As the week draws to a close, Wrestlemania draws ever nearer. The anticipation is building and people becoming more aware of what the “important” angles and feuds are. Yes there are always angles leading into Wrestlemania, but which ones are the important ones and which are the ones to keep people happy?
HHH and Batista is an important one so we won’t dwell on it too much. Everyone else will cover it in depth to death for us. Are we seeing the emergence of a new star .in wrestling? Probably. Will he have as big an impact on the biz as everyone thinks? Probably. Will this change the wrestling landscape? Hardly. Hunter, win or lose, will still be “the man”. It will take some time for Batista to build his political power base to a point where he can be considered another big name like HHH, Austin or Hogan. But he may just be the guy to baby face it up and put more butts in seats.
What about John Cena vs. JBL? Another “can the young dog take the ball and run with it” scenario. As far as popularity goes Cena’s is off the charts. The man has mass appeal to young audiences and he’s got movie star good looks (no pun intended). His slow rise has shown that the WWE office has a vested interest in grooming him properly and bringing him up to the top right. Now comes the time when the ball gets given to him and we as fans see if he has what it takes to carry the Smackdown brand.
The match most are looking forward to at Wrestlemania 21 has to be Shawn Micheals vs Kurt Angle. On paper and everywhere else this is a dream match. Two of the best entertainers of our time on the grandest scale in wrestling means a match that could go down in history. I as well as many others am a huge fan of both of these guys, even if they proverbially crap the bed it will still be a 4 star match. But really can any of us see them not giving their all?
The sleeper for best match on the card has to be Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Misterio. These two have had many stellar battles in the past but I think they might go above and beyond for Mania and try to steal the show. And that is completely possible with guys as good as they are. The match that frustrates me most on the card has to be the six-man ladder match. Guys like Jericho, Benoit, Christian and Edge deserve their own matches to try to steal the show instead of the cluster that this may or may not become. But with an always-stacked card at WM it can be hard to find places for all the great workers. Don’t get me wrong. I think that Taker and Orton and the rest of the show up to Big Show/Akebono promises to be entertaining as well. The matches I listed are the main things that the fans are looking forward.
Speaking of pay per view, TNA’s April “Lockdown” has begun to take shape, headlined by two six sides of steel cage matches The first features Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and DDP vs. Jeff Jarret, the Outlaw and Monty Brown. This one, as with any match that has more than two guys in it, has the potential to become a huge mess, however there are enough guys with experience in there that it should not happen and fans can expect to get a very entertaining match that will build for May’s show extremely well. The other talked about cage match is Abyss vs. AJ Styles. That in my estimation will be utter insanity. Both of these guys are tremendous performers and each of them tries to go above and beyond for each pay per view. Put the two of them in the same match in a cage and there will be insanity!!
Another planned encounter for Lockdown is Dustin Rhodes vs. my Team Canada compatriot Bobby “The Enforcer” Roode. From a personal perspective it’s about time Bobby started getting a singles push but my injury seems to have pushed that back a bit. Now though is a great time to bring Bobby into the limelight. Bobby is one of those great all around performers that when given the chance can really move a wrestling crowd. Mark my words; you could be seeing a lot of Bobby Roode over then next few years.
This week I was at a Ted Dibiase Christian wrestling show in Toronto and along with former TNA star and friend Sinn I have been inspired to write the 10 commandments of wrestling with his help. This week due to so much recent unpleasantness I will leave you with the one that has been thrust into so much prominence lately. And that is “Thou shalt not covet another one of the boys old lady!!” What’s going on lately? That is one of the BIG ones.
To close out this week column I’ll do a little updating on my status. Right now I’m in a full leg cast after getting my mcl and acl reattached. The doctor was very happy with my surgery, saying that everything went exceptionally well and that everything attached tight and strong. The big cast comes off on Apr 1 and I get another walking cast from there. Then its another 3 weeks in that one and then 4 to 6 months of rehab. I hate being injured. But I guess it’s good in that I will get some “me” time. Like I wanted it.
Stay hot people.
Devine
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