3/31/2012- The Night Before WrestleMania XXVIII- My Personal Thoughts

Hello everyone, I hope all of you are having a great weekend this weekend. This blog isn't your usual reading, but rather it will be all about the hype of WrestleMania 28 tomorrow night on PPV. No videos, no glamour. Just a man and his thoughts.

WWE
Tomorrow is WrestleMania. The "be all, end all". This is where story lines culminating to this event come together in this extravaganza. Overall, there will be 9 matches on the card. 1 will be streamed live on WWE.com & YouTube, while the rest of the card will air on PPV. Here is the card from bottom to top.

Pre-Show: Epico & Primo vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

This match in a nutshell was never promoted in the 1st place. This is there just to give these guys time to perform on the big stage without taking time on the actual PPV. Hence the reason why it will be streamed live on the Internet before WrestleMania goes on the air.

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres in a Divas Tag Team match

This match was also just another undercard match that didn't get too much hype on WWE programming. In fact, it didn't get announced on Raw or SmackDown at all, but rather on Extra (which Maria Menounos co-hosts). The announcement occured during a worked-shoot segment on Extra where Phoenix and Torres confronted Menounos and Kelly Kelly and decided to settle the score at the big stage. Don't expect too much from this match as it won't be taken seriously at all.

Randy Orton vs Kane

This rivalry between Randy Orton and Kane all stemmed from a Street Fight that took place on SmackDown back in July 2011. Keep in mind, that was when Kane was unmasked. After the fight, Kane shook Orton's hand as a sign of respect. After a brief hiatus Kane took, he returned with the mask and had a brief feud with John Cena. Once that was over, Kane had his sights set on Randy Orton. Kane explained the reason why he attacked Orton was due to what occurred in the Summer of 2011, as he didn't feel like he was a monster.

Overall, this could be a sleeper, but keep your expectations low.

Team Laurinaitis vs Team Long (Winner Takes over Raw and SmackDown)

The rivalry between John Laurinaitis and Theodore Long started at Elimination Chamber when Interim Raw GM  Laurinaitis announced that he has a plan to take over both Raw and SmackDown. Current SmackDown GM Teddy Long didn't take too kindly to what he said and thus the rivalry started over who is the better General Manager. Team Johnny's team consists of David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz. Team Teddy's team consists of Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, and Booker T.

Originally, Christian was scheduled to be part of Team Johnny, but due to an injury on Raw, he was replaced by Drew McIntyre. The Miz and Booker T became final picks, respectively on Raw to get them a spot at WrestleMania.

Cody Rhodes (c) vs The Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship

This all started after the Elimination Chamber when Rhodes was making jokes about how The Big Show has had embarrassing moments in WrestleMania history such as the sumo match with Akebono, boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr, etc. The Big Show decided to get revenge by taking out Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, and this time for the title on the line.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship

Last year's WrestleMania, the match between these guys was bumped off the card and was moved to a Dark Match. This year, the two are headlining for the World Heavyweight Championship on the line. During last year Money in the Bank PPV, Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase and was allowed to cash it in at anytime of his choosing. Originally, Bryan chose to cash in his briefcase at WrestleMania, but due to an attack by then- champion Mark Henry, he decided to change his mind. At the TLC PPV, minutes after Big Show beat Mark Henry for the World Championship, Bryan decided to cash in his title. Days after winning the title, Bryan showed villainous antics and abused his power as champion. Not too long ago, Sheamus won the Royal Rumble, and had a choice by choosing either facing the WWE Champion or the World Champion. After a few weeks, Sheamus chose the World Championship match.

CM Punk (c) vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship

Ever since the "worked shoot" promo, CM Punk has referred to himself as "The Best Wrestler in the World". This didn't sit too kindly with Chris Jericho, as he felt like people were copying him and not giving him any credit. Throughout the weeks, Punk and Jericho have been going at it, with Jericho making promos mentioning Punk's family problems. In my opinion, this could be the match that could steal the show if done correctly.

Triple H vs The Undertaker (w/ Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee) in a Hell in a Cell match

This rivalry between The Undertaker and Triple H is referred to as "The End of an Era" mainly due to the two performers being around since the early 90s and have pretty much done it all. The match is a rematch from last year's WrestleMania (and the 3rd meeting between them in WrestleMania history). After this rematch was set, Shawn Michaels was made the Special Guest Referee in this match. Michaels also had history with The Undertaker as he faced him two straight WrestleManias and one of them Michaels had to retire (as part of the stipulation).

John Cena vs The Rock

This match is a fan's dream come true, if you know what I mean. The Rock was an icon during the Attitude Era, while Cena has become the face of the WWE years after The Rock left for Hollywood. During a radio interview back around 2008, Cena criticized The Rock for not giving back to the WWE after leaving for Hollywood. Fast forward to 2011, The Rock made his return after a 7 year absence and made some remarks back to John Cena, one of which was calling him a "Fruity Pebble". At the main event of WrestleMania 27 last year, in which The Rock was the host, he interfered in the main event between John Cena and The Miz by giving him a "rock bottom". The next night on Raw, the two decided to settle the score at WrestleMania 28. Fast forward a couple of months, The Rock made his return match with his WrestleMania opponent in a tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series. After the match, The Rock once again "rock bottomed" Cena to close the show. The rivalry between the two has occured outside of WWE programming with the two going at each other via social media such as Twitter taking shots at each other. Also, weeks before WrestleMania, the two had a war of words against each other, making this rivalry heated.

That is all I have to say for now. I hope WrestleMania becomes a good show, but I will keep my expectations very low as last year's WrestleMania, WWE managed to mess up the main event. After WrestleMania, I will give the results of the match as well as my usual stuff. Enjoy WrestleMania everyone!

- NYCKNP