Greeting jabronis,
This April, yours truly be attending Wrestlemania in person – making me one very excitable fellow indeed. I will be holidaying in Florida at the time (I’m an Englishman, you see) purely by chance – and thus hastily booked my Wrestlemania seats, and will be losing my live-PPV-attendance virginity to the grandaddy of them all.
If you glanced at that last sentence and deduced from it that I will be losing my virginity to my grandfather, please go back and re-read. I beg you.
Wrestlemania season traditionally kicks-off in January. As the Royal Rumble approaches – and more consequentially when the winner is determined – the Wrestlemania card begins to take shape, and matches we can expect to see at the Miami Sun Life Stadium will become a little more apparent inside our dainty brains.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to rub my palms in gleeful anticipation and present to you the matches that I would most like to see set in motion to take place Wrestlemania 28. This isn’t a list of dream matches where I’ll speculate how great it could have been to see Andre the Giant take on Evan Bourne or anything like that – but rather matches that we could conceivably see on the night.
If that interests you in the slightest, then I heartily encourage you to carry on reading…
Christian vs Mick Foley
I make secret over the fact that Christian is my number one guy on the entire WWE roster, and I would adore seeing him feature in an upper card bout at ‘Mania. The guy never has a bad match with anyone – and can steal the show effortlessly on any night (since HBK retired that is).
A feud with Mick Foley could almost write itself. The pair have a lot of history from The Attitude Era that could be drawn from – when Commissioner Foley would always “heinously” thwart the “totally radical” plans of Edge and Christian. And there’s also Foley’s memorable feud with Edge that could provide extra fuel for this fight. Christian could set a story in motion where he claims he’s better than Edge ever was, and will seek to prove so by achieving all the things that Edge achieved – with “beating Mick Foley” near the top of that list.
Sure, Foley is out-of-shape and presumably encrusted with ring-rust – but Old St Mick is a sucker for a large pay-day that a Wrestlemania match could bring, and certainly has a penchant for a feud that can tell a good story. Additionally, I think Foley would also agree that Christian is one of the few performers on the roster that could get a decent match out of him at this stage of his career.
Chances of it actually happening? I truly believe there’s a great story to be told between these two, but inevitably Vinnie Mac – one of Christian’s biggest non-fans – won’t see it and would likely be reluctant to put Captain Charisma in such a high spot on the Wrestlemania card. But hey, stranger things have happened.
*****
Goldust and Booker T vs Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
Goldust has made his desire to face his little bro Cody at Wrestlemania very public… But I can’t see WWE bigwigs going for it. It just doesn’t have the aura of a Wrestlemania match-up. Throw Booker T into the mix however, and there’s a case to be made.
For those that are oblivious, Booker T and Goldust formed an unlikely tag team in the WWE nearly 10 years ago. It was one of those wonderful occasions when two guys with little direction are shoved together by WWE to see if anything noteworthy happens – and in this instance it most certainly did (see the New Age Outlaws for another example).
Goldust and Booker T were involved in some hilarious backstage skits (with the NWO among others) and over time they developed a bond that the audience sincerely cared about. Although they only existed as a unit for a matter of months, they still managed to lay claim to the tag titles on one occasion, and the unison is generally remembered very fondly indeed by long-term wrestling fans – myself included.
So where better to unite the pair than at Wrestlmania? Booker T is set to make an in-ring comeback imminently (in a feud with Cody Rhodes as fate would have it). If WWE can stretch the feud out until Wrestlemania, it would surely be easy for the writing team to get Goldust involved in the narrative.
DiBiase is the interchangeable factor here. I know he’s a face at the moment, and is far from storyline buddies with Cody, but I’ve jotted his name here as it gives the sense of two “proper” tag teams facing off. But he could easily be substituted for the likes of Wade Barrett, Brodus Clay or Jack Swagger. Booker T and Goldust v Cody Rhodes are the three essential ingredients for this one.
Chances of this actually happening? I don’t think it’s impossible – but if it doesn’t happen, I certainly think we’ll see Booker T and Goldust reunited on WWE TV in the not too distant future. Yes siree Bob.
*****
Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus vs Mark Henry vs Kane
WWE has been teasing big of late that Daniel Bryan will be cashing in his MITB sooner rather than later. But I really hope this isn’t the case. I’d love for Daniel Bryan to stay true to his word and be part of the main event(s) at Wrestlemania.
Rather than have Daniel Bryan take on the champion alone, I think it would be a far more compelling ultimate underdog story to see Daniel Bryan emerge from Wrestlemania as champion having stepped into the squared cicle with “ring giants”. I’ve gone with Mark Henry (as he’s the reigning champ), Sheamus (to have a strong babyface involved) and Kane (as he’s reliable if nothing else) – but any of these guys could be replaced by The Boring Big Show and I’d be just as happy. Or the match could be a triple-threat with just two of the aforementioned and I’d be equally content.
If Bryan were to leave such a match as champ, it would give the WWE a great, heart-warming story to add to the Wrestlemania annals. Fans genuinely do want to see Bryan win – as the favourable crowd pops for his MITB win (what a visual that was), and his recently vetoed cash-in on Mark Henry have proven,
It could provide a memory very similar to the time when he-who-shall-not-be-named defeated HBK and HHH for the title. Only this time, WWE won’t have to pretend that it never happened. Unless Daniel Bryan going on a murder spree one day… Too soon?
I wish Daniel Bryan would get rid of that beard. He looks like an affectionate hobo.
Chances of it actually happening? I won’t hold my breath. I have an inkling that WWE bigwigs have decided they no longer wants to see Daniel Bryan in the Wrestlemania main event, which is why we’ll likely see him cash in his briefcase imminently. Could Bryan become the first person to ever cash in MITB and not win the title? Yes. Yes he could.
*****
The Undertaker vs The Miz
Of course The Undertaker is gonna be back on WWE TV in time for a Wrestlemania feud, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a doofus (apologies for the strong language).
I for one really don’t want to see an Undertaker v HHH rematch – simply because I’d rather see Undertaker take on someone new rather than someone I’ve seen him wrestle on TV countless times already. (Let HHH battle his buddy Nash… That’ll be entertaining for comedy value if nothing else!)
And after studying the roster, I’ve come to the conclusion that, for me, The Miz is the ideal candidate to be The Dead Man’s opponent at Wrestlemania 28.
It seems to me that WWE has already set the ball rolling with regards to putting The Miz over as a genuine badass – having put R-Truth and John Morrison out of action in consecutive weeks by smashing their faces up good. I don’t think anybody ever truly believes that The Streak will be thwarted – but WWE can at least do their best to convince us that The Miz is capable of it.
The Undertaker’s Streak is a major selling point for Wrestlemania and with The Miz being WWE’s number two mainstream media guy (after Cena), who better to promote the match than The Miz? His character would be perfect for talk shows, radio/magazine interviews and everything else that goes with the Wrestlemania build-up as he declares with reckless confidence that he will destroy The Undertaker.
Chances of it happening? I honestly think it’s very likely indeed. The only major speed-bump would be if HHH decides that he wants to face Taker again this year. If that does prove the case, then I’d install The Miz as my favourite to win the Royal Rumble.
*****
CM Punk vs Chris Jericho
This is the match that wrestling fans want to see. It would even overshadow The Rock v John Cena for the purists. But is it even possible?!
Our answer to that will become much clearer come January 2nd, when the identity of whom the current comeback teasers belong to is revealed. Realistically it can only be Taker or Jericho – and I’m slightly siding with Jericho due to that fact that the campaign shares a lot of traits with the teasers that heralded his last comeback.
If Jericho is indeed our man, then a feud with CM Punk would be an obvious development. Punk has laid claim to “the best in the world” moniker that Jericho himself used to toss about with solid regularity – and the two have already had a couple of minor clashes on Twitter and in press interviews.
Not only would this feud bring together two of modern wrestling’s greatest in-ring performers – it will also be bringing together two of the best talkers in the business. The TV moments that these two could manifest between them in the build-up to Wrestlemania would be pure gold.
WWE should do everything in their power to make this match happen – even if Jericho requests that he be paid in fairy dust for a return. Does anyone doubt that these two would totally steal the show from The Rock and Cena? If so, I laugh and point in your general direction.
Chances of it actually happening? I guess that will be a lot clearer come January 2nd. If Jericho does return to our screens on that date – then he can go on to win the Rumble and make this REAL “dream” Wrestlemania match a reality.
Those are my picks for the upper card bouts, jabronis. Please give your own thoughts below on what you’d like to see (rather than what we can expect to see) and we can stroke our chins and muse in unison.
Over and out.
