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February 22, 2011

WWE Raw: Dead Man walking, but not talking

The payoff to the cryptic 2-21-11 videos that WWE has been airing for three weeks took place on Raw Monday night, and if you were expecting Sting to descend from the ceiling, you were just setting yourself up for disappointment.

As expected, The Undertaker returned to WWE television. The “surprise” was that after The Undertaker made his way to the ring, Triple H’s music played, and “The Game” and “The Dead Man” had a stare-down in the ring.

A match between the two veteran superstars was made for WrestleMania XXVII without a word being said by either man. By effectively using their facial expressions, body language and gestures, no words were needed for them to get their points across. I thought it was a cool way to set up the match and make it feel special.

It’s true that the matchup isn’t anything we haven’t seen before – in fact, Undertaker and Triple H wrestled each other at WrestleMania X-7 in 2001 – but we certainly haven’t seen it in some time, and to some younger fans, it’s probably new to them.

Undertaker-Triple H definitely has more of a WrestleMania feel to it than Undertaker-Wade Barrett and Triple H-Sheamus, two matches that reportedly were strongly considered for the event. And while Undertaker-Sting is a dream match of sorts, the fact is that from an in-ring standpoint, Undertaker-Triple H figures to be a better match.

It will be interesting to see if Shawn Michaels is involved in the match in some capacity, perhaps as the special guest referee.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

Here’s what the top matches are looking like for WrestleMania: WWE champion The Miz vs. John Cena; world heavyweight champion Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio; The Undertaker vs. Triple H; Randy Orton vs. CM Punk; and Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole. ...

How great was it to see Cena slip back into his “Doctor of Thuganomics” persona to cut a scathing rap promo on The Rock? I was surprised WWE allowed him to use some of the suggestive lines – especially that early in the show – but anyone who thought Cena was going to come back with a PG response to Rock’s promo last week was proved wrong. The crowd was eating it up, too. ...

The verbal exchange between Lawler and Cole was excellent, and Cole throwing a cup of water into Lawler’s face and running away was a nice touch. As for Cole referencing Lawler’s recently deceased mother, I thought it went right up to the line but didn’t cross it. ...

The 2-21-11 countdown clock was effective in making the reveal seem like a big deal, and it also made viewers think twice about switching channels at the top of the second hour. ...

Undertaker got a nice ovation, but the crowd was a lot louder for Triple H. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that people were expecting The Undertaker but were surprised to see Triple H. ...

Having adversaries team up and win the tag titles is certainly not a new concept in WWE, but in the case of Cena and The Miz facing WWE tag team champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, at least WWE put a slightly different spin on it. Cena and Miz won the title but then lost the belts back in an immediate rematch. It was pretty amazing to see the fans actually cheering for The Miz during the match, which made it that much more effective when he double-crossed Cena and cost them the title. ...

Punk cut a good promo –so what else is new? – and Orton was super-over with the crowd. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the next five weeks play out with these two in the buildup for their match at WrestleMania. ...

I’m sure it was disappointing for some fans to see John Morrison lose relatively easily to Punk just one night after his impressive performance at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, but it did make sense. For one thing, Punk really needs to be on a roll heading into WrestleMania. And while both Punk and Morrison were selling injuries from the Chamber match, Morrison was clearly the more injured of the two, so he has an out for losing. ...

Del Rio got a lot of heat for his attack on Kofi Kingston. Ricardo Rodriguez making the save out of nowhere when Kingston had the advantage on Del Rio was tremendous. ...

The Miz cut a solid promo in which he took shots at The Rock and Cena. It’s going to be a challenge for Miz not to be overshadowed by the two larger-than-life characters, but I think he’s up to it. ...

The Divas match that saw the Bellas defeat Eve Torres and Gail Kim wasn’t bad. ...

Wow, Sheamus’ star has really fallen. This time last year, he had just lost the WWE title at the Elimination Chamber and was involved in a WrestleMania program with Triple H. On Raw Monday, he jobbed to Mark Henry. ...

Hacksaw Jim Duggan was announced as the second inductee of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. I wasn’t the biggest Duggan fan, but he definitely was a big star in the ’80s and early ’90s. Ted DiBiase will induct him. Man, I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:51 PM | | Comments (71)
        

Comments

Triple H and Taker will get me down to my local pay-per-view tavern for WM, which none of the other matches could have done. (Alberto Del Rio? Verdad?) These two guys wrestled an awesome WM match last time and I can't wait for them to do it again. Taker, who's almost as old as me, has had a hell of year, getting seriously injured several times, not to mention being set on fire for real. Clearly the streak will continue. I'm guessing he's going to try and hang on for 20-0. I hope Vince has the class to let him go push-free on The Grandest Stage of Them All

"Man, I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it."

Ha!

It was the ever unreliable Wrestling Observer that "reported" on the Taker vs Barrett match and once again, they have been proven long. I thought it was fairly obvious that Vince McMahon would prefer an opponent with a bigger name for Taker at Wrestlemania.

RESPONSE FROM KE: The Observer wasn't proven wrong. It repprted that the plan at that time was for Taker-Barrett and Triple H-Sheamus, but it also noted that plans can change. The Observer never said those matchups were etched in stone. BTW, the current issue of the Observer reported that the plan changed to HHH-Taker (and that came out before Monday's show).

I'm somehow getting the feeling that the Rock would get involved in the Cena-Miz match. Probably as a special guest referee or something.
The end could somewhat be like the Brock Lesnar Goldberg Wrestlemania match a few years ago.
With Rock probably costing Miz the title. And then laying out Cena after the match is over, just like how Stone Cold did in the Brock Goldberg match

Ugh, HHH & Taker? Not exactly a match to get me excited. Unfortunately for WWE they don't really have anyone besides Hunter & Cena who would be a credible Wrestlemania opponent for the Undertaker and Cena's already involved in a storyline. The only way this gets interesting is if Shawn Michaels gets involved

Hahaha I like your idea about the Iron Sheik inducting Jim Duggan. Now THAT I would pay to see!

Not only did HHH get a bigger response cuz of the videos making people expect Undertaker. But also because of the big Undertaker symbol gave it away for the live fans as well. I'm way more happy to see Taker back though personally.

CM Punk is great! And I would love to see The Miz in a promo against The Rock. Obviously I think The Rock would outdo the Miz but Miz could hold his own.. I think even better than Cena.. who would probably just start doing some corny jokes.

That said. Cena was great on RAW!

I'll take Sheamus losing to Mark Henry if it means he is about to start a WM angle with Daniel Bryan.

I think Miz's double cross would have been just as effective if he'd done it in the first match. After all they just made the tag champs look like chumps one day after proclaiming that slater and gabriel had finally silenced those that insulted the way they won the titles the first time.

It could be argued that they were against two world champs but still it seemed a bit silly that they job the night after getting the titles.

I enjoyed Cena's promo. Here's hoping we see more of that even if he said it was one night only.

So are we supposed to forget that Sheamus put Triple H on the shelf? Has Triple H forgotten? I thought it was even worse for Sheamus to come out right after Triple H had been out in the ring. Wouldn't they have passed each other on the ramp?

What about the Undertaker? Kane buries him alive and Paul Bearer turns on him and he "forgets" all of this to start a program with Triple H? Man, I thought for a second that all the cryptic messages for 2-21-11 actually meant that Vince Russo had returned for the night to write RAW's storylines!

Now, I agree that Taker & HHH is a better Wrestlemania match, but to me it just doesn't make sense in the storylines for both of these men's "natural enemies" or "next logical opponents" to be so grossly overlooked or ignored. Again, I get that Taker "retired" HHH's buddy Sean Michaels, but this is "old news" compared to what Kane did to Taker and Sheamus did to HHH!

What are your thoughts on this Kevin?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I agree with you for the most part, but I understand WWE wanting to do HHH-Taker for Mania. My hope is that they address Kane-Taker and HHH-Sheamus in the next five weeks or right after Mania.

I thought the end was great. I was surprised when Miz got the win after the match only went for a few minutes and there was still a good 15 left in the show, and Cena went from "WTF" to "Holy Crap, maybe this kid ain't so bad after all. We even got gold now." Then in the second round EVERYONE was rooting for the Miz, from Mizfits to the Cenanation and everyone in between, and the he dropped the Wendy's Rockstar on Cena's head and left.
Well done to all of them.
Now, I wonder who else is gonna get inducted this year.

Am I the only one who noticed that since Sheamus won the King of the Ring, he has been jobbing left and right?

Personally, as much as I enjoyed The Rock's promo, the return of HHH was better. Your blog suggested it would be The Rock as the guest host, and there were several hints dropped throughout the night, it became anticlimatic. However, HHH's music came out of nowhere and you are right, their expressions and body language was tremendous, words would have ruined it. One of the commenters last week mentioned that The Rock's unPG language came after 11:05 when the show went off the air, but they replayed it at 9 PM without the unPG words being edited. That, and Cena being edgy was great. Eck, do you think The Rock makes anymore appearances before Mania? I say no, this way people will buy it, why give him away for free on RAW? Especially since he's not wrestling at Mania. The Iron Sheik would probably go off on a tangent about Hogan. I love good tag wrestling, it's sad to see it devalued so much in the WWE. To me, I'd rather watch a good 20 minute tag match (with 2 real tag teams, not 2 guys thrown together) than a 20 minute singles match. Morrison can't be involved in any singles match, I'm sure they are saving him for MITB. Of course, with them having a MITB PPV, do you think they do away with the match at Mania? Or possibly they have a new concept. I say an escape from a cage match. Steel cage, only way to win is over the top. 1st guy to have both feet hit the ground wins a title shot at say the PPV after Backlash.

I'm kind of surprised to see that you were into Cena's rebuttal to the Rock. It seemed to be the typical kind of come-back that people who don't have a real answer to their accusers use. He basically made three or four gay jokes (really?) and a single actual good point.

It seemed really strange that after months of hyping the Undertaker's return, they spent 8 minutes of awkwardly looking at each other and were never spoken of again.

I was especially impressed by how they did the Tag Team titles match. I can really see why creative has decided to push Miz. He's a real talent. I was fully expecting Corre to end the night with the titles, but I didn't see the way it would end coming.

All told, I'm happy with the last couple weeks' Raws. I'm looking forward to what the next month or so will bring.

I don't say this often, but Cena's promo was incredible. The crowd (which seemed fairly anti-Cena to begin with), was eating it up by the end.

Was Punk going for a Mad Max 2 thing with his promo? Either way, great as usual, and you had to love the intensity with which Orton hit the ring. They're going to steal the show at WM.

It would appear that Sheamus and Daniel Bryan will face off against each other at Wrestlemania XVII. I liked their match from last year and commented that it would not be the last time these two would cross paths. I see Match of the Year material.

I don't think Sheamus' star is falling. Yes, he has been losing but he has been strong in defeat. I think his losing streak is the first step in a face turn for Sheamus.

Sorry, The Miz is not in the same class as The Rock and Cena. The Rock and Cena sell tickets. They are, as you state, larger-than-life figures. The Miz is inconsequential and non-descript. He couldn't sell out a telephone booth. With the heat between Rock and Cena, Miz is nothing more than an afterthought who fills space and wastes time.

Most of the show was enjoyable enough, but I really took issue with the booking for the Cena/Miz vs. Slater/Gabriel match.

Ignoring the sense that Gabriel at least has some talent but Slater doesn't strike me as some who should be taken seriously at all, I get that WWE wanted to tease Cena and Miz having to work together only to win the tag team belts (sorry, championship) then have Miz screw Cena once he got the hot tag, but consider this:

We already know the tag team ranks are at a huge low for WWE right now, but how sad is it that the title basically gets used as a prop to further a singles match? The moment Miz got the pin and Barrett invoked the rematch clause, you knew what was going to happen (outside interference by The Corre or a Miz screwjob).

It's just a testament to how worthless the tag team division is right now in WWE. On top of that, they took teams like Cryme Time and Kidd/Hart-Smith and broke them up as well, and that was after things were already weak enough that they had to bring in the Usos out of nowhere just to feud with Kidd/Hart-Smith.

Man, I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it.
That only works if Duggan's induction is one of the untelevised ones.


lol at undertaker vs hhh, obviously something went wrong there. wwe with all it's money still couldn't bring in Sting.

Lately I'm feeling like wwe doesn't know what to do with randy orton. They are turning him into a unidimensional character. Maybe he doesn't fit with anyone other than triple-h or cena, even when punk is doing a much better job then both of them.

I am not really moved by the prospects of a HHH vs Taker @ Wrestlemania unless HBK is involved in some form. I could see Michaels causing HHH the win out of jealousy having himself failed twice to end the streak which could plant the seed for a WM28 match between the two since HHH is still after his WM moment or maybe a feud between the two should HBK become the Raw GM as HHH doesn't seem to have anyone to go for after WM...Maybe that could be the one more match for HBK

I know last weeks Raw was special for one reason, but i think overall, this was the best Raw i have seen in recent memory!

So the Corre effects their "rematch" clause immediately. Why didn't Marella and Koslov protest and evoke their rematch clause? The WWE's Hall of Fame continues to be more of a Hall of Shame. How can Duggan, who I don't recall ever winning a title, be in a Hall of Fame when Bruno, Backland and Savage are not. I've said it before and, I'll say it again, the WWE is cartoonish and belongs on the Cartoon network.

Best promo of Cena's career bar none...although i realise that isn't neccessarily a difficult task as his usual scripted, OTT & unfunny promos always make me press forward.
But here he was funny, edgy and everything he said was 100% true. The boos that he received at the start were mostly silenced by the end and i think a lot of fans were realising that the guy in the ring was "their guy", he might suck most of the time but he is still "their guy". I love Rocky but he did turn his back on wrestling for a long time and every jab that Cena took at The Rock felt like it was justified and accurate. Great response Cena, it's a shame that next week he will be back to his usual persona.

Triple H returns! COOL!

Iron Sheik would make sense since Coca Cola is out of Atlanta.

this time hhh beat phenom 18-1

"Man, I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it."

Yeah, wouldn't that be great if the Iron Sheik started talking about that time they got busted for having weed on them? And then Sheik could pull Michael Cole from the crowd and then "make him humble" if you know what I mean. That would be a Wrestlemania moment before the show even started.

It was nice to see Cena come back at the Rock. Sad that the only way he could do it was by making gay jokes. He'll apologize for saying the word 'ass' but not for constantly calling the Rock gay and making it seem like a bad thing?

As someone who hopes Sting comes back, my Undertaker/HHH Wrestlemania match would have HBK as the ref and Diesel in HHH's corner doing everything they can to end the streak. Then Sting comes in to help the Undertaker, setting them up as friends, until one turns on the other in a year-long feud leading up to Wrestlemania 2012.

Hey Kevin, where is Sting and will he show up in WWE or has he retired?

I was thinking the same thing about Sheamus as I was watching him getting destroyed by Mark Henry. What did he do to Vince to deserve a beatdown like that by Mark Henry?

Hey Kevin - What I would love to see happen is for Taker to get screwed by HBK via some sweet chin music, and have HHH end the streak. Everyone would go nuts and it would create quite a buzz. Do you think there is any hope of the streak ending ???

It may be just me, but it seemed like the tag title change was not planned and the rematch was spontaneous so they could finish the match the way it was suppose to finish.

All the talk about Sting, and when it finally comes, it was just as good. It looks like its going to be a solid match. The last time Undertaker and Triple H faced each other at wrestlemania was Wrestlemania X7, that match stole the show, now lets see if they can top it.
Jim Duggan??? Over Ownen Hart, Paul Heyman, and Magnum TA??? Why not put in Paul Roma, Marty Jannetty, Earthquake, or Akeem???
Why do I have a feeling that it will be John Cena vs the Rock?

I saw the Cena rap on YouTube afterwards -- I found it really homophobic. I liked Cena as rapper back in the day, but this wasn't edgy, it was bigoted. The Rock over the years has had cringe-worthy moments in promos, but Cena's bit was one anti-gay slur after another. I hadn't been so offended by a WWE bit since they teased Chuck Palumbo was going to smack around Michelle McCool

Way to bury the tag titles WWE.

Cena did not attack The Rock, he attacked Dwayne Johnson. The Rock attacked the character so why did Cena make it personal? Furthermore people are overrating his promo, it was bascially just a bunch of gay jokes and Cena told Rock to blow him and polish his balls so what does that make Cena and him dissing Rock's movie career which is by an extremely large margin more successful than his. I mean even that Tooth Fairy movie alone made more money than all of Cena's movies combined. the most effective thing Cena said was about Rock leaving which he had done everything there was to do in the business so I don't see why he should be attacked for leaving and not coming back. But I am sure that won over a lot of fans who feel mistreated by The Rock. But I can't wait for Rock's response b/c there's no way he's going to let Cena get away with saying that.

I think the Undertaker/HHH segment was about as well done as could be given the circumstances that everyone pretty much knew the "surprise" was gonna be Taker. Obviously they build from here and we will get the promos in the coming weeks but we got to see 2 old school guys tell a story without saying a word.
I wish the "E" would tweak Cenas character back to the Doctor of Thuganomics or at least give him some flexability to do some edgier stuff. Every character gets stale unless you give them room to progress..I know you like Cole, Kev, but Ive never been a big fan of announcers trying to be heels..hated when they tried it with JR years ago. I understand that theyre building Cole up to get a beatdown similiar to Andy Kauffman, i just hope once thats over he just gets back to calling a match. And although im guessing King agreed to it, leave the deceased out of it. Get heat another way.

I luv john cena,i'm sure he is going to win it.for undertaker he is goin to win it.i can't wait 4 wrestlemania ooh.

This years wrestlemania looks very underwhelming. The only match that appears to be wrestlemania quality is Taker-HHH and that will be as predictable as Globetrotters-Generals. Oh well, as long as wwe appeals to kids that's all that matters. My nephew loves him some John Cena and that makes me happy.

Was it me or did HHH look really fat?I know he was wearing a shirt,but if you see it again,try to notice.Of course,the Rock looked really "pumped" up (like Sosa and Bonds) to me,so.....

Cena's promo was the best I've seen in years and yes it was strong. The pin wheel was awesome 'blow me" LOL

The 2-21 had no payoff for me. I've seen this dance before with HHH/Taker @ Mania and Taker ain't losing here folks.

I do wonder why TNA took Sting down of their site though. Is it that Vince ordered it cause he's under contract or is TNA holding the cards for Sting to return to their programming. Their surprised ending is supposed to be on the next TNA live program.

The WWE did miss a chance here to make some major noise with 2-21 but they got 3 weeks out of a suck as payoff for me but the WWE doesn't listen to the fans IMO very often. Newer WWE fans will geek for Taker-HHH but not me.

Maybe Sting makes a Mania appearence. Doubt it, but it would be interesting if a week prior to Mania they started a new countdown just showing the long trench coated figure....

What's amazing to me is most of the sheets had this figured out pretty well.

The tag match was interesting. I thought the finish in match #2 was interesting. I can see Miz as a face at some point. The crowd genuinely was into Miz tagging Cena for a save.

Morrison and Shameful's easy losses really surprised me there Fella'

Punk to me is better served to main event mania. I think it's to soon for Miz. Punk looks real strong now.

I like the fact that we'll be getting Taker vs. Triple H as the 10 year anniversary of their classic WM X-7 match. I think that's Taker's best Mania match until HBK, and I fully expect them to tear the house down again.

Even more intriguing if HBK is the special referee...

The best part about the Undertaker vs HHH program is that there are a lot of variables they can do for this match. They can throw in Shawn Michaels, Kane, Sheamus, or all three to make this match more interesting. Also, the last time they wrestled at Wrestlemania, it was an awesome match, but with the "Badass" Undertaker, not the Deadman. It makes this match up seem fresh. More importantly, more people would believe that HHH could end the streak more than any other opponent. Especially since there were rumors that HHH was going to end the streak on various wrestling websites. But of course, there were also rumors that Sting was the one the promo was about even when you could see Undertaker in the window.

You thought Jerry Lawler allowing the death of his mother to be worked into angle was "almost" at the line but not over it? What's the matter with you?

I never thought Cena's "thugonomics" gimmick was any good, but I will admit my own bias. I am just not a big Cena fan. Yes he works hard, but I think he is hyped way too much.

The Triple H return was pretty huge and I am sure it was the shock that got the fans going and that they were realizing what was going to happen at Wreslemania once HHH showed up. It makes perfect sense too. Taker retired his best buddy, HBK. Any thoughts on if Hunter will be the one to end Taker's streak and Taker finally retiring? Taker hasn't been around a whole lot lately and has been dealing with numerous real life injuries.

As far as Shaemus is concerned, even when he had the title most fans thought he was a joke. He's in the role he needs to be now...JAG.

I never really liked CM Punk, but I can realize talent when I see it. He is kind of filling in the role that Jericho left behind and he's doing a fantastic job. I just don't see how the new Nexus fits into all of this...that group doesn't seem to be doing much of anything. I mean the tag champs beat Santino and Kozlov...

"Hacksaw Jim Duggan was announced as the second inductee of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. I wasn’t the biggest Duggan fan, but he definitely was a big star in the ’80s and early ’90s. Ted DiBiase will induct him. Man, I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it."

LOL! Now THAT is a story that may need some explanation to our younger readers!

Good show to build up toward Wrestlemania and they have got me expecting more!

Josh Matthews said that Cole was running "like a GIRL"??? I wonder if they'll get some broads complaining about that...

If I remember correctly, it was around Wrestlemania X-7 that "The Streak" was really starting to become a thing... I remember HHH's thing was that he would break it.

I'm just not jazzed for Undertaker-HHH at Wrestlemania. For me, it was a tremendous let-down but in reality, other than Sting, who else has the star power that hasn't faced the Undertaker before? I guess HHH would be the next guy on the list with that kind of star power but it definitely is something we've seen many, many times. Its unfortunate to me because I like the Undertaker a lot because I am a huge fan of old school wrestling but it is truly getting to the point with UT of who can he fight next? He's faced them all. HHH is in a similar situation. For me, it just doesn't have the sizzle. Maybe Vince McMahon should offer a crazy offer to get Sting in WWE.

HHH vs. Undertaker just leaves the door wide open for an HBK guest Referee appearance. But will it end as the Atlanta screw job?

Prior to his matches with Shawn Michaels, Taker's best match at 'Mania was with Triple H at Wrestlemania 17. Hell, prior to that one, I don't even think the streak was ever even acknowledged. To me their tenth anniversary match is reason enough to get excited for Wrestlemania 27.

I see the Rock's involvement similar to Mike Tyson's at WM14 when it looked like he would aid HBK, but instead cost him the title. The Rock will end up helping Cena over Miz.
I think if Disney wanted Cena to do a string of movies he would end his in ring wrestling career, too. He would be a fool not to and end up a sad beaten down person like we see all to often in the wrestling business. that being said, i hope the Miz wins at mania he could use the win much more.

"I was hoping Duggan’s old driving buddy The Iron Sheik would do it."
_______

Only if HOF occurred on April 20th.

Seriously what happened to the WCW/NWA themed HOF inductions?

Granted this is a better choice than most...and in 2002 HHH and the Undertaker-as the biker the American bad $$ - had a great match..but whats the motivation here? Because he ended Shawn's career? ..plausible but a little weak...Alex Wright weak...because Shawn seemed happy to go...and if Shawn is the guest ref we all know what happens ..late in the match Shawn tries to deliver sweet chin music but "accidentally" hits HHH ..and 'taker covers for the win..which is only going to lead to speculation of HHH vs Shawn ....though I thought for sure HE'D keep his word bout retiring..

Okay, what evidence was there ever put forth that Sting was going to sign? Also, if you're Sting, do you want your big Wrestlemania moment jobbing to the Undertaker? Why would anyone think Sting would agree to that? PAH.

I don't think a guy whose IMDB page includes "The Marine" should be making fun of anybody's movie choices.

For those of you complaining about Cena's promo, specifically lambasting it and him for being offensive to homosexuals, I have to respectfully disagree.

I watched RAW with two gentlemen who are quite gay. All three of us were very excited to see Cena dust off the Doctor of Thugonomics and we were all deeply amused. Not for a moment were any of us offended or felt that Cena was being disrespectful to our lifestyle.

Y'all who wish to hate on Cena have that option. Hate on him all you want. But to call the man and his promo homophobic is unnecessary flaming.

Cena's promo was better than I was expecting, even though the gay jokes got repetitive and making fun of the Rock's movies really isn't a road Cena can successfully navigate. I don't think Cena's movies combined were as successfully as The Tooth Fairy. Still, I'm not sure how many more exchanges they can have without Cena getting obliterated on the mic.

HHH/Taker was a great study in how silence really is golden. Even though I was expecting some sort of confrontation between the two (I said a week ago HHH was the most logical opponent), it was still a great moment. From HHH's defiant interruption of Taker's return and posing, to Taker's "you have no chance of winning" smirk, it really was a great example of how to sell a moment without ranting and raving.

As someone said before Cena attacked Dwwyane Johnson the man instead of The Rock the character. It is not the Rock's fault that Cena's character in the WWE is a cartoon. The Rock just said what every man wanted to say for the last 6 years.
By the way what is this nonsense about the Rock leaving...as if Cena works for the WWE for free,because of his love for the WWE fans?..please.

So... Cena has been Tag Champion with 3 different partners that he was feuding with at the time. Even though this reign was about 5 minutes long this angle is old. With Wrestlemania fast approaching, WWE should be elevating the Tag Titles not using them as props for the WWE title story.

On the bright side, Cena had his best promo in years. He held his own with the Rock while standing in the shadow of a pretty shocking promo the "Great One" had against him last week. If this is a new direction the WWE is going in, it is the right direction. Shock value tv that WWE was blasted for a few years back was a bit much...however PG and pro wrestling are not a good mix in every storyline.

I thought after HBK was retired last year that HHH would be next for Taker. I was a bit disappointed it was not Sting, but WWE never promised or even hinted that rumor was true. I guess I can't blame them for that. HHH and Taker should be a great story. I can't wait to see it.

I always thought jerry lawler was the heel commentator. Now all of a sudden, Michael Cole is. Talk about boring.

John Cena's "rap" was horrible. It would be compareable to Big Bird calling Brian Griffin to eat a bowl of poopie. It was a waste of time. The rock was much better and did not seem out of charractor.

So, Sting is not coming. Is he retired now? If so, his final match was horrible. He should have retired after his match with AJ Styles at Bound for Glory 09.

The only match at Wrestlemania that sounds decent is Triple H and the Undertaker. Del Rio vs Edge seems kind of boring and makes me think Christian is going to get involved.

Is Dolph headed to TNA?

Forget Sting. He's old and can't wrestle. Cena's rap wasn't homophobic. Saying "blow me" and talking about Rock polishing his balls aren't gay slurs. Grow up.

The more Ithink about it, the less I like the Taker/HHH match. It's improbable, at this stage in his career, that Taker can win. For the WWE to give what would be an instant career-maker to the boss's son-in-law just might be the final straw for the WWE and me. My only hope is that the Undertaker wins and lives to fight another Mania.

Kev I am really surprised that you can't believe that raw is going less PG. ithought that you would have picked up on that when the Lady that was in charge left and LInda lost her election for senator, that being said though I don't think the Attitude is coming back but i think things are going to be slightly more edgier. Finally I don't like this quick tiutle changes Dolph gets to say hes world champ for 5 minutes & The Corre lets their man get hit with MIz's finisher and nobody trys to distract the ref or anything until they lose and its the rematch.

It is funny seeing Cena make fun of the Rock's movies...I think every Rock movie has made more money than all Cena movies combined.

The line about Rock leaving is really old..will Cena wrestle for free because he "loves" the fans?..

Taker vs Triple H lacks something simply because it's been done so many times before. I would rather have seen Undertaker vs, John Cena had Cena not already be headed for the WWE Title Main Event.

I would love to see a cross-over storyline that would pit Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton. This would be a tremendous Mania match that would win or lose would vault McIntyre into a new sphere of influence in the WWE pantheon of things.

I still think we could see one of the two Title matches become a Triple Threat match.... If it's the World Title Match, then Christian or Rey Mysterio would be the top candidates, If it's the WWE Championship Match, then I would guess we could see The Rock become more than a host and become an actual participant in the Title Match.

And as it relates to Sting.... anyone who saw the end of TNA tonight, knows that the Stinger is heading back to TNA....sans the 'Taker Copycat Promo. The only way Sting would ever head to WWE is if McMahon offered up a WWE Title Match at Wrestlemania as Sting's debut match and it would have to be against Cena or Triple H. It would not be against 'Taker since Taker would not lose at WM and Sting would not want to either.

The other two things I'm waiting for at WM is how Shawn Michaels will come into play, if at all AND if Jim Ross gets to (hopefully) call one more Wrestlemania in place of Cole and Lawler and especially to call that match.

Kev, the more I think about HHH vs Taker, the more I realise that HBK has to be involved in this matchup for it to get exciting but if that happens where does that leave The Rock? I think HHH vs Taker with HBK is a guest referee is far more compelling than Cena vs The Mick with The Rock involved. The only thing that could top that would be with a Cena/Rock matchup which is highly unlikely to happen. I guess Creative must be having a hard time deciding how to go about promoting WM??

Can The Rock as the overall guest get somehow in the Taker/HHH matchup? Could he possibly hold any grudge against either HHH or Taker? I would keep the focus solely on The Rock and get him involved and flirt with both and ultimately let him appoint HBK as the guest referee. Your thoughts? This could turn into a classic WM

i think it would be interesting between the match of taker vs.cane in a buried alive match.

I thought the guy in the promo video's was a returning Sean O'Haire.....

mark aka.undertaker vs HHH @wm27 i realy like to see almost the same thing that happend @ wm17with thes 2 will be a match for the ages.but i want to see undertaker go 19-0 then 1year later he fights sting to go 20-0 @ wm28.then a year later the undertaker is in ducted into wwe hall of fame.@wm 29.thank you for reading this mark.

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About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
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