CHEAP HEAT: HARDY'S PUSH CONTINUES TO MUDDLE MANIA'S PLANS

by Matt Loede, Let's Wrestle

Last week I spoke of the backstage issues which always seem to pop up this time of the year as wrestlers position themselves to get set for WrestleMania. One wrestler who, despite missing the last two RAW's, that appears to have gained the upper hand backstage due to his influence in the McMahon family circle is Triple H. As of this writing, the plan was still for Triple H to win the RAW elimination chamber match on Sunday at the "No Way Out" PPV in Las Vegas. By doing this, he will be placed in the main event at Mania vs the winner of Randy Orton and John Cena, which many predict will go the way of Cena.

The wrench in this plan seems to be the push that Jeff Hardy continues to get. This past week on RAW, Hardy and Shawn Michaels wrestled in one of the best main events of the show in months, with Hardy winning clean in the end. If they are pushing Hardy for no reason, then giving him pinfall wins on RAW the last two weeks comes across as a real waste. Some still speculate that Hardy will somehow find himself in the main event at Mania with HHH and Cena, or that possibly he'll win the Mania's "Money in the Bank" match, and then cash it in at the end of the night to win the belt in a surprise move.

Whatever the case with Hardy may be, it's likely the best thing that the company has going right now, and clearly is the program that the fans are behind, meaning that it will get the push it deserves. If Hardy is kept out of the main event at Mania, look for him to start finding himself in the main event of follow up PPV's, like April's Backlash. On the SmackDown side, the call is clearly for Undertaker to win the chamber match Sunday and move on for his program with Edge at Mania in what should be a solid match that in the end Taker will win.

* Another hot topic on the WWE scene is the talk surrounding the upcoming Hall of Fame event that will take place the night before WrestleMania 24 in Orlando. The past few years the event has taken place in a theater setting, but this year they are going with the larger Amway Arena, home of the Orlando Magic. The favorites to make it to this years class include - Ric Flair, Mae Young, Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia. The thought of putting Johnson and/or Maivia in also is a WWE brainstorm so they can get The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, to the event to induct them both.

* Maybe the biggest story of the week is that the SmackDown brand is leaving the CW network in September. Seems that the network does not feel that the show is bringing viewers to their other shows enough to justify keeping it around, despite it being one of the higher rated shows on the network. In the end, look for the company to shift SmackDown to MyNetwork TV, and for a move to Thursday to be in the works.

* On RAW this week they finally kicked off the much talked about incest angle with Paul "I used to be a pirate" Burchill and his "sister" Katie Lea. The story is that they are brother and sister, and eventually will do a lot of groping on TV and will in the end declare their "love" for one another, beyond anything a normal brother and sister should. Another example of "shock" TV that they shouldn't have anywhere near a ring.

* "No Way Out" on Sunday in Las Vegas has the following announced matches:

- Randy Orton vs John Cena for the WWE Title (Cena wins the strap back here)
- Edge vs Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Title (Edge again as this is a filler program before the Edge-Taker feud)
- RAW Elimination Chamber (Triple H will win and move to Mania)
- SmackDown Elimination Chamber (Taker no question here)
- Ric Flair vs Mr.Kennedy in a possible career-ending match for Flair (Flair once again escapes with a win)
- Chavo Guerrero vs C.M. Punk for the ECW Title (Chavo wins to keep the belt)