John Cena will main event WrestleMania XXI

[#1-norm-fan]

I'm gonna call it right now. I don't know who he will be facing but mark my words... Cena will be main eventing WM 21.

Thoughts anyone?

[Wondermouse]

Nah, no way, anybody who gets this over can only be buried.

[#1-norm-fan]

Cena is more over right now than Benoit was after XIX. A year later, Benoit is champ.

[PureHatred]

That white rapper crap is gonna get tired...so unless they re-work his character sometime this year, I see Cena falling off for a couple months then getting re-pushed. He'll headline WMXXII.

[Funky Fly]

He will be in one of the last 3 matches, but not main event.

[Wondermouse]

Right, but Benoit's been around forever. Cena hasn't even been around 2 years. I grant it can happen, but I really doubt it.

[John la Rock]

ya also think he'll be in the main event. He's the future. He's like Austin was after Wrestlemania 13

[#1-norm-fan]

He hasn't gone through a losing period yet. He started his career with a great showing against Angle, then a dominating feud with Jericho. Now he's arguably the most charasmatic guy in WWE. Plus if they use him like they have been lately, he could be one of the great faces of all time. He doesn't job left and right. He's a bad ass face who talks sh</>it but unlike The Rock, he backs it up by winning all the time. That's how you make a superstar.

[Shaggy]

I could believe that. He is a big growing superstar right now and with them giving him the US title I would have to believe the next step would be to hook him up with the Heavyweight.

[MVP]

I could believe that. He is a big growing superstar right now and with them giving him the US title I would have to believe the next step would be to hook him up with the Heavyweight.I can picture that, if Triple H AND Brock tapped out to Benoit's crossface, I think they can be pinned from Cena's F-U.

[Ferocious]

Its Something I'd love to see but I Think WM21 will come to soon for him but there is no doubt that within 4 or 5 years he will be one the biggest stars the wwe/f has ever seen

[OssMan]

Cena is more over right now than Benoit was after XIX. A year later, Benoit is champ.
Wait, was Benoit even at XIX?

[Sensei Of Mattitude]

Wait, was Benoit even at XIX?

WrestleMania XIX
WWE Tag Titles:

Team Angle (Haas and Benjamin) vs Los Guerreros vs Rhyno and CHRIS BENOIT

Terrible. Just Terrible.

[HHHsucks929]

Wait, was Benoit even at XIX?

To answer your question, yes he was. Fatal-four way tag title match w/ Rhyno.

As for Cena, we don't even know which world title he'll be chasing, or who he'll be chasing, at this moment. But for argument's sake, assuming the rosters stay the same, Cena won't be in the World title hunt for this year. I think he'll have a substantially long U.S. title reign. It's not out of the questiuon to have Cena win the Royal Rumble in 2005... It depends on how over he is. I think if Cena is to become a major player, he's going to have to drop the rhyme scheme in his promos. Don't get me wrong, I lvoe the rhymes, but I think he should prove that he doesn't need good rhymes to have good promos.

[OssMan]

WrestleMania XIX
WWE Tag Titles:

Team Angle (Haas and Benjamin) vs Los Guerreros vs Rhyno and CHRIS BENOIT

Terrible. Just Terrible.
Hey i started watching wrestling in February last year, and I didn't follow it that much. I just caught a show whenever I could. Besides, the tag scene is pretty boring to me.

[The CyNick]

Its possible for him to main event Mania 21, but I dont think it will happen if he stays on Smackdown. The way I see it, this year Smackdown will headline Mania with Eddie on top either defending the title, or more likely winning it for the second time. Not sure who he will face at this point, but I would say with it being in LA they will put on Eddie on top.

If Cena were to do a heel turn he could possibly take the title from Eddie and then defend at Mania against him, but I dont see that. More likely is that Cena will be put in another match (wouldn't be the worst idea to do Rock-Cena next year to really establish Cena as a main eventer).

The way I see it, the top matches for Mania 21 if I were to guess right now would be:

Eddie vs ???? (maybe Brock will be back by then) WWE Title
Orton vs HHH World Title
Goldberg vs Austin
Cena vs Rock

[13]

Eddie vs Jericho

[Hired Hitman]

Don't you think it's a little early to predict the main event for next years wrestlemania?

[Mr. JL]

I'm gonna call it right now. I don't know who he will be facing but mark my words... Cena will be main eventing WM 21.

Thoughts anyone?
well... that'll suck, for me at least.

Seriously, I do not enjoy Cena at all. I know he appeals to alot of people because every where you go you got white kids trying to act 'tuff' and gangster and wiggerish. But please, he best be thanking Eminem.

His in ring skills are pretty limited... I'm more a fan of good wrestling and not gimmicks. And I'd rather see so many others be in the main event before him.

[Loose Cannon]

Yeah, I see a Cena heel turn in the very near future. Remember, when do heel turns usually work best? When the guy is way over with the crowd. Remember back in 98 when the Rock turned babyface for a few months right after he was a heel in The Nation. He began to feud with Vince for a while and he was way over with the crowd. Then he turned heel at Survivor Series and alligned himself with The Corporation in which he got tremendous heel heat from the fans. I think the exact same thing will happen with Cena, but I just hope he never goes with Vince because that's been done so many times.

[Rock Bottom]

Cena is gonna be stale by WMXXI...

=P

[#1-norm-fan]

well... that'll suck, for me at least.

Seriously, I do not enjoy Cena at all. I know he appeals to alot of people because every where you go you got white kids trying to act 'tuff' and gangster and wiggerish. But please, he best be thanking Eminem.

His in ring skills are pretty limited... I'm more a fan of good wrestling and not gimmicks. And I'd rather see so many others be in the main event before him.

I don't listen to rap and I don't try to act wiggerish but I really like Cena. I'm also into old fashion good guys who get over because of wrestling skill but I also need some charisma and the booker's ability to make them look good. So far I think Cena is mailes ahead of anyone else in the company as far as having all those qualities.

[Rob]

I'm gonna call it right now. I don't know who he will be facing but mark my words... Cena will be main eventing WM 21.

Thoughts anyone?

£100 says he doesn't.

[#1-norm-fan]

Oh you are ON!

*What's that, like $ .50 American?*

[Anybody Thrilla]

I know he appeals to alot of people because every where you go you got white kids trying to act 'tuff' and gangster and wiggerish. But please, he best be thanking Eminem.


:nono:

I don't see why everybody still thinks it's a big deal to be a white rapper, but either way, Eminem was not the first. Besides, "white kids" are totally capable of being 'tuff'. It all depends on where you're from, not what color you are. I've never been a fan of the word 'wigger' either, because I think it's pretty apparent what word it's stemmed from, and that's just flat out derogatory. I doubt you care or anything, but I'm just saying.

[#1-norm-fan]

10 months later.

Cena is probably the most over star on Smackdown and still dominating the US Title division. Not backing down from this prediction. No one is looking to be the favorite going into the Rumble match.

[Drakul]

Oh you are ON!

*What's that, like $ .50 American?*
Actually <strike>I think</strike> its $185.73

[SuperSlim]

As of this very moment Cena headlinin Mania is a possibility but one of the three or four main events I don't see it. His rap gimmick to me is really wearin thin because he says the same things over and over and it isn't as funny or fresh as before.

His character itself is wearin thin. And his finisher is by far one of the worst. What he needs to do is well if he keeps the rap gimmick then he must turn heel to get a more fresh feel... and at least make the F-U look like it did last year when he went down with the guy instead of just flippin him off his shoulders.

But the chances of Cena being in one of the main events isn't that high but it is more than likely going to happen.

[Loose Cannon]

LOL, Not much of a prediction here. That's like saying I predict someone from the American League will win the World Series next October.

[juanker]

JBL vs John Cena for the WWE Title

Winner: JBL

[Heyman]

You know what would be a (MAJOR) swerve?


John Cena winning the Royal Rumble, and defecting to RAW to face Triple H for the title.

The co-biggest face (Guerrero being the other) vs. the (alleged) biggest heel in the company.


How would that sound?

-Cena defeats Triple H?

-BOTH Orton and Batista hate Cena after Wrestlemania (and turn heel?) because Cena stole their spotlight.


Smackdown would suffer, but who gives a fuck?....................... ;)

[The Ravishing One]

I thought Cena said at W-mania 19 that he would main event W-mania XX :?:

[SuperSlim]

he lied to us. :(

[Corkscrewed]

Good call tho. Isn't the current plan for Cena to beat JBL for the title at Wrestlemania? Of course, RAW will headline the show, so technically, Cena won't main event. :D

[John la Rock]

Raw will headline because it's the only show worth watching.

Smackdown sucks in every aspect right now

[The CyNick]

You know what would be a (MAJOR) swerve?


John Cena winning the Royal Rumble, and defecting to RAW to face Triple H for the title.

The co-biggest face (Guerrero being the other) vs. the (alleged) biggest heel in the company.


How would that sound?

-Cena defeats Triple H?

-BOTH Orton and Batista hate Cena after Wrestlemania (and turn heel?) because Cena stole their spotlight.


Smackdown would suffer, but who gives a fuck?....................... ;)

The RAW main event for Mania has to be Batista-HHH is some form, it could be a 3-way, but the more I see the TV< the more I think it'll be better one on one.

Anything else would be really counterproductive at this point.

And Batista doesn't need to be heel, the fans are clearly wanting him to turn, which is what they should do after the Rumble.

[RemyRed]

All of this Smackdown! bashing makes me very sad :'(

[Heyman]

The RAW main event for Mania has to be Batista-HHH is some form, it could be a 3-way, but the more I see the TV< the more I think it'll be better one on one.

Anything else would be really counterproductive at this point.

And Batista doesn't need to be heel, the fans are clearly wanting him to turn, which is what they should do after the Rumble.


You're right.

Still - How AWESOME would it be to have Cena win the Rumble, and have him unexpectedly appear on RAW? The "surprise" of Cena being on RAW could be more than enough to garner him "Rock-like" pops (atleast for that one night). Maybe they could build on that?


I was thinking that at the rumble, Batista stays loyal to Triple H and helps him defeat Orton.

This is where the Orton/Batista feud would then start.

It would be at THIS point where the fans start to naturally side with Batista over Orton (naturally turning Orton heel in the process?)

Maybe at the February PPV (where Batista could face Triple H), Orton could get revenge by costing Batista the match.



Wrestlemania:

World Title: John Cena vs. Triple H
Other match: Randy Orton vs. Dave Batista.


Forget what I said earlier: Batista stays face, but Orton has turned full-fledged heel. After his feud with Batista, Orton sets his sights on Cena......the guy supposedly took away *HIS* spot on the show (i.e. the young centerpiece of RAW).


Triple H could head to Smackdown after WM (the sucky thing about this though, is that the Batista/HHH feud would be very short-lived........which is why this idea kinda blows :)).


None of this would ever happen in a million years, but just the idea of Cena unexpectedly defecting to RAW to face Triple H would be a MAJOR shot-in-the-arm for business IMO.

The Smackdown before the Royal Rumble (next week sometime?), Cena cleanly beats Taker in a one on one match (gives him a bit more credibility before defecting).

[Savio]

That white rapper crap is gonna get tired...so unless they re-work his character sometime this year, I see Cena falling off for a couple months then getting re-pushed. He'll headline WMXXII.

For a second I thought he came back......Yea I see cena ME at WM21 now.

[Deceit]

Batista vs Trips!

[The CyNick]

But the exact thing you outlined (Cena winning and jumping) happened last year with Benoit, and Benoit didn't become an overnight success because of it.

Obviously any kind of jump like that would get a huge "pop", but whats that really worth? The answer 9 times out of 10 is very little.

Cena is already getting huge pops on SD (I know I know you dont care about SD, but its true) and if he's going to win a world title, he should win the SD title.

Like I said before with RAW, anything that gets away from Batista-HHH is a bad move at this point. I know you're trying to think of something that will be shocking, but in all the years that Ive been watching wrestling, the most successful angles have been the ones that were most obvious.

It was obvious in 1987 that Hulk Hogan would defeat Andre The Giant at Mania III. They built that up, and they delivered, and it did big business.

In 1988 and '89 it was obvious that Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage would break-up and have a fued, and ultimately Hogan would win. They built tha up for well over a year, and delivered an obvious but entertaining program. It drew tons of money.

In 1996-'97 it was clear for a long time that Sting would be the one to finally topple the NWO and Hogan, they built it up, and delievered, and drew WCW's best buyrate in their history (then they screwed it up, but thats WCW).

In '98 when Goldberg was in the middle of his streak, it was obvious he would win the WCW title, again build it up and deliver and count the dollars (then they screwed it up, but thats WCW).

Ditto for Austin's title wins in 98, 99 and even 2001. Make the fans want to see Austin win the title, put a couple of obstacles in front of him, he overcomes them, and bam you've got successful shows. Every one of those years it was obvious Austin would come out of those Mania's with the title, but each year it did huge business.

I dont think Batista-HHH will do anywhere near the business that those programs I mentioned did, but still, its clear thats what the fans want. And moreover, its clear the WWE is building their TV to make people want to see that. The only thing left to do is to deliver the proper end to the story at the right time. The right ending is Batista winning the World Title from HHH and the right time Wrestlemania 21.

[MVP]

I'd rather see Orton jump to SD and see him work a program with Cena for the WWE title later in the year, or maybe go as far as WMXXII if they're serious about a long-term feud.

[Heyman]

But the exact thing you outlined (Cena winning and jumping) happened last year with Benoit, and Benoit didn't become an overnight success because of it.



I know.

I also realize that Batista/HHH is what most fans want to see. I was just speculating/dreaming. :).


Speaking of Cena/Benoit, Cena was WAY more popular than Benoit last year IMO. Even now, Cena's popularity/fan reaction is greater than Benoit's by a good margain.


In my opinion, if Cena would have defected to RAW last year (as opposed to Benoit), then the WWE would have capitalized far more on Cena.

One reason why I think the RAW creative team bailed on Benoit, was because his fan reactions were still somewhat lukewarm after Backlash.

I DON"T think this would have happened with Cena.

Even if Triple H/Management were to try and "hold him back" by giving him less TV time, Cena's face pops would have still been far too great (which would basically FORCE the creative team into giving him more TV time).


Batista/HHH may be what the fans want to see (since that's the best offer being put on the table right now), but there's just no "unpredictability" left in the company anymore. :'(

[The CyNick]

I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business.

Last year Eddie was the hottest guy they had on their payroll, they gave him the WWE title, gave him a win at Mania over the best worker in the company, and then jobbed him to JBL. That was about as unpredicatble as it gets, but it was probably a bad move.

Orton should have got the push that Batista is currently getting, but they did the unpredictable thing and turned him face, and at the same time turned him into a bigger pussy then he was when he was a face. To top it off, they jobbed him a month after winning the title. Very unpredicatble, but very stupid.

Cena may be over right now, but all it would take is a solid Pedigree in the middle of the ring, to quickly de-rail his overness.

I just dont think he needs to be on RAW to reach his potential. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite is true, I think he'll reach higher heights if he stays on SD then if he were to go to HHH-land.

[#1-norm-fan]

I'm guessing if Cena vs. JBL was scheduled for WM, it would be the final match on the card.

That's a great way of letting Triple H retain without ruining the ending of the biggest wrestling event of the year by having a heel win (Much like WM 19 where HHH was able to hang on to the title because they had another world title match that they could use for the usual climatic face winning the title.)

[juanker]

Didn't anyone else read that Vinnie Mac wants JBL to have the WWE Title until Summerslam?? God I hope that is true :)

[The CyNick]

Didn't anyone else read that Vinnie Mac wants JBL to have the WWE Title until Summerslam?? God I hope that is true :)

He orignially wanted him to keep until Mania 22. Then they talked him down to Summerslam, and lately there has been talk that they might have JBL drop at Mania.

But Ive heard Summerslam being mentioned again. House show business is still bad, but the ratings and buys for SD have come back to the levels they were at prior to JBL getting the title. So its not like he's killing business or anything.

[Heyman]

I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business.

Last year Eddie was the hottest guy they had on their payroll, they gave him the WWE title, gave him a win at Mania over the best worker in the company, and then jobbed him to JBL. That was about as unpredicatble as it gets, but it was probably a bad move.

Orton should have got the push that Batista is currently getting, but they did the unpredictable thing and turned him face, and at the same time turned him into a bigger pussy then he was when he was a face. To top it off, they jobbed him a month after winning the title. Very unpredicatble, but very stupid.

Cena may be over right now, but all it would take is a solid Pedigree in the middle of the ring, to quickly de-rail his overness.

I just dont think he needs to be on RAW to reach his potential. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite is true, I think he'll reach higher heights if he stays on SD then if he were to go to HHH-land.


Hmmmm......

After reading your post, I must say that I never actually thought of it that way......and I think you're right for the most part.


I'm not sure if I agree with you on the Cena comment (about him being better off on SD).

I don't know what it is about Smackdown. If they had a few more 'big named' wrestlers on the show, then maybe Cena would look BETTER as champ.


For example - If Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho were on Smackdown, then I'd argue that Cena would look "more important" as champ.


I don't know how else to explain it. Perhaps the ratings don't really say much, but Smackdown really looks like "the bush leagues" compared to RAW (due to the lack of "big names" I guess).

If Smackdown had more "big names" who were in the mid-card position, then perhaps Cena would look better as champ. Triple H or no Triple H.

[The Show Off]

For some reason I see John Cena winning the Royal Rumble and taking on Kurt Angle for the World Championship and then at Mania Angle has him locked in the ankle lock and Cena doesn't tap out but instead passes out due to the pain awarding Angle the victory, a la Hart/Austin Wrestlemania XIII

[BlackDawn2024]

If you read the first post I ever put on these boards, it mentioned my undying hatred for Cena. I really dislike the guy. He doesn't have any talent inside a ring whatsoever, and I really don't like him at all. However, the logical thing to do is give him the title at Mania. It just makes sense. Sure, you could put the title back on Eddie at Mania(as the build-up to JBL/Eddie was great, then JBL decided to become boring and uninteresting), but what good would it do? Yeah, the fans love Eddie, no doubt about it. Plus, when Eddie was champion, I enjoyed SD each and every week. It was a fun time.

But when JBL got the belt, the show has slipped a ton in my views. I fear SD every week because I know I'll have to listen to a boring, long JBL speech. Not to mention he's an uninteresting heel. With Cena, however, he is OVVVEEEERRRRRR. The fans love him. LOOOOVE him. They go out of their way to cheer him. I may not like Cena, but I can tell when the fans do. The logical thing to do now, is take the US title off of Cena. He's done everything he can with it. He's lost it several times only to gain it back in the cliche, yet always entertaining and fun to watch, hero/villain moment.

You have Cena drop the US title to someone, say RVD(PLEASE??), and win the Rumble. You build up JBL/Cena to Mania 21. In the final moments of the long(and probably bad) and epic WWE Championship match, Cena ducks the Clothesline From Hell, catches JBL with the FU, new champion. I can just hear the fans counting with the ref to 3 and then going crazy. Cena would draw HUGE money with the strap on him, as fans would WANT him to retain and keep it for as long as possible.

Have Cena keep it for, oh say, 6-7 months and drop it. Hopefully by that time, the rosters will have at least switched a little and Cena can have guys like Jericho and HBK to defend against.

[freerock1.com]

What I could see happening would be Cena losing the US Title, probably on a weekly SD, in what should be a Kenzo-style squash match to Orlando Jordan, thanks to interference from JBL and co. (likely close to or shortly after WM). Not that we'd be crazy about Jordan as a US champ, but it would set up the Cena/JBL feud nicely. Say Cena doesn't care about getting the US title back, he wants to go after the man who cost him the title and his belt, thus setting up the Cena WWE title win at SummerSlam.

As for the US title, if this happened I'd like to see Jordan drop to Rey. It looks like they're positioning Rey for a US title run -- he's pretty much passed the Cruiserweight title chase now, and it seems that would be the next logical step. Plus he "almost won" the US title already against Carlito.

I wouldn't mind seeing the US title go to RVD, although I'd rather see him get into the WWE title hunt. Which, after he gets back from injury could be a decent feud for Cena, depending on what direction they take Cena's character.

[#1-norm-fan]

Rob needs to be reminded of this topic.

[Corkscrewed]

:lol:

[Hired Hitman]

Don't you think it's a little early to predict the main event for next years wrestlemania?
Now you can predict. :y:

[tucsonspeed6]

I agree. He will main event WM21, and the only reason I say that is because the rapper gimmick is getting stale, but since it got him over, the WWE will only push it down our throats until we can't stand him anymore. Then they'll turn him heel and he'll be nice and hug Rodney Mack every five seconds while the crowd all screams that stupid "AHA!" he does after every punctuation in anybody's mic time.

[The CyNick]

Nowadays there are like 4 or 5 main events at Wrestlemania.

I recall during the Rumble they mentioned that Booker T worked the main event of Wrestlemania 19. When that match was #5 on the depth chart. They also said Eddie main evented last year's show.

So with that in mind, Cena will definately main event Wrestlemania 21

[#1-norm-fan]

I think either world title match is considered a "Main Event".

However, I'll go one step further and say that Cena will be in the final match of the night. Even after Batista vs. HHH.

P.S. If I'm wrong, just remember.... I STILL PREDICTED HE WOULD MAIN EVENT!

[The CyNick]

To me, which match goes on last, which is for a title is meaningless as to what is the main event.

The main event is the match that draws the people.

Rock-Hogan was the main event of Mania 18, there's no question about that, and it wasn't for any title, and it didn't go on last. Every Mania since 17, I dont believe any of the World Title matches were the main draws on those shows, so I wouldn't call them main events. When you have 4 or 5 main events on a show, it loses all meaning.

My guess is that because Batista won the Rumble, they plan on having him go on last with HHH. HHH is a mark, so he'll want to go on last so he can say he was the 'real' main event.

[John la Rock]

HHH/Benoit/HBK was definetly the main-event of Wrestlemania XX and it went on last

[#1-norm-fan]

If Cena winning the world title doesn't cap off the show, I would be really disapointed. Neither Batista nor Triple H can finish off WrestleMania by winning the title match and have it be satisfying.

[The Dub]

They should go ahead and do the Cena-Orton interpromotional match and have Booker face JBL in a retirement match, much like JBL did against him, predicting retirement if he lost the match. Booker wins the title and retires anyway, setting up a tournament for the title with the finals at Summer Slam in which Cena wins and then becomes champion. The Cena-Orton match is still a big draw. I just don't think the rap thing is that cool anymore. Cena reminds me of the Road Dogg, but RD has a better finisher. A main-eventer should not have a finisher as weak as the FU. Then again, Hogan had a leg drop.

[BrazilianKid]

Its possible for him to main event Mania 21, but I dont think it will happen if he stays on Smackdown. The way I see it, this year Smackdown will headline Mania with Eddie on top either defending the title, or more likely winning it for the second time. Not sure who he will face at this point, but I would say with it being in LA they will put on Eddie on top.

If Cena were to do a heel turn he could possibly take the title from Eddie and then defend at Mania against him, but I dont see that. More likely is that Cena will be put in another match (wouldn't be the worst idea to do Rock-Cena next year to really establish Cena as a main eventer).

The way I see it, the top matches for Mania 21 if I were to guess right now would be:

Eddie vs ???? (maybe Brock will be back by then) WWE Title
Orton vs HHH World Title
Goldberg vs Austin
Cena vs Rock


Hey, i think that it wil lmost def be cena vs jbl n cena will win, n end up with 2 titles.
This is wat i think is gona happen at mania so far.
Cena vs JBL, cena will win
Batista vs HHH, Batista will win
Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, I would most def want michaels to win but i bet that wouldn't happen
Benoit vs Jericho, i dont know who would win
Ortan vs Christian, Ortan wins,
Taker & Kane vs Hiedenrich & snitsky, taker n kane destroy those asses
Thats what i think will happen so far,
I would like for rocky to come back and face ortan in a 3rd generation superstar match .
But rockys doen with wwe
so ya.

[Kane Knight]

I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business.
I partially agree, but I think the problem is that they pull these ideas out of their ass. Unpredicability in wrestling outcomes is not inherrently bad; rather, it's the asinine paths they decide to take which really screw the pooch.

The problem is that there's the "surprise" ending, and there's the "What the Hell were they thinking?" Ending. JBL winning the title? The latter. Vanillaing Orton? The latter.

[Kane Knight]

I STILL PREDICTED HE WOULD MAIN EVENT!
I'M CALLING IT NOW. I PREDICT THAT THE SUN WILL RISE TOMORROW!

[The CyNick]

HHH/Benoit/HBK was definetly the main-event of Wrestlemania XX and it went on last

Thats not true at all.

The house was sold before any of the matches were announced. So you cant credit that match for the live gate.

The PPV audience was probably drawn more from the year-long build more than any specific match.

If I were to credit one match with the draw for that show it would be Goldberg-Lesnar. I say this because the TV pushed this match heavier than any other. And if you watched the Mania commercials that aired on non wrestling shows, it was almost always the Lesnar-Goldberg match. I never once seen a commercial on a non wrestling show that advertised Benoit v HBK v HHH.

I would say the RocknSock and Taker matches were also bigger factors in terms of the buyrate (Rock and Foley for their rare appearance and Taker for the gimmick change). Thats just based on what people I know, who are not wrestling fans were talking about going into the show. Nobody I know, really gave a rats ass about Benoit. Sad but true.

The live crowd was most into the World Title match, but really thats meaningless. Hogan will always be the most over guy at a show, but that doesn't mean he can draw.