Rebook Wrestlemania 17

[rge2010]

Wrestlemania 17 needs no introduction, it is considered by many as the best Wrestlemania of all time. However, if WWF had taken a different path to this Wrestlemania, how would you have booked it and could you make it an even better card with no more than 11 matches?

1 - Intercontinental Title
Chris Jericho (c) vs William Regal vs Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero

Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero had previously had a fued so it could have continued here and continued into the IC mix (think NWO 2001 did this match with X-pac involved anyway). The Triple Threat match at Wrestlemania 16 was awesome so I would've gone one better this time around. 4 excellent 'Wrestlers' would've made for a memorable match. Jericho would've still picked up the win.

2 - Hardcore Title
Raven (c) vs Tazz

While I really enjoyed the Hardcore match at Wrestlemania 17, I think this would've been a great nod to ECW (which was soon to be reborn) having Raven and Tazz go at it for the Hardcore Title.

3 - European Title
Test (c) vs Big Show

Big Show challenged for the Hardcore Championship at Wrestlemania 17 so there was no illogical reason why he couldn't face Test for the European Title. Show was a heel and Test was a face. It made sense. Plus I think they fueded shortly after this anyway! Show wins the Gold.

4 - WWF Womens Title
Ivory (c) with Right To Censor vs Chyna with the APA.

This was a huge mismatch which panned out the way everybody thought it would. I would add The Right to Censor, Ivorys group into the mix making things a little more difficult to pick up the eventual win. Have the APA come out as a surprise and watch Chynas back and eventually overcome The Right To Censor. A nice finish would be Chyna beating the shit outta 'white socks Stevie Richards'.

5 - Tag Team Title (TLC)
Dudley Boys vs Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boys vs Brothers of Destruction

The Brothers of Destruction were a team at the time and had fallen short of the Titles at NWO a few weeks earlier. It was plausible to add them to this match and although the original was fantastic, adding Taker and Kane into the mix would give a nice point of difference from the other teams! Taker and Kane won the Tag Titles from Edge & Christian following this event and then feuded with Austin and Triple H anyway. Have them pick up the win here preserving 'the streak'.

6 - Tag Team Grudge Match (Stephanie McMahon Guest Referee)
Kurt Angle & Shane McMahon vs Triple H & Vince McMahon

I would've had Triple H cost Kurt Angle the title at NWO against The Rock. With Shane purchasing WCW from under Vinces nose I would have brought the two fueds together. I would've turned Kurt face earlier to team with Shane.

7 - Gimmick Battle Royal
19 Superstars

I enjoyed this. It was a fun match. I would have moved this to second to last match to give the fans a breather before the big one.

8 - WWF Title
The Rock (c) vs Steve Austin

This match was a classic and doesn't need changing. It had everything and they were the biggest Superstars at the time. Austin would still have picked up the win from Rock courtesy of McMahon with Triple H joining them the night after on Raw.

So I have cut the matches from 11 down to 8 to allow more focus on the fueds/matches that mattered. I still have every title on the line and have kept all my champions the same apart from the Hardcore while using everyone on the real Wrestlemania card.

Did Wrestlemania 17 just get better or can you do better yourself?!

 

[Wald]

Woah woah woah woah

6 - Tag Team Grudge Match (Stephanie McMahon Guest Referee)
Kurt Angle & Shane McMahon vs Triple H & Vince McMahon

Is a terrible idea! Triple H vs Undertaker was probably the best match on the card (technically speaking, Austin vs Rock was obviously the spectacle match)!

Honestly I think WM 17 is the only card in history I wouldn't change a thing about. The only (minor) disappointment was the Regal vs Jericho match, and that still was pretty good

 

[RicSpade]

Personally I liked the William Regal Chris Jericho feud, so I'd leave it alone and Vince vs Shane had to be done 1 on 1 with all the other implications going on with the McMahon family. Here is my one maybe two changes to the card.

Match 1- Jericho vs Regal (c)

Match 2- Fatal Four Way Hardcore Title Match
Raven vs. Big Show vs. Kane vs. Tazz

Match 3-Test vs. Guerrero (here I would've had some of the WCW guys invade to spike PPV buys in the beginning of the show before McMahon vs. McMahon)

Match 4-Right to Censor Vs. APA and Al Snow personally I think Snow would've had more against Right to Censor just because of how off the wall he was.

Match 5-TLC Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. Edge and Christian

Match 6-Angle vs. Benoit

Match 7- Taker Vs. Triple H

Match 8- McMahon vs. McMahon Street Fight (I'd have tension mount a bit with some WCW guys in the front row after the attack earlier and some WWE guys sitting on the ramp watching)

Match 9- Gimmick Battle Royal

Match 10- Austin Vs. Rock

Personally I would skip the Womens match because it led to the end of Chyna's career as a legitimate wrestler. And would change those few matches but the rest would be the same.

Personally I

 

[jackson-lowe]

There is no way in the world you would change mania X-Seven. The moments it provided cemented the stars that it highlighted, sure the under card matches such as the APA vs right to censor match could have been changed, but why bother. This mania is so close to perfection it's insane.
The hardcore match would have been sloppy adding another competitor and the TLC match was unforgettable as it was.
Adding to matches would have taken away from a brutal hhh v taker match and the memorable austin v rock match which was damn sure amazing

 

[zee4u2nv]

This is such a ridiculous thread! You said it yourself w17 was the best ever, fact!

They didnt need any changes what so ever!

 

[PagingMr.ass]

5 - Tag Team Title (TLC)
Dudley Boys vs Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boys vs Brothers of Destruction

The Brothers of Destruction were a team at the time and had fallen short of the Titles at NWO a few weeks earlier. It was plausible to add them to this match and although the original was fantastic, adding Taker and Kane into the mix would give a nice point of difference from the other teams! Taker and Kane won the Tag Titles from Edge & Christian following this event and then feuded with Austin and Triple H anyway. Have them pick up the win here preserving 'the streak'.

Putting Taker in a four way tag match at mania is a real bad idea. Taker has been a highlight of mania for twenty years and burying him in a match with seven other performers doesn't make any cense. Plus it takes away from the iconic TLC matches. The whole reason they were great was because of how well E&C, the hardys, and the dudleys worked together. Throwing Kane and Taker in their would have slowed the whole pace of the match and dramatically effected its legacy.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I really wouldn't change a thing about Mania X7, however I wasn't so fond of the Gimmick Battle Royal though it was hilarious for Bobby Heenan's "By the time he gets to the ring, it will be Wrestlemania 38" comment during The Iron Sheik's entrance and I probably would've put Taz in the Hardcore Title match, making it a Fatal 4 Way and put Chyna with APA and Ivory with RTC, so those would be the only changes I would probably make.

 

[EastCoastFan]

WrestleMania 17 was almost perfect the way it was. The only thing I might change (besdies the ending of Rock vs. Austin) is I would've sped up the intros for the gimmick battle royal. It took too long (10 minutes of intros for a 3 minute match?) and killed the pace of the show.

 

[GrandSword]

I would just like to throw something out there...

I really didn't like how HHH was all about the title and was having this huge war with Stone Cold and then just out of the blue after defeating Austin in the 3 stages of hell match just went on to feud with Taker.

That to me just didn't make much sense. I would have booked Triple H's win over Austin to add him to the WM 17 main event. The triple threat dream match I think many WWF/E fans always wanted to see and the storyline leading upt to it allowed for such a match.

Yes Taker vs. HHH was a very good match but in didn't really make any sense after Austin vs. HHH had been built up for months and months.

Taker could have had a number of different opponents which could have put on a great match and Taker although winning the match could have taken that wrestler to the next level eg. Jericho.

So I know Austin vs. Rock was always the big match, but it and HHH / Taker just seemed very rushed especially when creative started throwing in shit like Debra as Rock's manager etc. I think Austin vs. Rock vs. HHH could have been one of the biggest main events ever and WWE dropped the ball on it...

 

[Killercam]

It was a great card but they probably could have done better than Eddie vs Test, I can't remember what Perfect did but he was on the roster then so maybe squeeze one last great match out of him and I would have done something more if possible with the APA and Tazz than have them fight right to censore. I believe APA were more over then than dudleys, hardys, edge and christan, but you cant mess with the tag title match. Kane, Big Show and Raven was a disaster too. I think the top 4 or 5 matches on the card were perfect but the rest wasn't very good. Still, that's saying more than any other mania up until that point since 8 (which is debatable by many).

 

[thebarber]

the only thing that should have happened and I think somebody else has mentioned this, is WWE should have capitalised on the WCW purchase by having a run in of some description featuring a handful of the name guys, maybe even having Booker T, Storm, Hugh Morrus, Mike Awesome interfere and destroy the old WWE legends in the gimmick battle royale. Automatic heat and introduces them slowly to the WWE audience. Otherwise, the card was PERFECT,. had everything. The best Wrestlemania ever, no need to fuck with it whatsoever