With Wrestlemania 28 less than 24 hours away, I’m ready to officially list my predictions for the big night.
Wrestlemania 28 starts off with a WWE.com-YouTube live streaming triple threat tag team match.
Triple Threat Tag Team Championship match -
Primo and Epico (c) vs. The Usos vs. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd –
The tag team division is dying a slow death, we all know this, but Primo and Epico and The Usos are legit tag teams. They need to be given a real spotlight to shine under. Because those two teams are legit teams, I really don’t mind the titles going to either one. I’m leaning towards The Usos, given the fact they are inducting the late, great Yokozuna into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. This is a great opportunity to give them the titles and give these three teams and let them all chase after each other. Sometime down the road, it might be a good idea to put the straps on the crazy-popular Justin Gabriel, but for tomorrow night – give them to The Usos.
Prediction: The Usos
Kelly Kelly/Maria Menunos vs. Beth Phoenix/Eve –
Again, I’m really disappointed to see a celebrity has taken a slot from one of the other Divas who, despite their ability (or lack thereof), has been busting their bedazzled butts all year for this opportunity. Though I understand that WWE higher-ups want that big celebrity name, couldn’t Maria Menunos have been an enforcer, or simply just accompanied the faces to the ring. She could have gotten a few shots in for good measure, of course. Anyway… the faces are winning. Maybe this will lead to something bigger down the road for the other combatants.
Prediction: Kelly Kelly & Maria Menunos
Randy Orton vs. Kane –
This match was pretty much just thrown together for no real reason other than the fact that these two guys had nothing planned for Wrestlemania. That said though, I think they’ll pull off a decent match. Personally, I’ve not invested too much into it because it lacked so much story for me. This match could have been sanctioned No-DQ, but with the Hell in a Cell, it would have just been a frivolous stipulation. I expect Orton and Kane will open the show, or maybe be second on the card. I’d like to see Kane get the win here, his little feud with Cena earlier this year though, pretty much wiped him out of whatever momentum he had since his return though, so it could easily go to Orton.
Prediction: Randy Orton
Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny –
With the sole control of Raw AND Smackdown! on the line, i’m calling this a Team Johnny victory. John Laurinitis has proven over the past few months that he is now the guy the fans love to hate. Theodore Long has just about run his course as Smackdown! GM, and with the new Raw Supershow, the need for two GMs is fading quickly. With guys like Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz on his team, I’m hoping a Team Johnny win also means some pushes for these guys who could really benefit from it. Dolph Ziggler, though he has lost some slight momentum, is ready to be headlining pay-per-views and maybe this is when we get to finally see some changes. Hopefully.
Prediction: Team Johnny
Intercontinental Championship match
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. The Big Show –
For over a year now, I’ve been so incredibly high on Cody Rhodes. His match against Rey Mysterio last year was one of my favorites. I think he’s proven his dedication to his character and has allowed himself to progress within it, rather than settle and become complacent. I’m almost completely disappointed in this match up; Big Show is a gifted athlete, no doubt about it, but it’s silly to think that he could give Cody Rhodes a real match. I think it would have been to the benefit of everyone to have gone with Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust, and stuck Big Show on Team Teddy. Given how much abuse Big Show has taken over the past couple of weeks, I think it’s a strong possibility that he will get the win over Cody. I’m hoping Cody can pull out a clean victory, I think he deserves it. I’ll gladly take a DQ win as well. Not sure which way this will go.
Prediction: Undecided — I will give an official prediction just before the match starts tomorrow night (follow me on Twitter for live updates and commentary)
World Heavyweight Championship match
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus –
One of my biggest complaints going into Wrestlemania tomorrow is that WWE Creative just could not properly balance all of their main events. Of course, Rock vs. Cena got the most build up, which was expected. ‘Taker-Trips III came in second with the most dedicated story time, further out is Punk-Jericho and way, way, WAY out in fourth place was Daniel Bryan-Sheamus. I really don’t think WWE Creative cared too much about this match. They stuck them in a few tag matches, let them beat each other up a time or two, but I think they were more interested in building Daniel Bryan and AJ’s storyline. It’s a real shame, these two got booted from last year’s Wrestlemania and now had the opportunity to really show WWE higher-ups what a mistake that was. It’ll be a good match nonetheless, but a real shame they weren’t given enough time to really build themselves up. By the looks of it, I’m saying Sheamus gets the win. He’ll either get the title in the process, or he’ll win by DQ because some AJ-antics.
Prediction: Sheamus
WWE Championship match
CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho –
The battle of the best in the world really didn’t meet my expectations the way I thought it would have. Two gifted in-ring performers, two talented pipe bombers, and two incredibly over stars, but everything just fell flat for me, starting with Chris Jericho’s “end of the world as we know it” vignettes. There has been such a disconnect between his return and those videos, aside from the couple of times he’s actually said the phrase. I don’t get it, and apparently neither did Creative, so they’ve seemingly ignored the disconnect. Now, the past few weeks have been a little bit more interesting with these two, but with all this talk about Punk’s family, he has yet to drop a single bomb on Jericho. I like the limited physicality between them, but I wanted more from them. I’m a little torn for a winner, but I want to side with Punk on this one, I think I may be wrong though and we’ll see Jericho win. Either way, I hope this continues so that I can feel satisfied storyline-wise.
Prediction: Chris Jericho
Hell in a Cell w/Special Guest referee Shawn Michaels
The Undertaker vs. Triple H –
Nearly 15 years ago, Shawn Michaels put on a referee shirt to officiate a match against Bret Hart and The Undertaker at SummerSlam. In that match, Shawn Michaels cost The Undertaker the WWF Championship. As a result, The Undertaker met Shawn Michaels in the first ever Hell in a Cell match at In Your House: Badd Blood. Fast forward 15 years, Triple H seeks retribution and immortality over The Undertaker, who just two years ago retired Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 26. While I already have my pick to win, I have no doubt that ‘Taker and Trips will put on a phenomenal Hell in a Cell match. This match is dubbed “the end of an era” and rightfully so. When Triple H spoke about the two of them being the last of their kind, he was right. They are the last of that era that was full of attitude. I’m one of the few fans who don’t want to being back guys from the 90s and remake the Attitude Era. It was a great time, but there has to be progression. The Undertaker and Triple H were two of the guys who could handle that change and succeed beyond it. They’ve both accomplished so much, but we’ll only get them for so much longer. The Undertaker vs. Triple H really is the last of an era; they’ll go out and give one hell of a match and in the end… 20-0.
Prediction: The Undertaker, 20-0
John Cena vs. The Rock –
The night after Wrestlemania 27, we got our main event for this year; truly one for the ages – John Cena vs. The Rock.
The Rock was to wrestling what Hulk Hogan was, likewise, John Cena is to wrestling what The Rock was. Like so many others, I am a bitter Rock fan who felt he left when he was needed the most, while John Cena was the flag bearer when it wasn’t too cool to be a wrestler (or wrestling fan). While I usually invest the most into the storyline and build up of a match, as great as WWE Creative wanted this build up to be, I don’t think this particular match will need to rely on that. It’s Rock vs. Cena, a wrestling fan and Attitude Era mark’s dream match. On one side, you have Team Bring It, on the other CeNation. There’s respect for both of these guys and the things they’ve done, but I am 100% CeNation on Sunday. There’s no reason for Rock to win tomorrow. Stone Cold officially passed the torch (well, beer can) to Cena, it’s time Rock did the same. Love to hate him, hate to love him, or indifferent to him, John Cena is the guy right now and has been for a long time, so I really want to think that he’ll get a clean win over Rock.
There’s definitely some personal feelings going into this match from both men, which will only make the match that much greater. They’ll put in everything they have to make it a great match, and I also like to think that that’s what this entire match is about for them both – two of the biggest Superstars, just putting on a big match on the biggest stage of them all.
Prediction: John Cena (CeNation & wrestling fans)
It’s gonna be a good show, guys. Don’t be so uptight, I’m going to try not to be, let’s enjoy it.
– Lucha Lucy
