Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Is this a good match or not? Perhaps five years ago it might have, but today, I see a washed up fighter and a guy who is getting too old for this anymore. I am being deadly honest here. Is Brock Lesnar really someone who we could believe to be a threat to ending the Streak? No. I do not see it. Here are three better choices. John Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk. Why? Regardless if they would all lose, the fact is they would have been believable choices as opponents. Triple H was believable. Even Shawn Michaels. Last year, if there was a time for the Streak to end, it would have been believable at the hands of CM Punk.
Having Brock end The Streak would be worthless, pointless, and the worst possible decision. Chances are, Brock had it in his contract to get a marquee match. Due to WWE listening to the fans, they chose to keep him away from the WWE Championship. Due to WWE not listening to the fans, but having no other choice, they will likely feed him to The Undertaker, since the deadman has a “Never Ever Ever Will Lose at WrestleMania” clause. Honestly, I would rather never see the streak end. The only purpose I see it having is to massively elevate someone, although these days, whoever does end it will likely be booed into oblivion.
Come to think of it, I would have liked to have seen Bray Wyatt be the one to face him. It would be believable, and the build would have been incredible with the promos each one would cut on each other. Taker plays up his darkness and his legacy, Wyatt with the creepy messages would have been undeniably epic. Even if Bray Wyatt would come out as loser, just having gone up against Undertaker in a relatively early stage of his career would have elevated him to huge heights in WWE history. Sometimes a loss is greater than a win.
In the case of reality, a loss for Brock is a win for everyone else. Brock has nowhere to be elevated to. Brock could not cut a single promo on his own. He needed Paul Heyman to do all the work for him, and all Brock could do is tromp and stomp like a Neanderthal, scream like an infant, and throw chairs around like a crazed baboon. Think about that, Brock couldn’t cut his own promos. They could have switched him with Ryback and it would turn out the same, because PAUL HEYMAN DID ALL THE WORK TO HYPE THE MATCH! Ooooh! Brock hit the F5 on the deadman! Oh boy! Oh… Nothing. Does everyone forget they wrestled before? This is nothing special, and there is nothing special here.
Brock vs. Undertaker might be a decent match, but for WrestleMania 30, I would have expected better.
The real big deal, is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It is a big deal. I have said it before, so bear with my love of repetition, but a match like this harkens back to days of other “memorial” tournaments or Battle Royals where the prize is a car, $25K, or a giant trophy. This will involve 30 challengers, the same number as the Royal Rumble, but all in the ring at the same time. I imagine there will be serious introductions. WWE wants this to be taken seriously.
There is one problem. How can you take it seriously when you have the likes of Zack Ryder, R-Truth, 3MB, and other jobber-level wrestlers in there. There are a lot of main event names too. Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Alberto del Rio, Damien Sandow, and of course, the favorite, Big Show. They are pushing him really hard, I wondered if they would resurrect the horrific attempt WCW made to bill him (the known simply as The Giant) as either the son or nephew of Andre. Just dress him up like Fezzik from Princess Bride already! Could someone other than Big Show have a shot at winning? INCONCEIVABLE!!!
Here is the list:
• Intercontinental Champion Big E. Langston
• Dolph Ziggler
• Fandango
• Alberto Del Rio
• Damien Sandow
• Titus O’Neil
• Christian
• Sheamus
• Big Show
• Mark Henry
• Heath Slater
• Jinder Mahal
• Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes
• Goldust
• Kofi Kingston
• The Miz
• Brodus Clay
• Darren Young
• Justin Gabriel
• Rey Mysterio
• R-Truth
• Santino Marella
• The Great Khali
• Zack Ryder
• Sin Cara
• Brad Maddox
Some of these names are definitely head-scratchers. Brad “I need some Maalox” Maddox? Are you kidding me. Sorry, but even in a main attraction match, Rey Mysterio has about as good a chance as Justin Gabriel, and no, I did not pick him because he is a cruiserweight. Looking at this list, take half of them off and create a Cruiserweight Battle Royal and resurrect the championship!
I would love to see someone like Titus O’Neil, who had a great line on Raw, “I tol’ you I’m gonna win… That’s right, I tol’ you, without the “d.” He is such a great asset on the microphone, and his ring skills mirror those of at least five-year veterans. Brodus Clay, this could be his match to bring back his modern-day Human Suplex Machine attitude. Sheamus could be a favorite. I believe it will come down to Big Show and Mark Henry, both men deserving of this high honor. Frankly, Henry has been cheated out of a WWE Championship reign for so long, it just seems insane he has not been given proper respect, unless you could two consecutive beatings from Brock Lesnar as respect. I would not.
If I were to pick 30 men for this prestigious match, here is who I would have chosen:
• Big Show
• Mark Henry
• Big E. Langston
• Luke Harper
• Erick Rowan
• Christian
• The Miz
• Dolph Ziggler
• Titus O’Neil
• Darren Young
• Sheamus
• Alberto Del Rio
• Jack Swagger
• Antonio Cesaro
• Damien Sandow
• Cody Rhodes
• Goldust
• The Great Khali
• Brodus Clay
• Alexander Rusev
• Wade Barrett
• Ryback
• Curtis Axel
• Kofi Kingston
• The Miz
• Rey Mysterio
• William Regal
Now, I am sure you noticed in both lists, there are only 27 names. There are, as of right now, three unannounced spots. Perhaps surprise entrants? Legends or other wrestlers from yesteryear. If you compare lists, sure, I kept names like Mysterio, Miz, Rhodes, Sandow, and Khali, most for the same reason I added names like Barrett, Kingston, Regal, and Rusev. None of these people are going to win, nor do they have a chance in frozen hell. But, these are wrestlers who can rack up eliminations and can also keep the crowd attention. Khali, is a big man, and this match need more big men. For Alexander Rusev, like the Royal Rumble is another perfect opportunity for him to show how he can demolish anyone in his path.
There is not much else to say here. Big Show was pushed for the past few weeks as the favorite to win, even though he ate a loss from Bray Wyatt on SmackDown last week. Raw saw Big Show clean house, standing side-by-side with the line-flubbing, word-slurring Rowdy Roddy Piper, you know, his usual self. I would not be surprised if it came down to Big Show and Mark Henry, and quite honestly, that is exactly how this match should wind down to. I look forward to seeing if this is a one-time occurrence or there will be an ongoing significance to claiming the honor of winning the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
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