. He believes the old guys are washed up and weak, and that its best to side with the winning side, for they will take over the company. Feels that if he wants to be the best, must beat the best. (May insert Flair as a manager to again show Ziggler's lack of caring for the feud).

Wade Barrett: The man who feels that the Frontline is the second coming of Nexus. Believes that he can once again call upon the winds of change to breeze over the WWE, and feels that its time for an Englishman to get the spotlight.

Sheamus: The man who loves to fight and feels that he didn't come all the way from Ireland to simply come here and be a lower-carder on the roster. Feels that Mark Henry is the guy that can bring out the best fight in him, and that by defeating him, he can prove himself as a brawler.

Daniel Bryan: The man who resents Lesnar. He feels Lesnar is a guy who came out of college with jacked up muscles, saw millions of dollars, won the WWE Championship through kissing ass, then left when things got tough. He believes that he is a purist, someone who truly loves professional wrestling as proven by his 10 years on the independent circuit and refuses to lose his spot and losing his dream of being a WWE Superstar to a man who is a slave to the highest bidder.

This would be a great feud and everyone entertwines together.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Remember Team WWE VS Nexus? It can work similar to that, but with the roles reversed as well as the younger guys winning in the end. The legends and/or main eventers would be the heels dominating early on and eventually putting over the younger face faction. Candidates for the face faction to me would include The Shield, Daniel Bryan as the leader, and Ryback. Yes Ryback and The Shield obviously don't get along right now but they would form an alliance in this angle due to a common enemy in the main event heel stable. The heel main eventers faction could include Randy Orton, Big Show, Mark Henry, Kane (assuming that Team Hell No is disbanded during the time this storyline were to play out), and Sheamus who could turn heel for this angle and either he or Orton would lead the stable. Others such as Jericho could perhaps be used if they are brought back, but that's who I would use given who is on the roster right now.

I'd have it play out similar to the Main Event Mafia VS Frontline storyline did over in TNA, but the main difference being that the face faction get a couple of wins in along the way and look like they actually stand a chance. In the TNA version the younger face faction never looked like they ever had a chance of winning, that would need to change in a WWE counterpart angle. It could begin right after Wrestlemania and continue going on all the way until Survivor Series where it reaches its a match with the face faction defeating the main eventers in one of the traditional elimination tag team matches. It could be good for everyone involved if booked properly and I would enjoy seeing something like that happen. You can rarely go wrong with a good old fashioned stable feud.

 

[Kylewait89]

Clearly an innovative thought but the build to this would be so different which might be what they need. When I see the names, can you see half of these guys aligning? The other issue is with the changes that each team has made recently. HHH being more of a figurehead, Jericho being "done" with wrestling, Miz face turn and constant drubbing of Ziggler. Again, they have a common interest and it would be interesting to see but I just don't know how it works together. The fact that you wouldn't put Kane in as a foil to Bryan kind of saddens me. I think the two of them play off of each other well whether it is comedy or just wrestling.

 

[wrestlingfan]

Clearly an innovative thought but the build to this would be so different which might be what they need. When I see the names, can you see half of these guys aligning? The other issue is with the changes that each team has made recently. HHH being more of a figurehead, Jericho being "done" with wrestling, Miz face turn and constant drubbing of Ziggler. Again, they have a common interest and it would be interesting to see but I just don't know how it works together. The fact that you wouldn't put Kane in as a foil to Bryan kind of saddens me. I think the two of them play off of each other well whether it is comedy or just wrestling.

Yes I can see these guys aligning. Alot of factions/tag teams have guys who aren't alike coming together. The focus of each group is guys who don't like each other but respect each other enough to come together for a common cause.

And with HHH as more of a figure head that would make him a good leader, Jericho is in hiatus, & Miz as a face would be good for the Rookies.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

I've always been a huge fan of the MEM vs TNA Originals feud as I felt it was not only logical but made a good debate over who was truly responsible for the success of TNA: the WWE guys who jumped ship and gave them credibility or the guys who were with TNA since its inception. However I feel once the Originals acquired Team 3D and Rhyno as their mouthpieces and called themselves the frontline the feud quickly sizzled.

With that said, I don't believe WWE could use the same process for a feud considering anyone who "jumps ship" from TNA to WWE is seen as moving up, not back. Although doubtful I could see a feud by guys tired of losing top spots to part timers and the same ones always getting title shots (Cena) with something like HHH/Cena/Rock/Brock (as I feel he will eventually turn face against CM Punk should he choose to stay) vs Punk/Dolph/Antonio/Orton (when was the last time Orton had a title shot?). That or if DX does indeed make a full in-ring return which would not surprise me, they could have Punk/Shield/Maddox feud with HHH/X-Pac/NAO because Punk is tired of DX coming back once a year stealing his thunder. Not exactly the same but probably the closest you would ever see in WWE to the MEM/Frontline feud.

 

[King Patrick Star]

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=46254

I thought about this back in 2009, but revisiting this idea about 4 years later is very interesting. If we were to start this today, I would probably go with the following.

2013 WWE Main Event Mafia
WWE Champion / Championship Contender – The Rock
World Champion / Championship Contender – Brock Lesnar
Intercontinental Champion / Championship Contender – John Cena
United States Champion / Championship Contender – Randy Orton
Unified WWE World Tag Team Champion / Championship Contenders – The Brothers Of Destruction, Undertaker and Kane
Manager – Triple H

2013 WWE Frontline
WWE Champion / Championship Contender – CM Punk
World Champion / Championship Contender – Alberto Del Rio
Intercontinental Champion / Championship Contender – Daniel Bryan
United State Champion / Championship Contender – Christian
Unified WWE World Tag Team Champion / Championship Contenders – Sheamus and The Miz
Manager – Ric Flair

 

[Wrestling101]

No no no no no

You're gonna waste a Cena heel turn by putting him in a stable where he'd get overshadowed by HHH and Lesnar? This is silly. No, it wouldn't work in WWE and it sure as hell didn't work in TNA.

 

[gasM]

This is a great idea. The "smart" fans have a tendency, rightly or wrongly, to boo the older, more established stars like Cena and Triple H anyway, and cheer those who seem to have a glass ceiling like Dolph Ziggler. There's an opportunity for intense feeling from the fans on both sides.

MEM:
Triple H - The Godfather, he has the corporate power and can be the force of evil to overcome.
John Cena - The "Sting" of the group, he turns heel to begin the crusade but feels like Triple H has blinded the group to its original intentions, and he ultimately defects to the Frontline to kill what he created.
Kevin Nash - The "Kevin Nash" of TNA's version. The smart fans hate him anyway for his slower moveset and would hate his involvement because he's not relevant in today's WWE - so he'd have plenty of heat. He could also form a tag team with other members so he wouldn't have to carry a match alone.
Randy Orton - The Booker T - the workhorse of the group. He could be a sadistic character who just loves the chance to hurt people, and the RKO would end every beatdown the way the Nexus used Gabriel's 450 splash.
The Miz - Potentially a stupid idea, but hear me out. The Miz as a heel is a cocky little turd who weasels his way into success - he won the WWE title with the briefcase, hid behind Alex Riley during his reign, retained at Mania thanks to the Rock and ultimately blamed Riley when he lost the title. Now he's the weasel who joins the Mafia because they hold all the power, and the fact that he should belong with the Frontline would gain him tons of heat. He also excels in tag teams and could partner Nash.

Frontline:
CM Punk - The darling of the Internet himself. Punk is the antithesis of the Mafia; he's a pure wrestler, he's a revolutionary, he does things his way. He would recognise the injustice of Triple H and his buddies putting themselves back on top of the mountain and lead the revolution to put the up and comers, the future generation, in the spotlight where they belong.
Dolph Ziggler - This is someone who has just never had the trigger pulled on him. He flirted with the ME in 2011 against Edge, only to get pushed back down the card. He won MITB, then jobbed all year. He beat John Cena himself at TLC, only to be buried on multiple occasions. He would accuse Triple H of holding him back and John Cena of refusing to get out of the spotlight, and therefore join Punk's rebellion.
Sheamus - Sheamus is HHH's friend, but as a relative newcomer he would recognise that the old guard need to step aside. Also changes things up from just having a team of Internet darlings as they could struggle to get a reaction from the more mainstream sections of the crowd, plus it could be an interesting context for the rumoured Sheamus/Orton feud.
Daniel Bryan - Bryan is an old enemy of Punk's from their pre-WWE days and would comment on how difficult it was for the two of them to break through the midcard barrier, possibly blaming HHH and corporate for not giving them a break.
Kane - Another odd choice, but Kane could take on a "leader of the locker room" role similar to the one Taker holds in real life, acting as a mentor to the group and a demonstration as to how the Mafia should be encouraging youth instead of fighting them. Also he and Bryan could continue Team Hell No as the tag team of the Frontline.

This type of story should dominate the company, with other characters loosely aligning themselves with either group and the mentality of civil war hanging over every angle, however those listed are the core of their respective sides and ultimately they are the focus of the story.