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...

Armageddon, ya'll!

I have sorely neglected this blog.

Anyway, what better way to get back on the horse than with some PPV predictions.

I'm looking strangely forward to Armageddon. I know it's kind of a throw away PPV, but whatever - like I always say a PPV Sunday is always better than a non-PPV Sunday.

So, let's get to it.

Finlay vs. Mark Henry in a Belfast Brawl - this was originally slated to be the Finlay/Hornswaggle vs. Henry/Tony Atlas match that ended up on television Tuesday night. This match is not an exciting prospect, however FInlay is always welcome on my TV. His matches on ECW TV are always stellar and though it's difficult wrestling an opponent like Mark Henry, if anyone is going to make him look good, it's Finlay. I expect a lot of interference and the possible dissolution of the Henry/Atlas alliance which was teased on Tuesday. Finlay gets the win and it doesn't really matter.

Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov - Hardy had a way better match with VK than HHH did, which says a lot for Hardy. I'm a huge Hardy mark and think this match would be an awesome win for Matt. Look at it this way, does VK need this match? I'd say no. Sure, he has an undefeated streak but those always end and it's never a big deal when they do especially in this case when the wrestler himself never even mentions it. For a guy like Hardy to end said streak is a bigger story and a bigger rub for someone who deserves it more. Further, a champion shouldn't be jobbing in this match. It's why I hate non-title matches. They're set up for the champ to loose the match, but keep the title. This works for heels, but babies should not hold on to titles in that fashion. I think a win in this match would help Hardy way more than a loss hurts VK. Nevertheless, I think creative keeps the silly streak alive and makes one of their most popular and dedicated superstars look bad in a VK win.

Rey Mysterio (Jr.) vs. CM Punk for a shot at the IC title - Here's a question - so this match will be at a PPV and then Regal defends on free TV? Weird. I love the attention being paid to the IC title, I just hope it doesn't immediately end after this tourney. Having said that, this match could steal the show. I imagine the win goes to Punk and then so does the IC title. Just as a side note, I hope they turn Punk heel.

Batista vs. Randy Orton - Ok. You know how smart fans are always calling for pushes for worthy guys who seem to always get overlooked? It happened with Jericho, Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Edge and now it's happening with Jeff Hardy. Well I've got news for you - this should be happening with Batista. I can't think of a legit draw/main eventer who gets as little respect as Dave Batista. Batista, much like Matt Hardy in the VK match, needs this match more than Orton and I kind of expect creative to do the right thing here and give him the rub which, in one year, will give him victories over Cena and Orton and probably set up Cena/Batista 2 as the main event for WM25.

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho for the World Title - There are two ways to look at this - I love the idea that Jericho can win the World Title from top contenders at any time and further, love the idea that the title does not have to stay on one guy for months and from that perspective I'd like to see Jericho win this. Cena, on the other hand, was tailor made to be a World Champion and being one of the people who actually like Cena, I'd like him to hold it until WM25 for the aforementioned main event with Batista - who, one would hope, could go into the match as a heel. Either way, I'm fine. I'm picking Cena.

HHH vs. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy for the WWE Title - I am among the throng of fans who believe Jeff Hardy is long overdue for a title run and have wanted him to win it since last year's Royal Rumble. Having said that, I don't want him to win this Sunday. Why? Because I want him to win the Royal Rumble and win it at Mania. Unfortunately, I think Jeff is going to win on Sunday. The promo he cut at the Slammys coupled with the fact that he's losing against HHH at tonight's Smackdown "go home" show has convinced me of this. It would make no sense, honestly, for Jeff to go into Mania as the champ which means he'll drop it shortly after getting it which sucks. But, can he afford another loss? If he's not pinned I'd say yes especially if Vickie makes a stip saying that if he doesn't win the Royal Rumble, he can never wrestle for the title again (the "too many chances" angle). That however doesn't work either because then it's basically assured that he'd win the Rumble. Ah, wrestling. It's so complicated. Anyway, I'm reluctantly going with Jeff for the win though I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Enjoy the show.

Two unexpectadly great things happened in wrestling this week

Last night The Motor City Machine Guns cut a promo and I thought Alex Shelley was awesome. Just really great. I'm not a giant TNA guy. I watch it, but I don't follow it very closely - meaning if I miss it, I miss it and I don't really watch their PPVs. So, I haven't really seen much of the Guns. I think Alex Shelley could be a killer heel based on that promo. I rewound it and watched it twice. It wasn't well written (obviously) but Shelley delivered it flawlessly. Chris Sabin on the other hand...Ugh.

The ECW main event pitting Fit Finlay against Matt Hardy for the ECW title was awesome. It's probably TV match of the year. These guys had a real match, you know, a wrestling match. Just a bunch of near falls, a whole lot of finishers and then the two guys shaking hands at the end. Finlay is just so solid and underrated. His style is never going to get super over and he'll never be a world champion, but he's that guy who you can rely on to just kill it in that ring each and every time.

Is Christian returning to WWE?

Okay. Christian Cage happens to be one of my favorite professional wrestlers and there is a lot of talk that Cage is done with TNA and is heading back to the WWE very, very soon. In fact, it looks as though he is being written off of TNA television tonight on Impact. According to spoilers the Main Even Mafia are going to "take him out" and banish him from TNA for good.

Take this with a grain of salt as TNA creative is forever keeping tabs on WWE (as well as internet dirt sheets which have been predicting Cage's move as well) and this could all be one big swerve.

However, it is also rumored that Edge's return has been delayed in an effort to have him return with Cage in tow to be the babyface antagonists to the very heel Big Show and Vicki.

I have been a Christian fan for a long time and have called him my favorite wrestler in numerous occasions. I always thought that, although he may not have the "look" and physical size that Edge did, Christian's star always shone brighter when they were a tag team.

Since Christian's departure from WWE, I have called Edge my favorite wrestler. Not because he's on WWE or because I don't follow TNA, I do, it's just no matter how many complaints one may have with WWE creative, they have done a great job with Edge. While TNA (whom I do give kudos to for making Christian a legitimate main eventer - something WWE could never figure out how to do) seems to be pretty much out of ideas for Christian.

Christian's return to the WWE excites me for a number of reasons...

One - there's no question which company is the top company. Say what you will about WWE, but it's the main stage - it's where every performer wants to be and it will be nice to see Christian return with some success.

Two - TNA, as stated earlier, as done a great job of legitimizing Christian as a main event caliber performer and with WWE putting guys like CM Punk, Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho in their main event picture, it doesn't seem so crazy to think he could have a title run.

Three - Christian's return will do a lot for Edge and the WWE. First, and perhaps most important, it's imperative that WWE figure out a way to add some juice to their tag team picture. Enter Edge and Christian. Arguably one of the greatest teams in WWE history, they could have themselves a great feud with guys like Miz/Morrison and Cody/Ted Jr and even Carlito and Primo. But, even better the return of an old friend can give Edge a new lease on life. While I never gotbored with Edge as a main event heel, it'll be nice to see a different side to him. He's been a heel for a number of years now, so a baby run (even a short one) could do a lot to revitalize the former champ.

Of course, Christian's return is not set in stone but I really hope it happens.

RAW thoughts

I found the British fans to be a little annoying last night. I'm sorry.

They were so determined to be smart fans in their booing of Dave and especially during the Cena package that it was just so calculated and annoying.

I happen to like both guys, one of them I like a lot. Which begs the question, was Big Dave irreparably hurt by losing the title at RAW last week?

I was all for Dave getting the title. I love Jericho and thought him having the title was a great turn of events, but I didn't think him dropping the belt hurt him all that much.

Having said all this, I admit to marking out huge when Jericho won it back. I think the story is great - it's very "anything can happen in the WWE" which I like. It didn't seem too bad to me that Batista lost the title in a hard fought steel cage match. I like the idea, very much, that these guys are both so good and evenly matched that whoever has the better night can win the title.

If however, this was just a way to put the strap on Cena in two weeks, then I don't love it. To me, it hurts both Jericho and Batista who have been work horses. I've watched Dave do job after job to get to the top of the RAW ladder and Jericho has been, hands down, performer of the year.

Again, I like Cena but he absolutely DOES NOT need the title right off the bat. I'd much rather watch Dave and Jericho continue this feud and luterally trade the title back and forth. I don't know what that leaves Cena to do, but creative can step on it and figure something out. Maybe side with Shane and Vince against, the inevitable, HHH and Stephanie.

But this is all neither here nor there, this is about Dave. Have the fans legitimately turned on Dave because of this short title reign or were they just booing the good guys to be cool? They cheered Santino as well lets not forget.

I hope Dave recovers from this. Maybe, just maybe he can turn heel and be a monster heel champion. That would be great though I'm unsure how his merch sells, which as we all know is the most important thing to Vince.

Where does Jeff go from here?

Cyber Sunday was actually a pretty fun show. I had a good time with it...

Let me start by saying, I was pretty shocked, as were most I’d imagine, that the fans voted in Cryme Tyme vs. M&M 2.0 over the tag title match. I think this speaks to Cryme Tyme’s popularity, but Kofi/Punk vs. Priceless was one of the matches I was looking most forward to. Cryme Tyme have stepped up their in-ring game, but this match would have been a better fit as the hour one main event on tonight’s RAW rather than on a PPV. They actually tried to sell it as a dot com rivalry, which was nuts.

Nice showing by Evan Bourne and an even better showing by his opponent Matt Hardy. Hardy’s performance in that match is what makes him a “smart” favorite, but what sometimes keeps him under the radar to casual fans. He let Bourne go and made Bourne look like a legitimate superstar. He sold the shit out of each and every high impact move and pretty much worked a flawless and very un-selfish match.

The match of the night, for me, was Taker vs. Big Show in the last man standing. Being pretty sure going in that Show was going to have to do the job, I really didn’t want him saying “I Quit” and the knockout match had exactly zero appeal, so this stip was one the fans got just right. The crowd, however was DEAD during this match, which was a shame because for a big man match it had a lot of great moments. It seemed like Taker took everything and just kept getting up, which could be seen as a slight to Big Show, but it’s the Undertaker – that’s been his gimmick forever.

Was Taker fucking with Charles Robinson, though? He just wouldn’t get up and he kept forcing Robinson to slow down his count to the point that Robinson started to look biased. Maybe he was just gassed, but it seemed like it may have been a power move. Either way, I had a lot of fun with this match and I keep becoming a bigger and bigger Big Show mark.

The low point of the show was certainly the Divas costume contest, though it was nice to see the fans vote for Mickie James who looked great.

Santino’s bit was not so great, through no fault of his own. They gave him and HTM no time to wrestle and then everyone came out and beat up on Santino, which is probably annoying to those who paid to vote.

I am a huge Goldust fan, I think he’s one of the top three wrestling characters of all time, but he looked like shit last night. Is he coming back? He better get in shape if he is.

On a side not, my girlfriend told me that it sounds like I’m doing a racist Asian impression when I try to say “64 weeks” like Santino. I, on the other hand, think it’s spot on.

Oh, Rey and Kane was a passable opener.

Did you see HHH’s face when the fans picked Hardy? Did you see Hardy’s face when the fans picked Hardy? Neither one of those guys was happy about it. Hardy knew he was going to have to do a pretty devastating job, which I’m sure he didn’t want to do and even further, I don’t think Game wanted to be the one to do it to him.

This match was good…really good. Not as good as No Mercy, but good. Truthfully, I can watch those two guys wrestle each other any day of the week – but the clean Jeff Hardy job is a tough one to swallow.

Everyone involved wanted this triple threat so Hardy wouldn’t have had to be pinned and HHH could have kept the title. Hardy getting voted in just made him seem like a guy who will never be WWE champion. Like a guy who is just not ready.

Memo to creative, though – the fans want Jeff Hardy to be champion!

I’m not even suggesting HHH should have dropped the title last night, but I didn’t want to see him get the clean pin. It didn’t look as though Trips was too happy about it either. I think Trips genuinely respects Jeff Hardy and knew that getting the win here was going to really hurt Hardy’s future in the title hunt and really didn’t want to be the guy to do it.

Where’s Jeff going now that it’s pretty clear creative is moving towards a Game/Kozlov feud?

Turn him heel? Take him off TV for a bit?

As for the RAW main event, I loved it. It was booked a bit like TNA what with all the run-ins, but here it worked. There are so many people outside of Big Dave and Jericho involved in this story, and none of their names are Stone Cold Steve Austin, that it made sense to have all those guys in there.

I love Jericho. I really do, but I actually think the title is on the right guy. I do wish it would have happened at Survivor Series, but in all fairness Batista has been placed in a number of title matches only to loose. Batista should be running the show on RAW and this sets up a sure-fire Cena/Batista main event at Wrestlemania 25.

It was a decent show all around, though I am worried about where Jeff Hardy goes from here.

Impact Thoughts

Alright, alright everybody hated Impact last night. I mean everybody. There was very little wrestling and when there was it was pretty bad - with the exception of Awesome Kong vs. Taylor Wilde which was awesome.

I don't know how I feel, really.

Yes, the show stunk. It was really bad. It made last week's Raw look like the Raw when CM Punk won the title from Edge. Well, maybe it didn't, but it made Raw look much better in comparison.

Sure, Foley's "shattering" announcement wasn't all that shattering, but the problem with that was the hype more than the execution. I like the idea of Foley as the boss, I loved it when he as commish in WWE. The big problem here is this feels like a rehash. Foley being the boss is a double edged sword. On one side you've got Mick Foley for god's sake and who can complain about that. Foley is a top five promo guy and even when he's not on the top of his game, like last night, he's still pretty great. But when he is, shit, he's the best in the biz. Remember the promo he cut on Edge the night before he left WWE? Well, I submit that to you as exhibit A.

Having said that, Foley is still going to be a glorified GM and if we've learned anything from the past it's this - babyface GMs are pointless. Which leads me to question, does Foley turn heel and join forces with the newly dubbed main event mafia?

Which brings me to said Main Event Mafia. As a gimmick, I hate it. As this gimmick with these guys on this particular show, I love it.

It's no secret this Vince Russo program is essentially a do-over of what turned out to be a really bad Vince Russo program. WCW had the New Breed vs, The Millionaire's Club which was a disaster, but some are forgetting one very important factor. That program was booked horribly! The Millionaire's Club - the rich, old veterans hell bent on holding the younger talent back were booked as the BABYFACES! This made no sense whatsoever.

This time around it's being done right. The Main Event Mafia are the heels, though I suspect Sting is going to try his damndest to straddle that line as much as he can. Further, there aren't fifteen people in the MEM, just five (counting Sharmel) and none of them are named Jim Duggan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Hulk Hogan or DDP.

No, the MEM are actually quite a force. Both Sting and Kevin Nash were in the original Millionaire's Club - but, right now Sting is playing pretty close to the top of his game. Sure, he can't work the ring like he used to, but his promos have been great and when Sting is good everyone's good. As far as Nash - he's definitely the weakest in-ring performer of the four, but he also has the most personality. I've never soured on Nash because of that charm and when it's being used for evil, I like it even more.

Which leaves Kurt Angle and Booker T. I happen to be a huge Booker T. fan. Book can get anyone over (case in point - The Boogeyman. Boogey's feud with Book has been the only positive thing he has done in WWE and it was all Book). Booker runs with whatever gimmick he's given and if he can get this Idi Amin thing over, then there is nothing the man can't do. Plus, he's still solid in the ring and can work with anyone.

Kurt Angle really seems like he may be a crazy person. I can't tell. Is this whole UK Sun/Jarret's wife thing a work? No one seems to think so, therefore I am falling on the side of crazy. But, you've gotta love that about him. He's unpredictable and intense as hell and he is, without a doubt, one of the best workers in professional wrestling.

I'm not 100% this will work and I have to say I'd like to see Christian in the MEM with these guys, but not because he's forced to be. Rather because I love him as a heel and I like that he gets the respect of even being asked in the first place. It does seem like this feud is these four guys vs. Joe and AJ which is not great. There need to be some more guys thrown into this mix and Abyss, by the by, is not the guy. I'd love to see Jay Lethal thrown in here and maybe even Matt Morgan.

Is it groundbreaking and brilliant? Not really. Does it have the potential to be entertaining? I think so. I like the talent involved and I like that they're all actually on the same page rather than just talking about being on the same page. Plus, it's been a long time since we've had a fun stable in pro wrestling and I've been waiting for one.

Is this it? We'll see.


Will I continue to ask questions and then immediately answer them? Absolutely!