Wrestlemani XXVI

My first post on my new blog, Inmistakable. I figure in honor of Wrestlemania weekend I'd start off by making my predictions for the big show in Phoenix.

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase(Jr.) vs Cody Rhodes
At one point a hot storyline on WWE Raw, this match has the least amount of heat behind it now. The break-up of the once formidable Legacy trio has finally happened with less bang, more whimpering. We've so far seen many iterations of this match, culminating two weeks ago with a handicap match (how I hate handicap matches!) where the duo of Rhodes and DiBiase defeated Orton, thus cementing the end of Legacy. Storyline over right? Not really. They then announced the three would compete again in this Triple Threat match at the 'mania for some reason or 'nother. This means Rhodes and DiBiase are ostensibly having to face one another though there has been little tension between them. I'm saying some forced tension comes into play here and Orton schools them both to a win. Don't know exactly where they all go from here though.

Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match - Showmiz (Big Show and The Miz), Tag Champs vs. R-Truth and John Morrison
Showmiz seem to have more chemistry to me than Big Show and Chris Jericho did when they were champs. Morrison and R-Truth are just a thrown together team with no real connection to each other or Showmiz save Morrison's former awesome tag team with The Miz. Still, for whatever lack of purpose there is here, at least we get a tag title match at Mania. It's been few and far between the last decade. Showmiz retains and Morrison moves on to a heel role against R-Truth.

Triple H vs. Sheamus
Though not on screen, this is the battle between mentor and mentee. Backstage, the H (as he will be heretofore known) is the biggest supporter of the very Irish champion. It's speculated that the H's support is what landed Sheamus his very first WWE Championship inside his rookie year of wrestling. In any event, Sheamus is that rare breed of heel that doesn't back down from a fight or rely on sneaky mind games to defeat his opponents. He up and gets in folks' face and takes it to them. How he looks coming out of this match will be entirely up to the H. I'm thinking the H wins this one, but the two continue to feud a while longer. God forbid H goes back to the title hunt.

Street Fight - CM Punk (with the Street Edge Society) vs. Rey Mysterio
The stipulation to this match is if Rey loses, he has to accept Punk as his savior. Which I believe that means he has to join the SES against his will. This reminds me of when Rey was forced to join the Latino World Order (lWo) in WCW after losing a match to Eddie Guerrero or someone like that. This match between he and Punk has quite a bit more fire behind it, though. Punk has been igniting the crowd's with his straight edge speeches the past year, but when he took it to Rey in front of his family two weeks ago on Smackdown! this feud came off the charts. Punk laid down one of the best promos I have ever seen and the tension was insane. This will be quite a match with Punk winning due to interference I'm sure by the SES. They will continue feuding a while, thank goodness.

10 Man Money In the Bank Ladder Match - Christian vs. Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Bea Arthur vs. the Hamburglar
Way too many people in this to be graceful. This is a chaotic ladder match where the winner is the one climbing a ladder center ring and grabbing a brief case with an arbitrary contract for a world title match sometime in the next year. Expect Benjamin to do something awesome but not win yet again. Expect Bourne to almost die executing a shooting star press off a ladder. Expect the Hamburglar to attempt to steal the briefcase away from the winner. And expect (rolls some dice and coins and a weasel) Christian to win.

No Holds Barred Match - Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon
The match 13 years in the making. Vince finally gets his revenge on Bret for punching him backstage after Survivor Series 1997! Vince always manages to get his ass thoroughly kicked whenever he's in a match at Mania. This one will be no exception, and I imagine for the majority of fans who have suffered through every variation of the Montreal Screw-Job from Vince over the years, Bret handing him his ass will be quite cathartic. Bret wins, and hopefully stays with the company to help out the beleaguered Hart Dynasty.

World Heavyweight Title Match - Chris Jericho, World Champ vs. Edge
This match has lost a lot of fire since the Royal Rumble and Edge's big comeback. It's been based around Edge annoyingly saying "Spear" over and over for some reason. It'll be a great match I'm sure, hope we can get back on task to making this a better feud after Sunday. Jericho retains.

WWE Championship Match - Batista, WWE Champ vs. John Cena
I'm loving Batista as a heel more than I ever have before. He isn't the greatest wrestler for sure, but he can pull out good performances at big shows against name opponents. His match with Undertaker three years back or something like that was the best on the show. This has turned into a hot feud and is actually a fresh match-up considering the two have only faced one real time in their careers, and that was two years ago. Sleeper match, I believe. I'm hoping Batista retains here. I'm tired of flip-flopping title reigns.

Streak vs. Career Match - Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Simple but epic storytelling: Undertaker is putting his damn-near 20 year storyline of a Wrestlemania winning streak against the legendary career of Shawn Michaels. If Shawn wins, he did the impossible; if he loses, he has to retire. If he loses I think he will be one of the few to actually stick to his guns and stay away from the ring. I'm thinking he actually pulls this one out though and ends the streak.