411 PPV Roundtable Preview – WWE WrestleMania XXIX

Introduction

This Sunday, it is finally time for the biggest wrestling show on the calendar, the grand-daddy of them all, the showcase of the immortals, and so on and so forth, WrestleMania. And our XXIXth edition comes to us live from New Jersey, inside the spacious football stadium that will hold the Super Bowl next year. But this year, it’s the stage for WWE’s gigantic event, and no matter how you may feel about the booking or the build or anything else, there is no denying that this is the event where WWE puts everything on the line and at least tries to deliver a blow-away show.

And as usual, here’s the 411 Staff with their thoughts on the show!

The Staff

Stephen Randle, The Wrestling News Experience

TJ Hawke, Views From The Hawke’s Nest

Michael Benjamin, Smackdown and Main Event recapper

Nick Sellers, Canvas Critiques Reviews

James Wright, The Heel Report

Michael Ornelas, The TV List

Dylan Diot From The Shelf Reviews

Jack Bramma, Ring Crew Reviews

Wade Barrett © vs The Miz
WWE Intercontinental Championship
YouTube Pre-Show Match

Stephen Randle: The last time WWE relegated a title match to the pre-show, it never ended up happening and they did a battle royal instead. I could foresee something similar happening here so that everyone not booked gets a payday, but just in case, I’m pretty sure if The Miz was going to win the title, it would actually be on the PPV.

Winner: Wade Barrett

TJ Hawke: I don’t carrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre. Seriously though, who could possibly care about this match? Who likes The Miz? I am so happy this is on the pre-show because this would have just taken away time from more deserving matches. Anyway, I assume Barrett will win and Miz will then win the title on Raw in a few weeks.

Winner: Wade Barrett

Michael Benjamin: I have a feeling that they’re looking to kick things off with a bang. A title change would do the trick.

Winner: The Miz

Michael Weyer: A shame it’s just the pre-show as this looks like a fun bout. Barrett deserves more of a showcase for the big show of the year as does Miz and the IC belt itself. It should be fair and I’ll go with Barrett to retain, not much sense dropping the title when it’s not on the PPV and continues to push Barrett more.

Winner and STILL IC Champion: Wade Barrett

Nick Sellers: I feel for both, because this deserves to go on the card proper. Barrett’s been having solid matches for a while now, and Miz has busted his backside since January and has done a ton of promotional work for them, and he’s not even on the show. Quite a fall from grace from 2 years ago, but I’m guessing they’re testing his attitude to see if he has what it takes to get back up to that level. Ditto Barrett, who only had about 2 minutes of ring-time on the show at ‘Mania 27 and he was injured last year. Real shame. I think Miz will get the duke to get the crowd going and be at least partially rewarded for his recent hard work. Chin up, Wade lad, there’s always next year.

Winner: The Miz

James Wright: A couple of years ago I had a huge amount of interest in these two men, now not so much. It would certainly be too soon to say that their careers have peaked, but certainly this isn’t exactly the highest of highs for them. The secondary belts are still all but meaningless, and that is simply because the WWE refuses to book the IC and US titles as having their own divisions with compelling feuds and storylines that add weight to title changes and who is champion at any one time. Now it just seems like the belts are juggled around between the same old mid-card guys who haven’t been called up to the main event yet, without any real booking outside of challenges out of nowhere that go away just as quick. There is a slight amount of personal rivalry here in terms of both men having movies coming out but beyond that nothing has been explored. As such why not put more guys into the match and just have a massive free for all? Anyway questioning of the title picture aside I am going with the Miz to win here, not that it matters all that much.

Winner: The Miz

Michael Ornelas: I wish I was more sold on this match because it could actually be pretty decent. I think we’ll see a new champion when Barrett goes for a Bullhammer and The Miz hooks it with his arm and swings around for the Skull Crushing Finale.

Winner: The Miz

Dylan Diot: It’s sad when the Intercontinental Championship has to take a backseat to Brodus Clay and Tensai at the biggest show of the year, but it is what it is. Should be a decent match to get the crowd going, I’ll go with Barrett so they can switch the title on the main card of Extreme Rules.

Winner: Wade Barrett

Jack Bramma: Wade has done nothing with the belt other than star 27th from the top in a Colin Farrell movie and tell everyone about it. Miz is doing nothing either but at least is an internal favorite and seems destined for big things. Another IC title run won’t hurt his stock. I just hope that WWE stops jobbing out their secondary champs to main eventers in non-title matches. Wade, Miz, and especially Cesaro deserve better than that fate.

Winner: The Miz

Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls vs Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins

Stephen Randle: The dance number will likely be longer than the match! The results don’t matter unless WWE actually wanted to build real contenders to the tag titles, but they don’t, so this won’t.

Winner: Tons of Funk

TJ Hawke: What an awful waste of time (no matter how short it is) this will be. I hope this match is moved to the pre-show. If it’s on the main show, I expect it to last no more than two minutes.

Winner: Tons of Funk

Michael Benjamin: This is a thrown together “feel good” match. The Rhodes Scholars have lost so many matches that I don’t think another loss is going to knock them down a peg. Plus, the original plan was to bring in the old divas to put over the new divas. I’m going to assume that WWE is still sticking to some semblance of their plan here.

Winner: Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls

Michael Weyer: Hopefully not the opener but clearly the “bathroom break” match, just a bit of fluff, nothing really important to watch (a shame considering the Rhodes are pretty good). Guess I’ll go with the faces here, need an excuse for dancing afterward.

Winners: Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls

Nick Sellers: Very surprised to see that this is the only divas action confirmed so far. Think it must suck a bit for the likes of Kaitlyn not to even get on the card, at least at the time of writing. This is the kind of match that should either go on the pre-show or have some kind of celebrity involvement. I think it’s a waste for Cody and Sandow. The Prime Time Players would’ve been much better oppo’s for the faces here to make full use of the comedy aspect.

Winner: The Brodus Bunch

James Wright: While I am glad that Sandow and Rhodes made it onto the Wrestlemania card this is not really a match that anyone asked to see. It simply feels like filler and once again I am not sure why they didn’t just do a multi-man US title match and have Cesaro included as well. You can’t even complain about lack of time as the WWE had enough time to make this match mean something, they just couldn’t be bothered, that is the real cost of having all these part timers coming back, there is so much emphasis on making their spotty appearances and matches make sense that anything below them is completely forgotten. What’s worse is because it is Wrestlemania and there are no stakes to say otherwise, the Funks will probably come out on top. What does that mean? Nothing. Could this match have taken place on either Raw or Smackdown? Absolutely.

Winner: Team Funk

Michael Ornelas: This match makes me sad. I think Rhodes Scholars deserves more, but whatever. Hopefully it doesn’t take up TOO much time and allows me to enjoy the rest of the card.

Winner: Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls

Dylan Diot: This is your breather/bathroom break match before Rock/Cena. Should be short and I see Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls winning leading to a big Wrestlemania dance party.

Winner: Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls

Jack Bramma: I’m probably on the losing end of this. Tons of Funk completely squashed Rhodes Scholars not that long ago and what’s the point in putting the Funkadactyls in the ring if they’re not going to win. Rhodes Scholars on the other hand has fallen victim to the same fate of all midcard heels including Ziggler, Barrett, Cesaro, etc. since January when Rock, Brock, Trips, and Taker returned – they are all varying degrees of jobbers. Still, while this seems like an easy Wrestlemania payday and opportunity for the Funk and Funkettes to get some dancing in, I’m going with a mild upset.

Winner: Rhodes Scholars

Chris Jericho vs Fandango

Stephen Randle: Much as I don’t give a damn about Fandango, he’s been somehow effectively booked and his first match is set up to be a big deal. I mean, he gets to skip the jobber line and go right to Jericho, so there must be plans. That said, if he stinks it up, those plans can and will change almost immediately, so this is his shot.

Winner: Fandango

TJ Hawke: No joke, this is the Wrestlemania 29 match that I am most looking forward to. Fandango, a wrestler the crowd is gonna hate, will wrestle Jericho, a wrestler that the crowd will love. This is a recipe for entertainment. I can’t wait. (I really hope Jericho doesn’t win this match in ten seconds with a Codebreaker.)

Winner: FANNNNNNNN…DONGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Michael Benjamin: I’d imagine that they didn’t hype Fandango’s debut for four months only to put a part time veteran over him at Wrestlemania. Like Hawke said, the crowd should be awesome for this match.

Winner: Fandango

Michael Weyer: Anyone else have “Bohemian Rhapsody” in their heads? Anyway, Fandango isn’t as bad as the fans chant he is but clearly out of his league against Jericho. Expect everyone on Y2J’s side big-time here as he’s clearly going to win, no way WWE gives Fandango the big push here. So nice of him to get a spotlight but still a brief battle.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Nick Sellers: Apparently Fandango is Vince’s new pet project. With Jericho off again after the show, it makes sense to put Fandango over here so he can continue to be braggadocios and annoy as many people as possible. He’s a terrific heel character, and while we’re on the subject of character, I like how he’s so arrogant that he’s deliberately put off his debut until Wrestlemania (I know Jericho had it booked via Vickie, but you get my drift). As for Jericho, it’s a pity he didn’t get paired up with a Dolph Ziggler or Daniel Bryan for instance, but having Jericho on the show is better than not having him at all. Should be interesting if nothing else.

Winner: Faaaaan Daaaan GOGOGOGOGOGOGO

James Wright: This is where I start to get interested. Did you see Curtis on the Opie and Antony show (or whatever it is called) you can tell he is really into his character and somehow he managed to get over even with sarcastic radio show hosts, who normally don’t give a shit about wrestlers unless they are big names, and even then the respect is often backhanded. So many people complain about wrestlers these days all being the same, then a real character comes along and people start to shit on it and say it will never work, the truth is that bland name or crazy character it is the man that makes it and Curtis is going to be a star. That being said he is getting to start things off in a big way with Jericho and I expect this to be a damn good debut, even if it only gets ten minutes, that is still much more time than most get for their first match, and it is at Wrestlemania! Somehow this is the opposite of the last match in that while it could take place on Raw or Smackdown it is special because it takes place on the Grandest stage, win or lose Curtis could be off to a great start after this match, and knowing Jericho, he will actually win the damn thing!

Winner: Fan-dan-go-o-o-o

Michael Ornelas: After a couple videos that were posted on Wednesday, I am completely sold on Fandango. Johnny Curtis has a wonderful grasp on the character and on how to entertain. I think this gimmick has more legs to walk on than most people are considering, and we all know Jericho loves putting talent over. I’m personally really looking forward to this contest.

Winner: Fandango

Dylan Diot: This is Fandango’s make or break moment. If he can’t have a good match or get a good reaction being in the ring with Chris Jericho, then he won’t last long in WWE. Fandango gets the win and Jericho will make him look like a million bucks.

Winner: Fandango

Jack Bramma: In the last calendar year, Jericho has done a slew of jobs – losing to Punk, Sheamus, Dolph, etc. Even when coming back this year, he still had Dolph get the best of him in the RR and then teamed up with Ryback and Sheamus to lose to the Shield on RAW. My personal view is that Jericho gets it; he’s on Mount Perpetually Over. Give him a microphone and a glow in the dark jacket and he gets all his heat back without needing to win anything. Again, I figure this is another longshot. Fandango has gotten the best of Jericho in almost every encounter so far and it would just make sense for the hero Jericho to vanquish the non-wrestling dancer at Mania. However, this is Fandango’s first match and I see him getting some fluke win on Jericho after a roll up and a handful of tights proving that Fandango CAN wrestle, at least a little bit.

Winner: Fandango

Ryback vs Mark Henry

Stephen Randle: Much as we all love Mark Henry, and we do, he’s pretty much in the twilight, if not the final months, of his career. Ryback, whether we like him or not, is the new hotness, and he hasn’t won a PPV match since he was suddenly promoted to the main event back in October. The Shellshock might be ugly, but it’s going to happen.

Winner: Mark Henry

TJ Hawke: This match will likely suck, and I hope it doesn’t get more than 5-6 minutes. Mark Henry is awesome. Ryback is whatever. The result seems to sadly not to be in doubt though.

Winner: The Ryback

Michael Benjamin: Ryback NEEDS a big match victory. Luckily, I’m pretty sure he’s going to get one in front of the largest PPV audience of the year. He’ll need that big win on his resume even more if the rumored Cena/Ryback rivalry is in the works.

Winner: Ryback

Michael Weyer: They keep pushing this as a “battle of the monsters” but we know it’s going to be a pretty slow and stiff affair. The build hasn’t been the best so we can expect a rough battle to watch, hopefully not too slow but not real hopes of it being notable. I’ll give the win to Ryback to push him more as Henry already has his Mania moments, they need to push a new star a bit more.

Winner: Ryback

Nick Sellers: I reckon the crowd will crap all over this unless we get some kind of holy shit moment, i.e when Big Show busted out an elbow drop from the top in the match against Henry back at Survivor Series ’11. No idea what to expect from it. I’m guessing Ryback gets the W.

Winner: Ryback

James Wright: If there is one match on the card that has somehow managed to have a great build, despite only having a few weeks to do so, it is this one. The match could be three minutes long, in fact perhaps it should be, but it will still live up to expectations as all anyone wants to see is these two beasts lay into each other and see who comes out on top. Ryback definitely has the most to gain from a victory here, will it let him recapture the momentum he suddenly had and lost several months ago? I don’t think so, but it might at least give him some momentum going forward, so why not let Big Hungry get the win?

Winner: Ryback

Michael Ornelas: The power match could be really boring or disappointing (like Batista vs. Umaga at WM24), but I’m still intrigued to see how they play it. I think Ryback legitimately cares about wrestling to the point that he won’t phone it in (in all interviews, he seems like a genuine fan), however I don’t think he has the most natural mind for putting together a match. Same goes for Mark. I’m really just watching this match to see if Ryback really can Shellshock Henry.

Winner: Ryback

Dylan Diot: I’m looking forward to this match. It’s not going to be a classic but this could be a really fun battle of the bulls. Ryback needs a big win on a big stage to help solidify him as a long term main event, so I expect him to win with an awesome Shell Shock on Henry.

Winner: Ryback

Jack Bramma: Another one that seems on the surface to be extremely easy to call – Ryback getting Henry up for the Shellshock in a Wrestlemania moment. While I greatly prefer Henry’s Hall of Pain to anything Ryback has ever done, I feel the WWE has done a great disservice to Ryback. He was SUPER over for a brief period last year. Jobbing to Punk seemed to temporarily stall that momentum but it opened up a new avenue of possibilities once the streak was out of the way. Unfortunately, the new avenue that the Fed chose involved Ryback getting powerbombed through announce tables by the Shield several weeks and PPVs in a row without EVER beating them. I kept expecting Ryback to get his revenge any moment – eliminating them in the Royal Rumble, pinning at least one of them in a Elimination Chamber match, etc. – before finally setting on the idea that Mania had to be where he got his revenge. It just made sense. Instead, The Shield gets Orton, Showster, and Sheamus and Ryback gets a bit of a demotion against Henry in the freakshow match normally reserved for Show. Ryback almost has to win here since he hasn’t won a meaningful PPV match in months if not ever. On a side note, I know people want to keep pointing out that Ryback couldn’t get up Tensai on RAW a while back and that’s a bad omen for him getting up Mizark – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9y2iMcecGs. However, before that Ryback did get up Tensai on Smackdown – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6039_MCG8k – and then again did later on another RAW –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6h0wcJv_C8

Winner: Ryback

Randy Orton, Sheamus, and The Big Show vs The Shield

Stephen Randle: Somebody’s turning here, and I bet his name is Randy. Just as long as he doesn’t somehow turn out to have been leading The Shield all along, I’m fine with it. WWE has a dilemma now, they’ve put Shield over all their main eventers, now they need a direction beyond randomly attacking people. Can the momentum they’ve built hold?

Winner: The Shield

TJ Hawke: This seems to be the lowest profile PPV match that The Shield have had so far. With that in mind, it would be a complete waste for The Shield to lose here. The match should be good, as all of The Shield’s matches have been laid out well with good crowd heat.

Winner: The Shield

Michael Benjamin: I can see this match going either way. The Shield have cemented themselves as legitimate threats. I don’t think a loss would hurt them, especially with the star power on the opposing team. On the other hand, I can see that Orton heel turn coming and this would be an opportune time to RKO the shit out of his team after a devastating loss.

Winner: The Shield

Michael Weyer: After actually getting put over last month, the question is if the Shield can continue that. It’s tempting to say the faces win but I think WWE realizes they have something in the Shield and should push that a bit more. Expect some great brawling and mix of fights with the Shield managing to eke out a win with cheating and give them some actual respectability to continue for a while longer.

Winners: The Shield

Nick Sellers: Anything less than a Shield victory will kill their momentum. I said in the Chamber roundtable that the six-man tag on that show wasn’t nearly as important as how they built them up afterwards. Initially they looked strong, then it became something of a mixed bag. Now they need to kick things up a gear again. Give them the win here, then watch the sparks fly between Orton, Sheamus and Big Show as frustration kicks in.

Winner: The Shield

James Wright: Another interesting match involving some new talent who feasibly have a chance of coming out on top over the much bigger stars. I will say this for the card, there is a lot of opportunities for new stars to solidify themselves against older talent. The Shield is a great example of strong booking and this could continue here, even if the team end up losing they will lose nothing as nothing is on the line, but in this case that is a good thing. The WWE ruined the Nexus by getting rid of guys before giving them the chance to grow and it ended up costing them, keeping stipulations away from Shield matches is a good thing and they get my vote to go over again, although I have no idea what their win will lead to, that is unless they decide to get involved in any other matches on the card…

Winner: The Shield

Michael Ornelas: My pick to win this match is the only pick on the list where I’m going with wishful thinking rather than who I think will win. WWE has been great (albeit it a little redundant and slower lately) with their booking of The Shield. Some people are viewing this match as “just a way to get Orton, Sheamus, and Show on the card” but I think they’ve got it all wrong: this match is about how three huge top stars are what’s needed to finally put an end to The Shield’s unbeaten streak. However, I really don’t think they should do it. Save that moment for later, because Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns could use the WrestleMania victory to launch them into the next chapter of their story and whatever comes after Sunday’s show.

Winner: The Shield

Dylan Diot: If this gets enough time, it could steal the show. I’m expecting a ton of action, hot near falls, and a dramatic finish with someone on the face team (probably Orton) turning heel near the end. Going with the Shield to get the win with a Triple Powerbomb on Big Show.

Winner: The Shield

Jack Bramma: It’d be quite the underwhelming atrocity to end The Shield’s impressive run with a nothing loss to this meaningless trio. The WWE put them over Hell No and Ryback in December and Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback last month and both of those matches were more high profile. Everyone seems to be itching for either an Orton or Show heel turn to cost the faces a win here, but I see it as simple as this is a terrible endgame. At least when Nexus lost back at Summerslam after Cena no sold a piledriver on the concrete, that was dumb but it followed WWE logic – it was the best team the company had to throw at the dastardly invaders. It was the white knight John Cena saving the company from certain peril. This time around, the face team isn’t the best the company has to offer and the match itself isn’t anywhere near the top of the card. Instead, this just seems another placeholder match before the REAL Shield feud and story arc takes us through the summer to probably end at Summerslam when they lose to some super team of Rock, Cena, and Triple H (or something similar).

Winner: The Shield

Hell No © vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston
WWE Tag Team Championship

Stephen Randle: This stinks of a “well, we need to have Ziggler on the card somewhere” pity match, and Ziggler and Langston have essentially had the upper hand since the feud began. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Hell No win at Mania, but lose on Raw. Anyway, Ziggler’s got a World title before June, he’s not getting a side story with the tag titles.

Winner: Hell No

TJ Hawke: There’s a lot of talent in this ring (yes, even Kane. Suck it Ben Turpen). So, if this match gets some time, I think this could be one of the best matches of the weekend (especially if Bryan and Ziggler work the majority of the match). However, WWE doesn’t have a good track record of giving these types of matches lots of time. Thus, I’m keeping my expectations low. I think Kane and Bryan won’t break up yet, so I assume they’ll keep the belts.

Winner: Hell No

Michael Benjamin: Ziggler, Langston, and AJ are rumored to be getting a major push after Wrestlemania. I’m not so sure they need the tag titles to make that happen though. At the same time, it would be a bit of poetic justice if Hell No lost their first major match in which they were actually on the same page. I’m going to go with Hell No and assume that Dolph is still leaving Wrestlemania with gold around his waist.

Winner: Hell No

Michael Weyer: I know we’re overdue for a title change and to break Kane and Bryan up. But they’re just so damn fun as the champions that you hate to see it end, especially to an ad hoc team like this. No, they’ll manage to win by a fluke to keep their amazing act up and hopefully when they do drop the belts, it’ll be to a real team deserving of it, not some guys thrown together like this.

Winners and STILL Tag Team Champions: Team Hell No

Nick Sellers: Team Hell No for the retention. I actually really like the dynamics here: You’ve got Kane and Big E for the hoss-fest and Ziggler/Bryan for the speed and technical factors. Team Hell No for the retention. If Ziggler doesn’t cash-in tonight, which I totally think he should, then this is merely a means to get him on the show and keep him ticking over until the inevitable.

Winner: Team Hell No

James Wright: This is where I become a massive hypocrite because despite this match being nothing special and just thrown together, I am excited to see it because of pretty much everyone involved. What’s more if Ziggler and Big E. win it means that Langston will have earned a title at Wrestlemania in his very first match on the main roster, and be the NXT champion, if Ziggler cashes in and wins the world title then that would be ridiculous! Perhaps too ridiculous. Then again Team Hell No have been holding the titles for a good while now and the tag team division has lost all of its momentum so any potential challengers don’t really mean anything anymore so why not have the titles change hands. I just wonder where all these new stars will be come Wrestlemania XXX, I wouldn’t mind if it ended up half a card of veterans and part-timers and half young stars, the events of this year’s event could go a long way in making that happen. The gold goes to Zig Zag and Langston.

Winner: Mr. Ziggles & Big E

Michael Ornelas: As much as I’d love Team Hell No’s run to last long enough that it starts setting records, I recognize the opportunity to make a new credible monster in Big E., and I don’t think they’ll pass on giving him a win in his debut. I also think there’s a small chance that we’ll see Dolph Ziggler holding two championships by the end of the night…

Winner: Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston

Dylan Diot: I expect this to be a really fun match. Bryan and Ziggler with have great interactions during the match and the crowd will be red hot for Bryan, adding a great atmosphere to the match. Team Hell No win cause there are bigger plans for Ziggler.

Winner: Team Hell No

Jack Bramma: The most exciting development here is the emergence of Big E Langston as the one of the best insurance policies since Diesel. I figured Big E for just another musclebound guy like Mason Ryan who would struggle to find a niche, but I was way off. I have to give the WWE credit; I know they don’t “create stars” but they way they have easily incorporated The Shield and Big E into major parts of the show over the last six months has been nothing short of fantastic. Hell No seemed ready for a break up but then WWE seemed to get tired of that and keep them together and shuffled the deck and came up with this. I’m kind of glad the WWE didn’t break up Hell No because I don’t get the rush from everyone to just break up the tag champs. They complain the division is crap but then the team they are in the biggest hurry to get rid of is the tag champs. I am a big fan of Daniel Bryan too but I’d much rather he be Ricky Morton for the next decade than trade the IC title with Miz and Kofi and job to John Cena 1000 times in the next several years. Final thought, I hope the company gets serious about pushing Dolph before he cashes in and no one cares in the next few months.

Winner: Hell No

Alberto Del Rio © vs Jack Swagger
World Heavyweight Championship

Stephen Randle: Well, this feud is dying a horrible death at this point. Swagger is way out of his depth and he’s dragging Del Rio’s face turn down with him. If I were WWE, I’d put a bullet in this and move on to someone else. Let Swagger go away on suspension and come back to a safer midcard position for a while.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

TJ Hawke: I think these guys will work hard to put on a good match, but I’m not expecting the crowd to be all that invested in the story/result. I’m not a supporter of the idea that Swagger should be a main eventer in the WWE. He’s just not a WWE main event level performer in my mind.

Winner: Del Rio

Michael Benjamin: Swagger has to lose this one. His legal troubles have been pretty well documented and I don’t see him being rewarded for his exploits. Plus, it’d be more effective if Dolph cashed in on a face. Swagger delivers a beat down after the match and Ziggy wins the big one.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio (Followed by the Ziggler cash in.)

Michael Weyer: Seeing how well the fans have taken to Del Rio, it makes you wonder how much higher his stock would be if WWE hadn’t wasted so much time pushing him as a heel. The build has been quite notable with the promos and mocking and these guys should be able to click well in the ring. Swagger has a chance to be the champ here but I think Del Rio will manage to retain as he’s doing damn well as the champ and a victory here can help elevate him more and give WWE another major star which they sorely need.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Alberto Del Rio

Nick Sellers: I wasn’t sold at first, but they build for this has gradually gotten better and better. Those crutch shots on Raw were nasty. If anything I’d have ran with that angle sooner rather than just a week before the show. I still think Swagger is an absolute idiot for the DUI stuff, but the match itself should be good from a technical standpoint. Bertie’s been doing ok as Champion, but they need to put their matches higher on the card if they want more people to care about him and the belt.

Winner: Bertie of the River (possible Dolph Ziggler cash-in post-match)

James Wright: Ah the feud that blew up and then so quickly faded away. This was just a case of bad timing on all parts, and maybe the WWE are kicking themselves that they didn’t just tweak Cesaro’s character, and have a US vs. World title unification match. Hell they could have done that with Swagger to some extent, even with his DUI the risk of the US title falling into the hands of Del Rio would have made things more interesting from the camp of the ‘Real Americans’. As it is we are stuck with a feud without much fire, but that gives all the more reason for Ziggler to cash in now. Del Rio hasn’t taken off too well as a face and Swagger can’t be sticking around after Wrestlemania as what type of message would that send, he is no Jeff Hardy. I honestly don’t think it matters who wins here, the only difference is how much of a heel they want Ziggler to look like when he cashes in. While I would love to see a Ziggler face turn it makes more sense to keep him heel here, give him the tag gold and have him cash in on the triumphing Del Rio who then gets taken out by a vengeful Jack Swagger.

Winner: Del Rio (Followed by a Ziggler cash-in)

Michael Ornelas: I suspect that this match itself will actually impress those with an open mind, but the feud has had some really bad missteps. The mocking promos were terrible and silly, and really did a disservice to the badass nature of Swagger’s character. I think a match built around intimidation of the Champion, but him ultimately coming through in the end and manning up would have been better suited to these characters. After the DUI, I don’t expect Swagger to walk away with the strap.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Dylan Diot: This is the match I care lease about on the PPV. The build sucked, no one buys Swagger as a top contender, and no one buys Del Rio as a babyface. Del Rio wins the match and Ziggler cashes in to win the title right after.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio, then Dolph Ziggler cashes in

Jack Bramma: For all the heat and vitriol that should be oozing off this feud, this seems oddly cold. ADR had few week buzz after beating Show for the belt but in hindsight, that seems mostly due to the surprise of the title win and his underdog chemistry with Show. I don’t think anyone expected ADR to lose everything essential to his persona – his music, his cars, his character, etc. – to instead become a vehicle for the American Dream. You can’t have Del Rio get over when turn him into the Mexican Sheamus who is the Irish John Cena. Every main event face can’t be the exact same character – otherwise it’ll be a race to the bottom where no one cares about any of them. I see Del Rio serving as a transition champ to hotshot the belt over to We The People, Jack Swagger, who has more personality now than he has had since having a Bald Eagle mascot.

Winner: Jack Swagger

CM Punk vs The Undertaker

Stephen Randle: The match will be fine, the result will be as expected. Every year someone says “but what if they do it?” They won’t.

Winner: The Undertaker

TJ Hawke: Unfortunately, my expectations for this match are fairly low as Undertaker has not looked especially healthy or mobile. I’m sure he’ll really turn it on for Mania of course, but I don’t expect this match to be close to the level of the last six Undertaker Wrestlemania matches. I hope I am wrong. The result of this match is not in doubt.

Winner: The Undertaker

Michael Benjamin: I’m not betting against Undertaker at Wrestlemania. I feel even stronger than usual about that statement with Wrestlemania 30 coming up next year. They’re going to want the streak intact for that bad boy.

Winner: Undertaker

Michael Weyer: Do I want Punk to win? Of course I do. For him to be the one to break the Streak would make up for so much of the bad booking WWE has done with him, it might even come off bigger than his year-long title reign. But it’s not going to happen. The Streak is part of the Undertaker’s whole mystique, it’s not going to end, not here and now. No, it’ll be a rough battle but in the end, the Dead Man shrugs off whatever Punk can throw at him to make it 21-0 and remind us of the icon he is on the biggest show of the year.

Winner: The Undertaker

Nick Sellers: Totally not a fan of the exploitation of the Paul Bearer stuff, but that’s just me. With regards to the actual match itself, I’d like to see Punk get a victory of some kind during it. Undertaker is winning, naturally, but if you have something like a ref bump and Punk actually pins Undertaker, or even makes him tap, behind the referees back, only for it not to be seen, Punk’s character has a legitimate axe to grind for the next few months. They say the best heels believe in everything they say and the evidence would be pretty indisputable. But hey, he’s taking time off for two months and that telegraphs this result even more so than the fact he’s facing Undertaker.

Winner: Undertaker

James Wright: Here is where things get really interesting, at least to me. Logic would dictate that Punk is going down in this straightforward good vs. evil match where the heel has gone over so far pretty much every week. Then again the same could be said of the Jericho-Fandango match and yet the smart money is on Fandango coming out on top and my prediction here of a Punk win comes from the feeling that Taker is on his last legs and will let Punk end the streak before he bows out in a retirement match next year at Wrestlemania XXX. Some have said that Punk doesn’t need the nod of ending the Streak and that it should go to a younger star, but my question is who? Who is going to have enough star power to justify a match against Taker at WM 30 and also benefit from the win? There is no way they would risk that big of a match on someone untested, more likely it will fall to Lesnar or Cena, or possibly Sheamus, but does Sheamus really need the win any more than Punk? Instead I say that Punk ends the Streak, with the help of the Shield. Notice how Punk has been emphasising that any way he can win he will take it, also remember the existing connection that the Shield and Punk have, what’s more both Taker and the Shield use the ‘lights out’ trick, so there is some symbolism there, and finally for those who want younger stars to get the rub from ending the streak, who better than these three to take some of the credit, and we all know the WWE, in a year Michael Cole will be proclaiming about how Rollins ended the streak as if he himself had actually won the match himself. The WWE love to revise history, see Jericho beating Steve Austin and the Rock in one night, to make a guy look good, and here it could work for three guys who are already strongly booked and seem to have a great future, why not? So I say the Streak ends here and the hands of the Shield and C.M. Punk.

Winner: C.M. Punk

Michael Ornelas: I’ve personally enjoyed the feud, despite the unfortunate-yet-convenient passing of Paul Bearer. Some don’t like the exploitative nature of it, but it is what it is and I’m sure he’d be honored to be the centerpiece of such a big match’s feud. I’m not expecting this match to top Taker’s past four WrestleMania matches, but it’s CM Punk and Taker: this will be a fun ride.

Winner: The Undertaker

Dylan Diot: I’ve heard the rumors about how Undertaker is banged up and how CM Punk is not in the best of spirits for this match. But forget all that. I’m pumped for this match and I think they will pull off the classic match no one thinks they can. I don’t know how people can doubt Undertaker’s performance on the biggest stage and CM Punk wants to prove he deserved to main event Wrestlemania. They will have an incredible match and have people believe at one point Punk could win the match, but Undertaker will keep the streak alive.

Winner: Undertaker

Jack Bramma: After turning on Rock to set up the RR title match, Punk shifted into the cheapest of cheap heels. It was only in fleeting “Your arms are too short to box with God” moments that Punk showed signs of being anything more than a cheap heat magnet. Cheap heels get almost no false finishes or emphatic kickouts; cheap heels take one finisher and lose; cheap heels lose clean as a sheet and then whine their way into another shot and lose clean again; cheap heels need a stable to help them get out of any dangerous situation; cheap heels interrupt a memorial to Paul Bearer, play with the urn, and dump the ashes on Undertaker to play “mind games.” I love Punk and he’s been the most entertaining part of the show for a year strong but cheap heels do not end the streak.

Winner: The Undertaker

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar
No Holds Barred
If Triple H Loses, He Must Retire

Stephen Randle: They didn’t bring this feud back so that Triple H could lose. I mean, it’d probably be better for business if he did, and we know Triple H lives, eats, breathes, craps, and several other functions this business, but he’s also a big fan of getting his win back. I’d say Year Two of Brock might give them a chance for a more wide range of feuds, but all rumours say he’s going after Rock next, so I guess all that full time talent will have to get themselves over some other way.

Winner: Triple H

TJ Hawke: I think these two will bust their asses to put on a much more entertaining match than their Summerslam encounter. I think the Career stipulation gives away the result of the match, which wouldn’t be so much of a problem if said result wasn’t so undesirable. Brock Lesnar should be a completely unstoppable force in the WWE, but he’s going to be 1-2 in his second WWE stint after this weekend. That is unfortunate.

Winner: Triple H

Michael Benjamin: I’m picking Lesnar. It’s not like Trips won’t step out of retirement for another match. Hell, he’s already done it once. The way I look at it, Lesnar is scheduled to wrestle at Extreme Rules and Triple H isn’t. Keep the beast looking strong going into his next brawl.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Michael Weyer: The stip sort of gives it away, doesn’t it? HHH always brings his A game for Mania and he knows this is a big battle to get fans excited. Brock should be more energized too and making it no rules should give us some wild spots to see. Brock will give his all but we know the result as HHH gets the win back and remind Brock who’s the boss.

Winner: HHH

Nick Sellers: The No Holds Barred stip should suit these guys and a wild, chaotic brawl shouldn’t disappoint in the brutality stakes. The career stip is unnecessary, but for whatever reason they obviously felt they had to add it to the proceedings. Heyman has been masterful on the mike in building this up.

Winner: Triple H

James Wright: This would be my second choice for an interference from the Shield. There is the involvement with Paul Heyman and the fact that the Shield stand for the eradication of the corrupted system of the WWE, which you could argue HHH represents. However I highly doubt that the Game is really ready to give it all up just yet, so I really hope the Shield don’t get involved here as they will probably just take three Pedigrees and that will be that. While the match itself will probably be quite good there really isn’t much to gain on either side from this, or for the fans. I honestly thought that Lesnar’s year would amount to more than this, but win or lose it doesn’t mean all that much since even if he retires HHH, the Game will most likely be back in a few months anyway, he truly is Vince McMahon’s son in law. I say HHH gets his win back and solidifies his reputation as being an egomaniac in the ring but a force for good behind the scenes, lets just hope that retirement or no he stays in the latter for a good part of next year.

Winner: HHH

Michael Ornelas: This, to me, has been the biggest disappointment in build. Brock has been half-present for most of it, and Triple H is just trying to get himself over in his promos which…makes sense, but given the source, people don’t necessarily want to hear it. Hopefully the No Holds Barred stip allows them to give us a crazy match.

Winner: Triple H

Dylan Diot: This will be a dramatic, chaotic fight. I expect these two to beat the hell out of each other and have some great drama throughout the match. This is going to be a war and I think Triple H will go away for a while using the retirement stipulation.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Jack Bramma: Many are predicting that the top faces won’t run the table and are eyeing this as the potential upset. Maybe Triple H wanted a real opportunity at retirement at the Summerslam post-match debacle? Maybe he’s ready to take the reins backstage and hang up his boots? Maybe Triple H wants to continue his recent Wrestlemania trend of losing to Benoit, Batista, Cena, and Undertaker? Maybe Triple H is ready to do business…. again like he did at Summerslam by tapping out clean but this time for the hero’s exit that Flair, HBK, and Edge had in recent years? I think people have got it all wrong. The WWE realized about 5 years ago that guys like Triple H, Undertaker, HBK, Rock, etc. are goldmines and shouldn’t be wrestling week in, week out into their 50s like Hogan and Flair. They should be special attractions – their PPV matches should be treated like the most important matches of the year. Not only do you increase the buyrate, but you extend each guy’s career because longevity is more related to number of matches than number of years. Most wrestling stories only have a few chapters and when you rush through those chapters in a few weeks of TV like Vince Russo or a few months of TV like most 90s PPVs, you quickly run out of things for them to do before moving on to another feud. However, when you slow down the storytelling to 1980s speed when there were only a few major shows a year, you milk the heat and magnitude to epic lengths just based on the calendar. That’s what they did with the HBK/Flair feud, both HBK/UT matches, both HHH/UT matches, Rock/Pock, and now Brock/HHH. At this rate, Triple H will be able to go another decade only wrestling one maybe two nights a year at every Summerslam and Wrestlemania into perpetuity if he wants.

Winner: Triple H

The Rock © vs John Cena
WWE Championship

Stephen Randle: We all know who’s going to win. And we’re even mostly willing to forgive all the crap they put us through with Cena in the last year if he somehow ends up turning over all of this. But he won’t. This result is even less in doubt than the Taker-Punk one.

Winner: The Man In The Yellow Shirt

TJ Hawke: I couldn’t possibly be less interested in this Wrestlemania main event. Rock just isn’t the same performer that he was a decade ago. While that is understandable, that doesn’t mean I’m willing to be interested in matches that are going to underachieve. Cena is a great wrestler, but I think his character is stale and boring. Thus, I don’t want him to be the WWE Champion again. His reign on top of the WWE has gone on for an absurd amount of time, and I really hope he drops the belt and drops down the card soon. I won’t hold my breath.

Winner: Cena

Michael Benjamin: You can’t have a rubber match without a tie! They’re teasing the Wrestlemania 17 ending and I’m biting, essentially because it’s the only way I can get excited about the match.

Winner: John Cena

Michael Weyer: Like many, I hate that this is for the title. It’s Rock-Cena, you don’t need the belt to have it main event and sure, Rock as champ again is fun but Hollywood is where his heart is now. Still, the promos have been great and we know from last year how well they click in the ring. Expect a wild fight with them busting their asses big time and Cena haters getting a shot at how damn good the guy really is when he wants to be. They’ll bring all they have to make it a classic and it just might work out but in the end, Cena gets the win and the title, as tired as that may be. But maybe after a great match like we expect, it’ll be worth it after all.

Winner and NEW WWE Champion: John Cena

Nick Sellers: I actually think their TV output would be more interesting if Cena lost. After suffering another humiliating loss, it would open up a number of interesting possibilities for Cena’s character. A Cena victory means that they go back to normal and play it safe, and throughout the spring he’ll no doubt go back to facing the likes of Big Show again to keep himself ticking over until something else more meaningful comes along. I’m a massive Rock fan and he’ll always be my all-time favorite, but Cena’s getting his win back. As much as I respect Cena though, I hope they keep trying to expand and develop his character so we don’t get the usual fluff.

Winner: John Cena

James Wright: Will John Cena turn heel to win the title in a fresh way here? It has been over ten years since Austin’s turn that it wouldn’t be too much like a rehash and with Cena’s reputation for never letting an injury keep him down the WWE could rely on him to pull off a long enough heel run to last up to next year’s Wrestlemania and the inevitable re-re-match, perhaps in a title vs. career match. I recently wrote an article on why Cena should turn heel now, but I am worried now, simply because the WWE are commenting on it specifically and have made sure to invite a large amount of Make-a-Wish kids, who would be no doubt crushed if Cena turns on them, so would the WWE really turn him heel with this in mind? Well they would dress Paul Heyman up like the recently deceased William Moody so it is possible, and if the one argument is that you can’t turn Cena heel due to his charity work then you are basically saying that it will never happen until he isn’t popular enough anymore to warrant the interest, so what would be the point. Either way Cena is walking out of Wrestlemania with the gold, the only question is if he will do so by rising above hate, or finally embracing it.

Winner: John Cena

Michael Ornelas: While last year had more intrigue due to the “first time” appeal, I’m actually more excited about the match this year (after the fact that I’d have gone in a different direction for the WrestleMania WWE Championship match). I think it’s the obvious answer that John Cena gets the win, and honestly that’s what needs to happen for his story to come full circle and finish. I really don’t want it to continue another year, but it’s been good in the build this year.

Winner: John Cena

Dylan Diot: The atmosphere for this match will be off the charts. I think they will have a better match than they did last year and Cena walks out with the belt setting the stage for the finale of the trilogy next year.

Winner: John Cena

Jack Bramma: Some are anticipating a Cena heel turn based on the similarities between his promo a couple of weeks ago and Austin’s promo before WMXVII. I’m not holding my breath. The WWE has had tons of opportunities to do it before now and hasn’t pulled the trigger. While Cena turning heel could set up an interesting Cena/Rock dynamic through the summer for a never-ending third match in the series or just to set up Cena as a heel trying to end the streak next year, I still see all that as armchair fantasy booking. Cena wins clean by rising above the hate. No heel turn, not even a heel quarter turn.

Winner: John Cena

Overall Thoughts

Stephen Randle: I’ve been going back and forth on this, because it is WrestleMania and the matches will be fine, but the fact of the matter is that WWE has done almost nothing to earn your money for this PPV. They booked almost entirely on auto-pilot, they ran uninspiring shows leading up to the event, there’s almost no intrigue, and the end result will see a sad return to the status quo, with John Cena as WWE Champion and nobody else even in the same league. And then they raised the price five bucks three weeks before the show! If you really want to see The Rock on Sunday, take your seventy bucks and go see G.I. Joe instead.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

TJ Hawke: I’m sure some people in the comments will bitch and moan about what I’m going to say. Frankly, maybe they’re right. It’s Wrestlemania. Everybody is going to watch it. However, my “job” as a writer for this site is to give my honest, unmerciful opinion every time I submit something. So, here goes: WWE has done an absolute shit job of building up this Wrestlemania. The only two matches that I’m interested in are Fandango/Jericho and the WWE Tag Title match, and I think both of those matches have a good chance of being short-changed in the time department. None of this would be a real problem, but the WWE charges an absurd amount of money for this PPV every year (and the cost actually went up again this year). WWE does not deserve your money for this show.

Buy/No Buy: NO BUY

Michael Benjamin: Wrestlemania 29 is going to surprise people. The expectations are so low that a slightly above average show would surprise a lot of the cynics. I have the money saved and ready to blow on the show, so I’ll be doing that. I don’t expect anybody else to do the same on a card that doesn’t excite them though. These prices are getting ridiculous. With that said, I can’t wait to see the buyrate for this thing.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Nick Sellers: Aside from the main event I’m not overly excited about the show this year. I thought the Rumble and Elimination Chamber PPV’s were actually relatively strong, so I’m not sure why my interest has waned so much for the Grandaddy of ’em all this year. That said, I’ll be buying it purely because it’s Wrestlemania, and at least Rock/Cena II should deliver the goods if nothing else.

Buy/No Buy: BUY

James Wright: Despite the lack of booking for most of the matches on the card I am still pretty excited, after all you have the big star appeal of the part timers, and the number of new talent on the card that actually have something to gain from appearing at the PPV and winning their matches. And while two of the main events are rematches from the past twelve months, there are enough potential surprises on the card to make it worth ordering, even if we only get a Ziggler cash-in out of it.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Michael Ornelas: It’s our Super Bowl as wrestling fans. The most money is put into the event, and the most money is gotten from the event. The stories have been average, and the matches aren’t the best possible bouts, but it’s a spectacle, and I know all the performers will bring it to the best of their ability. It really is special, and until the day I die, WrestleMania will always be a “buy” from me.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Dylan Diot: I’ll be there live so it’s a buy no matter what. But I think this card will surprise a lot of people, to the point where it can be an all-time great Wrestlemania card. Hopefully they live up to that potential.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Jack Bramma: Even for a Mania, $70 is just too much. Chip in and buy or wait til tomorrow for spoilers and then track it down.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

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