Tonight, In This Very Ring: A Collection of Wrestling Timelines

[Megafighter3]

The 1999 Royal Rumble Match​

#1: Stone Cold Steve Austin
#2: The Rock

Rather than Mr. McMahon, we bring in the Rock at #2, making this a huge Rumble.

#3: Golga

Golga comes in, takes a Stunner and gets tossed out (30, Golga)

#4: Headbanger Puke

In comes Puke to take a Rock Bottom and then thrown out (29, Puke)

#5: Edge

Edge charges in, taking a Stunner and going out as well (28, Edge)

#6: Gillberg

Gillberg! Gillberg! Rock Bottom to Gillberg and out he goes (27, Gillberg) You can see a trend here.

#7: Steve Blackman

Yep. Here comes another Stunner and out (26, Blackman)

#8: Dan Severn

Severn finally breaks the mold here by actually holding out.

#9: Tiger Ali Singh

And another Rock Bottom and out they go (25, Singh)

#10: The Blue Meanie

The bodies don't stop coming as after a brief dance sequence from the Meanie, he takes a Stunner and gets tossed before Austin goes back to fighting Rock and Severn (24, Meanie)

#11: Mabel

Well, can't just toss this one out, can we? And sure, there's three dudes in there, but you're gonna need more than that.

#12: Brian Armstrong

Brian, despite being an NWA guy, is allowed to help in trying to toss out Mabel.

#13: Gangrel

Gangrel joins in the fight to send out Mabel and the five men manage to send him out (23, Mabel)

#14: Kurrgan

And Kurrgan comes in, the five men joining back together to toss him out (22, Kurrgan)

#15: Al Snow

Al comes in and goes right for Gangrel while Brian puts on a brave face against Severn, who takes out his frustrations over losing the NWA title out on Brian. Rock and Austin go back to their fight.

#16: Dustin Rhodes

Dustin goes in to help Brian fight against Severn. Things are actually starting to build now in the Rumble.

#17: Kama Mustafa

Kama joins in on the Severn fight, wanting a piece of that action.

#18: Kane

Kane comes in next and delivers a few chokeslams, sending out Brian (21, Armstrong) Dustin (20, Rhodes) Al (19, Snow) and Kama (18, Mustafa) before just... leaving. He just walked right out like it was nothing. (17, Kane)

#19: Ken Shamrock

Here comes Shamrock to go right after Severn. The two duke it out while Gangrel sits and watches that and Austin/Rock still in progress.

#20: Billy Gunn

And Billy immediately gets hit with an Impaler, then picked up and suplexed by Shamrock, put into a choke by Severn, hit with the People's Elbow and then a Stunner and gone (16, Billy) poor jobbin' Billy.

#21: Test

Test decides he's just gonna fight Gangrel for a bit because anything else would be death.

#22: Big Boss Man

Welp. Time for another goodbye Stunner (15, Boss Man)

#23: Triple H

Just as Shamrock dumps out Dan Severn (14, Severn) here comes Triple H to meet him face to face while Test and Gangrel fight and Austin/Rock is still going.

#24: Val Venis

Val dives into Test, only to get caught and dumped right out (13, Venis)

#25: X-Pac

Make some noise! X-Pac, despite the Pedigree, tries to help his buddy Hunter out in dealing with Shamrock.

#26: Mark Henry

Mark grabs and tosses out Gangrel (12, Gangrel) before throwing hands with Test in what was surely classic television.

#27: Jeff Jarrett

A mistimed kick got Triple H riled up, so Jarrett takes control of Shamrock while Hunter and X-Pac fight.

#28: D'Lo Brown

D'Lo comes in to help out his buddy Mark against Test.

#29 Owen Hart

Owen decides to help out Test for now.

#30: Chyna

Chyna comes in and tosses out X-Pac for Triple H (11, X-Pac) before taking a Stunner and going right out (10, Chyna)

As we head to the end, we have Austin/Rock, D'Lo and Henry vs. Owen and Test, Jarrett/Shamrock and Hunter all alone. Though Jarrett sends out Shamrock (9, Shamrock) so that should give Hunter something to do.

Meanwhile, Owen sends out D'Lo Brown (8, D'Lo) and Mark tosses out Test (7, Test) before Owen and Mark get sent out by Rock and Austin (6, Owen) (5, Henry) leaving our final four.

The Rock, who has had opportunity robbed from him at every turn. Triple H, who has seen D-X fall apart at the seams. Jarrett, once the crown jewel of the NWA, now playing second to Dr. Death and Austin, who is Stone Cold and he wants his belt back, thank you very much.

The Rock bounces Jarrett (4, Jarrett) while Austin sends out Triple H (3, Hunter) and for however much time we have left, these two pretty much go at it until Austin finally hits the Stunner, gets the Rock over the ropes and sends him to the floor. (2, Rock)

AUSTIN WINS! AUSTIN WINS THE RUMBLE ONCE AGAIN! AUSTIN IS GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA!

 

[TheMatthew25]

I'm loving how this is turning out. Cant wait to see how it ends. I'm wondering that even after it ends, the Dr Death/Austin feud might last a bit longer?

 

[Unknown]

Hope you avoid the heel JR angle from early 1999, after he got Bell's Palsy, where he kicked Michael Cole in the balls, among other things (when Jim Ross kicked Cole in the balls, the crowd cheered instead of booed, not something you want in a heel angle)...

 

[Megafighter3]

St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House

Venue: Memphis Pyramid
Attendance: 19,050
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler​

(Dark: Too Much d. The Hardy Boyz)

Heat: Test (w/Shane McMahon) d. Mabel
Heat: Big Boss Man d. Dennis Knight

Move some matches over to heat and give Test the win instead of the DQ. Also, put him with Shane, because that's fun.

Dustin Rhodes (c) (w/Jim Cornette) d. Bluedust for the NWA European Championship

We get Meanie doing a Goldust impression to annoy Dustin, but he gets squashed. Rebel Yell puts away Bluedust.

Al Snow d. Bob Holly for the vacant WWF Hardcore Championship

Match from OTL, but we give Al the win here to make up for killing off Head.

Owen Hart d. Billy Gunn, D'Lo Brown, and X-Pac in a Fatal Four Way Match

Just a simple little four-way bout. Match ends when Triple H comes in and hits X-Pac with a Pedigree, Owen picking up the pin.

Brian Armstrong/Bradshaw (c) (w/Jim Cornette) d. The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker/Kane) (w/Paul Bearer) for the NWA/WWF Tag Team Championships (Count-Out)

Undertaker and Kane get close, wracking poor Brian and keeping him from tagging to Bradshaw. We get some jawing between Cornette and Bearer at ringside, because that's fun. However, during the match, the crowd lights up as a massive man charges through the crowd and climbs the apron. King! That's Paul Wight! That's Paul Wight! He's got Kane by the throat! Chokeslam to the floor! He picks Kane up! Chokeslam through the Spanish announce table! Paul Wight stares 'Taker down and points to him before stomping off. Suddenly, the lights go out and when they're on, Undertaker is gone. The ref, confused, counts Kane out, allow Brian and Bradshaw to keep.

Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/Jim Cornette) d. Val Venis for the NWA North American/WWF Intercontinental Championships

Val's got the momentum here, so we put him against Jarrett. it's a tidy match up, ending with a switch from the Venis Flytrap to Figure Four. Jarrett keeps again.

Ken Shamrock (w/Alicia Webb) d. Triple H (w/Chyna)

Just have a nice straightforward match here, ending when X-Pac does a run-in to get revenge on Hunter for the previous run-in. Hits a superkick that leaves Triple stunned and taking a big German bridging into a pin.

Dr. Death Steve Williams (c) (w/Jim Cornette) d. Mankind in a Last Man Standing Match for the NWA/WWF World Championships

Yeah, do this match too. Mankind is the underdog and fights to try and take the WWF title back, but he gets Doctor Bombed on something that just puts him out. Taking the ten count loss.

Stone Cold Steve Austin d. The Rock (w/Mr. McMahon) in a Steel Cage Match

Mr. McMahon wants the NWA gone, but he wants it to be his own man and not Stone Cold. Too bad that Austin wins this in spite of Rock and Vince's efforts. We're getting it from WrestleMania! Stone Cold vs. Dr. Death!

 

[Unknown]

I like the Love Her or Leave Her match between Test and Shane at SummerSlam 1999 (Test was dating Stephanie in kayfabe and Shane, being the big brother, did not approve, sparking their feud); Shane did moves in that match that took guts (and would be the first of many daring moves he would make; one site even said that ECW guys would balk at some of Shane's moves)...

BTW, the Mean Street Posse were Shane's friends IRL, IIRC...

While they weren't talented wrestlers (then again, WWF had the Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, etc.), they were OK...

 

[Hulkster'01]

Does the Big Show debut here like the OTL? Also what's next after this?

 

[Megafighter3]

WrestleMania XV

Venue: First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,500
Announce Team: Jim Ross/Jerry Lawler​

Heat: Jacqueline (w/Terri Runnels) d. Ivory
Heat: The Smoking Gunns win a Battle Royal to determine the #1 Contenders for the NWA/WWF Tag Team Championships

Teams in the Battle Royal: Public Enemy, Mabel/Faarooq, Gillberg/Steve Blackman, The Legion of Doom, the Disciples of Apocalypse, Too Much, The Hardy Boyz, The Headbangers (Mosh/Puke), D'Lo Brown/Kama Mustafa, The Smoking Gunns.

Smoking Gunns are back together! They're going for the tag titles tonight at WrestleMania XV! Billy and Bart got back together in the build, picking up wins and a spot in this battle royal.

Al Snow (c) d. Hardcore Holly and Dennis Knight for the WWF Hardcore Championship

Just a hardcore brawl with Snow hitting the Snowplow to Dennis to keep.

Brian Armstrong/Bradshaw (c) (w/Jim Cornette) d. The Smoking Gunns for the NWA/WWF Tag Team Championships

And in the first of four matches to drive out the NWA, the WWF team comes up short. Billy gets pissed after the match and hits the One and Only to Bart. That'll wrap up Bart and put Billy on a solo run.

Kane d. Mankind

Just get these two on the card. Mankind takes the Tombstone here for Kane.

Owen Hart d. Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/Jim Cornette) for the NWA North American/WWF Intercontinental Championships

Owen manages the first win for the WWF side in a good match with Jarrett, giving his all to put Jarrett away with the Sharpshooter. He takes the IC/NA titles.

Triple H (w/Chyna) d. X-Pac

And now Triple H stands alone. The match goes for a while before he hits the Pedigree to X-Pac.

Sable (c) d. Tori for the WWF Women's Championship

Oh hey, look. An OTL match. That's rare now.

Test (w/Shane McMahon) d. Dustin Rhodes (c) (w/Jim Cornette) for the NWA European Championship

Test takes the European title back for WWF! Big Pumphandle to Dustin to claim a victory. Shane takes the racket for some more manager fun.

The Rock d. Ken Shamrock

Another "get them on the card match" and to get some heat back for Rocky after just a string of losses. Rock Bottom and People's Elbow victory.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) d. Paul Wight in a Hell in a Cell Match

Yeah, 'Taker vs. Paul Wight again. Sue me. Do you all really want him fighting Boss Man? It's a big-on-big match-up and it ends with a Tombstone to Paul Wight. Bad start for the Big Show, but we sell the fact that it's a huge debut match for him.

Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Dr. Death Steve Williams (c) (w/Jim Cornette) in a No Disqualification Match for the NWA and WWF World Championships

And to take it all and end the reign of the NWA, Austin gets his big rematch with Dr. Death, the two just going all out on each other. Hitting hard and hitting with anything they got. It's just an all-out brawl, ending with the Stunner to Dr. Death. Austin reclaims WWF World Title, gets the NWA World Title, which is "absorbed" into the WWF World Title and gives a screaming furious Cornette a Stunner to end the show.

Of course, Mr. McMahon's gonna try and get the belt off Austin and Dr. Death has his rematch clause, but the NWA invasion is done for.

Next up: Shattered Shield.

 

[TheMatthew25]

I loved how this turned out. What will happen to the Tag Team titles afterwards? Also, I wonder what will happen to the NWA afterwards? Either way I love this series and thank you for doing it. Now, I have another one if you are interested to do later. I wanted to see if you could redo the Ric Flair as Raw GM Story line that happened after Survivor Series 2001. I been thinking about it for awhile and maybe you can give it proper closure.

 

[farmerted555]

Owen Hart d. Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/Jim Cornette) for the NWA North American/WWF Intercontinental Championships

Owen manages the first win for the WWF side in a good match with Jarrett, giving his all to put Jarrett away with the Sharpshooter. He takes the IC/NA titles.

Does Owen live to defend at Summerslam?

 

[Megafighter3]

I loved how this turned out. What will happen to the Tag Team titles afterwards? Also, I wonder what will happen to the NWA afterwards? Either way I love this series and thank you for doing it. Now, I have another one if you are interested to do later. I wanted to see if you could redo the Ric Flair as Raw GM Story line that happened after Survivor Series 2001. I been thinking about it for awhile and maybe you can give it proper closure.

Does Owen live to defend at Summerslam?

The NWA as a stable disbands and their belts are "absorbed" into the WWF (though the NWA will recognize the current champions until an agreed title change.) Brian and Bradshaw would drop the tag titles to the Brood at the earliest possible point, Jarrett continues to feud with Owen for the IC belt (which does not include the Blue Blazer) and Dr. Death would get his rematch, but would be released after Backlash for refusing to work with FMW.

I'll throw in the Ric Flair GM storyline to the list.

 

[Unknown]

You know, I just thought of something as an idea if you ever do an Owen Hart Lives TL: if Owen had lived in OTL, I could see him becoming Triple H and Stephanie's main opposition (besides the Rock) after they form the McMahon Helmsley regime. Think about it--Triple H is a good buddy of none other than Shawn Michaels (and Triple H was in on the Screwjob, to boot), who drove Bret Hart out with the Montreal Screwjob, so it makes sense that Owen would oppose Triple H, IMO (and Mick Foley was one of his good friends OTL, to boot)...

 

[eldandythedoubter]

The NWA as a table disbands and their belts are "absorbed" into the WWF (though the NWA will recognize the current champions until an agreed title change.) Brian and Bradshaw would drop the tag titles to the Brood at the earliest possible point, Jarrett continues to feud with Owen for the IC belt (which does not include the Blue Blazer) and Dr. Death would get his rematch, but would be released after Backlash for refusing to work with FMW.

I'll throw in the Ric Flair GM storyline to the list.

Why would they disband a table after losing so decisively?

 

[Ventriloquist]

Why would they disband a table after losing so decisively?

They are the table.

 

[Megafighter3]

Shattered Shield​

Now, let's start with the fact that the Shield's breakup was awesome. Seth surprising everyone by turning on his brothers and siding with the Authority was a great start. This is really more a story of what happened after the Shield broke up. The Roman Reigns push, the Seth Rollins non-push and the Dean Ambrose burial. How, oh how, do we handle this? Well, let's start with...

Money in the Bank 2014

Venue: TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15.653
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/JBL​

For the start, we're gonna stick to keeping the rest OTL and zeroing in on matches with Shield members. To that end, we got two matches to talk about here.

Seth Rollins d. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter), Kofi Kingston and Rob Van Dam in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match

OTL match. but here's the big one.

Roman Reigns d. Alberto del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman), John Cena, Kane, Randy Orton and Sheamus in a Ladder Match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Alright, so now I gotta sell you on this because this is some hard selling. Okay, at this point Roman is clearly not ready to be world champion. He will be, but not at the moment. But, he's still over with the crowd coming off the Shield and another thing of importance we sell is his brotherhood with Dean. One of the things I hated about how the breakup went down was the distance put between Dean and Roman. The three were super close and were a unit, but suddenly Roman's just fucked off and isn't going after Seth. Here, we keep Dean and Roman a package and sell their differences. Dean is explosive in his anger. Seth was the closest thing Dean had to a friend in this business and he threw all that away. Roman remains cool and calm, says very little and acts more as a punctuation to Dean's more verbose raving. Usually, a threat to Seth capped off with a "Believe that!" The two tag together and are in each other's corners for singles. The Shield may be gone, but they are still brothers.

Also, he's probably the best option here. Yeah, I'll say it. Like, who else do we got? Del Rio? He's always been on the stop-start for booking. Bray? Just lost the Cena feud. Cesaro? Plays second banana to Brock. Cena or Orton? Ugh, not again. Kane? Heeeeellll no. Sheamus? He hasn't gotten the mohawk yet, so he's still boring face Sheamus. So, Roman's the best option we got in the line-up and now we have to push him hard. Make him as dominant as possible. He wins explosively quick matches on TV, does longer matches on house shows and PPVs. Cover up his flaws and really accentuate his strengths as a powerhouse. No underdog booking here. Just a killing machine of power.

Plus, this works into Dean and Roman's goal heading forward: Ruin Seth Rollins' life. Dean and Roman have made a pact to utterly destroy Seth for turning on them and what better way to do that than to act as a roadblock between him and the biggest prize in wrestling? And while Dean wasn't able to stop him from winning the world title, he does stop him from cashing in on Roman that night and makes sure to do so on every RAW from here on out. Whenever Seth tries to cash in, Dean is there and on the attack. We also don't make it goofy. We make Dean look as unhinged as PG will allow. He is obsessed with Seth, wants to kill the bastard. Roman just keeps being dominant in matches. He knows Dean has his back. And since Roman isn't the Authority's handpicked guy (yeah, I know he's Vince's IRL dude) and Dean keeps stopping their handpicked guy, they get under Triple H's skin, so we can do some really good Dean and Roman screwing over the Authority at every possible turn. It's a pretty solid storyline from here. It's a risk, but one that I think can pay off.

 

[farmerted555]

I just came up with the perfect subtitle to this new TL: Fortune Favors the Bold.

 

[Megafighter3]

Battleground 2014

Venue: Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 12,000
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/JBL​

Alright, what's the next set of matches that got changed?

Seth Rollins d. Dean Ambrose (count-out)

About the same as OTL, where Dean gets waylaid by the Authority to protect their golden boy. This is how you gotta do Seth at this time. He's a smug, entitled little shit who is given favors by the higher-ups who are investing in him. Another match to look at here.

Roman Reigns (c) d. John Cena, Kane and Randy Orton in a Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

First defense and making it a multi-man allows us to keep Reigns' presence limited and we got three vets in there to help him out. He gets the big sequence at the end where he levels everybody, Spear to Kane to get the fall and keep. Seth begins to run out with the briefcase when SURPRISE! Ambrose runs in and jumps Rollins, preventing another cash in. Security comes to pull away Ambrose, Reigns charging out to help Dean escape the Authority's wrath.

 

[Megafighter3]

SummerSlam 2014

Venue: Staples Center in Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 18,000
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/JBL​

So, we got three matches to focus on here.

Seth Rollins d. Dean Ambrose in a Lumberjack Match for the Money in the Bank Briefcase

Dean eventually gets under Seth's skin and Seth, being the arrogant heel, is tricked into putting up his briefcase. Triple H plays damage control by making it a Lumberjack match, but it's all OTL from there. Same lumberjacks and a really good match. Seth keeps his briefcase tonight.

John Cena d. Randy Orton

Snore...

Roman Reigns (c) d. Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Oh yes, here comes the big risk. This is where I'm sure shit's gonna get real difficult to sell. I'm not blind to the likelihood that smarks will reject Reigns, they'll be cynical to his continued friendship with Ambrose while Ambrose still suffers losses at PPV and especially putting him against Brock after Brock ended the Streak is dangerous. However, I have faith in this match because both of these are hard men who will stiff the hell out of each other, throw suplexes, hit finishers and the crowd will eat it up. The finish comes after an F5 where Roman just jumps right back up, stunning Brock long enough for him to take a Superman Punch, followed by a Spear. However, the night's not over yet.

Seth Rollins d. Roman Reigns (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

This time, Dean gets waylaid by the heel lumberjacks from the match and Seth cashes in. It's a quick Avada Kedavra to get Reigns down, followed by the Curbstomp. Rollins pins an exhausted Reigns and sneaks off with the World Heavyweight Championship. The heist of the century!

 

[Ventriloquist]

OH SHIT. That is a swerve indeed.

 

[Megafighter3]

Night of Champions 2014

Venue: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 12,000
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/JBL​

Just one match to change from OTL. But it's a big one.

John Cena d. Seth Rollins (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by Disqualification

So, originally this match was booked for Rollins and Reigns to have their rematch from SummerSlam. However, the night of the show, Reigns had to go down for surgery, so midway through Seth taunted Reigns and made an open challenge for anyone to meet him in the main event tonight. That brought out Cena, who accepted. Seth, cocky as ever, said he could beat Cena. However, Seth finds he can't beat Cena. He's good, no doubt, but he was way less prepared than he thought he was for Cena and thus a desperation call is made. Brock runs in and attacks Cena, drawing the DQ. Rollins sneaks away while Brock continues to wreck Cena. Triple H offered Heyman a big pay to get Brock to ruin Cena and keep the title on Seth.

 

[Megafighter3]

Hell in a Cell 2014

Venue: American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 16,000
Announce Team: Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/JBL​

Seth Rollins (c) (w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury) d. Dean Ambrose in a Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

So, OTL match, warts and all, but now an even bigger match because it's for the title. really not much else for this one. Posts getting shorter, but that's because we're building up to stuff. Strap in, the storyline's really gonna start blowing up.