Can They Be Champ? 04.06.08: WrestleMania 24 Losers

It’s already been a whole week since WrestleMania. As I had hoped, the show turned out to be better than the actual build. That was especially true for Edge vs. Taker. I hated the build for that match. I thought it was the laziest, stereotypical Undertaker feud build you could do. Thankfully, the match worked really well, and did end up being something special.

Of course, the most special match of the night was HBK vs. Flair. I know at this point you’re probably heard enough about it. Needless to say years from now, when people think of WrestleMania 24, they’ll think of that match. Just like how people think of the Iron Man Match when they think of WMXII, or Rock vs. Hogan when they think of WMX8. Some WrestleManias seem kind of destined to be most remembered for a single match.

That’s not to say that I thought WM24 was a one trick pony. JBL vs. Finlay exceeded expectations, as did Big Show vs. Mayweather. The triple threat may have been mildly disappointing, but it was still a good match. And then you have MitB, Flair vs. Michaels, and Taker vs. Edge as stand-out great matches. That was damn fine WrestleMania, if you ask me. I’ll be interested to see if the WWE can turn out a better PPV this year.

Speaking of PPVs, Backlash is next. Now, last week I said I was going to predict the WWE title scene for the next six months. Well, I was assuming that we would at least have a WWE title match announced at Backlash first. Now, it looks like Orton and JBL will be involved in some way, but until I’m sure what it is, I don’t feel comfortable predicting beyond that. I’ll have to hold off on that column for at least a little bit longer.

Instead, I’m going to do the same kind of column I did after last year’s WrestleMania. I’m going to look at the biggest losers of WrestleMania, and ask if they will ever be a world champion again.

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Can Big Show be champ?

First off, is Big Show officially affiliated with a brand yet? I’m assuming he’s with Raw, but he’s made a lot of appearances on Smackdown since his return as well. Well, if anything I guess this means Big Show can go wherever the WWE needs him, for now.

Big Show’s lost to Mayweather didn’t hurt him much. Mayweather didn’t the help of his posse and brass knucks to be able to knock Show down. Besides, Big Show was pretty much dominant in the match. Besides, if you thought Mayweather would do WrestleMania so that he could lose, you’re crazy.

Big Show has been back with a good deal of fan fare, and has been pretty over with the crowds. I’m also willing to bet that’ll he come out on top from this feud with the Great Khali. I mean, when was the last Khali won anything important? They pretty much gave up on him as soon as he lost the World Heavyweight Championship. You know, after Taker is done rematching with Edge, Big Show would make a lot of sense as a challenger for his title. I don’t think that Big Show will win that feud, but I think that he’ll be showing up in the title picture for awhile to come. And if you stick around in the title picture long enough, sometimes that title finds its way to you.

So, can he be champ?

I think it has a reasonably good chance of happening. Big Show is really gifted in that he can change his character from face to heel in a heartbeat, meaning he can play either character incredibly well. That means that Big Show is a great candidate to help establish all of the various younger talents that are rising up the card. Giving him another run with a world title will give him opportunities to put others over. It would be a smart move.

Can Triple H be champ?

Yeah, I’m a sucker. I really thought HHH was going to win at WrestleMania. Of course, I also thought that the triple threat match would be closing show. As soon as I saw that it wasn’t, I realized that a heel win was possible. With Randy retaining, that’s exactly what we got. It makes me wonder, though. I mean, if they don’t want Randy to drop the belt for Cena or HHH, who are they saving for? Do they want to have him be the one to fight CM Punk when he cashes in his Money in the Bank? Maybe Jeff Hardy will be pushed back into the main event as soon as he comes back, and he’ll be the one to beat Orton.

What about HHH? I think it’s safe to say his days as a world champion aren’t over. We know he isn’t leaving the business anytime soon, and he’s still one of the most over stars in the WWE. Another HHH title reign is inevitable, even if it doesn’t happen right away. Still, besides the 11th title reign (which didn’t last the PPV he won it on), Triple H hasn’t had a decent title run since he lost the WHC to Batista at WrestleMania 21. Now, a lot of that has to do with HHH stepping aside for John Cena. Still, now that Cena is firmly established, I think HHH has just as much a chance of winning the belt as he does these days.

So, can he be champ?

It’ll happen. He’s a bit of a wild card, really. It could happen as soon as a month, or it could be more than a year. But it will happen.

Can John Cena be champ?

Orton won the triple threat, and Triple H was “screwed” from winning the triple threat. But anyway you look at it, Cena lost. He took HHH’s pedigree, and then Orton pinned him. Considering the sort of superhuman Cena has been in the WWE for the past three years, that was kind of surprising.

I think that the WWE is ready to make Cena a bit more vulnerable. I’m not saying that they want to bury him from his spot, but I think they’re trying to shift the landscape so that the entire weight of the WWE title scene doesn’t have to rest on his shoulders. And why should it? Randy has proven that he can be a good long term champion, HHH and Shawn Michaels are both around and healthy, and you have young guys like CM Punk getting ready to rise to the title scene. The days of Cena title reigns lasting for over a year are over.

That’s not to say that Cena’s championship days are done. He’s still over, and a Cena main event still draws a lot of money. He’ll be as heavily involved in the WWE title scene as anyone, and I’m sure he’ll win the title again at some point this year.

So, can he champ?

His slogan is “The champ is here!”. I’m sure he’ll have the gold back again at some point or another.

Can Edge be champ?

After Edge, who is the top heel on Smackdown? MVP? MVP is doing fine and all, but I don’t see him main eventing any PPVs anytime soon. Until the draft, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Edge in WHC matches. Him and Taker are probably going to have a long feud, along the lines of the Taker/Batista feud from last year. Of course, I don’t think Edge will ever beat Taker during the feud. I’m sure the WWE wants Taker to have a decently long title reign, which means that Edge won’t be holding the belt for some time.

Still, Edge is a top heel in the WWE. It’s hard to imagine that he won’t be a world champion again, no matter what show he is on. Again, it’s really just a matter of time. If nothing else, if a champion gets caught with drugs or injured, Edge is always a nice go-to guy to drop the championship to.

So, can he be champ.

Unless they find someway to destroy all of his heat, Edge will be a major heel in the WWE for some time to come. He’ll be champ again.

Alright, that’s going to do it for this week. Hopefully I’ll have a better idea of what Backlash is going to be like this time next week.

Until then, have a good week everyone.