With just a few days to go and given the fact I haven’t been around these past couple of weeks to share any kind of thoughts regarding the various events that occurred, I figured I’d do so in this thread while talking about the Wrestlemania card itself. So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal/Wrestlemania Woman’s Battle Royal
Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese: Cruiserweight Championship
According to the latest reports and up until the time I started typing, the two Battle Royals and the Cruiserweight Championship are the matches scheduled for the preshow.
First off, as I’ve explained in various posts in the past, the time zone prevents me from having the opportunity to watch any show live (it’s literally impossible), which is also a bummer because it furthermore prevents me from joining the fun in the chat room. The upside of the matter, of course, is that watching it later on allows me to use a certain little feature called “fast forwarding”, which is exactly what I’ll be doing here. As a matter of a fact, the preshow is something I am completely going to skip because…why not? I mean, whose fault is it if these Battle Royals don’t mean shit?
For the sake of the predictions, I’ll just go with Lacey Evans on the woman’s side of things only for the simple reason they have to start somewhere with her. Now, as of this writing she hasn’t been officially announced as a participant but that doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t. I could easily see her music hit in the midst of the match, only this time not to just walk down the ramp and then turn around and leave but instead enter the ring and the action. If not, I’ll add Mandy Rose as a secondary pick, being WWE are seemingly quite fond of her…
As for the men, Braun Strowman would be the obvious call but in my view, it’s so obvious I feel it won’t be the case. My thinking is Braun will be so focused on the SNL guys that once he eliminates them, he’ll be ganged up from behind and tossed out so here’s an “out of left field” prediction: EC3. Now, granted, they haven’t done shit with him ever since he got called up and there are actually some rumors floating around about him possibly having backstage heat, which would explain the “jobber” status lately. That being said, it’s definitely a wild pick from my part but, hey, like I mentioned with Lacey Evans above, some of these lads ought to start from somewhere so maybe WWE decide to give EC3 a go after all, a clean slate if you will.
In regards to the cruiserweights, I personally like Tony Nese but can’t really say I’m feeling it with him so I’ll just say that Buddy Murphy retains…
Usos vs. Richocet & Aleister Black vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev: Fatal four-way for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
Typical case of “the odds being stacked against the baby face team” and though the Usos aren’t exactly your clear cut baby faces, I think they shall retain. For what it’s worth, they very recently signed a new five year deal with WWE so I’m thinking they are holding on to the gold for just a bit longer…
Bobby Lashley vs. Fin Balor: Intercontinental Championship
Being it’s the Demon version of Balor, is there really any doubt? I don’t really like the idea of the back and forth of this specific title but, yeah, new IC champion in Fin Balor…
Samoe Joe vs. Rey Mysterio: United States Championship
Samoe Joe all the way, provided of course Rey Mysterio will be good to go after the injury suffered this past Monday. It’s Joe’s first Mania, he recently won the belt and so I feel it makes perfect sense he retains…
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
As much as I still believe that Drew has more to gain here with a win, the way WWE has booked this feud practically telegraphs Roman Reigns going over so, yeah, one for the Big Dog…
The Miz vs. Shane McMahon: Falls Count Anywhere Match
This one I’m kind of torn on being it can easily go either way. Logically speaking, Miz should be going over being he’s the actual full time wrestler/superstar but when does logic every apply to WWE and what has ever stopped them from making irrational decisions in the past? Furthermore, the stipulation itself sort of complicates things because either it opens the door for Shane to have some crazy spot, a hit and miss that the Miz can capitalize and win or, being there are no disqualifications, Shane get’s some help via interference, whether it’s be Sanity or someone else leading him to victory.
Considering this is a somewhat fresh feud, I could see this continuing after Mania so I’ll go with my gut feeling and pick Shane O’Mac to draw first blood and win…
Triple H vs. Batista: No Holds Barred Match
Triple H ain’t retiring any time soon so if the outcome wasn’t obvious enough already, I think the addition stipulation is your dead giveaway…
Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin
So, WWE are sticking with their guns on this one despite the backlash from the fans, however I still feel this could play out in a different way. At this point, there’s no turning back…but…how I would do it is have Kurt Angle beat Corbin in a matter of a couple of minutes. Two german suplexes, Angle slam, 1,2,3…Corbin can yell all he wants about how he wasn’t prepared or whatever, meanwhile cue John Cena music where he can cut a small promo talking about this being Wrestlemania, the grandest stage and how this cannot be the way Kurt Angle rides towards the sunset. He could also talk about how he had the honor of facing Kurt Angle in his debut match on Smackdown all those years ago and how fitting it would be to go full circle…
They like to talk about Wrestlemania “moments”? Well, there’s a moment for ya…
Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
Probably one of the hardest matches to predict on the entire card in what has been one of the better builds overall.
My initial thought was that Randy Orton will go over, more so given the very possible scenario of AJ Styles eventually moving over to RAW during the draft (yes, I still call it a draft, the proper way) since there’s really not much left for him to do on the blue brand. But then the go home show happened, in which they did the spot I basically envisioned would be the finish at Mania and one that I have talked about in the past, the phenomenal forearm into the RKO. So, if they gave away that spot on Smackdown, I guess they can’t repeat it at Mania, right? Or, to put it better, they could but not with Randy standing tall again.
In a previous match between those two on Smackdown a while back, I also recall a spot in which AJ started the phenomenal forearm and when Randy was aiming for the RKO, Styles sort of pulled the break halfway through by jumping on the ropes and back to the apron. So, maybe they go for it here and when Randy misses, then AJ completes the forearm and pins him. Or…Randy kicks out of it and they perhaps then try to go even more extreme with the 450 splash into the RKO which I feel could be a dope finish. Granted, it’s a really hard spot albeit dangerous if the timing is off but I’m pretty confident they could pull it off.
I guess I’ll go with AJ but would not be surprised at all if it went the other way around…
Woman’s Tag Team Championship
Can’t really say I’m looking forward to this one but nevertheless, I’ll say Sasha and Bailey retain only because I feel they need to have lengthier title reign.
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston: WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins: Universal Championship
Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair: RAW Woman’s Championship
Last but not least, the three major title matches that I decided to put together in one category, reason being I believe they sort of tie in together as it pertains to the final outcomes.
Case and point, I strongly believe there can be no other outcome besides Kofi winning the WWE championship. He is red hot at the moment, the fans are heavily behind him and even though WWE doesn’t always listen, I feel this is one of those situations where they ought to give the fans what they want plus the overall feel good moment.
I also strongly believe that there can be no other outcome besides Becky Lynch winning the triple threat in the main event. With both belts on the line, it’s only fitting (not only for the sake of the storyline but for the character in general) that The Man goes over and my only real question here is who taps out because I, for one, would not rush to the conclusion that it will be Ronda tapping. It would definitely make more sense, then again I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE decide to have Charlotte tap instead, only to keep that window open down the road, when Rousey eventually returns, to be able to say she never got beat, thus setting up a possible one on one feud between her and Becky.
With the above points in mind, alongside the fact that the Universal Championship has almost been treated as an afterthought (I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way), I predict Brock Lesnar to retain. Like I said, it's been a pretty poor build and though this is partially due to the fact that Brock is hardly there, I also believe that if they'd be looking at a title change, there would be a bigger fuss about it. Let's face it, Brock is on a level of his own and him losing the title (quite frankly, losing in general) is a major deal that I can't see happening elsewhere besides the main event of any given show and as we all know, he ain't main eventing with Rollins this year. In other words, if anyone will pin Brock, it has to be the closing moment, the final visual with whatever celebration could follow for the baby face that will do so, which basically tells me it won't be happening this Sunday.
Elias
For those that may recall, the moment Elias announced he would be performing at Mania (and not in your typical wrestling match), I instantly noted that this is going to be a big segment further noting the fact that he made sure to throw that line about how there will be “no interruptions”. He used the same line on the go home show, which of course means the exact opposite. That being said, the two ideas I threw out there were either Honky Tonk Man (who will be in the house anyway for when the trot the Hall of Famers out during the show) or, even better, the Rock who I feel would be the cooler approach.
I’ve also heard some talk about Cena or Undertaker but Cena I feel would be a waste (plus they already had a moment) and Undertaker would be a rather odd choice and out of nowhere. If I were a betting man, my money is on the Rock (I’m 95% confident he is showing up) and as a matter of fact, for those that may recall, Elias did throw a couple of jabs towards the Rock in a couple of promos a few months back…
Overall I feel pretty confident we will all enjoy the show despite the very lengthy (as it appears) duration. So long as WWE make the right calls and at least give us fans the feel good moments (especially with Kofi and Becky), I think it will leave us all with a pleasant taste at the end of the day.
P.S.: Wrapping this up got me to over 2000 words. I guess that's what happens with a 15+ match card and over seven hours of a show...
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal/Wrestlemania Woman’s Battle Royal
Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese: Cruiserweight Championship
According to the latest reports and up until the time I started typing, the two Battle Royals and the Cruiserweight Championship are the matches scheduled for the preshow.
First off, as I’ve explained in various posts in the past, the time zone prevents me from having the opportunity to watch any show live (it’s literally impossible), which is also a bummer because it furthermore prevents me from joining the fun in the chat room. The upside of the matter, of course, is that watching it later on allows me to use a certain little feature called “fast forwarding”, which is exactly what I’ll be doing here. As a matter of a fact, the preshow is something I am completely going to skip because…why not? I mean, whose fault is it if these Battle Royals don’t mean shit?
For the sake of the predictions, I’ll just go with Lacey Evans on the woman’s side of things only for the simple reason they have to start somewhere with her. Now, as of this writing she hasn’t been officially announced as a participant but that doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t. I could easily see her music hit in the midst of the match, only this time not to just walk down the ramp and then turn around and leave but instead enter the ring and the action. If not, I’ll add Mandy Rose as a secondary pick, being WWE are seemingly quite fond of her…
As for the men, Braun Strowman would be the obvious call but in my view, it’s so obvious I feel it won’t be the case. My thinking is Braun will be so focused on the SNL guys that once he eliminates them, he’ll be ganged up from behind and tossed out so here’s an “out of left field” prediction: EC3. Now, granted, they haven’t done shit with him ever since he got called up and there are actually some rumors floating around about him possibly having backstage heat, which would explain the “jobber” status lately. That being said, it’s definitely a wild pick from my part but, hey, like I mentioned with Lacey Evans above, some of these lads ought to start from somewhere so maybe WWE decide to give EC3 a go after all, a clean slate if you will.
In regards to the cruiserweights, I personally like Tony Nese but can’t really say I’m feeling it with him so I’ll just say that Buddy Murphy retains…
Usos vs. Richocet & Aleister Black vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev: Fatal four-way for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
Typical case of “the odds being stacked against the baby face team” and though the Usos aren’t exactly your clear cut baby faces, I think they shall retain. For what it’s worth, they very recently signed a new five year deal with WWE so I’m thinking they are holding on to the gold for just a bit longer…
Bobby Lashley vs. Fin Balor: Intercontinental Championship
Being it’s the Demon version of Balor, is there really any doubt? I don’t really like the idea of the back and forth of this specific title but, yeah, new IC champion in Fin Balor…
Samoe Joe vs. Rey Mysterio: United States Championship
Samoe Joe all the way, provided of course Rey Mysterio will be good to go after the injury suffered this past Monday. It’s Joe’s first Mania, he recently won the belt and so I feel it makes perfect sense he retains…
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
As much as I still believe that Drew has more to gain here with a win, the way WWE has booked this feud practically telegraphs Roman Reigns going over so, yeah, one for the Big Dog…
The Miz vs. Shane McMahon: Falls Count Anywhere Match
This one I’m kind of torn on being it can easily go either way. Logically speaking, Miz should be going over being he’s the actual full time wrestler/superstar but when does logic every apply to WWE and what has ever stopped them from making irrational decisions in the past? Furthermore, the stipulation itself sort of complicates things because either it opens the door for Shane to have some crazy spot, a hit and miss that the Miz can capitalize and win or, being there are no disqualifications, Shane get’s some help via interference, whether it’s be Sanity or someone else leading him to victory.
Considering this is a somewhat fresh feud, I could see this continuing after Mania so I’ll go with my gut feeling and pick Shane O’Mac to draw first blood and win…
Triple H vs. Batista: No Holds Barred Match
Triple H ain’t retiring any time soon so if the outcome wasn’t obvious enough already, I think the addition stipulation is your dead giveaway…
Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin
So, WWE are sticking with their guns on this one despite the backlash from the fans, however I still feel this could play out in a different way. At this point, there’s no turning back…but…how I would do it is have Kurt Angle beat Corbin in a matter of a couple of minutes. Two german suplexes, Angle slam, 1,2,3…Corbin can yell all he wants about how he wasn’t prepared or whatever, meanwhile cue John Cena music where he can cut a small promo talking about this being Wrestlemania, the grandest stage and how this cannot be the way Kurt Angle rides towards the sunset. He could also talk about how he had the honor of facing Kurt Angle in his debut match on Smackdown all those years ago and how fitting it would be to go full circle…
They like to talk about Wrestlemania “moments”? Well, there’s a moment for ya…
Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
Probably one of the hardest matches to predict on the entire card in what has been one of the better builds overall.
My initial thought was that Randy Orton will go over, more so given the very possible scenario of AJ Styles eventually moving over to RAW during the draft (yes, I still call it a draft, the proper way) since there’s really not much left for him to do on the blue brand. But then the go home show happened, in which they did the spot I basically envisioned would be the finish at Mania and one that I have talked about in the past, the phenomenal forearm into the RKO. So, if they gave away that spot on Smackdown, I guess they can’t repeat it at Mania, right? Or, to put it better, they could but not with Randy standing tall again.
In a previous match between those two on Smackdown a while back, I also recall a spot in which AJ started the phenomenal forearm and when Randy was aiming for the RKO, Styles sort of pulled the break halfway through by jumping on the ropes and back to the apron. So, maybe they go for it here and when Randy misses, then AJ completes the forearm and pins him. Or…Randy kicks out of it and they perhaps then try to go even more extreme with the 450 splash into the RKO which I feel could be a dope finish. Granted, it’s a really hard spot albeit dangerous if the timing is off but I’m pretty confident they could pull it off.
I guess I’ll go with AJ but would not be surprised at all if it went the other way around…
Woman’s Tag Team Championship
Can’t really say I’m looking forward to this one but nevertheless, I’ll say Sasha and Bailey retain only because I feel they need to have lengthier title reign.
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston: WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins: Universal Championship
Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair: RAW Woman’s Championship
Last but not least, the three major title matches that I decided to put together in one category, reason being I believe they sort of tie in together as it pertains to the final outcomes.
Case and point, I strongly believe there can be no other outcome besides Kofi winning the WWE championship. He is red hot at the moment, the fans are heavily behind him and even though WWE doesn’t always listen, I feel this is one of those situations where they ought to give the fans what they want plus the overall feel good moment.
I also strongly believe that there can be no other outcome besides Becky Lynch winning the triple threat in the main event. With both belts on the line, it’s only fitting (not only for the sake of the storyline but for the character in general) that The Man goes over and my only real question here is who taps out because I, for one, would not rush to the conclusion that it will be Ronda tapping. It would definitely make more sense, then again I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE decide to have Charlotte tap instead, only to keep that window open down the road, when Rousey eventually returns, to be able to say she never got beat, thus setting up a possible one on one feud between her and Becky.
With the above points in mind, alongside the fact that the Universal Championship has almost been treated as an afterthought (I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way), I predict Brock Lesnar to retain. Like I said, it's been a pretty poor build and though this is partially due to the fact that Brock is hardly there, I also believe that if they'd be looking at a title change, there would be a bigger fuss about it. Let's face it, Brock is on a level of his own and him losing the title (quite frankly, losing in general) is a major deal that I can't see happening elsewhere besides the main event of any given show and as we all know, he ain't main eventing with Rollins this year. In other words, if anyone will pin Brock, it has to be the closing moment, the final visual with whatever celebration could follow for the baby face that will do so, which basically tells me it won't be happening this Sunday.
Elias
For those that may recall, the moment Elias announced he would be performing at Mania (and not in your typical wrestling match), I instantly noted that this is going to be a big segment further noting the fact that he made sure to throw that line about how there will be “no interruptions”. He used the same line on the go home show, which of course means the exact opposite. That being said, the two ideas I threw out there were either Honky Tonk Man (who will be in the house anyway for when the trot the Hall of Famers out during the show) or, even better, the Rock who I feel would be the cooler approach.
I’ve also heard some talk about Cena or Undertaker but Cena I feel would be a waste (plus they already had a moment) and Undertaker would be a rather odd choice and out of nowhere. If I were a betting man, my money is on the Rock (I’m 95% confident he is showing up) and as a matter of fact, for those that may recall, Elias did throw a couple of jabs towards the Rock in a couple of promos a few months back…
Overall I feel pretty confident we will all enjoy the show despite the very lengthy (as it appears) duration. So long as WWE make the right calls and at least give us fans the feel good moments (especially with Kofi and Becky), I think it will leave us all with a pleasant taste at the end of the day.
P.S.: Wrapping this up got me to over 2000 words. I guess that's what happens with a 15+ match card and over seven hours of a show...
