The annual road to WrestleMania is officially underway. The Royal Rumble
has come and gone, leaving us with a new World Heavyweight Champion in Triple H
and possibilities for new and (possibly) exciting match-ups at Fast Lane and
the big show in April. AJ Styles has made his debut, following rampant speculation
following his loss to Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom. The Wyatt Family
may have made a dangerous enemy in Brock Lesnar during the Rumble match. The
Rock has announced he will "be involved" with WrestleMania in Dallas,
but to what extent, we do not know yet. Even down in Florida, potentially big
things are going down for WWE's NXT brand with Sami Zayn turning up in the
Rumble and a red-hot main event scene with killers like Samoa Joe in the hunt.
The year is off to an interesting start to say the least, so let's hash it out
and see if we can't put a possible WrestleMania card together. It's time to
play armchair booker!
In a few weeks’ time at Fast Lane, WWE's next PPV event, former champ Roman
Reigns will meet Rumble runner-up Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in a triple
threat match to determine a new #1 contender. Who should be "the guy"
to face Triple H at 'Mania? Roman kinda needs to confront Triple H one on one
following the arc of the last few months. Triple H is the fighting figurehead
of the Authority, and Roman can get the comeuppance he was denied at last
year's WrestleMania. Roman was looking good attacking Triple H in his business
suit and trading verbal barbs with Vince, but I can't say with confidence that
the fans are ready to embrace him as The Face Who Runs the Place. Dean got a
big pop when he almost won the Rumble, and his rise to fan favorite status has
felt more organic than Roman's since The Shield broke up in 2014. Dean vs.
Triple H does seem like something we'll see in the future, but I don't think
it's a 'Mania main event. Brock vs. Triple H is a safe match, but I expect
Brock to get screwed by the Wyatts or the League of Nations during the match.
My prediction (and hope) is that Roman Reigns goes over in the triple threat
and has the big title match he was denied last year.
Or Seth Rollins could show up again and ruin it for him. That would be
pretty funny.
For a strong opener, to our imaginary WrestleMania card, I'll nominate
Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles. This feud can easily spring from Owens eliminating
A.J. from the Rumble match, and his ensuing jabs at him on the mic. Owens can
easily slip into bashing A.J. for "stealing his thunder" or whatever,
and boom!, you have a solid rasslin' match for the show of shows. This can
(hopefully) shut up the IWC peeps who come out, as you're pairing two ultimate Indy
darlings against one another. Give them 15-20 minutes. You won't be sorry, WWE.
Both men had great showings in the ring this week as well, with Owen and Dean
Ambrose putting on one hell of a match at the Rumble and A.J. making his
singles debut against Chris Jericho in a solid match on Raw. They seem to be
focusing on A.J.'s offense rather than any character gimmick, which is the best
way to go. A.J. can cut a promo with the best of them, but not when he's having
to play a character.
With Roman taking the #1 contendership in my prediction for Fast Lane, that
leaves the Beast looking for a foe. I think Brock vs. Bray Wyatt has potential,
as both parties have a solid presence on the mic and in the ring, thanks to
Bray's army of hosses and Paul Heyman advocating for Brock. Brock can do lots
of power spots against Bray's goons. Bray can get a win here against one of the
last truly threatening personas in the 'E. This is middle of the show or
co-main event for me.
We know the Rock will be involved at WrestleMania, but we don't know how.
This is an outside-the-box kind of guess, but after seeing him interact with
The Usos on Raw, I'd propose a six-man tag for mania pitting The Rock and his
cousins against The New Day. Like the potential Wyatt/Heyman stuff I mentioned
before, this match could build on the mic like no other on the card. New Day
antics vs. The Rock's very presence will get the arena back into the show at
any point in the show. The added bonus is the faces can win here without
getting the belts from The New Day, preserving the proper title rubber match
for some point in the future.
Of course, the path already set by WWE for the Diva's Title needs no proofreading
from me. Charlotte is transitioning from fighting Becky to fighting her old
nemesis Sasha Banks, but now the face/heel roles are reversed. Given time and
freedom from overbooking, a match between these two will represent the best
that WWE's women have to offer on the biggest stage the promotion offers.
Nothing but admiration for both ladies, and I can't wait to see what Daddy
Flair does ringside. Ric Flair is always a hoot.
To get some more of the WWE regulars on the card, I'll turn to the old WrestleMania
standby: the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match will suffer from the
loss of Kofi (since he's in my imaginary Rock/New day match), but to fill the
void and get people talking, we'll call up Sami Zayn from NXT. Dean Ambrose is
here, still fuming after coming so close to the title two times in a row. Dolph
Ziggler is a given here. Chris Jericho can go on and on about inventing the
damn thing. To fill out the heel side, the League of Nations enter the match,
promising to work as a unit and get Sheamus the briefcase, but with egos like
Alberto Del Rio's in play, the team dissolves. I'd give Dean or Del Rio the
briefcase.
For the last match, I'd like to offer up something that probably WILL NOT
happen, but I think is a cool idea. At the big shows like 'Mania and
Summerslam, have an NXT title match. And since we're into full-on fanfic mode
here, I's like to see Finn Balor defend his title in a fatal four way with
Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, and Apollo Crews. I expect these three to pretty much
make up the NXT title scene in a few months’ time, so the lineup seems right to
me.
That's seven matches I would be legit excited for and don't seem out of the
realm of possibility. I saved the eighth match for last because I think it
should close the show and if rumors of Undertaker retiring sooner rather than
later are true, where better to have it than a WrestleMania in Texas. The last
match should be The Undertaker vs. John Cena. I throw this one out there for no
other reason than these two haven't had an issue in many, many years and Cena
has come a long way from his old Thuganomics persona. Cena will be booed
mercilessly, and The Undertaker can dissect him with all of his signature
moves. Then Cena is on the rebound; both men prove unbeatable. Undertaker
finally seals the deal with a desperation choke slam or tombstone pile driver,
proving one last time that the Deadman is synonymous with WrestleMania and
yadda yadda yadda. I know Rock vs. Taker might make more sense, or even a
returning Seth Rollins vs. Taker, but I'm a mark at heart and I like the idea
of Cena taking him on more than his other potential challengers.
So let's recap. My Fantasy card for this year's WrestleMania (from top to bottom)
is:
John Cena vs. The Undertaker
Triple H vs. Roman Reigns
The Rock & The Usos vs. The New Day
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt
Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn vs. Sheamus
vs. Rusev vs. Wade Barret vs. Alberto Del Rio
Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles
What do you think? What matches would YOU like to see this year? Hit me up
on Twitter at @ChrisBComics and thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment