Tonight we will have two matches involving the ECW title that will be intertwined. In an interesting concept there will be a 24 man Battle Royal to determine who will face Chavo Guerrero later in the evening for the ECW title. Despite this great idea, it will fail due to the participants involved. No offense to Chavo, he has been doing a great job as champ. Unfortunately it will be the men who mostly likely will win the Battle Royal that will bring this match down.
Out of the 24 guys competing for the shot, there are only about 5 guys who have a legitimate chance. This group includes Kane, Khali, Chuck Palumbo, Snitsky and Mark Henry. Each of these fellows have been involved prominently on the various brands and seem the likely candidates to get a push. The problem with each of them is they are the big brawling type of wrestlers, or lack any wrestling talent at all. This is a complete contrast to Chavo’s style. He is a superior light heavy weight who relies on athletic and high flying moves done at a quick tempo. These conflicting styles will only make for a painful match that no doubt will bore fans. I’m looking for Kane to win this and go onto being champ. As Matt Loede has referenced there is talk of Kane retiring and this would be the appropriate way to send off a great performer for the WWE over the years.
Due to this possible result, or any of the guys who mostly likely will be in the title match, Chavo will take a bad hit on wrestling’s biggest stage. This is very unfortunate for him. As I stated above he has been doing a great job of being champ and really is growing out of Eddie’s shadow. What will happen to him next is also unclear. It would be shame to see him fade away as he is doing a great job as a heel on the weaker of the brands. Which leads me to ask why they went this route for Mania. Despite its weak roster there are plenty of talented guys on the ECW roster, but for whatever reason the WWE has decided to use them in other aspects. The Miz is in the Battle Royal, but shares a tag belt with John Morrison, who is the Money in the Bank match with Shelton Benjamin and CM Punk. ECW continues to puzzle me to no end and its participation here at Mania only furthers it.
