Monday, February 9, 2009

Who is wrestling who at Wrestlemania?

Alright, so No Way Out is next week and usually by this time one has a pretty good idea as to what's going to go down at Wrestlemania, card-wise, but this year I have almost no idea.

Matt and Jeff Hardy will wrestle. That's for sure. I know this.

But what else?

With JBL and HBK set to go at NWO, my other sure-fire Mania match has been squashed.

Both of these guys will be at Mania, but in what capacity? I can't see JBL finding someone to feud with in that time. Maybe guest referee in whatever match Shawn has, but what match will that be? There have been rumors that HBK wants Taker, but how can they make that happen. Maybe tonight on RAW there can be an altercation, but I don't see it happening. I'd love to see the match, don't get me wrong but how will it make story line sense? JBL, who is clearly not going to wrestle Shawn at Mania will have to be involved in some way and Taker's a baby so that's not going to work. At least I don't think it will.

What about Jericho. Poor lost Jericho. Creative has turned what was supposed to be a match against Mickey Rourke into "Jericho Hates Hall of Famers". Listen everyone, even though he's coming back tonight - Jericho is not wrestling Flair. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't even Flair tonight, but someone coming in and impersonating him and then Jericho berating the faux-Flair on TV.

Since Jericho is taking on the Hall of Fame expect him to wrestle some Hall of Famer or soon-to-be Hall of Famer. Hmmmmm....what do you think? Could it be Stone Cold Steve Austin? I almost think this could have been the plan all along. A lot of people were saying, way before this Mickey Rourke thing, that Jericho was going to wrestle Austin what with all the mentions of beating Austin and the Rock on the same night. We'll see, but it won't be Flair. You've got a better chance of it being Terry Funk.

What about Main Events? All signs have been pointing to Edge/HHH, but what are we to make of this heat between Big Show and Edge. Could Edge drop the title at NWO to HHH and then feud with Show? Or could Show main event Mania with Edge? Or do we get a three way? My guess is the last one, which is unfortunate. I think Edge/HHH at Mania could be a really great match, but throw in Big Show, and I like Big Show, but it's nowhere near as good. Three ways are always clunky and Mania is not the place for them. My biggest fear is creative making it a fatal four way and putting Kozlov in this thing which - you may as well just write off the Smackdown main event entirely.

But it makes sense. What else can Kozlov do at Mania? He's not sitting out and I doubt he's in Money in the Bank. Perhaps they build heat between Kozlov and Show at NWO and baby Show vs. heel Kozlov at Mania with a number one contender spot on the line. The match would suck, but it would take them out of the main event leaving Edge and HHH to have time. It could also be billed as Kozlov's greatest challenge yet - he is undefeated. Show ends the streak? It would be the first match of the night, no question.

Which brings me to Money in the Bank. Who in the mid-card is ready to win Money in the Bank? I think most people would say John Morrison, but WWE is not ready, nor should they be, to break up Miz and Morrison especially considering Morrison will have to come out of that feud as a face. But maybe they don't have to break them up. I don't know. I imagine both Miz and Morrison will be in the match, unless WWE comes to it's senses and unifies the tag titles and you have MNM 2.0 vs the Colons, which is a possibility. But, for the sake of argument let's assume that doesn't happen - who else is in MITB. R-Truth? Doubtful. Priceless? Maybe, but now you've got two tag teams - both heel. MVP? probably. Shelton Benjamin? Could they put Big Show in this thing for fun? Alright, alright hold on. I'm getting ahead of myself. I imagine these will be the eight participants...

1.) The Miz
2.) John Morrison
3.) Kennedy
4.) Ted Dibiase
5.) Cody Rhodes
6.) Kofi Kingston
7.) MVP
8.) Rey Mysterio

Unless of course Mike Knox and Kane wrestle Rey and Kofi. Please, lets hope not.

These eight however, leave a lot of people out. The aforementioned R-Truth and Shelton Benjamin and last years winner CM Punk. I imagine all of these guys could be in there, so could Evan Bourne if he's ready. I just don't know. Either way, I think it's Morrison's to loose unless MVP's baby turn pays off then maybe he could win. I have to tell you, I've done a real 180 on this match. I thought Benjamin was finally gonna get a shot with him challenging Taker prior to the Rumble, but that proved to be a squash, so I'm ruling him out.

Maybe Punk defends the IC title, but against who? And where the hell is Umaga? I think if the Taker/HBK thing doesn't happen then Umaga gets Taker.

Maybe Shelton gets MVP though. Remember MVP is hell bent on getting the US title back, which leaves the door open for Punk in MITB.

It's all over the place. Could Punk win MITB two years in a row? I wouldn't mind it.

What if Christian returns before Mania? Unlikely, but maybe.

I'm at a loss.

But, here's the big one. What happens with Randy Orton? Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble which means he is guaranteed a spot in the main event, meaning he can challenge either of the champions for their title. He also punted Vince McMahon in the head and hasn't made any mention of John Cena since the Rumble and will wrestle Shane McMahon at NWO.

I think Orton will wrestle John Cena for the title at Wrestlemania, but I think a bunch of other things are going to happen leading up to it...

First, I fully expect Shane to turn on Steph and Vince at No Way Out and become the money man and vocal leader of Legacy. Shane is a great heel and could be a great mouthpiece for the group. Further, though I know it's happened before, I think Shane vs. Vince will happen at Mania and I think Shane will win. I expect Legacy to be a big deal for a long time to come.

Now, Vince and Steph cannot take away Randy's ability to compete in the main event and Mania, but they can make his life miserable. They could make Orton wrestle in a series of matches in order to get to Cena at Mania, kind of like the HHH triple jeopardy on Smackdown a few weeks back.

It could be handicap match against Sim Snuka and Manu followed by an inferno match vs. Kane and then the title match...

There's a problem with this scenario, though. It doesn't make much sense to put the heel through the ringer in order to get to the babyface, especially since in this scenario said heel should go over. So, I don't know. Maybe Shane needs to beat Vince in order to get the title shot for Randy, but then they can't exactly promote the match.

It's just impossible to predict at this point. He has to go into Mania still feuding with the McMahons right? But he also needs to set his sights on Cena, which I think could be a great match. I know they've wrestled before, but they haven't had the epic battle that it could be at Wrestlemania. Maybe Shane doesn't reveal himself to be in cahoots with Randy until Wrestlemania and costs Cena the title there. Hmm. That could be interesting, but then no Shane/Vince - which would be fine as well.

Or I could be completely wrong and Vince sides with Orton costing Cena the title, though that seems unlikely. It makes much more sense for Shane to be involved, him being a legacy and all...

Wrestlemania 25 has been baffling. I know it will all start to come together next Monday, maybe seeds will be planted tonight, but it's right around the corner and this thing needs to be built, so...