#348. WrestleMania XXVIII

#348.

And now to talk about the infinitely popular (and recurring Scouring Monk subject) of professional wrestling!

Specifically, how this year's WrestleMania is shaping up.  Technically, this is a process that's been ongoing since last year.  Everyone who cares knows the main event is John Cena vs. The Rock.

Quite frankly, this one's probably going to be the best ever.  Based on the announced and easily-speculated matches, the problem is going to be how exactly they're going to work in just what we know already without skirting audience fatigue, assuming a reasonable amount of time for each one.

Triple H vs. Undertaker will be a showstopper, and it looks like they're really trying to make this one special, relevant to both icons' careers (if not the final one for one of them) in a huge way, building on the momentum Shawn Michaels kicked off with Ric Flair in 2008 (which led to his matches with Undertaker, which led to last year's gamechanger).

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho is the bid for as pure a wrestling contest as you can expect, from two guys who should really be able to deliver.  This one's especially awesome, since Punk deserves a breakout match at WrestleMania, not the least for having a terrific 2011.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus is the match that was supposed to happen last year, and so that's just awesome and weird and awesome that they're getting a second chance, this time over the world title.  Clearly Sheamus cannot be the main event guy that Royal Rumble winners usually are, but there are just so many big matches already on the card, does it really matter?  This one's practically one giant main event, which is what WrestleMania ought to be, but rarely actually is.  This one, like I said, looks like it will come the closest.

Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes is probable, and a good thing for Rhodes, who has been the most consistent member of the midcard for the past year, even though he'll probably lose to Show here.

I'll decline to speculate on other possibilities at this point, but five strong matches is already pretty good.