WrestleMania 24 - my predictions

For those of you who don't know, WrestleMania is the biggest & grandest annual pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is called "The Grandest Stage of Them All", & is usually held around the end of March or start of April. The latest edition, WrestleMania 24, is almost upon us. It will kick-off on Sunday night (US time) at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The final WrestleMania 24 card will be as follows:

Triple-Threat WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton (c) vJohn Cena v Triple H
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge (c) v The Undertaker
ECW Championship Match: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Winner of Raw/SmackDown/ECW Battle
Royal Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Ken Kennedy vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison (winner gets future title match within 1 year of the MITB Ladder match)
Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Flair has to retire from wrestling if he loses)
Raw vs. SmackDown Match: Umaga (Raw) vs. Batista (Smackdown)
BunnyMania Lumberjack Match: Ashley & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina (Snoop Dogg is MC for the match)
Belfast Brawl: Finlay vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)
No Disqualification Match: The Big Show v Floyd "Money" Mayweather

Raw/SmackDown/ECW 24-Man Battle Royal: This will take place before WrestleMania. Winner gets a ECW Championship shot at WrestleMania against Chavo Guerrero. The participants: Elijah Burke, Lance Cade, Deuce, Domino, Tommy Dreamer, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Festus, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly, Jesse, Kane, Brian Kendrick, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Shannon Moore, Trevor Murdoch, Jamie Noble, Chuck Palumbo, Cody Rhodes, Snitsky, Stevie Richards, Val Venis & Jimmy Wang Yang.


Here are my predictions:

Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship belt. Actually, to be honest, I find this match hard to call. Many people are sure Orton will lose the belt. Some feel Triple H will win, while others say Cena will regain the belt. Orton's chances of winning seem to be overlooked. I thought I'd go against the popular prediction & tip Orton to keep his title. Being the "bad guy", Orton will likely cheat along the way to secure victory.

The Undertaker to become the World Heavyweight Champion, & so extending his unbeaten streak at WrestleMania, as he has never before lost at WrestleMania. That is also the case with Edge, but I tip The Undertaker to win the match, meaning Edge loses his own unbeaten Wrestlemania streak (which is much shorter than the Undertaker's).

Chavo will lose the ECW Championship to Kane. (see later)

Chris Jericho to win the Money In the Bank Ladder Match. WWE didn't bring Jericho back to the company last year just to be a bit-part player. He recently won the Intercontinental Championship belt, & I think he will win Money in the Bank. I would have tipped Ken Kennedy to win, but heard that he's making a movie shortly after WrestleMania - which means he's not likely to win Money in the Bank as he will have to devote considerable time to his movie. (Unless of course the movie rumours are untrue....)

Shawn Michaels to win, & end Rick Flair's career. Flair would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the day before WrestleMania. I take that as an indication he will be retiring soon. And if he is going to retire by losing, then who more "fitting" to do the honours than veteran, well-known, well-regarded, highly respected wrestler in "The Heart Break Kid" Shawn Michaels?

Batista to win. I would definitely be supporting Umaga, but I can't see him getting over Batista, who has been with WWE for much longer & is more experienced. I heard rumours that the storyline would see Umaga switching over to Smackdown shortly after WrestleMania to continue the feud with Batista. That suggests Umaga would lose this match, to fit in with the planned storyline. Umaga may eventually win the feud, but along the way, he would lose at WrestleMania. So, Batista to win, & he will have to do it the hard hard way - no one beats Umaga easily.

Ashley & Maria to win. Enough said.

JBL to beat Finlay in the Belfast Brawl. I just can't see Finlay winning. His role in WWE is basically to put over other wrestlers. I see JBL winning as a more believable outcome. After that, I can see JBL entering a feud with either Shawn Michaels or Triple H.

The Big Show to win, of course. WWE are not going to let one of their wrestlers lose to a boxer invited to the show to make a "guest appearance". Especially not with a wrestler the stature of The Big Show (biggest wrestler in WWE). Now, the outcome of this match seems to be a foregone conclusion. But I have a feeling WWE will come up with something to make the match a little less predictable, & make Big Show's win "less straightforward".

As for the 24-Man Battle Royal, hmmm.....I think size matters, so the winner is likely to come from one of Kane, The Great Khali, Mark Henry or Snitsky, as these are the biggest 4 wrestlers taking part in the Battle Royal. I can't see Snitsky winning, so he can be discounted. I don't find it easy to pick between the other 3 (Kane, The Great Khali, Mark Henry), though I am confident whoever wins will definitely go on to take the ECW Championship. I would tip Kane, if only because WWE might see fit to reward him for years of hard work & loyal service (Kane's been around longer than Mark Henry & The Great Khali). So, I tip Kane to win the Battle Royal, & then go on to win the ECW Championship from Chavo Guerrero at WrestleMania.

Now, those are just my predictions. I don't always get them right - in fact, I get more predictions wrong than correct! I can tell u that I won't mind being wrong on my prediction of Batista beating Umaga. Anyway, those of u watching WrestleMania 24, I hope u have a most enjoyable time.