Reported by Martin Hawrysko of WrestleView.com
On Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 12:34 AM EST

Hey! Hey! Hey! Welcome to the pre-WrestleMania edition of Within Reason, here at WrestleView.com. In today’s column, I’ll rack up my final thoughts stemming from what we have seen from WWE the last few weeks as we head towards the biggest show of the year.

Regardless of your expectations for this show, there is one important thing to consider… be thankful Triple H isn’t on the card. Seriously, did anyone want to see Triple H vs. John Cena II at this year’s Mania? I’m not doubting that there are some people who would want to see that, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it was something I did not want to see from the moment I heard they were thinking of going in that direction. In addition, the Shawn Michaels and Cena storyline has been pretty good from the start whether it’s fair or unfair to state, I doubt a storyline between Triple H and Cena would have been as good. For the record, I am not celebrating that Triple H got hurt, and I am in-fact glad to see he his recovering well.

Overall, I have enjoyed most of WWE’s programming since January. I am very pleased that the company stepped up and really put a strong effort into building a very interesting WrestleMania this year. After a dull summer, in my opinion, of DX vs. the McMahons, the past few months have really been refreshing and made WWE fun to watch again.

I originally was dreading the fact that Donald Trump was going to be involved in WrestleMania. The idea of Umaga wrestling Hulk Hogan, the Great Khali or Bobby Lashley did not spark any interest out of me. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that to Vince McMahon, this is the most important match on the card it seems. Despite Vince McMahon pushing himself down our throats for this storyline, his act hasn’t been too bad on camera, and I am surprised to write that I have mildly enjoyed the storyline. The addition of Stone Cold Steve Austin can never hurt, but even prior to his first appearance, the storyline was starting to grow on me. I give my props to WWE for booking Lashley as they have in anticipation for this match.

The main disappointment I have going into Mania is that the company was unable, or rather, didn’t wish to find a spot for Ric Flair, Carlito and Johnny Nitro. Perhaps my criticism is a bit unfair to the company, but I don’t see how adding a ninth match in a four hour time span could have been such a big deal. Regardless of what WWE perceives to be poor backstage attitude on Carlito’s part, the guy is over with the fans, and as far as I’m concern, that is half the battle for WWE’s creative team. Instead, they’d rather force certain talents who are not over at all, down our throats. The WWE does not like Carlito’s attitude, yet Randy Orton and Batista are not far different and they receive pushes. The only difference is Orton and Batista are huge while Carlito is not.

Getting back to the positive side, the Money in the Bank ladder match should be off the wall. Besides the actual match itself, the story between Edge and Orton may take center stage, which I have no problem with, considering how well it has been booked thus far. Originally, I was not pleased that they would not be competing against each other in a singles match, but now I like that they are in the ladder match. The potential lies for either Orton or Edge to cost the other individual the title, setting up more tension and elaborating the story between them that could go on for months ahead.

Mr. Kennedy is one of those that stand out in my opinion and he has quickly become one of my favorite WWE talents. The Hardys these days don’t do much for me, so their involvement in MITB doesn’t have much interest from me. Edge, Orton, Kennedy, and Booker are the main participants who I am the most interested in, regarding this match.

Chris Beniot vs. MVP, Kane vs. Khali and the ECW Originals vs. the New Breed are what they are, in my opinion. Since I haven’t watched much ECW or Smackdown compared to Raw, these matches seem to not have much of my interest. It’s no disrespect to those individuals, but rather, I haven’t had much of a chance to get into these respected matches. Perhaps, that is not such a bad thing, as maybe one, or possible two of the matches might take me by surprise and turn out to be good. We shall see.

Oh yes, and there is the women’s match too…

As far as the top titles matches, despite my being interested more in Michaels vs. Cena, I do think Undertaker vs. Batista should be the main event. I strongly feel that whichever title match includes the Royal Rumble winner should always be WrestleMania’s main event. Regardless, I am very interested in seeing how the crowd reacts to Cena. Unfortunately for him, it seems he can’t catch much of a break with many of the fans. Cena has picked up his game a lot since WrestleMania 22, and I feel he deserves more credit that he sometimes gets. I have no doubt that Cena and Michaels will be a physical and fun match to watch. My worry is on Batista in hoping that he steps it up instead of dogging it like he has in the past. Despite his match not being the main event, his match still is one of the two most important matches on the biggest show of the year, and Batista must give it his all.

All-and-all, I am looking forward to this pay-per-view, and I hope WWE can do what they have been doing the last few months. I’m not expecting to witness the greatest WrestleMania of all time. Nobody should because when you set your expectations that high, you are bound to be left disappointed. All I’m hoping for is a fun and solid four hours. If you are only going to purchase one WWE pay-per-view a year, this is the show they want you to buy. I hope they deliver.

WrestleMania 23 Predictions

Chris Beniot vs. MVP for the United States Championship:
Again, by not watching much Smackdown, I don’t have much to say about this match. It would be easy to guess that with MVP being a potential star in the future, it would make sense to give him some U.S. gold. Despite that, WWE tends to push a talent, then suddenly hold-off on it and de-push that individual for a while. That wouldn’t surprise me either. I predict, Benoit.

Kane vs. Great Khali:
Khali is undefeated isn’t he? At least since moving to Raw he is. Kane generally loses his pay-per-view matches, since he is more of an enhancement guy these days. What sense does it make for Khali to lose this match? I predict, Khali.

Melina vs. Ashley for the WWE Women’s Championship:
Seriously, just because Ashley is in Play Boy, does that mean she’s going to win the Women’s title? Never say never in WWE. I predict Melina, but a Johny Nitro interference costing (accidentally?) her the match would not surprise me either.

ECW Originals vs. New Breed:
Not watching ECW, I can’t say where this match is going. I guess the idea of this feud is to push the younger talent and allow them to define ECW. What sense does it make for the originals to win it then? I predict, New Breed.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
I would like to see someone who you wouldn’t expect win this match. Edge or Orton don’t necessarily need this win, because they could easily be setup a few months from now in which they challenge for the title on their own. Same goes for Kennedy or Booker. Remember, the winner of this match isn’t guaranteed to win his title match whenever he cashes it in. My gut is telling me to pick Jeff Hardy, though my mind tells me I should know better. Despite that, I’d rather go off the norm and pick Jeff and see where that takes me.

Umaga vs. Lashley, in the so-called Battle of the Billionaires:
Perhaps the greatest surprise might be if Donald Trump actually gets his head shaved. Meanwhile, back on Earth, I don’t think there is any chance Donald’s head is being shaved. The fact that the guy went on Letterman the other night and didn’t mention WrestleMania at all suggests to me that as far as he is concerned, everything is business as usual for him. If he was booked to lose this match, I think he would have a more personal interest in it. The guy simply doesn’t seem to care much, except when he’s on WWE camera. Having said that, seeing Vince get his head shaved should be fun to watch. The fall-out from that on Raw the next night should be even better. I predict, Lashley. Furthermore, I expect to see Rowdy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, Eugene and anyone else that Vince screwed the last few months to at least appear during this match.

The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Title:
Batista being the champ doesn’t do much for me. I’m not impressed with his work rate, and I don’t feel he is the guy who should break Undertaker’s undefeated streak. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe it will be broken someday. It could happen tonight, but then again, I’m not sure that’s exactly what the fans would like to see. If anyone ever breaks the streak, I want it to be an underdog who the fans would want to see break it. Perhaps, booking that kind of scenario is easier said than done? I do feel the streak will be broken at some point, and what harm can happen if I predict that it happens tonight? Plus, Undertaker winning the match would have made a great ending to the show. As it turns out, this match will not finish the show. I predict, Batista.

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship:
I take it back about Money in the Bank. This match is the hardest to predict. I easily could have predicted that Undertaker beat Batista and that Cena retains, but that would be too easy. Since I picked Batista, it only makes deciding this match harder. I am at a total lost of who to pick. If I were forced to chose, I would pick Cena, but I honestly think a lot more can happen between Cena and Michaels, and perhaps, that might be the case if Michaels were to pull it off. I predict, Michaels.

--And there you have it. We’ll see what happens, I guess. I’ll be back this week sometime with my reaction to WrestleMania and the fallout that we will see for the next few weeks. If you are watching, enjoy the show. If not, allow me to remind you that WrestleView.com will have live coverage of the show as it happens.

My e-mail address is martinhwv@gmail.com. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated. As always, thanks for reading.

NOTE: The views expressed in this column are not the views of WrestleView.com and its immediate staff.