May as well kick this one off now and get sone predictions in, see if anyone can come close.
May as well kick this one off now and get sone predictions in, see if anyone can come close.
Braun & Nicholas vs Lars Sullivan & Christopher
Connor McGregor vs brock lesnar.
I'd suggest not doing 7 hours anymore. I was pooped by 9:30.
Braun and Nicholas versus Goldberg and his son.
Roman Reigns vs someone
Instantly booked to close the show.Originally Posted by PurePlayer
not watching the pre-show helped with this a lot.
Evil Foreigner Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Evil Foreigner Jinder Mahal vs Evil Foreigner Alberto Del Rio vs Evil Boss HHH vs. former Evil foreigner Rusev
There will be another Women's Battle Royal, an ARMBAR, a 205 championship match on the preshow.
Gronk, after retiring from the NFL after a Patriots SuperBowl victory, will join the WWE to win the ARMBAR.
Nattie to win Women's Battle Royal as she should have won it this year.
Taker to enter the Hall of Fame.
Human garbage Hogan returns, but as a heel, as he embraces his racism. Vince will be amazed to see there is no demand for Yellow/Red t-shirts with his catch phrases "I am a racist, brother" or "Racismania", even though it's running wild.
I think you’re vastly underestimating how popular that shirt would be.
Reigns v Stroman- Universal title
Styles v Bryan- World Title
Balor v Richochet- IC Title
Cena v Taker- Retirement match
Authors of Pain v New Day-Tag Titles
Rollins v Bray Wyatt
Charlotte v Rousey- Women's Title
Bryan vs Miz - WWE Title
Balor vs Ricochet newly created WWE Little Beaver Memorial Midget Championship
Bring back Kaientai and pair them with Itami and Nakamura.
Reigns vs Strowman has to headline surely.
Someone vs AJ for the other title. AJ should always be in the title match at mania.
Heel Ambrose vs someone in a no dq match would be fun. Maybe Finn.
Babyface Miz vs heel Nakamura
Rollins vs Daniel Bryan in a fight forever match
Limp Bizkit plays American Badass Taker to the ring where he wrestles as Mark Calloway. He'll cut a promo on Cena the week before saying "Undertaker is dead my friend. But you can call me Mark" (knocks Cena out with one punch).
Big Show vs Kane in an Oh My God When Will They Stop match. Loser has to retire for real.
Sasha vs Asuka in a ladder match.
Rousey vs heel Charlotte. Ironman match.
What on Earth do we get now then? Reigns is out, HHH is more than likely out, Undertaker and Angle have been on often enough where there part time status won't make a dent. Rock and Batista are both Hollywood stars. Cena might be in the bad books after the Saudi debacle. They've spent the year doing their best to snuff out hopes of Balor and Braun being stars too. Where do they go?
A fan made card I saw on Instagram last night:
Ambrose (champion) v. Rollins-Universal
Orton (Champion) v. AJ Styles-WWE Title
Becky (champ) v. Asuka-SD Women's
Ronda (champ) v. Charlotte-Raw Women's
Undertaker w/ Kane v. HBK w/ Hunter-Decade In the Making No DQ Match
Samoa Joe v. John Cena
Bobby Lashley v. Brock Lesnar
Roode (champ) v. Finn Balor (demon)-IC Championship
Angle/Strowman/Bray Wyatt v. Corbin/Drew/Dolph-6-Man Tornado Tag
US title Ladder match-Rey (champ) v. Rusev, Bryan, Cien, Nakamura, Miz, and Jeff Hardy
Buddy (champ) v. Ali-CW title
SD Live Tag-Team 4-way (New Day (champs) v. The bar v. The Club v. The Usos)
Andre and Women's battle royal
I think it'll be Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar. If not Drew, I'm going with Seth or Braun. There's speculation that Braun's knees are blown right now, so that played a part in him losing at Crown Jewel. And maybe they didn't want to have their next top babyface's big coronation at a controversial show that no one will really remember. My money is on Brock and Drew, though. If that's the case, put Drew over clean in the middle of the ring and run with him for a while. No more underdog chasing Brock horseshit.
Even Brock might be out considering the planned fight with Cormier. There's so few stars left that they could do with leaving the oldies on ice as to try and create a bit of hierarchy with who's left. Chance would be a fine thing.
I think they might go with Styles vs. Cena for the WWE title. It's the record breaker. Undertaker vs. Michaels looks likely which is a shame considering how iconic their other Wrestlemania matches were. I don't know how they get the title off Brock for Rollins to challenge for it, unless they do a multi-man match. But can't see him defending the title a month after DC smashes him. Only option would be if the UFC would delay that fight until May.
For what it's worth, Meltzer is saying Lesnar is scheduled for WrestleMania. I think that means Brock is holding the title until then.
Oh goody.
I feel the same way. Great to have Brock back! I hope he retains at WrestleMania
Vince has a genuine hard-on for Lesnar. I like Brock as a special attraction, but not as a special attraction AND the champion. That shit was interesting from SummerSlam 2014 to WrestleMania 31, but now it's beyond tedious.
I'd get the title off Brock in a multi-man and have him do something else at Mania like fight Lashley or stick him with another part-timer. Have Drew vs Braun or Ambrose vs Rollins as your World title feud.
Probably will be Brock til Mania though.
Shane McMahon will most likely have a singles match on the card, but I am baffled as to who he will face.
Bryan could be a good shout. There's plenty backstory there. Shane's ego inflates after winning the World Cup, Bryan tries to be reasonable with him then Shane turns on him.
I considered that, but I think they are really stuck with continuing draggin out DB vs. the Miz, as they WWE loves to run everything into the ground and then some.
If they just dhadn't wrestle oje on one again from Summerslam til Mania, then extending it til Mania made sense with Miz creatively trying to avoid a rematch. Instead they blew their load on a cheap sex innuendo Two Minute Man lol as Bryan's revenge a month later. What could have been.
They could still get there with Miz and Bryan. If anything, they've done a good job adding to their story, keeping them intertwined and it won't involve any significant physicality between the two of them for the time being.
Yes, but Mania is still several months away. They have them being co-captains of the Survivor Series team, and I doubt that match ends with both of them on the winning side - so the "surprising mutual respect" thing they have going on now, just can't last. The simple fact that they are both on SD every week means they will be crossing paths a lot before Mania.
It doesn't have to last. All it is right now is adding context and a new wrinkle. You really only need two feuds (three, if you're terrible at storytelling) to get you to Mania season at this point in the calendar. Based on WWE's storytelling, you see more of what we saw with Bryan and Miz in terms of a series rather than Bryan and Styles. I feel like they don't really go down the well of high-profile, one-off matches. They like to keep the story going. So I think you need a feud/story to get you through TLC and the Rumble, then something to build momentum after Rumble until you get to Mania. It seems like they're going to go with Joe/Bryan for that first stage. It's just a matter of what they want to do for the second.
The Shane factor does make it more of a question. That was a story that seemed to be suggesting they needed to settle their angst in the ring, even though Bryan wasn't cleared. At this point and based off what we are seeing, it seems like Bryan's Mania story is either going to be centered on Miz or Shane.
I read that they might end up turning Miz face. Not sure if that ends up happening or not but I can see it.
Saw that too. I think Tuesday was dipping their toe in that pool to an extent. Knowing what they like to do, kind of working off the program theory they have to work with building towards Mania...if they're doing Miz/Bryan at Mania, I really wouldn't put it past them to give them a quick run with the tag titles. I'm not saying that's a good or bad idea, but I certainly wouldn't put it past them to do that.
Miz is coming of terribly likeable in his Miz and Mrs reality show, but the crowd really loves to hate his character. I wonder if they might be trying to capitalize on his and Bryan's talent and are trying to re-work the tag success Bryan had with Kane. But the problem with this is, of course, that the SD tag division is already stacked deep.
It's only stacked in terms of name value. They don't use two of the viable teams and the other two dominant ones are, while producing great matches, overdone in terms of meeting up with each other as currently constructed (both faces).
If they did go the tag title route with Bryan and Miz, I'd pretty much want Raw's team to look dominant early, leaving Bryan and Miz with them somehow figuring it out and winning it for Smackdown.
I think that's most likely where they're headed. I'm not excited about another McMahon heel authority figure, but at least this match with Bryan will benefit from a long build.
It sucks that Brock is barely around, but if they want McIntyre to look like a bad ass, I think giving Drew a decisive victory over him is the best way to go.
I'm saying this to you as your friend, mentor, part time lover and full time kung fu master.
I'm legit concerned that Crown Jewel has caused you serious psychological damage.
I think Braun's loss has broken....I mean woken him.
Which match would you rather see if these are the only two options for Mania: Lesnar versus McIntyre or Lesnar versus Strowman?
Lesnar v. Strowman is a hard sell for 35 unless they do Lesnar v. someone he hasn't wrestled 3-4 times already in between. He has AJ coming up which will be nice, their match was the most diverse Lesnar match since CM Punk @ Summerslam. So from Survivor Series-Mania he needs to face someone he's never wrestled IMHO if they want to do Strowman v. Lesnar again. I would not be negative toward Lesnar in the Elimination Chamber either. Fastlane could use a little hardcore.
I'm thinking they're slowly placing more of their eggs in the basket of McIntyre so that's making me think he could be gaining more momentum to be the option out of Strowman and himself. They clearly had a hard investment in him for his first stint. He came back and has delivered on the promise, to this point. If they really felt like Strowman was going to be the guy right now, I have a hard time buying fully that they wouldn't have just given him the belt last week.
If Lesnar is still keeping his options open for UFC, I can't imagine he's going to want to add anything more onto his plate other than the Rumble and/or Mania. Feels like the Rumble is a 50/50 proposition at this point, again, because the UFC window.
If Strowman had the possibility of going to the UFC and challenging Cormier he would have won the belt last week. The only reason Lesnar is the champion is because Vince and co. want Lesnar on a UFC ppv, that's it. The idea of him showing up as the actual WWE champ facing the champ champ, that's enormous for the WWE, the brand, and even the talent. They (WWE) better be buying some nice tickets for their talent to be in attendance as well just in case the shit hits the fan as Cormier is a teammate of Khabib. And we all know what happened the last time Khabib was in attendance, always getting into some heated shit.
To add to this...Cormier said he won't be fighting Lesnar (or anyone) until after mid-March. So it is going to be very interesting when they put that fight together because I can't imagine them doing it within a month before or after Mania in case Lesnar were to get hurt in the ring or training leading up to both fights.....WWE really have boxed themselves in.
I guess my only real question I have is, if WWE wants Lesnar to show up to a UFC as their champion, why didn't they have the foresight to just project that out for their own booking back in 2016? I mean, Triple H was the champion going into that Mania haha. Are we just saying that they were stupid or negligent back prior to UFC 200?
I don't think it has anything to do with UFC. I think Vince McMahon wanted Reigns as the top guy, and now he's out, so he has to bring back his big bad villain for a new face of the company to overcome, and at this point it looks like it will be Drew McIntyre. Who other than Reigns has overcome Lesnar recently? Plus, I don't believe Drew and Brock have interacted since Drew returned.
I mean Lesnar did take out 3MB all by himself a few years ago...
The Miz/Bryan story has been fantastic and is absolutely the right thing for Mania.
Well, go back to my comment, it's more than just Lesnar showing up as the champion. UFC 200 was also in July of that year.......To be honest you're bringing up something that imo is completely irrelevant with the present day. It's a completely different scenario, virtually night and day.
Vince accomplished everything he needed to with getting Roman over Brock Lesnar. I would put money on it that Roman having to step away influenced the idea of having Lesnar win because he's going to be challenging the UFC HW champ and what a headline that would read. I think we are seriously jumping the gun by an extreme measure with assuming Drew is going to be the new face of the company. Why?
For all we know Drew is being built up so Lesnar can fuck him up at the Rumble in 2 minutes with 2 moves 100 times.
I agree.
A couple of news reports recently say he's in line for a big push, so I'm going off of that. I actually hope he is fed to Lesnar, and have someone else unseat the beast. I don't think it will be Strowman. His time has come and gone.
Other than those two the only ones I could think are Rollins, Ambrose, Balor, or Lashley.
Like I said, I think McIntyre is steadily be phased into that spot. Out of the four listed there, I think it'd be Rollins and the other three are waaaaaaay behind him.
I don't think Strowman's time has come and gone or he would have lost clean straight up. If anything, they're going to use this as a cool down period just like they did with Roman and Lesnar. They had Lesnar going up against Strowman, Samoa Joe, Kane, etc. and then brought it back to Roman months later for Mania.
Personally I wouldn't mind Drew v. Lesnar at Mania 35. I hate the fact that Lesnar has pretty much fought the same people over and over. I'm just not going to assume that everyone who faces Lesnar is only doing so because they're going to be the face of the company.
I guess there's just problematic things that seem to come across to me with Strowman. To be clear, a lot of it isn't really what he can and can't do. First, he's still young for what he's doing. It looked silly however long ago it was when there was the initial rumor when he was still green as could be that he could be up for a match with Taker at Mania. We aren't THAT far away from that in terms of real time, so he's got time as long as he stays healthy. For where he is now, he's doing fine. I just think they don't necessarily know what to do with him consistently. I also think they've missed this wave in terms of maximizing when he was hot for the stage he was at. Doesn't mean that momentum can stir up again. It just won't be a carbon copy of how hot he was before.
With that line of thinking, I think we're setting up where McIntyre could be hitting his stride as a character in April. It's all about windows and making the most of things. Dude has more than held his end of the bargain in the ring with the likes of Rollins and company. He looks legit when he says he's going "monster hunting" when he did that stuff with Strowman prior to Crown Jewel. He's checking a lot of the boxes. Again, they had high hopes for him in the first go round and he just wasn't anywhere near ready for it.
I do agree that just going up against Lesnar doesn't make you the face of the company but that's simply due to the fact that story has already been told with Reigns. I personally think they should be increasing their odds by using the legit talent they have on their roster and boost McIntyre, Rollins, Ambrose, Strowman, Bálor, (when he's back) Owens, and etc. There's a pool of talent there where you don't need to have one guy. They, for whatever reason, just believe they have to have someone as that face. With Reigns out, they feel Lesnar fits for now. If this was the mindset they're really sticking with and Reigns is out, I think it should be McIntyre or Rollins in that first tier to really look hard at.
I think people are wrong when they assume the WWE are trying to make 1 person the face of the company. It's no doubt all about the brand. Brock Lesnar might have a belt, but he's not even remotely promoted as "the face" of the WWE, at all. John Cena without a shadow of a doubt is still the guy they promote that way. They didn't send Roman to learn Chinese, they didn't send Brock, they sent Cena. He's the flag bearer. Even when he's not wrestling.
Anyone get their tickets today? Got a couple I'm happy with.
Got mine. Had to split 6 tickets into two rows just to get the $157 ones. I was WM 28 and it feels like they jumped about $75 to $100 a pop
Per Meltzer, they do plan on running Rousey vs. Lynch at Mania and as of right now, it is the planned main event.
Hell yes.
They'd have that match over Braun vs. Lesnar III or IV? Seems strange.
They don't plan on having Strowman/Lesnar happening at Mania, according to him. So if it's happening, it's at the Rumble.
Just based on how things seem to be right now, if Lesnar isn't facing Strowman at Mania but will be having a match at Mania, (taking brands out of the equation) the main roster people who make sense would be: McIntyre, Rollins, and Styles.
Why did it take Meltzer to say the same shit we've all been talking about here for it be considered an exclusive posting item? He has lost his touch.
I have to think Rollins/Ambrose is being extended to Mania. It would be criminal not to.
I think there are lots of options for Brock. Heck, even Batista is an option since his match with HHH is off. There would lots of crossover appeal in that.
I think at this point McIntyre is the best option. He really could use that win to propel him to the next level. Styles and Rollins are already there in my opinion.
I do think it should be prolonged now, yes. If Reigns was still in the picture, I'd be very curious to see if they'd ponder doing Ambrose/Reigns at Mania, with Ambrose/Rollins happening now and probably ending sometime prior to the Rumble.
We're not in the mindset anymore of someone beating Lesnar and becoming the guy for the company and necessarily getting a major boost from beating him, so I think that does re-open the door for Styles.
Yeah VInce wasted all that juice on making someone beating guys like Undertaker and Lesnar on the wrong fucking people. I'm not trying to be cold hearted especially when I ripped into people making jokes about Roman not being over until he got cancer....but it really was a waste of time to do all of this, the ending of the Streak, the 4 Mania main events, beating Lesnar at Summerslam, and for what?
I'll give this a go based on what I think looks most likely right now:
Pre-show:
1. ARMBAR: Maybe won by a debuting NXT superstar like Black?
2. Women BR: Ember or perhaps Lacey Evans?
3. Cruiserweight Title: Murphy (c) vs. Carrillo or a few guys
4. Raw Tag: Roode & Gable (c) vs. The Revival vs. AOP
These are the kind of things they'll probably only decide on a few days/weeks out from the show anyway so who knows.
5. US Title Ladder: Nakamura (c) vs. Ali vs. Joe vs. Rusev vs. Andrade vs. Rey
6. IC Title: Lashley (c) vs. Bálor vs. Ambrose
7. SD Tag: Shane & Miz (c) vs. The New Day
8. Womens Tag: Banks & Bayley (c) vs. Lita & Trish (vs. Nia & Tamina maybe)
9. McIntyre vs. Strowman
10. Orton vs. Styles
11. SD Womens: Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose vs. Naomi
12. WWE: Bryan (c) vs. Cena
13. Universal: Lesnar (c) vs. Rollins
14. Raw Womens: Rousey (c) vs. Lynch vs. Flair
That's really tough. Tried not to do too many multi person matches but there's still too many. And probably too many matches full stop. I'm convinced they do a triple threat rather than just Rousey/Lynch so I have no idea who Asuka faces. Rousey/Lynch and Asuka/Charlotte II would be better though. I'd also much rather see Rollins face Bryan and Demon Balor challenge Brock at this point. Orton/Styles and that women's tag were rumoured. Perhaps Miz & Shane fall apart before the show and have a match. Feels like Cena could face any of Bryan, Lars, Drew or Braun at this point.
Last edited by Ringo; January 28th, 2019 at 12:04 PM.
Rollins needs to challenge for the Universal title. If there was heat with Bryan you could understand him jumping to dethrone a hated rival, but he isn't. It has to be Brock vs. Rollins at this point, with Rollins winning clean and at least trying to get him on to that top level. I agree that Lesnar vs. Demon Balor was the play though.
Has to be Bryan defending against Cena. For a midcarder to get the jump up they needed a Rumble win. Cena's the interesting play because the big budget movies, new t shirt every month etc is the embodiment of capitalism, and Cena can ether Bryan in response like no one else can. Joe's a good promo man but showing no sign of turning, and using Jeff, Rey or Orton wouldn't provide much back and forth on the mic. Jeff's a possibility because of his real life troubles clash well with a holier than thou attitude, and he's got the Matt/Bray factor to perhaps counter Rowan and presumably Harper. He's cold though. Has to be Cena.
Becky vs. Ronda doesn't need Charlotte, but the Smackdown title match does. You've got a cold match if Asuka faces anybody other than Charlotte, Becky or Ronda. Everybody else is a level below.
Genuinely no idea for the midcard. Lots of cold acts. I'd like Mysterio vs. Andrade for the US title if they can transition it to Rey. Balor should win the Intercontinental title and be prepared for a big push going into next year (a la Rollins last year). They have to work to make anything else interesting. Could see a "free agency" period in February to swap some pieces about and give folk a fresh start.
I agree that Cena vs Bryan may seem to be the most likely but I'm intrigued by a Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan match with Harper and Rowan in Bryan's corner. it would be an interesting dynamic.
I think we could just as easily get Cena vs Strowman or McIntyre.
Will be interesting to watch RAW and Smackdown this week to see how the road to WrestleMania develops, though with two PPVs before then, anything can change like that.
I feel like there's a path pretty much to all of the matches, but the WWE title match is still the biggest question mark to me. Everything else, I think there's a general idea there. I'm not really into the idea of Wyatt and Bryan because I need to see that Wyatt can compellingly give promos that don't meander before I buy into him.
Given that this is going to be another 7hr show at the end of a busy weekend of wrestling for many of those people in attendance the placement of matches and pacing the show is key. Probably more so than what the actual card is. Could make or break big matches.
I'm thinking Demon Balor vs. Brock and Rollins vs. Bryan after last night. Should be pretty clear I'm wrong after RAW.
would love to see this. But with all the shit talking that Rollins has done to Brock, I just can't see it happening. We probably won't get a clear picture until after elimination chamber.
Also, I want Rousey vs. Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Asuka with both belts on the line somehow...
This is my guess:
- Men’s Battle Royal
- Crusierweight Title
- Women’s Battle Royal
In no order
- Gable and Roode (c) vs Ryder and Hawkins vs The Revival
- Seth vs Brock (c)
- Lashley (c) vs Balor vs Strowman vs McIntyre vs Ambrose
- Asuka (c) vs Naomi vs Carmella
- Ladder match: Nakamura (c) vs Ali vs Andrade vs Mysterio vs Joe vs Rusev
- Bayley and Sasha vs Mandy and Sonya (c)
- Shane vs Miz
- The Club vs SAnitY
- Rousey(c) vs Charlotte vs Becky
- Bryan vs ???
- The Usos (c) vs The New Day
did not expect a Mania card with Sanity on it lol. Man they would have to be pushed pretty hard to look like any type of credible threat.
Sanity, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder making the Mania card over the likes of AJ Styles, Orton, Alexa Bliss or Nia seems unlikely tbh.
There's a lot of moving parts in regards to Bryan and if Styles isn't involved there, he's got to get involved in something to be on the card. I figure what happened last night is an entry point to get The Club back together and then SAnitY can get involved in whatever happens with The Club and Bryan that doesn't get a clean finish, thus transitioning into that.
Styles vs Orton would seem easy to book.
That's also the alternative I was looking at, but I went under the premise they look to get others on the show. The whole Bryan thing is something that kind of impacts the usage of at least 4-6 people.
Really want this to happen!
That is what the battle royal is for though.
Not news to me, lol. Again, not really putting down the idea of Orton/Styles but it hinges on what happens with the next chapter of Styles/Bryan.
Rollins vs. Lesnar - Universal Title
Demon Balor vs. Undertaker
Bryan vs. Styles vs. Joe vs. Orton - WWE Title
Nakamura vs. Ali - US Title
Lashley vs. Zayn - IC Title
Roode/Gable vs. Revival - 2/3 Falls for Tag Titles
Rousey vs. Lynch - RAW Womens Title
Asuka vs. Charlotte - SD Womens Title
Sasha & Bayley vs. Trish & Lita - Womens Tag Titles
Buddy Murphy vs. Ricochet - CW Title
would be my card
They have their main event with Rhonda/Becky and Lesnar/Seth. One of those matches will be fun to build towards and watch, the other will be a Lesnar match. The rest of the card is really up to Vince if he wants to do something new and fun. If he doesn't, we probably will have Bryan vs Cena with 99% of the audience cheering Bryan thus Cena wins lol. Asuka/Charlotte will be good if not trying to steal the show. The women's tag match and probably a good Daniel match. And that's about it. It will be ok. Just ok like WM 28 when they were in NJ the last time they did Mania minus CM Punk/Taker saving the entire show.
Becky should main event.
This is coming from someone who hasn't been watching regularly, but having a babyface Orton kill a whiny, vegan Bryan for the SD title seems like a pure Vince move.
After the Royal Rumble, I see Wrestlemania shaping up like this:
Main Event - RAW Women's Championship - Loser Leaves WWE - Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey - Becky wins, Rouesy takes her first singles loss, leaves WWE to go start a family, and Becky continues being the biggest thing in wrestling.
WWE Universal Championship - Seth Rollins deaf. Brock Lesnar - In a proper feel good moment, Rollins dedicates the match to Roman, tells him to kick leukemia's ass, and Curb Stomps Brock into a fine paste to win the big boy belt for the first time.
WWE World Heavyweight Title - 30 Minute Iron Man Match - Special Guest Referee Shawn Michaels - Daniel Bryan deaf. AJ Styles to retain when, in the closing moments of the match, Michaels turns on Styles and levels him with Sweet Chin Music. At the next Saudi Arabia blood money show, Styles faces Shawn Michaels in a dream match.
Smackdown! Women's Championship - Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair - Asuka retains over Charlotte in a rematch from last year.
Women's Tag-Team Championships - The Boss 'n' Hug Connection deaf. Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans - Subsequently, we get a Bliss face turn and she feuds with Evans.
U.S. Championship Match - Mustafa Ali deaf. Shinsuke Nakamura - In the sleeper match of the show, Ali knocks off Nakamura in a great match to continue his push.
Intercontinental Championship - Finn Balor deaf. Dean Ambrose - Balor brings The Demon to bear against the Lunatic Dean Ambrose and wins the IC title.
WWE RAW Tag-Team Championships - Heavy Machinery deaf. Authors of Pain - AOP win the belts from Roode and Gable, they enter into a program with Heavy Machinery and there you go.
Smackdown! Tag-Team Championships - The New Day deaf. The Bar - The Bar regains their tag-team championships when a miscommunication leads to a heel turn for the Miz. New Day, of course, are the Smackdown! challengers and they win.
Undercard:
Shane McMahon def. The Miz
Samoa Joe def. Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio def. Andrade Almas
Braun Strowman def. Lars Sullivan
Pre-Show
Special RAW vs. Smackdown! Showcase Match: Bobby Lashley deaf. Jeff Hardy
Bobby Roode def. Chad Gable
Andre Battle Royal: Zach Ryder wins, last eliminating Jinder Mahal, Mojo Rawley, and The Revival.
Meltzer reckons the plan is still a 3-way as of now (Rousey/Lynch/Charlotte)
I think I'd go for this personally:
Rousey/Lynch
Lesnar/Rollins
Bryan/Cena
Charlotte/Asuka
McIntyre/Strowman in some sort of no DQ match
Styles/Orton
Lashley/Balor
6-man Ladder for the US title (Nakamura/Rusev/Ali/Joe/Rey/Andrade)
Jax & Tamina/Banks & Bayley
Miz & Shane/Sanity
then on the pre-show
ARMBAR
women's BR
Revival/Heavy Machinery
a scramble match for the Cruiserweight title
I don't know where Ambrose fits in (Triple H?) but if he's leaving maybe they won't care
That's a lot of stock in feuds lasting longer than the chamber and fast lane.
I haven't followed any news in months. Is there actually talk of Ronda leaving? If so, Becky should absolutely go over her. Becks has been the best thing going every time I've checked in lately and Brock should have taught them the trouble with having someone go over everyone when they keep negotiating contracts and taunting that they could leave.
Worst case if there's even a rumor of her leaving, is that they put Ronda over all their top talent and then she leaves without someone beating her and the whole division takes a hit for it. Ronda tapping to an armbar (well, to Becky's version) puts over a home grown talent huge. Not only a home grown talent, but the hottest thing in the company going over in the highest profile match possible. It's like if they had been able to have Austin go over Tyson at 14. The disarmher tap out would be all over mainstream outlets. That's how Mania should close.
If Ronda stays, she can get heat back in the Four Horsewoman vs. Four Horsewoman show down.
Hawkins will win the ARMBAR to snap his record losing streak. Because Vince will have figured out he can make yet another fortune in gambling. He and Ryder will have worked together most of the way, then he will eliminate Ryder last. Many usual suspects here (Corbin, Big Show, NoWay Jose, Slater). Mojo Rawley will look like he gets an assist from Gronk (deja vu) but Gronk turns on Rawley and pulls him out. Retiring from football as a SuperBowl winning MVP, Gronk is newly signed to WWE.
205 Championship - 6 way in a ladder match, to be won by surprise entrant Balor
There will be a 4 way SD tag-team title bout featuring Shane/Miz v. The Usos v. New Day v. The Bar
They will debut the Women's Tag title championship, with Sasha/Bailey winning over Nia/Tamina.
Raw Tag Titles - Gable/Roode will complain about their titles not being on the card, so they will face mystery opponents. Surprise return of Sami Zayn / Kevin Owens, who will become new champs.
IC Title - Strowman over Lashley/McIntyre/Ziggler in fatal 4 way
HHH over Dean in a "Loser leaves forever" squash match, setting new Mania record for fastest win. WWE expects and tries to pump in a "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" chant but it is overshouted by "Thank You Dean!" "Thank You Dean!"
SD Women's Title Asuka v. Charlotte - Charlotte wins
Bray Wyatt def several others (Nak, Rusev, Andrade, Rey) in ladder match to become US title champ
Jeff def Orton, AJ, Joe, etc. in #1 contender's match
Universal Title - Rollins v. Lesnar, Brock retains, suplex city, crowd hates it (again, gambling)
Cena (with Harper in corner) def. Bryan (with Erik) to set record for most World Titles ever
RAW Women's title - Becky / Ronda - Becky wins
Seems up in the air if Undertaker is going to wrestle on this show, although he was in the commercial they showed at the Rumble. Anyone have ideas for his opponent?
He's got an unfinished story with Cena. I think Taker vs. Bryan would be fun but I don't think they'll want Taker to win the title, but also won't want Bryan to beat him at Wrestlemania. Taker vs. Joe? Taker vs. Braun? Maybe Taker vs. Lashley?
I'm not counting on Triple H being healthy in-time for this show. What about Kurt? Are they building to him winning a big match with all these losses he's taking lately?
Kurt vs. Cena would be a fitting retirement match for Kurt since he was Cena's first main roster opponent. You can have Kurt say he wants to test himself, if he can't beat Cena he'll retire. And Cena beats him, Kurt gets a nice send-off.
Oh god, I hope we don't get an Undertaker match.
If the rumours about him being in the Hall of Fame this year are true, I'd be fine with him having one final match at this years WrestleMania. Don't make it a retirement match. Just have Undertaker come out and say "It's time fore me to Rest. In. Peace..."
If Taker is going to do a retirement match Cena seems like a good choice to do it. They've got a story from Cena getting squashed by Taker last year. They've got the longterm story of Taker putting Cena over after he had his debut match with Angle back in 2002.
If instead they want to try to put someone over by having them retire Taker, not really sure who they would go with. Doesn't feel like they know who they want to elevate right now. Seemed like maybe Drew after he murdered Angle but they haven't done that much with him since. Lashley? He's 42, but if you're just looking to get someone hot for the next couple years I could see it.
The biggest mistake they can make is trying to book something that would benefit a talent retiring Undertaker. For one, you can't predict the future. So trying to look at it and go "Who could get the bigger rub by going over Taker in his last match?" there is no right or wrong answer to that because again, you can't predict the future.
That's why I thought Lesnar ending the streak as opposed to someone like Cody Rhodes or The Miz was super smart. A guy who's mega credible that the fans would believe could do the impossible. I honestly do not know what people are basing their fantasy booking off of when it comes to Undertaker retiring, or even earlier with the streak.
Nash ended Goldberg's streak. Why? He was super over and the most believable to do it. They didn't have fuckin Mark Jindrak do it in hopes that he would get a massive rub and be the next big thing. Who retired Flair? Shawn Michaels. Who retired Michaels? Undertaker.
So you have to be careful. IMO, you do someone like John Cena or Sting, someone top tier that would make this a huge match. I love MMA, all my favorites weren't like "If I lose in my last fight at least I'm losing to an up and comer!" Naw, they were at the end of their career it does the younger guy no good. I'd rather my favorites go out against other top guys, makes the kiss goodbye less painful when you know it's from someone who has made something of themselves not because they beat an old timer.
I agree on that. I remember back to when people were talking about having Ted DiBiase Jr. break The Streak. Even if it was CM Punk who had done it at Wrestlemania 29 I'm sure they would have regretted it when he quit a year later.
So yeah, I'm inclined to have an already established star do it. Same way they had Shawn Michaels be the one to retire Ric Flair.
And since I brought him up...wouldn't it be kind of awesome for Shawn and Taker to have one more Wrestlemania match? And Shawn ending Taker's career like Taker ended his would be poetic. Maybe there's some concern about living up to their prior matches but I don't think any sane person would go in expecting them to have a match like they did at Wrestlemania 25.
That's why I'd honestly like to see Sting. Even if it's way past the prime years for both men, I think they could give us something special for 15 minutes.
Yeah but would he have quit had he ended the streak? Maybe he would have been happier in the company afterwards. Never know.
I think so because it was 100% about money. He wasn't happy with his payoff at 29 against Undertaker. Literally, if you listen to that Cobana interview, everything he says was a factor as to why he was mad dealt with the financial gains. Pissed he didn't get to be in 12 Rounds 2, pissed he didn't get to wear sponsors that would pay him to wear their shit, pissed he didn't make as much as The Rock and Cena did at 29, pissed he didn't get to be in the main event with them even though it didn't make sense, pissed he didn't get compensated 2-3 times by Vince when Vince said he would.
All while saying it was absolutely NOT about money.
Sounds like they are building to a triple threat for Lynch/Flair/Rousey. I still think they should stick with Charlotte vs. Rousey, it's a lot better than Becky vs. Rousey and I"m tired of Becky and Charlotte fighting.
Maybe they will first give us Becky vs. Steph in a singles match where Becky gets to finally give Steph some comeuppance. Then if Becky beats Steph, she can be added to the Charlotte/Ronda match.
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