Tomorrow night, WWE will hold their biggest PPV of the year in what is known as WrestleMania 23 – All Grown Up this year. Going into tomorrow’s Showcase of the Immortals, it must be noted that the company has done more than a good job of building up storylines and hype for the event. If all goes well, they should be looking at a really good buy rate, as The Battle of the Billionaires, Cena/Michaels, Batista/Undertaker, and Money in the Bank are four very different type of programs with different feel, build, point, and drawing ability. You have the absolute gimmick – Battle of the Billionaires, the wrestling gimmick – Undertaker’s streak against Batista’s will, and then the two wrestling-based programs in Cena/Michaels which should be an amazing bout, and the crazy spotfest in Money in the Bank. Jason Robinson, WWE’s head of production design, finished the set for the show in February, and in an interview for Detroit News mentioned that the set would have a massive stage, plenty of video screens, and “more pyro than a Kiss concert.” In comparison, it takes the WWE crew of 100 workers only 14 hours to set up for RAW. For WrestleMania, the company is working with a 300-worker crew who have started on the stage last week and were hoping to finish two days before the show. Make no mistake about it – WWE relies entirely on its annual money-maker to represent the company, and they will make sure to hype this through the roof, as is always the case. WWE’s technical production of wrestling TV is like no other, as they have proven many times in the past, and they deserve kudos for that.
It is very important that WWE continues the same build for other PPV shows that follow WrestleMania. They are currently going through a good upswing, and it’s crucial that they follow it up, and not fail miserably like they have in the past, following a good build for WrestleMania. With a developing Ric Flair-Carlito storyline, a Mick Foley return, and strongly-built characters in the wings, they have a good shot of making this a much better year for WWE. Let’s see if they make it.
Melina takes on Ashley for the Women’s Championship in a match that was put together in order to present the Playboy cover girl with a strong heel to beat when she wins the Women’s Championship. The problem here is that Ashley has not improved at all in the ring, and to be honest doesn’t seem to bring anything to the TV shows, as Melina is much more charismatic. While Perez isn’t exactly the next Trish Stratus, she’s used her position as champion and shown some improvement in the ring, and has definitely learned how to draw heat from the audience with her presence, while Ashley continues to randomly point in arenas as people don’t care about her. I’m assuming anything could happen here, but an Ashley win makes sense most.
The ECW Originals take on the New Breed in a match that is of little meaning. ECW is all but dead at this point in time, and it’s honestly sad to know that WWE missed the boat on yet another great opportunity to cash in. Seeing as the New Breed is on the upraise with Elijah Burke getting some publicity and the opportunity to be a guest analyst on ESPN Boxing earlier in the week, it would make sense for them to win. At the same time, they could go for the sentimental value, and give the Originals a win. It’s sad to see RVD so low on the card.
From what I understand, Kane will be taking time off pretty soon, as The Big Red Machine is having some trouble with his knee. His schedule since See No Evil came out hasn’t been light either, and it’s time for him to recharge the batteries. It is possible that they choose to go with the injury angle at ‘Mania, making Khali into an even bigger monster, but one can’t help and wonder if the Indian giant can even perform an injury angle well. This will be hopefully kept short and to the point, though Kane will try hard to get a decent bout out of Khali.
Chris Benoit takes on MVP in a match for the US Championship, and by the looks of it, we’ll have yet another title change. For a while now the word has been that Benoit is headed to RAW, as he’s been lost in the shuffle on SmackDown!, and if that’s the case he would have to drop the belt here. Even if he stays on Friday nights, one would think WWE will give MVP a push here, as they’ve invested a lot in him. There’s been very few matches I can remember calling “bad” with Benoit in them, so this should be good, and OK in the worst case scenario.
The Battle of the Billionaires pins Bobby Lashley representing Donald Trump against Umaga, the representative of Vince McMahon, with the loser getting their head shaved. Don’t trust any rumors you’ve heard of Brutus Beefcake, Hulk Hogan, or anyone else coming out to shave the loser’s head. Steve Austin will be doing the “honors.” This one should be obvious, and has been from the start, quite frankly. Lashley will be going over Umaga, but you can count on plenty of interferences, worked spots, and the likes in here. A Rey Mysterio interference has been talked about, and that makes sense for future storylines. They also have advertised for ECW on Tuesday that “a bad billionaire” will make an appearance, and Trump isn’t going on ECW on Tuesday, so that tells you who the winner is. As far as the match goes, seeing as it won’t be a grappling classic with the interruptions, I would expect more emphasis on the power of the two guys, and probably the regular McMahon humor spot or two.
The Undertaker takes on Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. This is a really tough one to predict. Logic would have you believe ‘Taker takes it because of his ‘Mania streak, but when WWE originally set up this match in late 2006, the idea was for Batista to win. Time changes everything, of course, and the decision seems to be all but overturned. This has to be gimmicked somehow, whether it’s by the use of weapons, or a bloodbath, and if Batista wins, it should be due to a major heel turn. I don’t think ‘Taker would give his record up like that, and with so many people upset with Batista backstage, it makes sense that The Dead Man is in for another title reign. I don’t know if this will be the last match on the card or not, but they might considering it just for that reenactment of the title going to “the dark side,” though Ross won’t call the match this time around.
John Cena faces Shawn Michaels in the other main event of the evening for the WWE Championship. This should be the match of the night, unless Money in the Bank delivers big again. Michaels will work the usual miracles, and he should be given at least 30 minutes here. I think we’re due for an HBK title reign, but that’s never a lock. Cena won the belt two years ago at WrestleMania and has held on to it strong since, only losing periodically for a short period of time. He has been in the title contention at every single PPV since then. That’s a scary statistic that even Triple H might fringe at. I think they intend to keep Cena at the top and use him up for all he’s worth until they move another direction, but at the same time there’s plenty of opportunities if Michaels wins the belt, and one of the guys could turn heel if the title does change hands easily to prolong the program, which could be good.
Eight guys are put together for what has become one of the top matches at WrestleMania – the Money in the Bank ladder match. It’s easy to eliminate some people out here. Matt Hardy is not winning this, as he’s in it simply due to his experience and to make it a good match. His brother Jeff has promised a crazy spot, and hopefully won’t get hurt doing whatever insane gimmick he’s thought of. He is not considered a possibility to win either. CM Punk will try to impress people with a few crazy bumps, but it’s highly doubtful the company will give him that big a push by making him the winner. This is definitely the biggest match of his career to date though, and with a continued strong support by fans, he might get his chance soon, but not at WrestleMania. King Booker and Fit Finlay are the two veteran heels in the match, added for spice, and while this is probably Finlay’s biggest match of his long career, he’s in there to run things together, much like Matt Hardy. As far as King Booker goes, he tends to step things up when the others around him call for it, and while a win might benefit his character a lot, I don’t see him winning either. This leaves Edge, Randy Orton, and Mr. Kennedy as the favorites to win and that makes a lot of sense. Edge is without a doubt the current WWE MVP, as he’s an all-around good package. He’s definitely charismatic, has brought his A game to the ring, and has proven that he works in the top spot. WWE has a lot of plans for him this summer, and he should remain one of their top players if he protects himself from serious injuries. I don’t see him winning, however, because he has already been Mr. Money in the Bank and they wouldn’t want to repeat a storyline so quickly. He also has some ring rust to work on, as he’s been out of action for more than a month now due to those “educated feet” of Rob Van Dam. Randy Orton seems like an interesting way to go. He was WWE’s groomed future, but never quite made it when he was given the opportunities, though it’s very controversial as to why he didn’t make it. He’s been on the upraise, and got a face reaction on RAW thanks to his storyline with Edge. He could be due for a face turn, and I’d say is one of the favorites to win. The other favorite has to be Mr. Kennedy – the guy that WWE is big on and hasn’t quite pushed all the way yet. It should be interesting to see how it all goes down.
It looks like a decent show on paper, but if luck is not on WWE’s side, it could actually fall short of expectations. The important part for them is to do enough to live up to the hype of WrestleMania, as that even by itself could make or break a WWE financial year.
