I have been heavily confused lately on where the WWE is taking Randy Orton’s angle into Wrestlemania 26. Each week instead of being excited and thrilled to watch next week’s Raw due to the angles leading into Wrestlemania (i.e. Batista/Cena, Hart/McMahon), I find myself sitting down in a chair every Saturday to do “The Still Real to us Show” and wondering where in the heck they are taking this Randy Orton angle. I know it’s hard to believe that someone would get confused with an angle in wrestling and an angle in the WWE.

I was almost positive that WWE was heading into the direction of Orton/DiBiase at Wrestlemania 26 to make Ted DiBiase the big time babyface as was rumored for much of the year. I really thought I was on the right path of that prediction until this past Monday Night on Raw. That’s where the WWE booked a handicap match with the team of Legacy (DiBiase & Rhodes) vs. Randy Orton.

I felt so positive that we would see Cody Rhodes turn on his partner and help build Ted DiBiase as the sympathetic babyface heading into a Wrestlemania 26 matchup with Randy Orton. Instead we got Legacy beating down Orton and the fans cheering on Randy Orton throughout the match. I know this is something the fans have been trying to do since late-2008 heading into the 2009 Royal Rumble. But the WWE has kept him a heel the entire time.

People felt that Randy Orton would make a great tweener character similar to the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin. I never really saw the comparison nor have really jumped on the Orton bandwagon since he joined the WWE back in the early part of the decade. While his promos I feel are horrible due to being so monotone, I always felt he was a great antagonist and a great heel as he made the fans like the person he was in the ring with more then they did before they got into the angle with Orton. He made wrestlers superstars and fan favorites (i.e. Kofi Kingston before WWE pulled the plug on that push).

That’s where Ted DiBiase re-enters the picture. The WWE wants to make this guy a star. He has the WWE look they like or they would have never put him in the Marine 2 movie. But then again they did put Mr. Kennedy in a movie and look how that went…either way the WWE saw some future potential in the son of “The Million Dollar Man” and I can’t blame them. Since the kid debuted in the WWE he had a “look” that you could tell he would be a star someday.

The reports finger pointed towards Ted DiBiase being a face heading into Wrestlemania this year and that he would be involved in a program with his mentor Randy Orton. While I think that is the way this angle will go I still am very much confused on the entire angle thus far. As another week passes I have yet another prediction on this entire thing.

I feel like we may get the classic Wrestlemania face/heel switch in a matchup between Orton & DiBiase. Don’t know what I mean yet? Watch Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Wrestlemania 13 and Triple H vs. Kane from Wrestlemania 15. Those are two matches where the face and the heel entering the match walked out of the match with a switch persona. Bret Hart & Triple H entered as the face and walked out as the heel. Steve Austin & Kane walked in as the heel and walked out as the face.

I can see Orton entering as the face and DiBiase entering as the heel with Cody Rhodes in his corner. At some point in the match Rhodes turns on DiBiase setting up some sort of beat down where the fans get behind DiBiase due to pure sympathy for his character. If WWE does the angle well enough they will make DiBiase look sympathetic yet still have an amazing heart in the match that the fans can grasp onto and back even more.

Personally I love these types of angles and I hope that this is the way they are booking it right now. Very rarely do we see these types of angles play out anymore and it would be fresh to the wrestling audience since it hasn’t been done in a while. Plus you’re doing it at Wrestlemania and hope that you can reach that “wrestlemania moment.”

As I write this we are two weeks away still from Wrestlemania 26. That means two more Raw’s until Wrestlemania. Look for the Triple H/Orton match to end in a DQ due to either Legacy and/or Sheamus where we could actually see a mini-evolution reunion for the first time in a long time. If creative is going into Wrestlemania with Orton receiving this mini-babyface push then this would be a huge way to keep building it that way.

While the Orton angle heading into Wrestlemania 26 is still extremely blurry and confusing I am still finding myself watching it week after week. After much thought and doing my own sort of booking for it I hope I have helped find some sort of resolution in this entire confusing angle. Who knows maybe next week I’ll be writing another blog on how I would book Orton going into Wrestlemania 26 and scrapping the idea I put in this blog.

If you have any questions or comments for Eric Gargiulo and I for this week’s “The Still Real to us Show” please e-mail us at thestillrealtousshow@gmail.com

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.com and can be downloaded in the “Real Guy Radio” section of the site. There you can also download many different shows including “The Wheelhouse”, “24 on 24″ and “Lost: Smoke Monsters and You.”

If you would like to subscribe to “The Wheelhouse” on iTunes simply subscribe for free at iTunes by typing in “Wheelhouse Radio!”

You can follow “The Champ” Jeff Peck on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/therealjeffpeck or you can follow Wheelhouse Radio! on Twitter by visiting their page @ www.twitter.com/thewheelhouse. You can also e-mail them @ wheelhouseradio@gmail.com

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the DVD -  WWE: Shawn Michaels – My Journey

Order the DVD – WWE: The Best of RAW 2009

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Why can’t wrestling be unpredictable? There used to be a time when I could watch wrestling and be surprised. Lately I can’t say that. Maybe it’s my own wrongdoing because I go to the wrestling internet sites. But lets be serious you can watch WWE programming and figure out where they are going with the storylines most of the time.

The largest build of storylines where it’s the most predictable appears to be during the road to WWE Wrestlemania build every year. As Eric Gargiulo and I discussed on “The Still Real to us Show”, we have had our surprises this year (Cena, then Batista wins the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber) but we have had our predictable outcomes as well (Edge chooses Y2J). Sadly we have had some more predictable outcomes as we continue towards the path of Wrestlemania 26.

The last couple of weeks I have written blogs on where I see the Wrestlemania 26 card going. So far I’ve done pretty well with my predictions and missing a couple matches for the big show in Glendale. I feel like after what I saw this past Monday night on Raw I have once again done pretty well for myself.

Let’s go straight for the obvious right now with the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match. We knew in some form this was going to happen, we just didn’t know how. There were reports out last week that the WWE Championship match would be a tag team match with Cena & Hart vs. Batista & McMahon and that Hart would win the WWE Championship. As of right now it appears that’s not where they are heading to this.

For the 2nd time in three weeks Vince McMahon has accepted a challenge to take on Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 26. We are to believe that Bret Hart has suffered a leg injury from the car backing into him and that is the reason why Vince accepted the challenge. It makes decent sense on why Vince McMahon, who was a commentator during Bret’s era, would go on a face the former five-time WWE Champion.

But are we really going to get a bad leg Bret Hart for WM26? I don’t think so. I believe we are going to get some sort of swerve where Bret was behind it the whole time finally some sort of contract signing where he shows Vince and the rest of the “WWE Universe” that it was all a hoax for Vince to wrestle Bret at Mania. Either way I am happy that we are going to get to see Bret Hart at WM26, in what capacity I’m not sure, wrestling one more time at Wrestlemania.

The other matchup that looks like is setting up a Wrestlemania match is the Randy Orton vs. Legacy handicap match at the March 8th Raw. If you believe that we will be seeing a Cody Rhodes turn his back on Ted DiBiase angle, I am right there with you. There have been talks of Orton/DiBiase at WM26 since almost last summer (similar to Jericho/Edge), to not pull the trigger this close in the game is huge.

As I said on this past week’s “The Still Real to us show” (which you can still download at www.wheelhouseradio.com) I believe that Ted DiBiase is headed towards a big baby face push. I believe that Ted DiBiase can be World Champion material overtime. I’m sure that creative isn’t essentially happy with how well they have developed him over the years since he debuted but he still has that “look.”

I believe we will see Rhodes turn on DiBiase and set up an Orton/DiBiase match at WM26. Hopefully this match will catapult the career of Ted DiBiase and the career of Cody Rhodes as well. With more attention given to Rhodes as a singles competitor we may see him also blow up this year as a future main eventer.

It just sucks to see the writing on the wall in wrestling most of the time but I guess that’s why we keep coming back for more and writing these blogs every week. Once again I have got to take my hat off (as if I’m wearing one as I write this?) to the WWE creative team who is firing on all cylinders right now as we head to WM26. This is shaping to be one of the best cards at Wrestlemania that we have seen in years.

We left Raw knowing that next week we will be building to an Orton/DiBiase (with the handicap Orton vs. Legacy bout) match and also the makings of a Triple H/Sheamus (where Sheamus kicked Triple H to end Raw) match, while adding onto the Hart/McMahon and Cena/Batista (the Cena/McMahon match) bout. Those are two mid-card matches for WM26 and arguably a Main Event/Mid-Card/Special Wrestlemania match when discussing Hart/McMahon.

I’ll save it for another blog or for the next “Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo and I; but if I’m TNA right now I have to be worried as I head into the March 8th Monday Night Wars showdown. WWE is exciting and fun to watch heading to their biggest show of the year while TNA is giving us two legends that shouldn’t be in the ring anymore and can’t keep their personal lives in order.

Damn it’s a good time to be a wrestling fan.

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.com and can be downloaded in the “Real Guy Radio” section of the site. There you can also download many different shows including “The Wheelhouse”, “24 on 24″ and “Lost: Smoke Monsters and You.”

If you would like to subscribe to “The Wheelhouse” on iTunes simply subscribe for free at iTunes by typing in “Wheelhouse Radio!”

You can follow “The Champ” Jeff Peck on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/therealjeffpeck or you can follow Wheelhouse Radio! on Twitter by visiting their page @ www.twitter.com/thewheelhouse. You can also e-mail them @ wheelhouseradio@gmail.com

Check out the WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1985-1989 (I-V)

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 – 1990-1994 (WrestleMania VI-X)

Read WWE WrestleMania : The Official Insider’s Story

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Hello everyone, once again! Hope you all had a great last full week of February, 2010, and welcome to March, 2010, is……….JERICHO! Yes! This past week, we say week 1 of the WWE Champion Batista (his 2nd WWE title reign) and World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho (his 3rd World Heavyweight title reign, if you don’t count his two WCW title reigns). Let me discuss my opinion on both World Champs.

WWE Champion, the Guy Who Shoots Lasers Out of His Fists

Like I said when I called into Pro Wrestling Radio last week, I never liked Batista that much before. I enjoyed him in Evolution, I think in part because he was a heel, because that’s my personal preference. Shortly after he became face, after his feuds with Triple H and John Bradshaw Layfield, I started not to care too much about him. I think it maybe because he was on Smackdown, and around that time I wasn’t watching Smackdown on a regular basis for years like I’ve done before.

But after his turn on Mysterio at WWE Bragging Rights last year, I started to enjoy Batista’s new character. He kicked butt on his terms, and didn’t care what the crowd wanted. He beat Mysterio at Survivor Series by a ref stoppage, because of the many Steroid Bombs [Batista Bombs, I haven't discussed Batista in a long time, but my first article I wrote for CCB, I talked about his finisher], I was happy.

How he’s been taking his character, I really enjoy. He gets people angry with him. I like it, I really do. Thank you Batista for starting to become likeable for once.

World Heavyweight Champion, a Lead Singer to a Rock n’ Roll Band

You all know that I am a huge Chris Jericho fan! And you all know that I am excited that Chris Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship, even if it’s only for five weeks! And I think you all should like him too! And you all know that I am a Jericholic, and I don’t need to use jump on his band wagon.

Jericho as World Champ into WrestleMania I think it would help bring in ratings. At least for me, I think Jericho deserves to be in the main event for Mania, because last year, he had to face three legends, and honestly, I feel like that match wasn’t that great.

But this is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, sorry for a late Week in Review, goodbye

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Check out the WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1985-1989 (I-V)

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 – 1990-1994 (WrestleMania VI-X)

Read WWE WrestleMania : The Official Insider’s Story

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

You read it correctly and you’re probably in as much as shock as I was when I saw it. There is a pro wrestling news website reporting that this could be a possibility at WrestleMania 26 this year. The match? Bret Hart & John Cena vs. WWE Champion Batista & Vince McMahon. The stipulation? The member of team Hart/Cena who scores the pinfall or submission would be the new WWE Champion. The finish? Hart making McMahon tap out to the Sharpshooter to win the title. Interesting idea & simple enough; Bret gains the ultimate form of retribution from 12 years ago & screws McMahon on the Grandest Stage of Them All. But how do you possibly make this more interesting & more importantly, where do you go after Bret potentially wins the championship at WrestleMania?

The match itself feels like it needs a special referee; one who can be perceived as being neutral in the eyes of the fans. Storyline wise, McMahon can potentially “pay off” any official that works for WWE to screw Hart & Cena. There’s one man who could be made the special referee for the evening. He’s feuded with both Hart & McMahon, & the fans would probably be in a state of suspense the whole time, wondering if the match would be called down the middle. If WWE is going to go the route of the tag match for the WWE Title, why not make the special referee for the night Stone Cold Steve Austin? Austin is supposed to host Raw before WrestleMania & storyline wise, could insert himself into the tag match using his power as guest host that night to do so. The claim can be that he doesn’t like anyone & will call the match fairly. In the end though, Austin assists Hart at Mania once again proving to McMahon what we’ve heard time & again; DTA.

But now, you’re left with a problem. In all likelihood, Hart cannot work a match to drop the WWE Title to someone. What do you do here? There are options:

1. Next night on Raw, Bret comes out as WWE Champion to address the fans about what he has in store for the future. I’d take a page out of the old ECW playbook here. The last night the Dudleys were in ECW, they won the tag team titles & threatened to take them to New York (WWF) with them. They dropped them that night to Tommy Dreamer & Raven. Something similar can be done here. Hart can at first allude to taking a “permanent vacation” in Orlando (home of TNA if you’re wondering why) & taking the title with him. Bret could retire as champion.

2. McMahon can publicly strip Hart of the championship. Weak though IMO.

3. McMahon can order Hart vs. John Cena for the WWE Title. Bret lays down for Cena & screws Vince again.

4. The best option would probably be to have Bret vacate the title next night on Raw & say goodbye, setting up a tournament to crown a new WWE Champion at the April PPV event.

If this is in fact an option on the table for WrestleMania this year, the PPV could be getting a whole lot more interesting.

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the WWE DVD WWE – Bret “Hitman” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be.

Read more about Bret Hart in his autobiography – Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

The road to WrestleMania 26 became much clearer tonight after the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. There were three major world title changes, which completely changes the landscape for the World Wrestling Entertainment’s biggest show of the year. The big WWE news is that Sheamus and the Undertaker are out while Chris Jericho and Batista will enter WrestleMania as new WWE champions.

The shocker of the night came in the first Elimination Chamber match for the WWE championship featuring the WWE RAW brand. It appeared as if Sheamus had made the cut from transition champion to the real deal coming into the event. Unfortunately for Sheamus fans, it was not meant to be. John Cena won the Elimination Chamber match and reclaimed his WWE championship. Sheamus was eliminated by Triple H, who subsequently was eliminated by Cena for the win. But the night didn’t end there for the Marine.

It has become routine for some kind of twist to arise at these Elimination Chamber shows from the WWE. Last year it was Edge entering the WWE RAW brand Elimination Chamber match and winning the title. This year it was an unscheduled Batista vs. John Cena match. Following Cena’s win, Vince McMahon came out to announce an immediate Batista vs. Cena match for the title. Batista defeated an exhausted Cena in 31 seconds and won the WWE championship. A WWE SmackDown superstar leaves with the WWE RAW brand’s title also like last year.

In a more predictable title change, Chris Jericho defeated The Undertaker in the WWE world heavyweight title which represents the SmackDown brand. Most blogs and websites predicted a Jericho win. Most blogs and websites also correctly predicted that it would be Shawn Michaels’ interference which would cost The Undertaker the match. Michaels came from underneath the steel part of the cage and nailed Taker with Sweet Chin Music. A surprised Jericho quickly covered The Undertaker for the win and the WWE world heavyweight title. This was quite a bit of irony here in Michaels helping Jericho after their lengthy feud in 2008.

I spent a lot of talking on my radio show last Monday night about the fact that I just never thought Edge vs. Sheamus was going down at WrestleMania. In my mind, the match made very little sense while the WWE had a ready-made match set up with Chris Jericho vs. Edge. On the other hand, I feel that Sheamus was just starting to get taken seriously as a champion and a run into WrestleMania with the title could have cemented him as a main-event WWE star for the next year. The Jericho-Edge match on the other hand will be much better, and gives Jericho his first WrestleMania main-event since WrestleMania 18, freshening up the top of the WrestleMania card.

The Batista title switch is a real curious one to me. Batista’s last WWE championship reign lasted less than 24 hours. Batista tore his left bicep during the match at Extreme Rules last year when he defeated Randy Orton for the title. Batista had to vacate the title the next night and missed several months before returning to action. At the time I and others here questioned whether the WWE would ever have the faith in Batista for another title run. Apparently they do and the vote of confidence doesn’t get much better than a title run during WrestleMania season. It will be interesting to see how much ring time Batista gets before WrestleMania or will the WWE drastically limit his schedule to give him the best chance at staying injury-free before WrestleMania 26.

Looking at the results and how things went down tonight, the rough lineup for WrestleMania 26 looks something like this…
Edge vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE world heavyweight title
John Cena vs. Batista for the WWE championship
Sheamus vs. Triple H
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Randy Orton
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon

At first glance, it looks on paper like a stronger lineup than last year. Edge and Jericho are likely to tear the house down and maybe even top Taker vs. HBK. I have no reason to think that Michaels vs. Undertaker won’t live up to expectations. Sheamus vs. Triple H has potential, although it is not anything I see that is going to steal the show. Cena vs. Batista is a real wild card in my opinion. Batista really prides himself on having great WrestleMania matches, and had two show-stealers in his last three vs. Edge and Taker. Batista is going to have his work cut out for him that night. I have very little interest in seeing Orton vs. DiBiase, but I may be in the minority there. If given time, Punk vs. Mysterio could give the upper card a run for their money but I don’t see them given that opportunity. Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon is a match I am really looking forward to, as much as it will probably disappoint.

Headlocks and Eye Gouges – I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio this Monday night February 23 at 8 PM/EST live. I will recap the Elimination Chamber show and talk WrestleMania 26. Call in with a question or comment at 1-877-800-8834. Listen live at http://www.tinyurl.com/PWradio at 8 PM/EST this and every Monday night.

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the book A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex

Read the book Chris Jericho (Edge Books)

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

This past week after the WWE Royal Rumble and after Edge making a “surprise” appearance and making a surprise win of the Rumble match, we saw both Raw and SmackDown entrances for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in a couple of weeks.

If you didn’t read my thoughts on the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, I am surprise that Edge won the Rumble. One thing I am surprised at is it seems like they are still building towards a Edge/Jericho match at WrestleMania. Why would I say that? Shawn Michaels didn’t win the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels didn’t win his match to get into the Raw Elimination Chamber. And Shawn Michaels wants to face the Undertaker at WrestleMania. I can see, and I would like to see, but I’ll be surprise if this happens that Michaels screws the Dead Man somehow at the PPV, costing him the World Heavyweight title.

That’s what I would like to see, but that’s a few weeks in advance. But to look at it more, on Raw, Edge commented on Jericho. How those two once were Unified Tag Team Champions then Edge got injured, and Chris Jericho was happy about that. Jericho said that he and the Big Show were better tag champs than he and Edge would ever have made. That made Edge upset. And on SmackDown, Jericho came out during Edge’s talk segment, “the Cutting Edge.”

I may be reading into it a little too much, but I think the WWE Creative may be doing something that they’ve been teasing since the summer. Granted if this happens, I can see Edge winning the World Heavyweight title from Jericho, but it would set up a feud that could be brought into the summer if Jericho doesn’t leave to tour with Fozzy. But either way, it would still be awesome seeing Jericho holding the World title for a few weeks and seeing him and Edge face each other at WrestleMania, adding the World title on top of it!

But to be honest, it was nice seeing matches this past week on Monday Night Raw. How Raw is normally the more entertainment show. This past week, we did see a lot more wrestling than we normally do see, and I enjoyed that. Even thought it seems like such matches like John Cena/Cody Rhodes was more of a squash match than anything, I still enjoyed Raw.

And Bret Hart made another appearance on Raw. It seems like they are going towards a Mr. McMahon/Batista versus Bret Hart/John Cena match at WrestleMania. I would rather see a tag match with those two over having another Batista/Cena match and having McMahon/Hart in their respected corners. But that’s my personal opinion.

Gee’s, it seems like this past week, they’re doing a lot of build-up for WrestleMania. And if they are going towards what they’re teasing, I may enjoy WrestleMania this year. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, going to wrap this up for I can enjoy the Super Bowl, goodbye!

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Order the WWE – Edge: A Decade of Decadence DVD byclicking here.

Order the WWE Royal Rumble – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1

Order the WWE Royal Rumble – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 (1993-1997)

Order the WWE Royal Rumble – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 3

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!