Pro Wrestling Power

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!