I love Christmas. (Hang on a sec; I’ll work this back to wrestling somehow) In fact, I love Christmas so much that I’m actually one of the few people who doesn’t mind, and even looks forward to stores pumping out Christmas music on the first of November, or even earlier. But general consensus seems to be that we really should be waiting until Thanksgiving is over before the Christmas season can start.
In much the same way, it feels like we’re really supposed to waiting for Elimination Chamber to get out of the way before getting full on into WrestleMania season. Sure the Rumble officially affects the WrestleMania card, but still pesky lingering filler feuds have to wrap up at the Chamber (I’m looking at you Kane vs. John Cena from last year) before we can really start looking toward WrestleMania. But that’s all over now, and we can finally start to look at what Mania is going to shape up to be.
Already, two matches were decided at Elimination Chamber this week, the two main title matches. Now technically both of those could still change. Dolph Ziggler still has his MiTB case and Cena’s title shot could go to CM Punk in next week’s match, but I don’t think anyone really believes that either of these stipulations is going to have any effect. With Swagger’s new character, I find it very hard to believe that he would go up against Ziggler instead of Del Rio. And while I don’t especially care to see Twice in a Lifetime, I can’t fathom what else they would have for Cena to do. All the pieces have been falling into place for too long to have this end up as Punk vs. The Rock again.
So what about the rest of the card? Well, some speculation has CM Punk going against the Undertaker in a Streak vs. Respect match. While I would love to see Punk take on the Streak, I really don’t care that much for the stipulation. Unlike a Streak vs. Career match where both parties have something tangible to lose, I don’t think the cheers/boos for Punk are going to be any different after the match regardless if he wins or loses. Still there has been some thought that Taker might not even on the card this year. However, if this ends up being the case, it will be the first Mania he sits out since, WrestleMania 2000 so I would have to think that this would require some serious injuries for Taker not to come back and defend the Streak, especially if Triple H has all but promised that he isn’t ending at 20-0. However if this ends up being the case, then we have to assume that the back up is to have CM Punk make Twice in a Lifetime a triple threat match, which honestly I wouldn’t mind. After all, it would help to add something new to the buildup for the match, especially when we’ve already seen a year’s worth of buildup for just Cena vs. The Rock. And I don’t think Punk would allow himself to be pushed to the side the way The Miz was during the buildup to Mania 27. No, Punk could really be just the thing to make the championship match worth being interested in, but all that said, I would still really like to see him challenge the Streak as well.
We’ve also been informed that Brock Lesnar will be joining the Card in some fashion, with the common answer being that he will once again take on Triple H, who will get revenge for his SummerSlam loss. Now, this is a match that I particularly don’t need to see again. And with Vince and Paul Heyman starting to get into a feud, it’s very easy to see how this match will end up being Heyman vs. McMahon with Trips and Brock being the in ring stand-ins. However this really bothers me for one big reason. Vince always has, and always will work better as a bad guy. Sure the pop when he returns after a long absence makes sense, and the “Thank you Vince” chants work when appropriate. But when it comes down to it, Vince works best as the boss everyone loves to hate. Which is why Vince currently has a 0-5 record at WrestleMania. Should Vince enter this match as a face, it would risk undoing that perfect streak of watching the guy everyone hates finally get what he deserves. However, this is one outcome that could make all of this work. If the match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar is for control of the WWE between Vince and Paul Heyman, and Heyman wins, then the whole buildup and match will all be worth it. WWE, if this is your plan, then keep this moving right along as I have no desire to stop you. But if you just want to show me Brock and Trips part II, then maybe thing again. I have a feeling we’re going to get enough Part II this WrestleMania.
