Shining a Spotlight 4.03.08: Post-Mania WWE

Posted by Michael Weyer on 04.03.2008

A look at how Wrestlemania did with the company and how the landscape for the brands and its stars may change for the coming year.

Well, we've got another Wrestlemania in the books and a rather interesting show. I can't recall the last time I saw a Mania getting such a wide range of opinions and judgments. Some call it one of the best, up there with X and X-7 while others say it's the worst (which is not possible because come on, nothing as worse as IX). What really jars me are the folks who actually claim that TNA does better shows than this, including "Impacts" which is the height of anti-WWE fervor.

From my point of view, it was one of the better Wrestlemanias and great seeing such a massive crowd, which should shut up the "WWE is on its way down" arguments for a while. Okay, we had duds like the Divas match, which always stinks (whatever else we say about TNA, their Knockouts division is one thing they do right) and the ECW title "match" just shows why it's time WWE mercy-killed the brand and give RAW and Smackdown some new talent.

But those were beaten out by all that was done right. The Michaels/Flair match was as great as we expected with terrific emotion and despite my past feelings on Flair, he did deliver the goods last night in a great emotional battle that ended wonderfully with Michaels forced to take the pin and Flair sent off nicely. I have to say the retirement ceremony on RAW was simply wonderful with the Horsemen reunion and some great old foes like Race and Steamboat coming out, a terrific send-off that Flair has earned and kudos to WWE for taking the time to do it all right.

The MITB was the usual wild battle with some great spots like Morrison splashing all the guys while holding the ladder. Glad to see Punk win it as word is, he's due for a push and this can play out nicely into it. Also good to see Matt Hardy back as they can pick up his feud with MVP. Just like everyone else, very surprised Orton retained the title as I thought for sure Cena would get it back. Not just because I am a Cena mark but it seemed right to put him back on top. But the fact that Cena got pinned clean for his first Mania loss should be something to quiet a lot of his critics. The Show-Mayweather encounter was actually a bit better than I expected but then my expectations were low. As for the main event, Undertaker winning is no surprise but doing it by submission was a nice way to shake up the usual formula and send everyone home happy.

Now that the big one is done, it's time to see how things are going to be in the next year. We all know how last year's Mania led to a much different fallout than expected due to injuries, suspensions and the Benoit mess. It is impossible to predict all the shifts to rosters that can take place which can mess up even the best plans. That's not to mention there's no telling what Vince will get into his head to try because he seems to think it's a great idea (Witness his run as ECW champ and the "Death" of Mr. McMahon). So, again, predicting how the post-Mania landscape will be is a tricky proposition but worth looking into nonetheless.

We should start with the big show, RAW. Orton retaining the belt makes for a different landscape than most of us had anticipated. We had pretty much figured either Cena or HHH and they'd feud with each other over the belt but Orton hanging on seems to show WWE has some faith in him as a heel champion, making up for giving his reign in 2004 the fast shaft. Fighting Matt Hardy off the bat was a bit of a surprise but maybe they figure it's time to try the Hardy who's a bit more reliable. The JBL intervention leads to some speculation if WWE really wants to go with a heel vs heel program for a bit. It would be a departure but these two might do well with it.

That leaves the question as to what's going to happen with HHH and Cena, two guys not quite used to being put on the backburner in the title scene. Actually, HHH has been doing okay with that for a bit but still hard to think of Cena pushed back after all his time on top. I do wonder if maybe Cena isn't as fully recovered as we all think and WWE is waiting a bit to make sure he can hold on well before giving the belt back to him. If so, does make sense doing a waiting game and perhaps some time out of the main title scene can quiet the backlash against Cena so when he does win, he can be the popular champ he was in 2005. For HHH, he is going to be a father again and so makes sense he'd want less distractions and not like he doesn't have that much left to prove anyway. He did a great job putting over Jeff Hardy, maybe he can do so with others to help things out.

The return of Crime Tyme was a pleasant surprise as I thought they had potential before WWE let them go last year. Maybe they can get the tag titles this time around and give them a boost as they aren't that bad in the ring and do have good stuff on camera with skits and such that can get them over well. London and Kendrick will probably get the belts first as they are great in the ring and not like that many other teams on RAW at the moment.

For the rest of the show, Jericho can give the IC belt a nice rub, maybe return some of its past luster as he'll get a feud going with someone on the card, perhaps Finlay or even Santino. Let's face it, the promos alone between those two would be money. Big Show/Khali will probably be ugly but we all know Vince just loves seeing big slow guys battling it out so we'll have to put up with it. I do wish they'd take a nod from TNA and really try to improve the women's division as Phoenix, Mickie, Melina and Candice can boost it up to levels not seen since 2003 if they were just given the chance.

Over on Smackdown, I don't see Undertaker's title reign lasting that long as he is getting up there and Edge is still mega-over so Edge will probably regain it soon. As for who he'll face, I highly suspect CM Punk will jump over to use the MITB contract. The reason I picked Punk to win MITB was that word is WWE is planning a big push for him and this is the perfect way to do it. I see him making it on Smackdown first just so WWE can know for sure if he can carry the big load of champion and headliner. After the mess of building up Jeff Hardy and seeing him screw it up, WWE might be a bit more wary on unsure pushes but with his "clean and sober" image, Punk is a good fit for them and can give Smackdown a boost which is needed as they're getting a new network in a few months.

One of the biggest success stories of Smackdown in the last year has been watching the development of MVP and his taking off as a star. I had expected him to feud with Matt but if they're prepping Matt vs Orton, that might be delayed. In fact, it might well be that MVP could get a main event slot for a bit against Undertaker. He'd probably have to drop the US title first, perhaps to Palumbo, who's been improving. It sounds liked Umaga will be jumping over to feud with Batista which might be an improvement over their Mania match. Having Michaels on Smackdown is a surprise but he can give the whole show more energy by his presence and good to see him against a different roster. It is a shame there's no plans to resurrect the Cruiserweight title as it would be good to get back to the nice matchups that set Smackdown apart from RAW. Still, there's potential for the brand to assert itself more and take the upcoming change in networks as a chance to boost itself back up.

That brings us to ECW. If the Kane "victory" proved anything, it's that it's time WWE realized the two-year old experiment is a failure. Yeah, it's given us some guys like Punk and allowed Morrison to blossom but there's no real weight to the show and it just comes off less notable than "Heat" most weeks. There's a lot of guys there who can work out well with either RAW or Smackdown; Benjamin, Stevie Richards, Colin Delaney, to name a few. Freeing them up can give boosts to the midcard of RAW and Smackdown and pairing a few guys up here and there can give the tag divisions a much-needed boost. It's true that ECW can give more time to newer workers but it just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the company and letting it finally die out can not only free up talent but also save them a lot of money.

Again, these are all just predictions from a guy who often prefer to take the "glass half full" approach with WWE. There's tons of stuff that can change, from injuries to suspensions to sudden defections (both from the company and to it) that can shift so much around. Not to mention that for all we know, the next breakout star is just waiting to happen. For all we know, next week will begin programs totally different than what I talked about here. There's so much up in the air, so much to watch and so many ways things can go. That's what makes the post-Mania period so fun and closer to "sports" than "entertainment." We as fans love to be taken by surprise and this is the time WWE is able to do it the most. It may not be what some will like and damn if we won't like watching it.


Pretty much everyone else doing Mania wrap-ups:

Welcome our new columnist, Ryan Merholtz who picks WM for his first Worth Your Wealth?

Also welcome to Brooklyn Brawlin' talking about Flair.

Way I C It takes to task HHH inducting Flair into the Hall of Fame.

Tim does his Take on Flair's legacy.

Scripted Through Sin does a Mania wrap up and we get a special 4 R's on the card.

The Shimmy looks ahead to booking WM XXV.

Julian does a special look with a Top 10 moments of the show.

Piledriver Report looks at Flair's legacy.

Even Navigation Log gets into the act with a look at puro action at Manias past.

Don't forget Column or Honor, Triple Threat, Fact or Fiction, Ask 411 and all the rest.


For this week, the spotlight is off.