So it’s almost upon us. That time of the
year in which we hope for the best and cross our fingers that this is the year
WWE change and push some its younger stars to stop them rehashing old nostalgic
acts in time for WrestleMania the year following. WrestleMania has always been
one of the great nights in wrestling even if the event, such as WrestleMania
25, turns out to a one match show with very little else on it. This year
though, WWE have gone all out on order to ensure that the thirtieth year is
something special. Something to be remembered and whilst there is a chance that
the new blood will rise when Daniel Bryan inevitably lifts the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship at the conclusion of the night, don’t expect it come before the
company have rolled out every nostalgia act they can attract to the grandest
stage of them all.
It’s fair to say that in recent years,
wrestlers such as The Undertaker, The Rock and Brock Lesnar have been WWE’s
saviour at WrestleMania. Failing to make stars in the vein of The Rock, Triple
H and Steve Austin in recent years, WWE have demonstrated they have no faith in
the current roster to carry an event such as Mania so they have brought back
old favourites in the hope lapsed fans will tune in to see their heroes of days
gone by and new fans will buy the event just to see what the commotion was all
about. And it’s worked, for the most part. The Rock made sure the past three
WrestleMania events drew the largest crowds possible, now though we have to
look at what could be possible this year and ask if WWE are going into
overdrive with nostalgia acts.
When you have wrestlers in the company
with the talent of Dolph Ziggler or other younger, and more popular stars then
the question remains what would happen if WWE left every legend off the card
and just booked its younger talent to star. No doubt, it wouldn’t be the star
studded attraction of previous years but maybe WWE need to take a fall one year
to make history the next. The so called lesser WWE stars could be huge in one
years time if the company built WrestleMania around them this year but of
course that won’t happen. So what can we expect from WrestleMania XXX?
Instead of concentrating on the main
event of the show or Triple H vs Daniel Bryan, we’re going to humour WWE for a
while and concentrate on legends who have had their day seeing as they’re here
to say and will be the main focus of the event. Those who have been scouring
the internet for wrestling news today will have undoubtedly come across a piece
which states a promo has been airing on American television for Roddy Piper’s
ring return. Instead of appearing on WWE television, Piper’s return has been trailing
the WrestleMania XXX promo on network TV so does that mean those final places
in the thirty man Andre the Giant memorial battle royal will be filled with
nostalgia acts? Of course it does.
I firmly predict now, that at least ten
former WWE stars will appear in the event including The Ultimate Warrior and
Jake Roberts with the former winning the match to celebrate his induction into
the WWE Hall of Fame. Those who have followed The Ultimate Warrior since WCW
closed its doors will know that he’s still in great ring shape for a guy of his
age and whilst he’s not going to set the world alight what better way to
remember Andre the Giant than to have a wrestler from his era win the match?
Yes, of course the victory would do a lesser talent such as Big E. or Alberto
Del Rio a whole load of good going forward but only if WWE intend to capitalise
on that victory in the coming weeks which we all know they probably won’t.
I won’t go into the Andre the Giant
battle royal too much as it will spoil the preview, however I will say if just
one major nostalgia act such as Roddy Piper or The Ultimate Warrior is involved
then we can almost forget a younger and more hungry guy winning the match.
Where else can WWE push in its legends?
Well, they could hold a second battle royal in the vein of the one they staged
at Mania 17 won by The Iron Sheik simply because a tumble over the top rope
could have killed him – seriously, it’s the only reason he won – or they could
just go with the plan at the moment and have the whole night as ‘Legends Night’.
It would make sense. If Daniel Bryan is going to lift the gold at the end of
the night to give the event an uplifting ending then I doubt anyone would bitch
and moan too much should WWE throw legends in at every available opportunity.
Right now the company are setting up
Kane and The New Age Outlaws vs The Shield and a four way Tag Team Championship
bout which should by rights put new champions The Usos at the forefront. However
consider this. Rybaxel, who are booked to be one forth of the teams in the bout
could easily be replaced by lets say the one night only reconciliation of Money
Inc. No one is going to miss Ryback or Curtis Axel in the outing when they
could easily be inserted into the Andre battle royal. In fact WWE could make a
habit of it and except John Cena vs Bray Wyatt which could be bigger than we
think and the main event, have a legend in every match.
Remove Big E. from the battle royal and
have him defend the Intercontinental Championship in a four way ladder match
involving a former I.C Champion. This would be perfect for Roddy Piper or
someone more relevant such as the return of John Morrison to WWE. There’s a
whole host of wrestlers who could compete here with much more success than just
lumping Langston in a thirty man affray which he probably won’t get the
exposure he needs. The legend doesn’t have to win the bout, but a few well
remembered spots and moves would go down a treat.
Which brings us to the main event of the
show and the almost inevitable appearance of Hulk Hogan ala The Rock at
WrestleMania 27; WWE haven’t brought him back just to have him stand in the
wings. I firmly predict this is going to be the conclusion of the triple threat
match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on April 6th – I do go into
more detail in the Mania XXX preview which you can read on the Friday before
the event.
Batista turns heel on Daniel Bryan and
joins forces with The Authority. Triple H, Kane, Batista and possibly Randy
Orton decimate Daniel Bryan at the conclusion of the bout before Hulk Hogan,
The Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and John Cena or
whatever other legends the company bring in for the night; try to rescue him
without success. The Authority, who have clearly lost control of themselves deny
the rescuers access to the ring and none can save Bryan from a beat down and
what looks to be the retention of the title by Randy Orton. And then the lights
go out and a vignette plays before they come back on and Sting descends from
the rafters with his baseball bat in hand and clears the ring, nailing everyone
but Randy Orton.
Sting’s appearance would allow Cena and
company to pull the invaders from the ring and brawl with them on the outside
whilst in the ring; Daniel Bryan would either pin or make Randy Orton tap to
win the title. As long as Sting didn’t touch Orton then Bryan’s victory wouldn’t
be tainted whatsoever and the company would have ample options in order to move
forward in the post-WrestleMania season.
If WWE are going to employ so many
legends then they may as well make the most use of them whilst wrapping up the
Daniel Bryan vs The Authority feud. That really is what is best for business.
Onwards and upwards...
