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| Wrestlemania 26: Destruction In The Desert; The Unofficial Thread | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 6 2009, 08:37 PM (2,452 Views) | |
| Dr. Chad Matthews | Apr 6 2009, 08:37 PM Post #1 |
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 Well, as has become tradition around here, I always follow the Wrestlemania weekend by starting the thread for the next Wrestlemania. Destined to end up at the bottom of the thread pile, this thread is more for random Wrestlemania discussion throughout the year. However, since Mania is the culmination from one "granddaddy of 'em all" to the next, I think it earns its spot on our board. So, without further ado, I present my first fantasy card for next year's Wrestlemania in Glendale, Arizona. Dr. CMV1 presents Wrestlemania 26 WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Edge - I have a feeling that Edge is going to turn face in 2009. His run as a heel has been very successful, but has become stale. If he does turn, I think the fans will embrace him because he's so good at his craft and has so much charisma. The Edge character was always a very entertaining face and the Edge wrestler was always better as a face. If he picks up the steam that I expect that he will during that stretch, then he could be a top contender to win the Royal Rumble. This would be particularly awesome for me, as these are my two favorite wrestlers of the current era. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H - I read an interview with HBK where Michaels said that next year's Wrestlemania will likely be his last. His body is starting to break down again and he wants to spend more time with his kids now that they are getting older. If that is the case, then first i must say that I WILL BE THERE LIVE NEXT YEAR TO SEE IT. I couldn't think of a better way for HBK to end his career then against the guy who brought him back to ressurect his career. These two have always had such amazing chemistry and you'd want HBK to go out on a high note. A younger wrestler may end up getting the nod, but the goal is to send HBK out on a high note...so I think he should win...and a younger wrestler doesn't really benefit from HBK winning... World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho - I expect Jericho to end up on Smackdown. I expect Jeff Hardy to carry Smackdown for much of 2009. It's time that the WWE road the Hardy train for a year and see how it goes. SD ratings, which never change really, spiked when Hardy won the title. It's time to put it back on him. Jericho would get the nod here for the sacrifices he made this year in not getting a match at Wrestlemania that truly allowed him to showcase his considerable skill. Jericho is not a guy that I see sticking around until his body is beaten and battered, so you have to strike while his iron is hot. A main-event at Wrestlemania against the hottest babyface in the company would be all he'd need to stay motivated and to continue putting forth the efforts he has in the recent past... The Undertaker vs. John Cena - John Cena has main-evented the last 5 Wrestlemanias. Deservedly so, don't get me wrong. But change is good. Mixing it up is good. And let's face it...Taker's next logical Wrestlemania opponent is John Cena. Cena vs. Orton awaits at future Wrestlemanias, but next year John Cena needs to put his Wrestlemania resume to the test against the Deadman. What a spectacle match this would be. The WWE's golden boy against the Wrestlemania undefeated Streak. The build-up would be great. We, the fans, have correctly predicted Taker's last 3 Mania opponents...we said it should be Batista. Then, we said it should be Edge. Then, we said it should be HBK. Well, now, I'm saying it should be John Cena...make it happen, WWE... MVP and Terrell Owens vs. Batista and Larry Fitzgerald - Being in a stadium solely known for professional football makes it a no-brainer, to me, to get a guy like T.O. involved for Wrestlemania. This could be Big Dave's last match at Wrestlemania, as well. He's openly discussed having a send-off match at next year's Wrestlemania. If that's the case, you have to put him in a feature match. He's been a big part of the last 5 years in the wrestling business, anchoring the main-event scene no matter which brand he's been on. His inability to stay healthy has made him miss two Wrestlemanias in that span, but two of his Mania matches over the years have been huge matches (against Taker and HHH). Money in the Bank 6 - Matt Hardy vs. Christian vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. Big Show - The 6th annual match featuring a few former winners. I would make this the vehicle to elevate John Morrison to main-event status. After his time developing more charisma during his tag run with the Miz, Morrison starts competiting in thrilling singles matches for the IC or US title in late 2009. He ends up getting to this spot, where he'll put his considerable skills to the test again in a ladder match. This would be a fantastic ladder match. 2nd Annual Miss Wrestlemania Battle Royal - Maybe not a bad idea to keep this thing going for another year. This will always provide the women with something to do until they find themselves with a Diva that the WWE is comfortable enough putting in a singles program again... United States Champion Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin - I don't have any particular reason for this happening, but I can't see Swagger missing Wrestlemania again. In fact, you could probably put him in a high profile match and it'd be a safe pick. I'm playing it safe for the time being, though, and putting him in a mid-card match against another one of the WWE's more credible athletes in Benjamin. They may find that turning Shelton face at some point and letting his daredevil tactics shine could be his ticket to a sustained main-event run... WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne - Maybe next year will be the year for the tag titles return to Mania. Edited by Snowman, Apr 7 2009, 12:13 AM.
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| Jules | Apr 6 2009, 09:01 PM Post #2 |
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I like it Chaddious, might have to make a minor disagreement about Edge being a better babyface than heel though as he is IMO one of the best heels of the past decade bar none, and I really don't consider him all that stale myself, but rather just in need of some new opponents and some fresh surroundings. But, it has been long enough that I would give a babyface Edge a chance though, as he was a solid babyface and a member of the Smackdown Six at one point I do believe. I still have some bad memories of his last run as a face on Raw back in 2005 when he came back from one of his many neck injuries though... he was just dead in the water there until that awesome program with HBK and the heel turn that pretty much created the Rated R character we all know and love today... |
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| Stinger | Apr 6 2009, 09:50 PM Post #3 |
To me, to be a conservative means to conserve the good parts of America and to conserve our Constitution.
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Great card Chad. I'll have a card up tomorrow. Well I'll have two up. The only thing I don't like about your card, is Punk in the MITB. Punk is such a great talent, he deserves a non-MITB match on the big stage. |
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| Jules | Apr 6 2009, 09:51 PM Post #4 |
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I may do a card later on as well, perhaps we can then all edit them together and post it as a big to-do on the blog or in the columns forum later on? |
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| Dr. Chad Matthews | Apr 6 2009, 10:54 PM Post #5 |
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He'll have to actually have a feud and show me something this year for me to agree with you on that... I've said this many a time and I'll say it again...CM Punk's WWE run has shown him to be nothing more than above average in both his in-ring work and his mic work. I'm ready to see the CM Punk that everyone knows about from the Indy days... |
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| Stinger | Apr 6 2009, 10:58 PM Post #6 |
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To me, to be a conservative means to conserve the good parts of America and to conserve our Constitution.
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I actually agree with you there, and that's totally WWE's fault. That needs to change. I would think having a great 15 or so minute match on WrestleMania would probably go a long way in showing that side of him though. Oh, and that sounds good to me Jules. |
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| dawsey28 | Apr 6 2009, 11:46 PM Post #7 |
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I like the card Chad. Shawn Michaels going full circle and having his last match with Triple H makes sense to me. Undertaker vs. Cena has to happen. I'm up for Edge vs. Orton any day. I was trying to figure out a good match for Jeff Hardy. My original thought was against Edge, but we have seen that match on several occasions. Jericho is perfect. I'm not sure how I feel about the Batista/MVP/T.O./Fitzgerald match as I am not a big football person. Good MITB line up. I even like Big Show being in it. You know, I would actually like another Miss Wrestlemania Battle Royal and actually have it mean something. The US Title match and the Tag match are both good as well. |
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| Snowman | Apr 7 2009, 12:13 AM Post #8 |
Hey man your clock won't flush!!!
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chad I edited your post to put the official logo and tag line in....hope you don't mind. |
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| Q | Apr 7 2009, 08:56 AM Post #9 |
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Regardless of whether he's face or heel...this is way overdue to happen and it's 100 percent WWE's fault that it hasn't and that anyone has the misconception that he's only just above average. |
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| Dr. Chad Matthews | Apr 9 2009, 07:19 AM Post #10 |
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So, HBK basically stated in an interview recently that has contract expires after Wrestlemania 26 and that he'll likely retire from active in-ring competition at that time...take quite a bit of time off, as his kids are getting to the age where he wants to be around all the time...and maybe come back for special appearances... I think he is the type of performer that would want to go out while he could still perform at his best. So, I'm taking him at his word on this... That being said, I'm already thinking ahead to next year and who his final Wrestlemania opponent could be... Who would be the best candidates? |
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| Q | Apr 9 2009, 08:23 AM Post #11 |
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It's kind of crazy to think about but we're looking at potentially up to 3...maybe even 4 retirements happening around this time. HBK, Taker, Batista...and maybe even Kane. So let's get crazy here and assume that we're having a hat trick retirement situation happening at Mania at least because it's a distinct possibility. 1.) HBK It's hard to tell by timing but odds favor HBK and Taker basically retiring at or near the same time by my count. So imagine a final farewell match at WM 26 of Taker vs. HBK in basically a double retirement/farewell match. Personally, I think that would be jaw droppingly powerful. For Taker, I personally don't want his streak to ever be broken by anyone. It's part of his character and mystique. So the downside would be Taker beating HBK two WMs in a row barring some kind of crazy finish. Probably not going to happen if I had to guess. Realistically and most probable: I think it has to be Triple H from both a real life and storyline standpoint. I'd about bank on Triple H being HBK's retirement opponent. In a way, Trips would almost be in the role HBK was against Flair. You'd have two best friends and HBK would say: "I want the best and I want my best friend to do this" and some such. No one would have to be a heel and it would be compelling as could be. I see this as the most likely possibility. In fact, I'd about bank on it. If HBK is locked in to retire after Mania, I can't see him really considering anyone other than either Triple H or the Undertaker. After that, you get into people like Jericho, which is a dark horse possibility because Jericho was always the "next HBK" and we all know the real life background and the storyline background. Imagine Jericho retiring his role model just as HBK retired his. Past Jericho, you get to someone like Cena and that's where you'd have Cena having his ass booed right out of the building. I can't see a lot of fans being happy with that. The fans would most certainly be against Cena by and large. I don't see this happening. So for my money, it's either Triple H retiring his best friend or Jericho retiring his mentor and inspiration, even if Jericho is still in full heel mode. We know how much it would mean to Jericho in real life. 2.) Undertaker So let's go to the next question: Assuming Taker goes to WM 26 and also retires sometime shortly after that, which I'm thinking is greater than 50/50 at this point...who sends off Undertaker? My first choice from a storyline standpoint: Kane, especially if he decides to retire at the same time Undertaker does.* (detailed booking below) Again, I think you run a very short list here after that. I know you want to see a Cena-Taker feud but I can tell you right now: The fans will crap all over Cena retiring Undertaker and certainly if it ended his WM streak as well. They will not accept that. So from there, we're back to what I think are self explanatory choices like Trips and HBK or...there's one feud no one has mentioned yet that NEEDS to happen before Taker leaves: We need Taker vs. Jericho. Retiring or not...I would much rather have this than Cena-Taker myself. Cena-Taker has happened before not too terribly long ago. Taker-Jericho has never happened if memory serves me correctly. This must happen before Taker retires. I don't care where, I don't care when, I don't care how. Two other guys that are possibilities for either Taker or HBK: Edge and Randy Orton. We actually have a third person who could retire after WM 26 and that's Batista. So who is Batista's final opponent, assuming HE retires at WM 26. This is kind of something else isn't it? Imagine having a hat trick retirement situation after WM 26! It's not off the boards. Heck, we could have up to 4 people going if Kane goes, too. 3.) Batista First choice: I think Batista has done just about everything there is to do so in this case I favor a huge blow off with John Cena at WM 26. If Cena "retires" Batista, I think the fans could live with that a lot better than Cena retiring either HBK or Taker. This is about all that's left for Batista besides Randy Orton would be my second choice. After that, you're back to either Triple H again for obvious reasons or HBK or Taker, but they may be tied up with their own business. Edge, Orton, or Jericho again come into the picture as well. Orton has the most going here from a continuity and storyline standpoint. * 4.) Kane (could be tied in with Taker) This becomes more wide open. From a storyline standpoint, ideally...Taker should be the one to do this assuming he's not gone ahead of Kane. Odds probably favor Taker being gone before Kane or at the same time. If Kane and Taker decided to retire at the same time, you could have a situation where the Brothers of Destruction go out together in one final, crazy match that should include fire, dual coffins, and something people have never seen before. I think it would very appropriate for all kinds of reasons if they went out together. I've thought about this for a few years. If Kane and Taker both decided to retire at the same time...imagine this from a storyline standpoint: Their final match happens at Mania 26. Their final match would basically be a Buried Alive match with two identical coffins at opposite sides of the ring. Both coffins are open right from the get-go. They'd have a however long wild match with each other and then here's how the match ends: At either one of these coffins at the end of the match, Taker and Kane have both been spent and are wiped out...they BOTH reach for the chokeslam on each other right in front of one of these coffins. They BOTH hit the chokeslam on each other AT THE SAME TIME and they both fall/slam each other down into one of the coffins at the same time. The fans go berserk, waiting to see who climbs out as the winner. It never happens. Suddenly, there's the flash of Taker style lightning and maybe some other cool pyro or what not...and then things quickly go to a blackout in the arena and silence. It would be a real fast "flash of lightning/boom" to jolt the fans a little bit. The effect has to be a quick shock blast and then complete darkness and silence for maybe 20-30 seconds at most. No sound, either. Let the crowd sit there and stew. Suddenly, two dim lights go on...simultaneously you see you see the dim blue/flourescent black lighting that we always see with Taker spotlighted on one coffin, and you see dim red lighting for Kane spotlighting the other coffin. Both coffins are now closed. Those are the only lights anywhere in the building. Then a dim neutral colored house light slowly gets turn on hitting the center of the ring. The light isn't raised very high. The light is turned up just enough to where you see Taker style smoke (as always) and people can see the outline of a lone, familar figure that they haven't seen for a long time. It's Paul Bearer. In a hushed, quiet tone, with no menace and almost out of character, he simply says: "Rest...in...peace" with his head down. That's all he says and does and the light on him dims out. The blue and red dim lights are left spotlighted on the coffins for a few moments more and during this time all you hear are two of the death knell "bong!" that you always hear in Taker's entrance music. You hear the first one then maybe ten seconds later one more. One "bong!" for Taker, the other for Kane. That's it. No music, nothing else. Then the blue and red lights on the coffins are dimmed out and it's back to darkness in the building. It's over. At the end of Mania or something, they could come out and say goodbye to the crowd and I don't think anyone would mind that. I just have this feeling that Kane doesn't stick around for very long once Taker is gone. The only caveat to all of this is: I could see these guys working out something where a person could retire and have their special moment and not be overshadowed by anyone else. Hard to say, but this is kind of what I'm starting to see. Who knows what can happen in a year's time? It's a distinct possibility someone leaves before we ever get to Mania 26 or all of a sudden after having some time off, folks may decide that they still feel pretty good and they go on past Mania. No way to know. Goes along with all of this, dated today:
I think it's a pretty good bet that HBK and Taker retire by WM 26. Last week we saw a story about what a wreck both of HBK's knees are. These kinds of injuries don't just go away. Ulitmately you're looking at knee replacements. |
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| Dr. Chad Matthews | Apr 9 2009, 10:35 AM Post #12 |
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Well, I agree with a lot of what you said, Q... In fact, you could build Wrestlemania 26 around the end of their eras. Something tells me that Batista and Kane might have a little more left in the tank. If Batista retires soon, I don't think they'll make as big a deal out of it as they are with HBK and Taker. Ditto for Kane. I can see Kane going out on a note similar to JBL, where they acknowledge it, but don't outright make a storyline out of it or too big of a deal out of it. Perhaps one way to have Taker and Kane go out at the same time would be for them to TEAM in their final Wrestlemania matches. Have the Brothers of Destruction face two current top stars. I agree on HBK vs. Triple H, though. It'd be a fitting end to Mr. Wrestlemania's career if he were to go out on the same note that he came back...a classic against The Game. Really and truly, Wrestlemania 26 would probably sell quite well if built around the retirement of two of its top stars of all-time. A combined 33 Wrestlemania matches between them...and for the last 15 years, each of them have had matches (for the most part) that were billed as at least semi-main-events...8 Wrestlemania main-events in between them... I'd run Taker vs. John Cena simply because it'd be the biggest drawing match of the two against Jericho vs. Taker. I'm cool with either, but John Cena won't beat Taker. Taker will go out with a win, I think. Beating Cena in a mega match at Wrestlemania would certainly be a fitting ending to Taker's career. |
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| Q | Apr 9 2009, 10:37 AM Post #13 |
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Can't argue any of these points although I think Kane deserves a better send off than JBL by considerable margins. Heck, JBL deserved something better than that garbage. I certainly think if Kane and Taker decide to retire at the same time then my idea is something that could hopefully be considered...or something like it. If they team who do they go against to go out by? Tag team wrestling is dead unless you do Bros. of Destruction against DX? Then you have 4 tops guys tied up in one tag match. I just don't see it working that way. Miz-Morrison or Carlito-Primo against Bros. of Destruction? Meh. Doesn't do much for me. Reunite Edge and Christian or the Hardys? Maybe there you got something. Taker beating Cena at Mania suits me just fine. Taker and HBK certainly deserve "their own time" and spotlight on them as Hall of Famers and the rest, regardless of anything else. I think pretty much all of these guys have to go out in big singles matches, not tag matches. |
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| dawsey28 | Apr 9 2009, 01:12 PM Post #14 |
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The only other option for a tag team match I can think of is Brothers of Destruction or DX vs. Legacy/Priceless (Sort of like WM XX's Rock & Sock vs. Evolution). But I'm not sure if that is really a big enough "send off" match. I think singles matches are the way to go. |
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| Q | Apr 9 2009, 01:15 PM Post #15 |
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I think it has to be singles for any of these people. The only way I'd do a tag would be if it were an actual big name tag team retiring but WWE doesn't have that anymore so it's kind of a moot issue all the way around. Tag team wrestling is basically dead in the WWE. |
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