Road to Wrestlemania XXVII, Part Three

This is part three of the X-Blog’s Road to Wrestlemania series, where each week I will do my best to prognosticate what the card of Wrestlemania XXVII will look like based solely on the events of the past week in WWE. So, be warned, because this might contain spoilers.

Divas Match: Again, there was little to no forward progress to hint toward what Divas match will be held at Wrestlemania. The only thing going on is a continuing rift between LayCool and Michelle legitimate injury. The fact that they’re leaving her on television during this injury suggests they’re just going to allow the injury to heal up over the next six weeks so she will be available for Wrestlemania. So, odds are in her favor that she’ll be a part of whatever Divas match happens at the PPV. Speaking of, there is no Divas match scheduled for tonight’s Elimination Chamber PPV, which is a good thing, so it looks like Eve might just carry that Divas Championship into Wrestlemania XXVII.

United States Championship: Praise be to the wrestling gods for allowing Daniel Bryan to put on another stellar match this past Monday on RAW. Too long has he been burdened by the Bella Sluts and that idiotic storyline. And that Vince McMahon has awoken from his “coma”, hopefully he took note of just how talented Daniel Bryan is and how much the audience appreciates a great match like that one. And hopefully that parlays into a decent rivalry being built up between Daniel Bryan and a somewhat decent competitor going into Wrestlemania.

King vs Cole and/or Alex Riley: After tonight’s bogus WWE Championship match, we’ll have some inkling towards who will be King’s opponent at ‘the Wrestlemania match that needs not happen.’ I’m all for Lawler receiving his first Wrestlemania match of his career, but not at The Miz’s expense. Not at the WWE Championship’s expense. The match tonight at Elimination Chamber is doing The Miz, Jerry Lawler or the WWE Championship any favors. It’s a throwaway match that will just make all three of them look weak. And WWE can ill-afford that going into a Wrestlemania that might be the weakest of all-time. This proposed match being on the card won’t help much to change this situation.

Mysterio vs Rhodes: Now, this is one matchup I’m looking forward to. As I said in the most recent Smackdown KJR, I’ve missed Cody Rhodes. Rhodes is an excellent talent and an excellent heel. This ‘Dashing’ gimmick was perfect for him and took it and ran with it. Ran further than I think anyone would have expected. WWE did a great job in pushing him as well. I have to give a lot of credit to the announcers for keeping this storyline alive while Cody was out of action and to Mysterio for his laissez-faire attitude when questioned about the injury. I think the sixth man in tonight’s Smackdown Elimination Chamber will be Cody Rhodes and then this storyline can begin in earnest.

Big Show vs Ezekiel Jackson: I’m glad WWE didn’t put this match on the Elimination Chamber PPV card because it means they’re saving it for Wrestlemania, as they should. In all of the proposed BIG man vs BIG man matchups WWE has put forward – and there’s been a ton of ‘em (Get it? A ton?), I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to see one. WWE is handling this one perfectly. I want to see Ezekiel Jackson perform more simple wrestling maneuvers on Big Show like the suplex he did a couple weeks ago. Sometimes a slow build is the best.

Tag Team Championships: So far my prognostications have been spot-on for this match. WWE has added a Tag Team Championship match to the Elimination Chamber PPV line-up. Odds are that Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater win tonight, becoming two-time WWE Tag Team Champions. If it keeps going to plan, they should defend them against Nexus at Wrestlemania. I hope it keeps going to plan, because it’ll be another match I want to see.

Undertaker vs Triple H: More and more rumors keep coming out about this match. Maybe I’m in the blind here, but I don’t get it. What’s so special about this match that it seemingly has to happen? From memory, I recall a Triple H vs Undertaker match at Wrestlemania before and it wasn’t exactly a show-stealer. Rumors also have HBK as Special Referee, which just makes it even more ridiculous. Am I supposed to believe Undertaker will just forget about Kane burying him alive or Nexus assisting him, just so he can settle (yet again) a rivalry with HBK at Wrestlemania? And this time, he won’t even be wrestling HBK, but his butt-buddy Triple H? I don’t buy it. I’ve picked this match off the shelf, weighed it, checked it for ripeness, put in the buggy and walked up to the register, but I just can’t buy it. I still think in the end, it’ll be Undertaker vs Kane and Triple H vs Sheamus at Wrestlemania XXVII.

World Heavyweight Championship: How great is it that Dolph Ziggler is in the record books as a former World Heavyweight Champion? Totally great! What’s not so great is all the speculation that the proposed World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio will be turned into a triple threat match to include Dolph Ziggler. I’m kind of torn on this one. On one hand, I sorely believe that the Royal Rumble winner should receive a one-on-one match with the World Champion of his choosing at Wrestlemania. It’s a prize for winning the Royal Rumble and it should stay that way. On the other hand, I don’t want Dolph Ziggler to miss Wrestlemania. And him being in the World Heavyweight Championship match would not only be consistency on WWE’s behalf, but it would do a lot to solidify Ziggler as a main eventer. I guess I’m good either way, but I would much rather have Del Rio vs Edge in a singles match.

WWE Championship: Perhaps the most important news this week was the return of one People’s Champion, The Rock this past Monday on RAW. In Rocky’s awesome promo, he named exactly two superstars who he would ‘lay the Smackdown on,’ those superstars being The Miz and John Cena – the WWE Champion and the #1 contender. That could have a huge effect on the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XXVII. Rumors are saying The Rock might face John Cena at Wrestlemania or Rocky might be the Special Guest Referee for the The Miz vs John Cena. I don’t know about any of that. What I do know is that this entire situation throws a huge wrench into my proposed Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Championship between Cena, Miz, Randy Orton and CM Punk. It seems Orton and Punk are being left out of the mix, probably being left to their own devices for the PPV. I want CM Punk in the WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania, but that seems like a pipedream at this moment. I suspect we’ll know more about the plans for the WWE Championship after tonight’s PPV and tomorrow’s RAW. Until then, I’m just confused.