Its Wrestlemania week and
we are only days away from the biggest event of the year for wrestling fans
across the world.
This could possibly be the
biggest Wrestlemania since Wrestlemania X8 when The Rock went against Hulk
Hogan, or Wrestlemania XIX with Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle.
This year has two huge
matches headlining it and a great set of matches to support them.
We are in for an epic 4
hour spectacular, so let’s have a look at the matches on the card for this Sunday.
Kane vs. Randy Orton
After the flop story
between Kane and John Cena, Kane set his sights on a new target, The Viper
Randy Orton. The reason behind this is due to one of Kane’s final matches before
he put his mask back on.
Back when Kane was slowly
turning more “human” and after losing to Orton in a street fight last summer,
Kane shook Randy’s hand in a show of respect. Kane doesn’t like that side of
him and his show of weakness and is now determined to prove a point and get vengeance
by beating Orton at Wrestlemania.
Not the most exciting
match on the card and the build-up hasn’t been spectacular but it’s a chance to
see Randy Orton in action, Kane on the other hand will need to step up his game
or his side of things could flop like his last storyline.
Intercontinental
Championship
Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show
Over
recent weeks Cody has put a spotlight on Big Shows past Wrestlemania losses.
Using old footage Cody showed clips of Big Shows matches from past Mania’s. His
loss to Floyd Mayweather (WMXXIV) and Akebono (WM21) was shown as well as a clip of him not
even at the event for WMX8.
The story
pushes Show down further and further and it was obvious where it was going. In
a later week Show vs. Cody was booked for a championship match at Mania,
knowing that he would be facing the giant didn’t stop Cody from mocking the big
man as he continues to ridicule him.
I like Big
Show but I think he could be better and personally I prefer Cody as a Champ
than Show. That being said though it would be really mean and a big low blow to
have Big Show lose again at Mania. After having his past losses spotlighted and
now holding the record for shortest World Title reign in history it would just
be over doing it having him lose again. He might as well give up now if that’s the
direction they are sending him down.
Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos vs. Eve & Beth
Phoenix
Originally the divas match
was meant to be Beth vs. Kharma but most probably due to her new baby Kharma
will not be performing at Mania. This tag match is a backup.
The story behind it is
Maria Menounos, host of NBC’s The Extras, had been interviewing Kelly. Eve and
Beth became jealous from this and the two divas turned up on the Extras to confront
Maria and Kelly and that’s when the challenge was made.
Maria is no stranger to
the ring as she performed at Tribute to the Troops and scored the pin on
current Divas Champ Beth. But she is no pro either, this could have been a lot better
match if Natalya was involved in Maria’s place and had the right back story to
support it.
Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny
Over the
past weeks Teddy Long GM of SmackDown and John Laurinaitis Interim GM of Raw have been fighting over
full control of both Raw and SmackDown. The board of Directors have decided
that there will be just one GM for both shows.
To decide this Teddy and
Johnny spent the last few weeks putting together a 6 man team each for a 12 man
tag match at Mania that will decide total control.
Team Captains are David
Otunga for Johnny and current US Champ Santino Marella for Teddy.
Johnny quickly acquired
Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler which obviously came with Vicki Guerrero. In response
Teddy took R-Truth and Kofi Kingston.
Johnny then took on the
big man Mark Henry and in response Teddy took The Great Khali.
Christian also joined Team
Johnny but due to an attack from CM Punk he was injured on last night’s Raw. He was quickly replaced by Drew McIntyre.
Zack Ryder was recruited
to team Teddy as well as mascot Hornswoggle.
Lastly there was the Miz
who was trying to prove why he should be involved in this match but kept coming
up with losses that was not helping his case, but last night he was added to
Team Johnny once he saved him from a pending Cobra strike.
Teddy just needed one more
member by this point, and after a match between Mark Henry and Khali last
night, Teddy ended up in the firing line of a Worlds Strongest Slam. Booker T
jumped from the announcers table and laid out Mark with a scissor kick to the
back of the head. Teddy then added Booker as the last man on the team.
So to Sum up-
Team Johnny – (C) David
Otunga, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre and The Miz
Team Teddy – (C) Santino
Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, The Great Khali, Zack Ryder and Booker T
This match might be a bit
silly in places but is going to line up a big change in storylines, we could
see the longest GM to ever be on WWE Teddy Long disappear, or we could lose
Johnny back to the WWE offices where he belongs leaving us with one man as the
onscreen GM of both shows.
My money is
on Johnny winning but I will be supporting Team Teddy.
World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
This was a
match we was meant to have last year at Wrestlemania XXVII but it was bumped to
a dark match and then removed all together.
This year
though we are getting it and there is a bigger prize in the middle.
D Bryan won
the World Title off Big Show late last year by cashing in his Money in the Bank
briefcase and handing Show the record of Shortest World Title Reign.
From that
point onwards Bryan went on a slow decline into a Heel character that he has
bought forward very well.
Early this
year Sheamus won the Royal Rumble allowing him a title match at Mania. At the
time he had a choice between Bryan and CM Punk but wouldn’t revile his choice
till Elimination Chamber but it was obvious who he would go for. At the Chamber
event Sheamus came to the ring at the end of the Smackdown match and laid out
its winner D Bryan signalling what title he will be going for at Mania.
The rivalry
has continued to heat up and we should be in for a good match, but that being
said there is a wild card in play.
Bryan has
got an on screen girlfriend, AJ, who he is using to his advantage as well as
pushing his Heel character more by playing an overly pushy and bossy boyfriend
belittling his girlfriend AJ. AJ continues to play the innocent one, even with the
way he treats her saying she still “loves” him.
Yes this is
very soap opera like story, but it could put an interesting aspect to the Title
match this Sunday.
WWE Championship
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
This
match has been building ever since Jericho returned to WWE in what could only
be one of the biggest disappointments in WWE history. The end of the world as
we know it never came, there was no big revile or change and his cryptic
messages lead to nothing but his return.
In
the end Jericho won a number one contender Battle Royal after Elimination Chamber
lining up the match we knew was coming.
A
feud was already high before this point but as soon as the match was booked it
was spot lighted.
To
add extra heat to the match Jericho recently started talking about Punks
parents and sister’s apparent problems, such as the fact that his dad was a
drunk.
These
verbal attacks lead to Punk breaking PG and using the word shit 3 times. Even
though he swore it was muted for us at home. Last night on Raw after another
verbal attack from Jericho, Punk locked Christian in the Cobra Clutch in rage
and this is what sparked the apparent injury mentioned earlier.
This
should put some serious heat on the match and it has done what Jericho is best
at doing and that is being hated.
We
should have a strong Punk crowd at Mania but there will still be Jericho
support out there to.
Hell in a Cell End of an
Era
Undertaker vs. Triple H
guest Ref. Shawn Michaels
Since
Mania last year we have been wondering when Undertaker would be coming back and
who he would face and most likely be his last Wrestlemania opponent. They
decided to go with Triple H in what is looking to be the most exciting match of
the Undertaker streak.
This
year the match has been stuck in a Hell in a Cell, a place which Taker and
Trips are no strangers two. It’s their home away from home as they have been in
the most Hell in Cell matches out of all superstars. In fact up until the first
Hell in a Cell PPV there hadn’t been a Cell match that didn’t involve one of
these men in one way or another.
Not only is it in a Cell,
but the referee will be the legend Shawn Michaels, best friend to Trips and a
loser to Undertakers streak two years running. He holds the fate of the streak
and an era in his hands.
Over the past month we
have had a lot of confrontation that is really heating up the match and emphasising
the end of an era headline.
But a big question is what
era is ending? Is it the end of an era because these 3 men are the last of the
old days, they were here before the PG era, the Invasion era, and the Attitude
era.
Or is it the end of PG or
something along them lines? As you may have noticed WWE have been pushing boundaries,
harsher language as mentioned earlier and matches that are rougher as well as
more close edged stories, it does look like they are spacing themselves from
the PG rating.
Speculation predicts that
this match will be like the old days and that there will be blood. Another clue
of that is in the promo videos for the match. Usually if they show old footage
with blood they would black and white the shot, or cut it out of the shot
altogether, but this time it is shown quite clearly.
The whole thing is exciting
and I’m looking forward to seeing these two legends but heads for what should
be the final time.
Also on top of all this
Undertaker still has not reviled his new hairdo, or should I say lack of hair,
nor has he reviled a new look.
What waits at the end of
the line for these men?
John Cena vs. The Rock
The biggest match ever in
WWE, the biggest name of the past vs. the biggest name of today, The Rock vs.
John Cena.
This is a match that has
been a year in the making and it is finally just days away. The real build for
it has been within the past month but hasn’t sat right some people.
To avoid the two fighting
each other it’s been week after week of promos, some have been bad, some good.
But it has got quite samey and boring and we wanted something different to
happen, regardless though it hasn’t taken away from the match at all, the two
names alone is the selling point.
One promo that sticks in
peoples mind though was old school Cena. One week Cena came out to classic
world life music and dressed in his classic gear and performed a John Cena rap.
Later in the show The Rock
performed a “Rock” Concert, reminiscent of the days around Wrestlemania XIX
when he used to play the guitar a lot.
His promo didn’t quite wow
us like Cenas but was still good to see some old school Rock all the same.
Both these promos made us
think about how it isn’t a PG era promo and its old school, is this further
clue to the end of PG?
The next thing on peoples
mind is the result of the match; people are thinking Cena will win and it will
lead to a rematch on Raw or at the next PPV.
I personally want it to go
the other way, I would prefer to see The Rock win, just because I’m old school
and I’m obviously going to support the old school character, even if it is for
just one night.
Either way this should the
most epic match in history, and hopefully it won’t be the last.
So that’s it, big names,
big card a BIG Wrestlemania, and I couldn’t be more excited! This is going to
be a brilliant weekend, and I hope you all enjoy it.
Questions for you.
Predictions?
Team Teddy or Team Johnny?
Team Bring it or Team
Cenation?
What will happen in the
Cell?
That’s it for now Matty.D
signing off.