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Will there ever be another period in pro wrestling like the Hulkamania era or the Attitude era? And if so, when will it take place?

These are questions that are unable to be answered with any great certainty by any fan or wrestling journalist, but I have my own theory on this and I’m going to share it with you here.

First of all, in our lifetimes, assuming most people reading this are under the age of 40, I am very confident that we will see at least one if not several more “boom” periods of great popularity and financial success for the wrestling industry, particularly the WWE. I base this opinion on two simple facts: 1. wrestling’s popularity does seem to be somewhat cyclical. 2. there is a very large base of committed, hardcore fans around the world who would be quick to spread around the good news of a quality product to casual fans, who are the real catalyst for any boom period in wrestling.

So it’s pretty safe to assume that somewhere along the line in the next 50 years, the WWE, and maybe another competing company like TNA, will catch fire and ignite another classic era in pro wrestling where ratings, pay per view buyrates and merchandise sales are sky high and arenas around the world are sold out. At some point, pro wrestling will be a topic of water cooler conversation again. It’s just a matter of time.

So now that we’ve established that another boom period is inevitable in our lifetime, when is it going to take place? Well to answer that, there needs to be two things in place, at least in my mind, to spark the next great popularity boom. First and foremost, wrestling needs a transcendent superstar, much like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock, who connects with hardcore fans and casual fans alike, and can be the undisputed face of the company and leader of the era. It must be someone who is featured on TV and movies and is all over magazines and the Internet while at the height of their wrestling popularity.

The second thing that needs to be in place for this next great era to occur is high quality writing from the bookers for at least 6 months leading up to the popularity boom. This includes not only great storytelling but also booking the other main eventers and upper midcarders to seem extremely important in the eyes of the fans. It will also include setting up angles and feuds so that the blow off match that culminates the feud is both a big deal to the public and can be executed well by the wrestlers so that it means more long term to fans as well.

These two things in conjunction with each other, a transcendent star and great writing, would cause the next boom period to occur within 6 months or less, whereas it may have taken a lot longer in the past because of the lack of Internet social networking websites. If the product were to improve by leaps and bounds and these two basic elements were in place, hardcore fans would spread the energy around very quickly on the Internet and casual fan interest would be way up in no time. But as you well know, finding a transcendent star and improving the quality of the booking is much easier said than done. These have been two problems that have plagued the wrestling industry, and the WWE in particular, since the end of the attitude era in 2001.

But like I said before, it will happen eventually. The planets will align at some point and the necessary components will be in place for pro wrestling to take off to perhaps new heights that were not even seen during the attitude or Hulkamania eras. When do I think this will happen?

Right now the future looks dim, as the WWE’s ratings are stuck in the mid 3′s on average and PPV buyrates are subpar. Attendance and merchandise sales around the world are pretty solid, but the overall excitement in the wrestling world is lacking and has been lacking for quite some time now. But I think a changing of the guard in the WWE and a challenge from TNA could be just what is going to set this next great wrestling era into motion.

That’s why we’re closer than you might think to the next great period in wrestling history. I am going to go out on a limb right now and predict that the next wrestling boom period will begin in early 2012 and last for about two and half years, through the summer of 2014. How did I come to this conclusion you might ask?

Although it’s not one of the necessary factors I mentioned above to spark the next wrestling craze, the WWE’s own TV network, which should be on the airwaves by late summer of 2011, will be an important element that could draw in hoards of older, nostalgic fans who want to see classic matches from the WWE and other promotions that Vince McMahon will surely air on his network throughout most of the day. Over time, with advertising and a renewed interest in wrestling’s past, it’s only natural that a large percentage of these fans will at least sample the current WWE product. When that happens, if the WWE is ready for it with high quality programming, they will be poised to increase their fan base significantly and get people talking once again.

But that will just be the initial catalyst that could spark this next great financial period for the company and the industry at large. Like I said before, without a true transcendent superstar and consistent quality writing from the booking team, there will not be another great extended period in the WWE or pro wrestling in general.

So that means that over the course of the next year or so, I’m expecting someone to rise up and start to develop into that star, and I’m banking on the writing getting a whole heck of a lot better too.

Let’s start with the writing. I’m expecting TNA to continue to build gradually and eventually force the WWE to fight back with better programming and more intriguing storylines. Does this mean that TNA will ever pose a serious threat to the WWE in the ratings or in overall profitability? Not necessarily, but I do think that as early as mid summer of 2010, TNA could be eating into the WWE’s core audience somewhat and making them raise their game for the fall, which is traditionally a lackluster time of year in the world of professional wrestling.

When this happens, the competition will go up and the wrestlers and writers from both sides will naturally raise their games. This will lead to the much bigger and stronger WWE producing a product that is as good or better than the one they were putting out in early 2001, and I think that will happen by early 2011.

There will still be room in the market for TNA if they keep putting out quality shows at that time, but I see the WWE racing away from them on the road to Wrestlemania 27 and leaving them in the dust much like they are now, after TNA closes the gap somewhat later this year. So I do see the writing getting better, because it will have to. And Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta, with huge WCW overtones, should cause some newfound creativity to come out of the company that we once again haven’t seen since the Attitude era.

That takes care of the improved writing. But now for the biggest challenge. Who is going to emerge as the next breakthrough, mainstream star and lead the WWE into the next generation?

Let’s look at some candidates: I’ll start with John Cena. He has some mainstream appeal already and is extremely popular with the female and younger audience, meaning mostly little kids. But the problem is that these two segments of the WWE fanbase are still a minority, and he is largely viewed as uncool to the average casual fan. He is still relatively young and he could be more successful with a heel turn or a return to his previous rapper persona, but he’s not going to be the man to bring the WWE into a new great era of popularity.

How about The Miz? He has awesome mic skills, has had some exposure outside of the wresting world and seems to be building great momentum as a first class heel in the company right now. But I don’t see him getting over as a face with a semi-heel persona, which is really what it’s going to take for the next great wrestling superstar to emerge. Could he be the number one heel and a very important factor in the next wrestling boom period? Absolutely. But will he be the transcendent star that is the cause of it? Probably not.

CM Punk is a more talented in ring athlete but he is in much the same boat as The Miz. Could he be an important main event heel long term for the company? Of course, he should be. But he is not going to ignite this new era we’re talking about.

John Morrison is fantastic inside the ring and not all that bad when it comes to charisma. He is young and he has the look of the next great champion. But his mic skills and charisma will never electrify a crowd to the point where they all get behind him and he is drawing in hoards of casual fans to watch the WWE, so he’s out.

Then there’s the group of young guys who all have flashed some level of potential in the past year: Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, and all the young stars on NXT, as well as the promising young stars in the developmental minor league Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). Are they all important cogs in the wheel that is the WWE machine over the next decade, and would they play important roles in this new era? Yes, most of them will, but I don’t see that special quality in any one of these guys that is going to make them major celebrities and media sensations.

The best shot the WWE has, and the one who I predict will be the superstar that sparks the next wrestling boom period, is Randy Orton. He just turned 30 on April 1, so he is just entering is prime. He has already established himself as an above average in ring competitor who understands ring psychology. He is good on the mic and possesses charisma. He has a good look for a heel or face, and he has wrestling in his blood, as his father Bob Orton was a great heel in the 1970′s and 80′s.

He is even currently portraying the classic “face with heel tendencies” that I said would probably be necessary for the next huge superstar. And most importantly, the vast majority of the WWE crowd is really behind him right now. In fact, they were eager to get behind him when he showed the very first signs of a possible babyface turn. In a matter of a few months, he could be absolutely on fire with the entire WWE fanbase and a lot more popular outside of the wrestling world as well.

He is by far the best chance the WWE has in the near future for a guy to get behind that could lead them to the promised land of another great era in wrestling history, and for Vince McMahon’s sake, another financial boom. I am a fan of him, not a huge fan right now, but I could see him being someone I could really get into over the course of the next year. I think a lot of other fans are in the same boat. His momentum is building, and I think casual fans could really get into his persona eventually too. So Randy Orton is my choice to be the next chosen one, so to speak. He should be the top dog in the company for the next decade or so regardless if he sparks another great popularity boom or not, because he possesses all the skills that are necessary in the ideal modern professional wrestler. And more importantly, he is someone that fans care about, whether he’s a heel or a face.

With these components in place, I think January of 2012 will be the beginning of the next wrestling boom period and the next highly profitable time for the WWE. I expect Undertaker to have his last match at Wrestlemania 28 in 2012 and garner some major publicity after he retires at 20-0. He will be the last of the “old guard” and the new generation will officially be ushered in that spring, although they are going to build up to that throughout the second half of 2011, much like the second half of 1997 for the attitude era, or going back to the Hulkamania era, the first half of 1984.

Obviously this is all just speculation, and I could be way, way off. But hey, it’s fun to speculate and it would be awesome if I’m right. I am confident that we are on the verge of another wrestling boom period, despite how things may look right now. Even if this all doesn’t go down like I just predicted, which is highly unlikely anyway, look for things to pick up and excitement to build in pro wrestling in early 2011, and then much more so with the WWE TV network in the summer of 2011. No matter what happens, it’s going to be a fun ride, but I really do think we are on the brink of something special here, and you’re going to be glad you stuck around to see it all develop right in front of your eyes.

I’ve already done a list of my personal favorite pro wrestlers of all time. That was the first post I did on this blog if you want to check it out. You can read it at this link: My Top 10 Favorite Wrestlers

But this is an objective list of the top 10 best pro wrestlers of all time, based on the following factors: popularity, ability to draw, longevity, look, in ring ability and charisma. I will admit right off the bat of my bias towards the modern era (1985-2010) and my bias towards U.S. wrestlers. That being said, here’s my mostly objective look at who I feel are the 10 best ever based on the criteria above:

Honorable mention:

Rikidozan, Andre the Giant, The Rock, Gorgeous George, Harley Race, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Sting, El Santo, Giant Baba, Frank Gotch, Ed Strangler Lewis, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle

10. Bruno Sammartino

I can’t leave a guy off this list who held the WWF championship two times for a combined total of over 11 YEARS! He had critics even during the height of his popularity in the 1960′s and 1970′s for his matches being too boring and for his limited ability. But he was a huge draw, especially at Madison Square Garden. Vince McMahon Sr. wouldn’t have let Bruno hold the title for so long if he wasn’t capable of drawing money. For that reason alone, he needs to be on anybody’s top 10 list.

9. Antonio Inoki

Also a legitimate mixed martial arts specialist, Inoki is perhaps the most well-known and revered Japanese wrestler of all time. He has had several legendary bouts with American wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, and he is probably the most well-known Japanese wrestler among American fans for that reason. I’ve probably seen a grand total of about 5 of his matches, and I will say he definitely has an entertaining style, but really I just felt like this list needed some international flavor and he was the best way to go. But in all seriousness, from everything I’ve read and for how much the Japanese wrestling fans adore him, he belongs in the top 10.

8. Buddy Rogers

The original “Nature Boy” wasn’t as good as the second one, Ric Flair, but hey he was the original after all, so you have to give him credit for that. And being number 8 on a top 10 list of wrestlers in history isn’t too shabby either when you think about it. In many ways, he revolutionized the heel persona that so many other wrestlers would copy in later years. He is often praised as a fantastic in ring worker, especially for his time period (1950′s, 60′s). I’ve honestly never seen him perform on tape, except for maybe a brief appearance sometime on a WWF produced highlight package, but once again I have to go with what’s written in the history books and the compliments of his peers to put him at this spot in the rankings.

7. Bret Hart

The excellence of execution was just that: A fantastic in ring performer who got better on the mic as his career went along. Everything Hart did in the ring was so crisp and smooth. When he performed a move, it just looked like that was the way the move was meant to be done. Did he have a load of charisma? No, not really. But like I said, he did improve in that area later in his career, although he was still never a great talker. He’s also been criticized for not being a good draw, and if you just were to analyze the numbers on paper, that is pretty much true. But I give him more credit than criticism for leading the WWF during the new generation era (1993-1997), because the way I see it, if it wasn’t for him, Michaels and Undertaker, the company probably would have went under by 97. Besides that, he does have legions of fans around the world and is absolutely loved by his homeland country of Canada.

6. Shawn Michaels

I had to put Michaels ahead of Hart mainly because of his second WWE run (2002-2010). For a guy to perform the way he did from the age of 36 to 44 after having a serious back injury that put him on the sidelines for more than 4 years is just ridiculous. He was the best worker in the company from 1992-1998, and he was the best worker during his second run too, right up to his Wrestlemania 26 rematch with Undertaker. As technically sound as Hart was, I believe Michaels to be the overall best pound for pound worker in pro wrestling history. Plus, he had above average charisma and mic skills pretty much right from the start of his singles career and they only got better as time went on. He was also an awesome tag team wrestler in his earlier WWF days with Marty Jannetty as part of The Rockers. This guy will be missed from the current WWE product and is impossible to replace. If it wasn’t for the 4+ year layoff due to the injury, there’s no telling where he could have ended up on a list like this. It could have been at 3 or 4 at least.

5. Undertaker

Here’s another superstar who has defied father time, and continues to, by putting on great match after great match and gaining new generations of fans all the while. He has the greatest gimmick in the history of pro wrestling and no one could have pulled it off better. He’s not necessarily thought of as a great world champion, but the Wrestlemania undefeated streak is legendary, and if we were to keep track of such statistics in pro wrestling like win-loss records, I’m not sure anyone, Hulk Hogan included, would have a higher win percentage. To a real sports fan who doesn’t like pro wrestling, that may sound ridiculous, but to us hardcore fans and to the wrestlers themselves, they know what that really means. For a promoter to have you win almost every match, you have to be a pretty important guy to the company and a pretty good draw. Undertaker was and still is of course much more than that. With another solid year or two under his belt, he could still move up this list to 3 or 4 as well.

4. Lou Thesz

I once again have to rely on the history books and the Internet for this legend, who’s been ranked higher than this on many similar lists. You simply can’t ignore a guy who most respected writers put anywhere from 1-3 on their list of the best of all time. Thesz brought newfound popularity to the sport in the 1940′s and 1950′s and will go down as perhaps the third greatest champion of all time behind Sammartino and Flair. Many consider him to be the Babe Ruth of wrestling, although I’d argue that Hogan or Flair has taken that title from him in the past 30 years. Thesz was a legitimate tough guy and a great worker, and he revolutionized the sport and brought it to the attention of the American public like no had before him. You could make a very good argument for him at number 1, but once again, I’m 25 years old, and this is my list, so I believe the modern guys are better. Disagree? Let me know about it in the comments section below.

3. Steve Austin

Ironically, one of the moves Stone Cold performed was the “Lou Thesz press,” but I put Austin in front of Thesz at number 3 because for about a 4 year period, no one, and that includes Hogan and The Rock, has ever been as on fire with mainstream popularity than Steve Austin. The only think keeping him out of the number 1 or 2 position is sheer longevity. He simply wasn’t on top long enough, and didn’t have a strong enough finish to his career, to be placed at number 1. And by a strong finish, I don’t mean to diminish his awesome last match with The Rock at Wrestlemania 19, but rather the fact that his career was cut short due to injury when he probably could have had another 3 or 4 years near the top of the card to maybe move into first or second place all time. But as it is, he still had one hell of a career, and he sold an insane amount of merchandise. Not to mention record TV ratings, pay per view buyrates and sold out arenas all over the world. I was never a huge Austin fan, but I’ve come to really respect his work over the years and I can’t deny the popularity and money he drew, especially from early 1998 through late 2001.

2. Ric Flair

Let the debate begin. I know Flair is number one for most hardcore wrestling fans around the world, especially in the U.S. And I know he is probably the greatest world heavyweight champion ever. But even though he drew a lot of money throughout his career and has been perhaps the biggest name within the world of wrestling for the past 35 years, Hogan was right up there with him in that respect and he is much more well known around the world as a sheer pop culture icon. Hogan’s been in movies, TV commercials, on the cover of major magazines and had his own reality TV show. He is one of the most well known names on the planet, regardless of profession. Flair is only that well known to wrestling fans.

But enough of that argument, this spot is about Flair’s status as one of the best ever. The Nature Boy is probably the greatest heel of all time, and like I said before, probably the greatest wrestling champion ever. His longevity is outstanding. His ring work was consistently awesome, his mic skills and charisma are among the best ever, and he just looked like a wrestling icon, especially in the 1980′s. I have no problem with anyone ranking Ric Flair as the number one wrestler of all time. But I do have a problem with anyone putting either he or Hogan lower than 2.

1. Hulk Hogan

Besides him being my personal favorite, I do believe he belongs at number one on an objective list as well. Here’s the way I see it. Austin had a slightly hotter run from 98-01 than Hogan had from 84-89, but Hogan destroys him with longevity, and Hollywood Hogan was a much better heel than Austin was in 2001, or even 1997 for that matter. Hogan was a better champion, had more legendary matches, even if they weren’t as high quality in the workrate department, has sold more merchandise over the course of his career, sold out more arenas, sold more pay per views and gathered more people around the TV to watch him over the length of his career. If Austin had another three main event years attached to the end of his career and maybe two or three solid upper mid card years prior to his popularity explosion in late 1997, than maybe you could make a case for him at number 1. But like it or not, Hogan has had a bigger impact, long-term, on the wrestling business than Steve Austin.

Now Flair obviously matches and even exceeds Hogan in the longevity department, and he was a better world champion as well. He was probably even a better heel. But Hogan is the greatest babyface of all time, bar none, while Flair never really caught fire as a good guy like Hogan did as a bad guy. Yes fans loved to hate Flair, but it wasn’t as cool when he was pushed as a genuine face. Hogan beats Flair soundly in all the financial numbers and in the worldwide popularity contest. He has also had just as many, if not more, high profile and legendary matches as The Nature Boy. So I hope you can see my reasoning behind putting Hulk at number one in front of guys like Flair, Austin and Thesz.

Hulk Hogan will go down as the true Babe Ruth, or Michael Jordan, of pro wrestling. He won 12 world titles, and many of those were lengthy reigns. He changed wrestling forever with Vince McMahon in January of 1984 after winning the WWF championship and leading the industry to unprecedented heights throughout the rest of the 80′s.  He reinvented himself as a heel in 1996 in spectacular fashion as the leader of the nWo, arguably one of the top 3 wrestling factions ever created. Then he defied the odds once again with tremendous nostalgia runs in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Whether the TNA experiment works or not remains to be seen, but he has already lifted them to much more notoriety and opened the door for superstars like Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Flair, who would have probably never set foot in the company if it wasn’t for Hogan’s presence.

No matter what your opinion of the man or his limited in ring work, the fact remains that he was one of the most charismatic, entertaining wrestlers ever, and when you combine all of the important factors together, with the most important one at the forefront, the ability to draw fans and money, Hulk Hogan deserves to be recognized as the greatest professional wrestler of all time.

So what do you think of this list: love it, hate it, somewhere in between? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Without a doubt, this was Shawn Michaels’ night, and to be honest, with it being the night after Wrestlemania and all, I didn’t see too much of TNA. But I will try to give you my feelings on what I did see from both shows.

Raw was awesome last night. Heck, if it was just the Michaels’ good bye speech at the end of the show surrounded by a bunch of crap, I would still say that, but luckily this show had some other quality stuff on it as well.

Where did this massive push for Jack Swagger come from? First he wins money in the bank and now he’s tagging with Batista against John Cena and Randy Orton? Hey don’t get me wrong, I think the guy has potential, and if it wasn’t for his lisp, he’s actually pretty good on the mic, especially for being a young wrestler. But this all seems a little rushed, as he went from an afterthought and a lower mid carder about a month ago, to qualifying for money in the bank, winning it, and being shoved into the main event scene on the biggest Raw of the year. It’s a good thing he’s a heel, and a pretty decent one, because this would be met with a terrible fan reaction if he was a face.

Christian and Ted Dibiase Jr. had a good short match, but what was really interesting was the post match interaction between Dibiase and his father, the Million Dollar Man. I hope Dibiase Sr. sticks around in an on-camera role and gets into a feud with his son. I’d like to see him manage someone or take on some sort of miscellaneous role. So this looks like the beginning of something interesting.

The women’s match sucked (big surprise).

I loved the whole Bret Hart/Miz promo and the consequent tag match afterwards between ShowMiz and the Hart Dynasty. Nice to see Kidd and Smith get the win too, even if it was by countout. Hopefully this will lead to a tag team championship run by them, with Bret as their manager. Hell, why not bring the Jim the Anvil Neidhart back to mentor them too?

I think Orton just became the biggest face on Raw and maybe in the company with Michaels leaving. I would say Cena still is, but most males above 12 years old don’t like him, if you didn’t happen to notice that. And just in case Vince didn’t notice, a large portion of his audience is still males age 13-40. But then again, little kids and teenage girls buy more merchandise I guess, or at least get their parents to buy them more merchandise. Nevertheless, Orton was the star of the tag team match tonight and he showed that he is way above Cena as an in ring competitor in just a few short minutes. We already know he’s better in every other area already. If he keeps his heel-like edge and stern attitude, Orton could be the guy that sparks the company and creates another hot period for wrestling. That’s probably wishful thinking, but at the very least, he could be the number one guy in a matter of a few months and have the full support of the hardcore fans.

I can’t do the Shawn Michaels speech justice here with my words. You have to YouTube it if you didn’t see it. Hopefully the WWE will put it on the Wrestlemania 26 DVD as a bonus. It was so great, and so emotional. It was real. That’s not something you can say about too many promos in this business, but this was a retirement speech and it was 100% straight talk, from the heart. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard a better retirement speech in pro wrestling history. So definitely check that out if you missed it or any parts of it.

I couldn’t even flip over to TNA at all from the time he came out until the end of the show, at 11:12 p.m. And I’m usually flipping back and forth constantly, no matter what’s on one show or the other, just to see what’s happening on both shows. But this had me glued to the TV like I haven’t been since Bret Hart came back on January 4, and before that, since Hogan was on Smackdown in 2003.

So this was a very memorable Raw. Almost everything before the Michaels speech was solid, but his good bye sent this Raw from a 7 to about a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10.

I feel sorry for TNA tonight. WWE could have put on a much worse show and still destroyed them in the ratings, but with the focus on Shawn Michaels, TNA not being live and the lack of Hulk Hogan on the show, this could be the biggest landslide victory we ever see in the new Monday night wars. I’m gonna say it’ll be something like 3.8 to 0.7 in favor of Raw. TNA just had no chance tonight, but next week they have a big opportunity to grab some early viewers at 8 p.m.

As far as last night’s show goes, from what I saw, it was pretty good. It seems to me that the production of the show is noticeably better when they tape it as opposed to broadcasting live, but like I’ve said before, you can’t beat that live feeling and it’s worth it to sacrifice some production quality for a while in order to go live.

I’m pissed I missed Hogan doing a Randy Savage imitation while Jay Lethal was in his office. I’ve gotta check that out later.

Matches like Doug Williams and Brian Kendrick vs. Kazarian and Shannon Moore are what’s going to set TNA apart from the WWE in the long run. That’s why these guys and all the other X Division guys need more TV time in the future and prominent roles on pay per view, because there is a segment of fans who are going to tune in just for that. Most of those types of fans are also the ones who are not happy with the WWE product right now too.

I saw the whole Pope segment and I thought it was very entertaining. This guy has something going for him. He gave a good promo and I liked how he knew Desmond Wolfe was coming at him from behind so he disposed of him and then went back to talking to Chelsea.

The Orlando Jordan stuff is troubling to say the least. I hope they think better of this before going too far with it.

People are really getting into this knockouts feud between Daffney and Tara. I’ve made it clear that I think women’s wrestling is a waste but TNA’s girls are a little more talented than the WWE’s. That being said, I still don’t care, and I don’t feel like wasting any more time on it.

I saw a good portion of the AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett match and I was once again impressed with Jarrett’s work. Although it’s nowhere near the quality or importance of Michaels vs. Undertaker from Wrestlemania, obviously, I would like to point out to young wrestlers that matches like these two are what wrestling is supposed to be. These guys can not only work, but they know how to tell a story and Jarrett in particular uses that old school style that’s, how do I say this, much much better than the modern style.

I mentioned Lethal above, but it’s cool to see him finally get some airtime again and grab an upset win over Beer Money in a handicap match. Now that doesn’t look too good for Beer Money, but they need to get Lethal back on the right track. He could be much more than just a Macho Man knockoff.

I like how they are trying to push Wolfe again too, but not at the expense of the number one contender to the TNA title at Lockdown, the Pope.

Mr. Anderson cut another great promo and set up a ladder match with Angle next week on Impact. This is probably TNA’s best feud right now.

The six man steel cage match seemed like a pretty good, short match. Scott Hall has lost a lot of weight and almost looks like he used to. He must have busted his butt to get back into somewhat decent shape. Rob Van Dam provided a cool spot with the elbow on Sean Waltman to get the win.

The Team Hogan vs. Team Flair concept at Lockdown has a chance to go over well with the fans if they do it right. Adding Jeff Jarrett to Hogan’s team, along with Abyss, was a step in the right direction. But the match that will really have to sell that PPV is the world title match between Styles and the Pope. So they have to really set that feud, and the Pope’s push, into fast forward in the next two weeks. As I’ve been saying all along, Lockdown needs to be a success for the short term and long term health of TNA. But I think they are on the right path and they’re going to be ok with the rumored card.

What an exciting and emotional night of wrestling, especially on Raw. Next week, both shows are going to have to compete with the NCAA basketball championship game, Raw with their entire show and TNA with their second hour, but they should be shows that are worth watching, and they still might do rather well in the ratings. Actually, for the first time in a long time, I think a good number of people are getting excited to watch wrestling again each week, and that’s definitely a positive sign going forward for both the WWE and TNA.

Did it live up to the hype, or the potential it had on paper? No, not really. But Wrestlemania 26 was a good show. Not great, just good. Right off the bat, if I had to rank it with all the others, 1 through 26, I’d probably put it somewhere in the 11-15 range.

One thing that really hurt this year’s show, and I can’t emphasize this enough, was the pathetic, silent Phoenix crowd. To everyone that went to Wrestlemania in Phoenix, I have a question for you. Why did you even go? Seriously, if you aren’t really into the product and you don’t care about virtually anything that’s happening in front of you, then why even bother wasting your money and time? Granted, there were some boring moments and letdowns, like almost any year, but this had to be one of the worst wrestling crowds I’ve ever seen in my 20+ years as a fan. Hopefully, Vince doesn’t bring Wrestlemania back there for a long time. Even Atlanta, which is infamous for having some of the worst and most indifferent sports fans in the country, should be way more fired up for next year’s show than the quiet Phoenix crowd.

But as far as the actual quality of the show goes, terrible crowd aside, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The major problem was that, much like last year, Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker not only stole the show, but pretty much carried it. At least this year they made the right move and had it be the last match, but I still fear for the future of this company when most of their best talent is currently anywhere from 39-45 years old.

The dark match 26 man battle royal had just about everyone on the roster who didn’t have a match at mania, except for Ezekiel Jackson for some odd reason, and I think they got it right by having Yoshi Tatsu get the win. This guy should have a pretty decent future as an upper mid carder in the WWE.

Now, the setting and atmosphere of the stadium, including the fireworks that went off throughout, were fantastic. It’s just too bad the crowd didn’t add anything to the equation. I still don’t understand those so called wrestling fans. This isn’t Sunday night Heat people, it’s freakin Wrestlemania!

Anyway, the opening tag team title match was decent but too short and had a bad ending. I don’t like the knockout punch as a finisher, especially when Big Show had such an awesome finisher in the chokeslam. Both R-Truth and John Morrison need to move on already and start to take off in their singles careers, especially Morrison. The Miz is ready right now to be a main event singles star. It’s just a matter of time before he and Show go their separate ways and he’s headlining a pay per view vs. a main event face.

For a feud that seemed to fall flat several times in the past few months, Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase Jr. was surprisingly good. The latter two really are going to be a big part of the future of the company, while Orton proved that he is still the future number one guy in the WWE, either as a face or a heel. And judging from last night, he is going to be a full fledged face. I’d like to see him back in the title picture soon.

The Money in the Bank match is getting a lot of criticism. Sure it wasn’t the best one ever by a long shot, but it was decent and had some nice spots. It’s matches like this one and the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon match that really show how not allowing guys to bleed can hurt the performance. But overall I enjoyed it. I, along with almost everyone else, was shocked to see Jack Swagger win it. I just don’t see this guy as a championship contender yet, if ever. But hopefully I’m wrong and he develops his character and skills to the point where it’s believable when he decides to cash it in. It really didn’t take away too much from the match that he had trouble getting the briefcase unhooked. Some people on the Internet just love to nitpick every little thing. This match definitely helped Wrestlemania 26 a lot more than it hurt it.

Even more surprising, to me at least, was that you could say the same thing about Triple H vs. Sheamus. When I watched this match live I wasn’t initially too impressed. I also thought that maybe Triple H should have jobbed here to lift Sheamus to a more credible status in the company. But I watched a little bit of the PPV replay later on last night, and I watched this match closely. I’ll tell ya what, this was a very solid power wrestling match. You gotta give it to both of these guys, they really delivered. And Sheamus did look strong. He looked like he had Triple H in trouble. But on second thought, it’s good to see Triple H win and stay in the title hunt for at least another year, and Sheamus is not likely going to be flushed down to being a career mid carder. Quite the contrary, he looks like a mainstay top player in the industry for the next 10 years if continues to work at it.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio was kind of disappointing from a work rate standpoint. I was expecting a lot more, and a much longer match from these two. But they had to work with what time allotment was given to them, and they did ok considering that. I think Punk should have went over, but what do I know. Maybe they felt that for this feud to continue and for the storyline they have written, it would be better for Rey to get the initial advantage in the feud. I could see Punk winning at the next PPV or on an episode of Smackdown and then an eventual showdown with hair vs. mask on the line. As long as Mysterio is healthy, we could be seeing much better work out of these two over the course of the next few months.

I have to call a spade a spade: the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon match was not good. As one of my friends pointed out, it looked like this match was in slow motion. And indeed it was. That’s what happens when you put a jakked up 64 year old CEO againt a 52 year old stroke victim, no matter what their past performance may indicate. Really though, if you’re like me, you knew not to expect anything too great from this one going in, if you really thought about the age and physical condition of both men. And to that end, you couldn’t have been that disappointed. As the brilliant songwriter Nick Hexum once said, “You can’t be let down if you don’t expect the world.” And I didn’t expect a classic Hitman match, but it was still kind of hard to watch. It did, however, seem like a necessary conclusion to a real life feud that has gone on for the past 13 years. I liked the element of having the Hart family ringside, but they should have waited until the climax of the match to have them all turn against Vince, especially Bruce, who was the guest referee. Oh well, now everyone involved in the Montreal screwjob can move on and they can finally put this storyline to bed.

I thought Edge vs. Chris Jericho was the second best match of the night, but still not quite what I hoped it would be. I don’t know if Edge will ever be the same after his injury. He was solid here though, and Jericho was very good. I like the decision to have Jericho retain. Hopefully they can keep this feud going and have some better matches down the road, while turning the focus of the feud away from the spear and into something that will, you know, get people to care. Perhaps turning the focus to that big, shiny gold world championship belt could take this angle to the next level? It’s just a hunch.

Here’s my new policy on women’s wrestling matches anymore: I will try as hard as I can to sum up my reaction to a match or angle in one sentence, or at least in as little time as possible. So here’s my comment for the Divas tag match: The match sucked hard and Vickie Guerrero is hideous.

John Cena vs. Batista surprisingly exceeded expectations. I hate the fact that Cena won, but I really don’t like Batista with the belt either, although he is much more tolerable as the cocky heel than his previous persona. But hats off to these guys. I predicted that they’d at least try hard and give it everything they had, and they did. The result was much like the Triple H vs. Sheamus match: A solid power wrestling match with good twists and turns and a decent ending, although the wrong guy might have won. The things I liked most about this match though were that it didn’t go on last and Cena’s smiling with the title next to the group of guys wearing “We hate Cena” t-shirts. Classic. I almost like him now because of that. But not really.

Finally we come to the match that once again made this Wrestlemania and should go down in history, along with last year’s encounter, as one of the top 10 pro wrestling matches ever. It was that good. Don’t let your eyes deceive you into thinking that the Wrestlemania 25 match was much better. It might have been slightly better, but this one was also ridiculously awesome and very deserving of being the last match main event, especially when you consider the stipulation of career vs. streak.

Shawn Michaels is the freakin man. Not that Undertaker isn’t, but dear lord, that moonsault from the top rope through the announce table was a “Wrestlemania moment” if I ever saw one. At almost 45 years old, the guy is still a phenomenal athlete and performer.

But it wasn’t just that one move. The whole match, from both guys, was a display of awesome execution, great counters and the most important aspect of any great modern wrestling match, kicking out of finishers. You could say that was overdone, but you’d be wrong. They did as much as they could to top last year and by God they just might have. If they didn’t they came pretty damn close, and what more could you ask for?

I was happy in a way to see the streak continue but I was slightly pulling for Michaels to win the match. But I really didn’t care who won, because in the end, as corny as it sounds, it was the fans who won. Well, at least the fans watching around the world on PPV won. The Phoenix crowd of 72,219 sounded like a crowd of 2,000 at a golf match. They were relatively quiet even throughout this epic display of awesomeness, and inexplicably for the post match events, with Michaels reflecting on his 25 year hall of fame career. Oh well, lesson learned I guess. Phoenix doesn’t have passionate wrestling fans. But Michaels and Undertaker were the epitome of passion last night. The kind of passion that the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase spoke of Saturday night at the hall of fame induction ceremony. The kind of passion that is seemingly lacking from many of today’s younger superstars, or at least the writing crew behind the scenes. Any way you look at it though, this was a classic match, one for the ages that will never be forgotten, and one that ended a feud that will go down as one of the best ever.

As for the show on a whole, like I said, it was good but not great. I think about a 3 or 3.5 star rating is appropriate. It was significantly better than Wrestlemania 25, but that’s barely a compliment. Michaels vs. Taker saved the day once again, but this time they had a little bit better supporting cast. You now have to wonder about the future of this company and whether the guys in their 20′s and early 30′s can carry the WWE into the new decade. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and even Vince McMahon are likely done as in ring competitors. Undertaker’s retirement isn’t far off either. Triple H, Chris Jericho, Edge, Batista and several others might be nearing the end of their careers and the replacements don’t look like they’re near ready to carry the ball. Let’s hope the progression of guys like Miz, Morrison, Dibiase and Rhodes starts to speed up over the course of this year, or Wrestlemania 27 might really be a disaster. But that’s much too far away to worry about now, and most times Vince ends up pulling things together just when you think everything looks bleak, so I’ll trust him on the development of the younger stars.

Wrestlemania 26 might not have occurred during a “boom” period, had a whole lot of celebrity star power or even a slew of 4 and 5 star matches, but for what it was, it was a good show, and in some ways it does set up the next few months in the WWE rather well. And even if this wasn’t Shawn Michaels’ last match, this Wrestlemania will go down in history, like last year’s, as having one of the best wrestling matches of all time on its card, between two of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

On paper, this looks like the best card since Wrestlemania 19, which happens to be my favorite Wrestlemania ever. It has the potential to be one of the top 5 events in WWE history, which is really saying something. The only thing holding it back is that, much like 19, it’s going to occur at a time when wrestling is not all that hot, but if it delivers in quality close to the degree that 19 or 17 did, then it really won’t matter.

This is a stacked card no matter how you look at it. The WWE has done a fine job of building just about all of these matches, and for once it looks like some long term planning has gone into these feuds, which started to develop in January in some cases.

I’ll get the less interesting matches, at least to me, out of the way first and lead up to the high profile ones.

There may or may not be a divas match, probably some sort of tag team match, but frankly, I don’t care, and you probably don’t either. This will be your standard bathroom break match.

Triple H vs. Sheamus may be a main event quality match up to some people, but I don’t see a ton of appeal in this one, although they’ve done a decent job of building the feud over the past month. I think Triple H should win, because honestly I don’t see Sheamus as a long term main eventer in the WWE, but Triple H might job to his workout buddy, who would obviously get a rub from beating the “Game.”

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio should be an awesome display of athleticism and it has also been built very well, albeit over on the less popular Friday night Smackdown. I don’t really care for Punk and I’m not a huge fan of Mysterio either, although he is fantastic most of the time in the ring. A lot of IWC fans will go nuts for this match, and actually it might be for good reason. It has the potential to be a show stealer if given enough time. Personally, there’s several matches I care about a lot more, but it should be good nonetheless. I predict Punk to go over here and for the feud to continue on at least another month or two, which might eventually conclude with Punk getting his head shaved, or less likely, Mysterio losing his mask.

I am actually looking forward to a WWE tag team championship match for the first time, well, since sometime in the Attitude Era. This was a good way to involve Morrison and R-Truth on the card, but I don’t think they should go over. ShowMiz should retain and have an impressive reign that continues to push the Miz towards eventual main event status, maybe around Wrestlemania 27. Therefore, I predict ShowMiz to win in a non-clean finish.

The past couple Raws have saved the Legacy vs. Randy Orton feud from falling into serious fan disinterest. So this feud has some momentum now, and the match should be pretty good. I don’t see Cody Rhodes winning it, but I could see Ted Dibiase or Orton winning. Now, who will be the heel and who will be the face coming out of this match is the million dollar question. Speaking of million dollar, maybe Ted Dibiase Sr. will interfere on his son’s behalf and cost Orton the match. That would be awesome. But anyway, I’ll predict Orton to win and turn decidedly face.

Having 10 guys in the money in the bank match has the potential to hinder the match’s quality rather than help it, but this should still be quite the spectacle. I don’t think it makes sense for anyone other than Christian or Drew McIntyre to win this one, and McIntyre just isn’t ready yet for this type of push, as much as they want him to be. So it’s Christian FTW.

If Bret Hart was a little younger and in a little bit better physical condition, I’d be anticipating this one more than any other match on the card, with the possible exception of Michaels vs. Undertaker. As it is, this feud was not the perfect retribution angle it could have been, for various reasons, and it’s clear that Hart is in no shape to put on a classic Hitman 4 or 5 star performance. But it should still be really cool to see Hart back on the biggest stage in perhaps what will be his absolute last match ever. It’d be a shock if Hart didn’t win, but stranger things have happened in the WWE. I don’t have to tell you that. I’ll go with Hart in a glorified, longer than normal squash match that ends with the sharpshooter.

John Cena vs. Batista will likely be the last match on the show. I don’t think it should be, but the younger audience will really be into this one, and they did a good job of getting all WWE fans into it. Will it be a technical classic, or even a great power match? Probably not. But both guys will work hard to make it a passable main event quality match and one that deserves to headline the biggest show of the year. I think Batista should retain, but I’ll predict Cena to go over and send the crowd home happy.

Edge vs. Jericho has the chance to be another show stealer, and this one will get a lot of time, so that’s a very real possibility. I am really looking forward to this match, and I honestly don’t care who wins. Both guys are fantastic performers, even though Edge is better as a heel. This or the Michaels/Taker match really should go on last, but it’s not likely. This match will probably end with a successful spear by Edge or some type of counter on the spear by Jericho, which leads to him retaining his world title. I’ll go with the latter and the swerve. Jericho will win and this feud will be continued into the spring, which is the best thing that can happen for WWE fans.

Finally, we have come to the REAL main event of Wrestlemania, no matter which match occurs last. Talk about show stealers, it would be a surprise if this one didn’t steal it again like they did last year. Michaels and Undertaker are a year older, a little more beat up, and will be hard pressed to match the instant classic they put on at Wrestlemania 25. But how could you not want to see this one again, even if it’s not quite as good as the first? Both guys are going to leave everything they have in the ring. Neither has too many matches left in them.

I think win or lose, HBK has only a handful of matches left in his career, with maybe a Wrestlemania 27 match vs. Triple H as his last match ever. The same goes for Undertaker, but he might have a couple years left if he really paces himself. I’d like to see him go out after Wrestlemania 28 at 20-0 if they are going to have him win this one.  So I’d say that Undertaker is going to win and continue the streak, and Michaels will go into about a five month “retirement” and have a big match at Summerslam. I actually want to see HBK win and end the streak, just for his legacy, but I have no problem with Taker winning either. They are both in my top 5 all time. No matter what happens, this should be an awesome match.

The good thing is that, unlike last year, the two old veterans won’t have to save the show from being a disaster. They will have a great match surrounded by a handful of other great matches and great feuds, with nothing really terrible on this card, at least on paper. Like I said, this could be one of the best Wrestlemanias ever, and it’s definitely worth a buy. I can’t wait to watch it and then Raw the night after, and I will be offering my reviews of both next week. So stay tuned, and enjoy Wrestlemania 26!