It was never a big secret that Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H would be one of the big matches at WWE WrestleMania 29. The only mystery that remained was what the stipulations would be. That mystery has now been solved!

Paul Heyman and Triple H had their official contract signing this past Monday on WWE RAW. Lesnar and Triple H signed to meet in a No Holds Barred Match. This is the closest that the WWE will ever get to an MMA match. Lesnar and Hunter will fight with no rules with the added stipulation that if Triple H loses he must retire from the ring.

The contract signing closed RAW and saw Heyman tell Hunter that the “loser of the match gets Stephanie.” Hunter proceeded to beat up Heyman for a few minutes until Brock Lesnar showed up with a steel chair. Hunter brought a sledgehammer to the ring so expect to see the hammer in action at Mania.

My first thought was that the new stip of Hunter retiring was nothing more than a big tipoff as to who was going to win the match. Then I started thinking about it and thought that maybe the result here isn’t as obvious as people are thinking it is. I am in the minority here but I think the stipulation was added to because everyone assumed Hunter was going over. I need to see how this plays out over the next few weeks but as of today I am predicting a Lesnar win and a Hunter retirement.

Hunter is in great shape and still draws really well the one or two times a year he gets in the ring and wrestles. But we have all read the stories over the last few years of Hunter being groomed to take over the WWE. He isn’t getting younger, Vince McMahon isn’t getting younger, and maybe this is his way of solidifying that commitment? I don’t know, nobody does, but I am starting to think that WrestleMania may be his last hurrah for awhile.

Notice that I said awhile. I don’t think Hunter is staying out of the ring forever if he loses this match. How many times was Mick Foley supposed to retire or leave after losing? I do think Hunter will probably skip a year but I expect that he will be back in the ring at some point in a big angle, if he was to lose the match to Brock at Mania.

That all said, it would be crazy to have Brock lose. He could and in the end I really don’t know how much that would really impact his drawing power, but this is the wrong time. He just signed a new two-year extension and is reportedly locked into next year’s WrestleMania 30 main-event against The Rock. I think it would make much more sense to have Brock win and give Hunter his win back at WrestleMania 31. It is imperative to keep the guy strong if he is slotted for such a big match at next year’s WrestleMania 30 card.

One thing I will point out is that Triple H is having a harder time connecting with the crowds than I can ever recall. Like him or not he has had the crowd in the palm of his hands the last two years in building up his WrestleMania and SummerSlam matches. The crowds really haven’t reacted to him anymore than anyone else during this build. Maybe it was a case of a couple of flat crowds, maybe nobody wants to see this match, or maybe fans have no interest in rooting for a corporate guy seeking revenge for his CEO father-in-law who is perceived as one of the biggest jerks in wrestling?

Regardless of the result they should have a really fun match. They are set up to steal the show with all of the gimmicks, brawling, and likely blood. I can’t imagine these guys disappointing.

WWE: Bret Hitman Hart – The Dungeon Collection

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