February 6, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble, WWE business notes
The WWE’s Wrestlemania season got under way with a Royal Rumble that was to set the stage for the next few months.
There were a lot of major decisions to consider, such as who would win the Rumble, having to commit to the Mania main matches, as well as setting up No Way Out. As things stand, the top five matches at Mania on 4/2 in Chicago are scheduled as new WWE champ John Cena vs. HHH for the title, Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton for the World title, Vince McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels, Edge vs. Mick Foley and Undertaker vs. Mark Henry. The only other stuff hinted at on Raw was Carlito vs. Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin for the IC title.
As noted before, there has been a plan for Benjamin to get that title, but they also need some marquee matches for the Saturday Night’s Main Event special. I can see them doing another Cena vs. Edge blow-off where Cena gets a clean win before Mania there.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.