I am going to preface this entire column
with this statement. I am an HBK fan. He was a member of one
of my all time favorite tag teams, the Rockers, some of the
best matches I have ever seen have involved him, and some
of my favorite wrestlers today have been trained by him. (Spanky,
Paul London, and American Dragon.) That being said, he has
no business being in the main event at ‘Mania.

I am not saying that Michaels has not
had an amazing career and does not deserve a big time marquee
match at the “Granddaddy of ‘em All.” I am saying that he
does not deserve a spot in the World Heavyweight Title match
at the “Granddaddy of ‘em All.” I don’t mean that from a storyline
perspective, as he has a claim for the belt. I mean this from
a thunder stealing perspective. This is Chris Benoit’s moment.
I do not like the fact that it is being slightly taken away
from him by Triple H and his good buddy. Granted, odds were
that Triple H was not going to do the J-O-B to Benoit, but
at least Benoit would have the spotlight all to himself. Now
it almost seems that Benoit is going to be pushed to the side
so that Michaels and Triple H can settle their differences.
In a feud that has “ended” twice already since his return.
First at the Elimination Chamber and then when Triple H got
the better of Shawn in the “Three Stages of Hell” match the
following month. Then again I suppose this feud has going
on for seven years. The main problem I have is this: if they
wanted to do HBK vs. Triple H at ‘Mania, why did they bother
giving the smarks and other IWC fans some shed of hope in
giving Benoit the win at the Royal Rumble.

It bothers me. It bothers me that a great
worker, Benoit, who is extremely over and has been for quite
some time is once again getting overshadowed. He is not the
best on the mic, but neither are a lot of workers that have
gotten main event pushes. Ultimate Warrior is a prime example,
and he couldn’t even wrestle. Pat Patterson and Bruno Sammartino
had almost unintelligible English and they were two of the
biggest stars of their day, and they both could work. So
can Chris Benoit.

Benoit deserves the win and the spotlight
to himself on March 14. He at the very least deserves one
of those “lifetime achievement” championships ala Mick Foley
or Sergeant Slaughter. There is still hope, though. Everyone
said much the same of Chris Jericho that they are saying about
Benoit in the weeks leading to ‘Mania. That he can’t win the
big one, and is always the proverbial bridesmaid. Maybe at
Wrestlemania, Benoit will outwrestle both Triple H and HBK
to prove that he deserves his spot. Who knows?

I still contend that Michaels is ruining
this angle. His involvement almost assures that there will
not be enough room in the limelight for the “Rabid Wolverine.”
This situation might be the worst example of the “Triple H
Effect” yet. Hunter, through either not wanting to be upstaged,
or not feeling Benoit can draw (you know, since Benoit’s not
a friend of Mr. Helmsley), has called upon his best bud to
help share the load and “make a good match out of it.” Even
though Benoit can certainly wrestle circles around either
of them. Hell, Benoit could carry me to a four star match.

I did say, though, that this could be
a blessing in disguise. There are two reasons for that. The
first, which I already stated: this “three way dance” could
be a way to put Benoit super over. The second: since his injury,
Triple H has only put on good matches when he has wrestled
Michaels. So maybe Triple H won’t phone it in and the match
could actually be something.

I still think that making it a three-way
is a bad idea. It is even going against one of Vince’s major
theories, “The main event of ‘Mania has to be a singles match.”
There have only been two occasions where this was not the
case: the first Wrestlemania, which was really testing the
waters before any conventions could be formed and Wrestlemania
2000, and we all know how awful that main event was. Wrestlemania
will still be a very good show. The match will probably be
at the very least decent as well. I just think that a singles
match would have been better. There are plenty of things for
Michaels to do otherwise too. He can start a program with
Ric Flair. The Rock usually comes back in time for ‘Mania,
he and Shawn have never wrestled; I think that could definitely
be a money match. I suppose we will just wait and see.

As usual, if you want to spin back go
to the moodspins forums
or e-mail me at andymac
(at) whrwfm (dot) org.

P.S. – I am officially in the biz. On
February 21st I make my debut as the ring announcer for the
UWA. It is a local wrestling promotion in Syracuse. If you
live in the area come down and check it out. For more information
go to www.uwaringmasters.com.

Last 5 posts by Big Andy Mac

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