Great Storylines

Hey Scott, since everyone always criticizes WWE for botching major story angles such as the Invasion angle, the recent CM Punk angle, Nexus, etc.  I'm just
wondering if there has ever been an angle that you thought played out perfectly from beginning to end.  I thought Michaels-UT career vs. streak was played out perfectly, but I can't
think of any others.
-Also speaking of Nexus, since they're now dead and done, how would you have booked that angle to make it more meaningful instead of just turning them into jobbers 5
months later?

Rowdy Roddy Piper v. Adrian Adonis, 1987.  Everyone’s motivations were perfectly defined and it created a new star in Brutus Beefcake.  Here’s the summary for those who haven’t looked it up on Youtube:

- Piper has Piper’s Pit segment for years on WWF TV, then leaves for Hollywood in 1986 to do They Live and some other stuff.

- While he’s gone, Adrian Adonis starts doing The Flower Shop segment, thus annoying everyone.  It was purposely super-gay and irritating.

- Piper returns in late 86 as something of a tweener, but finds that Cowboy Bob Orton is now wearing a pink hat and acting as muscle for Adonis.  Piper, on behalf of the fans, demands that Adonis give up the talk show slot, and asks Orton to stop wearing the pink hat and come back to the dark side with Piper.  Piper basically tells Orton to pick a side, and Orton turns on him, leading to a massive beatdown on the Flower Shop where Adonis, Orton and Don Muraco break Piper’s leg.

- The next week, Piper comes back to the empty set, on crutches mind you, and smashes the living fuck out of the set with a BASEBALL BAT in one of the most awesome bits of acting you’ll ever see from a wrestler. 

- So now they book the blowoff for WM3, the biggest thing in the history of history up until that point, and it’s hair v. hair for some reason.  Piper promises to retire win lose or draw and just wants to get his revenge before he goes.  So they do a six-man on TV, with Piper and the Rougeaus against Adonis and the Dream Team.  Adonis is all focused on cutting Piper’s hair, but at one point he grabs scissors and accidentally cuts off a lock of super-vain Brutus Beefcake’s hair. 

- At WM, Adonis has Piper beat, but releases the sleeper too soon because he’s cocky, and Brutus Beefcake runs in to revive Piper, allowing him to finish with the sleeper and get his revenge.  Then Beefcake gets his own revenge by shaving Adonis bald and becoming a barber, thus becoming a bigger star.  Piper retires, Adonis gets his comeuppance and leaves soon after, Beefcake moves up the ladder and turns face.  As I’ve often said, ** for the action, ***** for the entertainment value. 

As for Nexus, I would have started by putting them over the babyfaces at Summerslam by having Cena lose to Barrett, and you could have run six months of main event angles just from that change in booking alone.