Potential Original Wrestlemania 23 Plans

I agree, but the rest of the card is better and they could have swapped Cena/HHH to the middle of the show considering it Main Evented 22 and put Undertaker v. Batista on last.

I've heard Jeff was scheduled to win it. But then he ducked up and failed a wellness test

Apparently Jeff was supposed to win the MitB at WrestleMania XXIV and cash it in that night according to Michael Hayes on one of the Jeff Hardy DVDs. But he ed it all up by failing the Wellness Test like 3 weeks before WM, which is why he wound up dropping the IC belt to Y2J.

So, I'm not too sure who else was rumored to win in 2007.

I wish Hogan/Show would have happened.

Thank Christ HBK took HHH's place. HHH-Cena at 22 wasn't half the match HBK-Cena was at 23, and HBK-Cena went on to have even better matches later on. I think WM23 actually turned out quite well ('Taker-Batista in particular) but its always interesting to talk about what could've been.



This. HBK-Cena was great but Batista-'Taker deserved to go on last. I remember hearing they thought so too and said this very vocally backstage, but Vince ignored them. They then went out and put on a great match (arguably the best of the night, which is impressive considering HBK was the best performer in the company at the time and Cena was obviously the big star) and supposedly walked into the back and shouted "FOLLOW THAT!" to general applause from the boys. It must've had an effect on Vince because he put 'Taker and the WHC on last at 24, even though that year Cena had won the Rumble and actually had a good claim to the ME! That worked out well though because Orton winning was a great shock and Edge-'Taker was an amazing ME.

That was Wrestlemania 24. He dropped the Intercontinental title too.
He was suspended in 2007, but in the summer. I remember him coming back with shorter hair attacking Umaga. Doubt they would have waited from March-June to suspend him. Unless it's Orton or Swagger...

I'd have liked HBK to have won the WWE championship that night too. Had him win it in my fed then to make up for it. Reckon he'd have looked good with the WWE title. Also loved his red/white attire.
It seems HBK didn't ever want to win the title again after 2002 because of the workload. He didn't enjoy the champion's duties. Shame because he deserved it so much.

That definitely wasn't the intended card. There are twelve matches there, most of them main event level, which usually means that they'd be pretty long -- one of them could've had a quick Sheamus-Bryan type finish, but not two or more on the same card... Thus, the show just didn't have the PPV time to do that card.

WrestleMania 23 had eight matches, only half of which were over ten minutes long. And I know for sure that Lashley vs Umaga in the Vince/Trump match was only decided very close to when it was announced on TV. There were other wrestlers who thought they were getting one of those spots, or at least that they were in the running.

You and I are thinking the same. WrestleMania 23 is one of the more underrated 'Mania's in history. From looking at the card, I would have done this:

- Swap the Money In The Bank as the opener and placed Chris Benoit vs. MVP
- Swap the Bobby Lashley/Umaga match with The Undertaker vs. Batista

Taker/Batista didn't need to close out the show. I know the World Heavyweight Championship could have used the boost it needed but honestly, the WHC match didn't need to close out the show. All Taker/Batista needed was more time. At 15:48, they could have been given an extra 5-10 minutes. While John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels was given 28:22, the amount of time given was enough. The match Cena/Michaels had in London was the better match of the two.

I had revisited WrestleMania 23 prior to WrestleMania XXVI, and I found it enjoyable not only as an 18 year old but also as a 21 year old. For the time and given the card, it made sense. You didn't need to have Triple H/John Cena and Big Show/Hulk Hogan on this card.

Darkhawk, I forgot to mention how awesome John Cena's entrance was. Easily one of my favorite Cena 'Mania entrances. Another favorite was his 'Mania 22 entrance which included CM Punk. I loved the All Grown Up concept when promoting the event. I hope it gets revisited in the future. Historically speaking, two things occurred:

- The last WrestleMania exclusively aired in standard definition
- Created the long, continuous string of stadium shows

I will go as far as saying that WrestleMania 23 is one of the most underrated 'Mania's in history. No one can doubt the success this show did when you look at the buyrate and gate figures.