Hawk 34

Honestly, I think you have to look at No Way Out for what it is. The show in between two HUGE shows that people want to buy. Most people aren't going to want to buy three expensive shows in a row. You can put barbed wire cage matches in there and its not going to make all that much of a difference in the end. What you NEED to do, though, is put out an appealing Wrestlemania card. And as of right now, the card they have planned absolutely sucks. Like I said, I'm sure they have something waiting in the wings to fix it, but right now, not so good. People are going to buy Mania regardless. But every year, they have a certain number in their head for the Mania buyrate. The "every year" buyers plus people who buy because something on the card is appealing. And if you run HHH/Edge, Taker/Henry, Angle/Orton and Vince/Shawn, you're not attracting a hell of a lot of casual fans. If the Mania buyrate ends up just being the diehards, that's a huge embarassment to the company. Even if you load up the show with attractive matches, the show can still "fail" by usual Mania standards. Look at WMXIX for example. You had arguably five main events (Lesnar/Angle, McMahon/Hogan, Booker/HHH, Jericho/Shawn and Austin/Rock) and it tanked by WM standards. Last year drew well because the main event spots were really getting over and they built an overly strong card that was really appealing to casual fans but also threw a bone for the die-hards. Maybe Edge/Triple H will hit it off and it draws interest, we don't know yet because WWE hasn't both to plant any seeds with the exception of Triple H's brief and forgotten shot at Edge the night after NYR.

Remember that period of time around Wrestlemania XX on Raw, where they seemingly had a good quality tv match every week? If you placed the Shawn/Angle match from this week into the shows back then, people would call it a disapointment or a weak match. The fact Raw doesn't place any sort of emphasis on good free tv matches right now, allowed that below average match to stand out (although, I would say this match was a notch higher then the last two tries from these guys).

There is nothing to gain from putting Angle over Undertaker or Taker over Angle. However, this is a big enough match to give NWO some interest which it usually struggles to get because of the placement in between WWE's two biggest shows of the year. Angle/Taker matches are hit or miss. They either really stink up the place or put on a great match. This would be political nightmare for WWE to handle if it were the WM main event for Smackdown. Undertaker isn't going to want to give up his streak and Angle will try to play politics saying that he's jobbed the WM main event too many times now(xix and xx), also Undertaker has a limited schedule which is something a champion today can't have. Despite his popularity, Undertaker has never been a steady draw, so there is really nothing to get from saving this for WM. There is no point in ending the streak now as any rub that could be obtained from it, was lost last year. Angle will work Orton because Orton is Smackdown's default #1 heel in the eyes of WWE, Mark Henry will get the sacrifice spot to Undertaker despite the fact Undertaker really needs a good match to solidfy his streak. Both men (Taker and Angle) would benifit (as would the fans), from Benoit being used in either place but it isn't going to happen. It's smarter to use the Taker/Angle match for NWO and get whatever interest you can, placed on that show instead.

They need to show they can get over 1.2 without the UFC lead-in first.

Erik who? At least they won't ruin a talented worker like Albright or Punk with this.

anymore OVW uploads? anything else in the last 3-4 months would be great.

It also shows they were able to retain the same crowd as UFC(Spike's #1 focus right now). That's important to note.

Jake Delhomme is a star? At least Seattle can pimp the MVP status on their team. What's marketable about Carolina? A WR that is generally 5th or 6th mentioned in regards to WR's (not neccesarily talent wise mind you). That's a joke right? Steve Smith during and after the regular season was regarded as one of, if not the best WR in the NFL. He had the stats to prove it also. Reading comprehension is a nice tool to learn. Ask an regular joe, name five current NFL WR'S They will name Johnson, T.O, Moss almost instantly and the other two would depend on that person's location. It's not a matter of talent/stats and what the tv experts say, the point in question was marketability, something Steve Smith hasn't reached yet. Discussion of talent was never mentioned.

Poor Chavo has a job for life now. It's gotta suck for him knowing the only reason he had a job with WWE was his uncle, and that will never change.

CC > Leena.

Rey and Chavo get the Eddie chants because they are more directly asscociated with Eddie, then Benoit was. There's no purpose in involving Eddie at all for any hypothetical Angle/Benoit showdown at WM. Chavo is, but not Rey. In storyline terms and real life, Eddie and Benoit were best friends. Their friendship has also been played longer on television than Eddie and Rey's. WWE fans have short term memories, The rey/eddie issue was more recent then benoit/eddie was. Also, Rey and Eddie also were asscociated as a group in WCW as well as both having the same heritage. Also strictly for smark purposes, Rey/Eddie's matches has more praise then Eddie/Benoit matches do. The Radicalz are more recent than the LWO, so I win... But seriously, the only way to know who Eddie was closer with is to ask him, and we can't, so... Agree to disagree? The Filthy Animals actually. Obviously we can't do that but my point is that Rey is promoted and pushed as someone who was directly asscociated with Eddie just like Chavo is. Reality or not. Rey gets the Eddie chants because WWE encourages it. Benoit doesn't get them because he isn't pushed as a Eddie Guerrero sympathy figure. Which is why Benoit doesn't need the Eddie attachment if he gets the WM main event spot, but Chavo will need it because that's the one thing that's keeping him over.

I know, I am just saying the game is on ABC this year so ABC/ESPN can just pretend to be promoting The View during the superbowl hype or something. In reality, it's the only worthwhile thing about Hasselbeck other then the OT in GB incident.

Rey and Chavo get the Eddie chants because they are more directly asscociated with Eddie, then Benoit was. There's no purpose in involving Eddie at all for any hypothetical Angle/Benoit showdown at WM. Chavo is, but not Rey. In storyline terms and real life, Eddie and Benoit were best friends. Their friendship has also been played longer on television than Eddie and Rey's. WWE fans have short term memories, The rey/eddie issue was more recent then benoit/eddie was. Also, Rey and Eddie also were asscociated as a group in WCW as well as both having the same heritage. Also strictly for smark purposes, Rey/Eddie's matches has more praise then Eddie/Benoit matches do.

ABC. Which kinda is okay because she works for ABC.

Hasselbeck does have a hot and semi-famous sister in law...

Rey and Chavo get the Eddie chants because they are more directly asscociated with Eddie, then Benoit was. There's no purpose in involving Eddie at all for any hypothetical Angle/Benoit showdown at WM.

Jake Delhomme is a star? At least Seattle can pimp the MVP status on their team. What's marketable about Carolina? A WR that is generally 5th or 6th mentioned in regards to WR's (not neccesarily talent wise mind you).

NO NO NO. If Rey or Benoit even sniff the main event for Mania which they won't, it can't be "for eddie". Benoit didn't need Eddie to win the title the first time, Benoit wrestles for Benoit. It's cheesy as hell, it might work for Chavo winning the IC title at the most.

I'd rather they have Angle/Edge reunify the belts with Angle as champion, giving them a big time money match. Benoit can fuck around with HHH at Mania and lay down for Hunter as payback for Hunter laying down for Benoit two years ago. Triple H already got his "payback". Benoit/HHH for the millionth time isn't worth shit especially since they never really produced that one on one classic they seemingly wanted to.

instead of starting a new thread about WM and what we think/hope to see, I decided to just bump this one... WMXXII WWE Tag Team Titles 2/3 Falls Mexi-Cools Vs MnM *This should be a fun match as M.C are pretty over and MnM has the classic heel tag team science down pat now and I would argue they have been the most complete tag team in WWE since the TLC trio of E&C, Hardy and Dudley Boyz. Some may argue, WGTT, but while WGTT might have been a better collection of talent, MnM has been a better team and has gotten more of a credible push, mainly because of Melina. Mexi-Cools seemed like a joke initially but they really have proven to be a successful and over face team for SmackDown. Unless they decide to do a dual-champions match with Raw’s champions, Mexi-Cools are the best choice for Mania against MnM. The Royal Rumble match-up should be won by Mexi-Cools by DQ or count-out to build for the re-match at No Way Out where MnM cheat to win this time, establishing that Mexi-Cools had beaten them twice already, the match would be a 2/3 falls match, also just gives this match an extra spice to it and because it’s been awhile since WWE has done a 2/3 falls tag team match. I would kick the show off with this because it should be a hot match and wouldn’t be a clunker which would hurt the momentum of the show. MnM should be in their biggest glamour attitude yet, take their regular entrance and expand it to a larger and more “big” stage. MnM could go over here and extend their reign but I’d rather see Mexi-Cools win it for the feel good pop and it’d allow the feud to stretch out for another month or two* Woman’s Title Trish Stratus Vs Mickie James *The storylines on Raw have been, to say the least, disjointed but the Mickie and Trish storyline has been effective enough that it still works, even if it has gone as far to include Ashley into it. Hopefully that’s merely a bump in this feud. I would have Trish offer a complimentary title shot against Ashley at the Rumble as an apology for Mickie’s antics. However, Candice as a way to be devious and bitchy, talks Vince into letting Mickie be the guest referee for the match and Mickie of course, initially protests this as does Trish but Mickie actually really wanted to be the referee. One way or another, Trish wins the match and retains her title thanks to Mickie. If they wanted to, Trish could turn heel here and that would alter the storyline very little and I doubt the fans really want to boo Trish right now since she either works in this current character or the intelligent, promiscuous bitch (and Lita is fulfilling 2/3 of that character description right now) so keeping Trish as the face would be better for now. Trish going over Mickie to definitively ends the feud or have Mickie “upset” Trish works. * CW Title KASH Vs Noble *Rather simple, Kash has been an excellent heel champion and Noble is an excellent baby-face. Instead of going for the usual gauntlet/battle royal or just ignoring it completely, I’d have a straight up singles match for the title. I would have Noble go on a winning streak and have Kash completely refuse to give him the title shot. Kash is an excellent asshole heel and Noble should be able to get the crowd into it. Ideally, the match would go 15 minutes but if there’s anyone who can truncate 15 minutes into 6 minutes of good wrestling, it is Jamie “By God” Noble. * US Title Booker T Vs Lashley *I am not clear on the status of Booker T for the moment, but assuming that he is healed up and can start actively wrestling; He should remain the US champion. Lashley is currently being built up and while I don’t want to compare him to Goldberg because the comparison isn’t really there besides the obvious size similarity, Lashley has been somewhat “dominant” but still hasn’t had a definable “feud”, something else similar to Goldberg when he first started in WCW. Lashley should be named #1 contender simply for being dominant. Lashley should squash Booker T here though but not brutally. * Money in the Bank RVD, Benjamin, Haas, Guerrero, Mysterio, Hardy, JBL and Daivari *MITB was a success last year in terms of the match itself and how it gave Edge an identity for once and was able to use it to win the title. Last year, Jericho was credited for creating the match and this year, I would expand the match towards both brands and add two more spots. The idea is that the winner “receives the automatic guarantee of a shot at their respective brand’s title, good for an entire year” Meaning they can save themselves in the possibility the winner gets traded, they get a title shot regardless of which brand it is they are on. Benjamin, RVD, Hardy, Daivari and Mysterio are obvious choices and with Chavo’s recent mini-push to capitalize on Eddie’s death, he wouldn’t be out of place in a ladder match. As for Charlie Haas, we don’t know when he’s coming back but I would assume sooner then later and regardless if he teams with or against Benjamin upon his return, he’s a fit for this match as well. Last year, Kane didn’t quite fit in with the other wrestlers in the match, so JBL can play that "big man" role as he is a good brawler and he would add an interesting presence to the match. * IC Title Flair Vs Masters w/Carlito *We all know WWE still has a hard-on for Masters despite having yet to show anything remotely bordering on actual heat. The IC title actually still exists and Ric Flair claims ownership of the title. WWE obviously will want to use Masters on some relative high point for the show, pairing him with Flair isn’t out of the question. The ideal thing would be putting Carlito as his second. Carlito can carry the promo end of the feud, (Shawn/Diesel ’94). Flair would bump and bleed most likely all over the place to make Masters look good. Masters is hardly the ideal champion or wrestler, or even human being but in the case of being realistic, this match isn’t far-fetched. * World Tag Team Titles Cena/Hogan Vs Kane/The Big Show *They have to use Hogan, and Hogan is getting paid more money then anyone else will be. They lost their Austin/Hogan shot and Hogan isn’t going to reduce himself to a nothing spot on the card, even though I’m sure he would just as well collect the paycheck and do another skit like last year, this time I would imagine WWE would like to promote a Hogan match for the show. Hogan’s list of demands includes Cena, Angle and Show. This gives him 2 of those guys. He already has established a partnership with Cena from last year, so it’s not as randomly as it may seem. TBS/Kane is being built (or was) as dominant champions and currently, WWE has nothing to combat with it. Why not just set up this “major” tag match between 4 former WWE champions? This saves them from blowing the Cena/Hogan match, where it can be used to push another show for another big buy-rate. This match would hardly be a classic technical match but the crowd should be interesting.* Undertaker Vs Benoit *This is really just hopeful smark sentiment here but this would be the perfect opportunity to give Undertaker that true quality match that he lacks in his 13-0 streak (whilst his work with Orton, Flair and HHH weren’t shoddy, they weren’t special either). If they aren’t doing Undertaker/Angle for the title, this is the next best option. I’m not sure how you set this up, maybe in the rumble, UT comes out and dominates and people clear out and Benoit is the only person to stand UT in the face? Who knows how you set this match up but Undertaker/Benoit works 100x’s better then Undertaker/Henry would (this is the match, I feel will actually occur). * World Title Angle Vs Orton *It’s a joke that Orton would even be a main event name for Mania considering he’s been nothing but a joke for awhile now on Smackdown but when the roster is depleted of its stars thanks to death, injuries, unbreakable streaks and the company’s lack of trust in men shorter then 6’, Orton is basically the only guy left standing for Angle. Maybe it’s not too late and they can have Shawn win the rumble and he chooses Smackdown to get back at Angle and they can do the blow-off for good there but a re-match isn’t necessary…but its better then Orton getting an undeserved WM main event spot. * WWE Title Triple H Vs Edge Vs Shawn Michaels *I really just don’t want to see HBK/McMahon at WM. It would be tremendously worthless, I don’t know if this match would work either. If they do Triple H/Edge straight up, Trips is turning face. Edge doesn’t work as a face and shouldn’t be a face anyways. Shawn’s presence really has no purpose here, kind of like WMXX when he injected himself into it. I’d much rather see Triple H/Edge one on one and to see Shawn work Angle… But we’re going to have Shawn/McMahon no matter how much we wish against it. Maybe this isn’t the best possible card for Mania… Mexi-Cools/MNM (2/3 Falls WWE Tag Titles) Trish/Mickie (Woman’s Title) Noble/Kash (CW Title) Booker/Lashley (US Title) RVD/Benjamin/Haas/Guerrero/Rey/Hardy/Daivari/JBL (MITB) Masters/Flair (IC Title) Undertaker/Benoit Hogan + Cena/ TBS + Kane (world tag titles) Angle/Orton (world title) Michaels/Edge/Triple H (WWE Title) But considering the actual card would likely be Angle/Orton Triple H/Edge McMahon/HBK Cena/Hogan Undertaker/Henry TBS/Kane Vs Masters/Carlito Add random mid-card madness. the first card looks more appealing, to me at least

WM2000 was a fatal four way elimination. A better example of triple threat goodness would be Danielson/Low Ki/Daniels.

Somehow I'm convinced we'll see TBS/Kane vs. Carlito/Masters for the Tag Titles. There probably won't be enough room on the card to give Carlito or Masters high profile singles matches, but you know they'll want to give them something important to do. That's my gut feeling as well, but if anything I would just leave the ic title on Flair for the moment (since hot-shotting the title now isnt going to do anything) and Flair can put over Masters with Carlito playing Shawn to Masters's diesel. Flair will want a WM match and this is a good opportunity for them to make Masters look good winning the title on the big stage and we know Flair will bump like crazy to put over Masters.

Losing the big game isn't going to erase the stigma of being a choker. It just means they choked on a bigger level.

Once again, Hogan/Cena Vs TBS/Kane for the tag team titles. It's not like WWE will have the smarts to use TBS/Kane (whom apparently arent teaming anymore despite being champs) against reunited WGTT. That would be a mega-match and it saves the Hogan/Cena program for the summer. Angle/Orton doesn't even look like a secondary ppv main event, much less WM. I would imagine Triple H is turning face for the Edge feud, just wonder how they pull it off but it can work.

EFA