I quite enjoyed most of last year's performances, not sure that there's anything there this year that is going to match up so well.

Undertaker v HHH - neither has performed in months, probably will be fit enough and well choreographed but it will have to go some to match last year. Presumably Undertaker to win to keep the "streak" going for #20 next year?

The Miz v Cena - will only be interesting if the Rock gets involved

Edge v Del Rio - will be too choreographed

Orton v Punk - couldn't care less

Lawler v Cole - what a waste of time and effort, again will be over choreographed

Shamus v Bryan - should last the whole of 4 seconds, Bryan can put on some good shows with other technical wrestlers, Shamus isn't one of them

the mixed tag match - dull, dull, dull

anything else coming up that may be of interest? May well give this year a miss.

I'd want a load more than £15 to watch

Is Giant Haystacks on the list?

If youre a fan, its worth it, if only because every guy on that card will give an extra 10% above their usual peak.

does the royal rumble still happen? loved that as a kid

Yep, its the end of January each year.

Here is a youtube link that takes you to the start of this years match, no idea if all the parts are there, but this is certainly part 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ZWxDXfOwA

well i', gonna watch it on a stream so don't worry about the £15 if you wanna watch it live. but if i were forced to pay then yes - £15 would be worth it - and it will be every year til Taker loses the streak. if he ever does of course



Final note - great to see Wade Barrett with the IC title. Has been brilliant on the mic IMO and can wrestle too.

A couple of predictions based on the above.

HHH wont win, Taker will go 19-0 and im guessing he will go 20-0 V Cena next year and then retire.

No heal turn for Cena, it would cost the company too much in merchandise sales. Kids love him.

i dunno - whilst kids love Cena he's got that heel about him, and i think a heel turn would do him a lot of good - would probably get the Cena haters off his back anyway, same as it did for Orton after his face turn backfired

they can always find someone else for the kids - altho admittedly noone springs to minds right now that could equal Cena. Justin Gabriel could be the future in this area. they're also very likely to continue Del Rio's massive heel push for a year or so and then turn him into a top babyface - possibly bigger than Cena

Cena has not been very PC recently with his gay jibes and his non-PC raps at the Rock, so I dunno if this is a sign of him turning heel or not - but we all know how PC Vince likes to be these days

Taker retiring will decide his fate as mentioned. I see a couple of battles against HHH as more likely than Cena next year - altho I certainly wouldn't rule Cena out too easily. I read somewhere Taker may choose Kane to beat him as Jacobs wants to retire and it would be a reward for all his hard work. That for me would be too flat an ending to the streak as Kane is not Main Event for me any more

What would be fun for his 20th, would to put him in a 20 many battle royale and have him beat everyone in one go before retiring . Personally I dont see the streak ever ending. Its his trade off for having far fewer title reigns than his peers.

Im not sure on this Cena heel turn. As a corporate asset he is too important for merchandise and media. He is also one of, if not the most requested celeb for the Make A Wish Foundation. Its too much to sacrifice for a storyline that even if it will please the adult viewers at the end of the day wont increase ratings or sell more PPVs.

Del Rio and the soon to be added Sin Cara have been elevated purely to increase ratings in Latin America, so neither will be exiting the main event scene.

I think the slight increase in edgey TV content has more to do with Linda McMahon no longer involved in a Senate race, and HHH begining the transition to replacing Vince. The Attitude Era will never return, its too costly with the loss of advertisers, but the extra attention to being PG will go once HHH has more official power.

Battle Royale - not bad i'm thinking the streak may well stay intact too

Cena is a conundrum - good points about make a wish etc - it would be a major decision to turn him heel. i noticed the crowd shots of all the kids cheering him against the Rock on Raw this past week, proving just how over he is with them as they know no different - the Rock left before many were out of nappies - so he's their Rock/Hogan.

but if he's to grow as a character i think it's something they may need to do for the longevity of Cena as a top guy. could dip into heel status for a cple years then come back and sell to a whole new generation

i've noticed Dolph Ziggler is starting to get over with some of the crowd now - he could be the next major face if worked right. more interesting than Morrison anyway and could fill at least some of a Cena sized hole

agree about the PC direction too - didn't actually know Linda was out of the race so it makes a lot of sense

Yep, Linda lost. Heavily enough that I doubt she would run again.

Here we are again, same question as last year and 2 identical match-ups to consider.

The Undertaker v Triple H - probably intense, blood and some involvement from HBK to affect the result. The Streak has to end, there's no future in a once a year fighter, maybe a double count out so that it ends but he doesn't actually lose to go 19-1?

Shamus v Bryan - Bryan's filled a gap due to injuries to others as World Champ and gets his Wrestlemania main event that was probably the intention when he won Money in the Bank. Shamus' turn to hold a belt?

CM Punk v Chris Jericho - Y2J? Considering how he left WWE it's very surprising that he's come back and straight in as a contender, barrel scraping to appease the Canadian audience? Guess he wins and they pass the belt back and forth over the next month or so.

Cena v The Rock - Obviously the plan for Cena to be facing The Rock with the WWE belt on the line got shelved, presumably to allow Rock to win and not to have to defend it?

Orton v Kane - this one has disqualification written all over it

12 man tag match to determine who runs the weekly shows - will no doubt be manic and due to the numbers involved hesitation will plainly show whilst some are waiting for others to be in the correct position for particular moves to be made.

Bound to be a divas match - who cares?

Anything else?

I will be watching live.

For anyone who thinks they have it all predicted out and thinks its all obvious... Fill yer boots! Paddy Power are actually offering odds on it this year
http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-b ... ids=633824

Is this a wind up?

no

And there's me thinking you'd have to be at least 12 years old to be a Mod.

Any other unprovoked insults you would like to send

I can see HBK and HHH facing each otherat Wrestlemania in 2013 so I expect HBK to keep the streak alive for the Undertaker.

Cena to beat the Rock by turning full fledged heel.

CM Punk to defeat Y2J as jericho is playing with Fozzy over the summer in the UK

The others could go either way

Not really and it wasn't an insult. If you like watching men pumped full of steroids pretending to fight then good luck to you.

If we were all the same, the world would be boring.

I'll stick to playing with my Transformers!

Zoolander trolling again

Physically - yes, mentally - no

Let me in to the club then Vid, I couldnt be any worse than Zimmerman as a mod

You referred to me as being 11 or under. I do take it as an insult. Not a big one, but still. Why bother.

What I watch for entertainment is no more "guys pretending to fight" than any film/show where someone "pretends to shoot someone" "pretends to be married to someone" or "pretends" to do anything else. Its a storyline driven soap opera in effect, acted out in the main by talented performers and way more entertaining to me than any other soaps and most other scripted/acted shows on tv. Ive been watching it since 1991 and as long as each week the story ends with me curious to see what happens next week then its all good... certainly not worthy of the disrespect of someone coming on a thread specifically to poke fun at all the people posting on it.

Exactly, wrestling is more indepth than people realize, I have watched since the 80's mainly WCW then TNA.
all entertainment is make believe, ie soaps wrestling is just soap opera with ballet, you have to be very skilled to wrestle without hurting your opponent and that is theskill behind wrestling,

I'm finding TNA more entertaining at the moment, much smaller pool of performers of course, but appear to put more into it, maybe just better choreography?

Apart from the obvious homoerotic content, why do you watch this stuff?

Actually I'm genuinely interested

As I said, since 1991 each week has ended with me curious enough to tune in next week to continue the storyline. Simply put, im always interested to see what happens next.

You can spin it into somethiong homoerotic if you want, you could about Swimming if youre talking about bodies on display, Cycling or Rowing... you could about Rugby if youre talking about men grabbing each other kicks n entertainment. As with all things though, you only spin it that way if you want to. I spin it that there are a bunch of performers out there who are as dedicated to their craft as anyone in the world and are able to put on a show that entertains millions.

Certainly using the idea that its "fake" as a reason not to watch it is a bit daft. Anything on TV using actors or performers is "fake".

They tend to use less body grease and their shorts are a little tighter than they need to be surely?

Given it's acted out do you watch it as a sport or a soap opera? Or neither? I have tried to watch it - bit of the people's elbow - but I just don't "get it" - what am I missing?

It obviously is loved by loads of people!

They can't all be surpressed homosexuals