By Will Pruett

The following predictions are made from a place of complete ignorance to the finishes. They are merely predictions of what I would find entertaining, interesting or what I believe Vince McMahon will change the show to a few hours prior to the event..

The Rock vs. John Cena: This is the most difficult match I have ever tried to predict. Anything can happen in this one and I can make a strong case for either outcome. This is the most intriguing match of the last ten years and could be one of the most exciting as well.

The Rock is returning to singles competition for the first time since his match against Goldberg at Backlash 2003. He has only had two matches (both tag matches) since that time. In between those two matches he put together a career that has made him one of the highest paid leading men in Hollywood.

This is a true megastar returning to wrestling. Never before has a celebrity match participant been a fully trained and capable wrestler. Celebrities are common at WrestleMania. Even celebrity matches have happened in he past. This is a celebrity that is capable of delivering an epic main event. The Rock returning to wrestling is truly something special.

John Cena rose to prominence in 2003 just as The Rock was leaving. His first pay-per-view championship match was at Backlash 2003, where he took on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. He has never been in a non-title match at WrestleMania until now. He is the star of this era. John Cena has a track record of great matches and split crowds that no babyface has ever assembled.

This is bigger than The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan. This is a match that can legitimately be billed as the biggest match of all time (whether there have been bigger matches or not is debatable). The question now must be asked: how does the biggest match of all time end?

Will it be The Rock celebrating his victory over John Cena as pyro explodes over Sun Life Stadium? If it is, what happens to Cena after April 1st? He returns to the regular WWE roster a defeated man. He loses the match he said he had to win and suddenly the man the seems to be above the rest of the roster has bumped himself and the rest of the roster down. John Cena says that he fights for the wrestlers in the back and in a way, he does.

Can John Cena, much to the chagrin of the Miami crowd, manage to overcome The Rock? What happens to The Rock if he does? The returning star suddenly means even less in the WWE Universe. His first singles match back is a losing effort and even if there are future matches with him, he loses a little bit of his appeal. The Rock, if he is planning to return to WWE again (as the rumors say) needs to win this first match out.

Of the match does not end in a clean pin or submission, then I would guess that John Cena would have done the unthinkable. In recent interviews John Cena has mentioned the impossibility of a heel turn from him. He claims to be the guys that will never turn his back on the fans. Interestingly enough the fans in Miami will surely turn their backs on him. What if he does finally make that leap that he cannot return from? I know many are hoping for it.

Who loses more if they lose? That is the true debate.

Prediction: John Cena pins The Rock after a third Attitude Adjustment.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H with Special Referee Shawn Michaels in the Hell in a Cell: This has been a masterpiece as far as one year builds go. I would put the build and hype for this match up against the build for any other match in the last ten years. It was that good. From the moment that Undertaker could not stand at the end of his WrestleMania XXVII encounter with Triple H to his comeback on Raw to the video package we saw to wrap it up on Monday night, this was perfection.

The big question we must ask is whether this match can deliver to the caliber of the build. Undertaker is not what he was three years ago when he faced Shawn Michaels in their first classic. After multiple surgeries in the past few years, his body shows the damage that has been done to it. He also has not been in the ring since his match with Triple H last year. Will that effect his performance?

Triple H also has not been in a good match since his showdown with The Undertaker last year. He was involved in an odd fumbled storyline with C.M. Punk and Kevin Nash, but he never seemed to knock off the ring rust after his long absence. While he is not as damaged as Undertaker, he may not be able to bump around for him either.

In a match where both wrestlers optimally would go in as healthy and as prepared as possible, it seems like Undertaker and Triple H will not. That said, they have quite a bit working in their favor. Remember that last year they were in a similar situation. I was one of the many that doubted their ability to deliver and they proved me very wrong. These guys know how to deliver a big match with a big match feel without being in optimal shape.

They also have the Hell in a Cell stipulation working in their favor. The sheer spectacle of the cell in the outdoor environment will add to the match. They are the two masters of Hell in a Cell and if any two wrestlers will be determined to redefine that match as a violent spectacle, it will be the two that defined it as one originally.

Now we must discuss the special referee. Shawn Michaels, the man who saw his career end because of his quest to end The Streak now holds The Streak in his hands. WWE has done a great job of having Michaels look like he could go either way with the favoritism in this match. He has cut some of the best promos of his career and he definitely adds some intrigue to Sunday.

Any other year, this would be the match that goes on last. It is that big. This year, there is a match slightly bigger (which is actually mind-blowing when you think about it). I wouldn't put this on right before Rock vs. Cena. Hopefully this ends up being in the bottom of the second hour and top of the the third. This will give fans a nice breather between suitably epic matches and hopefully insure huge responses to both.

In the end, I see 20-0 as the more valuable option for WWE. 19-1 will not sell t-shirts. 19-1 will not sell tickets. We know that Triple H has no plans to wrestle full time and allowing him to be the one doesn't make sense. WWE has done a great job of convincing us otherwise leading into the match. Last year's match was all about one moment that made people believe (Triple H's Tombstone to Undertaker). This year that job has already been done.

Prediction: The Undertaker defeats Triple H to extend The Streak to 20-0.

C.M. Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship: Chris Jericho's comeback has been more of a whimper than a roar. He was spectacular at first. The silent treatment he gave the crowd was intriguing, exciting and definitely seemed to be going somewhere. Sadly, that just wasn't to be. Now, he seems to be recycling his character from 2010. Remember, this was a great character then and is still entertaining today, but it isn't different.

On the other side of the ring is WWE Champion C.M. Punk. 2011 was a breakout year for Punk. He cut the promo of a lifetime and caused everyone to stand and notice him. He turned from being one of the most hated men in WWE to one of the most loved. Punk may have had some mis-steps in late Summer and early Fall, but since he won the WWE Championship at Survivor Series he has been on a roll.

This feud with Jericho has added a certain amount of vulnerability to Punk's character. He has been the snarky guy that laughs everything off for so long and now he is showing that he is capable of taking things seriously. Chris Jericho is adding a new dimension to Punk's character, which makes it easier to connect with Punk.

Normally at WrestleMania, I would pick the babyface to have a major moment and leave as champion, but in the case of Jericho, he desperately needs credibility. He lost the Royal Rumble. He lost the Elimination Chamber. He needs to win a big match in this comeback. This feud has the ability to stretch out for the next few months and these wrestlers have the talent to sell fans on multiple rematches.

Prediction: Chris Jericho defeats C.M. Punk to win the WWE Championship through nefarious means.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship: The Royal Rumble winner has not won their chosen championship since WrestleMania 23 in 2007. For four years in a row the man that eliminated 29 (or 39) others has not been able to get it done at WrestleMania. Sheamus is looking to reverse this curse.

Daniel Bryan is an unlikely World Champion walking into WrestleMania. He has been phenomenal since turning heel in the late fall and early winter. His chauvinistic character is entertaining and seems less put on than his smiley babyface run. He is working really well with A.J. and that relationship can be a central story on Smackdown very soon. Bryan is as talented as anyone in the ring and he is getting a great chance to show that on the show of shows.

Sheamus has had an unlikely path to this match as well. Instead of a consistent main event push, he received the prototypical start and stop push. He went from World Champion to Santino tea party participant. Through all of that, he still put on the best performances possible and when his name was called again to be a major babyface on Smackdown, he was ready.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus was scheduled to be a part of WrestleMania last year, but was bumped to the dark match because of time constraints (last year was one of the most poorly timed 'Mania's ever). This year, they do not have that option. I do see this being the opening match, but I don't think that the opening match at WrestleMania is that bad of a slot. Bryan and Sheamus can pull people in and give the fans one big WrestleMania moment to start the night.

Prediction: Sheamus defeats Daniel Bryan to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz) vs. Team Teddy (Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, R-Truth, The Great Khali, and Booker T): This will be the comedy portion of the evening (aside from the backstage droll that WrestleMania tends to offer) and will also be one of the longer matches on this show.

There are six former world champions involved in this match. The quality and length of many of their reigns may have been disappointing, but they are still involved. This match has quite a bit of main event power behind it, but the stars highlighted are nothing less than jobbers. David Otunga and Santino Marella didn't mean much before this match and I doubt they will after it either.

This match also highlights the absurdity of the current authority figure driven system in professional wrestling. One can only hope that the authority figure that wins this match will suddenly decide to stay in their office full time and only release video messages a Jack Tunney-esque way. Since that will not happen, I'll pick the least over-exposed General Manager to be the permanent General Manager.

One quick thought: with only one General Manager and both brands currently appearing on Raw in the "Supershow" format, what would he point of a draft be?

Prediction: Team Johnny defeats Team Teddy when Drew McIntyre pins Santino Marella.

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes has done a great job building this match into something I actually want to see. He has been great on the mic rocking his arrogant and serious heel character and exposing Big Show's substantial streak of WrestleMania embarrassment.

Speaking of Big Show, a few disappointing WrestleMania moments does not create a streak of bad performances. Big Show has been in tag team matches for the last two years and was in one of the main events the year before that. Show has been a utility performer at WrestleMania and has a chance to create his WrestleMania moment here with Rhodes.

How exactly does Big Show create that moment? Will it be as simple as winning the match? Does he even need to win the match for his big moment? Will the moment even be big enough?

The Intercontinental Championship being involved makes this a little less cut and dry. What reason is there for Big Show to win a secondary title after recently being a permanent fixture in the World Championship scene? I would hope that Big Show could transition that title onto a fitting champion that could add some prestige to it, but no one has been able to do that since Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio in 2009.

Prediction: Big Show defeats Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Championship.

Randy Orton vs. Kane: Well, we couldn't exactly have WrestleMania without Randy Orton, now could we? There was no obvious place to put him on this card and now we have this match happening. Randy Orton has never really had that one big WrestleMania match. For the last two years, he has been a mid-card feature. Before that he was in two disappointing WWE Championship matches. Orton needs a well built, well executed WrestleMania storyline one of these years.

Kane is a veteran performer collecting his veteran payday in a veteran slot. He is not a bad wrestler, but I doubt he is going to be able to put on a show-stealing performance. His feud with John Cena was unexciting at its best and unwatchable at its worst. Now he is fighting Randy Orton over a handshake that occurred a few months ago.

In the end, this match is a way to get two major stars on the biggest show of the year. Even if it isn't good, it will be short and end well.

Prediction: Randy Orton defeats Kane via RKO out of nowhere.

Beth Phoenix and Eve vs. Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos: This is a throwaway Diva's tag team match in a year where we thought the Diva's could actually matter. I'm not a fan of the woman from Extra being involved and I worry about what this could do to the great character work that we have been seeing from Eve in the last few months.

Prediction: Kelly Kelly and that woman from Extra defeat Beth Phoenix and Eve when that woman from Extra pins Beth.

I cannot think of a show anywhere near as loaded as this one looks. The top four matches all have a legitimate shot at being match of the year contenders. The rest may be filler, but from most of them I expect exciting and entertaining filler. This show may be sold on one match, but the value is in the other top three. If you're a wrestling fan, this is the must see show this year. If you're not planning to order it, do yourself a favor and change your mind.

It is time for the biggest show of the year. Get your friends together and plan your WrestleMania party. This is one of the highlights of the year for a wrestling fan. Treat yo'self to some great action!

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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