Wrestlemania 28: Team Laurinatis VS Team Long (12 Man Tag Match)

[The Other Hardy Brother]

Prediction for Team Members and Results.

Team Long

Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio, and The Miz.

Team Laurinaitis

Otunga, Henry, Christian, Swagger, Ziggler, Mcintyre.

How they get on the team.


Ryder convinces Long to let him join the team because he wants Johnny L out of his position for making Ryder defend the US title when he was injured. Long agrees to let him on the team.

Del Rio returns from his injury on Raw and tells Laurinaitis he wants to be on his team at Wrestlemania. Mysterio returns from his injury and asks Long to be in the match so he can get his hands on Alberto for injuring him. Long agrees, then Alberto tells Johnny that he changed his mind and doesn't feel 100% yet so he should find someone else. The Miz lobbies for the final spot on Laurinaitis's team until Johnny tells him he has hired Drew Mcintyre and given the spot to him since Long fired him. Long offers Miz the final spot on his team instead and Miz takes it, turning face.

At Wrestlemania Santino and Mcintyre are the legal men, Santino is about to win when Miz turns on him and Mcintyre hits the future shock and wins the match for his team costing Long his job in the process. We later find out Laurinaitis promised Miz a WWE Championship match against the winner of the Punk/Jericho match on Raw the following night.

 

[GrandSword]

It won't happen, but to close the loop from last year and how all this started... Kevin Nash needs to be on Johnny's team as the final member. Just so it all makes sense. I know it is taking a spot away from a young guy but who are we talking about? Zeek? Drew Mac? Nash is a logical choice, a game changer and he can get his last Mania pay day and retire

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I cannot see Teddy Long's team coming out on top here. Long has had a very good run as GM, but his time is over now. He is stale and SmackDown needs a change to freshen it up a bit. I am not a fan of Johnny Ace, but a Heel GM is always better in my opinion. It gives another challenge for the Faces to overcome and gives them more credibility when they do so, so for now I would be happy to see Johnny's team get the win here.

There are alot of good wrestlers in this match, so it has the potential to be better than the average "big numbers tag team match". When I first saw it announced I didn't have much interest in it, but the more I see the build-up, the more I am looking forward to it.

My pick for the match? Team Laurinatis with Del Rio being the man to get the winning pinfall.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

It won't happen, but to close the loop from last year and how all this started... Kevin Nash needs to be on Johnny's team as the final member. Just so it all makes sense. I know it is taking a spot away from a young guy but who are we talking about? Zeek? Drew Mac? Nash is a logical choice, a game changer and he can get his last Mania pay day and retire

Didnt it turn out that Nash texted Nash and was only in it for himself? Then HHH killed him. So while I appreciate you trying to sort out that mess of a story earlier, I don't think it works.

I think it makes good business sense for Ace's team to win. Babyface power figures are pretty boring. Long has been there forever and even though he's a crowd favorite, it's time for a change.

I don't think Miz will be on the show, maybe he helps Ace's team win by cheating and gets rewarded. Or maybe he turns face by trying to help Teddy's team.

I expect this match to be a ton of chaotic fun. Hopefully we see some Brodus Clay in there too.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

How is Otunga going to shine in a match involving 11 other wrestlers and two team cheerleaders?

Otunga will shine best by not being in the match at all. He's done a good job getting over in his lawyer role. He's still horrendous in the ring. His finisher alone is cringeworthy, even when he actually hits it properly.

Sadly, they've made Team Laurinitis' victory all but over already. Teddy's team is comprised of mostly jobbers.

Santino - barring a surprise Rey Mysterio as the 6th man, I'd likely expect him to be the last one to get pinned. Likely a small comeback near the end taking out 1 or 2 guys before he's done.
Kofi - While very over with most of the crowd, in the main event matches, he's usually one of the first out. This not being the main event, he'll likely last until close to the end.
R-Truth - he's funny at times (better as the crazy heel IMO) but does ANYONE expect him to come out on top here?
Zack Ryder - Yeah, he just got out of a big storyline, but now that he's done with it I expect him to fall off pretty quick. Expect to see Eve have something to do with his pinfall in this match.
The Great Khali - no explanation needed.

Who's the 6th man? The biggest name they could get at this point is Rey Mysterio. Even then I'd have a hard time seeing Long's team win, so they probably wouldn't bring him back only to lose. A lot of people are saying The Miz... It would be an easy way to take out the last guy who's probably trying to mount a comeback.

Either way, on paper, Long's team can't even compare to Laurinitis' from a kayfabe standpoint. Yeah Otunga is dreadful and Swagger is mostly a jobber, but Ziggler's good, and Christian and Mark Henry are both former WHC's who've been competing (before injury) at a main event level. Not to mention they're likely getting ADR as their 6th.

It's like they don't even want to make it a competition.

 

[JM Punk]

I really hope Team Laurinaitis wins. I can't stand Teddy Long's character and want no part of seeing him on Mondays.

Sadly, I suspect that they will feel that Laurinaitis is over enough as a heel where he should be managing someone (perhaps still aligned with Otunga, or with a heel who isn't great on the mic like McIntyre) and will remove him from the GM role.

 

[GoShtate]

I think Laurinaitis has to win. He is a great heel and it is always more interesting when the heels have the edge in the power department. I wouldn't mind seeing Teddy Long gone. If he has to say they should pair him with Kofi and R-Truth and manage a legit tag-team. They could feud with Vickie/Swagger/Ziggler and I think that would be something I would watch.

 

[Truly Phenomenonal]

I'm still a bit disappointed that we have this instead of Money in the Bank, but I'll be happy as long as they utilize the right people. I want to see guys like Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Swagger, Truth and Kofi get most of the time in the match. And I guess Santino as well. But I don't want to see Henry and Khali get the majority of the time in this match, that would just be a waste.

I'm also a big intrigued to see who the final two are going to be, because they could and most likely will play a big factor in the outcome of the match. As I see the final two competitors being returning superstars that won't be announced until 'Mania.

I don't really care who wins, but if I were to predict, I'd go with Team Johnny.

 

[thebarber]

I see team Johhn getting Alberto Del Rios and Team Teddy getting Rey Mysterio. Where this leaves The Miz is interesting, no match for him is ridiculous, but the rumour is he will be involved in the finish of the Rock vs John Cena match. It would have to be a pretty big deal to keep one of their best guys off Mania for a run-in.

 

[nxtgeneration]

am i the only one who can see BOOKER T as the final member of Team Long. He has been a major supporter of long all the time. so why not hey, and it would be a even bigger pop than mysterio

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

am i the only one who can see BOOKER T as the final member of Team Long. He has been a major supporter of long all the time. so why not hey, and it would be a even bigger pop than mysterio

Ding ding ding ... looks like you are right.

Also it seems that Christian has been replaced by McIntyre. I am hoping this is a legit injury because I would be pissed that Christian get's pulled out in favor of McIntyre.

 

[Litle Jimmy Rocks]

Just a query, what happans if Long/Laranitis ends in a double pin? I'm probably over analyzeing this and it won't happen, but just my two cents. Anyway back to the topic
I think Laranitis will win as I can't see what he could do if he lost, where as with Teddy I could see him in a managerial role. plus as Jonny is a heel he won't have control for very long.

 

[Born To Fly]

Is this an elimination tag match or just a regular tag? It would be a better idea for it to be an elimination tag to showcase two guys at the end with a bit of chemistry, a la Ziggler and Ryder or Miz and someone else. This better not be a colossal waste of time, or else I'm going to be drinking heavily during it.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The build up for this match has been done extremely well. It is going on in place of the rumored Money In the Bank match at this year's Wrestlemania, so I expect it to go on either first or second since that is where the Money In the Bank Match would have gone if they were still doing that. Whether it opens or not, it's a good pick for doing early in the show. These multi man tag matches help set the pace for later in the show if booked well. I just hope it gets more time than The Corre VS Santino's APPLE did last year, what a disgrace that was! I doubt they will make that mistake again and the heels will emerge victorious after a decent match.

As for the results.... Team Johnny is going to win this. One needs to only take a look at the roster. He has 4 former World Champions (Henry, Miz, Ziggler, Swagger) along with McIntyre and Otunga on his team. Team Teddy has a bunch of jokes led by Santino. Enough said. Granted they do have Booker, but what good can he do when the majority of his team cannot be taken seriously? Long has overstayed his welcome as GM anyhow and JL as GM of both brands would bring something new to the blue brand. Team Johnny wins this because they have the better roster AND bring more to the table in terms of who should be GM in the end. Christian gets his title shot, Drew finally gets pushed again, while JL and Otunga rule both brands. Meanwhile, everyone from Team Teddy go back to being jokes, other than Ryder who might still see a better push.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
Team Johnny will defeat Team Teddy.

 

[RuskinArms]

Damn I wish this was an elimination match, would really give the opportunity to showcase a few superstars with an epic finish. However I think there is still a twist to come in this match and that is Ryder won't show up. Remember on Raw when Eve asked Ryder to stay at her hotel, well my thoughts is she is working for Laurinaitis and will screw Ryder and he wont be apart of this match.

Whether this can lead to Team Long having one less member on the team or we could see Teddy plead with the locker room for someone to come to his aid, leading to the return of possibly Mysterio.

My thoughts however is Team Laurinaitis is dominating only to have Ryder finally make his way out to the match and dominate several members of Team Laurinaitis and whilst he is busy dominating, Ziggler or Swagger get a cheeky pin to win the match.

 

[Shocky]

Alright, the WWE has finally begun to realize the concept of a Survivor Series big team match. Oh wait, this isn't November, it isn't an elimination match, and it's isn't Survivor Series? Well fuck me, it must be the annual WWE Wrestlemania Let's book as many guys into a match without a real storyline match!!!

Completely unnecessary filler. The Team Johnny/Team Teddy screams of desperation to reach the preteen Twihard crowd that isn't watching the product. There's some damn fine talent in this match, and it's a shame they won't be able to showcase some of their ability.

This has 5 - 10 minute clusterfuck written all over it. Five minutes in, someone hits a finisher, only to have a finisher hit on him, repeat 10 more times until someone on Team Ace scores the Pin and Teddy Long is sent into retirement.

 

[Mr. HD]

The build for this match seems to have cooled down a great deal ever since the match was announced on WWE.com of all places. The announcement itself was poorly executed and week by week, the build went down and what was a pretty entertaining feud was a joke in the making.

Nonetheless, WrestleMania is FOUR HOURS LONG this Sunday. After all that's gone down with Long and Laurinatis, this match needs a good payoff and a 5 minute spotfest is not the way to go. I don't wanna see a repeat of last year's 1 minute 8 Man Tag Team Match with The Corre and Team APPLE.

This match needs a good 10-15 minutes to give it a good flow and the fans can get into it. Of course near the end, everyone's gonna hit their moves to get the crowd excited for the ending.

Everybody on Team Johnny is proven except David Otunga. I think this is HIS match. He gets the pin on Booker T. and the win for Team Johnny.

 

[The_Awesome_One]

WWE has said they have a storyline planned for Miz and his losing streak is meant to be apart of that, so I see one of 4 things happening at WM 28:
1) Miz gets the win for team Johnny
2) Miz is the one who gets pinned on Team Johnny
3) Miz walks out on Team Johnny and Team Teddy Wins and
4) Miz walks out on Team Johnny and Team Johnny still manages to win
If WWE really does have a storyline for him after WM then i see something happening at Mania' that will involve Miz in a fairly big way.

 

[TBK]

It's a real shame they took Christian out, whether it be for the fact he hasn't healed yet or it's kayfabe just to hype up a feud between Christian and Punk, because he's one of my favorites.

But I'm really looking forward to everything at Mania, minus Orton vs Kane and the Diva's match, as I think everything except those two look like they could be great matches.

Also, I'm looking forward to a possible CM Punk and Christian feud. The, in my opinion, best face world champions in ECW, in a feud against one another.

 

[logan_punisher]

teddy deserves it.. he been there longer. laurintis sorry if miss spelled has no emotion. his facial emotions make me wanna embrace the hate!! lol

 

[klunderbunker]

Thuggin N Buggin vs. REALLY FREAKING BORING. In case you can’t remember, it’s Teddy with Santino (Captain)/Kofi/R-Truth/Booker T/Ryder/Khali vs. Johnny with Otunga (Captain)/Christian/McIntyre/Henry/Swagger/Miz.

This has basically been the fun team vs. the serious team. The winner gets to control both shows and for the life of me I can’t imagine that Johnny’s boys go down here. The talk on the shows would imply that Eve costs Ryder’s team the match. On the other hand there’s a possibility that someone is going to turn (no idea who) and cost his team the match. I’m surprised Alberto isn’t involved in this match but maybe he’ll interfere or something. Either way though, I can’t imagine Teddy wins because Raw isn’t made for tag matches.

 

[Krobra]

Prediction: Team John Laurinaitis

Let's break down the members of each team. On Team Long, we have Santino, Booker, Khali, Kofi, R-Truth, and Zach Ryder. On Team Johnny, we have Otunga, Swagger, Ziggler, Henry, Drew, and Miz. Based on who can benefit the most from the victory, I'd have to go with team Johnny. Give Ziggler, Swagger, Drew, and Miz the much needed victory. Long has served his purpose, and served it well, but everything has to come to an end at some point.

 

[#hamler]

I see absolutely no reason whatsoever for Team Long to win here. Long has been around for the better part of the last 8 years or so and I’m sure he’s ready to go away now. The WWE seems to have the desire to push Laurinaitis as the next big boss figure within the WWE. While it’s impossible to make another Mr. McMahon, the WWE can sure as hell try. There are so many positives for John Laurinaitis taking over both shows; he’s over. The power hungry boss storyline always works when there’s a mega over heel as well as a mega over face, the WWE could try and recreate that on both shows and potentially build up other faces in the process. It’s hard to predict how this match will go down other than the outcome. If I’m correct, both Team Laurinaitis and Team Long are missing one member. Maybe it’s time for a Lord Tensai debut?

Hamler’s Prediction – Team Laurinaitis will defeat Team Long.

 

[The Eighties]

This has been a pretty entertaining feud and the future storyline potential with Ace is certainly there.

I think the match will get 10 minutes or so as there'll be some wrestling then it will break down and Ace and Teddy will have a brief scrap mid-ring, before the guys all go into the finisher sequence.

My guess is Miz gets the pin and becomes Johnny's favourtie son post-Mania.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Team Teddy VS Team Laurinaitis could become an entertaining tag team match. This match will give the mid-card guys a spot on already stacked card, but I don't expect anything great from this.

I'm picking Team Laurinaitis for the win, because WWE NEEDS a serious change at the GM position. I've never had any real problems with Teddy Long. He hasn't done anything groundbreaking with the GM role over the years, but he can be a reliable authority figure in WWE. He isn't bad on the mic, and Teddy can be entertaining at times, but WWE really needs a different face in charge. Teddy has done everything he can do in the authority figure role, and it's time for him to move on to something else.

John Laurinaitis has been GREAT heel so far. Laurinaitis always receives massive amounts of heat from any live crowd, and Laurinaitis really does play the soulless corporate executive role to perfection. He's this pompous douchebag, and Otunga is the perfect choice for his right hand man. We haven't seen what Laurinaitis can do on a more permanent basis with full control over both shows, and the era of Mr. Excitement can bring so many different possibilities.