Rebooking WWE World Cup 2018
In concept, the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel was very interesting. It pits wrestlers from different countries against each other to prove that they are the best in the world. And winning the World Cup can elevate a wrestler's career.
The most recent World Cup besides WWE World Cup is WCPW World Cup, which took place in 2017. And it was handled very well.
WCPW World Cup included the likes of Ricochet, KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahashi, Travis Banks, Zack Sabre Jr, Jay Lethal, and Rey Mysterio to name a few. It was a fun tournament and showed everyone that these types of tournaments can be great.
When WWE announced their own World Cup tournament, everyone loved the idea. Past tournaments like the Cruiserweight Classic featured wrestlers from 17 different countries. That was a true representation of talent from around the world of wrestling. Another tournament where WWE got inclusion and diversity correct was the Mae Young Classic.
It was really hard to imagine WWE messing up a tournament like the World Cup. But they surprised everyone and ended up messing up the tournament
Where did it all go wrong?
It never felt like WWE cared about the World Cup tournament from the very start. The World Cup tournament was dominated by American wrestlers. That booking decision already ruined a tournament that had so much potential before it even started.
Granted, this tournament had star power as several competitors involved in the tournament held the world championship previously. However, when you have a tournament like the World Cup, you cannot have it be dominated by American competitors. In other words, this tournament lacked diversity and lacked the true meaning of the word - 'World Cup'.
Another problem with the WWE World Cup was the decision of letting Shane McMahon, someone who barely wrestles and a non-participant, win the tournament. Granted, this might lead to a possible heel turn for Shane McMahon, but couldn't that be accomplished any other way? What did Shane McMahon gain from winning the World Cup? He is not a competitor, neither is he pursuing a championship, and he can lose against Curt Hawkins and it still wouldn't hurt him. Shane McMahon is a good performer, but his character is mainly that of an authority figure. Winning the World Cup did nothing for him.
It is a shame the WWE World Cup happened the way it did because it could have been so much more. It would have been much better if this tournament was not called the 'The World Cup' and not making the decision of having Shane McMahon win.
How I would have booked the tournament?
The following are the wrestlers who will compete in my version of the WWE World Cup -
1) Pete Dunne ( Representing England)
2) Buddy Murphy ( Representing Australia)
3) Drew McIntyre (Representing Scotland)
4) Finn Balor (Representing Ireland)
5) Andrade Cien Almas (Representing Mexico)
6) Shinsuke Nakamura (Representing Japan)
7) Rusev (Representing Bulgaria)
8) Seth Rollins (Representing America)
My version of the tournament involved 3 wrestlers from RAW brand, 3 wrestlers from SmackDown Brand, and the champions of the Cruiserweight Division and the UK Division. Let's proceed with the tournament.
1st Round
The first match of the tournament would pit the United Kingdom Champion, Pete Dunne, against the Cruiserweight Champion, Buddy Murphy. After a great ten-minute match, Pete Dunne would emerge victorious.
The second match of the tournament would pit Rusev against the United States Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. This match happened in the kick-off show of Crown Jewel. In my version, this match will be a part of the tournament (The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match would take place in the Kick-Off Show instead). The match between Nakamura and Rusev would happen exactly like it happened on the Kick-Off show, with Nakamura winning after a low blow and a Kinshasa.
The third match of the tournament would pit Finn Balor against Drew McIntyre, who is accompanied by Dolph Ziggler. After having a good ten-minute match, Balor would beat McIntyre via count-out. However, Balor wouldn't be able to celebrate his victory as both McIntyre and Ziggler would attack him after the match.
The final match of the 1st round would pit Andrade Cien Almas (who is not accompanied by Zelina Vega) against Seth Rollins. These two would have a fantastic 10-minute match. As Rollins is about to put away Almas with the Stomp, Dean Ambrose comes to the ring and distracts Rollins before Almas beats him with a Hammerlock DDT. After the match, Dean Ambrose hits Rollins with the Dirty Deeds before leaving the ring.
Semi-Finals
The first match of the semi-final round would pit the United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne against the United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. After having a hard-hitting contest for 15-minutes, Shinsuke Nakamura would win the match after a low-blow and a Kinshasa.
The last match of the semi-finals would pit Finn Balor against Andrade Cien Almas. Despite not being at 100%, Finn Balor would manage to beat Almas and advance to the finals.
Finals
The finals of the tournament would see the United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, battle Finn Balor with the World Cup trophy on the line. Nakamura would have the upper hand for the first 5-minutes of the match, wearing Balor down with knee strikes.
Balor would eventually make a comeback and the match becomes more competitive. Nakamura would try to go for the low-blow when the referee gets knocked down, but he is unsuccessful since Balor is wearing a cup. Balor would win the match after hitting Nakamura with the Coup de Grace and pinning him to win the World Cup
That's how I would book the World Cup. Tell me how you feel about this rebooking of the WWE World Cup.