WWE Brewing Thoughts: WrestleMania XXVII and the Complexities of 2.21.11

Welcome to another installment of Brewing Thoughts, where the Road to WrestleMania continues with the Elimination Chamber event just a week away.

WWE came through the home state of the world champion Green Bay Packers, as R-Truth forgot where he was, a potential controversy surrounding where the World Heavyweight Championship was born, and Alex Riley jobbed to a 61-year-old man.

Such is life in the WWE Universe.

Despite Elimination Chamber being just a week away, the focus seems to center on WrestleMania XXVII more each week. That is where this edition of Brewing Thoughts begins.

Finally, The Rock Has Come Back to Atlanta

The official announcement comes Monday night from Anaheim, but reports have been popping up across the Internet confirming popular speculation that The Rock would return to WWE programming as the guest host of WrestleMania XXVII.

Really, who else could it be?

Vince McMahon doesn't mess around when it comes to WrestleMania, and The Rock has said in multiple interviews that he would be returning to the WWE Universe for "something special."

A guest host spot on Raw has been mentioned multiple times by speculators, but what would be bigger than The Rock hosting the biggest pay-per-view event of the year?

Further, who else would be big enough to host The Granddaddy of Them All? Drawing power for this year's event was a major concern earlier in the year, as The Miz and Alberto Del Rio will each be competing in one of the night's world championship bouts.

The Undertaker was rumored to be taking on Wade Barrett, but over the course of the past week, those rumors have been shot down—more on that later.

John Cena may be the biggest draw in professional wrestling right now, but The Rock can draw more in his sleep than Cena can on a good night.

McMahon loves cross-promotion, and if he can get the attention of mainstream media by pegging The Rock as WrestleMania's guest host, the already bright spotlight on Atlanta will only get brighter.

Will We See the World Heavyweight Title Vacated Before WrestleMania?

The headline on WWE.com simply reads: Who's The World Champion?

Chaos ensued at the end of SmackDown from Green Bay, leaving the future of the World Heavyweight Championship in doubt. With SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long out of the picture, the world title picture on Friday nights may get very foggy.

The World Heavyweight Championship is already set to be defended at Elimination Chamber, when Edge defends the title that is currently his against Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre and Wade Barrett.

Controversy may spill into Friday nights after the Elimination Chamber event. Long will likely return before WrestleMania, which will cause plenty of strife with acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero.

Don't be surprised to see a controversial decision regarding the World Heavyweight Title made either this Friday night on SmackDown or at Sunday's Elimination Chamber event itself. The controversy (possibly involving Guerrero making Ziggler the World Heavyweight Champion) may lead to the vacating of the title.

A potential Triple Threat Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Title involving Edge, Ziggler and 2011 Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio would add some zip to the SmackDown main event at WrestleMania XXVII.

The Undertaker May Not Be the Only Superstar Returning on 2.21.11

The IWC blew up two weeks ago after the first 2.21.11 promo aired on Raw. After last week's promo aired, the buzz wasn't quite so loud.

All signs point to The Undertaker as the man depicted in the vignettes. And that should come as a shock to few. While speculating about Sting's WWE debut, it just never seemed to sit right.

But The Undertaker's return next Monday night may be cut short by another return the WWE Universe as been waiting for, the return of The Undertaker's WrestleMania XXVII opponent, Triple H.

Wrestlezone.com reported Friday that the planned Undertaker/Wade Barrett match in Atlanta was scrapped in favor of a match between The Deadman and The Game.

The report says the working plan is for Triple H to return and challenge The Undertaker to another Streak vs. Career match, likely surrounding The Undertaker ending the career of Triple H's best friend, 2011 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Shawn Michaels.

Many members of the IWC have pegged one man—John Cena—as the only legitimate threat to The Streak after HBK retired last year.

Did we forget about Triple H? The same members of the IWC that said Cena would be the only one booked to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania know that Triple H is notorious for booking himself to look as good as possible.

Over the years, reports have stated Triple H wants his place in pro wrestling history to be above that of Ric Flair.

The Game already has 13 world title reigns to his credit, but will he add the most prolific accolade possible—the man to end The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak—to his credit?

While there is a damn good case for Triple H earning the victory April 3, there is just as compelling a case to say it will be Game Over in Atlanta.

Triple H has been ready to return, physically, for quite some time. Rumors of his return go all the way back to Survivor Series. The Game also wrestled at the Fan Appreciation Event Oct. 30, defeating Alberto Del Rio.

So why hasn't he returned yet?

According to several internet reports, Triple H is happy with his current backstage role with the company.

During a radio interview last year, Triple H went so far as to hint at retirement in the near future, saying his backstage role looks to be his future with the company.

It will surely be an interesting Road to WrestleMania. Things may only get wilder when 2.21.11 rolls around.