Dear friends of the wrestling “universe”, I welcome you back to The People’s Column.  I apologize for my absence last week, but a combination of writer’s block and business seemed to keep me from my keyboard.  I am back this week though, so rest assured you will get your fair share of silly opinions and arguments that I would love to get into a large scale brawl about.

First off, I want to address the difficulty of being a wrestling columnist when the WWE takes seven weeks to build to a pay per view.  I will admit that columns have been few and far between in this time both because of my wedding and because the slow burn to PPV strategy is interesting to watch, but not all that fun to write about.  I also don’t want to burn out my Wrestlemania season topics too early, as one can only read so much about Undertaker’s streak and my love of the Heartbreak Kid.

Issue number two is Sheamus as a World Champion.  Color me surprised folks! As I mentioned in an earlier column, I thought that Sheamus would be the beginning of many mid-card challengers fighting for the WWE Championship and failing.  Little did I realize, he would be champion.  This was one of few truly shocking moments that I have seen on WWE TV lately.  The move was certainly bold.  It also showed a great way to build a new kid up to main event status by just sticking him there and letting him sink or swim.  The only real thing that I dislike about Sheamus is his sill cross necklace.  If he would just get rid of that thing, he would have one hell of a look.

Continuing on, the rumor at the moment is that Sheamus will be facing Triple H at Wrestlemania.  To be honest, I could think of far worse main event matches.  I believe that HBK and Undertaker will be going on last, so there isn’t the danger of repeating last year’s Wrestlemania main event let down.  There has been a lot said about the benefits of working out with Tripple H, but I believe it has more to do with the fact that Sheamus was a standout new comer who had not yet been booked to look very weak, thus allowing him to be slotted into a main event role.

This speculation of the two Wrestlemania main events of course leads one to wonder who will win the Royal Rumble this Sunday.  This is always a heated debate among fans.  Most people will say that they firmly believe that a young guy like John Morrison should win it, but I think that young future main eventers have Money in the Bank to look forward to.  A positive of that is that it does not involve the pressure of main eventing the biggest show of the year.  An established talent winning the Rumble may feel boring, but is seems to be the only way to go this year.

Shawn Michaels has openly stated that he will win the Rumble to take The Undertaker’s streak, title, and soul.  To me, that seems like a pretty good promise.  I happen to like the idea of HBK ending the streak, but that will have to wait for another column.  Him winning the Rumble would make him only the second man to have won it three times.  It would also guarantee him his Wrestlemania title shot.

Triple H has also stated his desire to be the last man standing out of thirty others to once again highlight the showcase of the immortals.  This makes sense considering the rumors about his match with Sheamus, but is it exciting? I don’t think it is as exciting and the HBK option.  Michaels wants more than just a title.  He is fighting for a chance at the streak, which seems to grow in meaning every year.  Triple just wants a title that he has held 13 times already.

John Cena could be the darkhorse to win the Rumble.  From the looks of the build, he is not expected to be in a main event at ‘Mania though.  Cena will most likely have a great showing in this match, but I strongly doubt he will take the whole thing home.

Batista seems to be the Smackdown star most likely to win, but he has been beaten by Rey Mysterio for about five weeks straight.  He may have beat up Finlay pretty decisively, but he needs more to smell like a fresh main eventer.  I strongly doubt he will take the whole thing home with him.

As a big Rumble surprise, I would be pretty excited to see Jeff Hardy show up.  He has not made another TNA appearance and the WWE has been strongly courting him, so a Rumble appearance could help him make some extra merchandise money.  It would also create a cool moment with CM Punk.  I don’t believe that this will happen, but there is at least one surprise every year, so why not predict a fun one?

Also, as if one surprise wasn’t enough, I’ll give you two!  I expect Chris Jericho to be eliminated by a returning Rated R Superstar! Yes, one of my favorite wrestlers of all time will hopefully be returning in the Rumble match to take out his former tag team partner and put some much needed star power on Smackdown so I don’t have to watch Batista vs Mysterio part 14.  This is one of the biggest reasons that I am ordering this show.  I love Edge!

I am actually very excited about this card and the Rumble match in general.  We will see how it all plays out.  Any of the sites I write for will have live coverage as the Rumble is happening, or you could order it, or you could find a place to watch it illegally.  Either way, enjoy one of the most unpredictable pay per views of the year.  I will be watching with some buddies, some beer and some ribs made by my wonderful wife. Be jealous!

Wrestlemania season kicks off on Sunday, and I could not be more excited for this year.  My outlandish ‘Mania prediction: the Money in the Bank winner ends the streak.