I like to think that sometimes I know things about wrestling. One of these things that I think I know, is that while WrestleMania 18 was good, it could've been approximately 700x better. This is what I would have done, with only a few guidelines set. First, I can't change champions (except for one, fuck you this is my game). Second, I can only use wrestlers who were active at the time of the PPV. That's so this won't turn into dream matches or fantasy booking or any of that stuff. The matches will be presented in the order I would use them on the card.
Hardy Boyz vs Billy and Chuck for the WWF Tag Team Titles
The Hardys were over as hell, so why not give them a straight-up tag team match for the gold instead of cramming teams onto the card? The crowd would pop huge for Matt and Jeff, and they'd win the titles to get Mania off to a hot start. Related: fuck Billy and Chuck.
Al Snow vs Maven for the Hardcore Title
Teacher vs protege. THE ANGLE BASICALLY BOOKS ITSELF. After Maven wins the Hardcore Title from Undertaker on SmackDown, Al Snow gets jealous of the youngster's success. Snow, a fucking ECW alumni for god's sakes, challenges Maven to a hardcore match. Maven gets his Mania moment with a win over Snow, and you still get the backstage hardcore madness afterwards. (Stay tuned).
Edge vs Christian
To this day, I don't understand why they did this match at Unforgiven and No Mercy. The company's top tag team splits, and they don't get a WrestleMania program? Fuck that. Even though they did the Unforgiven match and the No Mercy ladder match, I'd do it again. The match would be good enough for most to overlook the fact that it already happened twice. Christian wins under shady circumstances.
Crash wins the Hardcore Title Backstage
He sneaks up on Maven and wins it with a roll-up, speeding away.
Mr. Perfect vs William Regal for the Intercontinental Title
Perfect came back at Rumble 02 looking like he hadn't missed a beat. Regal had a really bad feud with Edge that was punctuated with a couple bad PPV matches. To make up for the string of bad in-ring action during Regal's reign, put these guys in there and let them fucking go at it. The match is a bit of a dream match, and it'd be a cool title defense to strengthen Regal's reign.
Crash runs away from danger
When we catch back up with our new champion, Maven, Spike Dudley, Rhyno and a few others are all chasing after him.
Booker T and Test vs Dudley Boyz in a Tag Team Tables Match
Booker T spent the better part of 2001 feuding with Austin and The Rock, but just got lost in the shuffle once 2002 came around. Booker and Test teamed up frequently during the Invasion, but the Dudleys were heels. The popularity of the Dudleys would transition to a pretty successful face turn, over something as simple as Test abusing the immunity he won at Survivor Series 2001 by hitting on Stacy and being a dick to Bubba Ray and D-Von about it. The Dudleys put Test through a table for the win. Test is the sacrificial lamb in this match because he actually has a storyline (the immunity) to work with no matter what.
Crash begs the APA
Crash barges into the APA's office, looking for help. In response, he's beaten up by Bradshaw and Faarooq, who fight over who gets to pin him. Crash gets away in the ruckus.
Kurt Angle vs Ric Flair
Throughout 2001 and even after the end of the Invasion into 2002, Kurt Angle was Vince's stooge. Then this feud books itself. Vince is unable to beat Flair in the street fight at Royal Rumble, so he sends Angle at Flair, resulting in this match. Flair wasn't exactly at the top of his game in 02, but I'm positive him and Angle could've still torn the house down. Angle makes Flair tap to the Ankle Lock.
Crash gets his help
Still on the move, Crash is hotly pursued by much of the roster. Suddenly, The Hurricane swoops in to save "Citizen Crash". Hurricane poises himself to fight all of the 10 or so guys going after Crash's title, but then turns around and runs away with Crash! They escape danger for now.
Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam
RVD emerged from the Invasion as one of the most over people in the company. Jericho won the Undisputed Title at Vengeance, but in my booking, he lost it to Austin at No Way Out. Riding the wave of becoming the first Undisputed Champion, Jericho and RVD feud about whatever they want them to feud about. The hype around it would be perfectly fine simply based off who they are and what they're capable of, and the match would almost certainly deliver. RVD wins with the Five Star.
Brothers of Destruction vs The Outsiders
It always struck me as weird that Kevin Nash didn't wrestle at Mania 18. While a tag match during the Streak might seem strange, this one is high-profile enough to make sense. Besides, the Streak wasn't really a big deal yet in 2002. This would have only been his 10th win. Taker and Kane win clean. Nash eats the pin simply because I like Hall more than him. Doesn't everyone? This feud is one of the easiest to book out of all the matches on the card. Taker and Kane protect the WWF's turf against these smug fucks from WCW. There, done.
STAND BACK, THERE'S A HURRICANE COMIN THROUGH
Crash and Hurricane escape to safety, but Crash is attacked from behind by Mighty Molly! Hurricane gets the pin and he dashes away with Molly.
The Rock vs Hulk Hogan
Absolutely nothing about this changes. The feud, the winner, none of it.
Trish Stratus vs Lita vs Jazz for the Womens Title
This was going to just be Trish vs Lita, but I've only now realized that Jazz was the champion going into Mania 18. I'm not very bright. Nothing about this changes either. Cool down match.
Big Show wins the Hardcore Title
MOVE OVER SUPERHEROES
Triple H vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for the Undisputed Title
There's no reason why this wasn't the actual main event of Mania 18. I'm as big of a Jericho mark as you will ever find, but he should NOT have main evented Mania in 2002, nor should he have wrestled after the Hogan/Rock match. I acknowledge that Austin had lost much of his steam once 2002 came around, but this feud was just so obvious and glaring. After the evaporation of the Two Man Power Trip, Austin became power hungry and paranoid. Then, The Alliance crumbled as well. This causes him to go completely insane. He wins the Undisputed Title from Jericho at No Way Out as a tweener, then turns full heel by blaming newly returned, Royal Rumble winning babyface Triple H for all his psychological issues. Austin brings up all their past feuds, including HHH having Rikishi run him over. Tensions brew, but they don't touch one another until WrestleMania, where Triple H goes over clean. The Game leaves Mania with the belt, and now Austin can be slowly faded out having done the right thing.
Obviously my card isn't perfect, hell, some people might not even think it's better than what WWE actually produced. This was just a fun idea I got on twitter last night, and I wanted to give it a try. I may do more of these in the future.
