THE RAGER! – Wrestlemania 29 Predictions From Last Year (CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock)

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Seeing as how absolutely nothing happened on Raw this week that would incite some sort of internal discussion in my brain and spill it’s way onto this column. Yes, that’s right, every episode of RAGER is essentially an argument that I just had with myself. Judge me, I dare you.

With that being said, Joel Leonard (Classy Ring Attire co-host and creator of No Chance) and myself decided this would be a good time to bring out the predictions that we made for Wrestlemania 29 right after Wrestlemania 28 ended. It’s aged an entire year and, spoiler, none of my predictions actually came true.

Brock vs. Rock
Granted, this was right after Brock came back and we all assumed that Brock would just tear through Cena at Extreme Rules and then the rest of the WWE leading to a big face-off with Rock, who returns to slay the Brock monster (essentially this same story-line was used for Punk’s championship reign but instead of being the unstoppable force, Punk was the mad tyrant). Also I had made the assumption that HHH vs Taker III would really be the “End of an Era” and HHH would take this Wrestlemania off. How wrong I was on all of that.

Cena vs. Undertaker
I made this prediction probably a year too early but simple because I wasn’t sold on Taker making it to WM30. I’m still not convinced he’ll make it and having him face Cena just seems like a forgone conclusion before Taker finally hangs it up.

CM Punk (accompanied by Colt Cabana) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
I’ll admit it, this was just hopeful thinking. I think we all went through a point last year where we had the “this would be a perfect moment for Colt to come back to WWE” thought and I was convinced Colt was gonna come out during the Punk/Jericho Chicago Street Fight. Throw in Stone Cold because wrestling fans have been salivating for it for almost two years. You really can’t blame me for making this prediction. Matter of fact, I’ll probably make the same prediction for next year.

Dolph Ziggler (sans Vickie Guerrero) vs. Zack Ryder
More wishful thinking on my part but I should get some credit for predicting Dolph would get rid of Vickie this year. Zack has fallen so far in a year and it’s a sad thing to realize. He was a self-made superstar that caught the eye of Vince McMahon and was given a great opportunity until Vince got bored with him. Lately all Zack does is complain on twitter but he really should’ve cornered Vince back when he had Vince’s attention and presented him with some sort of direction he wanted to go with his character. Of course, this is easy to say when you’re a nobody that’s never been employed by WWE. Blame can be placed on the shoulder company and Zack’s equally from my observations.
Then there’s Ziggler, who seems to be on the same card level that he was on this time last year which is pretty disappointing.

Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
At the time I came up with this pick, Orton had suffered a couple injury setbacks but I had assumed WWE would put him back in the championship picture and rebuild his character. Little did I know he would suffer another setback in the form of a second wellness policy violation and WWE would proceed with caution for the remainder of the year.
Then there’s Daniel Bryan, who’s career took off and made more progression with the fans than anyone else in one year (the one exception probably being Ryback). Sure, Daniel Bryan isn’t on the top of the card nowadays but his stuff with Kane lately has been fun to watch and seems to be having the time of his life.

WWE Championship: Wade Barrett (c) vs. R-Truth
I don’t even know what the hell I was thinking for this. I know at the time, Wade was still out with the elbow injury but prior to that, we heard rumors that there were plans for Money in the Bank to return to Wrestlemania and he was to win. However, when the injury happened, WWE was apparently so sold on him winning it that they scrapped the plan altogether. Wade came back and doesn’t seem to have the backstage support that he had before the injury. As for R-Truth, I really just wanted him to return to a heel and shoot to the top like he previously.

Divas: Beth Pheonix vs. Kharma
Neither of them are still with the company, I really whiffed on this one.

Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (c)vs. Goldust
Just because I wanted this to happen at WM28 so bad and was thoroughly disappointed when Cody was fed to Big Show instead. My hopes for this was completely dashed once Goldust was fired later on in the year but obviously is still good with the company as we last saw Goldy as a surprise in this year’s Royal Rumble. Probably not this year but I don’t think it would be impossible.

Return of the Money in the Bank Match:
Otunga vs. Mark Henry vs. Santino vs. Damien Sandow vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus vs. Brodus Clay
Again, being hopeful was at fault for this pick and wasn’t even about who would participate because the meat of this prediction was this match coming back to Mania. I still stand by having this match open Wrestlemania is absolutely perfect and sets the tone for a great night. All the participants listed are still employed by WWE so I should get some points for that, right?

So there you have it, I was a complete idiot for your enjoyment. I’m not sorry and I’ll probably do it again. If you haven’t already, check out Joel Leonard’s No Chance where he also takes a look at the picks he made last year. This year’s picks will be made after Wrestlemania 29, I really have no idea what mine will be. Finally, check out out podcast that will be posted later in the week and follow us on twitter @CRAttire.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do twice,
Chris

The Answer: I put two hot pockets into the freezer at work and then 4 fell out. For a second, I thought I was the Jesus of hot pockets.

Chris is a writer from Fayetteville, NC. He's the co-creator of Irrelevant But Awesome Productions which produces podcasts you all know and love like Classy Ring Attire, Trashy Ring Attire and The Disney Magic Podcast. You can keep up with everything on twitter by following @IBAStudios and @CWSanders39