Wrestlemania XXIX Prospective Main Events - Who Will It Be? Part 2

(Yesterday, The Raw Librarian and I covered several different prospective main events that could headline Wrestlemania XXIX, emanating live from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on April 7th, 2013. We're both so fired up that new pants are entirely in order. Check out Part 1 right here)

THE ROCK

Most Likely Match and Best Match For Business

KOBEsh: We covered this largely in our John Cena section yesterday, but it's clear that Rock-Cena II is going to be in the cards. The only factor that's somewhat murky is what the stipulations are going to be for the match itself. Will it be for the title? Will it be fought under the pretenses of No Holds Barred? Will there be a Special Guest Referee? Does any of that matter? 


IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE. This match is going to blow the figurative roof off of MetLife Stadium.


Dream Match


TRL: The Rock vs HBK Shawn Michaels
These two had real life animosity going back to the Kliq days. HBK was aware of how over the Rock was getting and knew it meant bad things for his real life best friend HHH. He gave a shoot promo or two where he talked about "the Rock always trying to steal the spotlight from Hunter." IF this match were to happen, it'd have a solid backstory beyond two of the greatest ever going toe-to-toe. 

But.

This match will never happen. Neither men are interested (especially the retired HBK) and the WWE wouldn't want to blow all this money getting the Rock to wrestle again knowing that there are bigger bouts out there (i.e. Cena-Rock).

Could You Imagine THIS Guy Main Eventing Wrestlemania? (Part 2)

A few days ago, we took a look at a few current WWE Superstars and his potential to one day become a permament fixture amongst the chandelier that is the professional wrestling main event card.
Contrary to all the haters out there, World Wrestling Entertainment has the same hierarchy that the NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL does; there are your elite performers, steady vets and of course, rising stars. Here, we take a second look at a few wrestlers in that last category, analyze their qualifications and if indeed they have the chance to main event the superbowl of wrestling, Wrestlemania, any time soon.

The Miz
Qualifications: 1x WWE champion. 3x WWE tag team champion, 2x United States champion, 2x World tag team champion, 2010 Money in the Bank winner, #1 PWI top 500 singles wrestler in 2011

TRL: I am well aware of the fact that the Miz main evented Wrestlemania 28 against John Cena AND won. Yet, his retaining his title was merely a subplot in the Rock/Cena hierarchy , and his standing in the company hasn't been the same since. More accurately, over the past few months, the Miz has become a laughing stock in the wrestling community. Ever since he failed to catch R-truth on RAW back in February, I don’t think he has won one match since. By comparison, Brie Bella has more victories in that span and the Bella Twins aren’t even in the company anymore.

Could You Imagine THIS Guy Main Eventing Wrestlemania? (Part 1)

Prospect lists aren't foreign to sports. Year after year, we pull apart mock drafts and rookie seasons, trying to dessiminate information, plow through the psyches of these young men and discover who exactly will be the next great superstar. Sometimes our prognostications are right on target, but for every LeBron james we have, there's will be a Dontrelle Willis or a Peyton Hillis.

So why can't we apply our insatiable appetite to unearth the next great one in professional wrestling? Much like basketball, football or hockey, there are tiers of performer, from the rookie scrub trying to earn his place in the hierarchy of the talent ladder, to the forgotten prospect who's future still shines bright under the dimming lights of skepticism. Yes, wrestling isn't the pure competitive athletic enterprise that MLB represents, but there is an element of competition within Vince McMahon's glorified traveling circus, in which these men have to constantly improve their craft and sharpen their focus in order to be considered a luminary.

The Raw Librarian and I scanned through the WWE roster to do just that. We've highlighted a few grapplers that we think have the testicular fortitude to make a Hardy-esque jump up the ladder, crashing through the glass ceiling into the land where only giants - both literal and figurative - tend to leave their massive footprints. Each guy will have his own various set of skills, which he can either use for cult-like immortality, or to fade into the din of oblivion. Some of these fellows have temporarily crashed the top of the card, while others are being clearly groomed for it. However, the criteria here is simply that each guy isn't considered by the WWE as perennial main event material.
Which of these guys could you imagine main eventing Wrestlemania? Let's get after it.

Monday Night RAW Recap: Oversaturated with Cena

Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler


TWEET ALERT
WWE Creative ‏@WWE_Creative
Tonight's show will open with @JohnCena, close with Cena, & whenever he's not on camera everyone will be asking "Where's Cena?" #RAWTonight


Michael Cole in-ring interview w/John Cena

According to WWE logic, ratings were down last week because John Cena was absent. The solution? More John Cena of course. Miraculously, the segment wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated: it was mostly Michael Cole as the voice of the IWC in calling John Cena “overrated.” The remark was obviously scripted, but it was still interesting Vince McMahon would allow an announcer to insult his golden boy. The result is John Cena vs Michael Cole later on Raw. It’s times like this when I question why I’m 27 years old and I still watch wrestling.


TWEET ALERT
WrestleZone.com ‏@WRESTLEZONEcom
My first thought when Cena said he's uninteresting and being shoved down our throats was that Cena was going to wrestle himself.

Monday Night RAW Recap: Big Show's Time to Shine

Location: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
Announcers: Jerry “The King” Lawler, Michael Cole

9:05 and Raw finally started. How long are the video packages going to be when Raw becomes 3 hours?


Big Show promo

Ten minute promo with the Big Show saying that no one is in his league. Let's just say that I don’t think anyone was surprised at the Big Show’s exclusion on the WWE's Top 25 Masters of the Mic list. After lots of droning and whining, his only valid point was that immediately after his firing, Brodus Clay came down and started dancing like nothing had happened. Absolutely brutal opening to Raw, but it did help set the tone for Unstoppable Big Show.

Monday Night Raw Recap: Plot Hole-Mania Runnin' Wild

Location: Richmond, Virginia

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler



In ring segment


Cena comes out and he is not happy. I much prefer serious John Cena to Ace Ventura Cena. The Doctor of Thuganomics grabbed a microphone and Raw opened up with an in-ring promo running down the Big Show. John Laurinaitis came out to the ramp in a Rascal, accompanied by Eve Torres (Serious question, do you think John Cena making out with Eve on Raw a few months back had any impact at all with his divorce?).


John Cena vs The Big Show is announced for the next PPV, No Way Out. John Laurinaitis also announced that the Big Show was hired back last Saturday. And correct me if I’m wrong, but Saturday comes before Sunday....the night of Over the Limit. The same PPV with the main event stipulation stating that anyone who interfered in the match up would be fired. So technically the Big Show was a WWE employee at the time right? All I ask for is a little continuation. Less than 24 hours after the PPV and they’re already butchering storylines. Sweet.



TWEET ALERT: 
WWE_Creative
No salute? No sprinting? Yes folks, it's serious @JohnCena#RAWTonight

WWE Over the Limit PPV Recap

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

Announcers: Michael Cole, Booker T, Jerry Lawler


WWE Tag Team Title Match
Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger vs (C)R-Truth/Kofi Kingston
For starters, let me just say that this Raleigh crowd was 100x better than the Greensboro crowd at Raw just two weeks ago. A great crowd can enhance a great show or even carry a poor one. Props to Raleigh for bringing the noise last night and bringing some respect back to North Carolina. 


Great opening choice for the ppv. These men treated us to a ppv quality tag team match that helped remind us that the titles actually meant something once upon a time. I am hoping R-Truth and Kofi Kingston find some fresh blood to have matches with, allowing Ziggler to flourish on his own. He is too talented to be stuck in the tag team scene or managed by Abraham Washington.

Monday Night Raw Recap: The Raw Librarian's Debut

Welcome to the first Monday Night Raw recap. Hopefully someone out there is even slightly amused and this will be a recurring feature on The Great Mambino. I want to thank KOBEsh and BockerKnocker for allowing me the opportunity to ramble on about the merits of “Sports Entertainment.”

Some background about me that you should probably know: I used to set a tape in the VCR to record ECW Hardcore TV, Saturday mornings at 3 a.m. on channel 19....that was a very old fashioned statement. So like CM Punk, I too, am a Paul Heyman guy. 

A lot of my views are influenced by the people I have read/currently read. In the past, I've perused Mr. Tito’s Phat Daily Column of LOP on a regular basis until his retirement. (I still like to hear his insight on the current product and follow him on Twitter.) Currently, my jams are The Masked Man of Grantland.com and Brandon Stroud’s Best and Worst of Raw column on With Leather. Both of their work is far more polished, eloquent and succinct than mine will ever be, so if you only have time to read one Raw review, read Stroud’s. If you have time for two, squeeze mine in.