Gauntlet's been thrown down, so here's my predictions for the 24th edition of Wrestlemania, coming to you live tomorrow night from Orlando and for me by tape delay (great tickets to a Raptors game is preventing me from seeing the show live... and sadly, I'm not broken up by it at all as long as I get to watch the show later the same night).
24 Man Battle Royal/Winner faces Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship: There's a laundry list of guys here taking part, and I could see about five realistically winning the battle royal to face Chavo later. Kane's nearing the end of his career and despite what people seem to think these days, is deserving of a final hurrah to cap things off. Mark Henry's not abysmally bad these days and now that the Great Khali has actually been world champion, Henry by comparison doesn't seem so bad. Khali himself winning would give WWE a bit of the international press they always covet. Tommy Dreamer is the sentimental favorite as always, and if by some amazing chance they let him win the ECW Title at Wrestlemania it would be one of the most satisfying 'Mania moments ever. And my longshot here is Kofi Kingston; the company seems to have taken a shine to him and a fued with Chavo could do wonders for Kofi. All depending on who he faces, I could see Chavo keep the belt at the end of the night against almost anyone, outside of probably Khali.
BunnyMania Tag Match - Melina/Beth vs. Maria/Ashley: Aye, there's magazines to sell. As most people have been writing, this is pretty much an excuse to use the women on the roster and show them off. In the last few years the Playboy covergirl of the moment has gotten a singles match with the champion, this year's a tag match instead. For that reason I see Maria and Ashley winning, hopefully once the match is over Ashley gets put back into that wooden crate next to the Ark of the Covenant and is never heard from again. Santino hijinks are a good reason to actually watch this match, the lovely Maria is another.
Belfast Brawl: The WWE has done a remarkable job of giving us a decent blowoff for the Hornswoggle McMahon storyline, since it really looked like it'd be Vince vs. Lil' Horny himself for a while. Both JBL and Finlay are tough brawlers and can make a simple fight look like a work of art. I have high hopes for this one, but I think Finlay gets the win after Hornswoggle makes his triumphant return and interferes. Worst case scenario is they redo the Christian-Jericho-Trish finish from WMXX and it ends with Hornswoggle slapping his father and making out with Bradshaw. "Anything can happen in the WWE" is their slogan for a reason, though.
Money In The Bank: With the result only up in the air thanks to a dumbass drug suspension by Jeff Hardy, I see two real favorites here. MVP and Chris Jericho have both been spotlighted somewhat in the build to the match, and MVP is the type of star on the rise they've given the match to in the past. Part of me thinks they'll give it to Jericho all so they can justify bringing him back by giving him a decent victory at Mania (and seeing as how he hasn't won one since WM17), although if that happens I have zero belief he'll succesfully use the briefcase. Kennedy Kennedy is a bit of a longshot, they don't seem to be as behind him as they were at this point last year. Shame. Bigger shame is Matt Hardy not taking his brother's place in the match, Matt is as over as almost anybody on the roster and deserves to take part if for no other reason than to rekindle the fued with MVP.
Brand Supremacy - Umaga vs. Batista: Aka the battle of guys who had nothing else going for them. Painfully obvious this is a thrown-together match under the cheap brand battle label, but it potentially could be a good match if Batista is as irritated this year as he was last year at his WM placement. I think Batista takes the match, but the bigger problem is what to do with him afterwards. He's completely used up his main event time on Smackdown, would just look awkward to go to ECW, and would be about the 3rd or 4th string babyface on Raw after Cena, HHH and maybe Michaels. Such is life when you're involved in almost EVERY PPV World Title Match for the better part of two years.
Boxing vs. Wrestling - Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show: The build to this has been interesting, to say the least. The initial fight at No Way Out was tremendous, but ever since people have been down on how Mayweather has acted and/or been presented. It's a shame they didn't go with the idea of Floyd being a heel and teaming with Show or MVP as initially discussed, because he's inherently dislikeable and hasn't come across all that well as the babyface in this fued. I think this one will be interesting for the sheer question of how this one will go down. I think Floyd will end up knocking Show out when all is said and done, but probably not before he gets his ass kicked quite a bit. Ultimately though, for the sake of his boxing career Mayweather has to go over here and maintain his reputation.
Flair's Last Stand - Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels: Smart money says this is Ric Flair's final match, to be retired by HBK. I think regardless of whatever stipulation this match has, there's no way Ric will stay completely retired forever. But for all intents and purposes this is probably it, and Shawn and Ric will no doubt make it one to remember. Shawn wins, but Flair goes out with a standing ovation.
Smackdown World Title Match - Edge vs. the Undertaker: This is Wrestlemania, and 15-0 won't turn into 15-1. It's a shame because Edge is simply THE heel in the business right now, but the WWE seems determined to make 2008 a do-over for Taker since his '07 title reign was cut premature by injury. I give the man props for his ring work these days, but Undertaker as champion yet again just does nothing for me.
Raw WWE Title Match - Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cena: Colour me totally uninterested with any of these three guys, but if I have to pick I'll go with HHH. Orton's been a solid heel champion since October but not exactly setting the world on fire; I enjoyed heavily Cena's sabbatical and could have used another few months break; and Hunter just feels like he's been ratcheted onto this match with a rivet gun for no real reason other than he's HHH. Trips is the most likely to walk out champion though, it's not like we haven't had eight years to get used to it though. Damn you Jeff Hardy for your suspension, winning MITB and cashing in immediately would have been the perfect capper to WM24.
On the plus side this year, I think WM has the chance to be another memorable event. None of the matches look like they'll stink up the joint and most could be pretty darn good. Add that to the sight of an outdoor show and possibly rain showers throughout the event, 24 could be a sleeper WM to remember. Don't like my picks? Check out
Gib's,
Mike's or
Steve's for additional takes.
