Ha ha! This would be 29 matches for a single PPV! Probably over doing it. I personally would have cut this in half & gone with a 16 man bracket. But anyway, let's talk this out.
Round 1
Face Bulldog gets a bye
Heel Jake "The Snake" Roberts Vs Face "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
If I'm booking this out, I'm gonna have Jake use his devious, dirty and malicious ways to outsmart Duggan. Get him to go for his three point stance, miss it & immediately get hit with the DDT.
Face Texas Tornado Vs Heel Colonel Mustafa
Doing the math, if this were a 3 hour WWE PPV, matches would have to be about 9 1/2 minutes a piece. That includes interviews, entrances & exits. To cut down on time, some of these matches would have to be in & out. Here's where I'd do one of my in & out finishes. Have both make there entrances. As Von Erich is taking off his jacket, Mustafa attacks him from behind. He throws Von Erich into the ropes, puts his head down & Kerry responds with a vicious Tornado Punch to get the 1-2-3. Could keep this one under a minute.
Heel Barbarian Vs Heel "The Model" Rick Martel
Heel Vs Heel matches were really rare in the early 90's. I think the fans would be more likely to get behind Barb than they would Martel. I say have this one end in a DQ. Have Martel at some point try and use his Arrogance cologne as a weapon.
Heel Jerry Sages Vs Heel Sid Justice
Another Heel Vs Heel match. Sid's character is way too strong to even tease an upset here. Make it another quick match. I think Sid could get Sags up for a Powerbomb, although Jerry is a pretty big dude.
Face Big Bossman Vs Face Undertaker
I never liked Big Bossman as a face. I've always felt, even back when it happened that Akeem should have been the one to turn face & they should have kept Bossman a heel. I mean look at the guy's WRESTLEMANIA 6 interview. They're in Toronto, Canada & he ends his promo by shouting at the Canadian fans, "And most of all, I'm PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!" It doesn't get much more heelish than that. Maybe this match against the Undertaker would be a good spot to turn him heel again. Could have it where he's getting his ass handed to him by Taker & he pulls out a pair of handcuffs to trap Taker to the top rope. He then pulls out his nigh stick & does a number on Taker, severely injuring him for the next round.
Face Nikolai Volkoff Vs Face Randy Savage
Ooh, this would have worked so much better if one of these guys was still a heel at this time. Unfortunately they're both faces, and the quick Savage attack from behind isn't going to work here. I mean if Volkoff were a heel & Savage were a face, it could work. It could also work if Volkoff were the face & Savage were a heel. You have Volkoff singing in the middle of the ring, Savage hits him with a double axehandle from behind & then the elbow drop, 1-2-3. But with both of them being faces, gotta come up with a plan B. I say a 3-5 minute match, Savage hits the elbow & gets the W.
Heel Haku Vs Face Sgt Slaughter
This is shortly after Slaughter's face turn if I remember correctly. We had managers back in these days, so might as well utilize them too. Heenan at this time was doing more commentary & stepping away from the managing but I'm sure he'd still do a few here & there. I say have Heenan interfere when Slaughter has the match all but won & the distraction allows Haku to hit his big kick for the W.
Heel Dibiase gets a bye
Face Roddy "Rowdy" Piper Vs I.R.S.
You know I kinda like the idea of Money-Incorporated "exploding." Ted Dibiase & Mike Rotundo are both classically trained technical experts. It could be a great R2 match looking at it strictly from a wrestling perspective. However, from a character perspective, knocking out Roddy this early makes no sense. Gonna have to go with a Piper win here. Maybe we could have Dibiase try & interfere, but it backfires & Piper catches ole Irwin in a Sleeper.
Heel Repo Man Vs Face Virgil
Oh boy! Here's the match that's gonna sell tickets! Give Repo a quick win with that finisher of his his that I don't think they ever gave a name.
Face Tito Santana Vs Face Hulk Hogan
Believe it or not, at this time WWE knew it was losing Hogan & they actually considered Santana to be a replacement. They were considering hitting the markets of Mexico, Latin America & South America & wanted a strong Latino/Hispanic presence. Who better at the time than Tito? This could have been a good tester to see how the fans reacted to Tito in a respected one on one contest with Hogan. Maybe the best way to handle this, would be for Hogan to get a kayfabe injury. I'm trying to think of the best way to get Tito over here & I think that'd be it. Let's have this sequence. Hogan goes for his big boot, Tito ducks & comes back with a flying forearm. This sends Hogan out of the ring. Hogan tweaks his knee & can't go on. Tito comes out & helps Hogan up, but Hogan wanting to be the bigger man encourages Tito to get back in the ring to beat the count so he can advance in the tournament. I think this scenario would keep Hogan strong while also building Tito.
Heel Ric Flair Vs Heel Warlord
Now this is an interesting matchup. My first question is, could Flair get those huge massive legs wrapped up in a Figure Four? My second question is, would do anyone any good to have the Warlord submit? One way or the other, gotta figure out a way to get Flair over in this one. We already had a knee injury in the match before, so we can't double dip there. Probably gonna have to go with Flair's Consecutive Consultant Mr. Perfect interfering in this match to get Flair the W.
Heel Hercules Vs Face Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Here's a more cut and dry match. Have Superfly hit the "Superfly Splash" after a back & forth battle with Herc.
Face Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Vs Heel Berzerker
Much like in the Flair Vs Warlord match, gotta wonder if Greg could wrap those huge legs up in the Figure Four or not. I say he could, so let's end this one with a submission for the Hammer.
Heel Skinner Vs Heel Shawn Michaels
I don't think the fans would mind seeing pretty boy Shawn Michaels get a face full of tobacco spit, so I think that'd be a good opener. However, gonna have Shawn outwrestle the Alligator man & hit him with the teardrop suplex for the win.
ROUND 2
Face British Bulldog Vs Heel Jake "The Snake" Roberts
I personally wouldn't mind seeing an English Bulldog rip a devenomized King Cobra to shreds, but such an act of animal cruelty, especially if it were deliberate wouldn't go over very well. So we'll keep Winston away from Jake's unnamed Cobra. However, the threat of the Cobra biting Winston could be used to our advantage here. Perhaps in the pre-interview, Bulldog has said he can't find Winston anywhere. Then it is revealed that Jake has Winston & he let the Cobra bite Winston. Unless Winston gets medical attention immediately he's going to die. Talk about heat. WWE's audience in the early 90's was mostly kids. Can you imagine how angry little boys & girls would be if they thought Davey's dog might die from a Cobra bite? This would turn Jake #1 heel. Bulldog is forced to forfeit the match to get Winston antivenom as fast as he can.
Face Texas Tornado Vs Heel Barbarian
A good ole strength Vs strength match, with Tornado coming out on top after a discuss punch.
Heel Sid Vs Face Undertaker
Let's continue with Bossman's heel push as he comes out to help Sid get a W over Taker.
Face Randy Savage Vs Heel Haku
Good 5-7 match with Savage coming out on top with the Elbow drop.
Heel Ted Dibiase Vs Face Roddy Piper
I.R.S comes back to extract a little revenge & help Dibiase get a W over Piper
Heel Repo Man Vs Face Tito Santana
Arriba! Quick win with a quick flying forearm.
Heel Ric Flair Vs Face Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Flair hits Snuka with the Figure Four after Jimmy misses a top rope Superfly Splash.
Face Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Vs Heel Shawn Michaels
A Figure Four Vs Figure Four match of Flair Vs Valentine intrigues me for the Quarter-finals, but I think the seller here is to have Michaels go over Valentine here, so we can see Michaels Vs Flair. Shawn was using the teardrop suplex as his finisher around this time, but I think here would be a good place for Shawn to get a W with his crescive side kick, which wouldn't be known as "Sweet Chin Music" for quite some time.
QUARTER-FINALS
Heel Jake "The Snake Roberts" Vs The Texas Tornado
By the time, the fans are dying to see someone take Jake out. All the more reason to have Jake hit the DDT & move on into the Semi-finals.
Heel Sid Vs Face Randy Savage
Getting Sid to do a clean job would have been pulling teeth, no doubt about it, but that's what I would want here. Savage over again with a top rope elbow drop.
Heel Ted Dibiase Vs Face Tito Santana
With I.R.S. & Hogan both trying to interfere, a double DQ
Heel Ric Flair Vs Heel Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels is able to outsmart "The Nature Boy" as a plan to cheat backfires on Flair & Perfect.
SEMI-FINALS
Jake "The Snake" Roberts Vs Randy Savage
Savage extracts revenge for the Bulldog, as he heads into the Finals to face Shawn Michaels.
FINALS
Randy Savage Vs Shawn Michaels
This is a match that Randy really wanted to have happen. Lanny Poffo talks about it a lot. Savage wanted to do a big match with Shawn, but McMahon wasn't keen to it for one reason or another. Here's where we could make it happen. I say have a great match between the two & Savage prevails with the top rope elbow drop.
