The Piledriver Report 01.26.12: A Clear Road to WrestleMania

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 01.26.2012

With the Royal Rumble this weekend, the official “Road to WrestleMania” is about to begin. While everybody is looking forward to The Rock vs. John Cena, this year’s WrestleMania should be more than a one match show. The Piledriver Report takes a look at the potential undercard...

The WWE's official "Road to WrestleMania" begins this Sunday night in St. Louis, MO at the 2012 Royal Rumble. By this time of the year, everyone has a pretty good idea of what the main event of WrestleMania will be. The Royal Rumble is the event that usually cements that direction. Not this year though. For the first time in the history of the WWE's biggest show of the year, the WWE announced the main event of the next WrestleMania a whole year in advance. There is no guess work as to what wrestlers will headline WrestleMania XXVIII. That honor belongs to The Rock and John Cena.

THE TITLE MATCHES



With the WrestleMania main event set in stone, the WWE needs to focus on the undercard. The Royal Rumble will be the first step in determining who goes to WrestleMania XXVIII. The winner of the Royal Rumble battle royal will go on to face a World Champion at WrestleMania. Right now, the rumors surrounding the two World title matches have Randy Orton challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Chris Jericho battling for the WWE World title. While only one of these men can win the Royal Rumble, the other will probably win a match at the Elimination Chamber pay per view, which is the second major avenue on the "Road to WrestleMania."

Looking at the WWE landscape, and reading the news reports, it's pretty much a lock that the man that Chris Jericho will face in the WWE World championship match at WrestleMania is CM Punk. Even if CM Punk loses the WWE World title to Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble, he can always win the belt back at the Elimination Chamber pay per view, or any of the upcoming episodes of RAW before the WrestleMania card gets completed.

The bigger question revolves around who Randy Orton will face for the World Heavyweight championship on the show. This Sunday night will go a long way towards answering the question. Months ago, according to the rumors, Randy Orton was scheduled to win the Royal Rumble, and then regain the World title from the man that he lost the belt to, Mark Henry. Daniel Bryan was only scheduled to have a short title reign. A reign that would end before WrestleMania XXVIII. However, something unexpected has happened with Daniel Bryan. Instead of booking him as a weak champion, the WWE has pushed Daniel Bryan as a legitimate title holder. Combine that with his subtle heel turn that is getting over with the fans, and the WWE has caught lighting in a bottle. Bryan deserves to hold the World Heavyweight title heading into WrestleMania. Besides his recent performances, Daniel Bryan has two more things going in his favor. First, an Orton/Bryan match at WrestleMania has the chance to steal the show, and give the fans a classic WrestleMania moment. Secondly, Randy Orton has gone on record stating that Mark Henry is his least favorite performer to work with. Why put him in the ring against a guy that he isn't comfortable with on the biggest show of the year? You want a WrestleMania classic, not a WrestleMania stinker. If I had to put odds on who would go on to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania, I would have to go with Daniel Bryan. He is very over right now. Bryan is having a great run. Not to mention that we have already seen Randy Orton and Mark Henry square off numerous times. A Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton match would be something new and fresh. A match between the two would help make WrestleMania feel special. This Sunday, at the Royal Rumble, we will have a good idea on who will be defending the World title at WrestleMania.

THE DEADMAN PLAYS THE GAME: PART THREE



The match that is probably the worst kept secret for this year's WrestleMania is another bout that was penciled in since last year's event. Though not officially announced, like The Rock vs. John Cena, the Undertaker vs. Triple H III has been in the cards for the 28th WrestleMania show. This year's re-rematch is scheduled to be refereed by the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. The build-up will be that the deck will be stacked against the Undertaker. Michaels is Triple H's best friend, and he is still anger of being forced to retire thanks to losing to the dead man at WrestleMania XXVI. That's a nice little side note to the match. Shawn Michaels' role, combined with Triple H pushing the Undertaker to the brink at last year's show, give this match some great kayfabe reasons for their battle to be among the most anticipated on the show. The fact that both men work well together, and pulled off a really good match last year, will make this a must see WrestleMania match for the hardcore audience.

SHAQ DIESEL



Within the last month, there have been reports that Shaquille O'Neal is scheduled to face the Big Show at this year's WrestleMania. To most observers, this is a "filler" celebrity match. After all, by the time WrestleMania hits in April, both the Big Show and Shaq will each be 40 years old. Even though O'Neal was a world class professional basketball player for most of his life, forty years old isn't the ideal time to train for and have your first professional wrestling match. The odds are that the match will be below average, and that's putting it nicely. That being said, I am really looking forward to seeing this match. Shaq is a big wrestling fan, so you know that he is going to try really hard to do his best. Plus, he has a huge personality, so his segments leading up to WrestleMania should be entertaining. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just blinded by the fact that Shaq is my favorite basketball player of all-time. Either way, I'm looking forward to the WWE's latest "Battle of the Giants."

WRESTLEMANIA IS MONEY



One of the WrestleMania traditions over the past several years has been the Money in the Bank ladder match. Every year, you knew that you'd be treated to an action-filled stunt fest of a match. Unfortunately, over the last two years, the WWE decided to remove one of the best aspects of WrestleMania, and give the match it's own pay per view. Thanks to the CM Punk/John Cena match, Daniel Bryan shocking the world to win the SmackDown! Money in the Bank briefcase, and the fantastic Chicago crowd, the 2011 Money in the Bank pay per view gave us, not only the best pay per view of 2011, but arguably the best "B" show pay per view in WWE history. Despite the awesomeness of that pay per view, WrestleMania has really missed having a Money in the Bank match. There has yet to be a bad Money in the Bank pay per view match. WrestleMania is supposed to be the grandest pay per view of them all. The event is supposed to have the best matches. Money in the Bank deserves a spot on that stage. After a two year absence, the WWE is rumored to be putting the match back on the WrestleMania card. I couldn't be happier. Besides the Money in the Bank match being a good match, having the match at WrestleMania always leaves the possibility of the winner cashing the briefcase in later that night to create the ultimate WrestleMania moment.

This should leave three additional matches for the show. You figure that there will be a women's match, a tag team encounter, and another low level singles match. Looking at the card as it is rumored to be thus far, and this appears to be one of the better WrestleMania cards in the event's history. And, I didn't even bring up The Rock vs. John Cena. WrestleMania XXVIII is about nine weeks away. Nine weeks until these rumored matches become a reality. I can't wait.