So this time next week the grandaddy of them all is going down in Miami Florida. Wrestlemania is bigger to me than Christmas and this year will be the 20th Wrestlemania I have watched live on TV. This years Wrestlemania looks to be one for the record books and will be a huge improvement from last years clusterfuck which almost stopped me from watching WWE completely.
However since then things have improved and I have every confidence that the sport of wrestling (which I love more than any other sport) will return to its former glory with all the amazing talent that are on the up, so to speak.
Today I will give my thoughts and picks of all the Wrestlemania matches apart from the divas match that has that famous bitch involved and lets face it, who gives a shit about that match. They should have booked Karma (Awesome Kong) against Beth Phoenix in a match that would make the Divas title mean something. Until the WWE starts taking this division seriously there is no chance in hell that I ever will.
So lets go from the bottom of the card with this one
TEAM TEDDY VS TEAM JOHNNY
This one is just a cheeky way of getting more guys on the card. The whole general manager thing is something which really needs burying for good. If I never saw Teddy Long or Johnny Ace on my TV again I really would not care and I am sure there are millions of people that agree. To much TV time has been wasted on Johnny Ace and the whole evil executive gimmick. After the Attitude era of the WWE, fans have seen every kind of screwjob, robbery and douchebag abuse of power act under the sun. More TV time should be allocated to having good matches and feuds, not power struggles which no one really gives a fuck about. Just look at this one as something to beef the card up and giving more of the boys a Wrestlemania match. I dont care enough about this match to even pick a winner.
KANE VS RANDY ORTON
This should be a great action packed match for the undercard. This is a tough one to pick as Randy Orton is on a real role and has been for a long time. While Orton has always been a fantastic performer I think it was a matter of too much too soon. He won his first world title at a very young age at Summerslam 2004 against Chris Benoit and I think it was something he wasn't quite ready for. Randy Orton has always had the "it" factor but I think it has been a struggle to embellish that "it" factor. Randy Orton just gets better and better and I really do believe he is on the verge of nailing it and really becoming the performer he wants to be. Remember Steve Austin took six and a half years to find and embellish his "it" factor and he became the biggest star in WWE history.
Kane is another fantastic performer, but has always been on a long cycle telling the same story again and again. When Glenn Jacobs first debuted as the big red machine he plowed through the entire company until he was beaten by the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XIV. After a one day title reign in 1998 Kane then drifted into the mid card. This cycle would repeat it self even to this day where the Kane character is given a make over, comes back strong, is beaten and then flounders once again on the mid card.
If Kane loses to Orton at Wrestlemania the question will be, what is next for the big red monster? Kane needs this win more than Orton does. If Kane loses this match his latest run will go down as being a massive artistic failure for the character, who at one point was the biggest heel in the company, and was key player in helping the WWE win the Monday Night Wars.
It is such a tough one to call but I am going to say Kane to win.
CODY RHODES VS THE BIG SHOW
This has been a feud which has really been entertaining over the past few weeks. The video packages each week have been "laugh out loud" funny and Cody Rhodes is a fantastic antagonist. Cody Rhodes is a fantastic talent and he has made the Intercontinental title actually mean something. I hope he retains this belt and has a fantastic run with it. I would love for him to hold it longer than Honky Tonk just to shut that fat old prick up once and for good!
The one mistake they made with Big Show was not turning him face after Wrestlemania XXIV because he was so over at that point. Also they should use him more as an attraction like they did with Andre, instead of having him on TV every week.
I want Cody to win this one!
DANIEL BRYAN VS SHEAMUS
This time last year this match was not even televised (yet another fuck up from last years poor Wrestlemania!) and this year the same match will be held for the World title. This will now be the 5th time that a Royal Rumble winner has been in a Wrestlemania mid card match. What is the point of having the Royal Rumble if every year the winner never gets to main event Wrestlemania? Chris Jericho (the man Sheamus eliminated last) gets to face CM Punk which no doubt will be much higher up the card. I personally think that the Elimination Chamber event should be scrapped also.
This will be a fantastic match as these are both brilliant athletes. I am going to pick Sheamus to win.
CHRIS JERICHO VS CM PUNK
I have no doubt in my mind that this one is going to steal the show in the same fashion that Steamboat and Savage did at Wrestlemania III. This is a dream match up, and I have really enjoyed the build up that these 2 guys have been doing on TV each week.
CM Punk has made the WWE title once again mean something and was the man that made me keep watching the product as I was just about to tune out forever.
Chris Jericho's initial return was something which gained a very mixed reaction. One thing in wrestling (or life in general) that you cant do is recreate history. Chris Jericho's debut in the summer of 1999 was one of the biggest crowd pops ever in WWE history. 2 times since then they have tried to recreate that moment and failed miserably. Although the initial return did not go quite as well as planned Jericho has made up for it with this current feud with CM Punk. Expect to see the best of Chris Jericho on display next Sunday.
I cannot see CM Punk losing the strap anytime soon so I am gunna go with CM Punk for the win.
THE UNDERTAKER VS TRIPLE H
I was not very thrilled when I found out Triple H was going to be Undertakers opponent for the third time at Wrestlemania. The reason being that even though they had a good match at last years Wrestlemania, when you compare it to the amazing HBK matches from the previous years, and even their first match at Wrestlemania X-Seven it never matched up. With the addition of Hell in a Cell my interest rose and I am now looking forward to this match.
The original reason I was pissed off at Triple H being the guy to face Taker was because I wanted someone younger to have a chance. But when you think about it there is nobody on the roster who could pose a threat to the Undertakers streak apart from... the bosses son in law.
I am a fan of Triple H's ring work and I am not someone who hates on him for marrying his way into wrestling royalty but the one thing I did find annoying was the way he almost ruined CM Punks run last summer. The whole COO angle started out as a good idea but turned into wrestlecrap over night and did nothing positive for anyone involved.
The addition of Shawn Michaels as a referee does not really do anything for this match as far as I am concerned. I am actually fed up of Shawn Michaels taking up TV time with his watered down promos and shitty cowboy hat. I love Shawn Michaels and everything he has done in his carer and I think he is arguably the best in ring performer of all time, so please don't think I am burying the guy. Something I hate is non wrestling talkers and I do not care if it is Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Stone Cold, The Rock or HBK. If you are not there to wrestle and you have officially "retired" then get the fuck off my TV and let the other boys have their fucking turn!
Anyway I am sure this will be a great match and just like every year I will be backing The Undertaker.
Aint no grave gunna hold my buddy down!
So they booked this one a year in advance when the challenge was laid down the night after Wrestlemania XXVII. Maybe the Rock felt guilty for turning up at Mania last year, doing hardly anything and cashing a big fat cheque. I have been on the Cena hate panel since about mid 2005 and here are my reasons
The original reason I was pissed off at Triple H being the guy to face Taker was because I wanted someone younger to have a chance. But when you think about it there is nobody on the roster who could pose a threat to the Undertakers streak apart from... the bosses son in law.
I am a fan of Triple H's ring work and I am not someone who hates on him for marrying his way into wrestling royalty but the one thing I did find annoying was the way he almost ruined CM Punks run last summer. The whole COO angle started out as a good idea but turned into wrestlecrap over night and did nothing positive for anyone involved.
The addition of Shawn Michaels as a referee does not really do anything for this match as far as I am concerned. I am actually fed up of Shawn Michaels taking up TV time with his watered down promos and shitty cowboy hat. I love Shawn Michaels and everything he has done in his carer and I think he is arguably the best in ring performer of all time, so please don't think I am burying the guy. Something I hate is non wrestling talkers and I do not care if it is Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Stone Cold, The Rock or HBK. If you are not there to wrestle and you have officially "retired" then get the fuck off my TV and let the other boys have their fucking turn!
Anyway I am sure this will be a great match and just like every year I will be backing The Undertaker.
Aint no grave gunna hold my buddy down!
THE ROCK VS JOHN CENA
1. The spinner belt
2. Not turning heel
3. Putting over Kevin Federline
4. The fucking spinner belt!!!
John Cena as an athlete and a human being is someone who I have respect for. I was a John Cena fan to begin with and if you watch Wrestlemania XX he was over like rover in MSG which is one of the hardest places to get over. A lot of the reasons people hate him are not really the guys fault and more the people that write and book some of this bullshit.
John Cena's turbulent relationship with the WWE fans is very much parallel to what happened with the Rock when he was Rocky Maivia in 1996-7. When Rocky was brought in he was a smiling baby face who the fans hated with a passion in the same way that Cena gets abused. At the time the WWE were smart enough to turn him heel and thats how he became the Rock. Cena has been a babyface who has been booed out of the buildings for over 7 years.
However with his feud with the Rock I agree 100% with John Cena. The Rock walked out at Wrestlemania XX with loads of money in the bank and decided he was a movie star now, and wrestling was beneath him. John Cena was they guy who was left to pick up the pieces on Monday night and even though he really wasn't ready yet he still gave it his best shot.
So the Rock worked a match at Survivor Series and now he is going to Wrestlemania next Sunday and win or lose he is going to make an absolute fortune. If the Rock leaves again the night after and is never to be seen again then they should change "team bring it" to "team cash it"!
I hope the Rock does stick around after the Wrestlemania payoff as he has plenty more years in him and can still wrestle.
My prediction for this match... it is a tough one but I want Cena to win and turn heel. It makes all the sense in the world!
HALL OF FAME
The Hall of Fame is something I really look forward to and enjoy every year. I love watching the emotional speeches and I think it is such a nice thing to for people that have worked in business which has almost zero perks once your out of it. Mike Tyson is the first celebrity inductee I have agreed with because without Mike turning up in 1998 and making the WWE relevant again god knows what could have happened. I am looking forward to watching all the inductions but I just have one thing to moan about.
The fact guys like Randy Savage and Jake Roberts get snubbed each year makes me fucking sick. The only way the people on the internet will stop talking about the whole Savage and Stephanie affair, is if they induct him and show there really is no hard feelings. Excluding one of the greatest stars of all time (especially when you still use his image to sell action figures and video games) is quite a sad thing to do. There might be time this week to still induct one of these guys (plus a think Mick Foley deserves to be inducted) so I hope they do the right thing for once.
Any way guys I hope you enjoy Wrestlemania as much as I am going to!
