Wrestlemania shaping up to be…predictable

First off, I’d like to introduce myself and say Hi to the wrestling community. My name is Alex Sandoval, I come to the Daily DDT via climbingtalshill.com which covered the Houston Astros, where I was a senior staff writer. I’ve been a huge wrestling fan for as long as I can remember and followed the soap opera for males thru the good and very bad. I have a number of thoughts regarding the wrestling industry and hope to share them with everyone as the days and articles continue. I thrive on critic and conversation so please feel free to contact me through comments or twitter @lexthepex.

The first topic i’ll tackle is wrestling biggest spectacle, Wrestlemania. As most of you know, Wrestlemania is the Super Bowl of wrestling and most storylines, some lasting quite some time, come to conclusion at this mega event. Lets call this the true season finale of wrestling, since Vince McMahon is all about entertainment these days. While I pay pretty close attention most of the year, the weeks leading up to and Wrestlemania itself, often attracts me even more. This year might be more difficult or less relevant than any in recent memory. With the biggest matches already set and have been set for quite some time, the journey feels empty. A word that has become a buzz word around the internet wrestling community is predictability and Wrestlemania well only put more gasoline on that fire.

Last night, Elimination Chamber gave us a decent show but nothing shocking besides Shield getting a semi-clean pin over Team Cena. Dwayne and John will fight in the main-event of WM for the 2nd straight year and will delight the 5-year old kid demographic. Rock for all the memories he does provide, his routine has gotten stale and minus the few creative catchphrases he does bring out from time to time, is the same old Rock. Given that Rock will be off to film Hercules after Wrestlemania, Cena will win and take back the title that has eluded him for some time. Not much drama for the pinnacle match of the biggest event in Wrestling.

The remainder of the card is still being constructed but Alberto Del Rio seems like he will defend the World Heavywieght Title vs Jack Swagger, what? Seriously…that cannot be the 2nd main-event at Wrestlemania, can it? Individually, I like both guys but their pushes have been incredibly fast and make no sense at this point. Del Rio’s heel gimmick had run its course and his natural state was that of a face, so the turn is doing wonders for this career but this is way to soon to main-event this type of show. Vince did the same two years ago when Del Rio won the Royal Rumble and took on Edge at WM 28. The match was largely a bust but looks like history maybe repeating itself. Swagger’s new gimmick is great and should give him the necessary heat to thrive but it hasn’t happened yet. To give him a prime spot over guys like Ziggler, Jericho or even Cesaro is insane. I like the direction both these guys are going in but have no interest in seeing them now.

The match most will be looking forward too may not even take place, Punk vs Undertaker. The only remaining intriguing part of the road to Wrestlemania is can the Undertaker make it back in time to face Punk? Recent internet pictures have shown the Undertaker to look like a shell of his former self but the name and streak are the draws here. Punk has been elevated even in losses to the Rock and has proven to be able to carry anyone to a classic. This might be his greatest challenge yet given Taker’s physical condition and age. The backup plan is probably a 3-way title match with Cena and Rock but we all know, Vince wants nothing to do with that. Expect to see Taker return soon.

So as we get to the home stretch, a disappointing Wrestlemania season is upon us but a foreseeable one. Did anyone not expect these matches to take place while Vince was cashing in on the Rock? The sad part of all this will be that until the Rock leaves the WWE, which won’t be for some time now, predictability, will continue to be the buzz word around wrestling. Maybe Punk/Taker steal the show or the rumored Jericho/Ziggler match blows the crowd away, either way, this might be the worst Wrestlemania in quite some time.