My WWE Vs. TNA Dream Event Card

A few days ago I read a great slideshow put together by BR Correspondent Slam Houston titled, "WWE vs. TNA: The Dream Matchups." I was so inspired that the sum of my ideas was much too long to fit into a comment on his article so, I chose to share all of my ideas with the entire Bleacher Report audience. This is my first article posted on Bleacher Report, so I welcome constructive criticism, and would love to hear your feedback and your own ideas.

The Dream World Wrestling Entertainment versus Total NonStop Action Wrestling Super Card (be warned, it is an extremely long card to fit in one show, but I tried to fit in most of the main eventers in both companies, and well, this a DREAM card): 

Match 1: Carlito/Primo vs. The Motor City Machine Guns

Open up the show with a fast paced tag team bout with the Guns as the faces. These two teams are here to set the exciting tone for the night and really get the crowd revved up for what they're about to see (although really, if we're having a dream WWE vs. TNA PPV, how much more are you gonna have to hype up the crowd?). These two have similar styles, but seeing as the Guns have more experience together, they ought to win. 

Match 2: JTG vs. Homicide

Now that we've got in an early tag match, we ought to keep the fast paced action rolling with two cruiserweights. I would have fan favorite JTG go over Hernandez here, so that we can start out the show with the score tied 1 win for WWE and 1 for TNA (after all, you don't want things to get too lopsided... this early).

Match 3: Shad Gaspard v. Hernandez

Well we've got tag and cruiserweights out of the way, we can finally move on to heavyweights! I'd have Hernandez win against Shad, the heel, to give TNA back the lead. This will leave the audience wondering if TNA will be playing catch up all night, a surprise since most will have forecasted that WWE would surely dominate their smaller competitor.

You also may have noticed that with two these previous matches, I basically had the former Cryme Tyme vs. the former LAX, only in separate matches. If they were both still tag teams, I'd have them together in one match to save time, but have it later on the card since we wouldn't want so many tag matches back to back.

Match 4: The Straight Edge Society vs. Beer Money

This would require the currently masked man to be Luke Gallows' partner. I put this match in here since I felt like a feud between the STRAIGHT EDGE Society and BEER Money would basically write itself, with Beer Money, Inc. as the faces. The same applies here as with the opening match, since BMI have been together longer, they should win.

Match 5: The Miz vs. Mr. Anderson

Finally, we'll get around to the bigger names in the two companies. Here we have two guys who are definite up and comers in their respective brands, with very similar personas in my opinion. I'd have the tweener Mr. Anderson beat the Miz here, but not because I think he is a much better wrestler. This would give TNA a 1-to-4 lead against WWE (1-3 if matches two and three were one match). This is definitely not what the fans would be expecting, and would keep them on the edge of their seats.

Match 6: Kane vs. Abyss in a Monster's Ball match

Here we have Kane against what most would consider a cheap knock-off of him mixed in with a strain of Mankind. Now recently, we've seen Abyss go through alot of character changes, from the Monster to a total scared punk to the ridiculous Abyssamaniac. Here's the way I'd book it: from the opening bell to about the 5 minute mark, I wanna see Kane beat the living Hogan out of Abyss, to the point where he's really gonna need to see a therapist if he ever even wants to think about using the word "brother" again. Then, after suffering a terrible beat down, we'll see a resurgence of the true "Monster," and that's where business really starts to pick up. Hades, god of the Underworld, made the Monster’s Ball Match himself for these two guys to fight in. You may have seen hardcore before, but nothing quite like this, where you put two actual behemoth ungodly monsters in a ring. The back and forth action goes for a bit, then Kane hits a chokeslam onto (you guessed it) thumbtacks, only to have Abyss Kick out and hit the Black Hole slam. This would be so evenly matched and so brutal that it has to end with a double knockout. I know, the finish is not decisive, but if the fans in attendance aren't in awe after what they just saw these two men do to each other, I quit.

Match 7: Batista vs. Matt Morgan

Continuing our ascension closer to the main event, we have two huge powerhouses here. I like the ways that they're booked match up, the Animal vs. the Blueprint, nature vs. machine. Basically this match here is just to bring in that token pure power fight to the card, which is why it's relatively low for a main eventer such as Batista. Speaking of Batista, I know he is on his way out as far as the industry goes, but I got a soft spot for the guy and couldn't think of a better opponent for Morgan, who I feel ought to be one of the pillars of TNA (and the face in this match). However, since Batista already has one foot out of the door, we'll give the Blueprint the win.

Match 8: CM Punk vs. D'Angelo Dinero

Okay, the Pope vs. the Savior. In no other business do you ever get a chance to write a story with that premise. In this one you've got the quintessential man of the people against the self-righteous, condescending aristocratic leader. I say, let these guys go at it in the ring for a bit, but then have Punk win in order to avenge the Straight Edge Society's earlier loss against the alcoholic, drug addicted heathens in TNA.

Match 9: Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe in Submission Match

Come on, what other type of match could you put the Samoan Submission Machine in? And with the first ever Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion as his opponent, I'm pretty sure this one is bound to be better than the last submission match Joe had against Bobby Lashley. Here though, I'm gonna have the walls of Jericho prevail against the Coquina Clutch.

Each of the Main Events in it's own way features the ultimate WWE vs. TNA matchup. Lets begin:

Main Event 1: The Undertaker vs. Sting in Hell in a Cell

I don't need to say anything about this one. The Phenom vs. the Icon. The biggest legend in the WWE against the biggest legend never to wrestle in the WWE. This is more than just WWE vs. TNA, this is the WWF vs. the legacy of WCW. This is the definition of a dream match.

For those who haven't been paying close attention, the WWE has been creeping up. They've closed the gap to 4-5 with TNA only ahead by one fall. They're depending on the Deadman to win here, and when has he ever let the WWE Universe down before? Neither of these men deserve to lose, but a match of this caliber deserves a definitive ending, not a double knockout. With that said, the Undertaker pins Sting in bout most would hate to see end. Despite the decision, both get sent off with all the respect due to them after laying it all out in the ring.

Main Event 2: Triple H vs. Kurt Angle

These two men are in my mind the two biggest stars to come out of the Attitude Era who are still wrestling today. And there is a reason for that: they are just that damn good at what they do. Angle is the embodiment of pure wrestling skill, pitted against Triple H, who is the master of ring psychology. A classic battle of mind vs. body contested between two veterans. In addition to having come out of the Attitude Era on top, they both have led two of the most dominant stables in wrestling, Evolution and the Main Event Mafia, who we all know were incredibly similar (for those of you who say that they're similar because the MEM was a copy of Evolution without young guys, you've got to remember that they're both copies of The Four Horsemen).

All you have to do for this match is let these two go at each other. It's as simple as that. They're both just that good. You know we're gonna see some suplexes, spinebusters, and two Pedigrees countered with Ankle locks, with the second one being grapevined, but the third one is gonna land with full force of impact, delivering the victory for the Game.

Main Event 3: John Cena vs. AJ Styles

This is it. The Main Event of Main Events. The face of the WWE against the face of TNA. Both of them are homegrown talent with vastly different styles, yet oddly similar appeals. John Cena is by himself the WWE franchise, while AJ stands for everything good about TNA's style: he's smaller, faster, more agile, more varied (and more importantly, he's a face again). Everything comes down to this one. For those of you keeping score at home, it's all tied up with 5 wins apiece. How fitting then that it comes down to these two.

The WWE is going to have to do something they haven't done in a long time to maximize this match's potential: they are going to have to unleash John Cena's moveset to prove that they as a company are not as stale as they accuse their poster boy of being. Cena has to go toe-to-toe with the Phenomenal One, making up for his lack of agility with the brute strength that we all know too well he has. Of course, it is Cena, so we are gonna see the Styles Clash countered into an STFU, but we're gonna see AJ switch roles and he is not going to give up. Out of no where, he's gonna hit that one last move in his arsenal that he knows Cena cannot match him on: the Pele Kick. It's so quick that the audience can't help but be stunned to see a back and forth match end so abruptly, with Cena falling to his knees, then face first on the mat. They’ll be more even stunned to see Superman lose when AJ earns the hard victory.

Final words:

Of course people are going to wonder why I made the matches I did. In some matches I tried to match each competitor with his counterpart based on either wrestling style, persona, or gimmick, while in others I pit two opposing styles against each other when each style was representative of the company the stars wrestled for.

Some of you might have some questions about why I put these matches in the order they are in. I tried to start out with the less popular, junior talent first, since that's how I believe a card should be ordered, by ascending popularity and seniority. I also believe that in most cases tag matches are less important than singles matches, all other things equal.

Now that I've said that I believe talent ought to be arranged in order of seniority on the card, people may wonder why I did not make the Undertaker vs. Sting match the final one of the night. The reason they were the earliest of the three main events was because I ordered the main events to place emphasis on the present. Like I said, the Phenom vs. Icon match is about the legacy of the WWF vs. the legacy of WCW. Those legacies will both live forever, but those companies are no longer functional (yes, the WWF did become the WWE, but that came at a time when the company took a sharp change in creative direction so it's almost like they are two distinct entities). It would make no sense to have the ultimate main event in a WWE vs. TNA show, two modern companies, feature wrestlers from another time. It would be almost like making the main event Hogan vs. Flair (a good Hogan vs. Flair match, not the hack jobs TNA has produced to screw up both of their illustrious careers). Hogan vs. Flair is in itself a dream match, since Hogan is the biggest star ever made by the WWF and the same goes for Flair in the NWA/WCW but they are wrestlers from a bygone era. The Undertaker and Sting are both still capable of putting on fantastic matches (unlike Hogan and Flair obviously), but both are very close to the end of their careers. This is basically the final capstone for both. (By the way, if Shawn Michaels were still around, I would have had him fight Jeff Jarrett.)

This is also the reason why the other two main events are in the places they are. Triple H and Angle used to be the two biggest names in wrestling, but their time two is slowly passing away, and each of their greatest recent achievements has been to help build the careers of John Cena and AJ Styles, respectively. Cena and Styles are in their prime, and they are what mainstream wrestling is today, so they deserve to be at the top.

Also, with this card, I tried to emphasize the strengths of both companies. If you notice, TNA won both of the early tag team matches with the Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money, Inc. Honestly, TNA just has a better tag team division right now. That said, WWE has begun to avoid hardcore, while TNA is severely overdoing it, so the Monster's Ball match came to a double knockout. You may have noticed that the women are conspicuously absent. That's because both WWE and TNA have slowly culled their rosters of any good female talent. When they discover the next Trish Stratus and Lita, I'll give them a match. Finally, WWE dominated the upper end of the card. TNA right now has a lot of original talent they aren't using right, in favor of former WWE and WCW guys. The WWE is very good at building stars and keeping them relevant and in the spotlight.

Finally, the score between the two rivals was close. TNA pulled ahead early, showing it's strength in the tag and x-divisions. Despite the WWE's rallying behind their main eventers, AJ Styles did beat John Cena, thus making the score 6-5 and giving TNA the win overall. I didn't do this because I think TNA is the better company, after all the WWE did win two of the three main events, which mean more than the undercard. I did this because I believe that Total NonStop Action Wrestling has a lot of potential, and with proper guidance can be as great as the WWE. But, we all know that like Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!"

In order to be as great as the WWE, TNA has to beat the WWE.