411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Should Elias Host WrestleMania 34?

Welcome back to 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Justin Watry & Jake Chambers.

Questions were sent out Tuesday.

Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

1. You are not a fan of John Cena being added to the Fastlane main event.

Justin Watry: FICTION – As long as he is still on RAW this Monday night LIVE in Milwaukee, I am fine with it. Just like his Survivor Series 2017 appearance and Royal Rumble entry, it is nothing more than a ‘filler’ role. Cena gets to mix it up with a cool group of wrestlers, lends his star power to an event and sticks around for the time being. WWE wins. Cena wins (well, loses), and us fans win because any extra time with the guy is considered a good thing. We will all miss him when he ultimately retires, so even in these kind of part-time roles, it is great. Cena will fail at Fastlane, and everything will move on like normal five minutes after the pay-per-view concludes. No harm, no foul.

Jake Chambers: FACT – Part of me likes the angle of Cena thinking WrestleMania is so important that he needs to earn his way onto the card. This meshes well with the Cena “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” persona, despite him clearly being able to get on that show just because he’s one of the biggest mega-stars in WWE history. However, A-level Cena being shoe-horned into a match with B-level losers (no offence) is the part I’m not a fan of. Cena just clean-pinned WWE Champion AJ Styles in a singles match, something none of the other challengers in the upcoming Fastlane main event could believably do. Realistically, Cena should get a re-match against Styles on Smackdown this week for the WWE Title – hell, they did that for James Ellsworth when he accidentally won a non-title match against Styles by disqualification. Or if they want him to prove it further, then Nakamura should have to put his #1 Contendership on the line against Cena at Fastlane. But that Six-Pack Challenge is beneath a wrestler of Cena’s accomplishment, fame, and recent win over the champion.

2. If WWE doesn’t have a match for him, Elias should host WrestleMania 34.

Justin Watry: FACT – Excuse my suspicion as I have been tweeting about him hosting WrestleMania 34 for a while now. I say FACT either way. A mid-card match Elias is kinda meh at this point. Unless Chris Jericho wants to ditch his Fozzy tour and feud with him for the next month after their RAW 25 confrontation, what else is there? An IC Championship cluster with ten other people? Okay. A Big Show match? Okay. Something with ANYBODY on Raw right now? Okay. Nothing would be bad per say but isn’t really going to make headlines. I say give him a ten minute “concert” type of deal and let him eat a few Stunners at the end. Heck, The Rock may not be able to wrestle but is sure to be in town, right? Now, THAT would be worthwhile. Walk With Elias!

Jake Chambers: FACT – WrestleMania has become such a bore for like the past 10 years, so why not? Even if they weren’t going to just jam him last minute into some multi-man ladder match or battle royal, a singles match with him would probably be rushed and forgettable. Elias is generally awesome when he sits in that ring, holds court with the crowd and sings, and a WrestleMania live audience will eat that shit up. Those poor saps ain’t looking for a 25-minute Roderick Strong vs. Hideo Itami mat classic for the grossly overpriced tickets they bought months before any actual card was announced. That live audience at WrestleMania is conditioned by the WWE to expect “moments” and “comedy” at the big show rather than good wrestling matches, so give them a host they can ironically boo and make up “hilarious” chants to annoy. The rest of us at home will basically be in a coma the whole time anyways.

3. While one could argue that the Miz has been great, WWE is doing him no favors by having him repeatedly lose on TV & PPV.

Justin Watry: FICTION – Tough call but no. The Miz just beat Roman Reigns twice in January on Raw in front of its’ biggest viewing audience in years. Then he followed that up with announcing his own reality show on USA Network. Oh, and he gets consistent mic time on television, holds the IC Title and is primed for a story line with the likes of Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and/or Braun Strowman. Pretty good company to be in. That being said, it would be a welcome surprise to see the HEEL win some big matches on occasion. The dude is the weasel bad guy who is a coward and runs his mouth. However, there is more to him. I believe the time to strike was last year after the Superstar Shakeup (keeping him on Smackdown LIVE and not going the Jinder Mahal route). There is always 2018 though…

Jake Chambers: FICTION – The easy answer that I think a lot of people will want from this question is “Fact”. That’s the kind of punditry most other websites would give you. “Miz is under-appreciated and the WWE needs to stop screwing him up.” But this is 411mania, and we don’t just regurgitate the same tired opinions over and over here. I’m saying “Fiction” because the WWE is not in the business of doing any favors for mid-card enhancement talent who already had their shot at the main event 8 years ago. In fact, I don’t think The Miz is doing himself any favors by repeating the same bit for almost two years now. This current “I get no respect” fiery-promo Miz is in danger of morphing him into the new Dolph Ziggler, and the WWE isn’t looking for that. Sure, his current phase has finally won over the “smarts”, but being a guy who was able to constantly find new ways to fool that specific segment of the audience into hating him was much more marketable for the WWE. This version of The Miz is clearly NOT one the WWE wants to be in the WrestleMania main event in 2018. No matter how good he’s been on the mic, how competent he’s been in the ring, and how much he can get the audience to appreciate what he’s doing, the WWE is still just using him to enhance their real favorites. Wins and losses aren’t real in sports entertainment, and if he wants to make himself more valuable to the global marketing machine that is the WWE he’ll stop trying to win over the smart fans and figure out how to make us all hate him again.

SWITCH!

4. If the rumors are true, John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio will be a great addition to the WrestleMania card.

Jake Chambers: FACT – If you’re looking for someone to shit on this match, you’ve come to the wrong guy. Cena is my favorite wrestler of all time, and Mysterio is somewhere just outside of the Top 10 depending on the year you ask me. I think both of them are amazing big match wrestlers and are in their “wrestling primes” – that Flair-Hart-Michaels sweet spot of around 40 where a long-term main event-er has mastered their craft and is capable of now creatively tweaking formulas and technique at an auteur’s level. That being said, do we have any idea if this “rumor” is actually legit? Is it any coincidence the more our fandom is populated by media conglomerate paid “journalists” that we get more of these false rumors every week? All this while the WWE is making more money than ever, is “reportedly” about to move RAW to prime time network television, and yet most of the wrestling we have to sit through is mediocre, repetitive and originates from bland storytelling. Some of us still actually love watching great wrestling matches and that’s why I choose to naively cross my fingers that Cena and Mysterio will have a match at WrestleMania and that it will kick ass.

Justin Watry: PASS – This is where it is tough for me to comment because I really do try hard not to BURY anybody. I may not like certain wrestlers and their characters but to outright bash them personally – I have never done that. Even if I don’t like a person, I tend to choose my words carefully to not be a total jerk. A few weeks ago a question came up about Jeremy Borash, and I probably said too much and wish I had not said a word. Bash the character or story line but never the actual person. That being said, the same applies to certain ‘wrestling journalists.’ I could name names here and expose a few things but will choose not to do that. It was just last year that people were lapping up a dirty source and believing their nonsense. I bit my tongue and stayed silent. Lo and behold, that source is now a distant memory after people finally realized it was all BS. Exposed in a hurry and forgotten about. Well, as the saying goes, there is a new sheriff in town! I will not out the guy who is now the next in line to report garbage and somehow garner attention. He is just trying to transition from sports to professional wrestling, so good for him. I wish him well, but after missing on a whole ton of stories and being made to be a fool of so many times in such a short amount of time, let’s just say I am not even going to comment on the potential of John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 34. Sorry.

5. Carmella will successfully cash in her MITB at WrestleMania.

Jake Chambers: FACT – Oh snap, Carmella is still in WWE… and she’s got that #firstever Women’s Money in the Bank briefcase too! Is it a coincidence that Carmella basically fell off of WWE’s radar the minute they let James Ellsworth go? That guy was such a great heat-getter for her, which she definitely needed as a not-good wrestler and uninteresting personality. I’d have understood dropping her manager if they were going to renew her focus on “pure wrestling” and try to prove to the audience that it wasn’t a fluke she got the briefcase in the first place. That hasn’t happened. So the WWE’s typical knee-jerk reaction to cover up their booking failures is to make big, explosive waves, and what does that trick better than their tired Money in the Bank cash-in device? Bo-ring. But it seems like a reasonable enough prediction for the creatively bankrupt WWE at this point.

Justin Watry: FICTION – Carmella still holds the briefcase? Really? I am completely dumbfounded by her inevitable cash in attempt. A part of me wants to see her interrupt a big Charlotte moment and walk away the new champion. Kinda like a Seth Rollins flashback where she is the ultimate heel and steals the spotlight after a big WM showdown. Another part of me would not be shocked to see a Baron Corbin style cash in where WWE just waves the white flag and stick with the current crop of women…not Carmella. I honestly haven on clue on this one. If you think I have some bold prediction about Carmella, I don’t. Maybe a surprise move to Raw in the next brand swaps? Would that still be allowed for the Money in the Bank briefcase? You all tell me; what will Carmella do? Time is ticking.

6. Judging by her two appearances this past week, Ronda Rousey will do just fine in WWE.

Jake Chambers: FACT – Believe it or not, I solved a crime once. It was a murder actually. Not that long ago, here in rural Ontario, Canada where there rarely are any murders. So it was pretty surprising when it happened, but especially when I found out that an acquaintance of one of my best friends had been arrested for the crime. I’d only met her a few times but she didn’t seem like someone capable of murder. Of course, that’s what my friend said at the time everyone must say in these situations. He was resolved to accept the story in the local media, but I’d watched too many detective movies to let this opportunity slide. Call it my generation’s desensitization to violence, in everything from video games to MMA, that gave me the gall to ignore the real human effects of this situations and nose around in the personal lives of a bunch of strangers all for the sake of some phony glory. And – surprise, surprise – real life is not a like an 80s movie. There was no thread to pull that would unravel the conflicting stories and awkward memories of those involved to allow me a clear view of a conclusion like it’s the main event at the end of the Road to WrestleMania. There was a lot of things that happened before that murder, and there were many more things to come. But, regardless, I figured out who really did it. I know I know. Give me five minutes and I can lay the whole thing out for you just like I tried for my best friend after a frantic few weeks of frustrating twists and numbing dead ends. I sped through every detail, my hair frazzled, my eyes blood shot, caffeine shaking my hands, and a crack of authority in my determined, rambling voice, until finally my friend put his hand on my shoulder and said, “everything will be just fine.” Just fine. Two words to define our collective frustrations with the illogical bureaucracy of the corrupt world that we all must ignore in order to push on for another day. So, yes, Ronda Rousey will do just fine in the WWE.

Justin Watry: FICTION – I am saying fiction based on the wording. Ronda Rousey will be MORE than just fine, and she already proved that before this past week. Forget her two appearances. Heck, forget Royal Rumble from January. You could even toss out WrestleMania 31 from 2015 and all of her other cameos if you want. Crumble them up and throw them in the garbage. What I judged her on was the entire run she had in UFC. Now, THAT told me she was money. The girl had WWE written all over her from the start. The “Rowdy” nickname was only the tip of the iceberg. Many would argue she was born to fight (UFC and Olympics). I would argue she was born to be a professional wrestling. She crushed it at the Chamber and did so again the next night on Raw, and I have no doubts it will only get better from here. Ronda has all the legitimate background needed but also has the passion and ‘it factor’ you can’t teach to headline a WrestleMania. Yes, I said headline. THE main event. More on that in my new BodySlam.net column posted on Wednesday. Whether it is the actual last match of the evening or not, make no mistake, she is the selling WrestleMania 34. Her face. Her image. Her poster. Her name. Her accolades. Her credentials. Her media. HER.