Wrestlemania XXIV Picks + Other thoughts

Hello there.

It is Sunday, March 30th. Wrestlemania XXIV is upon us! I know I've done some bashing on this year's Wrestlemania but nonetheless I'm as excited for it as any Wrestlemania just because I'm a fan. It may also be because I just came back from a terrific independent show in Connecticut (I'll talk about that later) and watched the Hall of Fame. Either way I'm really excited for the capping off of my "wrestling weekend".

First of all before I give any predictions or talk about anything else I want to send a HUGE congratulations to the Hall of Fame Class of 2008 - Congratulations Ric Flair, Rocky Johnson, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, The Brisco Brothers, Mae Young, Eddie Graham, and Gordon Solie. All classic names. Watching the Hall of Fame is special for me every year as I truly, unequivocally respect each and every superstar that has ever laced up a pair of boots but this year something about the Hall of Fame was even more special to me. Watching "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair get inducted into the Hall of Fame left me with a lump in my throat. I truly am so very happy for Ric Flair and as I watch I know that we're on borrowed time with Ric Flair but if his last match is tonight at Wrestlemania then I hope he has a tremendous one because win, lose, or draw Ric Flair will always be a champion with me. WOO!!

OK, now on to my Wrestlemania predictions!

Wrestlemania FreeView
24-Man Battle Royal
Winner faces ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero later in the night

I understand the reason why they're doing the Battle Royal before Wrestlemania as these Battle Royals tend to become giant cluster-you-know-whats however I do wish that they had it on the card just so that immediately after the winner is declared the opportunistic ECW Champion, obviously taking lessons from his "familia" (Edge), could come out nice and fresh and add a degree of suspense to the match. I can just here Joey Styles now: "Tazz, how can the challenger possibly take on the veteran and savvy Chavo Guerrero after just going through 23 other superstars to get the shot?" Tazz would of course tell Styles to shut up as he should always. Anyway, of the 24 men in this Battle Royal, there are only a few I could really see winning. Kane is at the top of my list. I don't believe that WWE would allow a snooze-fest like The Great Khali vs. Chavo Guerrero to happen on Wrestlemania. Sentimentally, I'd love to see "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan get the dupe and become ECW Champion. Hey, the title can't take any bigger beating than it has already... can it? Other favorites to win it are Tommy Dreamer, Kofi Kingston and Festus. Come on, Festus has a ton of potential and a ton of fans! That'd just be ridiculous if he won. But there can only be one winner and I just have a feeling that we got just a tiny piece of it on Tuesday. I believe that the winner of the 24-Man Battle Royal, who will go on to face Chavo Guerrero later in the night, is going to be none other than Tommy Dreamer!! ECW!!!!

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. John Morrison

Let me just say, first and foremost, that this is one of the matches that I just cannot wait for. I'm happy that this match is becoming an institution every year at Wrestlemania. It's done wonders for careers - just look at Edge. Well, actually, he's the only one... but now he's in a Main Event at Wrestlemania challenging the Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak and has won dual World Championships just off the Money in the Bank. Tremendous. Also, as I watch this match I'll be thinking of Jeff Hardy and what he's doing and hoping he gets over whatever demons that are plaguing him.

Now, Money in the Bank.

There are quite a few people that I can see winning this. Chris Jericho is definitely one of them. Jericho is one of the most underrated superstars in WWE history. I know, you can say "But Mike! He's had his chance at the World Championship - how can you say he's underrated?!" He just is. Look at how they use him. The man can put on tremendous five star matches with anyone he wants, cut a terrific promo, generate excitement and WWE just continues to leave him stuck in the midcard. Why? MVP is another tremendous talent that has a great chance of winning the Money in the Bank. Personally I do not believe that he is ready to be Money in the Bank Champion yet but as is with WWE anything can happen. Even Carlito can win it! I do smell a Matt Hardy return, stifling MVP's chances of winning the Money in the Bank match, of course while he's just inches away from the briefcase. They'll continue their feud and it'll be happy times. I'd like to see Mr. Kennedy win it again and get the shot he didn't get last year but I highly doubt he'll be a back to back winner. He'll have to win his title shots the old fashioned way. CM Punk is another guy who realistically has a terrific shot at winning the briefcase. He's ready. It's about time they take him out of ECW Purgatory and move him to a real show. I'd like to see him go to Smackdown and feud with MVP, Edge, Undertaker, Batista - you know, all the big guys. CM Punk can be a good champion given the right circumstances. However it'll all come down to one man and that one man that I believe will win Money in the Bank is CM Punk.

ECW Championship Match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Chavo Guerrero (c)

Just a recap: Tommy Dreamer is my pick to win the 24-Man Battle Royal.

OK, we all know that Tommy Dreamer eats, drinks, sleeps and bleeds ECW. We all know that Tommy Dreamer, even though he looks like a doughboy, fights with all the passion of a rookie finally getting his chance to be someone. ECW is a struggling brand right now, let's admit it. The die hard fans have said "To hell with this, we're done". The show does ratings in the low to mid 1.0s. No one is watching. WWE needs to try to bring back that old fan base by giving a little of what the fans want and what the fans want is something at least remotely resembling the old ECW. Jim Ross said it best - "ECW is ECW in initials only". Well said, JR. Give Tommy Dreamer the belt and let him do his thing. However, I know most people will disagree with that idea and I doubt that will happen at Wrestlemania anyway so I'm picking Chavo Guerrero to retain.

Belfast Brawl

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Finlay

Personally I could care less about this match. I have about as much emotion invested in this match as I do for cauliflower... and I hate cauliflower. The thing that stinks is they both are really great brawlers. If only their feud didn't consist of a leprechaun being the bastard son of Vince McMahon and then being revealed by JBL as being Finlay's actual son (doesn't that make Finlay a heel for being a neglectful parent?) I'd be as excited for this match as any match. Unfortunately that is exactly what they are feuding about and even worse, I just have a terrible feeling that the rivalry will continue on. Hornswoggle will of course come back in this match but it will be too late and JBL will end up getting the win. Woo-hoo.

BunnyMania Lumberjack Match
Maria & Ashley vs. Melina & Beth Phoenix

Special Guest Emcee: Snoop Dogg

I don't understand how this is "BunnyMania". Only half the team was in Playboy. Whatever.

Personally, if Candice Michelle hadn't been injured, I'd have rather seen her taking on Beth Phoenix for the Women's Title. Melina is absolutely right - the women wrestlers should be graded and pushed on their ability, not what they take off. Unfortunately that's all that seems to matter to the bookers, and the fans for that matter. Too bad. Looks like the Women's Champion and Melina will be falling to Maria and Ashley. Too bad. With the imbecilic Snoop Dogg officiating nonetheless. Hey - just an aside but wasn't this called a LumberJill Match last year??

Smackdown vs. RAW
Batista vs. Umaga

Don't you think with something as big as "brand supremacy" on the line that these two would have had more buildup then they actually have had? Seriously, what has this feud really been - two backstage vignettes of challenges, some squash matches and a spine buster and Samoan Spike. Whoopie!! Let the fun begin!!

Anyway, for as little time as they've put into this thrown together match, I highly expect this to be a knockdown, drag out brawl between these two monsters. I'm actually looking forward to this one. I don't think it's going to be a long match but it'll be enough to whet the appetite for more. Umaga needs to go to Smackdown and start fresh again. He's gone through everyone on RAW. Can you imagine Undertaker vs. Umaga?! I'm salivating at the thought! If the reports on the Internet are correct and there is going to be one of those controversial endings that may become a reality. I'm taking Batista to win the Smackdown vs. RAW battle. In controversial fashion, of course.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show

Ugh, this feud has left me with more than just a bad taste in my mouth. This is just terrible. The build-up for it hasn't been good at all. Hell, we don't even know who to cheer for and who not to! Of course we, as wrestling fans, will boo and cheer whoever the hell we want, but WWE hasn't even made clear to us who they'd like us to cheer and boo for!! Even with the "No Holds Barred Must Be A Winner" rule and the alleged "swerve that no one will see coming" at the end, I'm still not excited for this match and I doubt I will be even while watching it. I'm taking the obvious pick: Floyd Mayweather and his posse. Those idiots.

Career Threatening Match
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels

Wow, you want to talk "Wrestlemania moments", expect a ton from these two. The staredown alone between them will rival Rock vs. Hogan in 2002. I don't know why but for some reason I just don't even want this match to happen. I'm too scared of the implications. Either way I believe it's going to be the end of Ric Flair. I don't want to wake up Monday morning in a wrestling world without that limosine ridin', jet flyin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', son of a gun Ric Flair! I expect an epic but I won't be disappointed with whatever happens. Either way it's the end of an era. I'm actually going to go with Ric Flair in this! There's too many obvious picks on the card and I think they're going to swerve us and have Ric Flair win and then retire on his own accord the next night on RAW! One more time: WOOOO!!!!!!

World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker vs. Edge (c)

I love how WWE is billing this as "Streak vs. Streak". Don't they know that last year Edge lost at Wrestlemania?! Anyway...

This is going to be a great match. These two are going to tear the house down. Undertaker is a different performer during Wrestlemania and he always rises to the occasion. I fully expect Edge to do the same. I cannot wait for this match. This is one I couldn't wait for since back in May when Edge screwed the Undertaker out of the World Heavyweight Championship! What a match it will be, what a match! I, of course, have to go with the Undertaker on this one. 16-0 and he gets probably the last World Heavyweight Championship reign, at least lengthy one, of his career.

WWE Championship
Triple H vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton (c)

This is going to be the closer for the night. This is going to be a terrific match. All three can really work and can really wrestle. Well, two out of three of them can really wrestle well. I don't mean to knock Cena but in my opinion he hasn't been quite the same since returning. Maybe it's because they really botched up his return and he's kind of lost some of his heat. That's just me - I may be wrong!

Randy Orton has been a pretty good champion. He is a good heel and I know he is because everytime I see him I want to just wring his neck!! He's been a pretty good champ but his reign is over. And you know what, wrestling fans? It's time to play the game. Triple H is your NEW WWE Champion.

Until next time, wrestling fans.