As hard as it may be to believe, WrestleMania XXIX is now less than two weeks away. So this week's edition of Raw in Philadelphia is about as big as they come. Many fans have voiced their displeasure with what they perceive to be lackluster build, but the WWE has a golden opportunity to change their minds Monday night.

The biggest news is unquestionably the return of The Rock to WWE programming. The WWE Champion hasn't appeared on Raw in two weeks due to outside commitments, but he will be present on Monday night and will almost certainly come face to face with John Cena. They have only had one exchange during their feud to this point, so there should be plenty of ammunition on both ends to generate some interest moving forward.

The Rock vs. Cena may be the featured rivalry, but The Undertaker vs. CM Punk and Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar generally don't take a backseat to anyone. Taker and Punk are sure to keep their feud moving forward after Punk disrespected the urn last week, but neither Triple H nor Lesnar are scheduled to appear, so it will be interesting to see how the WWE handles their storyline.

When you add all of that to the myriad of mid-card angles that are currently playing out, there is no question that Monday's Raw will be stacked from top to bottom.

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Ever since last year's WrestleMania XXVIII, WWE has produced half-hour pre-shows for each of its pay-per-views. WWE has decided to go even bigger at WrestleMania XXIX, however, as the pre-show will last one hour. That change should help the creative team when it comes to pacing WrestleMania itself.

According to PWMania.com, Stephanie McMahon announced at South by Southwest 2013 that the WrestleMania XXIX pre-show would be extended by 30 minutes. Although she didn't say what the pre-show would entail, it figures to be similar to the ones we have seen over the past year, only with an extra match or two as well as more backstage interviews.

The pay-per-view pre-shows have been shown on YouTube and WWE.com, and they have offered fans a taste of the event in hopes of increasing pay-per-view buys. The pre-shows have been pretty formulaic to this point, as they have featured a match that couldn't quite fit on the main card. Since the WWE's roster is so large, it's impossible to get everyone on the WrestleMania card, so an hour-long pre-show should afford more opportunities.

One thing that McMahon did mention is that the WrestleMania XXIX pre-show will be more interactive than past ones have been. Fans may even be able to vote on a stipulation or a match that will come into play later in the night. WWE has obviously made a huge push in terms of social media over the past year or two, so an interactive pre-show is the next step in the natural progression of the company.

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While it seems like some fans have an issue with almost every match of the WrestleMania XXIX card, the consensus is that CM Punk and The Undertaker are primed to put on a fantastic show. Both men are reportedly dealing with injuries at the moment, though, so they'll be forced to push even harder in order to deliver.

According to F4WOnline (via WrestlingInc.com), Punk suffered an arm injury during his match with Kane on Raw a couple weeks ago. Because of the ailment, he has been pulled from all live events leading up to WrestleMania XXIX. The WWE obviously wants to protect one of its biggest stars, so even if the injury isn't severe, resting Punk is the right move on WWE's part.

Things aren't quite as clear when it comes to The Undertaker. Taker is a very secretive person, and the WWE is always mum on his status so as to keep his mystique intact. Because of that there are no concrete injury reports, but there was plenty of scuttlebutt regarding The Phenom's health prior to his return at a WWE house show several weeks ago.

Even if Taker isn't dealing with something as obvious as Punk's arm injury, it stands to reason that nagging injuries are a factor. The Undertaker just turned 48 years of age on Sunday, so his prime years are clearly well behind him. When you consider how much punishment he has taken over the years, it would be a miracle if he is in perfect health.

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The WWE Hall of Fame has been much maligned over the years for not necessarily honoring the very best professional wrestling has to offer. No such criticism has been made regarding the 2013 class, but with so many strong candidates being inducted at the same time, there is some concern that future classes will be hindered.

It seems like there are usually one or two guys who go into the Hall of Fame on a yearly basis, only for the fans to scoff at their inclusion.

That isn't the case this time around, though, as the 2013 class is arguably the most star-studded class of all time. Bruno Sammartino, Mick Foley, Bob Backlund, Trish Stratus, Booker T and Donald Trump are all deserving of their spots in one way or another.

Sammartino is arguably the greatest grappler of all time and still holds the record for the longest WWE Championship reign.

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There are a lot of wrestling companies out there, and they stage countless events over the course of the year, but there is no denying that WWE's WrestleMania trumps them all. Many of the greatest matches in the history of professional wrestling have taken place on the 'Mania stage. However, some of the worst have happened at the show of shows as well.

The WrestleMania platform is great in most respects because it allows the talent to thrive in front of millions of people. While great performances are magnified, though, the same is true of poor showings. If a bad match happens on Raw or SmackDown, fans might talk about it for a day or two, but it gets forgotten about soon after. When a bad match happens at WrestleMania, however, it is forever encapsulated.

For every fan that still talks about Randy "Macho Man" Savage against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at WrestleMania III, there is another that continues to bash Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar from WrestleMania XX. Wrestling fans tend to have great memories, so when something falls flat at the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, it never fades into obscurity.

Here are the 10 worst matches to occur over the course of the first 28 WrestleManias in WWE history. We can only hope that WrestleMania XXIX doesn't add any duds to this list.

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The WrestleMania XXIX card was still quite unsettled heading into this week, but much of that was resolved on Raw as a few new matches were announced and others were made much clearer. When you add that to all of the WWE news that took place outside the ring, this has certainly been a crazy week as 'Mania approaches.

Raw's main segment this week featured Triple H signing the contract for his match against Brock Lesnar. Triple H had to sign the contract blindly without knowing the stipulations, which Paul Heyman revealed to close the show. Heyman told The Game that it would be a No Holds Barred match, but it would also be a career-threatening match as Triple H will have to retire if he loses.

A handful of additional WrestleMania matches were set on Raw, a new inductee was named for the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame class, a popular UFC fighter took some shots at Vince McMahon and rumors are swirling regarding the status of one of the WWE's biggest stars post-WrestleMania XXIX.

Keep reading for in-depth analysis on all the biggest news and rumors regarding the WWE for the week beginning on March 17.

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The rivalry between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger hasn't been as hyped as some of the others heading into WrestleMania XXIX, but it has garnered the WWE some mainstream attention and pushed Swagger to new heights as a top heel.

The WWE must capitalize on this by having Swagger win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Del Rio has admittedly been much more interesting since turning face, but he just doesn't have the character necessary to be a top guy. I enjoy his in-ring work immensely; however, his promos are tough to sit through since they are quite repetitive.

He has been in the world title scene for most of the past year on SmackDown and it's time for somebody else to step up.

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As much money as John Cena vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIX is likely to make the WWE, most hardcore fans aren't particularly excited about it. One way to potentially add some intrigue would be to institute a stipulation of some kind.

Normally when there is a WrestleMania match between two stars as big as Cena and The Rock, a stipulation isn't really necessary. Since they already faced off in the main event last year, though, this match obviously needs something. The addition of the WWE Championship may be interesting to some, but it is blatantly obvious that Cena is going to win, so it doesn't make much of a difference to the diehards.

So many fans have grown disillusioned with this feud due partially to the fact that we've already seen it, and also because The Rock hasn't been on Raw in a couple weeks. With that in mind, maybe there isn't anything that can save this match as far as the regular WWE viewers are concerned, but that doesn't mean the creative team shouldn't try anyway.

It seemed like a lot of fans had the same feeling about Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania as they do about Cena vs. The Rock currently. The WWE has done a nice job building Triple H and Lesnar's feud into something personal, though, and the addition of stipulations such as No Holds Barred and Triple H having to retire if he loses have definitely made it one of the most anticipated bouts on the card.

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