Saturday, April 6, 2013

WrestleMania in Jersey: The Champs

Sometimes lessons are taught in the stories told on professional wrestling broadcasts. Sometimes we are shown the most extreme examples to get us thinking and talking about right and wrong.

The story of Jack Swagger, Zeb Colter, Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez is one such story. Jack Swagger needs the help of a manager to be successful. His personality is the only thing holding him back. Adding Zeb and giving them a reason to go up against a man with huge personality, Alberto Del Rio, should have been gold.

Unfortunately, the story is one that seems to be fizzling just after it got hot. Is it Swagger's fault? Possibly. Can it be saved? Sure... with a title change. I think Del Rio needs to lose so his eventual victory over Swagger means more.

And, don't forget there's always the possibility of another title change, thanks to Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank contract.

Oh, and that DUI in February? It seems to have conveniently disappeared... it's possible there's more to the story than we know, making the charges not as serious as they sound.

And now, I'll admit it. I considered using my blog from last year to preview this next, and last, match. After reading it, I realized how different things are.

See, last year at this time, we were sick of this match. It was announced at WrestleMania 27, and promoted for a year with an hour-long special airing before the last Raw. We knew everything about these two guys, and anybody who didn't was probably Kathie Lee Gifford only because it had been a while since she hung out with Mega-Fan Regis Philbin.

But, this year, The Rock is the absentee Champ. He is out either promoting "Snitch" or "GI Joe." We didn't see either guy on Raw the second week in March, and on the third week, Cena faced Darren Young.

Of course, WWE needed the air time to set up all the other matches.

Although The Rock may be scheduled to appear at the next PPV (there seems to be some flip-flopping about that...) and made it clear at the press conference for WrestleMania 30 that he wanted to compete there, I think he is only around to promote his movies.

Think about it. "Fast Five" was released on April 29, 2011. "Journey 2" was released Feb. 10, 2012. "Snitch" was released Feb. 22, 2013. "GI Joe" conveniently releases the week before WrestleMania 29. He has yet another movie, "Pain & Gain" releasing April 26, as well as "Fast & Furious 6" in theaters in May.

Next year's movies are "Arabian Nights" and "Hercules." While the latter is scheduled to be in theaters just before Summer Slam, I have a feeling The Rock will be promoting his Sinbad role around WrestleMania time.

After all, Raw is the most watched and socially talked about program on Monday nights. What better way to promote a movie?

I love The Rock, but we cannot have an absentee Champ. Cena needs to get over with the male fans. The two had a spectacular match last year, but it wasn't enough to help Cena. Cena needs to win. The WWE needs Cena to win. The Rock will do his best to make Cena the man he needs to be.


Don't forget to stop by Sunday night for The Trentonian's WrestleMania Chat! We haven't decided yet if we are starting at 6 or just before 7 p.m., so stay tuned to my Facebook page for the latest information...

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