The roster in 1995 is pretty awful, and depth is a major issue in this historically shitty year. But I'm going to give a shot, making the best of it. This is being booked on the assumption that I have inherited the situation as it was at the start of 1995, with the roster as it was in March.
Liam O'Rourke's WrestleMania XI
WWF Title
Diesel (c) Vs. Shawn Michaels w/Sid
This is the only match on the card I'd keep the same.
If Diesel is champion, the only ready made big match challenger he has is Shawn Michaels, which poses a problem because a) the dynamic of the feud was bad with Shawn as the undersized and overmatched heel challenger, and b) the match itself didn't work out as a result. I think this has to be more of a grudge match than it was, in the vain of Taker/Shawn at Ground Zero. I'd have Shawn and Sid beat the living hell out of Diesel with a steel chair in the run-up, and the idea that after all the superkicks, the spotlight hogging, and the assisted beatdowns, Diesel is finally going to get Shawn one-on-one. In the real world, they tried to position them as equals, which was a big mistake. Since they'd paid the cash to get Pamela Anderson, I guess use her here in the same way they did, but she has to be supplemental to the revenge story.
Same outcome, if you're going with Diesel as champ in the first place, he had to win here.
Winner: Diesel
Bret Hart Vs. Lex Luger
Lex turns heel at the Royal Rumble, costing Bret the WWF Title. The bitter, obnoxious Luger starts to show himself in his post-match explanation - last year at the Rumble, the Lex Express hit a Pink and Black brick wall, and the fans chose Bret over him when they tied at the finish. He dropped his Narcissistic way to represent his country, and they spat in his face when he needed them.
As much as it pissed him off, he swallowed the bitter pill to be the nice guy. Then as soon as Bret lost the belt, he immediately was given a chance to get it back against Diesel, while Lex was never given another chance after he got blatantly screwed at Mania X. Luger is an angry, bitter heel in the build to this match, desperate to prove he is better than the Hitman. And in the cheapest, most gutless fashion, he wins, which marks a turn in the character to super obnoxious, holier than thou self-entitled dickhead Luger a la 1989 Total Package, because he "proved" he was right after all. This can continue with Luger either going after Diesel, or continuing the Bret feud all the way through to Summerslam, where the Hitman gets the win.
Bret can "get his win back" over Backlund on one of the In Your House Pay-Per-Views if its actually needed.
Winner: Lex Luger
Lawrence Taylor/Razor Ramon Vs. Jerry Lawler/Jeff Jarrett w/Roadie
Jerry Lawler was perfect for the LT program. He wasn't the most credible guy after the Doink feud, so he really had nothing to lose. He was that perfect heel to antagonise the celebrity and incorporate some of the Kaufman elements again (hell, could even reference Lawler's past fending off outsiders), and his promo work could have made this a bigger deal than it was.
As evidenced by Bigelow, nobody that worked opposite Taylor was going to come out better for it, so I think LT works better in a tag format where his partner gets the shine of being next to him in all the pubicity and promos, a la Hogan and Mr. T. And Razor in 1995 would have benefitted from some celebrity shine to avoid the midcard typecasting a little bit.
I'd keep Razor as IC Champion at the Rumble, but continue the Jarrett/Roadie feud going. Lawler gets eliminated by Doink or the 1-2-3 Kid in the Royal Rumble, and gets the shove on LT for laughing at him. Lawler, Jarrett and Roadie as a heel trio has big potential as their paths cross leading up to the match, the Memphis-style stooging and verbal prodding is ideal for this scenario, and Lawler gets to complain forever about the loss and doesn't get killed off the way Bigelow did.
Winners: Razor and LT
Undertaker Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Because lets face it, King Kong Bundy sucked balls. They'd need to do some serious work near the end of 94 and in the beginning of 95 to heat up Bigelow because he'd been treading water in the middle for a while, but this has a lot of potential. There was a standard formula for Taker feuds at the time - bad guy steals the urn, Taker beats him and gets it back.
I'd go a little more hardcore here and have Bigelow beat the shit out of Paul Bearer, giving him three headbutts off the top rope while Taker is restrained or incapacitated by the rest of the Million Dollar Corporation. A Bearer-less Taker goes it alone, until Paul returns just in time at the finish, urn in hand, encouraging Taker to victory.
Winner: Undertaker
Yokozuna Vs. Davey Boy Smith
Was contemplating going with Owen Vs. Davey for a good match and strong win for Owen, but two reasons why I'll go with booking logic over a good match - number one, Yokozuna did barely anything for 1995, as his team with Owen didn't produce a lot of good anyway, and number two, given the big problem in 1995 with a lack of credible heels for Diesel, Yoko is good for one PPV defense at least. Again, they went with Sid and Mabel, people. I'd maybe change Yoko's look up slightly in his big return, make him a bit darker after losing the Casket Match, and give an impressive win over Davey Boy here, a strong midcard face, to help put some steam back on him after he'd been phased down a bit after losing the title in 94.
Winner: Yokozuna
WWF Tag Team Titles
Smoking Gunns (c) Vs. Owen Hart/Bob Backlund
Owen Vs. Davey left me with a Backlund/Yoko team, which is kind of funny in an absurd way, but the matches would be awful, because both Yoko and Backlund needed help for a team to work. Owen and Backlund have the Bret connection from Survivor Series, and I see them being a potential good act together, with Bob as the crazy hyper-intelligent type, with Owen's cocky heel shtick beside it. Gunns lose the belts, and hopefully this team can elevate the belts a bit.
Winners: Owen & Backlund
1-2-3 Kid Vs. Hakushi
This replaces Owen Vs. Davey as the hot action match on the undercard, serves to give Hakushi his first win on a big stage, and sets him up for some good stuff throughout the Summer.
Winner: Hakushi
Heavenly Bodies/Tatanka/IRS Vs. Headshrinkers/Adam Bomb/Bob Holly
The traditional "lets get a bunch of guys on the card" match, just a fun and quick way to open the show, babyfaces get the win.
Winners: Headshrinkers/Car Bombs ¬_¬
Final Thoughts:
Overall, not only do I think this is significantly better than what we got, but it's very plausible that they could have gone this direction just as easily. One of the major problems coming out of the real show was that there were absolutely no heels worth a fuck afterwards, as the babyfaces smoked through them all in the key matches. Here we elevate Razor as a babyface, get some awesome promos with Jerry Lawler, give Bret a hot issue which he sorely needed since he spent his 1995 in the midcard, create a hot new heel in Lex Luger, we give Yoko some heat, we don't eviscerate Bigelow, Taker gets a notch on his belt and MUCH needed good match, the tag titles are set up nicely on an important team, Hakushi heads into the Spring with some steam, and the Diesel/Michaels story gets its blowoff.
And more importantly, no Harris Twins or King Kong Bundy.
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