As we’re still three months away from the show no matches
have been announced yet. But WWE doesn’t treat ‘Mania like the rest of their
pay-per-views, booking matches a week or two beforehand. Time is spent teasing WrestleMania’s
bigger matches and letting them develop naturally. And that’s something we can
expect over the next few months.
In theory this heightens the appeal of each match and
entices people to spend money watching the show. That WWE has stuck with the
same format for the last several instalments and that ‘Mania is routinely the
largest grossing wrestling event every year indicates that it’s true in
practice too. Which makes you wonder why WWE doesn’t take the long booking
approach with its monthly cards during the rest of the year.
There are four men on the active roster that I think are
guaranteed matches at WrestleMania (as long as they’re healthy, of course).
They are, in no particular order, John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk and Daniel
Bryan. They’re the four most heavily featured regular wrestlers on WWE programming.
It’s impossible to imagine WWE putting on a show of ‘Mania’s scale without
them.
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| This guy gets to wrestle because he's Triple H |
There are four part-timers I’d expect to feature too:
Undertaker, Triple H, Batista and Brock Lesnar. Having a modern WrestleMania without
‘Taker defending The Streak is basically unthinkable at this point, while
Lesnar was brought back with a limited dates deal specifically to make shows
like ‘Mania feel more special. ‘The Game’ is the boss. That’s why he gets a
spot. Batista’s yet to return to TV yet, but he’ll definitely wrestle at ‘Mania.
There would be no point bringing him back if he weren’t going to appear there.
The rest of the card will be made up of matches featuring
a smattering of TV regulars. It’s tough to know who’ll be involved in those
until nearer the time but there are some who are more likely than others. Bray
Wyatt, Big E Langston, Sheamus, The Shield, and the Rhodes brothers seem the
likeliest names. Mark Henry, Fandango, Dolph Ziggler, Brodus Clay, Big Show,
and Damien Sandow are possibilities too, as is a Divas match with AJ Lee.
The question is who will face who? The first thing I’ll
say here is that I don’t think Brock Lesnar and Mark Henry will face off at
WrestleMania XXX. Monday’s RAW saw the two have a very physical confrontation after
‘The Pain’ had stated that he will face the WWE champion after Royal Rumble. I
think Henry and Lesnar will come to blows in a match at the Rumble or in the
thirty man extravaganza itself. The latest I think they’ll meet is Elimination
Chamber. That’s if Lesnar doesn’t end up challenging for the WWE championship
there, of course.
As far as the big show goes I’ve been expecting Lesnar to
challenge The Streak since he returned to wrestling two years ago. He’s a
credible name who could conceivably end it (though I don’t think he will). That’s
what makes a successful Streak match: pitting ‘Taker against someone with
enough star power to potentially snap his record. Lesnar is certainly that.
If that match doesn’t end up happening there’s nobody
else I can imagine Lesnar facing, especially since his feud with Punk has been
stated as being over. It would also leave Undertaker free. Daniel Bryan is the
only big name never to have faced him but he strikes me as unlikely for the
spot. His position in the pecking order is too precarious for the match to
happen this year. It could happen in the future. If it does it will be
tremendous.
The second likeliest Streak match is Undertaker versus
Cena. But I remain convinced that that’s going to be saved as ‘The Dead Man’s’
final bow as Cena is the most convincing challenger The Streak could have. It
could happen this year but it doesn’t seem like that’s the direction WWE are
going in. Undertaker versus Lesnar seems a safe bet.
But if Cena’s not facing The Undertaker what will he be
doing? A match with CM Punk would seem odd without the WWE championship involved.
It’s possible Cena will regain the strap from Orton at the Rumble but it would
make the TLC result a bit pointless. Besides, Cena v Punk has been done. A
second PPV outing opposite Daniel Bryan could work if ‘The Dazzler’ sticks with
the Wyatt Family but I don’t think that’s going to happen. That story strikes
me as something to keep him busy until his WrestleMania match is announced.
There are three matches I can see Cena being involved in
at WrestleMania. One I’ll detail below. The second is Cena versus Batista. ‘The
Animal’ has yet to return to WWE and so it’s impossible to tell whether he’ll
be playing a good guy or a bad guy. If I had to guess I’d say he’ll be good, which
would make a match with babyface Cena peculiar. Perhaps he’ll return as a good
guy and gradually go bad over the three months to ‘Mania, revealing a problem
of some sort with Cena in the process.
The third Cena facing Bray Wyatt. It would be an odd fit
on ‘The Grandest Stage of Them All’ but the more I’ve thought about it the more
I can see it being made to work. Bryan joined ‘The Eater of Worlds’ because the
fans’ cheers weren’t enough to make WWE management listen, which makes Cena, as
the biggest big shot in all of WWE the natural man for him to target. Perhaps
he’ll do that but be convinced by Cena (though not until after a match at
Elimination Chamber or on a heavily hyped RAW, natch) that what’s important is
that the fans chose to believe in him in the first place, reverting Bryan to
his face role and prompting him to challenge evil corporate boss Triple H to a ‘Mania
showdown (something already foreshadowed with ‘The Cerebral Assassin’ telling Bryan
that he only laces up the boots these days to face top names). That would spin
Bryan off into his own programme and leave Cena to tangle with Wyatt.
I could see this happening but I’m always wary of making intricate
predictions regarding WWE’s future. It’s very easy to be wrong. If he doesn’t
face Batista (which I admit doesn’t look likely) or the man I’ll mention below
then the Cena v Wyatt thing could end
up happening. There’s just nothing obvious for Cena to do. This, in a way, is
very refreshing.
With Randy Orton holding the WWE championship and
unlikely to lose it before WrestleMania it seems fair to assume that a babyface
is going to win the Royal Rumble. It’s possible WWE could surprise us with wins
for Big E Langston or Roman Reigns but I think the top contender for that
victory is CM Punk. He’s been out of the WWE title picture since Elimination
Chamber last year, hasn’t faced ‘The Viper’ in a while, and remains popular.
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| Randy's not losing that belt any time soon |
Orton v Punk seems like the natural direction for WWE to
take. They’re big enough names to warrant a WWE title match on the biggest
event of the year and the timing would be about right for a change of champ
(Orton would have had the gold for about five and a half months by
WrestleMania, and would have been in the title picture non-stop for seven and a
half). The only argument I can see against this is that Orton v Punk happened
two years ago at WrestleMania XXVIII. That’s not something likely to bother WWE
though.
But this leaves returning star Big Dave Batista without
anything to do. As already noted he’s not coming back not to be used. If he
returns as a heel I think he’ll be butting heads with Mark Henry and if he’s
back as a good guy I think he’ll face off with Sheamus. To me the likelier is
Batista versus Shaymo. I think Batista’s going to be reintroduced as a
tough-talkin’ babyface disappointed in the way his old Evolution pal Triple H
is handling the business. Bringing ‘Great White’ back as a heel would allow him
to freshen up character and putting him with Batista would allow him to have a
match with a big name that keeps both men from cluttering up the truly meaningful
matches.
Down on the undercard there are matches for Big E
Langston, The Shield and the Rhodes brothers to take into consideration. I don’t
think E will necessarily face anyone noteworthy. A short match in which he
retains the Intercontinental championship would suffice. Perhaps Brodus Clay
has been turned so he can be built up as a man of significance for the next
three months before falling to Langston.
There have been rumours of Cody Rhodes and Goldust
splitting as a team in order to set up a match at WrestleMania ever since they
started teaming. They’ve wanted to face one another on the big show for years
and one brother becoming embittered and turning on the other (probably Goldy
going heel on Cody) would be a simple and compelling story by wrestling mid-card
standards. The trouble is that it looks as though The Shield are headed for a
breakup before WrestleMania. The subtle hints briefly became open animosity
during the December 30th RAW. I’ll be amazed if Reigns, Rollins and
Ambrose don’t meet in a triple threat match, probably for the latter’s United
States championship, at WrestleMania XXX.
Booking two breakup storylines for one show wouldn’t be
the strangest thing to ever happen in wrestling but it would be a little
unimaginative. If Cody and Goldy don’t hit Splitsville then I think they’ll be
defending their tag team titles on the show. The obvious candidates for
challengers are Wyatt Family boys Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. But in truth I
think WWE are just going to give us a brother versus brother bout. Which will
be a shame because their team is really great.
That’s how I think WrestleMania’s going to shape up. There’s
just one name left to mention. Hulk Hogan. Ever since he left TNA he’s been
spinning yarns about speaking to Vince McMahon and Triple H and Stephanie
McMahon and guys in the office and Vince’s cat about a potential WWE return. I
imagine he has been. No matter how frail he may be he’s still Hulk Hogan, one
of the biggest names to ever grace the wrestling business. From Hogan’s point
of view it makes sense because it could lead to a big pay day and potentially a
theatrical on-screen retirement. It will also help any negotiations he may have
with TNA if it’s public knowledge that he’s talked with the biggest wrestling
promotion in the world.
If Hogan does wrestle there’s only one man I think WWE
will consider pitting him against: Curt Hawkins. I’m joking, of course. There
is no more obvious match for Hulk Hogan in WWE than one against John Cena. They
both are or have been company figureheads. They both represent different eras
and generations. They’re both icons in the wrestling business. It’s a natural
match for a landmark, round number show like WrestleMania XXX. If Hogan can
wrestle one more match the only logical man for him to do it with is John Cena.
It wouldn’t be good but it would be a big iconic moment and a spectacle. And
what is WrestleMania about if it’s not spectacles?
Predicted
WrestleMania XXX card:
John Cena v Hulk HoganUndertaker v Brock Lesnar
CM Punk v Randy Orton – WWE championship match
Daniel Bryan v Triple H
Batista v Sheamus
Cody Rhodes v Goldust
Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose
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