Benoit/Orton, Michaels/Kane

[deancoles 0]

With WM so far away, saying that Orton will job the title to HHH is ridiculous.

Why's it ridiculous? HHH has wanted to feud with Orton for about a year now and unless an injury to any of them happens I can't see HHH fighting anyone else at Wrestlemania.Even if neither of them holds the World title I can still see them fighting at Wrestlemania because one was "kicked out" of Evolution.

[Promoter 0]

wildpegasus, come on you know HBK is going to have to be pitted against Kane upon his return for revenge. Throw that out the window. I do agree that they can re-visit the rivalry sometime down the line though. They won't do Benoit/Jericho at WM for the world title. I think if they wanted to do face vs. face between these two guys it would have happened right here in Toronto. The match would have serious heat and the storyline can be multi-layered, but for some stupid reason they didn't do it. They aren't going to do face vs. face between Jericho/Benoit for Mania excluding unforeseen circumstances. That has only happened 3 times at Mania and that was Hogan/Warrior(which neither man are at that level of face popularity), Hart/HBK(who were the top two talents in the wwf at the time, and Rock/Austin which needs no explanation. I could see Edge and Batista as contenders in the next few months, but what happens after that for Mania?

 

Twiztedmind you are correct with the variables. However, don't you think if the wwe plans on putting the title on Orton that the next obvious guy to take the belt off him would be Triple H who has not held the title since WM XX? I think Trips losing a step in terms of kayfabe(losing to Shelton*btw Orton didn't* and not regaining the belt off Benoit who beat him which he always does) and Orton possibly winning the title isn't by accident. If Orton bombs as champ, I still think Trips may have things slated for his title win for WM 21. Okay, what other options would they have with HHH dethroning a champion at WM 21? Benoit holding the title for a year is a good choice since the rematches never had him go over decisively on Trips. Orton is another choice. Jericho is another choice, but I think they would be hesitant to go that route again. It might have been Edge, but the guy has bombed in his return as a face(there's that variable you talked about). Hell no, with Shawn Michaels that's for sure. I think the choices are pretty slim actually.

[iggymcfly 0]

I still don't see how they can bank on Orton's first reign being successful enough to last seven months. He's 24, he's just barely over, and his highest profile win thus far was over a retired Mick Foley. If they're going to make it work, they'll either need excellent writing and extremely well-built feuds, or they're going to have to change it up a little bit and have him pass the title back and forth with other people in the meanwhile.

 

You know who the last man was to hold the title for over six months in their first reign? Shawn Michaels all the way back in 1996. Lesnar was crazy over for a heel, and he only made it three months his first time around.

 

I'd say it's more likely they do something like this: Orton wins the title at SS, and beats Benoit in a rematch at Unforgiven. Then, at "Taboo Tuesday", HHH beats Benoit in a #1 contender's match while Orton loses the title to a transitional face (Jericho or Eugene, maybe even The Rock if they really want to sell the PPV). Since HHH is the #1 contender, he gets the next shot rather than Orton. He wins the title, and when Orton starts demanding his rematch, he refuses, telling him to go for the IC belt. Finally, Orton snaps and attacks HHH, giving him an RKO. The next week, Trips does the fake peacemaking, only to give Orton a bloody beatdown and kick him out of Evolution. Orton wins the Rumble to get his rightful shot at HHH, and presto, you have a WM main event.

[humongous2002 0]

Orton just got over as a heel after 2 years of being pushed down our throats and now WWE wants to give him the world belt, turn him face and a Mania main event, i can't wait for that 20 minutes main event chinlock.

[Guest TigerDriver91]

(and if any of my fellow smartmarks on this board are going to summerslam, please try to bring a "I can't believe I went to a ppv main evented by bradshaw" sign for me lol )

I will see what I can do about that sign. I just might throw in a few "We Don't Care" chants if we get that bloody Tramp Search crap at SummerSlam as well.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

No credible sources on the 'net said that Bret would be at Mania XX. There was speculation, because he was having talks with them, but it was never mentioned as being a done deal. Anyone who goes by the word of certain unreliable sources on the 'net shouldn't be shocked when the rumours dont come to pass.

 

Same with Champion vs Champion, that was never mentioned anywhere that I would call credible. The plan was always for Goldberg-Lesnar to face each other, but not to unify the titles. The only match that was really speculated that didn't happen was HHH vs Orton, but it was clear by SurvSer that wasn't going to happen.

 

I do agree things could change (injuries for example), but usually when these things get so specific and are reported by credible people they tend to come true.