Well, I did
pretty badly with four correct picks and four wrong but, like I said at the time,
I looked forward to being wrong. Part of the fun of WrestleMania season and the
build up to it is seeing whether or not your instincts are right and whether or
not the rumours that come out of WWE actually end up being where they go with
things.
See how I
did…
Pick 1:
“Undertaker v Brock. A
match that was talked about last year but it was rumoured that Undertaker didn’t much fancy
working with an opponent as stiff as Brock and because
they don’t see eye-to-eye. They felt that Punk was a better prospect since he needed a high-profile match coming off his long
title reign. You can see now that the
timing is right for this. The Beast v The Streak - whatever you want to tagline
it - would be one of the
few legitimate matches where people could suspend their disbelief enough to trust that the streak could end.”
Ding! Didn’t
take a genius but this was one of the few that I called correctly. The build
has been poor but I still think this will be an amazing match. If you ignore
the Big Show match at the Rumble every match Brock has been involved in since
his return has been tremendous.
Pick 2:
“Rhodes v Rhodes. I
have to believe that this is where they’re going with these two. Wrestling loves a sibling rivalry and
this one has been talked about for years.”
Wrong! I
know why they didn’t break them up because they were killing it every since
week and together were so strong that breaking them and turning one of them was
wrong place, wrong time. But, since January, they’ve gone back to being utter
nobodies. In hindsight, this would have been a good time to do it – maybe this
is one for next year.
Pick 3:
“Triple H v Vince. I’m not saying that
these two are going to wrestle. In fact, I seriously
doubt that. But what we do know is that this storyline is going to end with a fight for control of WWE.”
Wrong! Well
sort of. Vince may well appear tonight and this might become a storyline but
for now I was off the mark. Punk was originally in this role (so we’re told)
and its now become Bryan’s Mania.
Pick 4:
“Punk v Bryan. Punk has also
made it clear on numerous occasions that his ultimate goal is to be last on at a Mania. Yes, it would be a 50/50 deal
with the crowd and I know
that’s an issue. Being last on at Mania, if they did that, could of course be a poisoned chalice – remember
Hunter and Orton getting zero reaction when they went on last after Taker and Michaels? – well, maybe
this will be his year. If it isn’t, the
much-salivated-over Punk v Austin for the following year might be the time for that.”
Wrong!
Obviously. Punk has gone and even if he shows up tonight in an angle of sorts,
I was still wide of the mark. Punk v Austin? That could happen – never say
never.
Pick 5:
“Wyatts v Shield. I could be
way off on this and they may well go with Bray Wyatt for the World title sooner or later. Who knows where these
two teams will be placed on
the card in six months.”
Wrong!
Sadly. This was the best match of the year so far in WWE. Twice. They would
have torn the house down at Mania. Bray beating Cena is important tonight.
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have big futures.
Miscellaneous:
“…they may do the pre-show Battle
Royale and there’ll be a Divas Title
match.”
Ding! Wasn’t
too hard a prediction but the Battle Royale could be one of the more
interesting and fun matches on the show.
“Ryback. I really don’t
believe that they will make Ryback v Goldberg.”
Ding! Glad
this didn’t happen.
“Hogan. Does Hogan return?
As things stand the claim is that he’s not going back to TNA and they’re playing up that they don’t
want or need him […] He’d make a good host
but that’s about he’d be good at given his physical limitations.”
Ding! Not a
big deal but a correct prediction nonetheless.
I suppose
all of these ideas were destabilised by three factors: the Network happened and
CM Punk walked out and fans are still into Daniel Bryan. All of these were huge
in their own way and coincided at similar times. Punk’s absence means that much
of this card had to shift slightly; the Network means that buyrate figures will
get skewed more than ever and it becomes about how many subscribers rather than
breaking the all-time record. Lost amongst all the bells and whistles of the
Network will be how many people actually ordered the show. Daniel Bryan getting
this kind of reactions means that he’s on the show as much as possible. They’d
be stupid not to give him the title, right?
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