NitroJMS

I'm not surprised that WWE feels that way, as they have dropped the ball big time leading into this show. There were so many ways to go with the main events and they took some very pedestrian steps so we aren't getting anything fresh. They could have easily dragged out Shawn vs. Jericho or JBL til Wrestlemania by having Jericho retain and sending Shawn home with a worked injury and having him win the Rumble, or having JBL win the title at RR and Shawn winning the Rumble again in this scenario, but why would they want Raw's most over face of the last year to headline a PPV? Cena should have been placed in a match against a legend to actually cement his status, whether it be Hogan, Austin, Taker, or someone else. His quick return to win the title was completely pointless since he should have chased the belt all the way to WM25. Jericho's legend gimmick has sputtered and died since Hogan is hurt and Flair and Austin are unwilling to do the match, so we get a hodge podge of superstars that are entirely past their prime (Snuka, Piper) or who are more famous for being in other feds (Steamboat). Orton/HHH really doesn't need the title involved, but its gotten very silly with all the police storylines of late. Why doesn't Steph and Vince just charge Orton with assault for striking them, if Randy continually wants to threaten them with legal action? Also, the McMahons have been heels most of the last year and never really turned face, yet Orton is supposedly the heel here and HHH is the face so it doesn't make too much sense to anyone paying attention. I'd personally shake up the card slightly and have it be something like this and let's assume Jericho never lost the belt at Survivor Series: No DQ Grudge Match - HHH vs. Randy Orton John Cena vs. Undertaker - Taker jobs to finally solidify Cena Smackdown Champion Edge vs. Big Show - Guess Referee Vickie? RAW Champion Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels - angle plays out similarly with Flair and Rourke in Shawn's corner Gimmick Match - Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy Battle of the Brands - IC Champion CM Punk vs. US Champion Shelton Benjamin MITB - Miz, Morrison, Rey, Finlay, Kofi, MVP, Umaga, Kozlov ECW Champion Jack Swagger vs. Christian Random Diva Match Battle of the Brands - Tag Title Unification - Carlito/Primo vs. Cryme Time vs. Winners of Tag Team Battle Royale Pre-show - Tag Team Battle Royale (Final Two in Ring enter the Tag Unification Match) - Kane, JBL, and the rest that didn't make the main card.

Looks interesting. I'll have to browse the next time I'm at Barnes and Noble if they have it. Kinda odd cover though, Dibiase, Jake, Blassie, Edge, and whoever is on the far right over Hogan, Bret, Flair, Andre, and Piper? Anyone have an idea on who that is on the right? It'd be cool to have WWE someday do a true encyclopedia or reference piece instead of just a coffee table book like this one. They could have it span WWF/E, WCW, AWA, ECW, WCCW and whatever other rights they have. Have each volume cover 2-3 letters of the alphabet and include in 2-3 DVDs of matches for the bigger names (main eventers and mid-carders) from that volume. Price each set around $30-40 and you've got a nice little collectible series that could be a constant revenue stream for years as the volumes would have to be spaced out.

There's a bunch of characters where it simply doesn't make sense that they have tattoos as it is like Regal who is supposed to be a British socialite. There's a few characters where it obviously works with the character like Shawn having the heart, Taker's overall look, and Orton's college dipshit tattoos, but alot of wrestlers (Lesnar, Batista, Edge) have taken it to the extreme compared to their 80's and 90's counterparts.

I remember watching Wrestlemania XVI/2000 and being 100% sure Wrestlemania XVII was going to be in Atlanta as the final middle finger to Turner and WCW. I thought WCW had some sort of exclusive deal with the Georgia Dome at the time, but I'm not sure. WWE and WCW often locked up their "home arenas" so that the other couldn't run shows there. Examples are WWE exclusively using MSG in New York and Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

HHH is gonna see Warrior in the mirror...

That would have been a great main event. A double retirement of the two greatest stars of the attitude era, as both walk off together for the final time. Too bad Rocky has a multi-picture deal with Disney or we'd probably be seeing this. Jericho could theoretically face Austin, who would have Rourke and Flair in his corner. It'd play into the broken down legends spiel that Jericho has been spouting off lately.

Perhaps WWE should modify their traveling plans since I've seen this type of thing happen at house shows I've attended. It'd probably be smarter to have the wrestlers park their cars at an offsite location such as their hotel, then have them take a shuttle bus to the arena for the show. Most traveling sports teams use this approach and it allows for better control and security of the players.

It's a terrible main event too, since Jericho is the only one who could conceivably win, yet he's in a program with Rourke (or maybe Flair) that would preclude him from carrying the World title to Wrestlemania. Knox and Kofi are mid-carders and Rey and Kane haven't been serious title contenders in a long while. A single EC match to determine who would be the other title challenger besides Orton would have probably been a better option. Throw in HHH, Taker and Big Show from SD, and Jericho, JBL and HBK from Raw. Cena could have had a quicky feud for one month to keep him busy with say Kane or Regal, and Edge could have done the same with one of SD's midcarders. Throw in Shane vs. Orton and a diva match and you have an almost full card.

Am I the only one expecting Charlie Haas as McMahon?

I saw the dark match at Raw. Tomko looked in decent shape and maybe slightly bulkier than he used to be. Think more Batista-ish than before. He also got a good pop from the live crowd upon his return and win.

I vote PNC Park for either.

The card for this seems a bit light at only 6 matches, with 2 of them likely having no chance of going over 5-10 minutes (WWE Tag Title, Divas Title).