It's time for everyone's favourite gimmick match and it's enough to get me out of semi-retirement to write some!

I'm actually quite excited by this pay-per-view which doesn't often happen, at least, not as often as it should. But the WWE has hyped the main event so well, it's quite difficult NOT to get a little adrenaline flowing!

Top of the bill is Jeff Hardy challenging for the WWE Title against Champion Randy Orton. Jeff Hardy has bounced back excellently from his disappointing victory over Triple H at Armageddon. Disappointing? Sure, Triple H took a crap all over Hardy in that match. You can say "oh but he did the job", but his 'character' not taking Jeff seriously as an opponent did more damage to Hardy than H's loss did to himself.

The Whisper in the Wind from the top of the cage, the Swanton from the Scaffold and the Twist of Fate on Monday have had Jeff Hardy come out on top in the last 3 weeks of Raw. You can't help but get goosebumps when you see the Lostprophets Rooftops video for the "Legend Thriller". And Jim Ross couldn't have put it better than when he said Jeff Hardy is 'white hot' and no-one is as over as the North Carolinean right now.

Can Jeff Hardy's Swanton overcome Orton's RKO on Sunday night. My heart says yes, but my head says no.

The plans for WrestleMania have already been made, and do you honestly see Hardy getting to headline the Big One in front of such politickers such as Triple H and Shawn Michaels? I wish it could be so I really do. I would LOVE to see Matt Hardy, Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms come out to celebrate with Hardy as he wins to the coveted WWE title. But again, I just don't see the WWE pulling the trigger on this one.

I would love to see almost ANYONE take the title off Randy Orton though. He absolutely bores me to tears in the ring and on mic. Why has he received so many chances when he is so badly behaved behind the scenes (wrecking hotel rooms etc)? Simple, he is the shining example of the "WWE Heel Mould" that the writers like to use. Mr Kennedy and MVP are also very similar with slightly different traits, although to be fair, MVP is becoming less of a clone, thanks to his feud with Matt Hardy and catchphrases.

You know what I mean. The cocky, arrogant heel. He targets established legends and, in the most part, is quite successful. These 3 have all followed that path. Apart from MVP flaunting his bling, these 3 are the same sides of one coin. I prefer my heels like Edge.

Speaking of MVP, he is taking on the Nature Boy this Sunday as part of Ric Flair's Retirement Gauntlet. I can't see Flair losing this one, as the WWE are surely building this to WrestleMania. What I WOULD like to see however is Matt Hardy making his return to cost Montel the match. This would cause none of the players any damage and would set up the Feud of the Year 2007 to make it through and conclude at WrestleMania. WWE never truly gave us the pay-off for Matt Hardy vs MVP, the Showcase of the Immortals would be an appropriate place for the finale.

I'm finding it hard to keep interested in the Edge / Mysterio feud. I don't know what it is. I like Edge as a heel, but I'm just not feeling Mysterio anymore. It may be because I got his DVD and watched all the amazing matches he had in WCW and realise that he's quite watered down in the ring these days. I understand why he's not as 'extreme', he's getting older and can't risk injury with crazy acrobatics. It should still be a very watchable match, with the Edgeheads probably helping Mr Copeland retain his title.

Chris Jericho seems to have lost all the momentum the 'saveus.222' campaign offered him. His feud with JBL hasn't done it for me, there should have been a lot more verbal jousting between the two, but straight away it became an 'injury revenge' match. If Jericho was to lose to Bradshaw, for me, that would be further evidence that the 'powers that be' are designing Jericho's comeback to be a failure.

Which brings me onto the Royal Rumble match. Straight off the bat, my pick is Batista. But it is quite open this year. Well quite open until you consider the facts.

First off, we KNOW that Raw are holding an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out to determine the #1 contender for WrestleMania. So a Raw guy is unlikely to win it. Secondly, the last 8 Rumbles have been won by babyfaces. That leaves Taker and Batista as the feasible winners. To be honest, I couldn't care for Dave taking the title as I think he is a talentless waste of roster-space, but my gut says he'll win.

I would like to see The Big Show and Matt Hardy make surprise returns in the Rumble match. Perhaps MVP could cause Matt to be eliminated, helping their feud? If I had to pick another former star to make a comeback at this event, my money would be on Rob Van Dam. But that's unlikely I know.

I would also have thought that Bobby Lashley would be due to make a comeback at the Rumble too, but apparently not. It seems he has requested his release from the company after feeling both he and his girlfriend, Kristal Marshall, have been disrespected by the WWE. He has been ready to come back from injury for some time but the WWE have not contacted him. It's quite strange, as despite being devoid of all personality and seriously restricted on talent, the bookers have always been quite high on Lashley. No doubt Vince was high on him as he was muscled up meathead, and Vince loves his boys like that.

Yet, a lot of WWE wrestlers noticably lost their size after all the drugs scandals, most notably Chris Masters, who ended up losing his job for Wellness Programme violations. It makes me wonder what sort of shape Lashley is in at the moment. I'd be interested to see if that blown up physique has deflated a little. Maybe that's why they are not interested in bringing him back anytime soon...

Another Wellness offender was DH Smith. I dare say that wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to Harry's career. Remember his debut? He came out, sporting the Union Jack on his tights to his father's old music, Rule Brittania. Then the following week, he was wearing plain red trunks and had generic rock-y music as his entrance theme. It was a classic example of the WWE killing a character before it's started. Son of a Legend is always going to be a winning character - are the WWE going to deny DH this opportunity? Time will tell.

I've started watching TNA a lot more. I love how TNA has respect for all it's titles (despite the current X-Division situation). Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong recently main evented Impact, fighting over the Knockout Title. Their matches are amazing! You rarely see women being allowed to be so physical with each other and being allowed to showcase their talents. Ring talent that is. The WWE see most of the Diva's "talents" being what's loaded in the bikini tops.

When was the last time there was a proper feud over ANY of the mid-card titles in the WWE? Jeff has had the IC title for a long time, but has been busy with Triple H and Orton who have no interest in his strap. MVP feuded with Matt in the summer over the US Title, but attention was quickly switched them being the WWE Tag Champions, but they had no real challengers for those belts. The less said about the World Tag Team Championship the better and the Cruiserweight Division appears to have slipped into the next world.

You may not care for these titles, but many people do. What the WWE seem to have failed to realise over the last couple of years is that the nature of Sports Entertainment is that it is a Variety Show. If you don't like the Tag-Team match, you'll love the Cruisers. If you are not fussed for the Cruisers, wait til you see the 2 350-pounders square off and so on. It is my opinion that the mid-card titles aid this 'Variety Show' achieve maximum interest. But the WWE feel otherwise, clearly.

It's for these reasons I've always had a problem with Triple H's statement a few years ago that the mid-carders should not be putting on amazing matches as they should not be overshadowing the Main Event. Even after all these years, I find that an absurd and short-sighted statement, from a man who is supposed to understand this business. Shawn Michaels didn't achieve legendary status by keeping it in second gear in his matches. It just smacks of the people at the top trying to keep the status quo, you know, the very thing that killed WCW. Oh well...

Apologies for the ranting! If you have any thoughts on this ditty, get in touch at andrewbulik@wrestling-online.com

Peace out.