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The Shimmy 2.05.07: Final WrestleMania 23 Predictions
Five months ago I wrote a column detailing what I though would be the card for WrestleMania 23. Judging by the e-mails I received many of my readers actually bought that card. Looking back on what I wrote, I seriously wish someone would have told me what I was smoking. With the Royal Rumble having occurred that week we are officially on the Road to WrestleMania. This week we will look back at the matches that I originally booked back in August, and then I will take my final stab at guessing what will be in store for the big show in Detroit.
Original WrestleMania 23 Plans posted on 8/28/06
Just as recently as last week this match had the ability to come to fruition. I think it’s likely that we’ll see these two end up in a match against one another come WrestleMania, but I doubt it will be in a one-on-one scenario.
While I’m not as enthused with this idea now as I once was, I still think it could have worked. It doesn’t seem like Mark Henry will be back in time for WrestleMania (which is probably a good thing seeing how many people we need to get on the card), so this match is scratched. I do hope we get to see the Batista-Henry showdown sometime this summer, provided Batista isn’t heel by then.
When I booked this match I was under the assumption that Kurt Angle would be back in WWE by WrestleMania. Obviously that isn’t going to happen, and Rob Van Dam isn’t the top dog in ECW any more. I still think RVD has the opportunity to end up in the ECW main event, but Angle is certainly out.
So I guess we won’t actually get this match. It’s a shame because the atmosphere would be electric. Who knows if we’ll ever get a chance to see this match again?
Back in August I would have bet anything that this match would be a go. Now, though, with Vince engaged in his feud with Donald Trump, it doesn’t seem like there will be a place for Foley.
Maybe next year we’ll see this battle of undefeated Mania participants, but this year is obviously out. I still think there is money in a battle between two men that are undefeated at WrestleMania.
Back before New Year’s Revolution I was actually figuring they’d do a tag team match with DX vs. Booker & Finlay, but given Triple H’s quad injury and any plans involving him are out. I do still like the match name.
I still think we’ll have a Money in the Bank Match, and I still think Mr. Kennedy will come out on top, but I’ve tweaked some of the participants in the past few weeks. This is the reason I don’t foresee the TLC Match that everyone seems to watch with the Hardys and MNM because they won’t have two Ladder Matches on one show.
I actually think we could still see these two men meet at WrestleMania, but not for the United States Title.
I really want to see the return of the Punjabi Prison Match, but judging how it was ripped in WWE Magazine I doubt we’ll see it come back. Umaga deserves better than this, and Big Show isn’t coming back.
Terkay has been fired and I couldn’t care less. Moving on.
I still think this match could be good, but not at WrestleMania (at least not this year). Nitro is an integral part of the Raw midcard and Michaels has been rejuvenated since Triple H’s injury. Both men have better matches in my new projection.
I still think this match could work out, but I’ve got a better place for Ric Flair on my new card. Flair chopping the youngster would be cool though.
Well I accurately predicted the return of both teams, although the Hardys are not full-time. The match would be a good one (and if there were a rematch of the Four-Way Ladder Match from Armageddon I would prefer TWGTT over Regal & Taylor). Benjamin & Haas still fit into the World Tag Team Title Match on the new card.
And Now For The Updated Predictions:
World Heavyweight Title, Title vs. Streak Match: Batista© vs. Undertaker
By now this match isn’t much of a stretch to predict. It’s funny, a year ago this match would have been the main event of No Way Out had Batista not suffered his injury. The match it was replaced with could have very well headlined WrestleMania. Hopefully this match will be able to do the same.
WWE Title, Fatal Four-Way Match: John Cena© vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton
This match should be a ton of fun. I would hope that Edge walks away with the win here so that he will still be undefeated come WrestleMania 24, setting up a date with Undertaker. Actually that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Have Edge win the belt here and feud with Shawn Michaels through the rest of the spring. HBK can win the belt off of Edge later just in time for Triple H to come back and turn on his partner to reclaim the belt. That way Triple H can have the belt back, and be a heel, in time for next year’s WrestleMania where they can have Cena-Triple H II like they wanted to do this year. See, it’ll all work out.
No. 1 Contender’s Extreme Battle Royal: Rob Van Dam vs. Test vs. Sabu vs. Hardcore Holly vs. The Sandman vs. Marcus Cor Von vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Kevin Thorn vs. Balls Mahoney vs. Matt Striker
I’ve come to the realization that I really don’t know who is going to challenge Lashley for the title at Mania. I figure by doing this match not only will they be able to do the ECW Originals vs. The New Breed but they can change their minds at the last minute. Since Batista is probably going to be playing a heel against Taker, they could possibly have RVD win here and go on to face Lashley in a face vs. face match. They could also put over Hardcore Holly, or possibly have RVD and Holly do a double elimination setting up a Triple Threat Match. Should the ECW Title Match actually be announced ahead of time this match can be turned into a 5-on-5 team Battle Royal.
ECW World Title Match: Bobby Lashley© vs. TBD
Like I just said, Lashley-RVD, Lashley-Holly, or Lashley-RVD-Holly are probably the likely choices here. I would love to see Finlay switch to ECW and challenge Lashley, but I doubt that will happen.
Hulk Hogan (w/ Donald Trump) vs. The Great Khali (w/ Vince McMahon)
I don’t care if Hogan-Shane will be a better match, this is the match I want to see. Twenty years after Hogan-Andre this match needs to be Hogan against a giant, and Khali has looked at least dominating in recent weeks. He has also been used as McMahon’s henchman so it would make sense for him to go up against the Donald’s top guy. Thank God the proposed Shawn Michaels vs. King Booker match with Vince and Donald backing their men didn’t come to pass, as both men deserve better. Why not combine the Vince-Donald feud with the inevitable Hogan match?
Interpromotional, Hardcore Tag Team Match: Mick Foley & Ric Flair vs. MNM
Since Vince is preoccupied with Donald Trump at the moment, it would appear as if Mick Foley will have to seek his revenge on Johnny Nitro and Melina instead. Now, I know a lot of people will want to see Foley put over Nitro, but there will be plenty of time for that. The build is simple enough: Foley returns and goes after Nitro, Nitro and Flair can already be feuding on Raw, Nitro brings in Mercury for backup, Foley & Flair put their differences aside to take on MNM. If you remember back Flair was going to cut a promo last fall about how what happened to Foley should never have taken place only to be interrupted (by Umaga if I’m not mistaken). Foley & Flair can be a dream tag team and possibly even go over (with Mercury taking the fall of course). That leaves Foley and Nitro to battle it out at Backlash, stretching this feud out even longer.
Interpromotional, Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Kenny Dykstra vs. Matt Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke
Some of the names may be different, but the same principle idea applies from before. Seeing both Hardys involved as individual participants would be cool, and ECW will put forth it’s two youngest stars. I still see Mr. Kennedy walking away as Mr. Money in the Bank.
Women’s Title Match: Mickie James© vs. Melina
Since Melina won a “first contender’s match” this past week on Raw, I’m a bit worried that this match won’t make it to WrestleMania. Perhaps between now and then Melina will win the title and Mania will be the rematch. Larry hit the nail right on the head in the 3 R’s last week, because not only are these two women the top women on Raw, but these bitches HATE each other. A nice stiff contest could be highly entertaining at the biggest show of the year.
United States Title, Triple Threa Match: Chris Benoit vs. King Booker vs. Finlay
I’ve rearranged my bottom three SmackDown matches what feels like a thousand times over the past few days, but I really wanted to eventually get to this match. Benoit-Finlay or Benoit-Booker would both be fine matches on their own, but I think a Triple Threat Match would be awesome. Should Finlay somehow find himself in the ECW main event I could potentially see a switch up with this and the Kane-MVP match I have booked for later, leading to Benoit-MVP and Kane-Booker in a No Way Out rematch. This match will be the technical one on the card and could be a nice breather from the Hardcore and power matches on the rest of the show.
Interpromotional Match: Umaga vs. The Boogeyman
It’s a shame that Khali isn’t still on ECW because then we could have a three brand freak-free-for-all. As it stands Umaga-Boogeyman could be a short, surreal Interpromotional encounter, kind of like entertaining filler. Umaga has been great over the past few months and I think it would be nice to reward him for his hard work by letting him be the one to end The Boogeyman’s undefeated streak.
Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio© vs. Chavo Guerrero
I will say that I got the inspiration for having Rey come back to the Cruiserweight division from someone on the 411 forums. Have Rey come back at either No Way Out or on a SmackDown in March as a mystery challenger to Gregory Helm’s title. Rey can win being that he is the super-cruiserweight, and reclaim the title that he made famous (similar to AJ Styles winning the X-Division Title after Bound For Glory). Rey would logically want to gain revenge on Chavo Guerrero for putting him out of action, and with Vicky Guerrero now out of the picture this can just be a feud based on revenge and the Cruiserweight Title. Should Finlay make the jump to ECW, Gregory Helms could potentially be added to this match making it a Triple Threat.
Kane vs. MVP (w/ Vicky Guerrero)
Vicky Guerrero stated on SmackDown that she had her eyes on something (someone?) that would make her a lot of money and make her very successful. She also commented on the unsafe working conditions on SmackDown. Who could be considered a rising star on SmackDown and also suffered under SmackDown’s unsafe working conditions? That’s right, MVP. I know a straight Kane-MVP match wouldn’t be as exciting as a gimmick match, but the story here would be that MVP had Vicky in his corner now, making him more of a threat.
World Tag Team Title, Triple Threat Match: World’s Greatest Tag Team© vs. Cryme Tyme vs. Carlito & Super Crazy
Being the top heel tag team on Raw I think it’s safe to assume that TWGTT will be the one’s to dethrone John Cena & Shawn Michaels for the belts. Cryme Tyme and TWGTT have had issues since early January, and Cryme Tyme allegedly have a future title shot. Carlito & Super Crazy look like they could be a regular tag team after how JR put them over on Raw, they would probably put on some good matches with Benjamin & Haas, and it give Carlito something to do on the card. Think of this as a poor man’s TWGTT vs. Benoit & Rhyno vs. Los Guerreros from WrestleMania XIX.
Dark Match: Six Man Tag Team Match: Vito, Paul London, & Brian Kendrick vs. Gregory Helms, Deuce, & Domino
Since I’ve booked a Battle Royal for the ECW portion of the show, the traditional Interpromotional Battle Royal probably wouldn’t go over as well. This Six Man Tag Team Match would get some of the more important SmackDown guys on the card and would likely get the crowd fired up. Should Helms get bumped into the Cruiserweight Title Match he can be replaced by either The Miz or Raw’s Chris Masters.
Dark Match: Chris Masters vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
I know it is highly unlikely that they would have two dark matches, but Chris Masters is the highest profile guy that I couldn’t fit on the card. With Scotty 2 Hotty’s recent move to the Raw roster he is at least relatively fresh. I doubt the match would happen, but at least I go The Masterpiece something to do.
So there we go, my final stab at booking WrestleMania 23. We are only a few weeks away from the show, and undercard booking should begin right after No Way Out. Will any of these matches come true? We’ll find out soon enough.
A Reason For Bullet Points: PPV Edition
Since I posted on Saturday last week I didn’t get the chance to do this until now…
Andy Enjoyment Index: Royal Rumble
1) Royal Rumble Match
2) Last Man Standing
3) Batista-Kennedy
4) Hardys-MNM
5) Lashley-Test
———————————————————————————
A Reason For Bullet Points
Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!
500 Good Words w/ Andy Critchell
Chris Martinez comments on my Dungeon of Doom 2k7 idea:
Nice stuff. BUT. You said somethin about there being 7 so why not instead of booking them as new Dungeon of Doom. Find 7 very good new stars and have them booked as a stable called The 7 Deadly Sins: Lust,Gluttony,Greed,Sloth,Wrath,Envy,and Pride.
It writes itself.
Naturally tha leaders would be
Wrath,Pride and Lust.
Wrath would be a dominate kickass dude. No bullshit from this guy.
Pride would be the showboat can do anything type.
Lust would be a gorgeous lady wrestler who can wrestle and do it well.
Greed would be tha millionare type.
Sloth would be a mess but in tha ring he could go, but would be tha one taking tha pinfalls.
Gluttony a gross big man, ALA Bastion Booger.
Envy would be self consious never sure of himself. Moves well but takes some pinfalls.
They would need a manager of some sort. I really couldnt place his role though…
What do you think?
In theory I like it, and your characterizations are good, but I don’t really want this to be about new talent. Having a group of more than three or even four new guys together doesn’t come across very well (see the Spirit Squad) and I wanted to use some of the “freaks” already at WWE’s disposal. Nice idea though, that could potentially pan out.
Angelo Velotta throws out his WrestleMania predictions:
Match 1-Money in the Bank Six Pack Challenge Rules-Carlito vs. Test vs. King Booker vs. RVD vs. Kane vs. Ric Flair
Flair has Test in the figure four leglock but Carlito sneakily jumps on top of Test for the cover to steal the win!
Match 2-TLC Tag Team Unification-The Hardys vs. MNM vs. London and Kendrick vs. Cade and Murdoch
Some sick spots in here with the ending coming with Cade running up the ladder and big booting Matt Hardy off but then Cade turns around and gets hit the snapshot. Instead of climbing the ladder they get a super ladder and lay both Jeff and Matt in between the ladders before they both jump off the top rope and legdrop the ladder into their faces! In the meantime Kendrick hits Murdoch with the Sliced Bread No 2, and then London hits the shooting star press off the ladder onto both members of MNM allowing Kendrick to climb the ladder and win.
Match 3-Team Evil Axis-Umaga, Vladmir Kozlov, The Great Khali vs. Team USA-Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Eugene and special guest partner.
The match has the Axis of Evil beat the crap out of those two until cameras go outside and show a jet landing with Chris Masters stepping out wearing an American jacket. Masters runs down to the ring and GORILLA PRESS SLAMS Khali, before knocking Umaga and Kozlov off the ring apron and pinning Khali for the win. Kozlov comes back and stares down Masters before Masters locks him in the Masterlock.
Match 4-Intercontinental Unification Match-Kenny Dykstra vs. Ken Kennedy
Dykstra goes for the top rope legdrop but Kennedy gets the knees up. Kennedy then goes to hit the Kenton Bomb but Dykstra gets his knees up. Dysktra goes for the rollup but Kennedy reverses it, but then Dykstra reverses it back and holds the tights for the three count.
Match 5-Tag Team Unification Title Match-World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. La Resistance
World’s Greatest Tag Team wins after Benjamin hits a top rope belly to belly on Sylvain and then Haas locks in the Haas of Pain.
Match 6-Fatal four way Attraction-Chris Benoit vs. William Regal vs. Finlay vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho makes his surprise return to be added to the originally scheduled triple threat. Benoit locks on the Crossface on Finlay as Jericho has Regal in the Walls of Jericho. Regal taps first giving Jericho the win. Benoit snaps after the match and doesn’t relinquish the hold on Finlay. Jericho runs back in and fights Benoit to the back.
Match 7-Shawn Michaels vs. CM Punk
CM Punk comes out and talks about how this is a match out of respect and calls ot his friend HHH first. He says he wanted to originally fight the Game for the honor but the Game got injured. He then goes and grabs a sledgehammer and hands it to the Game and tells him to hit something it’ll relieve his anger. HHH just stands there so Punk takes the sledge and drills HHH in the leg! Out comes Michaels and the match starts. At the end of the match Punk goes for a flying clothesline but gets the knocked the fuck out with a vicious Sweet Chin Music for the win.
Match 8-The Undertaker vs. Edge
Undertaker hits a chokeslam for two. Undertaker then hits a Last Ride for 2. Undertaker then hits a Tombstone finally for the three count.
Match 9-World Title Unification Match-John Cena vs. Batista vs. Lashley vs. Orton (winner of Rumble)
Lashley hits a spear on Batista but then gets FU’d by Cena. Cena locks in the STFU then on Lashley but Batista breaks it up. Batista shoves Lashley to the outside and then goes and Batista Bombs Cena. Orton gets back up and RKO’s Batista for the win!
Angelo, I’ve enjoyed your bookings in the past, but I must say that this is just incredibly unlikely. Plus, you have two tag title unification matches. Some matches certainly have potential, but on the whole I doubt it would work.
The Best In The World
To quantify someone or something as the “best” is to make a bold statement. It is to say that without a doubt one person or thing clearly stands out among the rest. Sometimes the criteria for making such a judgment is intangible and hard to quantify or it could even be a gut instinct. In today’s “500 Good Words” we will take a look at the man who I think is right now, bar none, the best wrestler in the world: Shawn Michaels.
When someone talks about whom the best wrestler in the world is names like Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Triple H, Undertaker, CM Punk, or even John Cena often get thrown around. Now while I respect those guys and their talents, HBK beats them all. What’s funny is that HBK is not even my favorite wrester today and he never has been. Of course, I’ve liked him but he’s never been my number one guy. Still, I can’t deny that just about everything Michaels does is gold.
So what makes HBK so damn good? Well, first of all, at 41 the man still moves around the ring like nobodies business. Like Ric Flair in the generation before, I’m convinced that Michaels could get a great match out of a broomstick. One only has to look at his 2005 Summerslam match with a broken down Hulk Hogan to see that HBK can make anyone look good. And his recent body of work has been nothing short of phenomenal:
New Year’s Revolution: Salvaged the tag match between DX and Rated RKO after Triple H suffered a serious leg injury. He basically did his part AND Triple H’s part and saved the match from being a complete disaster
01/15 Raw: Competed against Rated RKO in a handicap match, putting on an amazing performance
01/22 Raw: Competed against Edge in a Street Fight in an early Match of the Year candidate
Royal Rumble: Made it to the final two with the Undertaker and was able to turn what had been considered a somewhat “blah” Rumble to that point into an EPIC encounter that people will talk about for a long time.
01/29 Raw: Teamed with John Cena to win the tag team titles from Rated RKO in a fun and exciting match
Talk about a hell of a month! And I have not even mentioned the awesome promos he’s cut, particularly the one he cut on the 01/29 Raw to open the show where he talked about losing the Rumble to the Undertaker.
But hey, HBK’s not the only guy who is a great wrester who cuts awesome promos. So what makes him special? Basically, it’s that he makes you believe. Like the movies or TV, wrestling is a form of escapist entertainment and that only goes so far as the characters can make you believe and that’s exactly what Michaels does. He makes you believe that pro wrestling is real. He makes you believe that no matter how much bigger this opponent or even the number of the opponents that he can pull out the win. He makes you believe that despite a person’s flaws they can real the pinnacle of long term success in a business where people are routinely shuffled in and out. HBK never comes off as unstoppable, quite the opposite in fact, and that is where I feel his greatest strength lies. He’s never going to be the biggest guy in the ring and we all know about the serious back injury that kept him on the shelf for years but despite all of that he never quits. As hokey as it sounds, that inspires people and makes them believe.
Michaels has done just about everything that a wrestler can do in the wrestling business, he has nothing left to prove, but he still goes out there night after night and people still cheer for him because he makes them believe. When you go to a live event or turn on your TV and see Shawn Michaels coming out, you know that you are in for a real show. And isn’t that what’s it’s all about anyway?
Well kids, that’s it for me. This is the last “500 Good Words” you will see from me as a regular feature but Clark has been kind enough to leave the door open for me to write from time to time whenever something sticks in my craw. I definitely want to thank Andy Clark for letting me contribute to his column and I want to thank everyone who read my little rants these past months. If you want to send me any feedback, my address is [email protected]. Take it easy and I’ll see you around!
The Shimmy Likes It Raw!
What’s on tap for tonight?
Well that does if for me this week. Enjoy the Road to WrestleMania, and as always, don’t die. Clark…out.
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