Matt O’Brien maintains the Wrestleview.com poll
Wrestlemania is always on the horizon. As soon as the last match ends on the show, WWE begins hyping the next year’s event. The company has been doing more advanced match building for big shows. It happened with John Cena vs. The Rock, Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H and is going on right now with The Rock’s pending title match at the 2013 Royal Rumble. If the Royal Rumble is receiving this much build, what could be on the horizon for the upcoming Wrestlemania.
The most recent Wrestleview poll asked readers what they would like to see as the next Wrestlemania main event. Over 6,000 votes were cast.
The results are as follows:
What match would you like to see as the Wrestlemania 29 main event?
The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar 41.6% (2,522 votes)
John Cena vs. The Undertaker 19.14% (1,160 votes)
The Rock vs. John Cena 16.56% (1,004 votes)
CM Punk vs. The Rock 15.94% (966 votes)
Other 6.76% (410 votes)
Total votes cast: 6,062
The match most readers voted for struggled early in the poll. In the end, a possible sequel to Rock vs. Brock from 2002 walked away with over forty-on percent of the votes. The Rock was drastically cutting back on his appearances when Lesnar rose to prominence in WWE. When they met at Summerslam that year, Lesnar ended Rock’s last title reign. Ten years later these two are back as part-time players. The prospect of a rematch has always been interesting, but this is the first time it feels remotely possible. One has to wonder how this match would play out. How would a Hollywood action star match up against a former UFC fighter?
The Undertaker has faced such a wide range of opponents at Wrestlemania. Despite headlining the show by winning a championship or ending a career, Undertaker has never once faced the top star in the company at a Wrestlemania. He spent years as a monster slayer in the mid-90s, he won titles from Sid, Batista and Edge. He left Ric Flair a bloody mess, retired Shawn Michaels and had two Hell in a Cell matches. Despite all his success at Wrestlemania, never once did he step onto that grand stage against a Hulk Hogan, a Steve Austin, a Rock or a Bret Hart. That seems odd since any of those matches would have been huge draws. It seems the timing was just never right…until now. The last time fans saw a feud between Cena and Undertaker was 2003 so the match would be fresh. They teased a match at the end of 2009, but it never happened. A win over the other at a Wrestlemania is perhaps the greatest accomplishment either man could ever have from a storyline standpoint. Undertaker, despite all his Wrestlemania success, can finally defeat the top guy in his backyard. Cena, despite being the top guy for almost eight years, could achieve his biggest win ever by ending the streak. If this match is to happen, time is of the essence. Neither man is invincible, and the time will come when it will be too late, much like it was for so many other potential Undertaker matches at Wrestlemania.
It was surprise to many earlier this year when The Rock defeated John Cena in what was billed as a “once in a lifetime” match. It seems like the natural course would be for Cena to get his win back. Rock is lined up for a title match at Royal Rumble. They have already teased Punk-Rock for that show, and it would be huge for Rock to end CM Punk’s long title reign, something Cena has been unable to
do. Perhaps Cena wins the Rumble to set up for his rematch. This time, Cena comes at Rock hungry and calculating instead of cocky and arrogant. It may seem redundant to some, but a natural course of direction for others.
The Cena-Rock match at Wrestlemania 28 had an entire year of build. What if WWE is doing that again with Rock and CM Punk. Punk had to play second fiddle to Rock at this year’s Mania, so he would be looking to show why he belongs in the main event. Punk’s verbal joust and attack of Rock at Raw’s
thousandth episode has set these two on a collision course. There is always the chance that Punk loses the title within the next few months to a Cena, a Ryback or a Bryan, only for that person to fall to Rock at the Rumble. If that occurs, Punk would make the perfect candidate to win the Rumble and challenge the people’s champion at Wrestlemania.
Votes for Other, as expressed in the comments, included a Lesnar-Cena rematch from Extreme Rules. One individual expressed a desire to see a triple threat between Rock, Cena and Punk, which may be unavoidable at this point considering how these characters are so intertwined. There were also votes for a Ryback vs. Undertaker match. There were a few possibilities tossed around for CM Punk such as a match with Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin or Undertaker.
Thank you to all the Wrestleview readers who continue to participate in these polls. Your votes are much appreciated. Be sure to check out Wrestleview.com to cast our vote in the latest poll!
Matt O’Brien
Wrestleview.com
mattman5436@yahoo.com