The Piledriver Report 02.25.09: The Unpredictable Road to WrestleMania

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 02.25.2009

Most years, the Road to WrestleMania is so predictable that anybody can easily see where the road will lead. However, this year’s trip has given us so many curves and detours that the average fan has been left guessing and excited to see where our journey will take us. This week’s “Piledriver Report” takes a look at this year’s wild Road to WrestleMania.

Before I begin this week's column, I need everyone's help. Next week will begin our 2009 Wrestling March Madness Tournament. This year's tournament will crown the greatest wrestler to never win a World title, meaning WWWF/WWF/WWE, NWA, AWA, TNA, WCW, and ECW (once they became "extreme," but BEFORE it became the WWECW version). So far, I have come up with 60 worthy contenders. However, I need help coming up with the last four entrants. Please submit 4 names that you think would be worthy of one of the 4 final slots into the tournament. You can either post them on the Comments Section below this article, or e-mail them to [e-mail].

Here is the list of the 60 competitors currently entered into the tournament. Buddy Roberts, Paul Orndorff, Roddy Piper, "Dr. D" David Schultz, Dick Murdoch, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Jr., Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, "Big" John Studd, Jimmy Snuka, Dynamite Kid, Tito Santana, Dominic Denucci, Gorilla Monsoon, Killer Kowalski, Pat Patterson, Davey Boy Smith, Jake Roberts, Blackjack Mulligan, Owen Hart, Ted DiBiase, Sr., Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Scott Hall, Brian Pillman, Matt Hardy, William Regal, Shelton Benjamin, Fit Finlay, Bad News Brown, John Morrison, Ken Kennedy, Nikita Koloff, Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Dean Malenko, Kevin Von Erich, David Von Erich, Eddie Graham, Bruiser Brody, Ernie Ladd, Tully Blanchard, Wahoo McDaniel, "Chief" Jay Strongbow, Magnum T.A., Dustin Rhodes, Big Boss Man, Antonio Rocco, Ivan Putski, The Sheik, Freddie Blassie, Abdullah the Butcher, Mr. Wrestling II, Ray Stevens, Ole Anderson, Jesse Ventura, Peter Maivia, and Nikolai Volkoff.


What a difference a month makes! Days before the Royal Rumble, it appeared that the main matches for WrestleMania were set. Triple H would be challenging Edge for the WWE World title. Randy Orton would probably win the Rumble, and take on the World Heavyweight Champion John Cena for RAW's top prize at WrestleMania. Christian was going to be revealed as being the man responsible for all of the attacks on Jeff Hardy, setting up a huge grudge match. Shawn Michaels would either have a match against his "employer" John Bradshaw Layfield, or he would have the rumored dream match against the Undertaker.

Since the Royal Rumble has passed, the WWE has shaken things up in a big way. Beginning with the Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy turned heel by attacking his brother. Despite the apparent Hardy vs. Hardy match-up on this week's SmackDown! telecast, the two brothers should battle each other at WrestleMania.

If the Royal Rumble threw a monkey wrench into the rumored plans of a Christian vs. Jeff Hardy match at WrestleMania, then the pay per view No Way Out shattered the rumored Mania line-up. First, the WWE had Shawn Michaels face JBL on the February pay per view. Not that this was a complete surprise. If the WWE wanted Shawn to fight the Undertaker at WrestleMania in a face vs. face dream match, they needed to get Michaels away from JBL. However, what was surprising was that Shawn received his "emancipation" after only one match with JBL. On a side note, I think this feud could have been so much better. First off all, the idea that Michaels is broke, while pulling in seven figures as a wrestler, seems far-fetched. Secondly, how was John Bradshaw Layfield a heel in this "feud?" Think of it from a logical standpoint. Shawn was down on his luck, and JBL offered Michaels huge money to come work for him. What horrible tasks did JBL have the "Heartbreak Kid" perform? Layfield paid Shawn to wrestle, and stand in JBL's corner. Basically, JBL was paying Michaels to do the same thing that Vince McMahon is paying Shawn to do! How does that make JBL a bad guy? The WWE should have paid homage to the David Von Erich-Jimmy Garvin and Sunshine angle. During that angle, Von Erich made Garvin and Sunshine wash his dog, dig up tree stumps, and other hard labor tasks. If JBL had Shawn drive him around in his limousine, pick up his dry cleaning, and other mundane tasks that would humiliate "Mr. WrestleMania." Now, that would have made JBL more of a heel.

The good news regarding the WWE ending the Shawn/JBL feud is that after next week's Michaels/Kozlov contest, the fans will get treated to a Shawn vs. Undertaker match on the grandest stage in the industry. Once it becomes an official match, the Undertaker and Shawn should provide the fans with some great segments to hype up their upcoming match.

Before No Way Out, I never would have believed that both Edge and John Cena would have lost their respective World title belts. I also would have been surprised, and was surprised, that Edge would be the wrestler to win the World Heavyweight championship in the RAW elimination chamber match. However, that's exactly what happened. Edge won the RAW title, and Triple H won the WWE World championship.

Since then, the WWE has been flipped upside down. Instead of having a SmackDown! wrestler take on the SmackDown! champion, and a RAW wrestler fight another RAW wrestler for that belt, we get two inter-brand match-ups for both belts. We are also getting two great match-ups that are worthy of headlining WrestleMania.

For the World Heavyweight championship, Edge will be defending the title against John Cena. This is a WrestleMania match that is three years in the making. After Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot against John Cena at the 2006 New Year's Revolution pay per view, the "Rated R Superstar" caught fire. Edge proved to have arrived and be worthy of headlining WrestleMania 22 against John Cena, instead of Triple H getting the spot. Instead, Edge dropped the belt back to Cena at the Royal Rumble. However, after WrestleMania, the WWE inserted Edge back into the WWE title picture. What resulted was a classic feud between Edge and Cena that was WrestleMania worthy. Finally, they will get their chance.

They are making the most of their chance to headline a title match at WrestleMania. John Cena is playing the role of the former champion, who is demanding a title shot, due to his rematch clause. While Cena cries about wanting his shot, Edge is being the arrogant champion by antagonizing Cena. Edge refuses to give John Cena his shot, while poking fun at the former champ by doing things, such as using Cena's "the champ is here" catchphrase to get after Cena.

The other top match for WrestleMania appears to be Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World title. Over the last few months, Randy Orton has been on another stratosphere. Orton has really picked up his game, and is arguably the industry's top performer. When Orton punted Vince's head, the Randy Orton character went from heel, to mega-superstar. Sure, he took a detour for a couple of weeks when Shane McMahon became "Super Shane," and was able to stand toe to toe with Orton. However, Orton got all of his "heat" back last week after he punted Shane and delivered a picture perfect RKO to Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley.

This led to Triple H arriving on RAW to rescue the McMahon family, while acknowledging his real-life marriage to Stephanie. With Triple H now in the fold, the angle with Orton has picked up tremendously. When Triple H was on the ring apron, about to battle Legacy, the crowd was on the edge of their seats waiting to see what would happen. The best part of the segment was that Triple H didn't get his hands on Randy Orton. By missing out on the opportunity to gain revenge against Orton, this angle will only grow stronger. Even though we have seen Triple H vs. Randy Orton before, I can't wait to see how this storyline plays out. The two are showing an intensity that we haven't seen from either performer in a long time. Gone is the joke cracking Triple H. Thank God. He needs to be serious in this angle. Leave the jokes for the mid-card performers. The only way for this angle to continue to grow is by having Triple H angry and serious. If Triple H played the DX version of "The Game," this angle would be dead. Thankfully, they haven't done that.

One of the most intriguing stories leading up to this year's WrestleMania is the angle involving Chris Jericho. I loved the idea of a match involving Chris Jericho and Mickey Rourke. It would not be anywhere close to a four star match. However, if Rourke wrestled at Mania, the pay per view would get huge publicity. More importantly, Chris Jericho would gain a lot of media attention. After an MVP performance last year, Jericho deserves all of the accolades he can get. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like a Jericho/Rourke match will be taking place. This leads us to ask, who will the WWE put Jericho in the ring with? There have been several different rumors. Jericho vs. Steve Austin, Ric Flair, or a match against a handful of WWE Legends have all been speculated. Personally, I would like to see Chris Jericho face Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 25.

When I think of Mr. WrestleMania, I don't think of Shawn Michaels. I think of Hulk Hogan. The "Hulkster" was one of the main components that helped put the pay per view on the map. In WrestleMania's infancy, it was Hulk Hogan who headlined each event. The Hulk Hogan name helped get the super card off of the ground. As much as I like Randy Savage and Paul Orndorff, neither man could have been the torchbearer during the early years of WrestleMania that Hogan was. This is the twenty-fifth WrestleMania. Hulk Hogan deserves to be on the show. What better way for the "Hulkster" to be on the show then to represent the WWE Legends that have been harassed by Chris Jericho?

This WrestleMania is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated WrestleManias for me, probably since WrestleMania XX. Despite both John Cena and Triple H probably leaving Houston as the two World Champions, I can't wait to see both of their matches. Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker could steal the show in a match-up that we haven't seen in a long, long time. There will be a Money in the Bank ladder match. That gimmick is always good. Christian should, hopefully, beat Jack Swagger for the ECW World title. Not to mention that Chris Jericho should have a major role in the show, with Mick Rourke in his opponents corner. Taking everything into account, this should be one of the best WrestleManias in the super show's history. If the build-up continues the way it's been going, we will probably be witnessing the greatest "Road to WrestleMania" that the WWE has ever presented. From the beginning of the year until the first Sunday in April would give us three full months of riveting story telling from a company that sometimes forgets that they can provide us with such great television. Hopefully, WrestleMania, and the WrestleMania aftermath will be even greater. And just think, we still have 40 days to go before WrestleMania 25. Hop along for an amazing ride.