Thoughts From The Top Rope 03.04.09: WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan, and John Cena

Fun fact: this is the eight hundredth item I’ve posted for 411wrestling.com in the little over two years I’ve been here. That’s not as impressive as it sounds considering I used to do Raw coverage, which would constitute 6-10 posts per week, but still…

WrestleMania is getting nearer and nearer and the excitement is starting to build. Like most others, everything I write between now and April 5 will be Mania-related.

So the ending of this week’s Raw left us with a few questions regarding the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 25. As of now, it’s Edge defending one-on-one against The Big Show. However, John Cena has a DQ victory over Edge and is surely not going to be happy with being removed from the title picture so quickly. Vickie Guerrero seems to no longer to be concerned with appeasing Edge so I would not be too surprised if we ended up with a Triple Threat match for the title involving all three men. The problem is, a lot of people are bored of Triple Threat matches for the world titles at Mania; we had one at Mania XX, again two years later, and last year. On the other hand, is Big Show a big enough name to carry one half of the main event at the biggest wrestling show in history? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the Big Show’s work, but it’s rare that he is ever a believable threat to a world championship. That said, the issues between Show and Edge have been bubbling under the surface for a good while now, so the match would make sense and I imagine Show has more than enough skills to generate significant support by the time Mania rolls around.

Of course, if Show/Edge does go ahead, that leaves John Cena out in the cold so to speak. Although actually, perhaps not. I said Show/Edge wouldn’t really be a Mania-calibre main event, and one would have to assume that the plans creative has for Cena would be more significant than a world title clash with Edge and thus would serve as the second half of the main event, along with Randy Orton vs. Triple H for the WWE Championship. Now, regular readers of mine may well be aware that I am no Hulk Hogan fan, far from it. I despise him and his family, despite appreciating what he did for the business back in the 1980s. But, there may be no bigger marquee match that WWE could realistically put together for WrestleMania 25 than Hulk Hogan vs. John Cena.

A few weeks back, Edge said in a promo that John Cena wanted to be this generation’s Hulk Hogan and I think in many ways he already is, or at least, he’s the closest thing we’ll ever get to another Hulk Hogan. Of course, in other ways, they’re nothing alike. As a side note, I don’t want to bring Steve Austin into this argument, as the era of wrestling he got big in was much different to the eras dominated by Hogan and Cena respectively, which are much more comparable.

In the 1980s, Hulk Hogan was the man. More often than not he was the champion, he was the face of the company, the most popular, shifted the merchandise and brought the company more money than anyone else. Today, the same can be said for John Cena. The big difference I see between the two is that Cena is the ultimate company man, always willing to do what’s right for the company and an all-round good guy. Hulk Hogan’s was always motivated by ego and cared more about himself than those he worked with or those he worked for. That’s not changed. Hogan still craves the spotlight, whether it’s because he doesn’t know anything else or whether it’s because he just can’t move on. I imagine it’s a bit of both. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon seems to think he still needs Hulk Hogan, at least every once in a while. Hogan and McMahon may not realize it, but Hulk Hogan needs WrestleMania much more than WrestleMania needs Hulk Hogan. But like I said, this match has potential to be huge, one of the biggest ever. Not only would it draw a ton of cash for WWE, but I imagine the vast majority of us on the ‘net would love to see it too.

The other Hogan-related rumour I’ve heard is that he’ll be brought in to battle Chris Jericho in the culmination of this Jericho vs. the Legends angle. But Jericho’s work in recent months, developing this angle despite they’re being no set destination, has been fantastic and quite frankly deserves better than a loss at the hands of Hogan come Mania time. Because let’s face it, there’s no way Jericho would be put over Hogan. John Cena, on the other hand, would be a whole other story, as he is the face of the company and a loss to Hogan would serve no purpose other than to inflate Hogan’s ego a little more.

People talk about Hogan and Austin going at in the biggest match in wrestling history, but frankly, my interest in that potential bout has declined as each year has gone by. There’s no intrigue any more. Both guys come back so often that it rarely feels special when they come back. Seeing them go at it in the ring would be a spectacle no doubt, but the performance they’d give would in all likelihood be a mere reminder of how sad it is that some people seem to not know when to call it quits. And before I begin sounding too much like Chris Jericho, I will reiterate that I would welcome a Hogan appearance at WrestleMania if it were to put someone over, most likely Cena. The same can be said for Austin; him showing up to give someone a Stunner does nothing for anyone. If he is capable of getting back in the ring, then by all means, go with Jericho vs. Austin and put Jericho over. I’d like to think that Austin is much more willing than Hogan to do the right thing for the business, but history isn’t really on his side either.

WrestleMania 25 is going to be huge. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker will be iconic, but we who’s going over. The two title matches could be great, but will either gives us a true WrestleMania moment to rival Hogan slamming Andre, Shawn coming off the ladder at Mania X, or Austin and McMahon shaking hands over a fallen Rock? I don’t think so. That’s why I think this year’s main event should be Hulk Hogan and John Cena, climaxing with perhaps the most iconic moment in WrestleMania history; Hogan tapping out at the hands of Cena’s STF. But again, Hulk Hogan needs WrestleMania a lot more than WrestleMania needs Hulk Hogan.