This is it, folks. Wrestlemania
is here. Sting is here. The Undertaker is here. Brock Lesnar is here. Still,
all things considered, this isn’t the strongest ‘Mania card there’s ever been. We’ve got three squeeze matches, and
a main event with a babyface that isn’t exactly a babyface, and a heel that
isn’t exactly a heel…
Let’s dive in.
PRE-SHOW MATCH FOR
WWE TAG TEAM TITLES:
Tyson Kidd &
Cesaro (c) vs. The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores
Neither The New Day or Los Matadores feel worthy of this
match. With due respect to the talents of those four men, they should have been
stuffed into the battle royal.
I’d be okay with either Kidd & Cesaro or The Usos taking
this one. But I’m making my prediction based on an unlikely source: WWE just
came out with a t-shirt for Kidd & Cesaro. That leads me to believe they’re
going to be in the forefront of things for the foreseeable future. So I’m
thinking the titles will stay with them.
PREDICTION: Tyson
Kidd & Cesaro
The Bella Twins vs.
AJ Lee and Paige
The Bella Twins are going to take this one. Why? Because WWE
loves them for some odd reason. Personally, I respect the fact that they’ve put
the effort they have into wrestling. But I just can’t stand listening to them.
AJ hit the nail on the head on Smackdown:
They’re like the Kardashians. And if there’s one thing wrestling doesn’t need,
it’s Kardashians.
Still, at least AJ and Paige got to be featured in a match
at Wrestlemania, and they weren’t
stuffed into some “lumberjill” match. Then again, plans can always change, I
suppose.
PREDICTION: The
Bella Twins
ANDRE THE GIANT
MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL:
You know who should be pissed about this match? The Big
Show. He’s been relegated to this match for the second year in a row, but will
almost certainly not win. He’s been compared to Andre the Giant his whole
career, and how he’s been stuck in a match dedicated to him, but can’t win!
This should be the match where we finally get our Miz/Damien
Sandow pay off. If I’m booking this sucker, our last four guys in the ring are
The Big Show, Ryback, The Miz, and Sandow. Ryback dumps out Big Show, then Miz
gets the jump on Ryback and tosses him out. Then we get our confrontation
between “star” and “stunt double,” resulting in Sandow finally standing up to
Miz, and tossing him out of the match for the win. This should be a huge Wrestlemania moment for Sandow. The question is, how do
they follow up on it? That part sure as hell didn’t work out for Cesaro.
PREDICTION: Damien
Sandow
LADDER MATCH FOR
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Bad News Barrett (c)
vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Stardust vs. R-Truth
vs. Luke Harper
I know this match will probably be entertaining. But the
purist in me doesn’t like it. I’m also not thrilled with the fact that Daniel
Bryan got relegated to a squeeze match a year after winning the main event at Wrestlemania. But that’s WWE booking for
you…
I’ve read reports that Daniel Bryan will win this one, but
I’m not sure I buy it. This feels like a Bad News Barrett win to me. WWE likes
him, as evidenced by the way they put the belt on him right when he got back.
And then they had all these guys take his title away from him, and then he finally got it back, only to have it
taken from him again. This all feels like a build up for him to take it back
once and for all at Wrestlemania, and
then perhaps turn babyface. The fans like this character, and the heel status
still seems forced to me. I’m really spinning the wheel on this one, but I’m
going with Barrett.
PREDICTION: Bad
News Barrett
WWE UNITED STATES
TITLE MATCH:
Rusev (c) vs. John
Cena
In all honesty, I don’t want to see Rusev’s winning streak
end. Originally, I was not a fan of his, simply because he was so cold and
expressionless out there. But he’s improved substantially, and is one of the
company’s best villains right now. That being said, if you have to lose to
someone, a loss to John Cena at Wrestlemania
isn’t a bad deal. And given the beating Cena just took from Rusev on Raw, it seems like he’s due for a win.
And hey, Cena winning the US Title might just restore some of it’s prestige.
Lord knows those secondary titles could use a little more shine on them these
days.
PREDICTION: John
Cena
Randy Orton vs. Seth
Rollins
From a pure performance standpoint, this match could steal
the show. Randy Orton’s previous Wrestlemania
dance partners haven’t always lent themselves to great matches. But with the
right ones, he can deliver. His match with CM Punk in 2011 comes to mind, as
does his work with Daniel Bryan and Batista at last year’s show. With a guy
like Seth Rollins, the potential is obviously there.
The build-up with Randy Orton pretending to join The
Authority was decent. Not great, but decent. Hopefully the match makes it all
worthwhile. I see Rollins going over here. He’s unquestionably WWE’s most hated
villain right now. What better way to keep his momentum going than a cheap
victory over Randy Orton? Mind you, he’ll probably take an RKO somewhere in
there. But it’ll be his victory nonetheless.
PREDICTION: Seth
Rollins
The Undertaker vs.
Bray Wyatt
For yours truly, this is the biggest match on the card. I’ve
been a fan for almost two decades. So seeing The Undertaker in the ring again
is worth the price of admission by itself. He could be wrestling Barry Horowitz
(look him up, kids) and I’d still pay to see it.
To his credit, Bray has made the majority of this program
work with his verbal skills alone. The only input we’ve had from The Undertaker
has been in the form of props and video clips. But Bray made it work. This
program, as one-sided as it’s been, has elevated his game significantly.
Obviously, “The Streak” is no longer on the table. We can
debate the pros and cons of that at a later date. But either way, The
Undertaker could, in fact, lose this
match. But I don’t think he will. After last year, the fans deserve to have
their faith in this legend rewarded. The Undertaker losing last year left a
really bad taste in everybody’s mouth. So now it’s time for him to win again.
Will it hurt Bray? Absolutely not. I don’t think anyone’s career has ever been
truly harmed by losing to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Bray will be no exception.
PREDICTION: The
Undertaker
Triple H vs. Sting
If what we heard on Raw
this week is any indicator, I don’t think there’s any risk of the WWE fans not
reacting favorably to Sting. They were really into him on Monday, and there’s
no reason to think that won’t be the case here.
I expect we’ll see classic Triple H here, not to mention
classic Stephanie McMahon. They’ll use underhanded tactics, and probably that
sledgehammer, to get the upper hand. Then Sting will have his big babyface
comeback, and of course, get the win. There’s no way they brought Sting to Wrestlemania just to have him lose. And as I said this week, I’m hoping
this isn’t a one shot deal. A guy like Sting could really help elevate and
up-and-comer. But either way, this night belongs to the Stinger.
PREDICTION: Sting
WWE HEAVYWEIGHT
TITLE MATCH:
Brock Lesnar (c) vs.
Roman Reigns
This match is “car wreck interesting.” In other words, I’m
intrigued to see whether the whole thing just breaks down into a mess. What it
really comes down to is the crowd. That’s the big drawing factor. What kind of
reaction is Roman Reigns going to get? As Brock Lesnar just resigned with WWE
this week, the die-hards and the smart fans don’t have much of a reason to boo
him. And as Wrestlemania is a show
that the die-hards come from all over the world to see, things don’t exactly look
good for
I expect the crowd to be the main story in this one. I don’t
see either Reigns or Lesnar as “ring generals,” so to speak. So I’m not
expecting a classic. In terms of it’s outcome, while this match could end up
going in a lot of directions, I still see Roman Reigns getting his hand raised
at the end. One of WWE’s major priorities these days (thankfully) is making new
stars. Whether we like him or not, Roman Reigns is one of those stars. So this
moment belongs to him.
It’ll be interesting to see how Paul Heyman plays into this.
He’s more than pulled his share of the weight in all of this. But now that we
know Lesnar has re-signed, I’m curious to see if their relationship evolves at
all. Will Heyman still be at Lesnar’s side once Wrestlemania XXXI is in the books? Or will he find himself a new
conqueror in Roman Reigns? Has all of this been leading up to a Roman Reigns
heel turn? Now that would shake
things up…
Prediction: Roman
Reigns
Written by: The Fanboy Wonder, Rob Siebert
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