Post by MetalBlade on Apr 1, 2012 20:47:00 GMT
This sunday sees the 28th installment of the annual "Showcase Of The Immortals", and on paper it doesn't look that thrilling, despite WWE's insistance that John Cena vs The Rock is the biggest matchup of all time, having plugged it and tried to build up momentum over the last 12 months. They announced the match the day after last year's WrestleMania.
I cannot feel any sort of excitement over the prospect of any match featuring John Cena. And despite my feeling that The Rock will put in a grand performance even though he's being absent from the ring for almost a decade, this match is a piss break for me.
What is interesting though, is the traditional feature of The Undertaker defending his "streak" which currently stands at 19-0.
Whilst it's clear to anyone who still follows wrestling, that Taker's appearances over the past 12 months have been rarer than rocking horse shit, indicating that his competetive days are drawing to a close, this match still captures my imagination.
Once again pitting The Cerebral Assassin, Triple H against the big man, in a rematch from last year's big show, which saw HHH on the losing end of the decision and the streak continue. The selling point for this match however, is the decision to hold it inside Hell In A Cell. Clearly designed to mask Taker's latter day limitations, it holds the double advantage of appearing to be far more brutal than it actually will be, giving the potential for a feud-ending bloodbath - something that has sorely been lacking in the recent PG-era shows put on by Titan Towers.
Years ago, when bloodbath's were ten-a-penny, they no longer held the power to shock, so when there is one these days, it's all the more reason to gasp at what you are seeing.
Also on the bill, and testament to both men's extremely hard work, dues paid and not a little bit of compromise to the "WWE style" of wrestling, we see former ROH heroes CM Punk and Daniel Bryan defending their respective world titles against credible opponents.
Bryan - formerly "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson in the indies - defends his World Heavyweight Championship - ie the "Big Gold Belt" that Ric Flair famously brought over from WCW in the early nineties, previously worn by the likes of Sting, Goldberg, Ron Simmons, Booker T and Flair himself. He defends against Sheamus, who has impressed me no end since I first saw him wrestling on indie shows as Sheamus O'Shaunessy, and has gone from strength to strength in WWE, adapting to their way of doing things without sacrificing his Celtic intesity and true "big man" power. This should be a great match that I can see Bryan retaining, and continuing his recent run of great escapes, legal or not.
Potentially match of the night though, and the one I am most excited about is where Punk defends the WWE Championship - ie the one Hogan lost to Warrior 22 years ago, also worn by the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold and The Rock - against possibly the man second only to Shawn Michaels as far as in-ring reliability goes in WWE, Chris Jericho.
There's brilliant chemistry between the two, and I fully expect this to outshine last year's "match of the year series" involving Punk and Cena. Jerich has never let me down in over 15 years, and neither has Punk for that matter. This should be a five star match easily.
These two title matches somewhat remind me of when Eddie Guererro and Chris Benoit both emerged victorious on the same night at WrestleMania 20, which was great validation for these two "non WWE" products, and one of the few genuinely emotional moments in WrestleMania history.
Such a shame that these two great careers would be snuffed out in two very different tragedies several years later.
The rest of the card is pretty much MEH..., but could yet yield some gems, with Cody Rhodes all set to drop the IC title to The Big Show, thus breaking his 'Mania duck, and Randy Orton in a puzzling feud match with Kane.
To round things out we have a women's match, and a 12 man comedy tag match featuring mid carders ranging from Drew McIntyre, Santino, Kofi Kingston (who is fucking bland beyond belief) and R-Truth, to former world champions in The Miz, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger.
What I do find strange though, is the inclusion of Dolph Ziggler, who for my money is head and shoulders above the rest of the men in this match, in terms of athleticism, charisma and most of all potential. I see him as the modern day equivalent of such greats as Jake Roberts or Rick Rude, or even Shawn Michaels himself. If he looks after himself and toes the company line, I can see Ziggler still with the company in another 15 to 20 years, with a distingushed and legendary career behind him.
He sorely needs to kick Vicki Guererro to the kerb though, in order to progress.
So, I always watch WrestleMania, regardless of how shit their programming has been up to that point, and it rarely fails to deliver. The only thing I would say is that WWE dropped the ball by announcing the main event a year in advance, as this has plodded on and on, and the interest for me has waned significantly, mainly due to my apathy of John Cena.
Anyone else planning to watch?
I cannot feel any sort of excitement over the prospect of any match featuring John Cena. And despite my feeling that The Rock will put in a grand performance even though he's being absent from the ring for almost a decade, this match is a piss break for me.
What is interesting though, is the traditional feature of The Undertaker defending his "streak" which currently stands at 19-0.
Whilst it's clear to anyone who still follows wrestling, that Taker's appearances over the past 12 months have been rarer than rocking horse shit, indicating that his competetive days are drawing to a close, this match still captures my imagination.
Once again pitting The Cerebral Assassin, Triple H against the big man, in a rematch from last year's big show, which saw HHH on the losing end of the decision and the streak continue. The selling point for this match however, is the decision to hold it inside Hell In A Cell. Clearly designed to mask Taker's latter day limitations, it holds the double advantage of appearing to be far more brutal than it actually will be, giving the potential for a feud-ending bloodbath - something that has sorely been lacking in the recent PG-era shows put on by Titan Towers.
Years ago, when bloodbath's were ten-a-penny, they no longer held the power to shock, so when there is one these days, it's all the more reason to gasp at what you are seeing.
Also on the bill, and testament to both men's extremely hard work, dues paid and not a little bit of compromise to the "WWE style" of wrestling, we see former ROH heroes CM Punk and Daniel Bryan defending their respective world titles against credible opponents.
Bryan - formerly "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson in the indies - defends his World Heavyweight Championship - ie the "Big Gold Belt" that Ric Flair famously brought over from WCW in the early nineties, previously worn by the likes of Sting, Goldberg, Ron Simmons, Booker T and Flair himself. He defends against Sheamus, who has impressed me no end since I first saw him wrestling on indie shows as Sheamus O'Shaunessy, and has gone from strength to strength in WWE, adapting to their way of doing things without sacrificing his Celtic intesity and true "big man" power. This should be a great match that I can see Bryan retaining, and continuing his recent run of great escapes, legal or not.
Potentially match of the night though, and the one I am most excited about is where Punk defends the WWE Championship - ie the one Hogan lost to Warrior 22 years ago, also worn by the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold and The Rock - against possibly the man second only to Shawn Michaels as far as in-ring reliability goes in WWE, Chris Jericho.
There's brilliant chemistry between the two, and I fully expect this to outshine last year's "match of the year series" involving Punk and Cena. Jerich has never let me down in over 15 years, and neither has Punk for that matter. This should be a five star match easily.
These two title matches somewhat remind me of when Eddie Guererro and Chris Benoit both emerged victorious on the same night at WrestleMania 20, which was great validation for these two "non WWE" products, and one of the few genuinely emotional moments in WrestleMania history.
Such a shame that these two great careers would be snuffed out in two very different tragedies several years later.
The rest of the card is pretty much MEH..., but could yet yield some gems, with Cody Rhodes all set to drop the IC title to The Big Show, thus breaking his 'Mania duck, and Randy Orton in a puzzling feud match with Kane.
To round things out we have a women's match, and a 12 man comedy tag match featuring mid carders ranging from Drew McIntyre, Santino, Kofi Kingston (who is fucking bland beyond belief) and R-Truth, to former world champions in The Miz, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger.
What I do find strange though, is the inclusion of Dolph Ziggler, who for my money is head and shoulders above the rest of the men in this match, in terms of athleticism, charisma and most of all potential. I see him as the modern day equivalent of such greats as Jake Roberts or Rick Rude, or even Shawn Michaels himself. If he looks after himself and toes the company line, I can see Ziggler still with the company in another 15 to 20 years, with a distingushed and legendary career behind him.
He sorely needs to kick Vicki Guererro to the kerb though, in order to progress.
So, I always watch WrestleMania, regardless of how shit their programming has been up to that point, and it rarely fails to deliver. The only thing I would say is that WWE dropped the ball by announcing the main event a year in advance, as this has plodded on and on, and the interest for me has waned significantly, mainly due to my apathy of John Cena.
Anyone else planning to watch?
