WrestleMania 26 results and debrief

So WrestleMania 26 has come and gone. I have to give a thumbs up to WWE and Phoenix for putting on a great show. There were a lot of surprises and plenty to talk about so let's do this thing.

WrestleMania 26 results:

Streak vs. Career - No Count-out, No DQ: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Who won? The Undertaker. Not really surprising as Undertaker makes it 18-0 at WM, but HBK certainly had me believing that he would end The Streak a couple times. One of the biggest surprises of the night is that WWE decided to end the show with this clash of titans instead of a WWE/World Championship match. The only other time the last match of WM wasn't a title match was way back at WM11 when, for some reason, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor closed out the show. I consider WM11 to be among the worst WMs in history and this is one of the main reasons.

Anyhoo, Taker and HBK did not disappoint on Sunday. I don't think that they were able to top their WM25 performance, but the emotions were running high since this was a career threatening match for HBK. Sadly, after 30 minutes, several chokeslams, a Last Ride, three Tombstone Piledrivers (the nail in the coffin being a brutal jumping Tombstone), HBK was forced to hang it up. The crowd gave him his due respect and, with tears in his eyes, Shawn Michaels left the ring for the last time as an active competitor.

To be sure, I was sad that Shawn's career was ended on Sunday, but I was still working under the impression that he'd be back in a few months and he'd pick up where he left off. To my surprise, it actually seems like he's going through with this retirement. The next night on RAW was a tribute to his career and he gave a pretty convincing farewell address. I'm still hoping that it's all a work and HBK will be back. But if he's done and wants to go home and be a father and husband, then no one else has earned that right more than him. I'm glad we got to be there to witness his final match. We'll always have the memories of the Showstopper.

My prediction: Undertaker (1-0)

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Who won? John Cena. John Cena and Batista had a great build up to their match and they didn't disappoint. Lots of back and forth, but in the end, Cena finally got his first win against The Animal by making him tap out to the STF. Cena's a good champ, but I'm hoping that his feud with Batista will continue.

My prediction: John Cena (2-0)

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

Who won? Chris Jericho. Good job to WWE for not putting the World title on Edge who has failed to inspire many of the fans since his Royal Rumble return. The crowd in Phoenix seemed to be pretty 50/50 on Edge vs. Jericho. The funniest thing that happened from our seats was an Edgehead who totally LOST HIS SHIT when Edge came out. He was so excited that he literally tore his own sign in half. That's passion for you folks. Expect a continuation of this feud in the coming months.

My prediction: Chris Jericho (3-0)

No Holds Barred Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

Who won? Bret "Hitman" Hart. Unfortunately, this was easily the worst match of the night. That's saying something considering we also saw Vickie Guererro wrestle and do the worst frog splash in the history of frog splashes. The build up was good, but the execution was not excellent. I will not bore with the details (because they are VERY boring), but it basically was a 15 minute ass kicking of Vince McMahon. Did Bret deserve to beat him so thoroughly and brutally? Absolutely. But they could have accomplished the same thing in 7-10 minutes. Hopefully this ends this feud and the Hitman can turn his attention to getting the Hart Dynasty some TV time.

My prediction? Bret "Hitman" Hart (4-0)

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston

Who won? Jack Swagger(!?). Wait, Jack Swagger?! What? Swagger winning Money in the Bank doesn't upset me, it just came totally out of left field. If WWE wants to elevate another young, talented guy then Swagger is certainly a good pick. I know some people haven't warmed to him, but I really like him. He's just such a doofus. It is hard for me to believe that Swagger will be elevated to the top spot, but then again, who would have thought that Sheamus would be WWE Champion for 3 months? The match itself wasn't as good as years past but it is always a fun time to watch. Kudos to WWE for surprising us, but really you couldn't cut Christian a break?

My predictions? 1. Drew McIntyre; 2. Kofi Kingston; 3. Christian; 4. Kane; 5. MVP; 6. Jack Swagger; 7. Matt Hardy; 8. Shelton Benjamin; 9. Dolph Ziggler; 10. Evan Bourne. (4-1)

Triple H vs. Sheamus

Who won? Triple H. This was a surprising win. Sheamus had much more to gain with a win and Triple H has nothing to lose. I'm assuming that there's some sort of master plan here (as evidenced by Sheamus's beat down of Triple H on RAW this Monday) but Triple H's win doesn't help him one bit.

My prediction? Sheamus (4-2)

Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth

Who won? Show Miz. This was the curtain jerker match (first match of the night) and it followed the path one would expect. Flashy entrances by Morrison and R-Truth. Typical back and forth between teams. Ends with a fist the size of a Honey Baked Ham slamming into John Morrison's skull courtesy of the Big Show. Still champs and now The Miz is 1-0 at WrestleMania! Next year he can fight the Undertaker!

My prediction? Show Miz (5-2)

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase

Who won? Randy Orton. This also played out as one would expect. Rhodes and DiBiase got distracted trying to be the one to actually pin Orton and get the win and the Viper struck from out of nowhere, punting Rhodes (who is now out "indefinitely) and RKOing DiBiase. The real surprise in this match was the crowd reaction to Randy. It's been so long since I've heard him cheered that it was totally foreign to me. But we all got up and cheered and clapped when he made his way down the aisle. Funny to see how characters develop.

My prediction? Randy Orton (6-2)

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Who won? Rey Mysterio. This was also a confusing win. Sure it's nice that Rey gets to defend his family's honor and win out at WrestleMania, but Punk's momentum is sky high right now. If Punk had won, that would have forced Rey into the Straight Edge Society and that would have made for some good time for the next few months. I doubt this story is over, so hopefully we see more. The match was excellent. I can only imagine if these guys were given the main event slot on a pay-per-view and told to run with it.

My prediction? CM Punk (6-3)

10 Woman Tag Team Match: Michelle McCool (c - Womens), Maryse (c - Divas), Layla, Alicia Fox, & Vickie Guererro vs. Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Eve, & Gail Kim

Who won? Team Vickie. This match was thrown together at the last minute. Nice to see that Mickie is back from injury early. Unremarkable except for Vickie's horrible frog splash. But I bet Eddie was having a great time watching his wife from the Great Beyond. Hopefully this means that Beth will get a shot at taking away the Women's title from Michelle McCool soon.

Final Thoughts: So I'm 6-3 in my predictions, though can you call a loss in the MiTB match a real loss? There were 10 guys to choose! Maybe I'll take 6-2-1. So at WM26, we saw the end of a storied career. Some of the new blood that'll be WWE for the next couple of years (Sheamus, Swagger, Legacy). Now we just enjoy the ride and wait for WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta! My main event prediction: John Cena vs. The Undertaker. Discuss.

WrestleMania 26 on Sunday!

Every week until WM26 on Sunday, Mar 28, I'll make updates to the card and my predictions as to who will win and why.

WrestleMania 26 announced matches:

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Cena finally gets under Batista's skin this week. WWE is running this angle perfectly and Batista is really impressing me with his mic work. Can't wait until Sunday for this one.

Who will win? John Cena. My guess is this will be the last match of the night so WWE typically likes to send its WrestleMania crowd home happy with a face victory.

Who should win? Batista. Cena's had the title several times over the past year. He's always a solid champion and torchbearer for the company, but Batista's new heel persona is really catching fire. I'd love to see him get a longer run.

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

Not much to report from this past week. Edge and Jericho's build up has been getting better but Batista/Cena is clearly the headlining main event for WM26.

Who will win? Chris Jericho. Along with CM Punk and Batista, Jericho is one of the biggest and best heels in WWE. He's earned a longer run with the World title than the 6 weeks between Elimination Chamber and WM26.
Who should win? Chris Jericho. Despite winning the Royal Rumble, Edge will come up short on this one and chase Jericho for a few more months.

Streak vs. Career - No Count-out, No DQ: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Plenty of antagonizing and one upsmanship going on over the past week. HBK picked up a good win over the Undertaker's brother, Kane, on RAW. Was that his last match on Monday night ever?

Who will win? Undertaker. The WrestleMania undefeated streak of 16-0 is his biggest legacy. HBK respects him too much to take that away.

Who should win? Undertaker. As much as it pains me to say it, HBK's career will end at WrestleMania. Yeah, probably not. But at least Shawn can take a few months off to spend time with his family and heal some injuries. Then he'll be back in time for SummerSlam!

No Holds Barred Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

Bret's inability to cut a promo really was laid out this week. He was never the greatest talker, but he could hold his own. Almost 10 years out of the business would make anyone rusty though. Hopefully, he can still perform physically without creating any sort of injury this Sunday. Vince need to prepare for a beating but he's also got to carry this match.

Who will win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. This seems like a no brainer. Why would he sign a contract only to be humiliated again by the person who turned his life on its head 13 years ago?

Who should win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. Time to bury all the demons and lay the Vince-Bret feud behind us once and for all.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston

A final 10th entrant earned a spot on Monday night and it was none other than Kofi Kingston. Unfortunately, that drops Christian down another peg on his overall chances. With 10 guys in the MITB match, expect a lot of chaos but also a lot of guys writing around on the floor as two or three guys set up their big spots.

Who will win? Not sure, but here's how I rank their overall chances: 1. Drew McIntyre; 2. Kofi Kingston; 3. Christian; 4. Kane; 5. MVP; 6. Jack Swagger; 7. Matt Hardy; 8. Shelton Benjamin; 9. Dolph Ziggler; 10. Evan Bourne.

Who should win? Christian. He was exiled for a year to ECW and now Christian is ready to hit the big stage. Please please please, Vince, won't you give Christian a chance?

Triple H vs. Sheamus

More good lead in for this match on Monday. Sheamus has been dominant as of late so hopefully he can ride this momentum into WM. Thumbs up to Triple H for taking a lower spot on the card to help elevate one of the younger guys.

Who will win? Sheamus. Triple H has been much more flexible about putting younger guys over these days (see: Jeff Hardy). Sheamus will win, but it probably won't be clean.
Who should win? Sheamus. Since WWE took the time to put the WWE title on this guy for a few months this year, they're looking to invest more into him. A win for Triple H does nothing for him. A win for Sheamus at WrestleMania against the Cerebral Assassin...well that's something you can brag about all year long.

Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth

Looks to be an entertaining match for WM. Hopefully they don't push it to a dark match before the actual show starts like last year. Having Big Show and R-Truth on commentary was a nice touch. Watching Morrison and Miz go at it on Monday, I thought to myself that these two are probably going to be the future of WWE.

Who will win? Show Miz. The Miz is on a roll with the Big Show at his side. No need to stop this team in its tracks. Plus, it gives Big Show something important to do for another couple months.

Who should win? Show Miz. Again, The Miz is developing into one of the better jerk heels on RAW so let's see where this goes.

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase

Another good lead in. The Legacy cut a good promo that looked like they were on the same page on the surface ("It doesn't matter which one of us wins, so long as Randy loses") but implies that DiBiase and Rhodes each think that they are the superior of the two. Was pretty impressed by Rhodes on the mic this week.

Who will win? Orton. It seems like this feud should last a bit longer and Orton has been getting beaten left and right so he needs a win to make it more equal. My guess is that Rhodes and DiBiase get distracted trying to be the one to actually pin Orton and get the win that the Viper will strike out of nowhere.

Who should win? DiBiase. He has more main event potential than Rhodes so having this under his belt could be a nice launching point for a singles career.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

This is actually one of the best built matches on the card and one of the matches I'm most looking forward to. Punk's character has been killing every week. We all know that Punk and Mysterio can both turn out 5 star matches, so we'll see if they can put it all together this Sunday.

Who will win? CM Punk. Rey is merely a bump in the road until he returns his focus back to the main event.

Who should win? CM Punk. After Edge eventually wins the title from Jericho in a few months, count on CM Punk to come knocking on his door.

WM26 Projected Matches:

Interpromotional Womens Match: Michelle McCool (c - Womens), Maryse (c - Divas), & Layla vs. Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, & Gail Kim

Without an announcement on Monday night, it seems more likely that the Women's division may be left off the card this year. Too bad. Maybe something will develop on Friday night.

Notables currently out in the cold at WrestleMania: Hart Dynasty, Mark Henry, Great Khali, Carlito

WM 26 Update

Every week until WM26 on Sunday, Mar 28, I'll make updates to the card and my predictions as to who will win and why.

WrestleMania 26 announced matches:

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Another week where Batista gets the better of Cena. Still a good feud.

Who will win? John Cena. My guess is this will be the last match of the night so WWE typically likes to send its WrestleMania crowd home happy with a face victory.

Who should win? Batista. Cena's had the title several times over the past year. He's always a solid champion and torchbearer for the company, but Batista's new heel persona is really catching fire. I'd love to see him get a longer run.

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

Doesn't seem like "Spear! Spear! Spear!" is going away, but at least Jericho got in some good shots this week. Still a pretty toothless lead up.

Who will win? Chris Jericho. Along with Randy Orton and Batista, Jericho is one of the biggest and best heels in WWE. He's earned a longer run with the World title than the 6 weeks between Elimination Chamber and WM26.

Who should win? Chris Jericho. Despite winning the Royal Rumble, Edge will come up short on this one and chase Jericho for a few more months.

Streak vs. Career - No Count-out, No DQ: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Not a lot of action between HBK and Taker this week. That's ok though. They don't really need much more to hype this match.

Who will win? Undertaker. The WrestleMania undefeated streak of 16-0 is his biggest legacy. HBK respects him too much to take that away.

Who should win? Undertaker. As much as it pains me to say it, HBK's career will end at WrestleMania. Yeah, probably not. But at least Shawn can take a few months off to spend time with his family and heal some injuries. Then he'll be back in time for SummerSlam!

No Holds Barred Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

The contract is signed and now it's No Holds Barred which basically means Vince will take a thrashing with a trash can or two. Also, Bret revealed that his broken leg was merely a ruse put together by him and John Cena to bait Vince into the WM challenge. Oh you clever Canadian. Bret has definitely slipped on his mic work, but this should still be a good catharsis for him.

Who will win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. This seems like a no brainer. Why would he sign a contract only to be humiliated again by the person who turned his life on its head 13 years ago?

Who should win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. Time to bury all the demons and lay the Vince-Bret feud behind us once and for all.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre

A surprise ninth entrant to this match was Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre after qualifying by beating a local jobber. Unfortunately, given how high Vince thinks of this guy, he may now be the front runner.

Who will win? Not sure, but here's how I rank their overall chances: 1. Drew McIntyre; 2. Christian; 3. Kane; 4. MVP; 5. Jack Swagger; 6. Matt Hardy; 7. Shelton Benjamin; 8. Dolph Ziggler; 9. Evan Bourne.

Who should win? Christian. He was exiled for a year to ECW and now Christian is ready to hit the big stage. Please please please, Vince, won't you give Christian a chance?

Triple H vs. Sheamus

Pretty solid build this week with Sheamus attacking Triple H at the end of the Triple H/Orton match. We can probably expect former rivals Triple H and Randy Orton teaming up against Sheamus, Rhodes, and DiBiase next week on RAW.

Who will win? Sheamus. Triple H has been much more flexible about putting younger guys over these days (see: Jeff Hardy). Sheamus will win, but it probably won't be clean.

Who should win? Sheamus. Since WWE took the time to put the WWE title on this guy for a few months this year, they're looking to invest more into him. A win for Triple H does nothing for him. A win for Sheamus at WrestleMania against the Cerebral Assassin...well that's something you can brag about all year long.

Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth

Nothing momentous really happened with this feud either.

Who will win? Show Miz. The Miz is on a roll with the Big Show at his side. No need to stop this team in its tracks. Plus, it gives Big Show something important to do for another couple months.

Who should win? Show Miz. Again, The Miz is developing into one of the better jerk heels on RAW so let's see where this goes.

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase

A slight twist to this match is that it's a Triple Threat format rather than handicapped. So in theory, Rhodes and DiBiase could get into it for a bit. But certainly count on Orton getting whaled on quite a bit. But it's nice that Orton finally got on the card and that Rhodes and DiBiase will be making their WM debut.

Who will win? Orton. It seems like this feud should last a bit longer and Orton has been getting beaten left and right so he needs a win to make it more equal. My guess is that Rhodes and DiBiase get distracted trying to be the one to actually pin Orton and get the win that the Viper will strike out of nowhere.

Who should win? DiBiase. He has more main event potential than Rhodes so having this under his belt could be a nice launching point for a singles career.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Finally announced on Friday, CM Punk continues to be fantastic. For apparent reason, Rey was introducing his family to the WWE fans on SmackDown when out comes the Straightedge Savior. Excellent stuff. This could be a classic if WWE lets them have some time to work.

Who will win? CM Punk. Rey is merely a bump in the road until he returns his focus back to the main event.

Who should win? CM Punk. After Edge eventually wins the title from Jericho in a few months, count on CM Punk to come knocking on his door.

WM26 Projected Matches:

Interpromotional Womens Match: Michelle McCool (c - Womens), Maryse (c - Divas), & Layla vs. Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, & Gail Kim

This seems to be what they're building toward. Not exactly interesting, but I'd be surprised if the women didn't have a match on the WM card. I'd like to see Beth Phoenix actually get a title shot, but they may be trying to include as many people as possible at this point.

Notables currently out in the cold at WrestleMania: Kofi Kingston, Hart Dynasty, Mark Henry, Great Khali, Carlito

Kofi is still not on the WM card, but I would imagine that they open up a 10th spot in the Money in the Bank match that he'll get. Look for that on Friday or next Monday.

WrestleMania Fun Facts

WrestleMania Fun Facts I Came Up With

We all know that the Undertaker is 17-0 at WrestleMania and puts his streak on the line against Shawn Michaels in a few weeks. But aside from the Undertaker, how do the other main eventers stack up at WM? After the Undertaker, who has the highest percentage of wins? Who has a surprising amount of losses?

Shawn Michaels: The Undertaker's legendary opponent, despite having the moniker "Mr. WrestleMania" has a surprisingly poor record at WrestleMania. HBK is 6-10, a paltry 38%. He's also a fairly anemic 2-5 in championship matches. Not looking good for HBK.

Batista vs. Cena: Batista's WM record is 3-1 while Cena's is 5-1. Interestingly enough, despite the one loss, Cena has never been pinned at WrestleMania (he lost a Triple Threat against Orton and Triple H at WM24 when Triple H got pinned). Also, since his WM20 debut, John Cena has challenged for a title every year.

Jericho vs. Edge: Jericho's record is 3-4-2. The two at the end are two losses in Money in the Bank where he didn't technically lose, just didn't win. Same goes for Edge and his 5-2-1 record. Edge had a nice little winning streak going for himself at 5-0 until Undertaker choked his face at WM24. Ah well.

Championship Ability: Obviously, the Undertaker is 100% effective when he gets a title opportunity at WM. He beat Sycho Sid, Batista, and Edge for World title wins. And if you put John Cena in a title match, his percentage is 83% that he'll walk out champ. Third best? Kane at 75%. He's won or defended the Hardcore, Tag Team, and ECW titles successfully, only failing to win the Tag titles off of Chief Morley and Lance Storm at WM19.

Other Winners and Losers: The Big Show is only 1-9 at WM(!) and has never won a singles match. His only win came at WM22 when he was tag team champions with Kane and they took down Carlito and Chris Masters.

Vince McMahon has had three WrestleMania matches, all of which he has lost (vs. Shane McMahon, Hulk Hogan, and HBK). Don't expect him to pick up his first win against Bret Hart.

Speaking of the Hitman, this will be Bret Hart's first WrestleMania since 1997 when he beat Stone Cold Steve Austin to the point of unconsciousness at WM13.

CM Punk has been in three WrestleManias and has only ever participated in the annual Money in the Bank match which he has won twice. Technically that makes him 2-1, but like Cena, he's never been pinned. His projected match against Rey Mysterio will be his first one on one match-up.

Edge hasn't won at WM since 2006 when he beat Mick Foley. Shelton Benjamin hasn't won since 2003. MVP has been to three WMs and he's still looking for his first win. Also looking for their first WM wins are John Morrison, The Miz, and Kofi Kingston.

WrestleMania 26 update

Every week until WM26 on Sunday, Mar 28, I'll make updates to the card and my predictions as to who will win and why.

WrestleMania 26 announced matches:

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Batista and Cena keep adding fuel to their feud. They're playing up the fact that Batista has dominated Cena up to this point in their careers. Should be a good one.

Who will win? John Cena. My guess is this will be the last match of the night so WWE typically likes to send its WrestleMania crowd home happy with a face victory.

Who should win? Batista. Cena's had the title several times over the past year. He's always a solid champion and torchbearer for the company, but Batista's new heel persona is really catching fire. I'd love to see him get a longer run.

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

The whole "SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR!" thing is getting real old, Edge. Please change gears. Jericho still hasn't gotten a chance to shine in this feud. Better hurry it up, WWE.

Who will win? Chris Jericho. Along with Randy Orton and Batista, Jericho is one of the biggest and best heels in WWE. He's earned a longer run with the World title than the 6 weeks between Elimination Chamber and WM26.

Who should win? Chris Jericho. Despite winning the Royal Rumble, Edge will come up short on this one and chase Jericho for a few more months. Maybe that'll ratchet up the entertainment factor in this surprisingly bland feud.

Streak vs. Career - No Count-out, No DQ: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Adding No DQ and No Count-out allows HBK and Taker a little more creativity this year. HBK has regained his swagger and doesn't seem at all intimidated by his date with the Deadman.

Who will win? Undertaker. The WrestleMania undefeated streak of 16-0 is his biggest legacy. HBK respects him too much to take that away.

Who should win? Undertaker. As much as it pains me to say it, HBK's career will end at WrestleMania. Yeah, probably not. But at least Shawn can take a few months off to spend time with his family and heal some injuries. Then he'll be back in time for SummerSlam!

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

Not a lot of advancement of this story this week. So the Hitman hasn't pulled on his wrestling boots for almost a decade and has suffered from post-concussion syndrome and a stroke in the past few years. It seems like he's game for one more match but at this point, Vince is in better shape than him. Hope Vince takes it easy on him.

Who will win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. This seems like a no brainer. Why would he sign a contract only to be humiliated again by the person who turned his life on its head 13 years ago?

Who should win? Bret "Hitman" Hart. Time to bury all the demons and lay the Vince-Bret feud behind us once and for all.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne

The last two participants were added this week (Matt Hardy & Evan Bourne). It's an interesting field this year. Expect some craziness now that Bourne is in the mix (Shooting Star Press off the top of a ladder? Yes please.)

Who will win? Not sure, but here's how I rank their overall chances: 1. Christian; 2. Kane; 3. MVP; 4. Jack Swagger; 5. Matt Hardy; 6. Shelton Benjamin; 7. Dolph Ziggler; 8. Evan Bourne.

Who should win? Christian. He was exiled for a year to ECW and now Christian is ready to hit the big stage. Please please please, Vince, won't you give Christian a chance?

Triple H vs. Sheamus

Set up like a straightforward grudge match, Triple H is definitely swallowing his pride to take on Sheamus this year. Their rumored backstage friendship is obviously paying dividends to the Celtic Warrior. Last year, no one had heard of Sheamus and this year, he's facing a man who has headlined eight WrestleManias. Sheamus better deliver on the grandest stage of them all.

Who will win? Sheamus. Triple H has been much more flexible about putting younger guys over these days (see: Jeff Hardy). Sheamus will win, but it probably won't be clean.

Who should win? Sheamus. Since WWE took the time to put the WWE title on this guy for a few months this year, they're looking to invest more into him. A win for Triple H does nothing for him. A win for Sheamus at WrestleMania against the Cerebral Assassin...well that's something you can brag about all year long.

Unified Tag Team Championship:
The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth

What was I saying last week about WWE randomly throwing two people together to face Show Miz? Oh yes "My guess is that they randomly put two mid-card face wrestlers together (Bourne & Morrison?) to face off for the Unified Tag Titles." Well, Morrison and R-Truth had their numbers called and they have the task of coming across as a cohesive unit over the next three weeks. Glad Morrison and R-Truth are on the WM card though. They're too talented to exclude. Interesting (?) note: Last year at WM25, The Miz and Morrison were the WWE Tag Team Champions and now they face off this year as rivals.

Who will win? Show Miz. The Miz is on a roll with the Big Show at his side. No need to stop this team in its tracks. Plus, it gives Big Show something important to do for another couple months.

Who should win? Show Miz. Again, The Miz is developing into one of the better jerk heels on RAW so let's see where this goes.

WM26 Projected Matches:

Some iteration of Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

So they went ahead with this match already on RAW this past week though I'm not exactly sure why. Legacy got the duke on Monday, but this is far from over. Perhaps they're hinting that Orton on his own cannot beat Legacy. He needs a partner...though he has done pretty well at alienating most everyone on the WWE Superstar roster. Could he somehow get Kofi Kingston to team with him? Or maybe his Hall of Fame father, Cowboy Bob Orton. I'm pretty sure Ricky The Dragon Steamboat is free on WrestleMania too.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Expect this match to be announced this Friday on SmackDown. Good build up and should be a solid match.

Intercontinental Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. ???

McIntyre was recruited by Mr. McMahon this week to participate in the beat down of John Cena and he's still without a WM match. Most of his SmackDown contenders already have WM matches so maybe they'll try and put Kofi Kingston in a match here. Kingston tried to make the save for Cena against the forces of McMahon this Monday but got a power bomb from Batista for his trouble. That probably didn't please the Chairman too much so maybe he'll "punish" Kofi by having him fight McIntyre at WM. Though getting an Intercontinental Championship shot at WrestleMania sounds more like a reward.

Divas Championship: Michelle McCool (c) vs. Beth Phoenix

Beth has been out of the Divas/Women's title picture for too long. I'm hoping that WWE dispenses with the throwaway women's matches (i.e., pillow fights) and focus on the wrestling aspect. Lots of the women are uber-talented and it would be awesome to see them get an opportunity to showcase their skills. Beth is obviously one of the most powerful and fundamentally sound women performers and McCool has definitely improved over the years. Too bad two other fundamental wrestlers, Melina and Mickie James, are both nursing injuries that will leave them out of WM festivities. I'm wondering if the card will make room for WWE Women's Champion Maryse and Gail Kim too. Ideally, a RAW vs. SmackDown women's match could allow lots of the deserving women to make it on the card.

Notables without current feuds: Kofi Kingston, Hart Dynasty, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre, Great Khali, Carlito

Kofi will definitely find his way on the card as will McIntyre. Sadly, I can't say the same for Carlito. If he's left off of WM, it will probably be the straw that breaks his back and he'll ask for his release and be gone by SummerSlam.

Honest Movie Posters (Oscars Edition)

http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1802286

WrestleMania 26 matches and speculation

WrestleMania 26 announced matches:

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Now this is a WrestleMania worthy main event! I thought WWE dropped the ball by having Batista and Cena go at it at SummerSlam 08 with nothing on the line. But they've renewed this rivalry and based on the Batista/Cena back and forth on RAW this week, it's gonna be a good one.

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

I'm having a little trouble getting behind this one. Edge hasn't really caught fire since winning the Royal Rumble several weeks ago. And he hasn't been cutting the best promos. I'd say that once Jericho gets his turn on the mic, this feud will heat up. But right now this is clearly the less interesting of the two

Streak vs. Career: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

This actually had me sitting up in bed while I was watching it develop. Obviously, a rematch of HBK vs. Taker was going to be good. But with Undertaker demanding that Shawn put his career on the line, this gives the match an added twist. Of course, this all depends on how seriously we're considering this a Retirement Match. If it's taken with Ric Flair-esque seriousness, then The Streak is definitely in danger.

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

Just announced this on Monday. With Bret's leg being "broken", it puts him and Vince on a slightly more even playing field. They've been portraying the Hitman as really frail and weak so I'm hoping that a little bit of that fire can be lit as the build-up begins.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP

I had heard that they were scrapping the MITB match this year, but thankfully they're keeping it on. This is one of the highlights of WrestleMania every year. An interesting mix of MITB veterans (Christian, Kane, Shelton, MVP) and MITB rookies (Ziggler, Swagger). Two more participants to be announced. Look for Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, or Mark Henry to qualify.

WM26 Projected Matches:

Triple H vs. Sheamus

Sheamus just blindsided Triple H at the end of RAW this past Monday. Expect Sheamus to get a huge boost from Triple H as he somehow drew a feud with one of WWE's best for their biggest show.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

Orton has been getting face pops (cheers) for the past few weeks as he's started in on his feud with his former proteges. It's surprising, but a nice change of pace for his character. And the beauty of it is that it was a totally organic turn. It seems like the original idea was to turn DiBiase face at Elimination Chamber, but the fans sided with Orton. Huh.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

This should be a fun WM match. CM Punk has been killing it on the mic and in the ring so expect a solid match from these two.

Unified Tag Team Championship:
The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. ???

Show Miz (or The Miz Show) need challengers but there aren't a lot of tag teams in WWE right now. A high profile feud doesn't really seem in the works for Cryme Tyme or the Hart Dynasty. My guess is that they randomly put two mid-card face wrestlers together (Bourne & Morrison?) to face off for the Unified Tag Titles. But I'm hoping that Uncle Bret can give the Hart Dynasty a rub and put them in this match instead.

Notables without current feuds: Kofi Kingston, Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Great Khali

Expect Kofi, Morrison, and McIntyre to find their way on the card somehow. A nice build up for McIntryre's Intercontinental Title would be appreciated.