The Quick Talkdown 1.20.07: Arquette vs. Federline at WrestleMania 23?

Posted by Phill Feltham on 01.20.2007

The Royal Rumble isn’t here yet, but I thought I would start early on my WrestleMania 23 Predictions. Read on loyal readers…


ARQUETTE Vs. FEDERLINE AT WRESTLEMANIA 23?
By Phill Feltham

There is a lot of wrestling news this week. I'll touch on some of the items, but first, Wrestlemania 23.I'm going to play matchmaker this week. This little idea came about while I was checking out the news on 411Mania.com. The news was speculating on who Hulk Hogan's opponent will be for WrestleMania 23, if he indeed fights. One of the named opponents was the Great Khali. The original rumor had The Big Show as the bona fide choice, however, Show's time off has apparently thrown ice on those plans.

Does anyone see the irony in the above paragraph? Think about it. We now have found a use for the Great Khali. If he fights the Hulkster at WrestleMania, it will be to relive one of the most legendary PPVs of all time, WrestleMania 3. Nostalgia rules!

In July 2006, many of you will remember the WrestleMania 23 Press Conference. The Big Show came out and mentioned the legendary match between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3.

During his dedication speech, the Big Show also hinted that he might be Hulk Hogan's opponent at Wrestlemania 23. However, after Show dropped the ECW title to Lashley at December to Dismember, those plans changed.

"When I'm injured, I can't do those things. I'm much more valuable healthy both mentally and physically, and this hiatus will help me to get there," said the Big Show in an interview on WWE.com.

It would be interesting to see if Hulk Hogan, twenty years older, could slam a stiff Khali. Everyone will remember at WrestleMania 3 when Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan in 1987. It was called the slam heard around the world. The match of course was not without its controversy. Earlier in the match, Hogan had attempted to slam Andre, only to have the 500 pounder land on him. The referee made a three count, but even on video, it was clear that Hogan's shoulder came up before the count was made.

For a year afterward, Andre's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan claimed that Andre had indeed pinned Hogan. Of course, Hogan would later slam Andre and score the three count. But the following moments after the match would forever be immortalized as fans gave the Hulk a standing ovation.

Fast forward twenty years. WrestleMania 23 is back in Detroit at the new Fort Field indoor baseball stadium. The WWE plans to have a large indoor attendance record of 78,000 at this year's Mania as well. At last July's WrestleMania 23 Press Conference, the suits and the WWE superstars made sure that Mania 3's attendance record of 93,173 people was repeated again, again… and again. That record, unfortunately, will not be broken at WrestleMania 23. The new Ford Field can only house 65,000 people with the extra 13,000 seats being chairs set up on the field at ringside.

The original larger arena (could hold 80,000 people), the Pontiac Silverdome, that was the site for WrestleMania 3, awaits the wrecking ball. Wikipedia states: "The stadium is now closed and will eventually be torn down or significantly modified as part of the redevelopment of the property. The developer for this has yet to be selected by the City of Pontiac."

This year, the WWE will meet or come close to meeting their attendance goal. The tickets went on sale in November and according to Wikipedia, 50,000 tickets are so far booked. Those sales stand at US$4.35 million making this event the highest-grossing event in WWE history. Wikipedia reports the previous US$3.9 million record was held by WrestleMania X8.

In this columnist's mind, the matches for this year's WrestleMania were set months ago. The WM23 Press Conference gave away a few pointers.

Here are my predictions:

1.) Rey Mysterio taking on Chavo Guerrerro at WrestleMania 23 might happen. At the Press Conference Mysterio hyped their feud quite a bit.

2.) Big Show said that he hopes he could fill in for the late Andre the Giant and mentioned Hulk Hogan as well.

3.) Randy Orton hopes to fight another "WWE Legend" at WrestleMania 23. Maybe Shawn Michaels might get the call.

4.) Maybe we can see John Cena and Batista finally hook up. Your guess is as good as mine. It would be a good year to have this match though. A lot of people will be watching.

5.) How about the Undertaker taking on Edge? Both superstars are undefeated and that means by the end of it, only one superstar can hold that claim. The winner would, of course, be the Undertaker.

6.) A celebrity match for this year's WrestleMania: Kevin Federline taking on David Arquette. This would surely draw in a crowd. Think about it. Jerry Lawler recently interviewed Arquette on WWE.com reminding the world that the actor was once WCW World Champion. Let's not forget that at the beginning of the year, K-Fed pinned John Cena. Now it's time for these two actors to hoop up. Maybe it can be for Arquette's WCW title.

7.) Bobby Lashley defends the ECW World title against Rob Van Dam or Test, or maybe both. I could see a Lashley/ Test Mania match only because Mr. Van Dam is still in the WWE outhouse. The ECW Originals will be gone in the end. I'd love to have someone tell me I'm wrong. [e-mail].

If you've noticed, I haven't factored in this year's Royal Rumble at all. This is where I want you to come in! Send me your predictions and I'll publish them in next week's newsletter.

NOW MY COMMENTS ON…

BLACK THURSDAY: WWE releases a whole talent pool of unused wrestlers. What do I think of the manner? Read Larry Csonka's column: My Take On… Black Thursday. It pretty much sums up my comments in a nutshell.

GOOD OL' JR: Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. I've been reading your blog lately. It seems you're taking the fans comments a little personal. You're letting them get to you. There's an old saying... don't bite the hand that feeds you.

DX, NO MORE: It's about time, in my opinion. It's too bad that Triple H had to go under the knife and miss the biggest WrestleMania in years, but let's look at the positive. At least now we can change the tempo and move away from DX. The only question is… who's left to use?

ROYAL RUMBLE: That's a very good question. Batista and John Cena are already both champions. Ken Kennedy is already involved in a world title match against Cena at the Rumble. Cena is fighting Umaga. Lashley already has a title. I can only hope that Randy Orton, Edge or Rob Van Dam walks away the victor.

And finally… SCOTT "BAM BAM" BIGELOW. Dead at 45. Too young to be dead to say the least, may thee rest in peace.

Send your comments to [e-mail].

READER FEEDBACK: THE THIRD GENERATION HART FAMILY

"The third generation Hart stable should be built around three basic principles. Love for the business, toughness in and out of the ring, and most importantly respect for all of the Harts that gave their all to be wrestlers. In my opinion the leader should be Nattie Neidhart. To be a woman, and actually learn to wrestle odds are that you love the business. She made it through the dungeon, and she's a woman. How tough do you need to be. As for respect, she was already interviewed by wwe.com and said she wants to uphold the name and make her father and uncles all proud. Right there, she shows all the characteristics of the group. The boys would follow her because they know that she had to work twice as hard to make it in the business because she's a girl. Outside of kayfabe this would also do good for WWE in the eyes of the public. Having a strong female that leads a stable and doesn't resort to cheap t&a tricks to help her stable mates win would be refreshing, and also might bring in new female fans." [e-mail]