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"The biggest WWE show of the year is this
Sunday and so here is a rundown of the card and my predictions and suggestions
of where things may go afterwards as well as comments on the announcing
situation." |
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the idea is to open with a match that will get the fans really worked up and in
the WCW days that would mean that the luchadores (or cruiserweights if you will)
would start but with Gregory Helms out recovering from a broken nose who knows
what the show will begin with. The Money in the Bank match could do this but
it’s way too early for that so all bets are off. The tendency has also been to
get the entire roster involved in the show but here that doesn’t seem to be
happening.
WWE WORLD TITLE MATCH: John Cena Vs. Triple H: Planned out a long time
ago, the question on who will win is probably still up in the air as you read
this because I have heard at least two things. One is for HHH to win and Cena
becoming a heel afterwards only to go at it again at the next Raw PPV. The
problem with that is that Cena sells more merchandise than anyone on the roster
and becoming a heel may cost the company money. Add to that the fact that HHH
has certainly worn out his welcome with fans as the champ and with the passage
of time it becomes fairly obvious that he wants to match Flair’s number of title
reigns so most cheer against him because he doesn’t hide that to anyone. The
Cena negativity crowd comes mostly from older fans who say he isn’t a great
technical wrestler (and he admits that himself) but HHH hasn’t been the same
since he tore his quad muscle years back and wasn’t the latest coming of Bret
Hart (or Lance Storm even) to begin with. Two is that since fans expect HHH to
win the company would do a swerve just to keep us on our toes. When you add the
booking between the two and the conclusion of Raw with Cena bloody him dropping
the title violates all tenets of Booking 101. Since HHH always wants to do a
long match expect this to go 30 minutes or more and the crowd to lose interest
from time to time until the pop for the win at the end. There has been a tease
of Cena doing an Austin and going against Vince but the results of the
Michaels/McMahon match should make that unlikely.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Kurt Angle Vs. Randy Orton
Vs. Rey Mysterio: This could be the last match and may likely be one of the best
if not best matches on the show. It was to have been Batista Vs. Randy Orton,
but Batista’s injury changed that. Angle isn’t 100 percent and Rey’s knees are
bothering him but they will go all out to give the fans something special. Orton
may walk out of this with the win because he and Batista are going to go at it
when he returns but Mysterio could win and pop the hell out of the crowd with
the idea that he would have done it for Eddy Guerrero and become something he
was told he could never be-World Champion. Face it, there isn’t a better
scenario than Rey winning and the entire locker room coming out to celebrate
with him along with Vickie Guerrero.
NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH: Shawn Michaels Vs. Vince McMahon: The only
question here is how much Vince is going to bleed. In another example of Booking
101 they have left no doubt that Vince is going to lose. This begins the part
time status for Shawn (he has been working hurt for a while and needs to work
less) and the end of Vince as a constant on-air performer since we should get a
Raw commissioner pretty soon. One of the many ideas suggested to Bret Hart was
for him to ref the match or at least cost Vince the win but since Bret is going
to be somewhere with his wife Sunday night they have to go another route. Expect
Michaels to make Vince look good then beat the crap out of him which would lead
to Vince coming out Monday to announce he was wrong and that Shawn was the
better man. We should expect Shane to get involved and if there ever was a
reason for Austin to appear in the ring this is it.
HARDCORE MATCH: Mick Foley Vs. Edge: Let’s get this out of the way
now-Mick gains nothing by winning this match and he wouldn’t think about
demanding it so expect Edge to win. Foley told the writers he would do his own
promos and suddenly the match got real interesting. He and Edge are going to go
as far as they can and give Mick the classic Wrestlemania match he has always
wanted to have. Expect to see everything (and naturally barbed wire in many
incarnations) and then some.
MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: Ric Flair Vs. Rob Van Dam Vs. Shelton
Benjamin Vs. Finlay Vs. Bobby Lashley Vs. Matt Hardy: Okay, Finlay and Lashley
don’t belong in this so expect the two of them to continue beating the hell out
of each other as Finlay continues to teach Lashley how to work since he was
brought up way too early and someone finally realized that. This is Flair’s
second ladder match in his career so he isn’t going to win but will get at title
shot sometime this year because he deserves it. This means the athletic stuff
will come from RVD, Benjamin and Hardy. Big bumps, OMG moments and someone
swinging from the briefcase before RVD wins and asks for his title shot at the
ECW One Night Stand PPV in June where he will win the title for a bit. That’s
what the booking has decided and I have no problem with that. If Flair pulls out
the win then it is a foregone conclusion that HHH is winning the title.
CASKET MATCH: The Undertaker Vs. Mark Henry: Only an idiot would believe
that Taker is going to lose this match in what may be his last WM appearance.
Mark Henry’s ten-year contract was signed back in 1996 and if he does stay it
will be at a reduced rate. He has been booked well since his return so chances
are he may get an offer. Undertaker will improve to 14-0.
UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Chris Benoit Vs. JBL: There really is no feud
here since it was concocted to give JBL something to do. The storyline had
Benoit “breaking” his hand, which did happen at a Smackdown taping and that
became a feud that no one is getting that worked up for. Benoit will carry JBL
into a decent match and keep his title. If Benoit loses then he would join the
title hunt but the post-Mania bookings have the 3-way dance (Angle/Orton/Mysterio)
going on for at least a month so he would have to wait.
WORLD TAG TEAM MATCH: Big Show/Kane Vs. Carlito/Chris Masters: Post show
booking has the champs facing the Spirit Squad (and yes, they will appear on the
show) so you expect Show and Kane to win but that could change. They weren’t
supposed to have been a team this long and losing could break them back into
singles wrestlers. The company has big plans for Masters and Carlito and them
winning could help push them even further then have them break up with Carlito
going face (something the fans have been telling the WWE with their reactions to
him) and going at each other in the future.
HANDICAP MATCH: Booker T and Sharmell Vs. The Boogeyman: Expect a short
match (Boogeyman can’t work long matches yet and may never be able to) with
laughs and worms (and those are real worms, folks) with no winner.
WOMAN'S TITLE MATCH:Trish Stratus Vs. Mickie James: The feud has been
booked well with James portraying a world class psycho. I don’t expect a classic
match here (who would?) and predict that the psycho will win then go even
crazier than she has been. It seems with Trish making her opponent a nut job is
a hit with the booking team since Victoria was nuts during their feud and Molly
Holly was just obsessed.
PLAYBOY PILLOW FIGHT: Torrie Wilson Vs. Candice Michelle: This isn’t a
match. It’s an excuse to see them in underwear and the King to drool. Candice
will win and the King will need a towel.
So that’s the card folks. Now as to the announcers, Tazz and Michael Cole will
do the Smackdown matches and JR and the King will do the Raw matches with Tazz
and JR doing Money in the Bank. When JR was brought back for Saturday Night Main
Event it was already in the cards for him to have something to do with WM 22 and
this week they decided to have him do the show. Joey Styles was cool with it
(according to his post on wwe.com) and it is the right thing to do. Styles is a
work in progress who has been chastised by Vince about his style (but the main
problem is that he is sitting next to Coach) while JR is JR. Strangely enough
this week’s Raw was the best one announcing wise since Joey has joined the
announce team. The only way the three man team works is for him to call the
matches while King makes jokes and they both remind Coach that he’s an idiot. It
has never been adequately explained why a guy who hates doing color commentary
(Coach) is always stuck out there doing it. Expect Styles to be calling next
years show |
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WRESTLEMANIA 22 ©
2006 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Article © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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