WWE: The Road to Wrestlemania...XXVIII

Yes, this spring we’ll receive the 27^th installment of the Grand Daddy of Them All, but why not look further down the road?

WWE is in the midst of a much chronicled youth movement. The face of the company this year is completely different from that of a year ago.

No Shawn Michaels. No Batista. HHH and Taker have been on the shelf. Randy Orton is now a face. Miz is now a champion. Bryan Danielson is now Daniel Bryan and some rookie named Wade Barrett is feuding with the biggest draw on the planet.

While 2010 was a year of major changes, it may be 2011 and the Road to Wrestlemania XVIII where we see the real transformation into a new era.

If you don’t mind, hop into my DeLorean, we’ll punch this puppy to 88 miles per hour and take a gander at what we could be dealing with come 2012.

Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. Jeff Hardy—it’s fantasy booking, so bite me. WWE has picked Jeff Hardy off the TNA scrap heap before, and I don’t believe for one minute that Hardy will never set foot in a WWE ring again.

Give it another year and I’ll gather Jeff is done with TNA, needs money, cleans himself up and heads back north. That doesn’t mean Vince will put him back into the main event. He does his penance by jerking the curtain at Wrestlemania in a midcard feud against Ziggler.

Despite his problems backstage and at home, the crowd will still be hot for Jeff, who starts the show off right, hits a few big spots, nails the Swanton and wins the IC Title from Dolph in a fast-paced eight-minute match.

Winner: Hardy.

Six-man Tag Match: Tyson Kidd, John Morrison and Jackson Andrews vs. Edge, R-Truth and Mark Henry—Now, this one will take a little longer to get around with some extensive fantasy booking.

First, if you don’t know who Jackson Andrews is, he’s the seven-foot monster that was with Tyson Kidd on Monday night. Whether that is his name on Raw or not, that’s what he went as in FCW.

Second, I love the Kidd/Andrews pairing because I think Kidd has a lot of talent and this pairing is very reminiscent of HBK/Diesel. I don’t think Kidd has the chops on the mic right now to really carry this tandem, so by adding a third and creating a mini-stable with Morrison turning heel—a place where he is much more comfortable—you’d have a compelling undercard force.

Kidd and Morrison could form an exciting tag team; Andrews is the muscle. This group needs a face group to serve as their stepping stone. In comes a proven main eventer in Edge, who can step down in a stacked card such as this to raise up the up-and-coming stable. R-Truth is an eternal midcarder that works well in a tag team environment. Henry is the monster that stands up to Andrews and can’t get pushed around, for a good standoff.

Winners: Kidd, Morrison, Andrews, who pin Henry, protecting Edge and Truth, but giving them a good rub on a big show.

MITB: Alberto Del Rio, Husky Harris, Kofi Kingston, Santino, Evan Bourne, Skip Sheffield, Christian, Seth Rollins—The make-up of MITB matches are always generally the same. 

You have your bases, Harris and Sheffield, to hit some awesome power moves; your bump artists, Rollins (Tyler Black or whatever you call him) and Bourne, who are on the receiving end of the awesome power moves; your indefinite face midcarders, Kofi and Santino, who are always over with the crowd; and finally your face and heel potential winners, which in this case are Christian and Del Rio respectively.

Winner: Del Rio

U.S. Championship: Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio—We all know that these two could light it up if given the chance to really go. Mysterio is at the point where he needs to put people over, give the big rub and Swagger is one that could use it.

Think back to the classics Angle and Mysterio used to put on. Swagger is bigger in stature than Angle and we’ve seen him do some great things with smaller opponents like Kofi. The spots that Swagger could hit throwing around a Hall of Fame caliber bump master like Mysterio could be great.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk—Think back to how we all felt when we found out that Chris Jericho was going to face Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania X-9? The two put on a 22-minute classic that truly re-established Jericho as a main eventer after getting buried during the official coronation of HHH as undisputed master and ruler of the universe the year before.

Jericho is always better as the pompous heel, but if I were to think of one person that could be a bombastic, egomaniacal heel opposite Y2J, it would be CM Punk. The match could even be laid out as homage to the Jericho-Michaels match with Jericho now playing the role of his idol.

Winner: Jericho, followed by a handshake and kick to the crotch by Punk.

WWE Championship: HHH vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. Orton—Don’t think for a second that just because the new faces are rising up the card that the old stalwarts are going to cede their place in the spotlight.

Four heavyweights with big power move sets that all need to be on the card but could put on a helluva show if laid out properly. An abundance of near fall spots are a given when dealing with multi-man matches and with a ring general like HHH to hold them all together, it would maintain that big match feel.

With the true Raw main event to come later, this match doesn’t require an extensive storyline. It would just require each guy to play his role. HHH is the grizzled veteran that wants another taste of the gold. Orton is the star in his prime that is ready to put HHH out carry the company. Barrett is the young challenger that has yet to be champion, but ready to take his spot at the top. Sheamus is the powerhouse former champ in search of his Wrestlemania moment and can’t think of a better way to do so than taking out Orton and HHH and winning the WWE Title.

Winner: Wade Barrett, who will at this point have been solo for some time and ready to form a new faction of his own (maybe with Kidd and Morrison?) because he truly is the next HHH-type character, not Sheamus.

World Heavyweight Championship: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan—Oh yeah, a few of you just messed your pants. This storyline books itself. In the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed The Miz capture his first WWE Championship.

Sure, he could carry it all the way to Wrestlemania, but nobody actually sees that happening. He’ll more likely drop it at Elimination Chamber and fall into a midcard match at Mania.

Bryan, who has been red hot since returning at Summerslam, has since cooled off slightly. He still gets big props, but he isn’t in a true feud while maintaining a storyline with the Bella Twins to keep him relevant.

Vince knows he has something in Bryan, but he needs more mic time, more character development, and isn’t quite ready for the big show. Miz needs more ring time to prove himself a legitimate champion.

I would split these two onto different shows after Wrestlemania during the draft. Send Miz to Smackdown where he can feud with a variety of talented guys in the ring, maybe a series with Mysterio and a face Edge around the title.

Meanwhile, Bryan continues to rise further up the ranks on Raw, engaging in top-level feuds with Wade Barrett, Sheamus, maybe even HHH. The two have a run-in backstage at TLC where Miz eventually wins the belt later that night. Bryan wins the Rumble Match and jumps shows, challenging Miz for the belt to bring their feud full circle as Bryan promises to finally embarrass the Miz on the grandest stage.

Winner: Daniel Bryan, new World Heavyweight Champion

Main Event: John Cena vs. The Undertaker—You know that on a show where we have a major shake-up, such as Bryan vs. Miz, you have to have the old faithful draw, the mega-draw that WWE has been licking its chops to see for some time now.

I have a feeling once Taker gets past this year’s Mania, Vince will do everything in his power to make absolute sure this match happens and main events in 2012. Even if that means Undertaker takes off until the following Rumble, he will cash in on the Dead Man vs. Cena at Mania.

If Cena hasn’t turned heel at this point, which it’s looking more and more likely won’t happen, this would be a good opportunity for Cena to recall his performance at One Night Stand II against RVD.

A straight-up promo from the guy about how Cena grew up watching Taker and always told himself that he knew that if given the chance, he could end The Streak, and he will do that, no matter how many people’s dreams it crushes.

Cena isn’t going to get cheered against Taker, as nobody gets cheers against Taker, so he may as well heel it up for a short run like HBK did against Hogan during their run to a Summerslam a few years ago.

Winner: The Undertaker, because you expected something else.