Fantasy Booking – Anonymous RAW General Manager (Part 2)

Umar Usman
Apr 8, 2022
5 min read

Welcome everyone to the second part of this special fantasy booking piece, where I’ll try to change WWE’s anonymous RAW General Manager storyline from 2010-11, and make the most of it. If nothing else, at the very least make it more than just a hilarious Vince McMahon joke, and try to elevate some potential new stars out of it.

Big shout out to Justin Leeper for the idea, that he pitched directly in a meeting with WWE’s creative team back in 2011. Justin is known for his work with WWE’s videogames SmackDown vs. RAW 2009, 2010 & 2011, as the writer and director of the “Road to WrestleMania” mode in the aforementioned games. Check out Justin’s original booking sample, and make sure to follow his Twitter and subscribe to his YouTube channel for fun stories and to keep up with his current endeavors.

Please enjoy! Make sure you leave your feedback down below.

Missed part 1? Check it out first before reading this!

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-373-67ee763033e35', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '1692135506', location: 200, width: 300, height: 250 }); });

CHAPTER 4

WOO WOO WOO… YOU LOST IT!

Now hold on, hold on. I know, #cenawinslol, but let me explain! One of the best things about wrestling results being pre-determined is that wrestlers can get over with a loss, it just depends on how said loss happens and how it affects the storyline going forward. For example, I would argue that the first awesome thing that happened to Kurt Angle’s wrestling career was being murdered by Tazz at Royal Rumble 2000. The Miz feuding with John Cena in 2009 did wonders for him. Damn it, Steve Austin passing out in that Sharpshooter might very well be the best thing that happened to wrestling – these were all losses that hurt absolutely no one.

As mentioned in part 1, Ryder’s spot as the General Manager is on the line against John Cena at December’s TLC, in a No Holds Barred Match. Ryder can’t stay as the anonymous GM for long, not only because the gimmick has been around for over a year at this point, but also because we need to open the door for a new authority figure arriving soon.

Heading into TLC, everyone is expecting Ryder to get little offense in before eventually losing within minutes. But actually, Ryder tries his best, being shown on RAW watching tapes of recent John Cena matches, and taking notes. During the PPV bout, The Long Island Iced-Z surprises everyone in attendance by having a reversal to each and every one of John Cena’s classic moves of doom. This forces Cena to pull out unexpected new moves from his arsenal to keep up with Ryder, until the GM cuts him off by hitting him with the laptop to the face on the outside. Ryder rolls Cena back inside and gives him the Rough Ryder for a close nearfall. Ryder snaps and destroys the laptop on poor Cena, setting up John for a second Rough Ryder… but Cena picks up Ryder on his shoulders in mid-air like the big freak he is, and connects with an Attitude Adjustment onto the laptop. Three seconds later, Zack Ryder is no longer the anonymous RAW General Manager.

CHAPTER 5

THE COMEUPPANCE

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-374-67ee76303403a', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '1692135506', location: 200, width: 728, height: 90 }); });

With Zack Ryder no longer in control of Monday Night RAW, he deserves to get his ass handed to him by a few people. And no, that doesn’t mean we’re immediately putting him back in jobber purgatory. Far from it. If you think about it, Ryder spent the last year or so making pretty much every babyface’s life miserable. In the next number of weeks, he regularly loses semi-competitive matches against big names like Randy Orton and Big Show, booked by the newly appointed GM of both RAW and SmackDown, Teddy Long.

One of these losses forces Zack Ryder to enter the Rumble Match as number one. Ryder lasts longer than anyone would expect, even managing an elimination or two in-between, before eventually getting thrown out later on. Ryder opens the following night’s RAW, asking if his performance in the Rumble isn’t enough to be one of the top ten challengers for either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. Teddy Long comes out and admits that his Rumble performance was indeed impressive, yet that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still on a losing streak ever since TLC.

Ryder can fight for a spot in the Chamber on that week’s SmackDown, but first, tonight he must go through the man who Long believes was the MVP of the whole Rumble Match – Kofi Kingston. Ryder wins a fun 10-minute match against Kofi, earning a chance to qualify for the Chamber Match for Daniel Bryan’s World Heavyweight Championship. That qualifying match? A triple threat… against The Big Show… and Mark Henry! Show and Henry (who’s also tired of being Ryder’s babysitter during his GM days) work together and just kill the poor guy, and in the end Big Show pins the injured Henry to qualify.

Ryder has had enough of this, he’s tired of getting beaten like a drum, so he starts looking for help. That’s when he reaches out to a man who, in this storyline, has just arrived on the scene. A man who’s looking for something that Ryder also wants back desperately: power. Power, as in…

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-375-67ee763034179', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '1692135506', location: 200, width: 320, height: 50 }); });

CHAPTER 6

PEOPLE POWER!

He sides with John Laurinaitis, and is soon named captain of Team Johnny at WrestleMania 28, where they’ll be facing Theodore Long’s team for the right to (either Teddy or Johnny) be the General Manager of both brands.

The WrestleMania matchup is a normal multi-person tag team match, not unlike the one in real life. Near the end, all hell starts breaking loose as everyone gets involved in a mega slugfest, while Ryder and Santino are the legal men for their respective teams. During all of this, Ryder hides from all the action near the apron, until eventually Santino gets rid of the last heel left standing with a clothesline over the top on the other side of the ring. Ryder quietly gets back in while Santino’s back is still turned, and then simply finishes with the Rough Ryder to win the match and make Big Johnny the GM.

After the match, while everyone is walking back to the dressing room, Ryder grabs Laurinaitis’ arm on their way up the ramp, and pauses. He grabs the mic, saying:

“We just won at freakin’ WrestleMania, Johnny! But speaking of WrestleMania… I can’t help but notice one thing. One of the many things that was wrong in the previous administration. The US Title is one of the most prestigious titles in our industry, boss! I grew up watching the Austins, the Steamboats, the Rick Rudes, the Eddie Guerreros holding it. How come it’s not on the line at WrestleMania? I just pinned the US Champion, Johnny. You know what to do, bro!”

Johnny: “Woo woo woo, you know it, Zack! Ring the bell.”

Ryder walks back in, simply hits another Rough Ryder, pins Santino once again, and leaves WrestleMania with the United States Championship.

Just like that, Zack Ryder won two matches at his very first WrestleMania, won his first singles championship, and got back what he lost at TLC: power.

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-376-67ee76303437e', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '1692135506', location: 200, width: 728, height: 90 }); });

To be continued…

(Standby for part 3)

Thank you so much for reading once again. What do you think of the story so far? Share your thoughts in the comment section down below. Until next time!