Take up thy Wrestling boots and Walk - Mark and Dave's excellent Detroit adventure
    Submitted by Pt2 on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 2:40 PM EST



    One thing seems to be on the lips of all WWE fans right now – no, it’s not the upcoming movie “The Condemned” starring Steve Austin. It’s the fact that coming up in less than two months time, Dave Batista will be defending his Championship at Wrestlemania against the man with the most impressive Wrestlemania Streak in history, The Undertaker.

    This seems to have gotten people talking. Regardless of who you expect to win, whether you think Undertaker will steamroll Batista or slip to 14-1, whether your anticipation is up for the big event because of it or not, everyone has an opinion on what is going to happen at Ford Field.

    For my part, I’ve no idea what is going to happen on April 1.

    I’m convinced that in my book, Dave Batista is the wrong man to end the Undertaker’s win streak. At age 38, Batista probably only has about 5 years left at main event level, unless he is very lucky, and compared with the likes of Carlito, aged 28, Randy Orton, aged 26, Edge, aged 33, or Ken Kennedy, aged 30, is a less solid investment for the company to make.

    Think about it this way; Undertaker is a proven asset, a draw, and although he isn’t wrestling a full time schedule anymore, he has something that isn’t that easy to create. He can give the person that he passes the torch to an absolutely massive rub, if they beat him one on one at Wrestlemania. The lift, the push, that will be given to this chosen one will be massive, akin to the push given to Hogan when he was given the nod over Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III. But they can only give that push once, to one guy.

    For me, that means they have to make sure they’ve got it right. They have to know, absolutely 100%, that they want to build the house around the man they give the nod.

    And I don’t think Dave Batista is that man. He’s over, true, but he has never shown any signs of becoming a genuine superstar, in the Austin/Rock mode, or even in the Hart/Michaels mode – while Hart and Michaels proved their popularity in boom as well as heading the card in bust, you have to wonder exactly where Batista would be if the WWE creative machine were firing on all cylinders. To me, he’s a Diesel – he’s a decent big man performer. He’s charismatic, and in quiet times can carry the belt decently, but he’s a champion in a wrestling recession only – he’s not someone that can capture the casual fans imagination and prompt a wrestling renaissance, and when that person comes along Big Dave will unfortunately be pushed to the side.

    I honestly think I could name a lot of current WWE stars that I put ahead of Batista in the queue to beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Edge, a much better in ring talent and charismatic star, would be ahead of Dave Batista. He is also five years younger than Dave. What doesn’t work for him particularly is that he is already a star, and has shown few signs of becoming a major, MAJOR star in his own right. Much like with Batista, I think giving Edge the rub may be something of a waste – but with an extra five years youth in his step, Edge is less of a waste than Batista.

    Ken Kennedy is a decent shout. A man who is looking like he could be a very big player in the WWE over the next 10 to 15 years if he is managed right, can work with many different people, and can talk better than most of the roster. I’d definitely suggest that giving him the nod over the Undertaker would be a better move than Big Dave, since Kennedy is already so close to being a main event star, that he could potentially be right at the level where a win over the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXIV could propel him into the spotlight.

    Carlito Cool’s career has been slightly inconsistent, but he’s popular and has lots of skills to go with it. He’d need some work, and I do worry over his size a lot, but if he was properly managed, eventually he could conceivably be worked into a position where his beating the Undertaker could be very beneficial to the company.

    Ken Doane, known to the world as Kenny Dykstra, could be one hell of a shout. He doesn’t look like a main event talent right now, but at the age of 20, assuming he stays on the rails and on the right track, he will be. Working a feud with Ric Flair before he is even old enough to drink in most states (he must love the shows in Britain) shows exactly how much the WWE think of his work, and I must say I agree with them. The one, and only, thing working against him is that when you are that young, you have no idea how things are going to play out over the next few years. Will he get lazy, arrogant, or become another Brock Lesnar if you push him all out? You may have to wait until Wrestlemania XXV or XXVI before it becomes a much safer investment, but sometimes good things come to those who wait.

    I could go on for some time listing wrestlers, but I’ll finish up with the two that we used to call the “darlings” of the WWE management. Randy Orton has always shown the most potential, in flashes, of any of the OVW wrestlers to come through. I mean that as an all rounder, before any fans of Shelton Benjamin start to attack me with sticks, I’d like you to remember that putting a live microphone in front of him should be considered a felony. The same goes for Charlie Haas, which is a shame because I’ve always liked watching Haas’s work. But back to Orton – if he ever starts to show that potential is turning into genuine, consistent ability, he’d be the best man to do it, but if he is going to start turning it on, it needs to be quick. And the final man I’m going to mention is John Cena. He’s been the WWE’s biggest success in recent years, he’s made the most impact in the mainstream media outside the already established stars, and defeating the Undertaker at Wrestlemania could give him some credibility with the fans of the WWE that haven’t watched since 2001; I’ve lost count of the number of times that people have said “John Cena? Never heard of him” and dismissed him straight away. A win over the Undertaker at Wrestlemania may serve to lure some of them back in. So as much as it pains me to say it, having Cena beat Undertaker wouldn’t be the worst move they could make.

    So I’m convinced, just as I was convinced that Galileo Galilei was right and Pope Urban VIII was a prat (I’m older than I look), that Batista beating the Undertaker is a waste of an asset. But I’m not convinced that the WWE feel the same way, and as a result, I really as very curious to watch Wrestlemania.

    The WWE have made Batista one of their top stars, and I’m not sure in my heart that they don’t believe all it will take is a win over the Big Dog in his own yard to make Batista the star they are looking at. He is a massive physical specimen, and we all know exactly how fond McMahon is of making big men his top stars, and with an already high position on the card what are the odds that Vinny Mac believes Batista can still be the next big thing – who knows, maybe he even thinks that because Batista is younger than the Undertaker (who will be 45 the week before Wrestlemania) that he is putting over younger talent, even though Batista is no spring chicken himself.

    It won’t be a wrestling classic, not by any means, and although I’m looking forward to the Michaels vs. Cena match as well, and I’m looking forward to the publicity that will be garnered from the Billionaires challenge, and also to seeing what other matches get added to the card, the anticipation is already building in me to see Wrestlemania this year. I didn’t order last year’s event, and missed the biggest PPV on the calendar for the first time since I’ve been a fan. To this day, it is the only one I haven’t seen – and I’ll be making sure that it’s still the only one I haven’t seen once Wrestlemania XXIII has come and gone. The WWE has done a superb job with this match already, and I’d be very, very surprised if it isn’t the main event come April.


    With Wrestlemania going back to Detroit this year, I also thought I’d compile a list of the top five Wrestlemania venues from the past 22. So without any further ado, this is what I’ve come up with.

    5. Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana

    The site of Wrestlemania VIII, 62,000+ filled the Hoosier Home, now the RCA Dome, to see the double main event of Ric Flair (C) vs. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice, in Hogan’s ‘last match’, which of course would go on to be the first of many last matches for the Hulkster. A superb crowd made themselves heard throughout the night, and really added something to the event, especially during the brilliant Flair vs. Savage and Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper matches.

    4. Reliant Astrodome, Houston, Texas

    Back in the dieing days of the attitude era, nearly 68,000 people spent $3.5 million American dollars to see the two biggest stars of the WWE, The Rock and Steve Austin, battle for the WWE championship in a babyface match. This crowd was hot, as not only did the Texan Austin battle The Rock in his first title match since 1999, but hometown hero Undertaker also battled the company’s top heel, HHH. One of the hottest crowds I’ve ever heard, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that people often say Wrestlemania X-Seven is the best of the lot.

    3. Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan

    I don’t think anyone can definitively state that they know the actual attendance for this event, but it has been listed at a massive 93,173, the indoor attendance record. And I’m sure if you are a wrestling fan, you know why they were there. Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan, a match that is as big as any other you could care to name. Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage routinely still makes many people’s top matches of all time lists, and EVERYONE that was at this event will have told fellow fans that they witnessed “the slam heard around the world”.

    2. Skydome, Toronto, Ontario

    The Toronto crowd are phenomenal, and they make a tremendous amount of noise, especially considering that both of the Wrestlemania’s they have received were fairly mediocre. Both, however, were saved by a match of massive proportions, and the crowd played a massive, massive part in making both Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock the matches that they are. Undoubtedly, the Skydome and the fans who attended have a massive part in Wrestlemania history.

    1. Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York

    I don’t think this will be much of a surprise to anybody. The New York crowd has a strange, quality all of it’s own that adds a real charm to any event, whether it’s a Wrestlemania, Survivor Series or a run of the mill Raw, and Madison Square Garden has an atmosphere that really adds something to the any broadcast. The site of three Wrestlemania’s, it’s virtually a shoe in to head this list. Wrestlemania I may be dated by today’s standards, but if it hadn’t been a big success then the other Wrestlemania’s would never have happened. Wrestlemania X, now a good thirteen years ago, still usually makes everyone’s top five Wrestlemania’s due to superb matches between Bret Hart and Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. The last one to be held here, Wrestlemania XX, suffered from overhype, but was still, in my opinion, a fantastic Wrestlemania, with a superb crowd and a superb main event. No show could ever have lived up to that amount of hype, but it was an emotional night where both the company and fans celebrated making it to 20, in spite of all the bumps in the road along the way. Wrestlemania XXX will almost certainly be at Madison Square Garden, and I don’t think I’d have it any other way.


    Agree with something? Disagree with the whole column? You can reach me at takeupthywrestlingboots@gmail.com, and I’ll leave you to get on with the rest of your week…. You can start….. now.

    Take care

    Pt2




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