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Columns & Editorials WRESTLEMANIA 24 PREVIEW
Columns & Editorials WRESTLEMANIA 24 PREVIEW| WRESTLEMANIA 24 PREVIEW |
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| Written by Steve Ashfield | ||||
| Saturday, 29 March 2008 22:00 | ||||
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WRESTLEMANIA 24 PREVIEW BY STEVE ASHFIELD For a full 88 page mag previewing Wrestlemania, paying tribute to the inductees in this year's WWE Hall of Fame and over 60 pages of news from around the world go to www.piledriver- Career Threatening Match Ric Flair v Shawn Michaels All good things have to come to an end eventually and it looks as if the in-ring career of Ric Flair may be about to finally be concluded. Mind you, we've been saying that for the past thirty years and nobody would be surprised if Ric Flair stepped into the ring again even if he did lose this Sunday. A plane crash couldn't end Flair's career but could Shawn Michaels be the one to do it? Rumours of Flair finally retiring from the ring had been rife for a long time before he finally came to the ring on Raw in his hometown of Charlotte on November 26th and made a statement about those rumours. Fans may have thought this was the moment when he would finally bring the curtain down on his career but that was not what he had in mind. Flair thanked his fans from all over the world and admitted that his career couldn't last forever. Was this the big moment? Not quite, Flair compared himself to Cal Ripkin and Brett Farve and declared "I will never retire." Only when he's dead in the ring will he retire because he still loves the business. However, Mr McMahon wasn't too happy at this piece of news and told Flair that he can go on forever if he wants too but only if he keeps winning his matches, the moment he loses his career is over. Later that night Flair had to beat WWE Champion Randy Orton to keep his career alive which thanks to interference by Chris Jericho, he managed to do. Since then Flair has gone to the ring for every match knowing it could be his last. Triple H, William Regal, MVP, Mr Kennedy and even Mr McMahon himself have tried to end his career but all have failed. So who could beat Flair? On the February 18th edition of Raw, Shawn Michaels came to the ring and revealed one of the worst-kept secrets of the year. The day before Wrestlemania 24 Ric Flair would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The following week Flair asked Michaels to be his opponent at Wrestlemania but initially HBK was reluctant to accept the offer. Flair wasn't going to give up and finally Michaels agreed. The following weeks saw Michaels still uncomfortable with the match-up as he wasn't that keen on being known as the man who ended Ric Flair's career should he win at Wrestlemania. For Flair it was all about respect, the last thing he wanted was sympathy but after Shawn Michaels interfered in Flair's Street Fight with Mr McMahon on Raw, Flair was furious. On the last Raw before Wrestlemania, Flair confronted Michaels in the ring about his unwanted interference in his match with Mr McMahon and told him he'd lost his respect for Michaels. HBK recalled the story of Old Yeller and told Flair how he'd put him out of his misery on Sunday. The atmosphere between the two had totally changed and Flair slapped Michaels twice across the face and asked Michaels if he was kidding him. Michaels again told Flair he'd be putting him out of his misery at Wrestlemania and left the ring, turning back to take one last look at an angry Flair who was staring intently at the man he used to respect. So what's going to happen? Well, by the time Flair enters the ring he'll be a member of the WWE Hall of Fame but that doesn't necessarily mean he has to retire. He still has a WWE contract for a while to come and although most likely he'll end up as an ambassador or a General Manager, even if he loses to Michaels on Sunday it'll mean just one thing. Time to start up that chant "One More Match!" because face it, wrestlers never really retire do they? WWE Title Randy Orton (Champion) v John Cena v Triple H Randy Orton's second title reign has certainly been more impressive than his first but he still seems to lack something. An ongoing feud with Triple H didn't really materialise after Orton won the belt at 'No Mercy' last year and the Jeff Hardy feud didn't even see a rematch after their battle at the Royal Rumble. Finding a challenger for the title at Wrestlemania has become rather predictable in recent years but that's not quite been the case in 2008. With John Cena out injured it appeared that his role at this years big card would be restricted to perhaps a guest referee or enforcer spot. WWE always these days seems lacking in general surprises but at the Royal Rumble that all went out of the window. In the match that would determine a title challenger at Wrestlemania nobody expected the injured Cena to come out at number 30 and go on to win the match ensuring another title shot. The shocks continued when Cena announced that he wanted his title shot to be against Orton at 'No Way Out' rather than Wrestlemania which made the whole Rumble match rather pointless really. The champion ensured that he was disqualified in the title match at the PPV thus ensuring that Cena was again out of the title picture and it would be Triple H, winner of the Raw Elimination Chamber match who would take his place in the main event. That soon changed though and after beating Randy Orton in a non-title match the following night on Raw (with Triple H as ref), a triple threat for the title was confirmed for Orlando. Since then it's all been rather predictable really. Each wrestler takes their turn to land their finishing move on each other interfering in matches without ever really getting disciplined for it. Each wrestler has had a turn at being GM on Raw making life as difficult for their opponents as possible and tension between the three has risen to a decent level but never really off the scale to be honest So who's going to win? A title change does look likely and if that's the case then it must be Triple H who gets a run with the belt as Cena has filming commitments coming up shortly. The last time Trips won the belt (at 'No Mercy' last year) he didn't manage to get to the end of the show before losing it. With Mr Kennedy threatening to cash in his title shot if he were to again win the MITB ladder match, could history repeat itself again? World Heavyweight Title Edge v The Undertaker Full circle is reached this weekend when The Undertaker finds himself in the same situation as he did last year as he puts up his winning streak against the prospect of again becoming World Heavyweight Champion. Last year The Undertaker defeated Batista and a long run with the title looked likely until injury struck and the title passed to Edge who had managed to get the MITB title shot away from the injured Mr Kennedy earlier that week. So another title reign began for Edge but again it was to be a short reign as injury caused him to have to forfeit the title. Injury robbed us of The Undertaker and Edge and we somehow ended up with The Great Khali as champion! After Batista finally got the title back (he had another PPV title chances to be honest), Edge returned to win the title back at 'Armageddon' thanks to the emergence of the Edge Heads (formerly the Major brothers) and Edge was back at the top of the tree on Smackdown. Thankfully for him this one hasn't been cut short by injury or a willingness by WWE to just use him as a stepping stone between one title holder and another they think can do a better job. He hasn't just allied himself with the Edge Heads but he's fallen in love with Vickie Guerrero too which hasn't gone down brilliantly with fans but helped him build a power base in WWE now made even stronger by his friendship with ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero. Title defences have been restricted to matches against Rey Mysterio at the Rumble and 'No Way Out' but at the February PPV he discovered just who he'd be facing this weekend and he can't have been all that happy. The Undertaker won the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match to earn himself another World Heavyweight title shot at the PPV he's dominated for over a decade. At 15-0 nobody comes close though I can think of someone who's also never lost a one-on-one match at Wrestlemania and that's Edge whose only taste of defeat has been in the MITB ladder match. Since The Undertaker won that match at 'No Mercy' to clinch his title shot the Edgeheads have mainly felt the pain of a former champion eager to get his belt back. Mock funerals by Edge and the usual chilling messages from The Undertaker have been the order of the day. So who's going to win? Well, I'd hate to see Undi lose his winning streak but of course he could always win by DQ and keep that while Edge holds onto the belt? Will that happen? With so many allies that is a distinct possibility but after his short-lived reign Undi deserves another chance to have one last decent run with the belt with Umaga as a possible challenger for the summer if the rumour-mill is to be believed. As for Edge, a move back to Raw wouldn't be a bad idea once he falls out Vickie and Chavo. Oh and of course there's the chance that Mr Kennedy might just do what he's promised to do though I feel that's unlikely. ECW Title Chavo Guerrero v ????? Well at least the ECW title gets defended on the PPV which is more than can be said for five other titles in the company. Who gets the shot depends on who wins the 24-man Battle Royal that can be seen before the show on wwe.com Likely opponents are Big Daddy V, Kane, The Great Khali and Tommy Dreamer. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Mr Kennedy v Chris Jericho v MVP v CM Punk v Carlito v John Morrison v Shelton Benjamin While all focus is on this weekends events, this match takes a peek into the future well beyond the end of this show or does it? The winner gets a guaranteed shot at either the WWE or World Heavyweight title and since it began, only one person who has held that magic briefcase has failed to go on and win the title. Edge used his to snatch the WWE title from John Cena at 'New Year's Revolution', RVD used it to dethrone Cena at 'One Night Stand II' but last year it all became a little bit complicated. Mr Kennedy won a great match but then was goaded into putting his title shot up for grabs by Edge who managed to take it away from him and use it to beat The Undertaker later that week. That was all down to the injury that Mr Kennedy had of course but no one will enter the ring this weekend more determined to win this match. In fact he's already promised that should he win the match and get that title shot he'll cash it in the same night taking advantage of tired and injured opponents just as Edge did against Cena and Undi. That's a possibility I suppose and it'd certainly shake up the title scene in WWE if he went on to win the title but he has to win the match first. Chris Jericho hasn't quite been the saviour that has rescued WWE since his return last year and he's lucky really to enter this match as IC Champ after the recent Jeff Hardy problems. Again the IC Title isn't being defended on the biggest show of the year which is a major disappointment. He failed to win the Elimination Chamber match at 'No Way Out' so here's another chance to land a shot at one of the major titles in WWE and he has to go into this match as one of the favourites, if not the favourite. He has a decent reputation in ladder matches and a potential feud with Triple H wouldn't be that bad for business. MVP remains US Champ, another title not being defended. You know this would be an even more important match if Jericho and MVP's titles were at stake and the match was fought under elimination rules until the final two make it a ladder match. Eliminate a champ and you get their title or at least a title shot, kind of like the Battle Royal in IPW:UK. Anyway back to the reality we have and MVP hasn't done too bad in recent months though he's had a few defeats too many to Batista to really give him momentum. I'm not sure he's really ready just yet to climb to the next level. CM Punk finally lost his ECW title to Chavo Guerrero earlier this year after a series of matches and I'm not quite sure what lies ahead for him next. There's still a few backstage problems so a shot at a major title isn't that likely to be honest. It'll be good to see him square off again against Morrison and a resurrection of that feud would be no bad thing. Morrison hasn't been that active in the singles ranks since his suspension and loss of the ECW Title. He's more likely to end up feuding with his tag partner 'The Miz' (oh of course their tag titles aren't on the line this weekend) than be put in the title picture again. Shelton Benjamin is basically in this match because we know he'll come up with some crazy move that will get the fans gasping. He never seems to get the push he deserves and hasn't made the impact on ECW that was hoped. The inclusion of Carlito in this match is a bit of a surprise and there's no way he's going to win that is for sure. So who's going to win? Well I reckonit's between Kennedy and Jericho with the latter being my favourite. Boxer v Wrestler: Floyd Mayweather v The Big Show There's no title at stake but this is the match that WWE are pinning their hopes on to break last years record PPV buy rate. It's a case of reaching out of the WWE fan base and tapping into others by introducing Mayweather and going totally over the top in a media frenzy. Apparently Mayweather is getting paid $20m for his appearance (I wonder how much Ricky Hatton is getting for his next bout?) so this had better work. It was at 'No Way Out' that The Big Show finally returned to WWE after time off to heal from his many injuries and a failed attempt to launch a career in boxing. It all seemed to be fairly standard stuff as he came out after the Edge v Mysterio title match and picked on the tiny Mexican as he had in the past. However, the scenario had already been set early on in the PPV that Mysterio had a supporter in the shape of World Welterweight Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather. After his attack on Mysterio, Big Show taunted Mayweather who was at ringside and eventually the plucky welterweight stepped into the ring to confront The Big Show, Show got on his knees to give Mayweather a chance to hit him and that's exactly what he did leaving him with a bloody nose. As Big Show lost his temper Shane McMahon was left to deal with him and he wasn't all that happy but his dad will be if this pays off. A still angry Big Show challenged Mayweather to a match at WM 24 and unbelievably he accepted the challenge. Cue more brawls between the two sides possees and Shane McMahon getting knocked to the ground. Apparently Mayweather has injured an elbow and a less than 100% Mayweather faces an enormous task this Sunday. Big Show has a terrible record at this PPV with his only success being a successful tag title defence with Kane against Carlito and Chris Masters two years ago. Every time he's been in singles matches he's lost and he couldn't even beat The Undertaker when he also had A-Train with him (ok that's not that shocking). So who's going to win? Well Floyd Mayweather's bank balance is a sure winner, WWE's buy rate hopefully but predicting the result of this match is almost impossible. Finlay v JBL Hurting a child is never acceptable but when you do it to the son of a wrestler you really must be insane. We first met Hornswoggle when he was simply known as 'the little bastard' who would appear from underneath the ring to help Finlay in his matches. However that all changed last year as it was revealed that Hornswoggle was in fact the bastard son of Mr McMahon. That totally changed his life and not exactly for the better as Mr McMahon was hoping for his son to be someone a bit stronger and to be honest, taller. His 'father' made his life a misery but throughout battles with The Great Khali and anyone else McMahon threw at him, he had Finlay by his side even if Mr McMahon wasn't always that happy at the way he protected his son. McMahon's feud with Hornswoggle culminated in a steel cage match on Raw that saw Finlay cuffed to the ropes as McMahon and JBL attacked Hornswoggle so viciously he sustained head injuries that have prevented him returning to the ring since. He even got attacked by JBL in hospital but you see the returning former WWE Champion knew something that not even Mr McMahon did. The whole idea of Hornswoggle being the son of Mr McMahon was a ruse thought up by the rest of the McMahon family. That wasn't all though, the real father of Hornswoggle was none other than Finlay. Desperate for revenge against JBL, Finlay has challenged him to the kind of match he knows best, a Belfast Brawl. I wouldn't like to be in JBL's boots this weekend that's for sure. So who's going to win? I go for Finlay to get his revenge and a surprise return from Hornswoggle to be a deciding factor. Umaga v Batista Two wrestlers who probably deserve a better slot on the show. Trouble is Batista has had far too many shots at the World Title and the absence of the US title being defended hurts him which is strange considering the number of times he's faced MVP recently. As for Umaga, it's a big step down from his match with Lashley last year but this appears to be a stepping stone for the Samoan and at least it's a fresh match. Eager to get one over her counterpart on Raw, Vickie Guerrero told Raw GM that she wanted to have an inter-brand match at WrestleMania and that's how we got this match. Rumours persist that Umaga is on his way to Smackdown post Wrestlemania and after he's dealt with Batista a feud with The Undertaker beckons. So who's going to win? Well, a dodgy finish looks possible ensuring that Umaga makes his way over to Smackdown. I go for a Umaga win leaving Batista fuming. Bunnymania LumberJack match: Maria and Ashley v Beth Phoenix and Melina Another year and another Diva in Playboy. It always causes problems in WWE of course because the others simply can't stand the attention.that whoever it is who get their kit off in the mag receives. It's also not that easy when there's a boyfriend involved and Santino Marella wasn't exactly thrilled at the news that his girlfriend would be in Playboy. He gave her an ultimatum, Playboy or him. Not the hardest of decisions even for someone as dumb as Maria. Marella was dumped but in no way out of her life and Maria has needed the help of Jerry Lawler and the returning Candice Michelle to help her in recent weeks as Women's Champion Beth Phoenix (another title not being defended) and Melina helped make her life a misery. This was due to be Maria and Candice Michelle in the ring but sadly Candice re-injured her left clavicle on Raw and has been replaced by last year's Playboy Girl Ashley. So who's going to win? Well, there's no title at stake so I go for Maria to get the win.
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