IS THIS THE YEAR?

[TRUTH TELLER]

Every year--if healthy-- HHH ends up competing for a World Title at Wrestlemania. Most of the time, it has made perfect sense and was the absolutely right thing to do, based on the rub beating Hunter for a belt brings. However, in recent years, there have instances where Trips seems to be WWE's version of Poochie, and gets shoe-horned into a match that quite frankly made more sense without him; or he replaced the guy altogether that should have gotten the match. (i.e. Wrestlemania 22 which based on ratings, heat and common sense, should have been Edge vs. Cena).

For whatever reason, right or wrong, WWE always feels compelled to put HHH into a World Title match at Wrestlemania--not just a marquee match--but a Title match at Wrestlemania. I guess what I'm asking is, is this the year they finally change the status quo and feature Title matches not involving HHH? Does Jeff Hardy & Edge get the sole spotlight? Or does Hunter get wedged in there again? Does Edge get the shaft altogether, and they go HHH vs. Hardy on top? (which if built properly with HHH as Champion earlier would have made more sense). I'm just curious to get opinions. Not so much on whether he "deserves" anything--because I know he deserves everything he has/had. I'm just asking if WWE will finally try something different.

[Pushed to the Moon]

I'd bet a large slice of fictional money that he'll be in the mix.

[Marvelously Mediocre]

he might be wrestling Undertaker. but if not I'm sure he'll be wrestling for the titl;e.

[Randy Barber 4-Life]

Here's how I think it plays out:
Next few weeks
-Triple H continues his feud with Koslov. It probably ends up in a "#1 contender's match" after Royal Rumble that Triple H wins giving him a spot at WrestleMania.
-Edge comes out of his feud with Jeff Hardy as champ. They've already played the "boyhood dream" card with Hardy, he's won it, they move on.
-Jeff leaves the title scene for a while for a WrestleMania feud with jealous brother Matt, who cost him the title somehow against Edge. (By this point Matt has lost the ECW title, probably to Mark Henry, making him more jealous and sparking his betrayal of Jeff.)
-Triple H wins the title from Edge at Mania.
-Jeff's back in the main event after beating Matt and Koslov in a #1 contender triple threat match at Backlash. This continues the feud they've been very slowly building between the two.
-Edge is taken out of the title picture for a while when his problems with Big Show reach a breaking point at Backlash in their triple threat match with Triple H.

[Widow's Peak]

According to Meltzer, the current plan is Edge/HHH. Unless they decide to give him the spot with Taker instead, I don't see him out of the Smackdown WM title match.

[TRUTH TELLER]

Dec 30, 2008 14:29:54 GMT -5 Widow's Peak said:

According to Meltzer, the current plan is Edge/HHH. Unless they decide to give him the spot with Taker instead, I don't see him out of the Smackdown WM title match.

How can the justify this in any way? I mean, really? It's almost a parody. What makes Edge vs. Hunter (without Hardy) the must see match in their eyes? It boggles my mind.

[derrtaysouth95]

he'll somehow manage to get in the match.

and rightfully so imo.

he's a constant threat to whoever the current title holder is.

[Loki]

Triple H is a great asset to any title match, in any capacity.

[Robbymac]

Dec 30, 2008 15:04:37 GMT -5 Loki said:

Triple H is a great asset to any title match, in any capacity.

This.

[Steveweiser]

It's Edge/HHH for the title as far as I'm aware. Jeff Hardy's apparently down for a match with Christian (who may or may not be Cage).

[Deleted]

Ugh Triple H in another title match at Wrestlemania.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

I really think Big Show is the one who'll take the belt off Hardy. He's still due some kind of reward for jobbing to Floyd Mayweather. Putting the belt back on Triple H or Edge seems kinda shortsighted. Show hasn't had it for quite a while (discounting his ECW title reign, it'll be 2002 when he was last world champion) so it'll seem fresh. The only other one is Taker and he doesn't need the belt. That's seems to be where this story where he and Edge are vying for Vickie's favour is going. And Jeff Hardy, who has beaten Triple H, Edge and Undertaker clean needed a count-out to defeat Show. What was the point of that unless it's leading to something? Like say Show saying he should get a shot because Hardy can't pin him.

Problem is Show will probably keep the belt for a month or two before dropping it at Mania but I dunno who to. The Smackdown main event scene is so thin, it thinks Michelle McCool has really let herself go.

[Robbymac]

Dec 30, 2008 15:15:03 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

Awesome Triple H in another title match at Wrestlemania.

fixed

[Marvelously Mediocre]

Dec 30, 2008 15:13:12 GMT -5 Steveweiser said:

It's Edge/HHH for the title as far as I'm aware. Jeff Hardy's apparently down for a match with Christian (who may or may not be Cage).

bullcrap. the dirt sheets know next to nothing.

[Metalheadbanger Man]

I don't mind it, as in recent years he has put other people over at 'Mania.

[wrestlecrapcrap]

It always annoys me when people say it should have been Edge vs Cena. They just had a match at the Rumble, so why do it again. The Mania main event should be something special, one off, or at least not have been seen on a lesser PPV only 2 months prior, what's so 'big occasion' about that?

The whole reason HHH was there was to make Cena look better. To cement him as the face of the company. They could have not done the Cena/Edge match at the Rumble, and held it until Mania, but HHH is a bigger name, a bigger draw, and Cena looks better from beating HHH than he does by beating Edge.

As for this year, I don't know. I would have been fine with HHH retaining until Mania if it meant dropping to Jeff there. I would have been fine with Edge retaining if it meant dropping to Jeff one on one. Now though they've totally thrown me, and I don't know where they are going, with either brand.

I think Jeff deserves to go in to Mania in the title match. He only deserves to lose if it means he's dropped it to Matt, or if Christian is aligned with Edge and they form some sort of alliance. Edge as champion in a repeat of the last year would not be cool, and neither would HHH IMO, it's Hardy's time, and he's got a plethora of possible new title opponents if WWE will let him run with it. It's not as if he isn't over enough to carry the ball, the fans basically demanded he got to the top.

[Robbymac]

Dec 30, 2008 16:14:31 GMT -5 wrestlecrapcrap said:

As for this year, I don't know. I would have been fine with HHH retaining until Mania if it meant dropping to Jeff there. I would have been fine with Edge retaining if it meant dropping to Jeff one on one. Now though they've totally thrown me, and I don't know where they are going, with either brand.

Completely agree with everything here, although not knowing where they're going is a good thing.

But...Cena-Orton is your Raw main event. That I'm sure of.

[TRUTH TELLER]

Dec 30, 2008 16:14:31 GMT -5 wrestlecrapcrap said:

It always annoys me when people say it should have been Edge vs Cena. They just had a match at the Rumble, so why do it again. The Mania main event should be something special, one off, or at least not have been seen on a lesser PPV only 2 months prior, what's so 'big occasion' about that?

The whole reason HHH was there was to make Cena look better. To cement him as the face of the company. They could have not done the Cena/Edge match at the Rumble, and held it until Mania, but HHH is a bigger name, a bigger draw, and Cena looks better from beating HHH than he does by beating Edge.

I'd agree with this assessment if they had actually slowly built toward this match for months. Instead, it was just kind of an afterthought the way it was built. Kind of like he was just being shoe-horned in just because they thought he should be main eventing, instead of it being the best story. I agree HHH vs. Cena would have been huge, but it just sort of fell together out of nowhere, with only 4 weeks of getting me emotionally involved (or not). There really wasn't even any tension until after No Way Out.

As for the Edge/Rumble thing, that was a hotshot to get the belt back on Cena for the HHH match at Wrestlemania. I don't think they were counting on Edge's run garnering the high ratings it did. Obviously, by proxy of that, Edge was a "draw". In fact, more so than HHH in that particular case, because once the heel focus shifted, ratings went back and never rose to those levels again (still haven't.).. I think in retrospect, they should have either had the foresight to build Cena vs. HHH subtly from say Survivor Series on, or just scrapped the pre-planned HHH match at Mania for the Cena vs. Edge blow-off (instead of Rumble) since that's where the interest lay at the time.

Dec 30, 2008 16:14:31 GMT -5 wrestlecrapcrap said:

As for this year, I don't know. I would have been fine with HHH retaining until Mania if it meant dropping to Jeff there. I would have been fine with Edge retaining if it meant dropping to Jeff one on one. Now though they've totally thrown me, and I don't know where they are going, with either brand.

I think Jeff deserves to go in to Mania in the title match. He only deserves to lose if it means he's dropped it to Matt, or if Christian is aligned with Edge and they form some sort of alliance. Edge as champion in a repeat of the last year would not be cool, and neither would HHH IMO, it's Hardy's time, and he's got a plethora of possible new title opponents if WWE will let him run with it. It's not as if he isn't over enough to carry the ball, the fans basically demanded he got to the top.

I agree. It seems kind of a shame if the rumor is true, not to mention kind of a tired "been there, done that" feel to it. Edge vs. HHH is kind of just "meh". It feels forced, spoon-fed and fake to me. I think, if HHH HAD to be in the Title match, a straight up Hardy proving he can "beat HHH on the biggest stage of them all" angle is the way to go. Kind of like how Eddie's WWE title reign wasn't really cemented until he beat Angle at WM 20 clean.

That aside, if people can put aside their fan cards for a minute, and look outside their personal bias for their favorite wrestler, can anyone honestly say that HHH challenging for the belt, at this moment, is the best possible story they can tell at Wrestlemania? I mean, really?