WM30 & Returning Legends

[CobraStarship]

WWE has always been good at getting a few names every year for Wrestlemania / Road to Wrestlemania that they call Legends ...

Now you know Royal Rumble '14/WM30 is going to be overloaded with returning legends from the 80's, 90's and 00's... as much as i'd love to see Dolph or Sandow or McIntyre get their WM moments in, you know this year is about HHH, Taker, Cena, Batista, Brock, Punk, The Shield & The Wyatts... Shockingly you aren't going to get much out of HBK/Stone Cold from the sounds of it and completely nothing from The Rock

and there will be a few more names taking over the spotlight of WM30 and/or the Hall of Fame... not everyone likes it... id personally rather see the younger guys get their WM moment over 60 y.o.'s but.... it ain't going to happen; names like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts & Ultimate Warrior are just some of the names i'd imagine you'll hear come WM30/HOF...

My question is; what does everybody think is the best idea for these guys?

a) a 10-15 min in-ring segment
b) a 6-man tag legends match w/others like Flair or Snuka or Sgt. Slaughter etc.
c) a 6-man mixed tag (legends/current superstars) (that one is rumoured!)
d) a 1-on-1

if we have to see something, which we will have to... it's WM30... i would like to Piper w/Mr T in his corner v Hogan. Sure it will be sad to watch these two old men go 1-on-1. But it's WM30... it's going to have something like this... it won't be pretty, but for me... would be that nostalgic moment at WM30 that would just satisfy!

What do you guys want to see?

 

[dtroppe]

At any time during the year you can see the low card guys like sandow or Ziegler on any of the same old boring shows. Those guys aren't going to be a big part of WM 30 beacaue they are low card filler guys. The don't draw, they aren't over and may never be. Save them for house shows and B And C PPVs. Wm is the big leagues. Guys that have proven to draw should be featured as the main attractions and people will pay to see them. Hogan, Warrior, and Batista are some of the biggest names in wrestling and have not been seen for years by the casual fans. No one really wants to see hogan or warrior featured in matches but as a part of the show, they will add to the big league atmosphere.

 

[thebarber]

It would depend on how many legends are returning. Hulk Hogan should be featured out of all of the possible returning legends, my suggestion all along has to be to have a 30 years of Wrestlemania battle royal on the card. where they could have a blend of LEGENDS, real ones like Warrior, Snake Roberts, Demolition, Rick Martel etc and also a group of mid carders who arent going to get matches on the card like Sandow, Ziggler, Kingston, The Miz etc....leading up to Mania they could have back and forth promos on the current breed sticking together to eliminate the old timers. Hell just the introduction of the LEGENDS, their coming down the aisle to their old music would be enough of a nostalgic pop and possible the most physical some of the returning guys could handle.
As for Hogan, I would love to see him have his FINAL in ring match at Mania 30, but it would be a train wreck, and I think he should go over also, which goes against the grain of guys putting guys over in tyheir final WWE matchy (HBK, Flair, Austin, The Rock). Hulk Hogan is the greatest WWE star ever and if he isnt in a match, should have his own little promo/time on the card not watered down by other legends

 

[rbv13]

WrestleMania Pre Show Round Table: Host Justin Roberts w/legendary guests Brett Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin & Ultimate Warrior. Four names with some major Wrestlemania moments. Following the preshow I go one step further and offer a second feed to the event. Option two shows the event but not with the usual play by play rather featuring these four legends giving their insight on the event. ESPN does this on occasion, most recently with the National Championship, and it is a nice twist. With the Network, viewers could have the option of jumping back and forth between the two feeds.

WrestleMania XXX Host: Hulk Hogan. Keep Hogan off the preshow to build the importance of him opening WM. Following “God Bless America” New York blows up to the sounds of “Real American.”

WM HOF Introduction: Keep it the way it always been.

Backstage Interviews: Looks like Piper will have a spot on the show. I’d keep him back stage for a few pre/post match interviews.

Match Involvement: Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Batista w/Ric Flair. On RAW 1/20/14a limo pulls up pre show and out steps, not Batista, but Ric Flair (unadvertised). Flair opens RAW with a promo hyping the return of the Animal. He is interrupted by a voice coming from the audience, Heyman and Lesnar make their way to the ring via the crowd. Heyman exclaims to the world this Batista hype is a joke and real attraction "then, now and forever" is Brock Lesnar. Batista’s music hits and we soon have one monster of a showdown on our hands. The ring quickly fills with security to keep the two from destroying one another. This moments sets off a string of events leading to a WM war.

 

[gooseholla]

Well, at WM17 there was a 'gimmick' battle royal which featured a number of stars from the past. Maybe they could get 20 or so guys (not nobodys like Duke 'the dumpster' or the goon or repo man...., nor those we see every couple of months)... and have a kind of WM battle royal, where names from Wrestlemania's past battle it out.

Apart from this idea for the maximum amount of guys, minimum damage and time, what else could really be done? WM 20 didn't really feature many (any?!) legends, and I don't see the need to turn the event into a nostalgia fest at the expense of quality matches. Perhaps have a different WM legend appear on RAW in weeks leading up to it and face Heath Slater, or suitable jobber? But keep them off the event if they are going to take matches, time, etc.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Part-timers and legends should be spread out throughout the whole year. WWE stacks them on the same card. Brock Lesnar should not be on WrestleMania every year. His presence has boosted the Extreme Rules buyrate considerably. Why not help out Battleground and TLC by putting him on there in big matches instead?

I welcome all the top guys who want to come back as part-timers. If Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle want to jump ship and work a part-time schedule, they are welcome. But to add them to Mania along with Jericho, Booker, RVD and other guys who wrestle sporadically is absurd. Spread them out, let them help the buyrate of the rest of the PPVs. Keep WrestleMania as a place to see the climaxes of the year's biggest storylines involving the actual main roster members.

I would start a part-timer schedule. Every month a part-timer leaves, another one starts. Shift the cycles a few months every year so different guys can be on the big shows, but make sure they are all spread out.

Imagine a future schedule with 12 part-timers, all working 4/5 months:

• Chris Jericho works January through May.
• Jeff Hardy works February through June.
• Batista works March through July.
• Kane works April through August.
• The Big Show works May through September.
• Christian works June through October.
• Rob Van Dam works July through November.
• Kurt Angle works August through December.
• Booker T works September through January.
• New Age Outlaws work October through February.
• Mark Henry works November through March.
• Rey Mysterio works December through April.

Now, as for those guys who aren't really full-time or part-timers, and more like 1-timers, need to be distributed accordingly too. If they're only working PPVs, you divide the PPVs among them:

Royal Rumble- Triple H
WrestleMania- The Undertaker
Extreme Rules- Brock Lesnar
Payback- Brock Lesnar
Money in the Bank- Goldberg
SummerSlam- The Rock
Night of Champions- Sting
Battleground- Goldberg
Hell in a Cell- Triple H
Survivor Series- Brock Lesnar
TLC- Goldberg

If Sting wants to work only 1 match, don't make it WrestleMania, you make it Night of Champions. If Rock wants to work only 1 match, make it in his home of LA at SummerSlam. If Goldberg only wants to work 3 matches, make them MitB, Battleground and TLC where he can boost the buyrates. Same goes for Lesnar who doesn't get to touch Mania. Leave Mania for the actual guys who are in month-long stories.

Obviously, you can shift around guys depending on potential match-ups. Maybe they really want Undertaker/Goldberg for Mania. Fine, but then shift one of the part-timers who's working Mania to boost TLC which Goldberg won't work anymore.

If WWE organizes themselves, they can make their part-timers and full roster members coexist. But as of now, they're just pushing everybody to the sidelines every time these guys show up for their short schedules.

 

[Just2Sweet]

With the announcement of wwe network, ppv buyrates won't matter anymore. If you can get all the ppvs for signing up for the network for 9.99 a month, wwe is obviously shifting focus away from ppv buyrates. Having big names work the secondary ppvs isn't useful. They need the big stars to boost ratings on TV until they renegotiate their tv deals. That is why we are seeing Brock on free tv and Batista is coming back on free tv. If they wanted buy rates, they would have held off on batista's return until the rumble