[nukeinyourhair]

Sheamus spent the whole year getting over by mentioning how he eliminated HHH. Kane got his biggest push ever, going over Taker repeatedly. Now both of them are back, and those situations were basically ignored.

This isn't news to anyone, but it's seriously affected the psychology of this matchup. It makes it feel like the WM match is just on an island storyline wise, like it has no connection to anything. And it doesn't.

I'm not sure any two stars are big enough to pull that off, but definitely not these two.

Both of them needed to come back earlier. Instead of one 5 minute beatdown, and a pedigree through a table, HHH should have come back during the Elimination Chamber PPV, broke his way into the chamber, dragged Sheamus out of it and beat him within an inch of his life. (Just an example of how they could have done it, without bothering to have them feud)

When Taker reappeared on Smackdown, it should have been in the middle of one of Kane's matches. I'd have had the lights go out, Taker appear in the ring grasping Kane's throat, with a coffin at the side of the ring. Kane would fight back, grab Taker's throat, appear to be overpowering him, then Taker would laugh in his face, grab him, Tombstone him, and roll him into the coffin. (Again, just an example)

Both Kane and Sheamus would be done until after WM, and considering they aren't really doing anything with them anyway, why not?

Start the HHH/Taker feud by having HHH attack Undertaker from behind with a Sledge the following week on SD, and you go from there.

HHH needs to BE in sadistic mode for this story to work, not just show us highlights of times in the past when he was in sadistic mode.

Missed opportunities.

I agree mostly with what you said. For the sake of thoughtful debate I will make two points:

1.) While having Undertaker come back on SD to attack Kane makes more sense storyline-wise, it does not make sense business-wise. WWE wanted to take advantage of ratings by hyping "a surprise" return on Raw.

2.) I disagree that they're not big enough to pull it off. They are. This is almost always the deal with Undertaker matches at WM. They don't need to go anywhere. They just need to be one big, cash-grabbing, attention-getting matches that will make people buy the PPV. When's the other time in the last 10 years that Undertaker had a meaningful match at WM that wasn't just about the streak? WMXXIII vs. Batista for the WHC and WMXXIV vs. Edge for the WHC.

 

[jonoaries]

Why does everyone want to make this thing as normal and run of the mill as possible?
All the "I beat you up this week, next week you beat me up" is unnecessary and defeats the purpose of this being a big fight.
In other sports like boxing or UFC the main event guys don't fight before the event. Why give away for free what you can sell?
Besides this isn't a "feud" its about competition. There's no animosity so there's no need to have physicality. All this is fine, every other match can be focused on and built up better.

 

[Chris32482]

Why does everyone want to make this thing as normal and run of the mill as possible?
All the "I beat you up this week, next week you beat me up" is unnecessary and defeats the purpose of this being a big fight.
In other sports like boxing or UFC the main event guys don't fight before the event. Why give away for free what you can sell?
Besides this isn't a "feud" its about competition. There's no animosity so there's no need to have physicality. All this is fine, every other match can be focused on and built up better.

I agree. Not every feud needs to be based around guys trading beatdowns. However, it still feels like they could be doing more to hype up this match. There's still plenty of time though. We've got 3 more SmackDowns (counting tonight) and 2 more RAWs, so maybe it'll turn out OK.

 

[philip3831]

I don't totally hate the build-up but it has disappointed me. I like the OP's idea better. Regardless I wish Taker and HHH would have more face to face interaction.

 

[Phenom]

Why does everyone want to make this thing as normal and run of the mill as possible?
All the "I beat you up this week, next week you beat me up" is unnecessary and defeats the purpose of this being a big fight.
In other sports like boxing or UFC the main event guys don't fight before the event. Why give away for free what you can sell?
Besides this isn't a "feud" its about competition. There's no animosity so there's no need to have physicality. All this is fine, every other match can be focused on and built up better.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

There is no bad blood between the two, so that's why there are no malicious, come-from-behind attacks. It's a rivalry between two greats, and that in itself will sell out Wrestlemania. And unlike so much else in the WWE these days, it's going to be all about the match on the night, and good wrestling, which I find nothing wrong with.

 

[Roler42]

Why does everyone want to make this thing as normal and run of the mill as possible?
All the "I beat you up this week, next week you beat me up" is unnecessary and defeats the purpose of this being a big fight.
In other sports like boxing or UFC the main event guys don't fight before the event. Why give away for free what you can sell?
Besides this isn't a "feud" its about competition. There's no animosity so there's no need to have physicality. All this is fine, every other match can be focused on and built up better.

this

seriously... both wwe and TNA miseducated you guys... not all the wrestlemania or ppv or normal feuds are based upon the "i hate you, you hate me" formula

 

[Vic Capri]

There's always Extreme Rules for them to revenge.

- Vic

 

[symotree]

2.) I disagree that they're not big enough to pull it off. They are. This is almost always the deal with Undertaker matches at WM. They don't need to go anywhere. They just need to be one big, cash-grabbing, attention-getting matches that will make people buy the PPV. When's the other time in the last 10 years that Undertaker had a meaningful match at WM that wasn't just about the streak? WMXXIII vs. Batista for the WHC and WMXXIV vs. Edge for the WHC.

About the streak is fine, but there still has to be some lead up to it that's more than a couple highlights and a promo (granted they still have some time). The build up to the matches with Michael's started months in advance.

 

[symotree]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

There is no bad blood between the two, so that's why there are no malicious, come-from-behind attacks. It's a rivalry between two greats, and that in itself will sell out Wrestlemania. And unlike so much else in the WWE these days, it's going to be all about the match on the night, and good wrestling, which I find nothing wrong with.

Triple H with no bad blood = boring. Yes, you can do it this way. They are doing it this way. But it doesn't mean that it's the best story they can tell.

The crowd has been flat, the reaction to the promo's have been flat. No one is really gonna buy that face HHH can beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. They already did the likable Michaels versus Undertaker in a respectful competition for the last two years. If they want fans to believe HHH really has a chance to beat the streak, we need to see the heel HHH that was blood thirsty and evil, not just hear about him.

 

[nukeinyourhair]

About the streak is fine, but there still has to be some lead up to it that's more than a couple highlights and a promo (granted they still have some time). The build up to the matches with Michael's started months in advance.

Oh I definitely think it would be better I'm just thinking from a casual fan's standpoint that two huge name like HHH and Undertaker will draw them in anyway. There's probably a fairly large chunk of people that aren't even watching Raw and SmackDown, but will buy WM anyway just because it's WM and HHH vs Taker is on the card.

But I can totally see where you're coming from and as more than a casual fan myself, I would definitely like to see a better build-up.

 

[TripleG]

Isn't it funny that both Sheamus & Kane are in much lower positions now than they were before when they eliminated Trips & Taker respectively? Again, a demonstration in WWE not planning their stuff out. At the most, they plan a month ahead...unless you are an announcer, in which case you get 4-6 months to build your storyline.

Anyways, this match feels very hollow to me. Its something that they put together to add to the Attitude Era nostalgia that they are selling this show on. Taker & Trips really are the last two major main event stars from that time period that are still around. So we have Rock, Austin, Trish, & JR back, E&C reuniting of TV, & this match to build which is really the last hurrah for the Attitude Era. As far as establishing this match goes, they haven't really done anything to make me excited for it. It just feels like "Hey, we've got this match! Buy it!" which can work in some cases (Hogan/Rock, though that had more than this) but Trips & Taker is a match I've seen already and I'm not particularly excited about another one.

 

[dave 1981]

I agree in some parts as having Triple H and The Undertaker just seemingly forget about Sheamus and Kane respectively and also Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater as well doesn't make any sense. Another thing is that i just don't buy into Triple H simply returning because he wanted to end the WrestleMania streak of The Undertaker after having no interaction between them since 2002 other than a match on SmackDown and The Elimination Chamber in 2009.

If this feud between Triple H and The Undertaker was to work going into WrestleMania then it needed to have based around The Undertaker beating Shawn Michaels last year and ending the career of Triple H's best friend but it isn't and is simply based around Triple H having nothing left to do in his career other than beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I can see why WWE wanted to do Triple H and The Undertaker at WrestleMania because it is the biggest match in WWE that doesn't involve John Cena and i expect the match to be very good but the actual basis of the feud and the fact that the people who "injured" them have been completely ignored makes no sense.