Thread: WrestleMania 26 - What goes on last?
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Old 02-27-2010, 03:48 AM   #9
Mr. Nerfect
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox View Post
WM XI: HBK won the Rumble and challenged Diesel for the WWF Title, but Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow went on last.

WM 22: Rey Mysterio won the Rumble and fought for the World Title in the third to last match of the night, defeating Orton and Angle.

WM 24: Cena won the Rumble and even though he cashed in his title shot at NWO, he still got a title match at WM, but it was the third to last match on the card.


It's not a long history of the Rumble winner not getting the main event, but I can definitely see them swapping Edge/Jericho's main event spot for Cena/Batista, as that is the "bigger match."

Undertaker and HBK will not main event WrestleMania. It is the selling point of the show, but ever since WrestleMania XI, it seems like they've been very adamant about putting a World title match on last. WM 18 is a perfect example. The obvious main event was Rock vs. Hogan. Everything after that match, including the Jericho/HHH main event, was an after-thought. Same thing last year with HBK/Undertaker, and arguably the same thing at WrestleMania 21 with HBK/Angle.

While I think it's the smart move to put HBK/Undertaker on last at WM 26, I don't think it's going to happen. The WWE doesn't care that their match is "the draw." Once the ticket or the PPV is purchased, the fan is sold and will watch the event regardless of which match goes on last.
WrestleMania 23 also had John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels as the main event, even though The Undertaker won the Royal Rumble and was challenging Batista, I believe. Since the brand split, we've gotten Brock Lesnar, Chris Benoit, Batista and Randy Orton as the Royal Rumble Winners who have gone on to the main event. Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker and John Cena have not.

I guess the question becomes "why not?" Well, the WWE pretty much fucked up Rey Mysterio in 2006 all over. But Eddie Guerrero's death left a sour taste in everyone's mouth as they pushed Rey. It's not that he wouldn't have gotten a push to the main event eventually, but they really didn't trust in Rey. His Rumble win didn't even close the January PPV. Mark Henry did.

I seem to recall the WWE not thinking that The Undertaker and Batista would have a great match at WrestleMania? I think that was one of the reasons they were bumped down. They, of course, surprised. I think the WWE expected John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels to be a classic, but their great match took place on the RAW in England afterwards. A combination of doubt in The Undertaker and Batista, and false hope in Shawn Michaels and John Cena let down that one. In John Cena's case, he had already cashed in his Rumble title shot at No Way Out, and although I expected his match to headline, I guess the WWE didn't want to do another Triple Threat to close.

Usually there is some sort of reason the Royal Rumble Winner doesn't close, and that reason is usually pretty stupid. I still hope that Jericho vs. Edge is allowed to be the last match on the card.
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