I am totally bummed that WrestleMania 26 will be the first one I’ve missed in eight years. My streak is over, but hopefully so is The Undertaker’s. Before I get ahead of myself, I wanted to give you my WM26 predictions and I’d like you to post yours in the comments section. Let’s go down the card!
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk — CM Punk has been awesome as the leader of The Straight-Edge Society. Rey Rey has been…where the hell has he been? The stipulation in this match is that Rey has to join the Society if he loses. That would be awesome! Rey loses this match, Punk tortures him for a few months, and it all leads to a hair vs. mask match in the future. Although Punk is getting some excellent heat, a victory over Rey Rey would make the Society even hotter.
WWE Unified Tag-Team Championship: The Big Show and The Miz vs. John Morrison and R-Truth — While not as entertaining in the ring or on the mic as JeriShow, Show Miz is a fun tag team. They’re certainly way more entertaining than Morrison and R-Truth. Morrison is brilliant in the ring, but his mic skills haven’t developed to a level that matches his in-ring ability. R-Truth is over with live audiences…and I still don’t know why. His ring work is sloppy and his entrance song/rapping sucks. “What’s up?!?” I’m going with Show Miz here. That’s what’s up.
Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes — I’m really not sure how this match ends. All I know is that Cody Rhodes has become an afterthought. Orton has been teased as a face and the crowd is responding to him in that role, but he’s such a dick that it seems like a waste not to keep him heel. Some people are thinking that Rhodes will side with Orton so that Randy beats DiBiase. That goes against the face heat Orton has been getting. Besides, Orton doesn’t need the rub from ‘Mania; it would be far more useful to give it to one of the kids. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I’m going to do with DiBiase getting the win here. Besides, his dad is getting inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame so it would be a nice weekend for the DiBiase family.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match — I’m positive that Kane isn’t going to win this match. I’m fairly certain that Shelton Benjamin, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, and Jack Swagger aren’t going to win it either. That leaves Christian, Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, MVP, and Dolph Ziggler. Vince loves McIntyre, but I don’t see a relative newcomer getting a serious title shot since Sheamus already covered that with the WWE Championship. MVP and Ziggler…their chances get lower the more I think about it. Kofi had a nice push going, but I think that ship has sailed. I’m going to go with Christian winning this match and challenging Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Triple H vs. Sheamus — Here’s another one I’m not really sure about. Triple H has become more of a company guy since becoming a father. He’s been much better at putting people over and sharing the spotlight. He’s also friends with Sheamus and I could see him wanting to put his buddy over. Then again, it has been a long time since Hunter has been in the…uh…hunt for championship gold. Then again (second time, I know), beating Sheamus doesn’t really do anything for him. Sheamus needs to win and look good doing it or he’s going to be a mid-carder for years. I’ll go with Sheamus winning due to Hunter’s fatherhood induced altruism kick.
Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Vince McMahon — I believe Bret’s WWE deal expires the week after WrestleMania. Unless Vince wants to “screw” him one more time, I don’t see him losing. Besides, his dad is being posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Honoring the legendary Stu Hart and having Bret beat the crap out of Vince would make for a feel-good weekend for the dysfunctional Hart family. I don’t see how Bret can lose here, but I hope that he does. My friend Joey is a huge mark for Bret and I’d get a year’s worth of jokes out of Bret losing at ‘Mania.
The Streak vs. Career: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels — Some people are saying that Shawn is really going to retire and this is how he wants to go out. That would be a very HBK thing to do. He’s definitely Mr. WrestleMania…except when it comes to wins and losses. Michaels has been very good about putting his opponents over at WrestleMania while still stealing the show. Then again, The Undertaker has trouble walking around these days. The man has all kinds of injuries and he doesn’t have as many years left as HBK. While it would be nice if he used “the streak” to put over a younger wrestler, I could see how he’d want it ended by a respected veteran like HBK. Or perhaps he wants to retire with a perfect WretleMania record…. Ah screw it. I’m just going to be a fan and say that HBK ends The Undertaker’s streak. I’m too much of an HBK mark to say otherwise.
World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Edge — For the last few years, nobody has been better in the WWE than Jericho. He truly is “the best there is at what he does”. More importantly, he doesn’t need the belt or the WrestleMania rub. He’ll be over no matter what. Edge definitely needs help. His comeback started out hot, but totally fizzled. Winning the World Heavyweight Championship and starting a feud with Christian would be big — maybe not WrestleMania big, but Christian vs. Edge sounds like a great Summer Slam main event. I’m not sure if this will be the last match or not, but either way I think Edge gets the nod.
WWE Championship: Batista vs. John Cena — Ah, two of my least favorite wrestlers in the WWE. I really don’t care who wins this one. No matter the outcome, I’ll be happier when the winner loses the belt to someone that’s actually good in the ring (to be fair, Cena has improved…but he’s still average). I’m going to go ahead and assume that this match will close out the show. You have to send the crowd home happy and as Batista has stated in his recent (and shockingly good) promos, the kids and fat chicks love Cena. If this match is last, Cena wins. If not, Batista wins and the feud drags out for a few more months. Either way, I really don’t care for either of these guys.
The WWE and Heavyweight matches do not interest me at all. I've always disliked Cena, Edge and Batista. I will pull for Jericho to win his match though.
I am going for the Undertaker. He has always been a favorite for me. I know the guy is getting up there in age and his body is damn near failing on him…but Vince won't take away his streak. Now…I'm not so sure the match ends in a pinfall though. Perhaps a DQ since both will be DQ'd for whatever. This could perhaps lead to Taker being killed…again…and him saying adios. Regardless I have never been a big HBK fan so I'd pull for the Taker anyway.
**paul bearer voice** "I damn you to hell!"
Cm punk wins over Rey? Totally agree, cm punk's gimmick is working on me. It almost had ne putting my hand to the screen and promising myself to the teachings of cm punk. I would only do that if he shows me how to get in with Maria. She's not bad as a "reporter" on mma live on hdnet.
Only one thing to say about miz and big show vs r-truth and morrison, not awesome. I see showmiz winning because r-truth and morrison are not doing it as a team.
I don't like orton as a face and I really don't like Rhodes. I would like it if dibiase got his push now.
Money in the bank is christian's match. He deserves it after toiling in ecw and vince making it defunct. I just don't see him going after edge.
Sheamus wins for the same reason you mentioned. Triple h has been working a lot behind the scenes. When vince is ready to give up being in the spotlight I think triple h will take over.
Bret wins via interference help to take out vince's interference help. I can't see him coming back only to lose to vince.
The streak continues as much as hbk has been a company man so has the undertaker. Vince should reward undertaker for his loyalty and let his streak stand. I think hbk isn't done yet but needs to relax an re-charge his battery for a bit for the final hurrah next year when wrestlemania rolls back around.
Edge wins only to continue his push again. Jericho is great with or without the belt! Jericholi from day one.
Cena does win :( only to make the kids happy because vince can't turn on the money train yet. Tna please challenge the wwe some time soon! I need the attitude era part deux!
I not only think the Undertaker is going to keep the streak, but I have a strange feeling that both of them will retire after Undertaker wins.
I may be way off, but it's just a sneaking suspicion I have.
I predict Punk to beat Rey because Punk is on a roll with the Straight edge gimmick and Rey isn't doing anything. I predict Shomiz to keep the titles. Raymond, R. Truth is just there to get the party started. Undertaker wins and keep his perfect record, no sense in losing now. Edge beats Jericho because Edge needs the help, it seems no one cares about Edge now so a title will do him good. Ted wins the match because he has one foot in plus his dad is inducted into the hall of fame. Sheamus beats HHH because this will really put Sheamus over the top and the WWE needs that. Batista over Cena because Batista has turned the attitude volume all the way up, he's like a new and improve character. Brett over Vince.
@Ray: Bummed you won’t be out here in the Valley of the Sun.
I only care about Hart Vs. McMahon. I am a huge Hart mark.
Punk over Rey makes the most sense.
Show and Morrison beat down their lame ass partners and are forced to de-unify the belts with each of them having to choose partners that don’t suck.
Sheamus needs to win this match a lot more than HHH does.
The didn’t bring Brett Hart back to lose.
Chrisitian wins the Money in the Bank match to set up a feud with Edge.
Edge beats Jericho. He needs the belt, and an Edge/Christian Feud is an easy sell.
Orton overcomes DiBiase and Rhodes double teaming to become a full on face. He promptly does something heelish on Monday night and turns right back.
HBK over Undertaker. It’s time for the streak to go away along with Taker. He’s barely mobile in the ring anymore.
Batista over Cena. They’ve invested too much into Batista’s new character to not give him the belt.
I agree with most of your predictions. But I think Jericho triumphs here and HBK is done for!
@jpkmets I’m just not sure what Jericho does if he wins. Maybe he feuds with Edge AND Christian in a Canadian three-way (ewwwww)? Plus, Jericho is so good that he doesn’t need the belt to get over.
I secretly think The Undertaker is going to win, but as a Shawn mark I have to support HBK!
The verdict:
4 for 9
Good… but gets to watch more wrestling as a penalty.
@N8R I actually thought that Shawn was going to lose and retire. It seemed like the way he wanted to go out. As an HBK mark, I couldn't write that. I had to believe!!!
Some of the other stuff really surprised me. I'm happy that Jericho won, but Edge really needed the help. Jack Swagger?!? I wasn't expecting that at all.
Yeah, I wasn't expecting Swagger to win… but honestly he wasn't the last person I expected to win. That would have been either Matt Hardy or Shelton. Swagger was tied with MVP for likelihood to me. However, I think it's awesome that they are giving him the push.
I expected Christian to win MITB and Edge to win against Jericho. Then, Christian would challenge Edge for the belt and spark the inevitable feud there.
My biggest surprise of the night… Cena and Batista actually put on a half way decent match. I was actually impressed.
@N8R Kane should have been the last person you expected to win MITB.
@ Ray’s predictions review
1) Right
2) Right (I think, I missed that one)
3) Wrong
4) Wrong (I think they picked a better winner)
5) Wrong
6) Right (duh)
7) Wrong (streak intact)
8) Wrong (This feud going to Extreme Rules now makes a bunch of sense).
9) Right (I was actually surprised that this match was half decent. I expected total fail, and that was not what happened).
@ Ray
He was up there (or down there depending on how you look at it) But I knew there was no way Shelton Benjamin was getting the case.
My pick was either Christian or McIntyre… and I STILL wouldn’t be surprised if Vince somehow calls McIntyre the winner and hands him the case.