The road to WrestleMania is without a doubt the best time to be a WWE fan. The quality of the WWE show during this time is flawless and leaves you excited to see how the stories progress. The scent of WrestleMania is in the air and fans want to know who will be gracing the main event of the granddaddy pay per view of the WWE. The questions to this journey begin at the Royal Rumble, where one wrestler is given the chance to fight for immortality at a championship match at WrestleMania.
Times are changing within the WWE, the youth movement is in full effect as many up and coming superstars are in the beginnings of their careers. Their characters are not fully developed and their rank is not yet determined within the machine. So the WWE had a big choice on their hands, go with experience such as having an established name win such as Randy Orton or John Cena or go with the future and promote an up and comer like John Morrison or Wade Barrett. The WWE made the right decision and went with the future but with a different name, Alberto Del Rio.
Over the past month leading into the Royal Rumble, Del Rio had been showing up weekly on Monday night Raw interrupting matches claiming it was his “destiny” to win the Royal Rumble and headline WrestleMania. Apparently, the WWE have faith that Del Rio can grow into a huge star and this is his opportunity to shine. I predict he will choose to fight for the Heavyweight championship making him the focus point of Smackdown until WrestleMania. He will probably compete against Edge at the event, most likely gaining the title, on his road to superstardom.
The future of Raw is also at question, since the WWE can go a number of different ways. They can have The Miz defend the title at the event against John Cena or have him lose at the Elimination Chamber to someone like Randy Orton or John Cena, enabling Cena-Orton to headline WrestleMania. There is also CM Punk, who can be thrown into the mix. I highly doubt the WWE will do a fatal four way at WrestleMania and instead will have a one on one match. The way which makes sense after the Rumble is it will be The Miz vs John Cena for the WWE Championship. This is because at the Royal Rumble, The Miz who was doing commentary and not in the match jumped into the ring to eliminate Cena. This would be an interesting feud and one I hope WWE push. The Miz has established himself as a superstar and he is ready to headline the flagship show. Letting The Miz carry the championship into WrestleMania would be great for his career. More importantly, WWE has a chance to do something very special with The Miz and it looks like they are willing to test him out.
If those fights are indeed the championship fights then the undercard must be filled with the other superstars. The one person who needs to have a high profile match is CM Punk. This man is the MVP of the WWE right now. His character is perfect as a psychotic cult leader and he is one of if not the best overall talents in the WWE. His time in the Royal Rumble was the highlight of the show and provided an edgier, darker time to the event. Everything from his mannerisms of sitting Indian style in the middle of the ring to his Christ sacrifice pose was perfection. On the microphone, there is no one better since Punk speaks with such sincerity; he makes his character so unique and believable. One opponent who could give Punk a high profile match is Randy Orton. These two have never feuded before, so this would be a fresh exciting matchup which the fans have never seen. Orton is just as dark and edgy as Punk, but the fans love him. A matchup against Punk would allow Orton to be a little more vicious and cutting edge while still getting over and retaining baby face status. The psychological story these two athletes could provide would be a great addition to WrestleMania and might even bring back some of the attitude that the WWE desperately needs.CM Punk and Randy Orton are both incredible technicians who can tell a story inside and outside the ring. If given the proper time, I believe this match could be the highlight of WrestleMania 27.
The other main attraction of WrestleMania, is of course the Undertaker. The streak is the most important accolade in the WWE and every year it is anticipated to see who will be given the opportunity to hand the Undertaker his first loss at WrestleMania. The most likely candidate to face the Undertaker this year is Season one NXT winner Wade Barrett. This match could be huge for Wade Barrett’s career, because he is a young up and coming competitor who the WWE has bright futures for. To be given the chance to fight the Undertaker is a huge honor, but Barrett has been golden so far and should provide an interesting threat. We all know the Undertaker will bring it since he is still the best in the business and will provide a fantastic show but it is Wade Barrett who really wants to shine here. This is his platform to cement his status as a main event player within the WWE, in his biggest match of his young career. Randy Orton’s career took off after his match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, so hopefully Barrett’s match provides him with the same fortunes.
There are still many big name stars such as John Morrison, and Sheamus who still need to be booked. It is believed Sheamus will have a rematch with Triple H who is set to return soon, but John Morrison remains a question. It was disappointing that Morrison was given such little time in the Royal Rumble and he came out looking very weak. I thought the WWE had bigger plans for him since he is over with the crowd and I hope he is booked in a compelling match up to help his character. I was hoping that Morrison was going to be matched up against Chris Jericho since that could have been a fantastic feud, but with Jericho not set to return that seems to be in limbo. A Morrison- Jericho feud would have benefitted Morrison’s career since Jericho excels at Morrison’s weak points. Working with Jericho would have given Morrison a chance to prove he belongs in the main event picture. However, if that’s not the case and the event has a Money in the Bank match or something similar then Morrison would be my pick to win, but if not a match up with someone like Daniel Bryan could be interesting.
In conclusion, the upcoming months look to be very exciting, with various twists and turns soon to occur within the WWE. The road to WrestleMaina is finally here, and the intensity is going to be picked up. Our questions will be answered in the future, but for now I suggest we just sit back and enjoy the present. WrestleMania is always a fun time and this year’s card seems to be coming along nicely with the fresh talent and matchups. We are seeing future hall of famers in the young stages of their career and we should cherish this moment very dear since history could take place right before our eyes.
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