This should be a solid show.WWE has done a good job with this show as the card is very stacked.  The good thing they’ve done here is that they’ve given themselves a lot of matches that could be show stealers and nothing looks really bad at all.  There’s enough middle of the road stuff that you could pretty easily make a card up where you don’t have to cram a bunch of stuff together.  The main event is set in stone and I think it’s pretty clear that we know what the match before it will be, but there needs to be something between them.  Maybe the Hall of Fame guys would be a good idea here.  As for an opener, go with Punk vs. Jericho or Orton vs. Kane.  Save Bryan vs. Sheamus for later so you can make it feel bigger.

For a best match, we’ll go with Punk vs. Jericho I guess, because the pressure won’t be on them as much.  Rock vs. Cena will probably be great as will the Cell, but at the end of the day, you have two guys who live to steal the show in a huge match on a huge stage.  Do you really think they’re going to leave anything in them?  Of course not, and we’ll get a great match with a ton of false finishes and it’ll be awesome.

As for worst, the twelve man tag.  Just WAY too many people out there for the sake of a WM payday.  The match is going to be a mess and it’s going to be almost impossible to keep track of the whole thing.  There’s probably going to be interference on top of that, plus the two GM’s plus Horny running around somewhere.  I’m not looking forward to it and hopefully it only gets about ten minutes instead of the likely 20 or so.

As for a sleeper, I’ll go with Bryan vs. Sheamus.  I like Sheamus’ work and this has very little hype for it.  Bryan puts on good matches and the power vs. speed thing should work well here.  Sheamus powering out of the LeBell Lock into the White Noise for two would be a great spot and would likely get a great reaction from the crowd.  It’s probably going to be good stuff though and that’s all that matters.

I think this is going to be a successful show and with anything under a million buys, it has to be considered a disappointment.  They’ve put A LOT into this show and there’s something there for everyone.  It’s Wrestlemania and that’s all you need to draw in people, but with the card they’ve presented with everything at least having a story and some of them being good stories, the show should be a blast.  I can’t wait for it and you shouldn’t either.  It’s officially tomorrow and I for one can’t wait.  Let’s get to it.

Thoughts/Predictions?

How do you follow HHH vs. Undertaker inside the Cell?  With this.We’ve finally arrived at this.  In the words of Jesse Ventura, this is what the term main event is all about.  At the end of the day, nothing else on the show matters besides this match.  This is the match that a lot of so called experts (including one with the initials K. B.) said would never happen in a million years.  Yet low and behold, here it is.  I’m not sure if you can call this match about passing the torch because Cena already is the top guy and has been for years while Rock hasn’t been on top arguably in about 11 years.

Still though, to call this anything but huge is an understatement.  This is one of the few legitimate dream matches left for WWE and it has to come close to living up to the expectations.  I say close to because I don’t think it actually can live up to or surpass them, not with the hype given to them.  The match is going to be great as it’s Rock vs. Cena, both of whom deliver on the big stage.  I’d expect it to go at least 25 minutes if not over half an hour, which is a long main event in modern WWE.  After that you have to worry about Rock’s cardio, whereas Cena could possibly rival 1986 Flair in that department.

As for a prediction, I have to go with Cena.  At the end of the day, I don’t see the value in Rock beating him, maybe popping up on Raw the next night and then bailing.  I’m not completely locked on that, but I think it’s what I have to go with.  As for Cena turning heel, again I see no need for it to happen, which we’ve gone over many times before.  As for interference…..I’m not sure.  There are reports of people like Miz, Batista or even Brock Lesnar interfering in it, but I’m not sure I’d buy anyone but Brock as a candidate for that.  The others aren’t people I see meaning much otherwise, but Brock vs. Rock or Cena is a huge main event to set up for WM 29 before we get the only match worthy of the main event of Wrestlemania 30: John Cena vs. The Undertaker.

Oh and if they do a rematch at Summerslam or Mania next year, I won’t be shocked but I’ll be annoyed.  It’ll likely happen though.

Thoughts/Predictions?

The End of an Era.  What Era that is isn’t clear but one is ending.This is the match that has arguably gotten the most build or at worst the second best.  It’s basically the culmination (to date) of the last three Manias before it, with Shawn not being able to stop the Streak, the betting his career against it, then his male life partner/occasional attempted murderer HHH failing to do so as well.  Now it’s Taker vs. HHH in the match they both made famous which is something huge.  The best thing about the gimmick aspect of the match: it feels like it belongs here.  There’s no reason to not put these two in the cage because it adds a level of intensity to the match that it might not have otherwise.

On the other hand, we have a second gimmick in this match in the form of a guest referee in the form of Shawn Michaels.  I really don’t get what he adds to this.  The promos have been very good to pretty good in this and the best was Shawn and HHH talking, but I don’t really see what him being in there with the two of them will do.  These two don’t need a third big name in there.  I mean, it’s Undertaker vs. HHH in the Cell.  What I do think it needs though is something on the line for HHH.  If he loses, so what?  He hasn’t put anything up.  The way one of their talks a few weeks ago went, it seemed like this was going to be Streak vs. Career but that didn’t happen, which I think could have helped the match a bit.

As for a prediction, it’s the Streak.  If there’s one sure thing in wrestling, it’s that you don’t bet against the Streak.  Shawn can be in there, the rest of DX can be in there, the 82nd airborne can be in there.  You don’t bet against the Streak.  Last year during their match I never once moved during every one of the near falls on Undertaker because it just wasn’t going to happen.  That wasn’t true in the first Shawn match, which is why I like that one more.  The more interesting question is will there be blood, and I think we’ll see some.  The prediction is Taker with one of his 9 or so finishers.

Thoughts/Predictions?

This is probably the show stealer.This match is a tale of two stories.  For a few weeks they started with arguing over who the best in the world was and Jericho saying that Punk ripped off all his ideas.  Then they shifted over to Jericho ripping on Punk’s family for the sake of driving him to drink.  I think the idea that we’re supposed to go with is that Jericho pressured Punk into giving him the title match and then is using the family stuff to mess with his mind and make him lose the title as a result.  I’m not sure how well they’ve done at conveying that idea which isn’t good, but at the end of the day it’s Punk vs. Jericho.  Do you really think they’re going to have a bad match?  I’ll go with Punk to retain, but him losing and exploring what he might do could be interesting.

Thoughts/Predictions?

From a great build to almost no build.This is the match that I think the company believes has a built in story due to Sheamus winning the Rumble.  However, since then he and Bryan have only had a limited amount of contact.  Sheamus has been running over the majority of the upper midcard while Bryan has barely done anything but talk.  The problem here is that there isn’t much of a reason for these two to fight other than Sheamus qualified to get this match.  The story would seem to suggest Sheamus kicks Bryan’s head off to win the title, but I’m not 100% sure on it.  The problem is that if Sheamus loses, there’s nothing else for him to do while Bryan has a few other options.  I’ll take the pale one to win the title though.

Thoughts/Predictions?

Remember last year when Cody was Dr. Doom?  Neither do I.This has been a pretty well built up match.  There’s a story behind it and Cody has done a great job of setting up the idea that Show can’t win the big one on the big stage.  As for a winner, the signs would point to Big Show, but at the end of the day I’m not sure if I can picture Big Show as the Intercontinental Champion.  Cody needs to get away from the title so he can move onto the world title scene.  There’s also a chance though that Cody loses on purpose but keeps the title, which I think is what is going to happen.  Since I like to play things safe though, I’ll go with Show winning the title.

Thoughts/Predictions?

Because of a handshake from last summer.This is the only match that I think isn’t as predictable as the rest.  I don’t think this feud ends here and I think the match ends with Orton taking the chokeslam for the pin.  The rest of the show looks like it’s very easy to call out each match but there needs to be a heel that wins a match on here other than Team Johnny.  Kane vs. Orton is a feud that doesn’t make a lot of sense so therefore the feud needs to go on longer than most of this show right?

Thoughts/Predictions?

Thuggin N Buggin vs. REALLY FREAKING BORINGIn case you can’t remember, it’s Teddy with Santino (Captain)/Kofi/R-Truth/Booker T/Ryder/Khali vs. Johnny with Otunga (Captain)/Christian/McIntyre/Henry/Swagger/Miz.

This has basically been the fun team vs. the serious team.  The winner gets to control both shows and for the life of me I can’t imagine that Johnny’s boys go down here.  The talk on the shows would imply that Eve costs Ryder’s team the match.  On the other hand there’s a possibility that someone is going to turn (no idea who) and cost his team the match.  I’m surprised Alberto isn’t involved in this match but maybe he’ll interfere or something.  Either way though, I can’t imagine Teddy wins because Raw isn’t made for tag matches.

Thoughts/Predictions?

Can Maria wear the Giants bikini?So this is the celebrity match this year and it’s with the girls.  The Divas Title hasn’t meant anything, even though Beth has held it for what, six months now?  The story that’s going on from Smackdown would suggest that AJ is the next champion but that’s months in the future.  Here though, I can’t imagine the celebrity loses.  Has one of them ever lost at a PPV?  On second though, does it matter either way?  This is there for a chance to give people a breather between the major matches.

Thoughts/Predictions?

For the tag titles and likely a dark match.This was announced the week of the show and is going to be streamed for free on the WWE’s Youtube channel and WWE.com.  The champions have had the belts now for about two and a half months but were actually being used as jobbers on Raw for Big Show earlier this week.  I love the Usos but for the life of me I don’t get why they added in Gabriel and Kidd.  Apparently the team was formed on Superstars with the question from Kidd of “hey, wanna be a team” and a reply of “sure”.  That gets you in the title match at Mania now I guess.

As for a prediction, I’ll go with the champions retaining, but if this gets the title picture moving a bit it’ll be great.

Thoughts/Predictions?