The Road To WrestleMania XXVI – Week 7
Unless anything crazy happens, this will be my last of these columns. Big D will have a full on preview next week and we also have a huge preview on FGB Radio. Check it out.
I’ll be live from WrestleMania all weekend long as I’ll be attending the show with my kids. We have it all covered.
I’m starting to wonder if this is the most well-built show in the history of WWE match-for-match. There have been bigger builds because of a single match such as Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock, and Steve Austin vs. The Rock were pretty huge as well.
But match-for-match, this has been fantastic so far. People might say that WrestleMania X-7 was such a big show that it had to be built as well or better. Well, if you look at the undercard, that show didn’t get started until midway and even then, the Austin/Rock stuff was kind of rushed because Rock wasn’t in the match until he beat Kurt Angle at No Way Out just a few weeks before.
Mr. McMahon vs. Donald Trump was awesome because it was Vince’s baby and he made it huge. But those guys didn’t even wrestle.
But first, the bad news.
I’m still disappointed in the Edge vs. Chris Jericho feud. It was the second most interesting match to me once Elimination Chamber was over. And now it’s at least below John Cena vs. Batista and might even be below Vince McMahon and Bret Hart now. And to me, it was the easiest angle to book since Edge had a built-in injury which should’ve been the focus of the build. But for whatever reason, they only really brought it to attention this week, which is only one week out.
I liked that Jericho finally caught Edge with the title belt when he was going for the spear. But then on Raw the next week, Edge got him back. Already? And to me, Edge isn’t half as good as a babyface as he is as a heel. The spear is over and that’s a plus, but as a character, he’s not as hot as he should be, and he’s affecting Jericho too.
With the exception of the Legacy Triple Threat which is now a match and is absolutely the definition of a no-buys match (and Jericho/Edge), I don’t really have a problem with the build of any other match.
The Vince McMahon and Bret Hart angle went exactly as what we hoped was the plan and the contract signing was absolutely magnificent. Having Stone Cold Steve Austin there as the third person in the signing was a nice detail as the match with Bret Hart helped make him and of course, Austin vs. McMahon was the biggest feud in recent wrestling history.
I think the best part of the angle was that you knew where it was going, I knew it was going, and everyone else with a brain knew where it was going. And they didn’t try to swerve us. When Vince had to turn around and saw Bret’s cast on the table, the lack of anyone saying anything at that moment was perfect. Less is more.
I hate seeing John Cena beat up every show, especially to The Big Show, but it’s what it was. I think they’ll do a heavy push for his match with Batista this week and really turn it up going into Mania. It’s been nearly perfect so far.
I know this happened over a week ago, but the CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio angle peaked too early. They had a tremendous angle over a week ago with Punk scaring Rey’s daughter (who was so awesome). They replayed that footage on Smackdown two days ago and the package was almost as good as the one they’ve done for Taker/HBK. They should’ve ended it there. Now, Rey has to win at Mania in a Street Fight (I think?) so that he doesn’t have to join Punk’s crew. It went from awesome to corny quickly.
I loved HBK superkicking the Undertaker at the end of Smackdown. But I do think whatever is left for this week should be subtle and be more about HBK’s career possibly ending and how he recognizes that.
I actually hope Sheamus loses to Triple H at Mania. I think that Triple H is going to be more amped to produce this year after last year’s stinker of a Mania main event. And also, I think Sheamus will get over more with a loss. I’m not so sure that HHH will give him all that he needs if Sheamus is going to win. And I think that the booking would be more flukey since Sheamus isn’t at HHH’s level. Give HHH the win, and have him give Sheamus a great 12 minute match.
I’m taking Drew McIntyre to win the Money In The Bank, but if it was up to me, Jack Swagger would win it. Big D thinks it’s going to be Christian.
What does everyone else think about the matches? How’s the build so far? Are you excited for WrestleMania?
