WrestleMania XXVII Countdown: World Heavyweight Championship Match

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Photo Credit: WWE.com

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge (c) vs. Alberto del Rio

How: Edge defeated Kane at Survivor Series to earn his 10th World-level Championship in WWE. Alberto del Rio won the Royal Rumble and chose Edge's WHC as his target the week after.

Heat Check: While the two waited until del Rio's choosing ceremony to tangle directly, the heat for this match sparked back in late 2010. Edge's old BFF Christian was about to feud with del Rio when he tore a pectoral muscle. The injury was sold in kayfabe as del Rio putting him out with his cross armbreaker. Fast forward to February, when del Rio announced he'd chase Edge's World Heavyweight Championship as part of his destiny. There was a lull between that date and the real build, which started at Elimination Chamber *sigh*. There, Christian came back from his injury and made the save for Edge getting beaten up by del Rio.

In the following weeks, del Rio and his charge, NXT Season 4 runner-up and dead ringer for 8-bit morbidly obese boxer King Hippo, Brodus Clay, took to harassing the shit out of Edge, to which Christian made the save. For his troubles, Christian started getting his ass whomped too. The proceedings got so bad that Teddy Long banned any contact between the two before their match at WrestleMania, but only on Smackdown (FFFFFUUUUU BRAND SPLIT). This led to Christian being the proxy for Edge's revenge, as he defeated del Rio in two grueling matches in the last two Smackdown main events. del Rio would get the last laugh as he laid both Edge and Christian out on RAW Monday.

Analysis: Alberto del Rio's time in the sun really begins now. For a guy who was still in FCW at this point last year if he was even signed by WWE (not sure of the time table on him coming in), this is an amazing progression. It's rumored that Vince is super-high on del Rio, which has to be the case since he's a heel who won the Royal Rumble within his first six months in the bigs. That NEVER happens. I have to give them credit too; they struck when the iron was hot with him the former Dos Caras, Jr. However, I feel like they're getting off this angle kinda cold.

I'm not sure that Edge/del Rio feels like a WM main event. Miz vs. Cena has the feel to it, and I think it would have even if The Rock wasn't involved. Taker/Trips has had a lackluster build, but it still feels like a main event for WM, mainly because The Streak is in play. Punk/Orton feels like a main event to me. Fuck, even Lawler/Cole feels like a main event WM feud, and in fact, the way it was booked, it would have been one if it was transposed to this angle (if it could have, mind you) rather than that one. I think history has something to do with it. Miz and Cena have had history since summer '09. Taker/Trips is natural, as is the announcer feud. Punk and Orton had the seeds planted even earlier than Miz and Cena. But Edge and del Rio? I almost wish that they had given me Rey Mysterio as World Champion here instead of Edge because you had that blisteringly hot feud between Mr. 619 and del Rio last year, and the roots were ingrained in the ground for it.

I think the addition of Christian to the build helps, in that it adds to the theme of nostalgia for the event. However, if I didn't get the sinking feeling that Christian was going to turn on Edge here (it's not ZOMG PAINFULLY OBVIOUS like some analysts are saying), I'd probably think better of it. I don't know. Maybe I'm just not feeling it. I do think it could surprise as a match though. Chris Jericho dragged a good match out of Edge last year at WM. del Rio might be able to do the same.

Who Should Win: I'm going to buck the trend and go against my personal preferences and say Edge should win this match. The idea of Christian costing Edge his match just stinks to me. I know Edge wants to feud with Christian one last time before he retires next year, but I think Edge ought to be the heel (he's a better heel than he is face, and Christian can do either with aplomb). I think they need to find a better way to do it, and I think that del Rio doesn't particularly NEED to win the title at WrestleMania. He's a heel; heels aren't supposed to get WrestleMania moments. I'm sure if he takes as much as I think he will, he'll get his own WM moment as a face to the adoration of two nations, both the US and Mexico.

Who Will Win: del Rio after Christian costs Edge the match, either accidentally or on purpose. The celebration on RAW the next night will make micro-giraffe guy's opulence from the Direct TV commercials look like meager wares.

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