Greetings from the dark side… Well, as most now know Kane is a 2 time world champion and at the top of the heap on Smackdown. Most feel this is overdue and more than deserved and I cannot agree more. Kane (along with his brother) are two of the most loyal WWE talents in WWE history. Kane’s one day title reign in 1998 seemed “off” to me when it comes to the realm of legacy in the WWE. Kane has always been a monster, but never got a push like his brother. Of course if not for the Undertaker; there is no Kane. The Undertaker always seemed to have Kane’s eventual number in all of their feuds. They were also one of the most dominant tag teams ever assembled and in all reality could have destroyed the ranks for years. However, when two men are that dominant in singles competition, then why keep them a tag team? Where does this lead us to today? It leads us to inevitability.
Continue reading »

Greetings from the dark side…with the Undertaker’s return growing nearer and nearer many fans are already pondering whether big evil will return as the deadman you last saw or as the motorcycle maniac known as the American bad ass. Rumors relating to this may be just that…rumors. There has been no evidence thus far of this in any storylines but then again, there was not when he returned in 2000 either. Ive always felt the Undertaker would go out (of the business) the same way he came in. The bells. The trenchcoat. The hat. The darkside. Most believe that the Undertaker will hang up the boots in the next few years (maybe sooner) so if I really believe this, an American bad ass return may never happen again. But never say never. They say anything can happen in the WWE and that has certainly been true over the years. It would be a welcome surprise for me personally.
Continue reading »

Greetings from the dark side… The whole Kane angle with the comatose Undertaker has everybody wondering who did this and awaiting his return. With the unfortunate injury that happened to the Undertaker courtesy of Rey Mysterio, I ponder the question, “What if ?”. What if this injury did not occur? Certainly the Undertaker was in the title picture as he was replaced by the winner of the Fatal Four way match…Rey Mysterio. And I have asked this question to myself many times over the years. “What if?” Seems Taker has had quite a few months-long absences in his career but never seemed to be in the title hunt as much as was maybe deserved until the new millennia. Is it coincidence or something more relating to backstage politics (not as much now as there was) in the sense that the Undertaker has been bypassed in world title pictures more than most other big superstars? Looking back to the 90’s, it certainly seemed the Undertaker was arguably under utilized. Was it because he was such a good worker, he was the one to lead the not so savvy rookies through their matches? (Berzerker, Kamala, Giant Gonzalez, etc.) Was it injuries that the Undertaker just fought through but they didn’t want to chance their champion fighting hurt? No one seemed to have the aura or intimidation factor in the 90’s more so than the Undertaker.

Continue reading »

Think about it, people!! The Undertaker has never been involved in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania before. The last time he faced two men was against Big Show & A-Train in a handicap match at WM XIX (Undertaker’s second worst match ever right after his match against Giant Gonzales at WM IX). A very crappy unwatchable slow paced match with little to no build up plus Vince McMahon believing The Undertaker could carry both dead weights to a classic? Just perfect….

Back to the business, I think a Triple Threat will benefit Undertaker because not only he could even the number of his victims into 19, but there is also a new threat: The Undertaker doesn’t have to be pinned to lose The Streak! Although we all know, he could face the whole roster but still come out 19-0.

The remaining question is who should be his two victims? I propose Chris Jericho & Christian!!!

By having this match, it’s a great way to have Chris Jericho face The Undertaker at WrestleMania and not be a one on one match, because if Chris Jericho ever did face Taker in a one on one match at WM, then it would be obvious who’s going to win, so Y2J in a Triple Threat match with Christian would be the best option in my opinion. Also it’s a great way to massively push Christian (which he deserves, and this should of happened a long time ago anyway). Christian in the Main Event at WrestleMania (I’m assuming this is for The World Heavyweight Championship) would give him the push of a lifetime and everyone wants Christian in the main event spot on Smackdown anyway. Of course by WM27 Christian might of already got a push from WWE, that would explain why he’s in a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

Anyway, there’s not much superstars for The Undertaker to face at WrestleMania anymore, he’s faced legends like Shawn Michaels and Triple H and he’s faces lame giants like The Big Show and Mark Henry, he’s beat them all, also it would be something new to see Undertaker in a Triple Threat Match on the grandest stage of them all, and since Vince’s grapefruits are two small to book Undertaker vs John Cena, then this is the match i would like to see. I have no doubt that The Undertaker vs Chris Jericho vs Christian at WrestleMania XXVII would be an exciting match, it would hopefully be one of the greatest matches Chris Jericho has ever had, and the greatest match Christian has ever had. Triple Threat at Mania would be awesome!

For one thing, I didn’t choose the ones with Rey or Cm Punk because for one thing, I found it hard to believe that Rey would beat Orton and Angle at Wrestlemania 22. I’m not saying it was a bad thing, but it did shock me, even if it was for Eddie Guerrero. But I don’t expect the same results with Undertaker, so I just don’t see it. And with CM Punk. I just don’t like it. I won’t lie, he is talented, but with his current gimmick, I just don’t like it. If SES were to interfere, that would suck so much. Plus we all seen that CM Punk can’t beat Taker anyway unless he cheats, so why? Maybe not now, but something when he build a bigger name for himself (yes, even bigger then the savior) then I can find that believable and worthy. And people like Sheamus, Drew, Swagger, Ted Jr, Rhodes, or JoMo don’t have that big of a name to follow The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels TWICE!!

Other than John Cena they are only other people that I feel are worthy on inclusion on the streak,. Then again, WWE doesn’t have the balls to book Cena vs Taker at Wrestlemania so we can as well not talking about that matchup. Those three (Taker, Christian, and Y2J) got the chance to surpass HHH vs HBK vs Benoit in terms of wrestling quality of a triple threat match alone. And as I mentioned before, I think it’s a good selling point of the match would be ‘Undertaker may not even have to be pinned for the streak to be over’.

Chris Jericho and Christian are great performers and maybe they could have a 5 star match against Taker and it could go down in history as the best Triple Threat ever. I say give it 18-23 minutes and we will get another awesomeness as Taker goes 19-0 at Wrestlemania! I would like to see a double tombstone lol. I doubt that though…

Either way, that’s my idea. What about you? Agree with me or not?

Ever since the year 1990, one man has made a gimmick instantly stand out. This gimmick went on to become THE GREATEST GIMMICK IN THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING. The character: The Undertaker. The man who portrays The Undertaker: Mark William Callaway. Without Mark, I don’t believe The Undertaker would be as successful as it is as a character and as a wrestler. Before becoming The Undertaker, Mark wrestled in many other places, including WCW. He had names such as Texas Red, The Punisher, The Punisher: Dice Morgan, Mean Mark Callous, The Master Of Pain. But he will always be most remembered as The Undertaker. The Undertaker is the brainchild of Vince McMahon. As explained by the legend himself in My Yard: “Vince had a vision. He always like the old, western undertaker with the long coat & hat and he thought I’d fit the bill”. And boy did he! Undertaker went through many character changes. Just when things got stale, he changed it before it become totally boring and drifted away. This is why it has lasted so long. He changed his look, in ring and entrance attire, way he spoke and moved, music, and updated his moveset, the latter especially when facing a certain or new type of opponent. He’s so dedicated and loyal to the business and is so admired, adored, loved, appreciated, and respected by his peers, people who worked with or been around him, and of course, by his longtime, loyal, and even the casual fans. He works through pain and injury, even taking his body to and at certain times such as WM, beyond its limit. How he continues to do this with his physical condition and current age I will never ever know. Wrestlers with his current condition and age retire or are close to doing so. Yes he is close, but he and ONLY HE knows how close for sure. Everyone else just speculates. Who knows what the future holds? He may have to retire earlier than he planned or perhaps God willing, he may very well stay longer than he originally wanted. And there’s the thought of making WM and tv specials appearances after his in ring career is officially over.

But please from now on, no more he’s gonna retire this or that time, here or there. He will retire when he wants to and feels its the right time to. Obviously, that time is not now as he is still active. And taking a break after WrestleMania till SummerSlam is smart because it gives him time to rest, which means he can stick around longer. It also gives younger stars time to shine. Yes they can shine with him. Taker is known for creating or helping to create new stars. But many are not yet ready for him. When they’re ready, he’ll do what he has to and regardless of who scores the win, all (Taker, opponent, fans) walk out winners. He even pulled watchable matches with Gonzalez, Bundy, Henry, Yokozuna, Kamala, Khali (who I must credit because he is improving, cant be denied).

So until he does retire, let us all enjoy what he gives us. Try not to be harsh and criticize/judge because he is not 100% nor is he young anymore. I’m not saying not to have an opinion/don’t voice your opinion. What I’m saying is don’t dwell on the negatives and retirement or else you won’t be able to enjoy as much as UT himself would like you to.

Undertaker, for all you do, THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH!

I agree, Taker is Smackdown and Smackdown is Taker. But let’s not forget that Taker’s return to
Death Valley is not far away. Right now, Smackdown is awe-inspiring due to the presence of the Deadman. But once when he is gone, tell me how many are there who would quit watching Smackdown? Before I get your headcounts let me not forget to count myself in (lol!)

Even when Taker goes on his breaks don’t we watch Smackdown hoping that the GONG! would toll sometime. That’s the presence of the Undertaker despite of his absence. Now, what is inevitable is his retirement. The sad news is it could be anytime around within the next two years. Therefore, we need a replacement. We don’t need any replacement, we need THE replacement. Who’s there! I’ve been thinking all night only to see flies flashing in my dreams everytime!

Now since Shawn’s gone, it indirectly means that the torch is passed over to Triple H. What’s heartnening to see is, Triple H is no longer that title hungry. Poor guy, he hasn’t had the title for a little over a year. That’s uncharachteristic of Triple H and it also sounds like he is willing to carry the show without being too selfish. Now that’s very heartening from Raw’s perspective.

How about Smackdown? We see only upcomming stars dominate in Smackdown. Last year it was John Morrison and CM Punk. This year it will be Kofi Kingston, Christian, and Jack Sssswagger. But after the Undertaker who is there to carry Smackdown?

You can find the answer if you recollect all those 18 fallen souls the Undertaker had collected at all Wrestlemanias till date. No, he is not a rookie, he’s been in Wrestlemania main events before. That man is still young and will go on for atleast 10 years if things go well. He is only in his 30’s and still has abundance of energy left in him.

Yeah! You’ve got that right. The venomous viper should be the potential replacement for the dark soul from Smackdown’s perspective. He’s Randy Orton.

Apart from hieght and a scary demeanor, Randy Orton’s got it all. His moves well and he executes his moves to near perfection. He’s got a couple of devastating moves such as the Punt and RKO. His gimmick as the ‘Viper with icy cold eyes’ certainly is scary. And remember the biggest liar on the plannet is the one who says he is not afraid of ghosts and snakes :-))

So from an experimental point of view, it won’t be a bad idea to swap Undertaker and Randy Orton to Raw and Smackdown respectively and see how they fare. Orton in particular must be assessed for how well he carries the Smackdown show. If he could create either heel heat or fan cheers the way he has been creating for the past couple of years in Raw, I think he is the best candidate to whom Undertaker can pass the torch to, once he is about the hang his boots.

Yes, Undertaker has been a part of Smackdown over the years. But don’t forget that when Smackdown was started Undertaker was never a part of it. He was a heel (Big Evil) on Raw. He was having rivalries with Ric Flair, Triple H, and Austin. It’s only later on he got drafted to Smackdown. Since then he has been the heart and soul of Smackdown.

Don’t worry about annual drafts, they are just eye-washers. WWE themselves never stick on to it. Take for example Batista. From last year to this day, he was first on Raw, then moved to Smackdown, again moved to Raw and it goes on. So the WWE can obviously come up with some excuse to swap these two superstars.

If Undertaker and Randy Orton are alien to Raw and Smackdown respectively? Remember, as per my friend Mr.0’s previous blog, Undertaker is the last surviving member of the Golden Era, an era which is literally a father to the Attitude Era. Speaking of Attitude Era, obviously Undertaker along with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H are the founding members. So a switch over to Raw (just temporarily) is not going to make Undertaker alien to the show. Talk of Orton, he was groomed in Smackdown before he became a big star in Raw. So it’s like returning home for Orton.

It will be a great idea if Undertaker spends another 6 months atleast in Raw and see how Randy Orton fares in Smackdown. The time when he is about to leave (say one year before his retirement) he can get back to Smackdown. This will immensely help the WWE management to think over possible replacements for the Deadman in Smackdown when he leaves.

If the Undertaker can teleport between souls, why can’t he teleport his soul to Raw for sometime ;-)In case you’ve forgotten, Triple H owes a victory to him!

The 2010 draft has come and gone and despite many vague rumblings from the ‘WWE Universe’ that this would be the year The Undertaker finally left his Smackdown home to seek out greener (?) pastures on RAW, it wasn’t to be. The Undertaker remains on the show he has become synonymous with and the show I honestly never see him moving from as long as he’s with the company. Why? Aside from the logical reasons such as the schedule suits him better and so on, Smackdown has always been the place for people to build their reputations. RAW might well be called the ‘A Show’ and you cannot deny many careers have been made there. But it seems to me as though everybody passes through Smackdown and, more specifically, The Undertaker. Before they move on to shine. Randy Orton for example.. how about John Cena. It appears to me as though The Undertakers reign on Smackdown serves as a learning tree for the rookies coming in and for the up and comers to hone their skills. How much influence does he have on that locker room? You only need to look at the comments of his peers to find that out.

However, along with the reasons why he has stayed theres other issues to address. Such as how the Smackdown landscape has changed now that the draft is said and done. Well, Smackdown seemed to take a particularly harsh battering this year as it lost Chris Jericho, Edge, John Morrison, Khali, R Truth, The Hart Dynasty and a handful of others. We welcome MVP, The Big Show (why?! sadface), Christian, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters and… Hornswaggle (insert ‘wtf’ moment here). You have to admit that isnt exactly the catch of the century and while RAW now seems to be flooded with top talent, Smackdown hasnt added much to the now threadbare ‘top tier’ that consists of just The Undertaker, CM Punk and Jack Swagger.

We all know this is the time of year The Undertaker tends to take a hiatus from the company but with this draft leaving such a huge hole in the roster will this year be different? It could be good news for us as Undertaker fans, we dont often get to see him work through a summer and it seems to me as though they’re going to need his star power especially with the move over to SyFy. I have to admit, this draft has left me a little bit mystified.

Potential feuds (I’d like to see/not see): The Big Show – I pray to all that is good in the world, don’t let it happen. I cannot watch this again
Christian – I don’t know why they would get into a duel but I’m pretty sure if they did it could be mighty interesting. Christian moves like Jericho and has the potential to deliver great promos like Edge. It could be Christians time to shine at last, the only question is will it be Taker to take him on this journey?
MVP – If you ask me, not ready to be in the same league. But I suppose it could work.
Jack Swagger – Does The Deadman really need to chase the title again? I think he proved his point already.
Cody Rhodes – Potentially the best choice of the bunch. The Undertaker could do great things with Rhodes as he finds his feet as a star in his own right, finally breaking away from the shadow of DiBiase and Orton. This is the one that would interest me the most I think.
Kofi Kingston – Kofi is an amazing mover and I’ve always thought Taker worked well with the high fliers, his brute force and technical prowess are a fantastic chalk to their cheese and it just clicks, making for instant excitement. So Kofi/Taker has potential.. the only question is, why?
Chavo/Chris Masters – I’m lumping these two together because I just dont see it happening. Chavo is stuck in a perpetual loop of silliness and will more likely go on to feud with Hornswaggle and Simply Flawless as he atones for sins committed in a past life. Masters? Eh.
Hornswaggle – A potentially awesome feud here as the tiny Irishman takes on the might of The Undertaker in classic bouts such as ‘Undead Shamrock catching’ and ‘Extreme Hiding under the ring’… I kid.

So the big question here is what will Smackdown do to step up in the face of this brutal draft. Will The Undertaker forgo his usual break to help them out? If so, what’s next for the tall dark and brooding one?

I have to say, I’m intrigued to find out!

Well, the result is 18-0, and I am delighted to know that my speculations written in my previous blogs were all wrong. I am just hoping to see a 20-0 unbeaten streak before the Deadman retires.

With that said, what’s next Deadman? Don’t say NXT (lol!).

Every wrestler before he retires will be a heel for at least some time. This is applicable for all great wrestlers who worked for the WWE. Take Bret Hart, Diesel, Psycho Sid, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesner, and (oops I forgot Big Daddy V!) Ric Flair.

HBK, although not a full-fledged heel, he did exhibit heelish characteristics since the time he had been challenging the Deadman for a rematch at WM 26 such as superkicking Triple H, a referee, Teddy Long, and finally Taker by costing him his World Heavyweight Championship.

Honestly, there is not a lot of time left for the Deadman. 2008, it was Flair; 2010, it was HBK; perhaps 2012, it will be Taker but with a win at WM 28. So how about a heel turn one last time.

I was expecting his heel turn since he returned at SummerSlam 2009. But it was not to be. Perhaps a heel turn might be Taker’s next image make-over when he returns from his next break. His LOD attire at WM 26, might just be an indication of that.

Therefore, I would love to see Taker as heel for one last time. I agree people might still cheer for him. But who cares. Randy Orton was cheered every time he behaved a heel for the past couple of years with Legacy. Perhaps the new rule in WWE is to cheer for heels and boo the faces :-)

I am looking forward for a revamped Ministry of Darkness. It does not have to happen immediately. The Ministry can be formed once when Taker returns around Summer Slam. The members would be Ezekiel Jackson, Shad, Kane, and The Undertaker. Enough! Four is enough. Last time, almost all heels were a part of the Ministry, and it didn’t work. This time, it will be better for the Ministry if it comprises of four big guys.

Assuming Show-Miz or/and The Straight Edge Society turn face, we can have a decent feud between stables. BOD like DX were one of the greatest Tag Team of all time. Heck! They were the first ever unified Tag Team Champions. But WWE’s history with amnesia is well known to all. Therefore, BOD can be unified Tag Champions until next Royal Rumble 2011. At least let this title reign of Taker be long for God Sake :-) Meanwhile Shad and Zeke can fight with other mid-carders in the roster.

All said and done, never should Michelle McCool play any part in it :-))

Two of WWE’s biggest franchise wrestlers are The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Even though both wrestlers have been in the business for over 20 years, they have wrestled each other only a handful of times. Each time has been memorable though and every time they entered the ring against each other, wrestling history was made. Here is a look back at the historic feud between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Shawn Michaels came back to the WWE in 1997 as the special guest referee for the SummerSlam main event between the Undertaker and Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Michaels vowed to call the match fairly, but after confusing circumstances he ended up nailing the Undertaker with a chair and costing him the WWE title. A few short months later, the Undertaker was looking for revenge and he introduced his newest match creation, the Hell in a Cell.

With the rest of Degeneration X banned from ringside, it was up to Shawn Michaels alone to battle the Deadman in the sadistic cell. These two became bloodied quickly and Shawn Michaels was even knocked off the top of the cell and onto an announce table. The match ended when Undertaker’s brother Kane made his debut, tore through the cell door and Tombstoned the Undertaker. Shawn Michaels gained the victory, but the Undertaker felt it was undeserved. By the 1998 Royal Rumble, the Undertaker was ready for another shot at Shawn Michaels and the WWE Championship. This time, the cell was replaced with a casket and the feud was renewed again. The Undertaker was out numbered once again though and after being placed into the casket and lit on fire, the feud ended until 10 years later. The Undertaker was on another quest for WWE gold at the 2007 Royal Rumble. He was the 30th entrant and Shawn Michaels had already battled through much of he match.

When these two were the last ones remaining, they gave it everything they had until the Undertaker finally overcame Shawn Michaels and eliminated him from the ring to earn his first Royal Rumble victory. Shawn Michaels let that win go, but in 2009, the two would meet again in one of their biggest matches. In a feud that built up for weeks, Shawn Michaels defended his “Mr. WrestleMania” title against the Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak. These two wrestlers stole the show in a match that extended 20 minutes and featured multiple false finishes. The Undertaker got the final notch on their feuds at 2009. And just three days ago at Wrestlemania 26, The Undertaker ended Shawn Michaels career in yet another classic. Taker showed respect to HBK twice afterward.

Personally, I think the overall feud is better than ‘Taker vs Austin and Taker vs Mankind. I know Austin is a sacred name in both WWE and IWC, but you have to face it. No Taker vs Austin matches were considered ‘the best’ at all. Their feud was worshiped simply because it happened during the peak of Attitude Era, and it contains the name ‘Stone Cold’. Their encounters were very typical of heel vs face and their SummerSlam 1998 was flat out overrated. Sorry for saying this, but even Taker vs Batista at WM 23 was a better quality match than Taker vs Austin at SS’98.

As for Mankind, I think the Taker/Mankind matches were mainly praised because of its stunts, not because of its quality. The Buried Alive was good, it wasn’t great, but the match type is what made the match stand out rather than the actual match itself. The Hell in A Cell between Taker/Mankind, reminded me of a car crash. It was all about bumps and can you top this. The best match I’ve ever seen between the Undertaker and Mankind was at King of the Ring 1996. That was an awesome match. All of their other matches, even the infamous Boiler Room brawl match between the Undertaker/Mankind at SummerSlam 1996 was insignificant, nothing special at all. It just raised the bar of what gimmick matches in the future should be like.

Taker and Shawn have incredible chemistry and you can see it ever time they wrestle. They may have different views, different ways of life, but inside that ring they are all pro. Their match at Ground Zero was mesmerizing. That was truly a great match. I think it is even better than their Hell in A Cell Match from Badd Blood. Both men knew what they were doing and wrestled at a slow tempo pace, which made the match even more fun and entertaining to watch. That should have been match of the year right there. Even if the match ended in a no contest it still should have been a match of the year candidate.

At Badd Blood 1997, Taker and Shawn both put on a clinic. Being Hell in a Cell, the first match of that kind, people were looking to see if both men, especially Shawn since he was calling himself the Showstopper, the Icon, and the Main Event at that time, would be able to deliver and live up to his moniker. Well he did. So did Taker. Both men told a compelling story and it had the right amount of wrestling and storytelling mixed together. The story being would Shawn Michaels be able to defeat the Giant, the man from the darkside. Would David be able to defeat Goliath. If you recall correctly this all started at SummerSlam 1997. Shawn was referring the match between Bret Hart, challenger, and the Undertaker champion. Towards the end of the match, Bret spat in Shawn’s face, Shawn grabbed a chair, swung it, and unintentionally hit the Undertaker. Bret won the match and the Title. Undertaker sought revenge after the man that swerved him. This culminated into their match at Ground Zero, which lingered into Badd Blood. To prevent outside interference from DX, Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude the officials made the Hell in a Cell Match so their would be an clear winner. So Shawn and Taker delivered a wrestling climax for twenty five to thirty minutes. That bump that Shawn took where the Undertaker kicked his hand from the top of the hell in a cell was truly a OMG moment that made sense to include in the match. Foley’s bumps were unnecessary, made no sense whatsoever. Shawn’s made great sense. That’s why I say that Taker/Shawn have better chemistry because the stuff they did make sense. Foley just wanted a reaction without a logical method behind it. Anyway, Shawn went on to win the match, thanks to interference from the newly debuted Kane, but that still doesn’t take away from the match, one of the best in the history of the WWE, by two of the greatest performers in the history of WWE, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Overall, I think the Taker/Shawn matches have better wrestling. I think both guys have better chemistry in the ring. Both wrestlers just click and always deliver whenever they perform together. The Taker/Mankind matches are good storyline wise and the matches are unique. However, I think Taker and Shawn have great matches all the time and they did it again at WrestleMania 26 (although the commentating took something away from the classic). After their last match, Taker picked him before hugging him followed by a handshake after the match. And the following night at RAW, he tipped his hat off for Michaels. OK now, I know most people will remember Taker breaking kayfabe mainly for him respecting Jeff Hardy after the end of their ladder match at RAW. But that was when he was using his Big Evil gimmick as a HUMAN.

Now, Taker paid his respect TWICE as the legendary DEADMAN. And although he paid his respect to Flair, it was OFF AIR. While both shows of respect for HBK were ON AIR. Don’t know about you, but I don’t think we will ever see The Undertaker paying respect to someone on air as The Deadman twice in the span of 2 days. Taker paying respect to Jeff and Flair looked pale in comparison to Taker paying respect to HBK twice. Two word defines what Taker did, “Real Respect.” Those two were the veterans of the company and I think it was hard for Taker to see HBK leave too but him breaking kayfabe is one of the rarest things you will ever get to see in your life and no one deserves that more than HBK and I don’t think that will ever happen again.

And moreover, Taker got two WrestleMania classics with Michaels. How many WrestleMania classics did Taker get with Austin and Mankind?

To sum it up, I believe The Undertaker’s feud with Shawn Michaels is his second greatest feud after his feud with Kane, and definitely greater than his feud with Mankind, Austin, Yokozuna, Hogan, Batista, Edge, Lesnar, and Orton.

The last but definitely not the least, this picture sums up what this feud is all about:

What do you guys think?

Its that time of the year again, and in my estimation, this is the biggest Wrestlemania card ever considering the magnitude of the superstars who are involved and considering the stipulations, story-telling and build-up done towards them. I’ll predict the matches in the order in which I think they will occur, and this has nothing to do with the order in which they appear on WWE.com.

And Jim Ross is not going to do call the Undertaker vs Michaels match? God, that is injustice. Unfortunately, we have to bear with it.

Big SLow and Miz vs John Morrison and R-Truth: Big SLow has a kind of a losing streak at Mania since the last many years, and so going by history one would think he will lose. But I just don’t see Morrison or Truth standing the knock-out punch. I’m assuming that this time, SLow and Miz will win.

Money in the Bank – Christian vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kane vs Shelton Benjamin vs Jack Swagger vs MVP vs Matt Hardy vs Evan Bourne vs Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston: The MITB has been used as a stepping-stone for pushing up a rising star who deserves a title run. Now that the ECW title is dissolved, we are left with only the WWE and WHC belts. Now, I don’t see Hardy or Bourne or MVP or Ziggler as material to win these. Swagger and Christian have had long title reigns in ECW, and Kane is in no mood for winning a belt because he just wants to push younger stars. So the best options in my estimation to win this are McIntyre or Benjamin. I’m tempted to say it will be Benjamin because he deserves it, but I think Drew will win it. He is perhaps soon going to drop his IC belt to somebody else and winning the MITB will fetch him some good heat from the crowd. Vince is real high on him and that is why Drew was added as the last participant in the match, so I think he will do something big this year.

CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio: Not a hair vs mask match, after all. So much for dirt sheets and rumours. Since Mysterio has to join the straight edge society if he loses, if I were to take a pick from an unbiased perspective, I would say that Mysterio will lose this because he can’t handle Punk and his minions together (be sure that Luke Gallows and Serena will interfere). It would be nice if he does a feud with Punk for leadership of the society. It will be interesting if Serena and Luke turn face after that to team up with Mysterio and beat Punk, because the WWE can’t turn the kids’ hero heel. They might do it to Cena later though, when TNA starts competing for ratings (far far away).

Randy Orton vs Ted Dibiase vs Cody Rhodes: I think this match happened too soon, because I was expecting Dibiase/ Rhodes to win the tag team titles before dropping it to the Hart dynasty. But I guess the WWE will run short on main-eventers soon and so they need Dibiase/ Rhodes to do well in singles’ competition. Assuming one of them will get a push in this match, I’m guessing it will be Ted Dibiase who wins after pinning Rhodes.

Divas’ match – Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Eve, Gail Kim and Beth Phoenix vs Michelle McCool, Maryse, Layla, Alicia Fox and Vickie Guerrero: I wanted to see Beth Phoenix vs Chyna, since Beth entered the Rumble like Chyna did and because Beth also said some trash about Chyna in an interview. That would have made it the perfect Wrestlemania. But I guess Chyna isn’t in good health. But at least they could’ve done a Divas’ championship match. Show some significance to women’s wrestling too! So what if Trish Stratus is not there? Anyways, I guess the idea of putting more divas there is to provide more eye candy to everyone watching the show. That’s the reason why I’m playing this match at the middle of the card – I would’ve placed it a match or two later too, but I’m sure HHH won’t come before the divas. Ideally this match should be in between the main events to give everyone some breathing between the matches :-)

I’m always on Beth Phoenix’s side – I think she’s the best diva wrestler by far. But who knows the WWE might make Vickie Guerrero do something cheap to make her team win. However, I’d like to see her on the losing side and then saying an “Excuse me” on the mic ;-)

HHH vs Sheamus: Winning this match will fetch HHH nothing, so I think Sheamus will win this one so that he can brag about it and considered a brute force when he gets drafted to Smackdown (because Undertaker and others might take time off). Its a classic case of young lion wanting to challenge the old lion to establish his presence and dominance. Since they are gym partners, I’m assuming HHH is real high on Sheamus and won’t mind losing cleanly to him, because that’s a rare thing (hey, but he did lose to Undertaker, Batista and Cena cleanly, pushing Batista high up in the process – so why do you hate him?). For all we know, HHH might have suggested this match. Or maybe Sheamus can use some kind of cheap shot when the referee is distracted, but you get the bottomline.

Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon: This is one of the best stories I have seen in recent years. I applaud Vince and the WWE for doing this. Though I agree that Bret set himself up for the screwjob and he screwed himself, it still stands true that he was a very dedicated performer and he was the only one who was greatly affected by the incident. His entire life after that has been hurt by it, and a person considered a national hero and a role model doesn’t deserve such emotional trauma. He was never able to come out of it, and I thank Vince as well as the WWE for making peace with him, recognizing his contributions, inducting him to the hall of fame, and now creating this story as a revenge for the Montreal Screwjob. What’s more? They are also inducting Stu Hart to the Hall of Fame. Well done! The build-up for this story has been fabulous, right from the point when Bret Hart hosted Raw (the most unbelievable sight I have seen in many years, when he entered the arena and then said “Hell Froze Over” – thank you, Bret, we all know what Don Henley said about his break-up with the Eagles :-) ) to him hugging Michaels and making truce, to him getting betrayed in the ring again by Vince to him getting his hands on Vince but getting attacked by Batista, to him getting in a scripted accident to him getting Vince to sign the contract for a no holds barred match (that too in the presence of Austin – the man who has the greatest history with both of these). The icing on the cake was Bret saying “Vince screwed Vince”. After 12 years of hearing that “Bret screwed Bret” from Vince, I never thought I will live to hear this line coming from Bret. Epic. Too bad the kids won’t understand it.

The match-result, however, is as predictable as match on the Undertaker’s streak. I was never so sure of the result of a non-Undertaker Wrestlemania match in the past (except Ric Flair’s retirement). They’ve hinted it several times – Vince said on the 4th Jan episode that “these people want you to put the sharp-shooter on me”, and Bret also tried doing that a few weeks later before being beaten down by Batista. So the match will end with a sharp-shooter from Bret on Vince, and Vince will tap out. Since both are old and can’t wrestle, the no-holds-barred stipulation will make up for it and Vince is going to get it badly. Being the chairman, expect him to have some back-up in terms of planned interference. Maybe Shane or some wrestler will interfere to help Vince. At this point, I expect Austin to help Bret out. I’d hoped he’ll be the guest referee but he isn’t. However, he’s in the city and is attending the Hall of Fame inductions, right? He can still come to Bret’s aid ;-) If he was the guest referee, it would’ve been too predictable that he’ll not let Vince do anything bad and that he’ll help Bret. Now its a little unpredictable and it would be a nice surprise if he comes out.

Edge vs Chris Jericho: You’d expect the Rumble winner to win this because for the last 2 years, the Rumble winners have not won the title at Wrestlemania. If it happens again, what would be the significance of the Rumble? Fans would lose interest in it and might not consider it so important to watch from next time. Also, Edge has lost the title 2 times in a row the last 2 years at Mania, so its high time he won it once. BUT – you can expect the WWE to surprise you in at least one match. They did it in the main-event of Mania 25 in which most people were expecting Orton to win due to the big push he was getting. But they deferred his victory to Backlash. They can do the same thing again this time, but I think that would suck because of the reasons I mentioned about the significance of the Rumble and Edge’s title-losing streak. So, expect Edge to come out on top. Too predictable a Wrestlemania we’re having, aren’t we? But at least the matches would be good.

A lot of people are complaining that we can’t have all the faces winning. But hey, didn’t we have Batista and Cena (the faces) winning the titles in 2005? One possibility that would be surprising is that if this were the last match, and if Christian (assuming for a second that he wins the MITB instead of Drew) challenges Edge and beats him then and there. Fabulous, but I wouldn’t go for it simply because it would ruin everything built since Edge’s Rumble return.

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels: As much as I have wanted that this match should not happen again, it is happening. It just doesn’t make sense to me that next year during his Wrestlemania promo, Undertaker will come and say that “I am 18-0 at Wrestlemania” and that “the last 17 who have tried to break the streak eventually fell before me”. Those in the crowd who don’t know the whole history of the streak don’t get it. Some will even say that he has faced Kane twice at Wrestlemania already, so that makes it 16 opponents. Come on, don’t you remember that he fought Big SLow and A-Train together?

Well, the only way to top last year’s match was to do something different, so they have made it a no-DQ. Thanks to the WWE for making it a no count-out as well because some idiots had been predicting that it will be a double count-out or something so that Undertaker doesn’t lose and so that Michaels also doesn’t retire. When will they realize that its not a big deal if Michaels loses 2 years to Undertaker? He had beaten Undertaker 2 times in ‘97/ ‘98 (with Kane’s help) so it is perfectly fine if he loses 2 times in a row to Undertaker now. And he doesn’t have to return at Summerslam to take revenge for that or anything. It will be Undertaker’s revenge for Shawn beating him earlier and for Shawn costing him the title at the Elimination Chamber. Those who were expecting a double count-out or something need to realize that Undertaker’s streak is not just an “undefeated streak”, but it is a “winning streak”. So if he doesn’t win, and if it goes 17-0-1, it tarnishes the streak rather than having it as 17-0 or 18-0. Moreover, creating such a big match at Wrestlemania once again and then not giving it a finish or an ending would be the worst business decision.

I am not sure whether Shawn will retire for good, or whether he will return several months or a year later for a final match with HHH. But it looks like this is a way to give him a long time-off, and he wanted it to be done by the hands of the greatest, hence he requested for a re-match with Undertaker. Don’t expect anything as stellar as the first Hell in a Cell, but something similar to it would be good. If its equally good, it might make it to Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s 5-star list (in which their HIAC match was the last 5-star match from the WWE). They deserve another one. No interferences would be good. All the others who can interfere (like HHH) have lots on their own plate to be worried about. Go, Undertaker. 18-0.

Batista vs John Cena: I have been predicting and anticipating this match since a year, and finally it is happening. I thought it doesn’t need the title around it considering its star-power, but I guess the title makes it better. Their earlier match at Summerslam wasn’t too great, but wasn’t bad either. This time, I’m sure Batista will show more aggressiveness. Cena siding with Bret Hart could be WWE’s way to get some liking for Cena from the veteran fans who hate him, but is not going to work :-D But he will come out on top this time in the match, since he lost at Summerslam 2008 – I don’t see him losing 2 times in a row to Batista at PPVs. That too, when Batista is the heel this time (last time they were both faces). The show will close with Cena raising the title belt, and there’ll be fireworks in the sky.

You can also use this page as a WrestleMania free-for-all to post your thoughts about WrestleMania before the event.