Twilling's Blog: Examining the possibilities for who will face Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 25, plus thoughts on HBK vs. Vladimir Kozlov on WWE Raw

Monday, MARCH 2 – 3:05 PM (CT)

-With WrestleMania XXV rapidly approaching, the card for the show is still very much up in the air. However, it is safe to assume certain matches, given what has taken place up until now. Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, Edge vs. John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy seem to be locks.

Beyond that, I would guess most people are assuming we will get the huge one on one match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. I feel relatively safe about this, but there is some concern in the back of my mind that Vladimir Kozlov may sneak into this somehow. My ideal scenario would have JBL interfering on the behalf of Michaels tonight, setting up Michaels vs. Taker and Kozlov vs. a face JBL. That way, we get the match we all want and Kozlov can look strong in defeat.

-The big unanswered question for WrestleMania is who will face Chris Jericho? The list of potential challengers seems infinite, so I will address each possibility.

Steve Austin: I am sure a lot of people would love to see this. Austin, going into the Hall of Fame, could now consider himself a retired legend and thus, have one more match in him to face the man spitting in the faces of generation's past. He has shot down ideas in the past to wrestle Hulk Hogan because he was afraid the match quality would suffer. That tells me he is not completely against the idea of putting the boots on one more time and he could definitely have a good match with Jericho.

Roddy Piper: Piper is not a favorite to appear in a match with Jericho. Due to his health issues and age, I just do not see him as a viable option.

Ric Flair: Flair vs. Jericho could be very good and very passionate. We know Flair would pull out all of his tricks and give us a very good performance, like he did last year at the big event. However, many would feel wrestling again after last year's retirement weekend would tarnish those three wonderful days. I agree with those people. I would like to see Flair appear, but not wrestle.

Hulk Hogan: Hogan's name has been thrown out there and I would love to see him in this spot. Having Hogan in a match at this event seems fitting and appropriate. Jericho would take the 1-2-3 here, but Hogan's appearances are about fun and nostalgia now, so a loss would not affect Jericho much, if at all.

Ricky Steamboat: Steamboat is also going into the Hall of Fame and his verbal interaction with Jericho was off the charts amazing last week. However, Steamboat has not been in the ring in a very long time. Despite that, Steamboat should be able to have a good match with Jericho. I am not sure the fans would get behind Steamboat as much as they would other possibilities, but I think it would be great.

Jerry Lawler: Lawler would be a bit of a letdown because, frankly, he is on television every single week. Lawler is a legend, but he did not achieve that status working for WWE or the NWA (or WCW). I have always advocated Lawler deserving a match at WrestleMania, but I thought a better opportunity would have been when he feuded with Tazz a few years back or if he did something with say, Santino Marella.

Mickey Rourke: Jason Powell thinks that WWE should scrap the Rourke idea because Mickey did not take home the Academy Award. I respectfully disagree. Rourke may not do a whole lot for the buyrate, but I don't think he would have even if he won the Oscar. If they want Rourke, they should go with him. There is plenty of positive buzz they can still use from the Oscar nomination, plus, with Rourke's career set to skyrocket, this would be a nice relationship for the future for WWE.

Somebody not mentioned here: It is possible that they decide to go with a young guy (Rick Steamboat Jr. or D.H. Smith perhaps) to wrestle on behalf of the legends. This could work, but they would really have to position the young guy as a sympathetic figure, and very quickly. It would be difficult to convince the fans that someone of this stature would be ready and deserving of a match this big. I supposed they could get someone like Rob Van Dam, who has name value and is a major star. I would think Jericho is going to lose this match, so I would rather have him lose to a legend for a one time deal than RVD, who most likely would not stick around.

It will be very interesting to see where they go and what they end up doing. I have my hunch as to who it is going to be so we'll see if I am correct.