When in Rome XXVI - Wrestlemania's Triple Threat: Neither Three Times the Fun, nor Twice as Nice
Submitted by romans_3:23 on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 12:03 AM EST





Welcome to When in Rome, the column that arrives sooner than expected. Well, I looked at my schedule and it appears to me that I have more time this week to write than I would next week, so here’s a new column for you. Speaking of sooner than expected, the NFL will be back in the sports headlines (as if they’ve ever left?) with this weekend’s pre-draft combine in Indianapolis.

I realize that lots of people think that the combine is one of the more important weekends leading up to April’s NFL Draft, but I think it’s seriously overrated. There is a big difference between having speed and having game speed. Jerry Rice was never a burner – but he’s the greatest wideout (maybe the greatest player?) in NFL history. His San Fran running mate, Joe Montana supposedly looked horrible at the combine, according to NFL Hall of Fame writer Ray Didinger. I think Joe Cool managed to have himself a moderately successful NFL career…

So, when next week rolls around and all the talking heads are out in full force saying that this or that guy is going to be the next big thing, remember that combine stars often turn out to be Brian Bosworths or Tony Mandariches.

The combine ain’t all it’s hyped to be – but that won’t stop the NFL Network from showing 26 hours of coverage this weekend…

That’s enough football talk. Let’s get around to wrestling with some…


Apocrypha


No Way Out is over. We are officially hurtling headlong down the road to Wrestlemania. I was four up (both EC matches, Flair and Edge) and two down (Punk and Cena – I called for Cena to win the belt, alas he won by DQ, so I was wrong) in my NWO predictions. While that isn’t a terrible performance, it pales in comparison to DaveyBoy who went 6-0. Also, lots of my readers (like Pat- there’s your shout out. You happy?) emailed me prior to the show to let me know that they foresaw that WWE was going to book an Orton/Cena/Trips triple threat title match at Mania. I was vehemently against that idea (more on that later) but I’ll admit that my prediction was wrong and you all were right. Hopefully the triple threat match entertains us all.

Well, it’s the not as Big, Show made his anticipated return at NWO. He got some cheers, talked some smack, chokeslammed some Rey, and took some blows to the face. Boxer Floyd Mayweather showed up as a kayfabe buddy of Mysterio, jumped in the ring and threw some stiff shots to Show’s dome to rescue his injured pal from Captain Insano’s clutches.

All indications point to some sort of Show/Mayweather match taking place at Mania. The only question remaining is what type of match it will be. It could be a wrestling match or a boxing match. (Show reportedly trained to become a boxer during his time off) Some people are reporting that it will be some sort of tag match with Show and Shane McMahon teaming up against Mayweather and a partner. For the short term, I guess that Mayweather’s involvement will generate some mainstream attention for WWE, but I do question the logic of putting a returning Big Show in a gimmicky feud with a non-wrestler. I realize that WWE can easily push a guy with Show’s size and pedigree to the top of the card if needed quite easily, but if he loses at Mania to a boxer (which is very likely) it could cause his return to fizzle, much like Jericho’s and JBL’s have. I have another idea for how WWE could’ve handled Show’s return, but I’ll get to that a little later…

Kofi Kingston, the Jamaican jumpstart, has looked good while smashing jobbers in ECW. So good that some have begun pondering whether WWE should find a place for Kofi at Wrestlemania. Some have even suggested putting him in the MITB match. While I will concur that Kofi has potential, I do not think he has done nearly enough to merit having a spot in the MITB match. Those spots should go to guys who are either already main event caliber or right at the cusp of the main event. A guy like Kofi should find himself participating in a pre-show battle royal or signing autographs at the Fan Axxess. If Kofi’s good at video games, maybe he can challenge Shelton for the Smackdown vs. Raw gaming championship, but he hasn’t warranted a spot at Mania just yet.

If Kofi’s as talented as he appears; his time will come – but not now.

Ok, let’s move on to…


The Gospel Truth


Proverbs 30:21

Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:


Well, it’s official. The Raw Wrestlemania main event is a triple threat match featuring Randy Orton, Triple H and John Cena. In my columns, I have repeatedly stated that I do not like triple threat matches as Wrestlemania main events. Seeing three guys wrestle for the title at the biggest show of the year makes me tremble. If WWE even dared to add a fourth to the mix, ala the horrible Wrestlemania 2000 fatal fourway match between Rock, Trips, Mick Foley and Big Show, I could not bear it. I figure if I’m going to so fiercely rail against these multi-man matchups, I should at least have the decency to explain to my readers why I can’t stand them. Here’s why…

If you win a World title in a Wrestlemania triple threat match, you will die!

Well, only Chris Benoit, the winner of the Wrestlemania XX triple threat featuring himself, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, died, but Rey Mysterio, the winner of the WM 22 triple threat that included himself, Randy Orton and Kurt Angle, has not fared all that much better since he won his triple threat. Now, I’ll admit that comparing Rey’s circumstances to the murderous Benoit’s is a bit harsh, but since Rey won he has suffered two major injuries which have resulted in him missing out on WM 23 and quite possibly WM 24.

Rey also suffered through what many consider the worst World title reign in WWE history. He continually jobbed even though he was champion, most memorably to a very green and very despised Great Khali. At best, one could classify Rey’s reign as a token lifetime achievement. At worst, one could classify Rey’s reign as a shameless exploitation of the name of his dead friend Eddie Guerrero. Either way, only the most unabashed Rey fan will remember his reign fondly. Rey dropped the belt to Booker T and soon began a feud in which he was kayfabe put out of commission by Chavo Guerrero. Rey did return at last year’s Summerslam, looking a bit pudgier and more silver than he had in the past. His silver hue was a remarkable physical characterization of Rey’s career. He’s a silver guy – someone who is pretty good, but not quite worthy of gold. He’s become a jobber to the stars – exemplified by his role as Edge’s time killer until his WM program with Taker began – and his future looks kind of bleak right now.

And currently Rey’s injured yet again and he is most likely going to miss out on taking part of the big Floyd Mayweather angle. Sure, Rey will always have a strong following, especially with the kids, but it’s been all downhill for him since that glorious victory at WM 22. Let’s hope he ends up a little better off than Benoit…

A multi man main event at Mania shows that WWE lacks a true main event matchup.

Now, I know many of you would argue that a multi man match shows that WWE has so many main eventers that they can’t bump one of them down the card. But, I completely disagree. I view this situation from the same perspective that I view an NFL team like the 2007 Arizona Cardinals that just couldn’t settle on a quarterback. The Cards played both Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner (sometimes even playing both in the same game) until Leinart suffered a season ending injury. Remember the old adage – if your starter and your backup are of the same quality, you have no starting quarterback.

The same logic applies to the WWE. By putting Cena, Orton and Trips all in one match, WWE is saying that they don’t trust a one on one match between two of the three to carry Mania as a true main event. I disagree, especially in the case of the possibility of Cena/Trips II, but WWE is subtly saying that they don’t even trust a WM 22 rematch to sell.

Wrestlemania 2000’s four way main event came about because WWE did not yet have enough faith in Triple H as a guy who could sell a Mania main event. If they had believed in Trips, the obvious main event would’ve been the Rock vs. “The Game” one on one. Mick Foley would’ve made an excellent special referee for the bout, and Big Show would’ve looked stronger by wrestling in a competitive upper mid card match (maybe against someone like Kane?) instead of getting pinned by the Rock in less than five minutes in the main event. And can you imagine just how much better Trips would’ve looked if he beat Rock in a singles match? It’s true that we’ll always know Trips as the first heel to escape WM as a world champion, but WWE could have made his accomplishment even more significant.

The same dynamic was inherent in the HBK, Trips and Benoit WM 20 match and I couldn’t stand it then either. I wanted to see Benoit wrestle “the Game” in a one on one match for the World title, but WWE didn’t trust that the public would buy a Benoit/Trips main event at Mania, so they interjected HBK into the mix to add to the overall star power of the match. While I will begrudgingly admit that the WM 20 main event match was entertaining, I just believe that Benoit’s defining championship moment would’ve been even sweeter if he had made Trips tap in a singles bout, but WWE didn’t trust the marketability of Benoit/Trips despite the fact that everyone seemed to be rallying behind Benoit after his Rumble win. WWE had done Trips vs. HBK to death leading into WM 20 and if anything the people were exasperated by their feud, which should’ve culminated in their last man standing match at the Royal Rumble.

With this year’s triple threat, WWE is continuing the Orton/Cena rivalry well past its due date. They have met up twice this past week and it’s evident that nothing has changed since last year’s Summerslam – Orton cannot beat Cena. The only valid reason WWE would’ve had to continue this feud would’ve been if Cena simply cashed in his Rumble victory against Orton at Mania, but since that match has already occurred at NWO, and WWE went through the trouble of booking an Elimination Chamber match to determine a new number one contender for Mania, having Orton take on Cena again even in triple threat form reeks of redundancy. I realize that Orton weaseled his way out of losing to Cena at NWO, but that’s simply the classic “champion’s advantage” rearing its ugly head. WWE should’ve just gone with Orton vs. Trips if they were intent on Randy retaining. This triple threat just needlessly cheapens all the participants involved.

But what to do with Cena? Why would WWE bring him back and not place him in the main event? WWE has a clear alternative for Cena, but they have chosen to forgo it. Remember how I said earlier that I would reveal what I would do with Big Show’s return? Here it is. I would have booked a Big Show/John Cena match for WM 24 if Orton was booked to enter as champion.

Cena is a big enough star at this point in his career not to need to wrestle in the de facto “main event” match. By putting Cena in a triple threat, WWE seems to not recognize this fact. WWE could’ve run the same Mayweather/Show angle, but made Cena Mayweather’s running buddy instead of Rey Mysterio. Then Mayweather could simply have become a special referee or corner man for Cena against Show instead of actually wrestling. Like I said earlier, Show will not benefit from jobbing to a non-wrestler so quickly after returning. Even if Show jobbed to Cena, I think that’s far less damaging than going down to a boxer. Plus, Cena + celebrity guest + returning giant = a main event caliber encounter, even without a title up for grabs.

You wouldn’t play the Super Bowl with three teams, would you?

The NFL played its championship game, the Super Bowl, a few weeks ago. Now, I may be mistaken, but I do believe that only the Giants and Patriots took the field that day. The NFL didn’t decide that they just couldn’t have the Super Bowl without Brett Favre and the Packers and then include them in the game. If Wrestlemania is supposed to be WWE’s Super Bowl, why would they invited a third wheel to their championship game?

The simple logistics of a triple threat match cause it to lack the credibility of a singles match. You’re always left wondering if the winner really could’ve won if the other competitor wasn’t involved in the match. Just like you would wonder who the true NFL champion was if three teams played at the same time during the Super Bowl. We’ll always look back at the Mania triple threats and wonder – could Rey have beaten Angle one on one? Could Benoit have made Triple H tap in a singles bout? And we will look back at this year’s triple threat in the same manner. There will not be a definitive winner when Wrestlemania ends, and that’s unfortunate.

Now, I realize that the WWE is sports entertainment, an entity that has a lot of leeway with how it handles its championships, and not a legit competition like football. But at the very least, WWE should make Wrestlemania a special event in which the fans go home knowing that whoever walks out at the end of the evening with the WWE title earned it, by hook or by crook, in a match featuring the top two stars in the company. But this year, the fans won’t receive that satisfaction that the Giants fans had when their team vanquished the Pats. Wrestling fans will only have confusion because in this case, three is not greater than two.

So, that’s the reasoning behind my hatred for multi man main events at Wrestlemania. I say save them for the rest of the year. What do you guys think? Be sure to email me romans_3:23 , at romes_writings@yahoo.com and let me know your feelings about the upcoming triple threat.

Before I let you go, let’s read some …


Proverbs


The wise man is not afraid to try new things, nor does he fear unknown lands. Therefore read. Uncle Joe’s – 3:10 To Yang

Be sure to not follow fools in their pointless pursuits. Spend your time wisely by reading Jetsetpoker’s – Shuffle Up and Deal Vol 11: Useless?



You’ve just finished the uninspired, fallible, opinion only word of Rome. Take it for what it’s worth. I’ll be back in two weeks (yes, I really believe it will be two weeks this time) with a new column for you, but while you wait be sure to check out the LOP Columns Forum . Some excellent columnists ply their trade there. Support them. Also, write your own column and join in on the fun.

Send any email to romans_3:23 , at romes_writings@yahoo.com.

Later all.
















***DIRECT LINK*** Over 14 Total HIGH QUALITY Maria 2008 PB Photos! MUST SEE!

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