Wrestlemania Week, Day Two: My Wrestlemania experience

As part of my quest to give you a blog each day before Wrestlemania 27, I thought that today I would give you my story of the only Wrestlemania that I have seen in person.......so far.

If you have stumbled across this blog by accident, a quick catch up on who I am. I am currently the lead wrestling writer for top UK newspaper The Sun's website. I have been writing for the site for around five years, and started under the stewardship of Simon Rothstein, the Wrestling editor, who now works in PR for TNA.

Simon got to visit many Wrestlemanias, and was expected to go to the 25th incarnation of the Sports Entertainment phenomenon in 2009. However, he was invited to TNA Lockdown, which is typically scheduled near Mania, and could not justify a second trip to the States in a short space of time. I had been with Simon to TNA Bound for Glory the previous October, and was delighted when he said that I could attend Mania in his place.

Wrestlemania took place that year in Houston, Texas. I was delighted to learn when my travel details arrived that Joel Ross was also attended. For the uninitiated, Joel is one half of TV and radio duo JK and Joel. These days he is my co-host on The Sun's Wrestlecast, but this was long before I took Simon's place on that show. I had met Joel and his lovely girlfriend, Kat, on several occasions, so it was nice to know they would be attending, too.

Sadly, though, Joel inadvertently played a part in lessening my experience to a certain extent, though no blame ought to go to him or Simon, whose Wrestlecast with Ken Kennedy weeks before Mania hurt my trip from a work perspective.

Mr Kennedy - or Mr Anderson as he is now - joined the boys in the Wrestlecast studio and said one or two controversial things, as he is prone to doing. I like Ken; he's an interesting guy to chat to, and I've enjoyed meeting and interviewing him on several occasions, but he did say one or two things in that interview which were questionable, including some things about the Wellness Policy. Now if WWE don't like him saying that, then that's their issue to take up with Ken. As it was, they requested that The Sun edit out some of the more controversial statements. Simon - quite rightly, in my view - refused, and WWE prompted decided that we were to have our rights to interviews such as this taken away.

Of course, I stood by Simon's editorial decision. Not out of loyalty, but because I felt it was correct. However, this did me no favours. I was now travelling to Houston and staying in a very nice hotel on WWE's buck, but they were not allowing me any interviews while I was there. I don't really understand to this day why they did not pull the plug on my visit entirely. It would have saved them a few quid. Anyway, I'm not complaining.

I met Joel and Kat at Heathrow on the Thursday and we headed to Texas. I was delighted that my seat with my requested extra legroom was nice and roomy - but my TV didn't work. Thanks British Airways. They told me I could claim compensation. I never did get any money for that.

We arrived in Houston to blistering sunshine (I've spent just under three weeks in America, and I've yet to see it rain) and found Houston to be...........well, rubbish frankly. It's a bit of an urban, nondescript functional entity, really. However, I found my hotel to be very nice (The Hilton, if you must ask.) and noted it was directly opposite the arena for Raw and adjacent to the convention center where Ring of Honor and a Booker T wrestling convention were situated. After a pleasant evening where I was taken to dinner by our PR, along with a couple of guys from Sky Sports, Thursday was over. Mania weekend started in earnest on the Friday.

I met up with my good friends Richard and Matt Parr, who had traveled over as fans for the show. (Matt is a brilliant magician - http://www.mattparro.com/ - and would occasionally, during the weekend, entertain us all with close up tricks) Together we went into the Booker T convention, taking in some of the stands inside and watching as some great names from wrestling's past signed autographs and interacted with fans and each other. The atmosphere was great, and it was clear that Mania fever was in the air.

It was here that I met James Caldwell for the first time. James is the assistant editor of the Pro Wrestling Torch site (http://www.pwtorch.com/), a good writer, a great wrestling mind and most importantly a really nice guy. Now this meeting happened to be two media guys, but it does encapsulate the great thing about Wrestlemania in that you know that literally thousands of people are in close proximity being wrestling fans. There is a actually a liberating feeling about being able to express yourself as a true fan, sometimes. I'm sure many of you find in life that you aren't able to truly talk passionately about wrestling lest someone looks down on you or, perhaps worse, laughs at you. Here, it was total freedom. James and I spent a great while talking about all facets of wrestling, and have kept in regular touch since. I've been fortunate enough to participate in the PWTorch Livecast, an excellent radio call-in show, twice as a guest host. It's a great site.

Convention over with, Rich, Matt and I wandered upstairs to where Ring Of Honor was being held that night. Sadly I never got to see either of the ROH shows held that weekend due to scheduling conflicts, but the guys that did go gave the shows rave reviews. Perhaps my only regret of that weekend is that I didn't go to ROH instead of Axxess (we'll come to that).

We met Bryan Danielson as he was arriving at the building, and had a brief chat. He was very friendly, although didn't remember meeting me a few months previous. I mean, we were drinking together in a cricket club in Wolverhampton for goodness sakes. Who forgets nights in glamourous surroundings like that?? I also had a chat with D-Lo Brown, who I'd met previously when he was working with British fed VPW and was booked with ROH that week. D-Lo is a class act, and I've encountered him many times since in his capacity with TNA. A real gent.

Friday night saw a media dinner at the very swanky House of Blues establishment. As we were leaving our hotel in a convoy, a familiar face appeared at the front of our group. Think "Here comes the money" and you may have an idea of who I mean. It was of course Shane O Mac, and he showed, depending on your perspective, a sense of making young fans happy or a sense of seeing an opportunity in front of media folks as he dashed ahead of our group and chatted to a family or two emblazoned in WWE merchandise. I never got the chance to chat with Shane personally, but he seemed another class act throughout the evening.

On arrival in our exclusive bar, Joel and I asked advice on what WWE International head honcho Andrew Whittaker (nice guy, ridiculous slicked back haircut) was drinking. He called the beer "Dos Equis" (which I think means two horses) as the best beer, so Joel and I set about drinking the bar dry of it. (This was before I was Gluten Free, of course)

Now I can't remember what the topic of conversation was, but I know at some point I was talking to Joel and I mimed a headbutt. At exactly that moment, the beautiful Natalya (and she really is beautiful - TV doesn't do her justice) and Tyson Kidd approached us. They introduced themselves as Nattie and TJ, and we spoke with them informally for ten minutes or so. Nattie said she could tell I was British because of the headbutt. Flamin' cheek!

TJ was a little quiet, even shy, but Nattie was very sweet indeed. Could be a great interview someday. Carlito was also in attendance, but we never got to chat to him. Shane and other did short speeches thanking the international media, and then we ate. Well, we drank and there was some food around. I recall trying to eat prawns and forgetting to shell them. It was a good night.

On Saturday I did some of the less glamourous stuff which occurs on Mania weekend. In the morning I was at the finals of the Wrestlemania reading challenge, at which Layla, MVP, Mark Henry and Matt Hardy did their bit, and Linda McMahon was in attendance. I won't lie to you - the morning spent in the Houston Library for this event wasn't the most exciting I've ever had, but it was still cool to see kids (and parents actually) starstruck by some of their heroes, and learning at the same time. WWE get a lot of flak for certain things (sometimes by me, and sometimes quite rightly) but they do a lot of things which are for the betterment of their fans and society which they do no need to do.

In the afternoon, as a unit (which by then included then XFM DJ and now TV star in his own right Alex Zane) we went to Axxess. It was fine for what it was, but I'm not sure it was worth paying a great deal for. I've obviously got a nerve, because I didn't pay a penny, and maybe it's because I've always been a different type of fan, but I didn't find the selection of stalls (and the staggering hike in price of the food and beverages) all that interesting. There was quite a cool interview someone (Lillian I think) did with Randy Orton in a set up ring (they had some Velocity level matches in it) where he broke character a little, but on reflection I may have bunked off this and gone to ROH.

On Saturday evening we took our seats in the Toyota Center for the Hall of Fame. One of the first things that struck me was that the dress standards in the building was a little less than I would have liked. That might sound a bit stuffy, but TV's Joel Ross (I like calling him that), Kat and I had all popped on a whistle and flute or an appropriate dress (you can decide who wore what) for the occasion (Joel did buy the Stone Cold HOF shirt, though) and I liked the idea that it could feel like a formal occasion.

That aside, it was a nice night, seeing some major legends of wrestling (and Koko B Ware) inducted into the Hall, although the huge countdown clock did take some of the sheen off things, where you could see that certain talent were being forced to keep it briefer than they would have liked. That said, Michael Hayes, who was inducting The Von Erichs, did not seem all that concerned about time constraints!

The nicest thing about The Hall of Fame was that it made the whole Wrestlemania experience feel like a festival, or at least a multi-day event. It actually feels like part of Mania, and I love the tone of it, which is to acknowledge those that have (cliche time) paved the way for what Mania has become..........and Koko B Ware.

We left, on a snazzy luxurious coach (well, when I say "luxurious coach", I mean "luxurious mini-bus". And when I say "luxurious mini-bus", I of course mean "Mini-bus") for the Reliant Stadium at about 3pm on Sunday afternoon. While I don't wish to sound like a whiner - I have to keep reminding myself this was a freebie to Wrestlemania - we did spend about an hour just standing outside the stadium, and then a further hour or so sitting around inside a suite at the top of the building. It did lend itself to a funny story, though.

A room that we were hoarded into to begin with was rather nondescript, but soon someone discovered a door which led to a small box, which in turn looked onto the arena. In turns, many of us wandered into this box to look into the arena. A great many of the talents involved in Wrestlemania were preparing for their big night. It was an interesting insight.

However, fairly soon a WWE official caught some people (not me, I was well out of it) inside the room and demanded not only that they get out, but they show any pictures taken and delete them. Needless to say this was a tedious and unnecessary process. Talk about control freaks.

The media throng gradually increased as time wore on, and I'd say there were maybe a hundred journos assembled when we were introduced to first Nicole Scherzinger (she was singing America The Beautiful - and while she may be from the former, she isn't as close to the latter as you may think. She was 50% cardboard and 50% bitch. Ok, that's a bit harsh, but she was very dull and not at all attractive) and then the combo of Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Ok, that was pretty cool. I never got to ask any questions, though.

My seat for the event was a perfectly decent one, in the first balcony as I recall. Now I've been to many football matches with huge crowds, but this was an impressive sight. 72,000 people in a roofed stadium was phenomenal.

I don't need to recall the event for you. Needless to say it was a pleasure to be present to see Shawn Michaels v Undertaker. From the elaborate entrances to the match itself, it was compelling from bell to bell. When Taker flew over the top rope and landed on his head, I thought the match was over. More than once I bought a false finish. It was truly the best spectacle I've ever seen at a wrestling event.

I mentioned this in yesterday's entry, but there is just something about Wrestlemania that brings out the best in wresting crowds, and I found myself watching the crowd almost as often as the ring. A very special occasion.

On Monday, after breakfast/lunch at House of Blues, Joel and I decided that it was only right to explore the cultural history and architectural delights that Houston had to offer. About four minutes later we were in a pub which, I'm not kidding, must have had 400 taps on the wall. The beer menu was four pages of A4, in small writing. It was amazing - check it out. http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/houston/

After sampling plenty of the beers on offer - it would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?  - explaining Joel several times that the pink beer in the slim glass I bought him was a mistake (he drank it though) and beating him hollow on a golf arcade game, we stumbled in the direction of the hotel, which was the meeting point for Raw. A couple of swift bottles of Corona with some WWE suits later and we headed for the arena. After some dark matches, Lillian launched into a splendid rendition of the US National Anthem - so splendid that Joel and I joined in. Loudly. I thought we were bloody marvelous, offering harmony and dignity to the anthem. Apparently, others thought differently, as a WWE suit (Australian) told us to be quiet and show some respect. Even Kat told us to shut up.

Looking back now, I wonder if perhaps we were a little drunk. :-)

Raw was fun though. Batista's shock return was the headline of the night, but my enduring memory will be not only seeing Rick Steamboat and chanting for him (see yesterday for grammatical accuracy) but watching CM Punk and Jeff Hardy on the apron openly grinning and basically marking out for Ricky. A fantastic moment.

On Tuesday, we flew home, but not until late in the day. It gave us time to check out the massive mall on the edge of the city, and I gave an interview to The Fight Network's John Pollock from the windy car park, while Ross tried to put me off. Prick.

It was a tremendous experience, and I would very much hope to get the opportunity to be invited again someday soon. I will certainly envy those in Atlanta this weekend.

Booking a new megastar.

I look this time of year. The build up to Wrestlemania is probably my favourite time of year, and it tends to get not only Vince McMahon's creative juices flowing, but mine as well.

If you are anything like me, you will occasionally think of an idea which you genuinely think is the greatest idea of all time. Generally speaking, this happens to me about once a month, and about two days later the feeling wears off. Today, I feel like I have thought of a booking process to see WWE through the next SIX months and to create a massive superstar and an amazing feelgood moment. You might read the upcoming outline and think it's utter nonsense. I'm not saying it is perfect, but I do think it would make for great TV, and would make a certain man who is probably best described right now as an upper midcarder into a genuine top babyface.

Are you ready? Here we go.......

---

We start at the Royal Rumble, and the most important thing is that John Morrison is drawn number one. The announcers talk about the time this happened to Shawn Michaels, and Morrison lasts until the final four.

Triple H returns at the Rumble, and comes very close to winning, also getting to the final four. He eliminates Morrison, but is straightaway eliminated by Sheamus. Sheamus is beaten by Alberto Del Rio, who wins the Rumble (actually, it doesn't really matter to this storyline who wins the Rumble, but it ought to be someone on Smackdown.)

Morrison is lauded on Raw for his performance. He says he is inspired by Shawn Michaels constantly. Have the announcers compare him to Shawn Michaels for weeks on end, whilst Morrison wins a few matches on Raw. He is placed in the Elimination Chamber match.

Triple H's time is consumed by Sheamus, and they cost each other matches which would get them into the Chamber. The Raw Chamber match is Cena/Miz/Orton/Punk/Morrison and one other, perhaps Daniel Bryan or maybe Batista or Jericho should they return. Morrison is in the match first, and is the last one beaten. For argument's sake, lets say Orton wins the title, but like Del Rio at the Rumble, this individual doesn't matter. Meanwhile, Triple H wrestles and beats Sheamus, getting his revenge.

Triple H declares that he is going after Undertaker, and wants to be the man to end the streak. He is inspired by how close his best friend Shawn Michaels got. Taker accepts the challenge. Michaels makes a special appearance on Raw to give his friend a pep talk. While he is there he chats to Morrison, and puts over how great he is. There is friction at the show between Michaels and Taker, and Shawn is booked as Special Guest Referee.

Morrison is placed in Money in the Bank, and wins it. Triple H faces Taker, and Shawn calls it down the middle. Triple H pedigrees Taker, but can't beat him. He shapes to cheat, using a sledgehammer, but Shawn stops him. Taker grabs him, hits a tombstone and wins.

Triple H sells huge shock as Taker leaves. Michaels consoles Hunter, but HHH turns viciously on Shawn, laying him out with a series of sledgehammer shots and a pedigree. Taker runs Hunter off, but Michaels is seriously hurt.

On Raw, Triple H cuts a hateful promo on Michaels, whining and blaming him for holding him back, hogging the limelight. "Even when it was my moment, it was me and Taker, you had to get involved and steal my spotlight". Morrison hits the ring and Triple H scarpers. Morrison is furious, and vows to avenge Michaels.

We do Morrison v Triple H at Extreme Rules (although in an ideal world this wouldn't be an Extreme Rules match) and Trips wins with a very liberal use of cheating, perhaps once again with a sledgehammer, or perhaps Morrison's own briefcase.

Morrison demands a rematch, but Triple H ducks it. Sheamus attacks Morrison, and aligns himself with Triple H. The Game says he admires Sheamus for being the only man as sadistic as Hunter himself is. Sheamus and Trips attack Morrison a couple of times, but Morrison gets saved the third time by Undertaker.

At Over the Limit we have Undertaker/Morrison v HHH/Sheamus. The heels win with Sheamus getting the pin on Taker. He uses this for ages to brag about beating The Undertaker.

Morrison has a match on Raw to qualify for the Fatal 4-Way main event, but loses due to interference by HHH/Sheamus. Triple H qualifies for the four way. Morrison wrestles Sheamus at the PPV and wins. Triple H just about wins the Four Way and wins the WWE title.

Morrison challenges Triple H the next night on Raw, and again Triple H refuses. Morrison teases using the briefcase on him, but Sheamus and Morrison viciously assault him. He is declared out of action indefinitely. Sheamus goes on a winning streak on Raw, annihilating people similar to when he debuted. Triple H defends his title against whomever was the previous champion (Orton?) at Money in the Bank PPV. The match closes the show, and after Hunter has won a gruelling contest, Morrison's music hits. It looks as though he will cash it in, but he takes the mic, says he is a man, and wants to do it fair and square. He wants Hunter at Summerslam.

Sheamus' bragging finally catches up with him, and he is beaten by Undertaker at Summerslam. Morrison and Triple H have an epic match, with Morrison coming agonisingly close to winning on several occasions. Sheamus capitalises on a distraction, and nails Morrison with a Brogue kick. Morrison kicks out. Gong sounds, Taker chases Sheamus away. Ref bump, suddenly HBK runs in. Sweet Chin music to Hunter, Morrison hits Starship Pain. The ref gets up, Morrison wins.

---

And there we have it. A programme keeping several of the top WWE stars occupied for the best part of seven months, culminating with a cracking match, a brilliant feelgood moment, surprise run-in and big title win for Morrison.

It ought to be remembered that Triple H has helped 'make' several superstars in the past, most recently and notably Jeff Hardy whilst on Smackdown. This would keep him relevant, give a rub to Sheamus and push Morrison to the very top. The fans would surely rally behind someone who is endorsed by both Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, and enjoy getting behind him in his quest for glory.

 

I think it would work........do you?

900 to 1

Next Monday, WWE celebrates the 900th edition on Monday Night Raw. Whether this is or isn't the exact 900th ep (their 800th one was a little off) and whether you like WWE or not, this is really is a marvelous achievement.

I was curious to see, though, how exactly the first show would be able to compare with the most recent offerings, so I got into to my high tech, patent pending McNichol Time Expander (a subsidiary of the McNichol Eliminator company) and went back to January 11th, to the Manhattan Center, for the first ever Monday Night Raw.

Here are my findings.......

So, we're ready for the first ever Monday Night Raw. And who will be the first ever guy we see on the Broadcast? Vince McMahon? Shawn Michaels? Bret Hart?

Nope, it's legendary announcer Sean Mooney. There's a trivia question to ask your friends. Mooney tells us it is cold in New York, but hot in the building. Or something. He stumbled over the word 'Elements', which was sort of funny because it came over a little bit like "elephants" - "braving the elephants" would have been a fun gimmick for the opening night.

Mooney is interrupted by Bobby Heenan trying to get into the building, but Mooney tells him Rob Bartlett is hosting. Who? I don't remember him at all. Wait, stop the tape, Google time.........

Wow, Bartlett hosted along with Vince and Savage for the first 3/4 months of the show. I genuinely have no recollection of the guy. Admittedly during this time we didn't get Raw in this country, but we were shown highlights on WWF Mania, with Todd Pettengill (ooh, I wonder if we'll get Pettengill, the poor man's Borash, on this show?)

Back to the tape, and Heenan is upset because he can't even buy a ticket. Nice (not very) subtle way of saying they are sold out.

After some dubious theme music - I think Raw have had some great theme tracks, but not this one - we hear the familiar "welcome everyone" of mid-90s Vince. He intros the show over a very annoying siren. I assume that's the fashion police come for Savage's garish gear and Bartlett's appalling sunglasses.

Bartlett does an Adamle, and tells us it's going to be Koko B Ware v YokozuMa. Not Jeff Harvey then? Actually Adamle did his faux pas in MSG, so maybe it's a New York thing.

Sure enough, here is Koko, quite oddly to Owen Hart's music. I always think of Bird Bird Bird and Piledriver when it comes to Koko, but I forget he teamed with Owen for a bit in High Energy. Indeed, Yoko also teamed with Owen, winning the tag belts.

Yoko comes out, and he is pretty sizable. Yoko was a big star and a multi-time WWF champion. The other was a jobber. Which one is in the Hall of Fame?

McMahon says that Yoko has a combination of all of the martials arts. Yeah, he was a real high-flier, with some great kung fu style kicks, wasn't he? (Note sarcasm) Bartlett says Yoko is "One big butted Oriental." McMahon replies "In a manner of speaking, yes." I assume in the manner that he has a big butt, and not oriental, since he was Samoan. Bartlett says ass, and Vince and Savage piss themselves a little bit. Remember when WWF was PG and you couldn't say 'ass'? Oh right......

From this point, just assume that Bartlett does a weak Yokozuna - sorry, YokozuMa - size joke every twenty seconds, and suffixes it with "eh Vince?"

Vince gives a plug at this stage for the Royal Rumble (it was thirteen days later) and says tat Yoko will be in it, as will Savage. In fact they were the last two remaining.

Yoko has a big bruise on his left, erm, breast, but it doesn't stop him, erm, standing basically still, but throwing Koko all over the ring. Eventually he drops a leg, hits the splash in the corner then the Banzai Drop. The ropes look really loose, by the way.

After a Rumble hype video and an ad break, it's back to Vince and co, with a swift cutaway to a gratuitous shot of a young lady in a leotard holding up a Monday Night Raw board. Wearing a one-piece, still PG.

They cut to a Bobby Heenan-in-front-of-a-curtain promo (despite him being outside the building). He talks up his new charge "Narcissus", who is yet to be named as Lex Luger. He would be unveiled at the Rumble, and he'll be going after Mr Perfect. Good stuff from Heenan, though he ended up going well overboard at the Rumble.

Steiner time next. Bartlett exposes idiocy a little bit more by asking which is Scott and which is Rick. I didn't catch the names of their opponents, who are such uber jobbers, it seems, that they don't get clear announcements and are under hoods, too. I'm guessing they are called The Executioners, because they did that gimmick a fair bit back then, with different outfits.

(As soon as I typed that, Vince called them Executioners)

Just as this match starts, with Scotty hitting a hard looking tilt-a-whirl slam, Doink appears in the background, with Vince referring to him as "That goofy-looking clown." and not by name, initially. Eventually Bartlett calls him Dork the Clown, and Vince actually agrees, and has to be put right by Savage. Quite the turning of tables.

The Steiners destroy their opponents with an array of good (and painful) looking moves, including a finisher of a bulldog version of the Doomsday Device. I miss these old squash matches. They only take up a couple of minutes, and really get over the moves of the wrestlers in question.

Cut back to Mooney outside. (I like how they wouldn't let Heenan in, but Mooney is on the team and still has to stay outside) He sees a security guy stopping a 'woman' who claims to be Rob Bartlett's aunt. Of course it's Heenan, and it's ludicrous, but it's funny because Heenan was just a riot.

In house adverts next. Bret putting over IcoPro (it was a supplement that WWF promoted), Savage putting over Slim Jims, and Lord Alfred (badly) putting over WWF video games. I think he said Bert The Hitman Hart.

Next it's Razor Ramon, who was number one contender at the time, doing his Bad Guy Cuban shtick. He does draw some cheers for this with the (slightly) raucous NYC crowd, but overall it isn't a big sell promo considering he is a world title match less than two weeks later.

Some promotion for Headlock for Hunger charity event later, it's time for the IC champ. Which was.....any guesses.........? Yes, you at the back, well done, it was Shawn Michaels.

Before HBK, we get the entrance of Max Moon, who gets no music and seems to firing off some balls of fire. Bizarrely, though, this is shown from a very long range camera. The music starts and the focus comes in as he enters the ring and does a couple of forward rolls. That's Paul Diamond (Kato) in the suit by the way.

Michaels has his old music, the one Sherri sang, and a blue strap to the IC belt. The crowd are getting a little behind Shawn (the heel) as Vince says "Thus far it seems to me Max Moon is outclassing Shawn Michaels." I guarantee that is the only time that sentence has ever been used in the history of man.

Mid match break, and it's back with Michaels on top, and a little plug for Shawn v Marty Janetty. This is all over the place now, because Doink is back out, while Bartlett does a bizarre Mike Tyson impression for about five minutes, with Vince 'interviewing' Tyson and including a reference to two royal divorces. I wonder if they played this to Iron Mike (Tyson, not Sharpe) when they got him on board in 1999.

Michaels, near the end of the match, hits Sweet Chin Music, but this is before he put lead in his soles, or whatever, because it is simply called as a "savate kick", and he actually finishes Moon with a side suplex, which was his finisher at the time. Imagine someone having a side suplex as a finisher now.

After a WWF Mania plug, it's Gene Mean and his little mustache to give us a Royal Rumble Report. Promos from Shawn and Marty, and a run down of some of the Rumble competitors. At one point Fuji talks for his charge, and says YokoZuma fives times. Not just Bartlett then.

A guy with a big beard and ringlets tries to get into the building. Hmm. No joy there for Bobby Heenanstein. Which is nearly the name of the other ballroom, funnily enough.

A flashback to Superstars shows a Kamala face turn, when Reverend Slick tried to stop Kimchee and Harvey Wippleman berating the Ugandan Giant, and Kamala turned on is captors. Man, face turns were easy back then.

BONG! Taker is here......I think. The crowd cheer the weak sounding gong, and the camera stays on Damien Demento, Undertaker's opponent for the evening. No lights out, nothing. Suddenly Taker is getting in the ring. We just take that entrance for granted now.

Taker swiftly beats Demento, as Vince plugs Santana v Flair and Perfect v Shango for the following week's show. He also plugs Woody Allen v Mia Farrow in a steel cage, which I assume was a one hit joke, as I don't remember a Donald v Rosie style segment, though I may be wrong.

Finally, we get Doink (dork?) with Vince outside the ring. Vince asks why Doink makes kids cry. The clown says they have no sense of humour. Vince says Crush is after him, to which Doink sells no fear. Crush comes out to threaten the clown. I don't remember too many Crush promos. I now know why. Doink squirts the big Hawaiian with a water gun. Crush chases him (slowly) around the ring a little, then gets into the ring, and his music plays. Is that it? Remember this angle would play out at WRESTLEMANIA.

The show ends with Bobby Heenan finally being allowed into the building. The joke being that the show is over, and Bobby doesn't realise it. Har dee haha.

So that's it. How does it compare to today? To use an Eric Bischoff phrase, it's apples and bricks. There are aspects of wrestling that worked in that era that could still be used, like the squash match, but we've evolved so far we often don't even realise it. From a production standpoint, this looks so different. There are less big stars, a lack of quality in the ring. The crappy Vince humour is prevalent in both, mind you.

I quite enjoyed this little stroll down memory lane. Maybe I'll take a look at some other old shows in weeks to come. Thanks for joining me in this little jaunt. Mind your step, now.

Elimination Chamber Live

01.02am
The usual deep-voiced dude tells us how the Elimination Chamber is the most demonic structure in WWE, which is exactly what he said at Hell in a Cell.

It looks like The Chamber is dropping. We're going to kick off with WWE (i.e. Raw) Chamber match. Sheamus's chances just got bigger. Get the heel win out of the way early on.

01.04am
Cena out first. He goes into a pod then. DiBiase second to arrive.

01.07am
Randy Orton next, to a major babyface pop. Are WWE now in a massive corner? Can they keep Orton as a heel?

01.09am
Time to play the game now, so that means Kofi and Sheamus to start the chamber. Sheamus to made into a monster for surviving the full length of the chamber match and winning, or is it giving him an 'out' for not getting it done?

01.16am
Big RKO chant makes me wonder even more about Randy as a babyface - and then I realise. We are in St Louis, hometown of the Legend Killer. Kofi and Sheamus are back and forth, with Kingston jumping around like a lunatic. Third man coming soon.......

01.20am
It's The Game, and we get a great visual of him smiling but with his face glowing with the light shining through the perspex of the pod. We have a big staredown with he and Sheamus, and then the fight is on. Are we having a Mania preview?

01.25am
Orton in now, and he is all over Sheamus and then Triple H. The story of the last five minutes was mainly Hunter getting the best of the Irishman, and then Kofi bursting into life with his double leg drop over the top onto Triple H.

Orton, since I've been typing, has dominated, but Kofi dives onto all three others to take them out, before a springboard is met by an amazing Orton dropkick.

01.30am
Here comes.........DiBiase. Will he go after Orton?

01.31am
Not yet. DiBiase offers Orton his hand, helps him up, and they double team Triple H. One will turn on the other, but which one?

01.33am
Scary looking visual of Orton and Ted putting Kofi's head between the chains and then applying a boston crab. Unique.

01.35am
DDT on Triple H on the steel outside the ring, and the Legacy buddies, like Lions stalking an injured impala, await John Cena outside his pod.

01.37am
All six men in with Cena on top. Attitude Adjustment on DiBiase to the outside, but Orton intercepts.

01.38am
Cena with the STFU on Ted, but Orton saves him. Cody to ringside as Orton is stalking Cena, and Rhodes puts a lead pipe into the fray. Ted gets it while Cena hoists Randy onto his shoulders. Ted swings, nails Orton and then Cena. A moment of doubt before DiBiase pins his mentor. I think Legacy may officially be over.

01.40am
Here come the eliminations. Kofi swings into Trouble in Paradise on DiBiase to pin him, and then Sheamus hits the pump kick and the Razor's Edge to see bye-bye to Kingston. Three left - The Champ, The Game, and The Marine.

01.42am
Small question. Why didn't Orton lie in wait for DiBiase and jump him when he exited the chamber?

01.43am
Low blow and pedigree to Sheamus. 1......2........3. We'll have a new champion - Triple H or John Cena.

01.45am
Lengthy STFU and.......it's over. Wow, I wasn't really expecting that. John Cena is the new WWE champion.

01.46am
Wait, it's Vince......

01.47am
Vince has demanded that Cena has to defend right now against Batista. Yes, you read that right. Whether you like this happening on PPV or not, it's actually logical follow-through booking. This is why Batista hasn't been interested in wrestling lately, it's why he didn't want to get into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber, it's why he helped Vince attack Bret Hart (i.e. to get into Vince's good books and get a favour in exchange.)

I'm not crazy about the belt bouncing around so freely, but I don't mind the surprises and the storytelling.

01.54am
Quite a long round-up of the Bret Hart 'injury' on Monday. Solemn reaction from the trio on commentary, and it's up to Tony Chimel who says it's IC Title time. Here's Drew and his bizarre new entrance (I quite like the concept, don't like the music). He'll face Kane.

02.09am
An okay IC Title match. McIntrye retains in quite a long battle with Kane. Right result, but match was just there, really.

02.13am
Maryse and Gail argue backstage after Ms Kim reveals that she speaks French and realises that Maryse was bad mouthing her all the while. That didn't work.

Justin Roberts in the ring announces the "Finals" of the Divas tournament. No, Justin, it's the 'final'. Singular. Prat.

02.16am
We've got a tag match on our hands. Vickie Guerrero 'postpones' the Gail v Maryse match in favour of the two of them teaming up against Michelle and Layla. No-one cares.

02.18am
Gail has wrestled the whole match so far, and is being dominated by the Smackdown heels. No-one cares.

02.19am
Maryse pie faces Gail when she reaches for a tag, allowing the SD duo to get the win.

No

One

Cares.

02.20am
All that isn't a knock on the girls themselves. It's just that this was a ridiculous spot of rebooking and the girls are treated as such an afterthought.

02.23am
Trailer for NXT is followed by an interview with the Miz. Miz basically cuts a promo on Daniel Danielson or Bryan Bryson, what ever he is called. He calls him an "Internet sensation" and "King of the Indies" but says he has no personality. The more I think about Miz and Danielson, the more I think the combo is genius.

MVP interrupts and cuts a short, smiley promo on Miz, and informs him that they are having an IC title match shortly. Another match announced at short notice. Really?

02.28am
Regal to the ring, telling people to respect him and so forth, basically to hype the NXT show a little. Interruption by Edge, who tells Regal and the world that he'll announce who his Mania opponent will be on tomorrow's Raw. And then spears Regal for a laugh.

02.30am
This has been the oddest show so far. The first chamber match was pretty good, but we've seen plenty of better ones. The Vince intervention and incursion by Batista was unexpected. Since then it has felt like a TV show. Decent IC title match, but rebook on the women's match, late addition of Miz v MVP (again. By the way, who booked that? Raw doesn't have a GM tonight.), Regal promo only to get speared by Edge. Odd stuff.

02.34am
Miz and MVP in the ring now. The first Chamber basically took 45 minutes from start of intro music to the final pinfall, not including Batista action post-match. This match probably has fifteen minutes if needed. That's plenty.

02.36am
I've mentioned before that there is a subtle trend of Jerry Lawler defending the Miz, and once again he does so, saying that it is a little unfortunate for Miz to have this match sprung on him. Also a reference to Miz's home town being Cleveland, which Cole refers to as King's adoptive city. (Lawler is a big Cleveland Indians fan. Browns too, I believe). It might be nothing, but it's noticeable.

02.40am
This isn't sparkling, thus far, although it's just fine. The focus is on the commentary, where they have spent a LOT of time talking about Bryanal Danson. Maybe the American Dragon is going to get a fair rub after all. They haven't mentioned any other NXT guy by name. Even when Regal was in the ring he didn't name his protege. I wonder if he'll mention his affiliation with Danielson.

King just called a slow-count by the ref that affected Miz, by the way.

02.46am
Cool visual as Show sends Henry crashing through the guard wall over where the announcers live.

Miz was busted open in the closing stages here, but they ended the match before he got treatment. Miz retains with an assist from a Big Show KO punch to MVP behind the ref's back. Show was a really good act during this match, playing the 'second' role very well.

The match was pretty good. Better than average without being truly standout.

02.53am
Massive review of the earlier Chamber match (without showing the Ted/Randy iron bar clip) to fill some more time.

02.55am
Rey into a pod and now Morrison is out here. Mention of his kayfabe injury, but no visible limp. Incidentally, I don't think Shawn Michaels has been mentioned all night.

02.58am
Jericho is next to step into a pod, followed by The Undertaker. That means Punk and Truth will kick us off.

03.08am
Punk gets beaten up by R-Truth for quite some time, but pulls out a GTS and pins Killings. Punk uses his stare time for his usual mic work. Good stuff.

Rey is next, and he is taking it to the Sermonator.

03.15am
There goes my pick. Punk is eliminated by Rey after a really fun five minutes (maybe a little longer) with a rana from the the top rope to the outside steel, followed by a springboard splash. Jericho is next. Much better chamber so far.

03.20am
Morrison is in, breaking Jericho's submission hold on Rey. That was dumb. Looks like Taker gets the dream spot. No sign of HBK.

03.25am
Morrison gets rid of Rey Rey - this crowd are very quiet. Strange. Pace has slowed a bit. Waiting for Taker......

03.32am
Still going with three here. Morrison isn't winning this, but he's done very well thus far. Starmaking performance? If there is a Money in the Bank at Mania, JoMo might be a contender now.

03.40am
Well, whaddaya know? It seems that Chris Jericho is the World Champion, and that Shawn Michaels cost Taker the match. Michaels popped out from underneath the metal floor outside the ring to leap up and superkick Taker.

Morrison had since been dispatched having hit a Chuck Kick but having a Spiral Ta.....dah, I mean, Moonlight Drive blocked by the knees of Undertaker, then falling to the Deadman with a massive chokeslam. Jericho and Taker fought in a great series of moves and exchanges before Taker hit a Last Ride. Setting up for something else, that's when HBK intervened.

Let's not complain that it was predictable. Maybe it was a little - we all called it - but it's still good booking. They shouldn't alter it just because a few Internet guys called them on it. They've invested too much in Taker/Michaels II to just drop it, and this made sense.

Batista's opponent is an interesting one. I can see a Triple H v Cena v Sheamus v Batista four-way, which isn't that appetising.

Overall, a strange show tonight. The last match was the best by a long, long way. The other matches, bar the Divas tag, were okay but not standout PPV quality. The storyline action from Shawn and Batista will carry this PPV a little bit further, though.

Shawn to explain himself and Edge to pick his poison tomorrow night on Raw, with a hint of Cena being pissed off at Vince and Sheamus wanting a rematch. Sounds good.

Good day to you.

Elimination Chamber Preview

Tonight it is the Pay Per View formerly and formally known as No Way Out, but now dubbed the Elimination Chamber. Just for those who couldn't judge the subtlety of a name which didn't include the featured match.

Tonight is the last PPV before we get to the grandest stage of all in five weeks. The Road to Wrestlemania is truly stretching out in front of us, and a great many clues to the final line up will be provided tonight.

Surprises can happen. Two years ago we didn't know Big Show would return and we didn't know Floyd Mayweather would be present to break Paul Wight's nose. A Wrestlemania match was on at that point.

The developments we are looking involve Shawn Michaels as he pursues his Mania match with The Undertaker. Will HBK cost Taker the chamber match tonight?

Developments may involve involve Batista. Big Dave has been trying his hardest not to wrestle in recent weeks, and is wanted by John Cena. Batista will appear on Raw tomorrow night, but perhaps he'll have some inetraction with Cena tonight before Raw rolls around.

There may be some involvement by Vincent Kennedy McMahon. With only four matches booked at this point, it seems an appropriate time for Vince to address what happened to Bret on Raw last week, so perhaps an in-ring talking segment to forward the Vince/Bret programme will occur.

And there is the notion of Edge hovering over the show, surveying the scene and plotting his own path to Mania. I'd make him a major focus of this show. Certainly being at ringside or on commentary or at the top of the ramp for both chamber matches, and an in-ring promo if there is no other non-wrestling stuff taking place there during the night.

There are only four matches announced as I type this.

Kane v Drew McIntrye is one, and I feel we are unlikely to see a title change hands here. Unless there are some backstage shenanigans that we don't know about - and that is NOT inside info, that is merely a wild statement - I don't see that Drew drops his strap here. Filler - and a retention.

I'm surprised that Maryse and Gail didn't feature more on Raw last week. In fact I'm not sure they featured at all. That's a shame because I'm really curious to where they are going with the 'Maryse being nice' angle. I have some faith that this will be a reasonable match, because Gail is such a solid hand and Maryse's character is strong.

I don't really see WWE believing in Gail Kim. Think about the time in which she has been back, and think about interview time she has been given, or any character development, There has been zero. Some people don't need it, but I think you do when you are getting one two minute match per month to get over.

I'd say Maryse wins this, and then in a week we've forgotten it ever happened.

Tonight's show has an element of Royal Rumble about it in the sense that the only things I'm looking at are the Chamber bouts, and the undercard is irrelevant.

The Chambers, though, are very interesting. Let's start on Raw, where we have Sheamus defending against Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase and Kofi Kingston. I've written the names in that order, because I think that's the order in which I rank them, with Sheamus being the most likely to win.

I think a win for him in the chamber is a strong retention, and sets him up really nicely, It's likely Triple H will chase him to Mania, and I think it is set up better with Trips chasing the belt than vice versa, mainly because a babyface title switch elicits a better reaction than a babyface retaining, and also because if Sheamus wins he'll look even stronger keeping the belt away from the Mighty Hunter.

Support is growing for the Jericho title win on the Smackdown side of things, but I'm not so sure. I don't think WWE, even with his great past couple of years, sees Jericho as a title holder going into Wrestlemania. I have no problem with it if he does win, but it is just a little bit foreshadowed by so many predicting it and even the last couple of weeks on Smackdown with it looking like Jericho beating Taker is possible and Edge saying he'd like Jericho to win.

I like CM Punk as an alternative. I just think that he is the heel with the most momentum right now, and with a belt around his waste he could be even more pious than he is is right now, and play up his role to the hilt. Edge would be a great foil for that, and I see Edge v Punk being a great feud. Maybe it will happen post-Mania, but I'd quite like to see it at the big one.

The biggest problem with that is where it leaves Jericho - i.e. without a match for Mania. We don't know at this stage if there will be a Money in the Bank match because of the new PPV later in the year, so he might not be able to go in there. There has been a natural build to Punk and Rey, with the last couple of weeks seeing these two at loggerheads, so perhaps Jericho wins the belt, leaving Punk to meet Rey at Mania.

Jericho is the best option, prediction wise, but I just like to be different, so I'll stick with Punk. Gives me a heel-like chance to say I'm smarter than you and "I told you so" if I'm right!!

Enjoy the show, I'll be doing my usual live commentary throughout, so come back to this page and keep refreshing during the three hours.

Don't forget to subscribe to the One Sided Ring. Either search for it at iTunes, or put robmcnichol.podbean.com/feed into your RSS player.

Royal Rumble Live Notes

00.51am

I have nervous ten minutes or so ahead of me - problems ordering the PPV have led to ringing up the technical people and ordering it in a different way to normal. I fear my screen will suddenly go blank just as the show starts. Keep your fingers crossed for me..........

01.00am

Looking good folks. Thanks Sky. Let's Rumble.

01.02am

Tag line is "I am the one", it seems. Billy Gunn to return? :-)

01.03am

Interested to know who you think will be a surprise entry in the Rumble tonight. There usually are a couple of folks appearing unannounced. Sometimes a returning superstar (either from an injury or returning to the company), sometimes a big debut, sometimes a star from the past.

Last year RVD turned up, a couple of years ago Piper and Snuka popped up in MSG. Any thoughts, let me know.

01.18am

Christian retains in a more than adequate opening bout for the ECW Championship. Good pacing to the match with Christian's speed earning an early advantage, Jackson's power being matched only by Christian's resilience, then a constant shift in momentum until Captain Charisma hit the Killswitch.

This won't be remembered even by the time the Elimination Chamber rolls around, but it was plenty good enough to kick the show off. Perhaps the only slip was Zeke not taking a reverse DDT very well, but he did it while in the back of frame in a double feature.

01.23am

A long skit backstage involving Cryme Tyme and Khali along with Teddy and Tiffany goes on for a while and involves US TV references I don't understand. Miz interupts and Teddy tells him he'll have to defend against MVP next.

Now I don't have a problem with this being on the show, but I fail to see why it wasn't mentioned ahead of time. Presumably they've only just made their mind up, but it didn't take a genius to see there was only four matches apart from the Rumble.

01.26am

Miz on his way for his defence, and my goodness Justin Roberts's inflection is wild tonight. Miz to drop the belt and blame it on not being ready?

01.30am

A few suggestions in so far for surprises entrants in the Rumble include Booker T, Bryan Danielson and RVD. All possible, but the first would be most likely in my mind. RVD has been at the WrestleReunion show in California yesterday, and he was a surprise entrant last year. Danielson wouldn't be perceived by WWE as a big enough star to debut cold in the Rumble. (I wouldn't be surprise to see Regal berate Zeke on ECW and bring in Dragon as his new protege to take on Christian, though)

Booker is a possible. If he is coming back its the right time to bring him in.

01.36am

That felt purely like filler on the show. I would liked them to have held off, promoted this for a couple of weeks and made it a Raw main event. This didn't really take off, but it was fine.

I liked the ending, though. Miz winning with a small package was the right kind of booking, because it was him winning fairly, but sneakily. I hate it when heels have to defend titles with feet on the ropes and foreign objects. Good stuff for the Miz.

Also liked hearing Lawler side with Miz, along with Striker, on commentary. I like colour guys heeling it up. Lawler is backing Miz a lot at the moment.

01.43am

Randy Orton has now had two backstage segments, with first Cody telling him good luck, but confiding that Ted is talking about winning the Rumble and beating Randy at Mania. Later, Ted catches Randy and tells him Cody is acting weird, and talking about winning the Rumble and meeting Sheamus at Mania. Nice storytelling and creation of intrigue. WWE is very strong with it's subtle stories right now.

01.46am

Sheamus and Randy in the ring. I'm thinking a 90 second gap in the Rumble this year. Two minutes means a 70 minute or so Rumble over all, whereas you are looking at 50-55 for 90 second intervals. I can't see them leaving 70-80 minutes in the show, since it's taken us three quarters of an hour to get to the opening of this one.

Fans are chanting "Randy", by the way.

01.49am

Freaking awesome. Dropkick by Orton, then he (literally) slithers away from Sheamus. Great visual.

01.53am

Orton working on Sheamus' leg, the Irishman has injured Orton's arm. Nice logic. Crowd sitting on their hands right now, but the match is solid enough at the moment.

01.54am

Had another mention for a return in the Rumble - Edge. Has to be a shout, remembering what happened with Cena being officially injured but appearing ultimately two years ago. robthegreen@hotmail.com with your suggestions, remember.

02.00am

Ok, we got half of the result we were expecting. Randy Orton was disqualified because of outside interference, but it was by Cody Rhodes and not Ted DiBiase. As I type Orton is getting pissed off and about to face Cody..........

02.02am

So, Orton punched Cody, rammed his head into the mat a few times, and this brought out DiBiase. Orton hit him too, and beat them down a little. They begged off, Orton spun around and Sheamus nailed a "Pump Kick".

Well done post-match segment, because Orton didn't beat the shit out of them, he just hit them a few times and was basically trying to reprimand them. Expect some fallout on Raw. I'd think they will still be a unit for a bit, then break up. The question is really who will be babyface and heel. The crowd popped for Orton hitting Cody, but not so vociferously for him nailing Ted. Interesting.......

02.10am

A long recap of the Michelle v Mickie angle. Hopefully it is a heightening of the sympathy for Mickie, and we'll get the right closure to the angle and retribution for Mickie.

02.14am

I'm not happy with that. I'm glad Mickie won, partly because it was right, and partly because I called it, but she should have won a wrestling match, not just ambushed Michelle and Layla, and hit one move to win. Michelle has improved, and Mickie can really go. I would have much rather have seen this go seven minutes and not seen Miz v MVP. Never mind.

02.17am

Elimination chamber promo with Triple H. Suggests he will be in a chamber match - does this discount him from winning the Rumble?

02.19am

An anonymous emailed suggests Bret Hart to enter the Rumble! I doubt it, but you never know I guess.

02.23am

Midway through Taker's 27 minute entrance. Rey was taking of his necklace when the Gong struck. Rey stopped and looked up, nervous. Brilliant work from Rey, and even more impressive when you realise that the mask doesn't help facial expression.

02.39am

The Undertaker wins after a last ride, and after a very reasonable contest. It wasn't amazing, but it pretty good. If you saw the Kane v Rey matches, it was better than them, but the same sort of thing. Rey took a whole bunch of bumps and kicks and so forth which looked cool as hell because he's a tiny little guy and Taker is massive, basically.

Rey slapped in a couple of kicks early in the match, and I assume they connected because Taker's upper lip was soon covered in blood, possibly from a broken nose. Taker did look eerily human after that.

02.48am

Rumble preview vid ends 73 minutes from the end of the PPV. It's 90 seconds.

02.49am

Don't expect too many frequent updates during the Rumble match. I'll comment on big moments, entries, surprises and so forth. Ziggler and Bourne to start.

02.52am

Woah, Punk in at 3. Gets rid of Ziggler and Bourne, and gets some heat on the mic. Could be a long stay for Punk - or he'll eliminate a couple of people then a babyface will get rid of him, sparking a feud.

02.54am

In comes - and there goes - JTG.

02.55am

Uh-oh. Khali. Go on Punk, convert the big guy. Chop, vice grip, and number 6 - Beth???

And she's eliminated Khali! Plants a kiss from the apron and pulls him over the ropes! Punk hits the GTS, she's history, and here comes Zack Ryder. Punk starts his spiel but smashes Ryder with the mic.

Turns out I can update quite a lot. What do you know?

Has to be someone to smash Punk now.......Hunter?

03.00am

Yep! Score one for me.

It was Hunter, and they square off and exchange a couple of moves. McIntyre is next, and slowly approaches. Drew is number 9, by the way. I suggest the ring may start to fill now.

03.02am

Or perhaps not. Punk is history. That's a shame.

03.03am

DiBiase is next - crowd are dead right now.

03.04am

Morrison is next, and has a little exchange with McIntyre. Number 12 is.....KANE!

03.06am

Cole says Kane has made a career out of the Royal Rumble. He's been in eleven prior to this and never won it. Wow, Cole, what a career!

03.08am

Domination from Kane, and Cody is is 13. Saves Ted straight away. Lets keep and eye on Legacy then.

03.09am

MVP at 14, but Miz appears behind him to smash him with the US belt. MVP lies in the aisle. General brawling in the ring occasionally punctuated by Morrison doing something flashy. MVP never made it to the ring, referee helped him away. That was poor. He could at least have struggled down there and been thrown out straight away. Or maybe they could have explained pre-match that you have to get to the ring during the 90 seconds or you are DQ-ed.

Carlito in at 15, and nails several people with the Backstabber, including the Game. And now it's Miz time.

03.12am

Wait, here is MVP. I spoke too soon. He lunges at Miz and takes both of them out. Seven men in the ring, HHH has been nearly out a couple of times.

03.14am

Number 17 is Matt Hardy. Perhaps a small punishment for the elder Hardy brother as Kane gets rid of him quickly. Trips comes up behind Kane and gets Big Red out of there.

03.15am

Multiple combatants work on Hunter's leg - but here comes Shawn. Straightaway eliminates Carlito. And Cody. And DiBiase. I was expecting more Legacy breakup teases than that.

03.16am

HBK gets rid of Morrison too, and it leaves McIntrye alone with DX. They rid the ring of the scotsman, and it's only Shawn and Hunter........for ten seconds.

And here........comes..........Cena.

03.17am

Cena comes in a house of fire, hits his big shoulders and when hitting the spinning suplex on HHH genuinely lands him on Shawn's head. Hope he is ok.

He looks it. Trips nails Cena with a Pedigree, and Shawn hits a Superkick to eliminate Hunter. Basically no follow up though. No reaction shot of Hunter or anything. Shelton next but doesn't last long. Poor Rumble so far.

03.21am

Tatsu in and quickly out. I'm getting sick of this, people coming in and out. This is a great forum for getting a few guys to last a long time and build rivalries. It's way to spotty thus far. Show is in now, and he is 22. A couple of teases of HBK getting rid of Show using leverage, and then Henry is 23.

03.22am

Only seven guys left. No Batista or Jericho yet. No Swagger, Masters.......who am I forgetting?

03.24am

Here is the Masterpiece to a sitting ova.....I mean apathy. Still time for Edge? Masters is gone, and I've realised I forgot R-Truth. Commentators all picking Shawn - too obvious now maybe?

03.25am

And here is Truth at 25 - pushing Henry and Show out while they were locked up on the ropes. Only Truth, Cena and Shawn in the ring, plus five to go including Jericho, Batista and Swagger. And two more I can't think of.

03.27am

Here is Swagger. Dominating so far.

03.28am

Four men left to enter the Rumble and crowd is silent. I wouldn't be surprised to see Orton at 30, you know. Damn, I forgot Kofi, who is number 27. Jericho, Batista + 1 (Edge? Orton?)

03.29am

Kofi switches momentum on Swagger. Truth, Kofi, Shawn and Cena in the ring, plus the last three men to come.

03.30am

Jericho! And Truth won't be getting rid of Jericho, because Kofi deposited Truth. Only six can win. Jericho, Cena, Michaels and Kofi in the ring, Batista + 1 to come.

03.31am

Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise on Shawn, then Cena throws Kofi out. AND ITS EDGE! ITS EDGE!

03.32am

Jericho is out of here after spears to all. Batista will be here shortly, only four possible winners. Michaels still most likely, I think.

03.34am

Batista did it. There goes Shawn. Big pause. Are they selling the shock or was Shawn supposed to hold on and slipped? I think the former. Shawn is playing it up. He's thrown down one ref, got back in the ring and superkicked Charles Robinson. All the focus on Shawn leaving.

03.38am

So, Batista, Edge and Cena. Scratch then, Batista is out. Two left. Edge measuring Cena.

03.40am

And Edge wins!! It's the surprise return and victory for the second time in three years.

Very, very lacklustre Rumble in my opinion. I think it's a Rumble that might be appreciated now for it's shock value with Triple H's exit, Shawn's exit and Edge's return. However, you won't go back and watch it over and over, because it wasn't gripping enough. It killed the crowd, who were reasonable during the night until the big one.

Very quickly - where do we go from here? Edge v Taker? Hmm. I don't see it. Not again. It doesn't make sense. Edge v Sheamus? Doesn't grip you. Edge v Christian???? That could happen, but would you win the Rumble and choose the ECW title?

So, it's Edge to hold back and one of the titles to change in the Chamber. Jericho to win the Smackdown chamber is a possibility. Orton could take the WWE title and then we have Edge v Orton, but then Orton may as well have won the belt tonight. I can't see Edge v Shawn or Edge v Hunter. Edge v Batista has no ring to it. Edge v Cena again?? Hope not. Edge v Punk? Punk could pull out the chamber match, and Straight Edge v Edge is a possibility. But they have been there before, just with the babyface/heel roles reversed.

I can only really see Jericho getting the World Title next month, setting up Mania to be:

Shawn v Taker

Trips v Sheamus

Edge v Jericho

Randy v Cody v Ted

Cena v Batista

Vince v Bret

Show, Kofi, Miz, MVP, Kane, Punk, Morrison, Rey for Money in the Bank?

We'll see.

Overall, average show. Decent undercard, but no standout matches, then below par Rumble in my opinion. The last few Rumbles have been very good, so this was a letdown.

Royal Rumble Preview

Tonight it's the Royal Rumble. I'll stop a little short of saying the Rumble is my Favourite Pay Per View (though I have said that before) because Wrestlemania has such an aura these days. However, it is without a doubt the best concept event ever created, and a highlight of the year.

Say what you like about WWE, but they have done a marvellous job of getting to the turn of the year and making us all believe in "the Road to Wrestlemania". We're all thinking ahead to the big March PPV, and the build to that heightens the importance of this and No Way Out or Elimination Chamber or whatever we are calling it now.

The trouble is with me going into this show is that I start fantasy booking the next three months, and getting way ahead of myself. I've chosen a winner of the Rumble partially based on a storyline I'd like to see, but also as a sort of hedging of bets.

That I'll come to in due course. Let's get a couple of undercard matches out of the way.

ECW Title - Christian v Ezekiel Jackson

I'll be honest, I'm not expecting a classic.

On the one hand here, I'm seeing this as a good opportunity to take the belt away from Christian, since Big Zeke is a credible guy to have beat Christian, possibly with a little assistance from William Regal. I think Christian is destined for bigger things than ECW, is a lock to go to Smackdown in the next draft, and probably ought to be in the Money in the Bank match at Mania.

On the other hand, if you take the belt off of him, the ECW title picture loses instant credibility. People who don't watch ECW will likely have forgotten who Ezekiel Jackson is (He's the big scary black dude who used to be bodyguard for Kendrick, by the way) and with ECW ratings tanking, he might not be the man to have at the helm.

How about a screwy finish to this match? I can see an old fashioned double pin or something leading to the belt being vacated. That's an out for Christian to lose the belt without having to lose a match, and the "new ECW" crowning a new ECW champion. Who that'll be I have no idea.

Prediction: Christian loses the belt, if I'm sitting on the fence. Whether that is clean to Zeke, via interference from Regal or a disputed ending, Christian's run with the belt is up.

Michelle McCool v Mickie James

Every critic, his dog, his nan, his next door neighbour, his next door neighbour's nan, his next door neighbours nan's milkman, and the bloke who the milkman met in the pub the other night all think Michelle is going over because Mickie is in the doghouse. Everybody seems to think this whole angle is shockingly demeaning.

Is it not just a wrestling angle? Is it not just an old fashioned 'heels are bullies' storyline? And is it not finally an angle for the girls to get hold of rather than just shitty number contender matches leading to three minutes every two weeks before the champion beats Alicia Fox or someone in a shockingly crappy match?

Many of you will know that I am a strong critic of Michelle McCool, and I still think she is overrated in the ring. But I'll give her this; she has been very effective as the bitchy girl in school that no-one likes, and they always have a toady little friend sucking up to them too, don't they?

I've enjoyed this storyline a lot, because it's shown strong heel qualities, build up sympathy for a Babyface, and also included other girls. Layla as the sidekick, Maria last week sticking up for Mickie, and a conflicted Beth eventually siding with the heels.

The thing is, though, good storylines need good payoffs. I'm holding out for one here. Mickie MUST win this match. Wrestling, at the end of the day, ought to play out in favour of the babyface at the end. Especially in areas of the show which isn't selling tickets. No-one is buying this show tonight to see what happens to the Women's title, but every match that is on the show, both in episodes and on a PPV, must play it's part as a cog in the wheel. There is an opportunity for a really big babyface moment tonight, for an over female babyface (you don't hear anyone say that very often) to beat a heel who deserves her comeuppance.

Prediction: Mickie James. Please.

Right, back to the point in hand, which is realistically who is going to win the Rumble, and I'll address this here because the winner affects the two title matches.

Royal Rumble Match

*You can go back a couple of posts to see a more detailed (some would argue too detailed) analysis of Royal Rumble contenders.

Basically, I believe there are three contenders, with possible arguments for three others, but weak ones. The three favourites have to be Cena, Michaels and Triple H. The other three are Batista, Punk and DiBiase.

I'll start with the weak ones. Batista is a contender so that he can a) face Mysterio if Rey beats Taker. That would fit with HBK costing Taker the title, either now or at the next PPV, allowing Rey to get the strap. That, though, wouldn't help Rey in particular, and Rey and Batista have enough of an issue that if they want that match at Mania, they can do it anyway. The second way for Batista is that Cena could win the Raw title in the Elimination Chamber, and Batista chooses to face him. I think both matches can be achieved without Batista winning the Rumble, though.

Second weak argument is CM Punk. The man is on a roll right now, and winning a Rumble would give his whiny, self-righteous character more to brag about. It would also fit his character, having won two Money in the Bank matches, to have a title shot through drawing a late number and capitalising on a personal issue between other. Like McCool, Punk now has an effective, heatseeking character who people might just pay to see get beat. The drawback, though, is that he hasn't been given the credibility to hang with the elite tier of WWE (Who I'd say would be Cena, Orton, HBK, Hunter, Taker and probably Edge) and he doesn't have an obvious opponent, although you could again argue the idea of Shawn costing Taker so that Rey has the belt, then go Rey v Punk.

Final weak shout is Ted DiBiase. Although you could argue a case for Cody Rhodes, it's generally assumed that Ted is the longer term prospect as a major player. Personally I don't believe he has the skills to be a top babyface, but then neither did Orton, and he's done ok since he went back to his heelish ways a few years back. DiBiase is only a contender if Orton wins, as DiBiase v Taker, Rey or Sheamus makes no sense. While on one hand it would be very cool for an outsider to win the Rumble, as a prediction it is deeply flawed, because WWE like to have a marquee winner, generally. It probably isn't Ted's time.

The big three all have a good argument for. Shawn Michaels' is rather obvious. He may need to win so that he can wrestle Taker at Mania. And it could well happen. Although it may seem too telegraphed, WWE aren't known for subtlety or nuance, and it certainly would be a popular choice. It'd be fun TV, too, watching Shawn trying to protect Taker's title before Mania. It may be too obvious, but then it might be a double bluff.

John Cena should never be discounted when thought about in conjunction with a big match. His particular route to Mania, should he win the Rumble, could take many forms. Maybe he could swerve us all, including HBK, and go after the Undertaker. They could follow through with this, do Cena v Taker and use it to facilitate the DX break up. What if we came down to the last three, Shawn and Hunter fight, and Cena dumps them both. Cena heads for the Deadman and DX explode at Mania, a la the Mega Powers. I'd absolutely love this outcome, and I think it's what I would book, but it does leave too many other questions, especially re: Sheamus and the WWE title.

Another route could also be Cena choosing Taker, but Shawn costing Taker the Chamber match, and Batista winning, giving us Cena v Batista for the title, Shawn v Taker as a grudge affair and still leaving room for Trips v Sheamus and Orton v Ted. This could lead to a few weeks of teasing various combinations, and also a tense stand off between Shawn and Cena, which could give a really nice Raw main event at some point. Finally, they could simply go Cena v Sheamus for the easy title match. The problem with that is, assuming Shawn v Taker, that you are left with Hunter being a spare wheel, unless he wrestles Batista.

All these combinations are giving me a headache......

Finally, we come to my pick, Triple H. He's my pick because I feel he is due a big win as a single again, and like Cena they can go many ways with him. You could have Hunter declare he wants Taker. I'd love that, as it would really piss off the HBK character and lead, you'd feel, to the inevitable DX break-up, especially if Shawn forces a title change, taking not only the belt from Taker but the Taker match from HHH. Hunter could then have the option to switch to Sheamus or go with the winner of the SD title, which may well be Batista.

Or, they can go the other way, and have Hunter tease going after Taker, but choosing Sheamus, and having the Triple H character say that he is doing it so Shawn can still chase Taker.

Ultimately I'm choosing Hunter over Cena and because I think there is more they can do with Hunter in that position. But it's very open. If any one of them wins there is a multitude of ways they can go in storylines.

You could complain that it's bad that only three out of thirty guys can really win, but I'd argue that some years it's only two, and others only one. At least we have three strong choices.

So then, the title matches.........

Sheamus v Randy Orton

It doesn't really make any sense for Orton to win this. I know it seems obvious to say that Cody/Ted, or just Ted, costs Orton the match, but sometimes obvious = sensible. It keeps the belt on Sheamus, and Sheamus v Hunter or Cena is more sensible than either of those babyfaces against Orton, which we've seen before.

If Ted costs Orton, Randy can go into a chamber to try and get back in the picture, while Ted v Cody can be booked down the card, if Ted makes the break on his own.

Prediction: Sheamus. Because it just makes sense.

Undertaker v Rey Mysterio

There is an issue with the positioning of this match, because if Rey is to win, then it ruins the Rumble for Michaels. If you are booking Rey to go over, then this match has to go on after the Rumble. I don't want that to happen, and I suggest WWE don't either. But if the Rumble isn't on last, expect Rey to win.

I don't think he will though. I think Taker has to win, although I think the match itself will be built around Rey having a million near falls but not quite getting there. Taker winning makes all three of my main picks, Cena, Hunter and Shawn, much more viable options.

Captain's Blog - Stardate January 16, 1995

Let’s wind the clock back, folks. Let’s transport ourselves from this era and remind ourselves of what things were like fourteen years ago.

Ah, it was so very different. For it was the run-up to the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels was the favourite to win, and Bret Hart and William Shatner were about to appear on Raw.

Wait, hang on..........

Anyway, I thought it might be a little bit of fun for us to have a retro review of the last time William Shatner popped up for a guest appearance on Monday Night Raw, direct from The Summit in Houston, Texas.

A little backstory. Captain Kirk had appeared on a talk show segment known as the King’s Court, hosted by none other than Jerry Lawler. This, we should point out, was Lawler as a slimy heel, which is of course when he was at his best, and not being a sycophant who laughs along with Michael Cole every week.

Shatner was talking to the King to promote his new show “Tek Wars” which had a wrestling tie-in because.......well it had no relevance at all, except Tek Wars was to be shown on USA Network straight after Raw. That’s pretty much why that guy from Psych was on this week.

King was a little embarrassing in the sense that he had to say Tek Wars was great, but told Shatner that he must be really impressed to be in the ring with the King. Shatner told King off, and Vince on commentary laughed uproariously.

Shatner pulled an elementary wrist lock on King to shut him up, then as Lawler charged he monkey flipped him. I mean, it wasn’t like we were going to mix Shatner up with Rick Steamboat, but it was impressive, I guess. Bret Hart rushed the ring to raise Shatner’s arm, while Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie (Road Dogg/BG James) emerged to console Lawler. This set up the following week’s Raw match of Bret v Jarrett, which was taped that same evening.

So let’s jump to that week, but rather than delve straight into that feature match, I thought it’d be fun to see the other amazing offerings that the one hour, taped, unopposed Raw was doing in the pre-Nitro era.

We kick off with theme music I don’t remember at all. Just a generic beat and saxophone solo before we hear the music of the Heavenly Bodies in the background. Vince greets us and says it’s two weeks until the Superbowl, but the Royal Rumble is before that. He is joined by broadcast colleague......SHAWN MICHAELS?! Wow, I don’t remember Shawn doing much commentary, but then I guess at this point we in the UK only used to see highlights of Raw on WWF Mania hosted by Todd Pettengill every Saturday Morning. (We’d have Superstars that evening and Wrestling Challenge on the Sunday. Them’s were the days)

Shawn says that William Shatner better watch himself, because Double J might send him to a Galaxy Far Far Away. Who wants to tell him that was Star Wars, not Star Trek?

The Heavenly Bodies are facing 123 Kid and Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly, who had got to the finals of a tag team tournament to find new Tag Team Champions. The Bodies have Jim Cornette with them, and jump the “Cinderella team” as Vince calls them.

Vince is very high-pitched early on, and he and Shawn reflect on the fact that Kid and Holly beat Heavenly Bodies to advance in the tournament. Bodies dominate early on, but my thoughts are on the commentary duo, who not only play the old “heel v face” battle in order for each man to promote each team, but they actually talk solely about these two teams, the match, and the match at the Rumble for Kid and Holly against Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. No mention of WWE.com (it probably didn’t exist, but you get my point) no plugs for other things on the show. Just proper focus by the commentators. It’s very effective.

After Holly gets killed for about six minutes, 123 comes in and starts fast. The Bodies double team him, go for a double suplex, but while he is in the air Bob Holly takes out Tom Pritchard, and the Kid nails a Northern Lights Suplex to beat Del Ray. Bammer, Tatanka and their manager Ted DiBiase, who have wandered to ringside, look on.

A really, really strong opening segment for its purpose. The match was no better than average, but it was the week before the Rumble and effectively sold the reasons to watch one of the matches on the show in under seven minutes.

Next we go backstage with Bret Hart and William Shatner. Vince asks Bret if he has “ring rust” to which Bret vigourously denies this, saying he is 100%. While he does so, Shatner continually butts in while Bret keeps talking, with statements like “I’ve seen him work”. Thanks, Bill.

Shawn then asks Shatner if he is watching Bret’s back, who is watching Shatner’s. Shatner replies that no-one needs to. That actually makes Bret look less tough than Shatner in a way. He then does a bad does a bad job of threatening The Roadie, calling him Roadkill, before the interview ends and Vine promises us the Monday Night Raw debut of Mantaur. I think he had had several matches on Superstars, though.

After a break, we get mooing, and Mantaur appearing along with Jim Cornette, who apparently was making his first appearance with the Cowman, because Vince sells shock at seeing Jimmy. Mantaur is facing a gentleman with too many consonants in his name.

Vince and Shawn now do stray away from the match, but it’s a little more understandable because they are trying to sell the Rumble match, in which Mantaur is entered. Shawn says it doesn’t matter if he draws number one, which is fortunate, because he did, and he won. Vince basically tells him he won’t win, and plugs The Action Zone. I’d forgotten that show.

Shawn says “a couple of nice wrestling moves......I guess.” As Mantaur just runs into his opponent, knocks him over, falls on him, and pins him.

We then head off to the Royal Rumble report with Todd Pettengill in front of a sunshine graphic. The Rumble was in Tampa that year, I believe. He checks in with Jarrett and the Roadie backstage at the arena for some reason, then gets on with his report.

He says about the Pay Per View that it is from the WWF, “The originator, not the imitator”, whatever that means. He reminds everyone that Pamela Anderson will be the ‘host’ to the Rumble, then talks about the main 30-man match, including a brief rundown of how the match works. They made the Rumble 30-minuntes that year because the talent roster sucked, basically.

Plugging other matches, he mentions Undertaker v IRS, and we get warbling Paul Bearer and Taker threatening Irwin in the usual manner, except the graphic behind them is of a seashore with the tide rolling in. Slightly juxtaposed images there.

Todd bigs up the “Cinderella Story” of 123 and Holly (he got the memo, then) and then says that Diesel v Bret will be awesome. It wasn’t, but it was pretty good until the booked the hell out of it. He concludes by saying that Jeff Jarrett will challenge Razor Ramon for the gold, then starts to ‘interview’ Jeff but is clearly just saying a scripted line and they cut it together in post. Actually, although it’s clearly manufactured and Double J says the usual thing, it is quite cool little exchange.

Onto the match, and we come back after a break with Jarrett in the ring and strutting to his music. Vince thanks the owner of the building for his hospitality, then weakly segues into talking about the match. HBK talks the match up, and indeed Bret’s popularity. The reaction is genuinely massive for him, which is interesting because they will have already seen him in the taping that evening. Bret was unbelievably over back then.

Jarrett stalls early in the match, as Vince speculates as to whether we’ll see Lawler during the match. The story of the match is basically whether Bret has “changed”. He’d been away since the previous Survivor Series when he lost to Bob Backlund and lost his title, and upon his return they had Bret occasionally flouting the rules and being more aggressive. Bret dominates the early stages while working on Jarrett’s arm.

Shawn on commentary, meanwhile, puts Bret over in spades, and alludes to being happy with the Hitman being Diesel. Jarrett gets on top and we got to a break.

On return Double J is on top, while Shatner cheerleads. Bret turns the tables, and Vince says that Shatner is offering “words of encouragement”. The only audible words we hear from Bill are “Take him down” while Jeff is flat on his back. Yeah, doesn’t Bones need you in Sick Bay or something, Kirky?

Bret’s fightback ends when Jarrett blocks the Sharpshooter, and after a little Roadie help, Jarrett has the advantage and locks in the figure 4, but Bret has the ropes. Shortly afterwards, Jarrett rolls Bret up, but is reversed, and Bret gets the three. Roadie comes in and meets a Shatner forearm, gets his head rammed into the turnbuckle and gets thrown over the top. Roadie must be a Romulan or something, Shatner hates him.

That it for that segment, but Raw is nowhere near finished. That’d be a sure-fire main event and closing segment now, but not in ‘95 it seems.

We get an ad break, then a recap of the tag tournament, including clips of Bam Bam and Tatanka beating the Headshrinkers, and Kid and Holly beating the Heavenly Bodies. Another break, and it’s the Kings Court will all of the Million Dollar Man’s Corporation. Hey, King never appeared at all in the Shatner/Bret/Jarrett deal.

DiBiase is announced as the CEO of the Corporation, and he says that for the “mongoloids” who don’t understand, that means Chief Executive Officer. Mongoloids? Really? Really? (/Miz)

By the way, the Corporation at this point appears to be Bam Bam, Tatanka, IRS and Bundy. This is when the Faction idea was very effective with the right leader.It still could be to be honest. DiBiase runs down the Undertaker, and explains why IRS will beat him. Then he praises Bam Bam and Tatanka, saying they’ll easily win the Tag Titles. “It’s a shoo-in” he says. (They lost). DiBiase also explains that his new champions will defend against the Smoking Gunns, who had vacated the title in the first place. Then he explains why Bundy will win the Rumble and go to Wrestlemania.

In five minutes, we got build up for three matches, including the Rumble, a manager putting his stable over, and a plug for a title match on the following week’s Raw. What more can you ask?

Big Mabel is out next, along with his rapping manager Oscar, in full purple babyface mode. For the uninitiated, Mabel is Viscera/Big Daddy V. Mabel squashes Lee Tobin, with the commentary drifting by now to Shawn talking about how awesome he is. Vince and Shawn interview Mabel post-match, with the big guy just generically saying he’ll win. Shawn asks why he’ll win, and Mabel starts talking about being the biggest and the baddest before being interrupted by Bundy. Mabel challenges him, and it’s into the ring they go.

Quick ad featuring Pam Anderson and hype for the Rumble, and we come to Shawn and Vince talking up the Rumble and next week’s Raw. Then a hype video for Diesel? Huh? What happened to Bundy and Mabel?

And that appears to be it. Interesting stuff. I’m not necessarily saying it was better or worse than the modern product. Some differences, some for the better and some for the worse, and fascinating to look at some of the guys who find themselves in prominent positions now (Nash, HBK, Jarrett, Hart, Shatner) and how they’ve developed. Also ought to be noted that this one hour show featured very few of the roster, especially the stars. Bret was wrestling, but IC champ Razor Ramon, top of the card act Lex Luger, The British Bulldog and WWF champ Diesel were all absent apart from mentions and clips. Shawn on commentary actually was a masterstroke for getting character over the week before the biggest night of his career at that point.

Hope you had some fun with this – looking forward to seeing Bret and Shatner again this week, and indeed the Rumble on Sunday.

Who Will Win the Royal Rumble?

Raw this week – a very solid affair, I might add – was heavily focussed on the build to the Royal Rumble, which has always been my favourite Pay Per View.

We have started to find out some of the competitors, and it appears that the line-up is quite strong for the big over-the-top match this year. My big hope is that whoever wins the Rumble that they do not move their title shot to the next PPV, the one before Mania. It really lessens the impact of the Rumble. It is not supposed to be merely earning a title shot, but being in THE MAIN EVENT AT WRESTLEMANIA. It ought to remain sacred.

It’s high time to look at the contenders for this year’s Rumble. I know not all of the competitors have been announced, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that all of the names discussed will be entered in the 30-man over-the-top bout.

We’re putting aside the names Christian, Zeke Jackson, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, since they are booked for title matches at this point.

I shall discuss, in no particular order, who I believe are the only people, barring a shocking return/debut, that can win the Rumble, and then go onto those who are in the Rumble and ought to have a storyline development in the match. Then I’ll give a prediction of a winner and tell you who I would book as the winner.

Shawn Michaels

It seems right to start with HBK, since his was the name that started the Rumble talk on Raw. Having asked Taker for a match at Mania and been denied, Shawn declared his intention for the Rumble.

He has history in the match. He was the winner in 1995, entering as number one and winning overall. (If you are checking stats, it was only 60 second intervals that year) He won the following year, having turned into arguably the number one babyface in the company and returning from injury. Then, in 2007, he was the runner up to , of all people, the Undertaker, but still went on to wrestle John Cena for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania.

Shawn and the Rumble fit like hand and glove – so much so that they could do anything they want with him. They could have him enter late as they often do with big names, and build to his entrance. They could put him at an early number and play off his resilience and longevity again.

He is the most likely contender at this moment, potentially, when you consider the build up to a potential match with Taker.

But is it too obvious? It does seem to be a slightly telegraphed, and doesn’t suggest great storytelling if he says on TV “I’ll win the Royal Rumble then” and just goes and does it. Seems a little easy. Not that the people would care. HBK is probably the most beloved babyface in the WWE.......and maybe the world. People want HBK/Taker II, and if he wins the Rumble, they’ll get it, provided Taker retains the gold.

Triple H

Also entered is Shawn’s DX running buddy Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who was trying to tell Shawn something throughout Raw, then did so by throwing HBK over the top rope in an act designed to suggest that Hunter is the stronger member of DX. It was also a measure which perpetuated the suggestion that DX may split.

They (WWE) are in a fantastic position with Triple H, Taker and Shawn, in that they could have a match involving any combination of the three. I would hope they wouldn’t do a three-way, but Shawn v Taker we’ve talked about. Hunter v Shawn is possible, with Trips possibly costing Michaels the Rumble, continued dissention and a break-up leading to a Mania blow-off.

But don’t rule out Hunter v Taker. WWE have a trick up their sleeve in that they could achieve two birds with one stone – they could build up an intriguing match in HHH v Taker (which they never pulled the plug on despite the pair being on Smackdown together for a long time) whilst strengthening the storyline of breaking up DX. The ace in WWE’s pack is Hunter being able to say “Shawn isn’t the only one to have lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania” because HHH lost to Taker at WM17. (Like last year’s Mania, also in Houston, funnily enough)

That would make for great TV, seeing HHH chasing Taker, and not knowing if Shawn wanted Hunter to win or not. They could prolong that for ages, and if they didn’t want to break DX up, they don’t have to for a long time, if ever.

To that end, I think Trips a strong contender for winning this. Add to the HBK/Taker scenario the fact that Sheamus currently holds the WWE belt, and is said to be very close with Paul Levesque. Trips could go to Mania to face Sheamus and as a friend, put him over to make Sheamus look good (like Hunter has done for Cena and Batista in the past) or to be the big babyface win that Mania tends to have.

Hunter has a big Mania albatross round his neck after last year’s majorly disappointing match with Orton, so may well be keen to at least partially erase that memory.

Chris Jericho

You have to factor Jericho into proceedings because he has just been so damn awesome for the past two years that a Wrestlemania main event would be just what he deserves. His character would be so suited to a sneaky late entry and capitalisation on other events, and I could see him lording it over HBK and Hunter that he has won the right to wrestle at Wrestlemania and therefore can choose which brands champion he will wrestle – thus allowing him to appear on Raw again.

Ultimately he would need to choose The Undertaker and produce his first meaningful feud with the Deadman. The decision would really be whether Jericho could be taken seriously to win the title and end the streak, and whether this pairing, accepting that you’d be maybe looking at Cena/Sheamus for the other title, HBK/Shawn and maybe Randy v Ted or Cody as the rest of the line up is strong enough to sell the PPV. I fear it wouldn’t be, even though I’d love to see Jericho given the opportunity. He does deserve it.

John Cena

Any match that John Cena is in, you have to consider him a favourite for. When you weigh up the star power in the Rumble, his star shines as bright as any, and when you break down the Road the Wrestlemania, he will have to figure prominently somewhere.

Cena’s stock in terms of winning the Rumble is high through three major reasons. The first two lie in the fact that he is a feasible opponent for either Sheamus or Undertaker if they keep their title until Mania. A Sheamus rematch is surely owing to him after the way he lost the title and then failed to regain it in controversial style. I have thought for a long time that Cena v Undertaker is perhaps the last of the dream matches and as high as Cena is regarded now, he could be elevated even higher by having a great match with Taker and ending the streak.

It could also be the catalyst for a Cena heel turn. “I beat the Undertaker” might be met with boos, and eventually he could snap and say “I gave you everything and you still cheered The Undertaker.” When they want to do it, Cena will be a massive heel.

The third pointer might be the lack of an obvious opponent for John Cena at Wrestlemania. He is too big for the Money in the Bank match, so won’t be thrown into that mix. Last year he was sort of strong-armed into the Big Show/Edge mix to get him into a title match. If it is easy enough to fit Triple H, Michaels and Orton into matches then Cena might be allowed to win the Rumble and set up a title feud.

The other options are, for him not winning the Rumble, that someone would win the Rumble and pick Taker, leaving Cena to win the Raw Elimination Chamber or that he is ousted from the Rumble by someone with whom he could feud until Mania, the identity of whom has not been, erm, identified...........

Batista

......until now? It’s not definite, and doesn’t quite carry the same aura as it might have done at one point, but Cena v Batista is a strong possibility, especially considering the position we’ve talked about for Cena.

However, I think it is less likely than Batista carrying on the Mysterio programme all the way through to Wrestlemania. Strikes me that a logical progression is to have Batista cost Mysterio the match against Taker, then for Mysterio to distract Big Dave, causing him to be removed from the Rumble. The two would then both be likely to meet in a Smackdown Elimination chamber, with their final match being at Wrestlemania.

Batista might win the Rumble, and his name and marquee value means he has to spoken about with the names in with a chance of winning. However, it is hard to state a case for him above most of the other contenders.

CM Punk

Punk is, once again, on a roll right now. His almost Cult-leader-like character has really drawn some heat on Smackdown, and it would be fantastic to watch him use that shtick to try to bring down the Undertaker.

Sadly, I don’t see it. In many fans’ eyes Punk v Taker will be a letdown after building up and teasing a HBK rematch, and when you could throw HHH or Cena at Taker, Punk might not be seen as the right choice. Add this to the fact that Punk has wrestled Taker within the last year and been portrayed as a lesser entity, it just isn’t that likely. I’d love to see it, but I fear the powers that be would not concur.

Big Show

The Big Man is obviously set to be an imposing presence in the match, but realistically he shouldn’t be a Rumble winner to go on to a major main event at Mania. I know he was in a Triple Threat for the World Title last year, but the Rumble winner’s programme is generally bigger, and I don’t think Show has the adequate profile.

Maybe Shaq will be back before Mania, and Show can have the ‘wrestling the sports star’ slot again.

Kofi Kingston

I don’t think Kingston is in the position to yet win a Royal Rumble, but he definitely ought to be someone who enters the match early (maybe even at one or two) and lasts a very long time, with the announcers talking up his tremendous feat.

I still like the idea of Kofi winning Money in the Bank.

Miz/MVP

The best thing about Raw two weeks ago, these two suddenly have quite a hot feud which it will be interesting to see how it develops. I would think that surely one will eliminate another in the Rumble. Miz getting rid of MVP adds more heat on him, but on the flipside of that MVP throwing Miz out would make for a big pop if done correctly.

Legacy

I think that there is a strong chance that Sheamus will beat Randy Orton and it will be due to the interference of Legacy in some fashion. I can see a Cody distraction while Ted runs around the back, but misses hitting Sheamus and hits Orton instead, possibly leading to Randy v Ted at Mania.

Both Cody and Ted are in the Rumble, and have at times threatened that they will step up and go solo, so there is a chance that these two will fight, or at least have a moment where they let each other down.

John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre

The three above names, all Smackdown guys, have had a good 2009, and 2010 could well be a time for them to step up and look even stronger. Morrison is definitely an outside chance for a surprise title run at some stage, and the other two have done enough with IC title efforts to suggest they are upper midcarders with bright futures. I’d like to see all of these guys have a reasonable showing.

So, Rob, who is going to win?

I’m glad you asked.

I think the winner, really, will come from a select group of three – John Cena, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I don’t anticipate Undertaker or Sheamus losing the title before Wrestlemania.

It makes more sense for a babyface to win that a heel. A heel winning sets up either heel v heel against Sheamus, which I don’t see them doing after doing it at the Rumble with Orton. I don’t think any of the top heels in the Rumble (Punk, Batista and Chris Jericho) make any sense in a match with the Undertaker.

It leaves just the trio mentioned above. I’m going to plump for Triple H. I think that it is time for him to get serious and go after a title again, and him winning the Rumble not only signals that but can set wheels in motion for a DX break-up, and perhaps a possible match at Summerslam, which ironically was where HBK and HHH had a brutal Streetfight to mark Shawn’s first match back after his extended layoff.

Who would you book to win?

I think I’d have to say Cena. I’m a big fan of storylines overlapping, and I think if you give the Rumble to Cena, you can have him stall as to which champion he chooses to face. You then have a touch of Cena v Sheamus and Cena v Undertaker, as well as tension between Cena and Michaels, as HBK tries to convince Cena to wrestle Sheamus so that HBK can continue to chase Undertaker. Triple H then comes into play, as someone who’d like a title shot against Sheamus. So then whomever Cena chooses, it would benefit one member of DX but not the other.

The beauty of booking Cena to win the Rumble is that you can take your time in deciding where you are going to take the story.

There are so many possibilities – maybe you have your own theory. I’d love to hear it.