I cannot believe the kind of build-up that the WWE are coming up with for Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels for Wrestlemania 25. This is unbelievably, by far the best build-up and the best set of ‘promos’ that I have seen from the WWE superstars in a LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG time. Even the Stone Cold/ Rock promos were not as interesting and exciting as these promos. Surely, the WWE Creative department is not creative enough to write these promos. I am sure that Taker and Shawn are themselves coming up with the material for their promos, because Taker used to do a lot of script-writing during the days of the ministry of darkness as well.

Normally, we are used to seeing Undertaker coming out and saying “'Wrestler Name', Rest In Peace” and the crowd chants the same words with him in support, for any of his Wrestlemania opponents. But this time, its like the other way round. Here are some of the confrontations which Undertaker and Shawn Michaels have had so far (in the past and then currently in this story-line):

1997 First Hell in a Cell: To start with, Undertaker always had unfinished business with Shawn Michaels. Their first Hell in a Cell was a classic, and it is one of the only 4 matches in professional-wrestling history which received a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s editor Dave Meltzer. First of all, the rivalry itself had got so intense (because Shawn hit Taker with a chair, costing him the title and allowing Bret Hart to pin him after Taker had killed Bret Hart), that Undertaker innovated and introduced the Hell in a Cell concept for the first time because a steel cage match was not enough to settle this rivalry (as a steel cage is open from the top, but Undertaker wanted no openings in the cell so that Shawn cannot escape). Though Undertaker had the match won after literally killing Shawn Michaels (and giving us a view of what he will do to Mankind in the next Hell in a Cell, when he slammed Shawn on the roof of the cell and later threw Shawn from the cell’s wall to the announce-desk), Kane interfered and beat Undertaker down with his own tombstone piledriver. Although you could make out that the tombstone from Kane was not as beautifully executed as the dead-man executes it himself (which means Kane recently learnt it from the dead-man himself, at back-stage), the story-telling was impeccable. Being the first Hell in a Cell, it showed what the possibilities in a HIAC match are. The beating which Undertaker gave to Shawn was so classic that to this day, Undertaker himself calls it his favourite match despite the final result. And such words coming from Undertaker himself mean something – given the fact that he is the only wrestler who has survived through all eras of the WWE and stood in the ring with every kind of superstar with every kind of size or skill. The story-telling in the match was so amazing that just when Taker choke-slammed Michaels and slashed his trade-mark “cut-throat” sign (signifying that the end is near for Shawn and the tombstone is coming), the lights went out, Kane’s music hit and he entered the ring. Since Taker had said that he will not fight his own flesh and blood, he did not raise hands over Kane, and Kane ensured that the end is near for the dead-man himself. So effectively, when the dead-man signaled the cut-throat sign, he was actually signifying it for himself and not for Shawn. I have not seen such impeccable story-telling in any other match. Kane’s introduction was the most innovative character-creation that the WWE ever came up with, after the creation of the Undertaker character himself.

So, in their first match itself, Taker and Shawn did such great story-telling and put forth such a splendid physical performance. It proved why they are the best in the business.

1998 Casket Match: Their second match was a casket match where the result was the same. Kane interfered and helped Shawn defeat Undertaker. Though, Shawn was injured so bad that Shawn ended up sitting at home for 4 to 5 years due to injury. During this time, he was made as the WWF Commissioner to still keep him on screen and involved in story-lines, though he was not competing in the ring. The Undertaker-Shawn Michaels rivalry was left unfinished as Kane started interfering in all of the matches, starting a new legendary rivalry with Undertaker. Undertaker had devastated all competition put in front of him until then and had established himself as the most dominant and feared superstar in pro-wrestling history. So they had to create Kane as a brother of the Undertaker himself to position somebody who had a chance of equaling him. The feud was very memorable and bitter, leading to Paul Bearer taking Kane’s side and being introduced as Kane’s father (so Kane was only a half-brother to Taker, having the same mother) and the story-telling/ innovation done in this feud was the best that the WWE have ever done. It led to countless matches including 2 matches at Wrestlemania, casket matches, invention of the inferno matches (in one of the most iconic and memorable moments, Taker did the suicide-dive launching his 6’10/ 300+ pound body flying over the top rope when the ring was surrounded by flames), and also helped Kane emerge as a dominant legend who went on to defeat Stone Cold to become champion, and who single-handedly kicked a** of DX, NWO (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash/ Diesel, Scott Hall/ Razor Ramon), Rock, etc.

2007 Royal Rumble: The Rumble was hosted in Shawn Michael’s home-town of San Antonio. So obviously, he had to be kept as one of the last survivors in the Rumble. Since Undertaker was scheduled to win it, both of them were the last 2 men standing in the ring. This was the first time in a decade that the 2 veterans were one-on-one. Undertaker removed the shoulders of his vest/ tank-top and challenged Michaels to come forward, as both men put together a splendid last-battle for the Rumble match, one which is regarded to be the best Rumble-match endings ever. The local San Antonio crowd cheered for their home-town boy Michaels in a rare occasion (because usually Undertaker always takes away the lion’s share of the cheers), however this time there was no Kane to help Michaels out and he ended up getting eliminated by Undertaker. After the match, Undertaker raised his hand towards Michaels to show his respect and acknowledge the good performance that he put through, whereas Michaels sat on the floor outside the ring, looking at the Undertaker and showing his respect to him through expression. Finally the show ended with the lights going out, the church-gong/ bell tolling music and the Undertaker kneeling down doing his signature motion in the ring to head on to a title-match at Wrestlemania, a stage where he has never lost. It is the greatest record in the history of the WWE, mentioned at www.wwe.com/inside/news/w... because no other superstar has even made 16 Wrestlemania appearances, let alone win all of them to make it a 16-0 undefeated streak.

Raw: Undertaker was supposed to choose his Wrestlemania opponent (any champion against whom he will fight for the title at Wrestlemania) but then Shawn came out and said to him that both of them were above titles and they thrived on competition, and on knowing who the better man is. So he wanted a singles’ match with Undertaker, to which Vince came and said no. Instead he made a tag-team match with John Cena and Shawn Michaels against the incomparably strong a**-kicking tag-team of Undertaker and Batista. But we did get some hints that though Vince said, “Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels is not happening, at least in the near future”, that it might happen sometime in the far future. In fact, while cutting that promo, Shawn had actually stated his real-life wish which was to do a good match with Undertaker at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania.

2008 Royal Rumble: This time, the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels started the Rumble because they were the ones who ended it last year. None of them were booked to win it, so it was only fitting that they should start it so that they get some time to perform in a singles’-like competition, before other superstars come pouring in. By the time the next superstar was supposed to come in, Undertaker had gained the upper hand. They kept on pouring and the Rumble match went underway. Both, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels lasted for more than 30 minutes in the ring, however this time Shawn Michaels was hungry for revenge from the last year’s Rumble. Michaels is known to capitalize on the moment, so while the Undertaker was busy eliminating some other opponent, he attacked Taker from behind with his sweet chin music and eliminated him. The dead-man was damn angry and the consequences of that had to be borne by Snitsky who had just been eliminated at ring-side, and Undertaker choke-slammed him on the announce-table, sending a message to Michaels.

2009 Royal Rumble: Michaels was not in the Rumble match this time as he was an employer of JBL, who was paying him for his services and had ordered him to help him in his title match against John “I’m the biggest jack-a** who can’t wrestle” Cena. However, Michaels wanted to get out of JBL’s corner and this resulted in a memorable back-stage moment where Undertaker came into JBL’s locker-room and gave advice to Michaels with the following words, “Sometimes its Hell trying to get to Heaven”. Some veteran fans in the crowd understood that these lines spoken at this Rumble are actually culminating the 12-year old rivalry whose sparks were renewed in the last 2 Rumbles, and it probably means some confrontation between the two, going forward.

Raw after No Way Out 2009: Michaels did not successfully help JBL win his title match against Cena which made JBL angry, so JBL challenged Michaels for a match at No Way Out with the stipulation that if JBL loses, he will release Michaels from his contract and pay him all the money he owes him but if Michaels wins, then he has to serve JBL for the rest of his life. It was obvious that Michaels will win this. Then JBL appeared on next week’s Raw, claiming that his destiny is actually to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. This saw Shawn Michaels appear, and make the statement that he himself is Mr Wrestlemania because he has been in memorable Wrestlemania matches (ladder match against Razor Ramon, 1-hour Iron man match against Bret Hart, Ric Flair’s retirement match) and so he should be the one who deserves to face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. JBL refused, and so they set up a match next Raw to decide who should face Taker, where obviously Michaels won. Shawn also stated that when the Undertaker said to him that its hell trying to get to heaven, he was right – because now Michaels could see himself out of hell (JBL’s employment) and getting to heaven (the bright lights of Wrestlemania).

Smackdown: Vladimir Kozlov claimed on Smackdown that he is undefeated in singles’ competition, so he should be the one who faces Undertaker in a Streak vs streak match at Mania. He challenged the winner of the Shawn-JBL match at the next Raw.

Raw: Michaels became the first man to end Kozlov’s undefeated streak in singles’ competition (even though Undertaker had originally pinned Kozlov at the 6-man elimination chamber at No Way Out, which was the first time that Kozlov was ever pinned but it was not a singles’ match). So now, Shawn’s chances of ending a streak really looked good and this is what led to the beginning of the story-line build-up for Taker vs Michaels at Mania.

Smackdown: Undertaker made his classy entrance to the ring and cut a verbal promo with the crowd by his side. Usually, his verbal promos are very much in-character because he doesn’t do them very often, and he always winds them up with a “ Rest In Peace”. This time, however, when he cut the promo in the ring, Shawn Michaels played a video on the titantron showing his achievements at Wrestlemania and the memorable moments of his matches, e.g., the ladder match and the iron-man match. Some cheers for HBK could be heard. This was the beginning of an increasingly good set of promos which both these superstars were going to cut. Taker also said to Shawn, “You’ve chosen the wrong person to play mind games with”.

Raw: Shawn Michaels cut a promo, saying that he sent the Undertaker a message on Smackdown by showing him a video package of his achievements at Mania. He said that, “I respect the Undertaker but I am not afraid of the Undertaker. Good things must come to an end (Undertaker’s undefeated streak), and absolutely nothing lasts forever”. At this time, the lights went out, we heard the infamous gong, and a video started playing on the titantron which showed high-lights of the Undertaker’s 16-0 undefeated streak at Mania including his title matches against Sid, the animal Batista, the opportunist Edge, matches against giants like the 8 foot tall Giant Gonzales, the 7 foot tall Diesel, his own demonic brother Kane, the 500 pounders King Kong Bundy and Big SLow (handicap match including A-Train), the casket match against Mark Henry, the Hell in a Cell against Big Bossman, matches against legends like Ric Flair and HHH, etc. By the end of the video, the crowd was obviously on Taker’s side as they could see all the personas that he has evolved through (mortician to dead-man to lord of darkness to ministry of darkness to American bad-a** to big evil to the current Hybrid) and how each persona had dominated the WWE, whereas Michaels had always been only the heart-break-kid/ se*y boy. Taker appeared in the ring out of nowhere and cut a great verbal promo himself, where he talked like a regular human being to Shawn, showing expression and emotion, walking up and down the ring and raising his hand/ pointing his finger to prove his point like a normal human being, while still staying in the dead-man attire/ character and the lights were still blue. Taker said to Shawn, “You concern yourself with being the show-stopper. What you should concern yourself with is what I am going to do to you physically. I don’t need to steal the show but when I take center-stage, you will realize like all my earlier opponents did, that I am the most dangerous entity who ever set foot into the ring”. What was also interesting was that Taker said that he respected Michaels, and he used the word “peers” for his opponents (these things don’t go by his super-human character because he is treated like one level above humans, but he came down one level and talked like a human). Shawn said that, “I shouldn’t have to beat other people like JBL and Kozlov to qualify to face you at Wrestlemania. You might be undefeated at Wrestlemania but I am Mr. Wrestlemania”, to which Undertaker said, “You’ve had epic victories at Wrestlemania but you’ve also had bitter defeat”. Taker was going to his signature words when he started saying, “At Wrestlemania 25, You will Rest….”, the crowd already enchanted “In Peace” but before Taker could utter those words, Shawn stopped him and said, “I’ll Rest Very Comfortably, knowing that I did the impossible – I beat the Undertaker at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania, and stopped his undefeated streak, something which no other man has ever been able to do. You have never beaten me and you never will”. That was hint enough that Michaels will lose the match. Almost everyone says that to the Undertaker before Wrestlemania and I wished Michaels had not made it so predictable by saying the same thing so many times. It should have been something different this time, but well with the rest of the promos, it definitely was. By the end of this promo, you could see that Shawn is getting the upper hand and this promo had already beaten all the Stone Cold/ Rock promos of the past which used to be very verbally gripping.

Smackdown: Undertaker dominated Kozlov in a match to show to Shawn that if he could beat Kozlov, then the dead-man himself could do it with more ease. So much for Kozlov’s undefeated streak on Smackdown, the Phenom connected all his moves including old school top-rope walk, snake eyes followed by big boot, choke-slam and an unbelievable tombstone piledriver on the heavy Kozlov to end the match. Undertaker then rose and pointed towards the Wrestlemania logo, and the lights/ music effect made it look even more classy.

Raw: Taker and Shawn Michaels teamed up in a tag-team match against JBL and Kozlov, where obviously the legends won. Shawn took a beating and then tagged in Taker. Taker cleaned house, beating both the fatsos of the other corner, and when he was just about to choke-slam JBL, Michaels touched Taker’s raised-hand to tag himself in and connected Sweet Chin Music on JBL to win the match. Taker was angry, because he did all the hard work which went towards winning the match, but Shawn showed his cocky behavior of capitalizing on the situation once more. Taker tried to kick Shawn but Shawn escaped, and then Taker followed him through the aisle-way in anger. Shawn quickly ran back-stage in fear of getting beaten up. Taker left following him and while he was looking towards the crowd, Shawn came back out of nowhere and super-kicked Taker on the jaw with Sweet Chin Music. The crowd loved it, because it was once again Shawn’s home-crowd of San Antonio, and Michaels had to be given the upper hand in front of them.

Raw: Taker appeared in the ring out of nowhere said that once again, Shawn’s arrogance had taken him too far and he was himself opening the gates to hell with his actions. Taker said to Shawn, “Need I remind you that the last time we met, you spent 5 years at home in agonizing pain”. (Undertaker even flicked a very minute smile when he said that!) To this, Shawn cut another unbelievable promo where he appeared on the titantron but he appeared in a graveyard like Undertaker used to earlier!!!!!!!! This was reminiscent of the promos which Undertaker did from the graveyard against Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna, Kane, Kamala, Vince McMahon, Batista, etc. This time, Shawn was standing I in a graveyard and supposedly, the tombs shown there belonged to Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponents. Shawn showed a video package of Undertaker’s achievements at Mania and himself quoted all of them as he went past each tomb. Then he went to the last tomb which read 16-1, and he said that he had created this one for Undertaker himself. Then he broke that tomb, pushed it into the grave below, said “Undefeated Streak – Rest In Peace”, and started putting mud into it with a shovel as Undertaker used to do in his earlier promos. This was way too amazing, and when the video ended and the lights came back, Undertaker was as angry as hell, striding up and down the ring and rolling his eyes back, with a groan in anger. The commentators spiced it up by saying that, “I have never seen the Undertaker like this – does Shawn Michaels have a death wish or is it actually Mr. Wrestlemania winning in mind-games against the Undertaker? Nobody has done this to the Undertaker before. Will we see the same Undertaker that we’ve known at Wrestlemania?” By now, Shawn had gained the upper hand in mind-games as well as action. What is interesting is that Shawn himself put the 16-1 tomb inside the grave which indirectly could mean that it won’t be 16-1 at Mania but in reality the dead-man will go 17-0.

Smackdown: Shawn Michaels appeared dressed as the Undertaker! But he was dressed all in white instead of black. He made a similar entrance, and raised his hands to bring back the lights from the ring-corner. He then claimed himself to be the angel of good and said that he will fight the lord of darkness at Wrestlemania and beat him so that good prevails over evil. However, this might be the only case where evil will be cheered more than the good, and that evil will actually prevail over the good. Undertaker came out from below the ring (reminded me of how he came out against Diesel, Shawn's former manager) and tried to choke-slam him, but he lifted Michaels so high that he escaped from above the ring. It is important to give Shawn the upper-hand in the mind-games and the build-up to the match, because otherwise he cannot compare to Undertaker in power/ size or popularity. Everybody remembers how badly Undertaker beat him in their matches in the 1990s, and since Shawn is at an obvious disadvantage in strength (moreover he is fighting Taker at Mania, where Taker never loses), it is obvious that to make the rivalry look double-sided, Shawn should be given the upper hand right now. They are making it look like Shawn Michaels is not scared of the Undertaker and he is as cocky/ confident as ever, and he is playing Undertaker’s own mind-games with him to make him weak and obtaining the psychological advantage before the match (unlike regular story-lines where Undertaker plays the mind-games, scares the opponents, says Rest In Peace and beats them). The more he is given an upper hand before the actual match (to make it look double-sided), the more are his chances of losing the actual match at Mania. Of course, most of the promos are derived from Undertaker’s character (like Shawn appearing in his attire or in the grave) because the Undertaker’s gimmick is more innovative and allows for a lot more manipulation/ story-telling around itself.

Raw: Shawn Michaels offered a funeral for the Undertaker, who appeared in the ring and started throwing just about everything in anger. Shawn was hiding under the casket, and then he came out to give another super-kick to Undertaker.

I cannot stop to imagine what the Smackdown promo will be this week. Surely it should be something explosive! I guess that either Undertaker will get a hand at Michaels or he will evade a kick from Michaels, sending him a message back. Shawn will still retain the advantage before the match.
 
Shawn has long waited for this match because he wanted a good match with the best in the business, the Undertaker, before calling it a day. It is not known whether Shawn will actually retire after Mania or not, but considering his recent injuries and last year’s part-time schedule, he might quit soon. So he wanted to have a good show with Undertaker before quitting, and this will also help culminate their 12-year old rivalry. Taker might go for the championship after Mania (which he never lost last year but which he was stripped off due to injury). What will make this match more interesting is that Wrestlemania is in Undertaker’s home-town of Houston, so the crowd support for Undertaker should be awesome. At the same time, since Houston is in Texas and close to San Antonio, there should be good support for Shawn Michaels also. The both have met several times at San Antonio before as stated earlier but this time when the 2 greatest war-horses and the longest-lasting legends in the business battle it out at Undertaker’s home-town for the first time and that too at the silver jubilee (25th anniversary) of the grandest show in pro-wrestling, Wrestlemania, the atmosphere is bound to be spell-binding!

A dead-man has no age, and you have proved it more than anyone. 44 and still kicking top-grade a** in all of the WWE - You are truly ageless!

Thank you for providing us with the most memorable moments in wrestling and the most phenomenal performances. I will never forget the moments when you threw Mankind from the top of the cell to the announce-desk or choke-slammed him from the top of the cell to the ring below or on a mat full of thumb-tacks, or when you did the suicide-dive, launching your 6'10/ 300+ pound body by flying over the top rope when the ring was surrounded by fire in the Inferno match against Kane.

You are the greatest of all time - without you, wrestling would be nothing as we would not have any aspects of the dark-side, the incomparable persona/ gimmick that you started with, the exciting rivalries that you had with superstars of all sizes/ skill in all kinds of matches, the matches you introduced or derived like hell in a cell/ casket/ inferno/ last ride/ body bag, the superstars you promoted like Kane/ Mankind/ fake Undertaker/ many giants/ current stars as Orton/ Batista/ Edge, the evolving personas you showed us from the mortician to the dead-man to the lord of darkness to the ministry of darkness to the American bad-a** to the big evil to the current Hybrid, the moves you introduced to the WWE like the tombstone piledriver/ chokeslam/ last ride/ triangle choke/ Death Valley Vice (Gogoplata/ Hell's Gate)/ old school (top rope walk)/ suicide-dive, the list never ends.

Your influence on wrestling and in popular culture is unparalleled (there are even Hindi movies as far away in India which have characters derived from yours and which mention your name very often). Your greatness and contribution to this business is unprecented. Thanks for also being the back-stage locker-room leader and mentoring all the younger wrestlers, keeping them on track. There is only one Phenom, and there never will be another.

On this day, I wish that I could get just one opportunity to meet you and tell you how much I respect you, tell you that every time you got hurt in the ring - I took the beating with you, and to kneel down in front of you to show you my absolute respect.

May you have many more such birthdays, and continue to keep kicking a** because nobody does it better than you do. On to 17-0 at Mania!

I am really frustrated and agitated now because I typed the entire thing and then by mistake hit back-space and it went to the previous page. When I hit forward again, everything was gone and I lost the entire damn post. WWE, you've got to be more sensible in your blog-posts - there should be an option where it gets saved as a draft automatically from time to time. This is pathetic.

I am very sleepy now, so its you folks' bad luck that you won't get to read all the details - I will cut it short now. Blame the WWE for it.

Jack Swagger vs Finlay: I don't see Swagger losing his title right now because they have billed him as undefeated and his small undefeated streak will perhaps continue beyond Mania. He might defend his ECW championship at Mania, therefore I see him winning this one.

Shawn Michaels vs JBL: I hope Shawn wins this one. I'm going with him.

World HeavyWeight Championship Elimination Chamber: As much as I hate to say, I think Cena will win this one. This match is full of mid-carders and will be the most boring in the entire PPV. There would've been a Cena vs Batista match at Wrestlemania 25 for the title, but since that's not possible due to Batista's injury, we might see Cena vs Orton (again :-( ! ). I would have loved it if Kane won it - hope he takes a break after this and returns at Mania as the masked Kane whom we all love. Bring Paul Bearer by his side too if you want. So, I see Cena retaining his title right now until Mania.

Randy Orton vs Shane McMahon: I am looking forward to this match. They have added emotion to it by making it look like Shane will take revenge for his father and will make Randy unable to compete at Mania, though the truth is that Shane can't match Randy in wrestling-skill so the no-holds-barred stipulation will allow him to use chairs and trash-cans to even the odds. I see a coast-to-coast from Shane on Randy, like he had done on Dibiase (after the 2 clowns interfered to stop Undertaker while he was about to tombstone piledrive Randy). However, after it is all said and done, Randy will win it. His recent push is good, and he deserves it. I see him head-lining Wrestlemania and winning the title there. I would have loved it if he had challenged Edge for the belt because it would have been a new rivalry. However, we are likely to see a repeat of last year where Randy pinned Cena. The significance of the Rumble was lost last year as they made it all about Cena's return instead of the title, and for the first time in many years, the Rumble winner did not win the belt at Mania. They have to bring back the significance of the Rumble this year otherwise people will lose interest from it and will stop paying to see it - which will be bad for WWE's business. Therefore, expect Randy to win his match at No Way Out and win the belt from Cena at Mania.

He might have an undefeated streak until Batista returns. He was the one who took out Batista so we are likely to see a Batista-Orton rivalry later, and eventually I guess Batista will be the one who stops Orton. Until then, Orton might have a nice undefeated streak and it will fetch some mileage to his other 2 clowns also. Maybe there will be a Cena-Batista rivalry after Orton has been taken down by Batista.

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber: This should be the main-event. Just take a look at the stars in the match. You would expect Undertaker to be the odds-all favourite to win it. He is also in great shape now, as he is fighting the main-event every week (he even fought on Raw as well as Smackdown this week), and he is executing the tombstone piledriver on heavy-weights like HHH and Edge. He never lost his title (he was wrongly stripped) and has dominated the ring since he returned (as he always does anyways). However, he won't win it because it would be a repeat of last year to see Undertaker winning yet another elimination chamber at the same PPV. Since Undertaker and HHH did verbal promos, I think they will both not win it. Big SLow has lost like a 100 different types of matches from Undertaker recently and is therefore definitely not worthy of winning the title right now. Jeff Hardy doesn't deserve the title (he didn't deserve his earlier title run also as he had violated the WWE wellness policy by taking drugs, but was lucky to be champion because the girls and kids who know nothing about wrestling like him and buy his merchandize). He is also going to be in a rivalry with his brother Matt Hardy right now which might continue till Mania, so you can expect him to not lose the title. Kozlov is going to be unlucky. Kozlov will not win the title because if he does, he will have to lose it at a weekly Smackdown show because he cannot carry the title till Mania as he is not Mania-level main-event material yet. So much for his so-called undefeated streak. Therefore you can expect him to get his streak finished at this PPV by Undertaker. That is more respectable than finishing it on a weekly show. At least Kozlov can still claim that no man alive has pinned him because the dead-man pinned him. Now Edge features on the No Way Out poster also behind the steel of the elimination chamber, so in most probability, you can expect him to win the match and retain the title.

But how will Undertaker be eliminated? It would be against Undertaker's character to be eliminated in an elimination-chamber. Well, do you remember what he said to Shawn Michaels at the Rumble? "Sometimes its hell, getting into heaven". Well, they had a confrontation at the last 2 Rumbles. In 2007, Undertaker eliminated Michaels. In 2008, Shawn eliminated Undertaker while he was looking outside by super-kicking him from the back. This year, though Shawn was not in the Rumble match, the WWE ensured they have a backstage segment to ensure the rivalry which was re-ignited in the last 2 Rumbles comes to an end. Remember Shawn had also asked Undertaker for a one-on-one match after the Rumble of 2007? This year, it looked like Undertaker was trying to give some advice to Shawn when he said those words and now, perhaps Shawn will try to prove something to Undertaker. So he will defeat JBL and be out of hell, and then head to heaven, which is Wrestlemania, with Undertaker. So Shawn will interfere in the elimination chamber match and confront Undertaker. Whether they fight or not is not predictable right now, but basically Undertaker will not be eliminated cleanly due to Shawn's interference or stare-down. The 11 year old rivalry will finally culminate at Mania where both the legends will clash. It will be a legend vs legend match, which is beyond titles. WWE will put titles in the other matches to maximise viewership of those matches and to use their other main-event material to the fullest, because this match will anyway get all the viewership it needs without any titles around it. Shawn will try to stop the show of the Undertaker but the streak will live and Shawn's show will be stopped. They might put a retirement stipulation around it by bringing in some element of the fact that Shawn retired Flair last year. This might be Shawn's last match, but it has all the ingredients of being the greatest match of all time.

Matt Hardy vs Jack Swagger:  Jack is a new champion and Hardy has held the title for pretty long, so I think Jack will hold the title for some more time.

Beth Phoenix vs Melina: Beth Phoenix all the way. Though she can beat Melina on her own, also expect Santino and Beth's number-one fan to be there to ensure nothing goes wrong, in case there is interference. Of course, having an idiot like Santino can be harmful for your own team, but if Beth loses the match, then the number-one fan story-line will be diluted. Maybe we can expect some fire from her number-one fan in case there is interference in Melina's favour (or in case Melina cleanly builds an advantage, the chances of which are less).

Jeff Hardy vs Edge: I think Edge will win this. As much as I thought that Hardy will goto Wrestlemania as champion, I think that might not be possible now. Why? Because it is rumoured that Christian Cage will make his return at the Rumble. If he returns, then expect him to be on Edge's side as they are old allies and I guess Christian will also be linked to Hardy's recent car-accident. If Christian does not return, then Edge might lose the match and Hardy will retain.

John Cena vs JBL: This is the best singles match in terms of story-telling and maybe in terms of wrestling as well if they let JBL wrestle properly. Most of his matches these days are scripted to show him as an ordinary wrestler whereas in his erlier days as Bradshaw, he was pretty talented and effective. "Character" rules everything - now that he is heel, expect him to show less skill and more cheap-shots and manipulation. Talking about manipulation, I love the storyline between Shawn Michaels and JBL - why? Its not that I like to see a legend get tainted or insulted like that, but I like the story because it has "manipulation" possible in it - you cannot predict the outcome of a match which has these 2 in the same side. They could fight for each other or for all you know, Michaels might dump JBL. That would only happen if Michaels gets to win the title because then he would not need JBL's funding. Since that will not happen at the Rumble for sure, expect him to be on the same side as JBL. That would probably mean that Cena will lose the match if Michaels helps JBL. One possibility is that Cena could retain the title if JBL gets dis-qualified due to Michaels' interference but I am sure that JBL and Shawn would've thought of that. I don't see JBL main-eventing Wrestlemania as champion but I am sick of seeing Cena main-eventing it so many times also. I'm going with JBL winning this match and then perhaps losing it at No Way Out (not sure to whom - it could be to Cena himself in a re-match). Oh and after winning the title at the Rumble, JBL might fire Shawn or he might wish to continue his employment - expect his decision to have an impact on the below match.

Royal Rumble Match: Finally comes the most star-studded match in WWE. The odds-all favourite to win the Rumble match will be once again the Undertaker. His undefeated streak draws the most money every year at Wrestlemania, so it would be good for WWE's business if they can put him in a title match and make it look like his streak is in jeopardy (like they did against Batista and Edge the last 2 years) - the title vs streak contest beats all other matches on the card in terms of viewership because the people are more interested and engrossed in it than any other match due to the wrestling-quality as well as the story-telling which the Undertaker is still able to provide in all his rivalries (with the exception of not-so-talented wrestlers like Big SLow). Remember in 2008, the Undertaker was stripped off his title and then banished due to interference by La Familia in his TLC match against Edge - therefore he never lost his title. His long title reign is still pending (due to which he was in title-matches in the last 2 Manias but couldn't retain the titles for long due to injury), so expect him to be in a title feud soon. Moreover, this time, Wrestlemania is in his "real" home-town of Houston, and its the silver-jubilee of the event, so it would be even more beneficial for the business if they could put the greatest Wrestlemania-performer of all time (whom I also call the greatest performer of all time) in a title match at his home-town with his record-streak at stake. In fact, the whole thing has a similar build-up to 2007 where Undertaker was not in any major feud in the early part of the year and then won the Rumble.

But will the Undertaker win the Royal Rumble this year again? Will he main-event Wrestlemania this time again? I doubt it. Why? Because its simple - things won't be such a simple repeat when it comes to the Dead-man, who does impeccable story-telling. Also, whom will he fight for the title? He surely won't fight Edge or Orton or Batista or HHH again. That leaves Cena, JBL, Jericho or Hardy as the possibilities but it depends on whether Undertaker is actually interested in the WHC belt or the WWE title. As of now, I don't see him getting into a title feud with these guys immediately. So who's left? Not Kane obviously as he has faced Undertaker twice at Wrestlemania. The only man left is Shawn Michaels. Also, the WWE are really promoting Undertaker a lot to win the Rumble this time and he's done verbal promos on the same as well. That is proof enough that he won't win it because it won't be so predictable. The best promo he did was in 2007 where he appeared out of nowhere in the ring and cleaned house on the Smackdown taping before the Rumble, giving everyone a preview of what was going to happen. Once again, the Undertaker proving that "actions" speak louder than words.

What I do foresee is a legend vs legend match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at Houston, considering that both are Texans and Shawn's career is winding down. What if Undertaker does win the Rumble and then Shawn himself wins the title from JBL at No Way Out, then Undertaker challenges Shawn? Naah, that would be an over-kill because they are both legends anyway, and a match between them would mean the greatest Wrestlemania match of all time - greater than Hogan vs Andre or Austin vs Rock or Hogan vs Rock or Goldberg vs Brock or Hart vs Michaels or Undertaker vs Flair or Undertaker vs HHH or any other. The chances of Michaels winning the title at No Way Out are very less, unless he wants a short title reign before retiring. WWE need to maximize their available talent and put the other main-eventers in title-matches to get them more viewership. That is how they draw get more viewership for the event's other matches and increase the revenue for the event, because an Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match is anyway such a big match that it would draw an equal amount of fans regardless of whether it is a title match or not. The match should be about who is the better man. Shawn has defeated Undertaker in singles matches many times in the past, each time with outside-help or interference (e.g., Kane helped him beat Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell match and a casket match). The only time when I remember Shawn and Undertaker having a clean one-on-one contest is the 2007 Royal Rumble's ending, where Undertaker obviously won. This time, WWE, please make it a clean match again. Since Vince is back, he might manipulate the story-line and put a stipulation that it will be either the end of the streak or the end of the show of the show-stopper (like he stopped the show of Flair last year). Who knows they might bring Flair as the special guest referee, and who knows JBL might put this stipulation into the match instead of Vince after losing the title at No Way Out since then he'd not have any need for Shawn's services or he might be angry with him. Shawn would want one good final match before he retires and I'm sure that the only 2 people he will agree to would be Undertaker and HHH. What a better event and location to do it?

But what would start the rivalry and create the build-up for the match? In the 2007 Royal Rumble, the Undertaker eliminated Shawn. In 2008, it was the reverse. This time, it must be culminated. But Shawn is not in the Rumble match as he will be in JBL's corner during his title match with Cena. Well, never mind - if JBL wins his title match, he might send Michaels to the Rumble match to eliminate Undertaker with a cheap-shot as he wouldn't want to face Undertaker at Wrestlemania. At No Way Out, there could be a further confrontation which eventually results in a match at Wrestlemania (like Shawn interfering in Undertaker's match). However, since Undertaker is being promoted a lot for the Rumble and is anyway a favourite for winning it, he will definitely have a huge impact on it. Expect him to single-handedly clean house (his feud with Big SLow helped him regain his health properly), and maybe also expect him to be in the final 2. After that, some kind of interference from Michaels or someone else might help eliminate him. I've also heard about Umaga's return at the Rumble but I don't think he will be the one to eliminate Undertaker or to win the Rumble. They had a rivalry planned last year but since it waited so many months, it can wait a few months more (be it title-oriented or not), and it can take place after Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels happens at Mania (which is the more important rivalry, obviously). What about Christian Cage's return? Well, he'll definitely not win the Rumble because it would be unfair to the other main-eventers to make his guy get into a title match at Mania immediately after joining. His return is probably going to revolve around the Hardy-accident story-line.

That brings us back to the question of who will win the Rumble? How about Kane? No, he is not Mania-level main-event material anymore. Kozlov? No, he is not main-event material either. So who will win it? My instinct says it would be Randy Orton. Why? He's never won it before. Jericho has not won it either but I think Orton needs a title push this year (Jericho had a long one last year), because Orton obviously has more talent than any other of the new breed. The other main-eventers like HHH, Batista, Cena, etc have all won the Rumble earlier. Its also possible that Orton's new friends Dibiase and Rhodes help him eliminate Undertaker, if Shawn doesn't. And after Undertaker goes 17-0 at Wrestlemania once he has retired Michaels, expect him to be in a title feud soon.

If I may take this opportunity to boast a bit about myself, I would like to mention that I had predicted the possible winners/ nominations for each category of the Slammy awards on PhenomForever.com (http://www.phenomforever.com/?p=1827) before the WWE had actually revealed the nominations on their website (you can check the date/ time of my posted comment), and I am happy to know that most of my predictions made it to the final list of nominations in each category. I also feel that for each of the categories, the nominations whose pictures are put next to the category on the WWE Slammy awards website might not win the award.

Superstar of the Year: You must be kidding me that Undertaker and Shawn Michaels don't find their names in this list. I agree that they were both injured and out for a couple of months, but then so was John Cena. Why does Cena find his name in the list? What is Batista doing in the list? What is Jeff Hardy doing in the list, after having violated the WWE wellness programme due to his drugs issue (and after having lost every single title match he participated in - he got the maximum title matches this year). What is Edge doing in the list since even he was injured? I think Undertaker should have made it to the list considering that he gave splendid performances starting with the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. His title reign was not too long but longer than Cena's and Batista's this year. He won the elimination chamber match, won the main-event at Wrestlemania, won the subsequent title re-matches, except for the TLC match only due to interference. The TLC match was good too, except for the ending. He came back soon and won the annual Hell in a Cell match, culminating the best rivalry of the year. He also won his last 3 matches with Big SLow (last-man-standing, casket, and steel cage). I can't believe that he is not in the list. I am aware that they want to preserve his character, but hey, he won a Slammy in 1996 andf 3 in 1997 (including Star of the Highest Magnitude) while he was in his dark-side personas, so he should be nominated this time as well (and he is nominated under other categories). Looks like Undertaker and Shawn themselves pulled out their nominations to promote youger and newer stars. Anyway, so going by the names which appear on the list, I think HHH has had the longest title reign this year and has won most of his matches on PPVs, so I am going by HHH.

Match of the Year: A lot of my favourite matches like the Smackdown Elimination chamber, the TLC match between Undertaker and Edge did not make it to the list. I am surprised to see their Hell in a Cell match being listed there. Just because it was a Hell in a Cell, it doesn't mean it was a good match. A lot of Undertaker's moves were countered, which was not good, because his arsenal of moves is the biggest in the WWE history. If you script the match in a way that he is not able to execute most of them, the match won't look that good. If you want to make it look like a double-sided match, then let Undertaker execute his moves to the fullest just like he is allowing Edge to execute all his moves to the fullest - and see who comes out on top. The best part of the match came "after" the match, when Undertaker sent Edge to hell by choke-slamming him from the top of the ladder to the ring below (breaking the ring) and burning him. I think this match might make it due to the story-line/ story-telling history in this rivalry, but I have a feeling that the match which has the highest probability of winning it is Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, because it was Flair's retirement match. It was not that good a match that it would make it to the nominations for Match of the Year, therefore the fact that it is present there makes me feel they have decided it should win it. I wonder who will collect the award? Will it be the loser or the winner or both? If it is Undertaker vs Edge, surely you won't see them both coming to receive it. I also wanted to see the Batista vs John Cena match nominated here but it didn't happen.

OMG Moment of the Year: This has to goto Undertaker sending Edge to hell. But who will collect the award? Has to be Undertaker.

Diva of the Year: Beth Phoenix.

DAMN Moment of the Year: I thought it would be Undertaker's title being stripped or Undertaker being banished or Vince putting a retirement stipulation to Flair's matches, but based on the nominations, it looks like this will goto Khali's kiss-cam.

Tag Team of the Year: Miz & Morrison or Dibiase & Rhodes. Who has a bigger chance? Dibiase and Rhodes.

Breakout Star of the Year: Vladimir Kozlov (lacks character or a good gimmick, though).

Best Musical Performance: I thought it would be one of Jillian Hall's master-pieces ;-) but looks like this will goto Miz & Morrison.

Extreme Moment of the Year: I don't think this will goto Undertaker falling on top of 2 tables in the TLC match. Imagine if that wins this slammy and Edge comes to collect it, and if "Undertaker sending Edge to hell" (in revenge) wins the OMG moment and Undertaker comes to collect it, it would look wierd. I am going with Chris Jericho hurting Shawn Michaels in the eye by using the Jeritron (I would've expected it to goto him hurting Shawn's wife, but that didn't make it to the list).

Best Finishing Maneveur: Has to be the Hell's Gate (Undertaker's Gogoplata). It was introduced this year as a step of evolution by the dead-man for heavier opponents since he became leaner and stopped using the tombstone piledriver very often (since it hurts his knees). Till date, nobody has broken it, and it even made some opponents bleed (kayfabe). The WWE even took more than 6 months to name it (until then, they just called it "that" mysterious submission choke-hold) and went to the extent of banning it. JR once called it the Death Valley Vice. I think that name rocked, and it speaks more about the character of the Demon from Death Valley, the Undertaker. They should have stuck to that name.

Best WWE.com Exclusive: Oh, if this referred to just any WWE.com exclusive video, it had to be Undertaker giving a tribute to Ric Flair on his farewell, which even Dave Meltzer (editor of Wrestling Observer Newsletter) called as the greatest farewell tribute he has ever seen. But since it is about regulars, I think it will be Santino's Casa. He is really funny.

Couple of the Year: Edge and Vickie, as much as I hate them. I think that is why they are back together (to win this award), otherwise their relationship was created only due to Undertaker's injury so that Edge could hold the title until Undertaker is back, and after Undertaker finished the rivalry at Hell in a Cell, the plan was perhaps to plan Edge's return after Undertaker is done with Vickie so that he can focus on something new. They will break off sometime soon after getting this award.

Announce Team of the Year: This is bad. They should remove this award category. As long as JR is there, that is where the award will go. I am going with Jim Ross and Tazz, although I think Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole also have a good chance because though Jerry is not as good as JR, Cole is much better than Tazz.

Best Impersonation of the Year: Oh, I love Charlie Haas's impersonations. I find them very funny. I thought his impersonation of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Great Charli were the best, and I thought Santino's mockery of Stone Cold was also pretty good. Since they are not nominated, it will either be the GlamaHaas (his impersonation of the Glamazon Beth Phoenix) or (more likely) Haas Hogan, his impersonation of Hulk Hogan.