The WWE-Ek: Spelling “Ladder” With Two Letters

This week has been brought to you by the letters “I” and “C.”

Can you figure out why?

Because the Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania is getting a bigger push than the marquee matches, all thanks to a combination of RAW and SmackDown booking.

On RAW, we saw R-Truth, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, and Dolph Ziggler play “keep away” from Wade Barrett while Daniel Bryan looked on. I hate admitting this, but while this does make Barrett look like a complete jobber, this does pose for an intriguing match for Mania.

It got better on SmackDown, when it looked like Daniel Bryan was about to toss in his hat for the championship match, when Stardust struck and seemingly announced his own entry into the Ladder Match. Is it just me, or is there now a thing where you can just “enter” yourself into whichever match you want. In that case, I want in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. With all the top guys in the Ladder Match, I should have no problem disposing of Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, and all three members of The New Day.

Point being, I think WWE realized they needed something big and show-stealing, but they couldn’t do a Money in the Bank match. So, switch briefcase for a championship, and there you go. I expect Bryan will inevitably enter the match, and I would not be shocked if we saw Goldust in there as well to wrap up his feud with Cody, that is IF Stardust does indeed enter the match.

I had figured we would get the rematch between Gold and Star Dust at WrestleMania, but perhaps not.

Kudos to WWE for highlighting one of its mid-tier championships like this. Gives the upper-mid-card stars a big chance to shine.

Speaking of chances, seems like Curtis Axel got a second lease on life, with #AxelMania running wild and majorly teasing his challenging Rusev for the United States Championship. The mere thought of an Axel/Rusev match at WrestleMania is laughable, but if fans want it, why not? Even better, make it a Triple Threat Match between Curtis Axel, John Cena, and Rusev. Axel could pin Cena for the title, meaning Rusev will have never actually been pinned, and the Rusev can regain the title from Axel the next night on RAW.

Now there is some good scriptwriting for you.

Here is something you couldn’t script, Samoa Joe has left TNA/Impact. Will he show up in WWE? Maybe, maybe not. AJ Styles went to Japan and ROH, and Joe does have some ROH dates scheduled already. Honestly, if he was WWE-bound, I would rather see him in NXT. I can’t see him on an already overcrowded main roster. NXT has become its own entity, and Joe could fit in perfectly there.
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