Later tonight, WWE will present the 25th edition of WrestleMania, their biggest show all year. Before writing my preview and predictions, I tried to sit down and think of all the events that got us to this point in time. I got nowhere. But I also got the introduction to my column.
You see, WWE changed their way of thinking completely this year when it came to building up the Showcase of the Immortals. Usually, by the time the No Way Out PPV ends in February, we have a pretty good idea of what the top matches at WrestleMania will look like. This has been the case for many years now. However, it wasn’t the case in 2009 for WrestleMania 25. Whether this new “you have to watch all the TV shows leading up to ‘Mania to find out what’s happening at the PPV” approach will work or not has become a popular debate online. I think this will cost the company quite a lot of money, as the slow build and constant change of plans made a lot of fans annoyed with storylines. To put it shortly, WWE failed to make us care this year, even when it comes to WrestleMania. That’s quite a statement!
1) Nicole Scherzinger sings America the Beautiful
Can I just share with everyone that this woman is incredibly hot?! Let’s hope she does a great job singing “America the Beautiful” because I’ve always enjoyed seeing this opening to WrestleMania!
Prediction: Eddie will be happy with the opening!
2) JBL vs. Rey Mysterio for IC Title
I feel bad for these guys. Both of them are great talents who deserve better. JBL was embarked on the painful quest of being HBK’s employer in one of those WWE-only storylines we’d rather forget now. (And isn’t it amazing most of us have already forgotten about it?) Rey has simply been lost in the shuffle since he was drafted to RAW. From what I hear he’s going back home to SmackDown! where he was great and helped the Hispanic rating of the show go through the roof. JBL promised to do something “historic” at WrestleMania. From what I understand, he’s to announce his retirement, and against that can only be something “historic” that I care about if he retires as the last Intercontinental Champion? We shall see. I expect JBL to give a full effort on this one, and Rey should be great. As long as they have some chemistry tonight, this will be okay.
Prediction: JBL
3) Money in the Bank Ladder Match
MITB is always one of the best matches at WrestleMania, since it’s been introduced. Sadly, this year few people will care going in. WWE did a terrible job building this bout up, as instead of telling the multiple layers of this story, they kept putting the participants on TV in situations where they looked silly and bad. Mark Henry and Kane going into this is a question mark. Predicting a winner would also be tough. At the end of the night, I still have the feeling MITB will be one of the top three matches on the show, and will still be good stuff thanks to the experienced guys in there (Christian, Punk, and Finlay), the great athletes (MVP, Benjamin, Kingston), and um… those other two.
Prediction: Christian
4) Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat & Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka.
So this is no longer a handicap match. It will now be a gauntlet match. What a disaster this amazing storyline turned out to be. Jericho’s work on the microphone setting this up was more than great, it was perfect. He said the right things to the right people at the right time in the right way. The legends did their part as much as they could but at the end we got a match that wasn’t originally planned and that could be disastrous unless Steamboat pulls a miracle. You see, the plan was to get Mickey Rourke vs. Jericho with Flair in Rourke’s corner, but Rourke’s manager nixed the idea. Then Rourke didn’t win the Oscar, and WWE got even more disappointed, as they realized he won’t mean much. He’s still appearing, but I doubt anyone cares. Piper & Snuka can’t move well due to health issues. We’ve heard Steamboat is in shape, and that supposedly will surprise a lot of people on Sunday. I hope so because Jericho deserves better.
Prediction: The Legends
5) John Morrison & The Miz vs. Carlito & Primo Colon for the tag title unification in a Lumberjack Match
I’ve enjoyed this storyline from the start. I really do wish these four had some time on RAW, but maybe keeping them off the show worked out for the better because they truly got to shine on ECW and SmackDown!. It was going to be a great match until they made it a Lumberjack cluster, but it is what it is. The Bellas are the key here!
Prediction: Miz & Morrison
6) Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy Extreme rules match
I just don’t think this feud will ever work. It can, but it won’t. The people love Matt and Jeff too much to care for this match. They should have gone with the original plan, which was using Christian in Matt’s spot. The holes in logic are too large to overcome here, and ultimately the people will not like seeing Matt vs. Jeff in my opinion. I’m not sure who wins this, as the program will probably continue post WrestleMania.
Prediction: Matt Hardy
7) Kid Rock short concert
Remember when Kid Rock appeared on RAW in 2001? That’s when he mattered…
8) 25 Divas Battle Royal
Word is Santino Marella and Mae Young are in. That’s a horrible move, and I hope they protect Mae well. The thought of her in the ring is scary. Well, I hope this turns out well!
Prediction: Santino or Mae
9) Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show for the World title
Very irritating feud. Not because it’s yet another program I don’t care about, but it’s because they had something great the night Cena revealed the love affair. All four involved were great. Then they dropped the ball once again. The winner here and in the WWE Title match will probably be determined based on who ends up where after the draft, but if this match isn’t going last, I have the feeling we might not see a Cena win.
Prediction: Edge
10) Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker
The only match people are interested in seeing that should go on last, but won’t for several reasons. I didn’t like the direction they took with the weird HBK videos, and the Undertaker character that cuts serious promos and is neither a Dead Man nor a Bad Ass, but a weird combination of the two. The bottom line is that you have two guys people love, and two characters everyone cares about, thus we are interested. It will definitely be a good match.
Prediction: The Undertaker
11) HHH vs. Randy Orton for WWE Championship – No DQs or Count-outs
In today’s day and age, it is very rare to witness a memorable moment on a WWE TV show. A moment that will be remembered years from today — maybe because a star is made; maybe because a great creative twist took place; or maybe because a feud for the ages was set. These moments are memorable for a reason — they really are very rare! A few weeks ago on RAW, a memorable moment took place when Randy Orton kicked Vince McMahon in the head. Orton, who had shined before, truly stood out this time. He became a star. He was connecting with the audience on a whole new level. He was become something WWE has lacked for years — a new, unique, creative persona that makes people care and brings interest to the show.
I think this magic was all lost when Shane McMahon was introduced into the storyline. When Stephanie was added to the mix, we got some of the heat back. When Triple H came in, it once again peaked, though not in the same way. Sadly, the follow-up of the two chasing each other in cartoonish segments was really bad. I know these two will have a great match because they can both work great, especially with each other. It will be a good match, and hopefully fans will find some reasons to get into it! If this match goes last, I’d presume Triple H wins. The idea here is to build towards a 6-way (Vince/Shane/Hunter vs. Legacy) at Backlash with Triple H coming to RAW off the Draft. We then go to singles matches again and end eventually with a double turn of Orton going face and Triple H going heel. If they decide to stay with Orton as heel, they’ll need to get Stephanie’s assistant, as she turns on Hunter. It’s so simple, it can’t be messed up, right?!
Prediction: Triple H
This looks like a decent card on paper. It will be an action-packed show with MITB, HBK/Undertaker, and Triple H/Orton being all great matches. If given the right amount of time and booking, Matt vs. Jeff also has the potential to be very good.
Let’s have a good WrestleMania tomorrow!
Eddie T. has been a columnist for TBLWrestling.com since 2002. You may read his personal blog — filled with more content — by clicking here!
