Reported by Martin Hawrysko of WrestleView.com
On Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:51 PM EST

Hello and welcome to another Within Reason, for the second day in a row. A lot of thoughts and idea have popped into my head following Royal Rumble, and even though Raw is only an hour and a half away, I still wanted to get this column up.

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about the WWE in several months… maybe years? With the fallout from last night’s Royal Rumble, there are several options that can take place starting tonight. Originally, I was disappointed that the Undertaker won the Rumble. As I mentioned in my pre Royal Rumble column, I thought Undertaker winning the Rumble match was actually a waste (not meant as disrespect towards him). When thinking about the different scenarios that can now take place, I’m not entirely sure if Undertaker’s Rumble victory is that much of a waste.

By booking the Undertaker to win last night’s Rumble, it highly suggests that the WWE is either not sure what their WrestleMania plans are for the WWE championship match, or that they weren’t ready to commit to a plan yet. I’m hoping that after tonight’s Raw, we all will have a better idea of what will take place in regards to the WWE championship match at WrestleMania.

It is very easy to assume that the Undertaker will challenge Batista for the World Heavyweight title at WrestleMania, especially since the storyline is somewhat in place for it. However, with the way the WWE has booked in recent years, the winner of the Royal Rumble has a choice of which title he can challenge. Having said that, I think it is very important that the WWE acknowledges this “loophole" (as referred to by Vince McMahon several years ago) and play it up to the max.

Regardless if the WWE is intent on having Undertaker wrestle Batista at WrestleMania, I think it would be valuable to spike interest by having the Undertaker show up on Raw tonight. How effective would it be for the Undertaker to show up, just as a declaration that the option is his to challenge Cena for the WWE title? I think that would definitely draw people’s attention.

A lot of talk among WWE fans as of late has been about Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak. Regardless of who the Undertaker wrestles at WrestleMania, there is a serious chance that his streak might be in jeopardy. Personally, if the Undertaker does lose at WrestleMania, I would rather see him lose to Cena than Batista. I think Cena is beginning to improve tremendously, and I admire how hard he tries. I’m not so sure that Batista is deserving as being the first (and possibly) only person to ever defeat the Undertaker at WrestleMania.

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that the WWE has decided to change directions in regards to the WWE title match at WrestleMania (click here to read). It is believed that the WWE’s original plan for WrestleMania was Cena vs. Shawn Michaels. But we don’t know that for sure. If the Wrestling Observer’s report is accurate, then we might be in store for something special tonight.

While I would rather see Cena defend the WWE title against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania, I would at least like to see some creativity by seeing the Undertaker on Raw tonight. If it is decided that Cena will defend his title against the Undertaker, I may be slightly disappointed, but I certainly won’t be upset over it. I would still look forward to seeing Undertaker vs. Cena. Either way, Cena vs. Michaels or Cena vs. Undertaker would at least be fresh.

On a final note, regardless of which title Undertaker challenges at WrestleMania, I do think it is safe to assume that the WWE title match will main event the show.

Aimless Observations

-According to www.deepdiscountdvd.com, the DVD for this year’s Royal Rumble will be released on February 27th. I’m definitely going to be buying that one!

-After last night, why should any ECW fan be optimistic that the WWE has any care in the world for that brand? I honestly wish the WWE and Sci Fi would just pull the plug on that failed experiment. While it was never going to the ECW of old, it could have provided a nice alternative from Raw and Smackdown each week.

-I know I predicted in my column yesterday that MNM and the Hardys would go their separate ways heading into WrestleMania. But honestly, would anyone mind if they all wrestled one more time in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on the night of April 1st?

-- I hope the WWE delivers tonight. While I should know better, I'm am expecting a good show tonight. Nevertheless, I haven't been this excited about wrestling, in a long. . . long time.

E-mail may be sent to martinhwv@gmail.com. Please do not include attachments or pictures because I will not open them. Other than that, all e-mails are read and generally responded to. Your feedback is appreciated, thanks for reading.

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