Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Raw Women’s Title/Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte(c)

History has been made.

And now we have the truly historic moment in something that I didn’t think would ever actually happen. The women’s match is headlining the show to complete the Women’s Revolution, as they’re finally reaching the unreachable goal. With the history out of the way, we get on to the important part, which is the result itself. It should be an obvious ending….but it’s WWE.

With a close of my eyes and a deep breath, I’ll take Lynch to win in the moment that we’ve been building towards for months now. As much as I could see Rousey winning here and then losing the title in her post-pay per view title defense or Charlotte because SHE’S CHARLOTTE and we need to build towards one more (of many) lynch vs. Charlotte match. I’ll go with Lynch and hope that WWE doesn’t overthink things for once in my life.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: SmackDown World Title: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Kofi Kingston

A B+ isn’t that bad.

I’ve gone back and forth on this one since before the match was announced and that hasn’t changed yet. We’re at the point now where Kingston either needs to win the title or do something completely different because he has all the momentum in the world right now. Kingston is more than qualified to win the title (period) and it would be the awesome moment if he wins the title.

I’ll take the plunge here and say the title changes hands here, though there’s next to no chance of Kingston making it to the middle of May as champion, which is just fine. The whole point here is the title win, which is the kind of moment that you need on a show like this. Kingston doesn’t need to be a main eventer long term, but being a former WWE Champion sounds just fine.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Universal Title: Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Seth Rollins

No more happy ending?

Now we’re down to the final three matches and since it’s WWE, we’re just not getting three happy endings (it’s all about the chase and the heat you see). That makes you wonder which face has to take the fall and you could go with any of the three. Starting here, we have the Royal Rumble winner against Lesnar, who is STILL Universal Champion, as has been the case for almost two years straight now and somehow WWE is cool with that.

And yes I think Lesnar retains the title here, mainly because WWE still thinks he’ll win the UFC Heavyweight Title again and hold up both titles. You know, as has been promised for YEARS now. I’m still not sure how that instantly equals money, but WWE seems obsessed with seeing it happen. I think Rollins falls short here though, as we get another Lesnar vs. Reigns match down the line. Or here, if Lesnar pulls a WrestleMania IX and somehow Reigns gets the title back Sunday. Would it really shock you?




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Triple H vs. Batista

In case it wasn’t clear.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this build as Batista has been nearly perfect with being a delusional jerk, which tended to be his strong suit. Triple H’s comedic promo responding to him was good, though completely missing the point of the story so far. With Triple H’s career on the line, you kind of know what’s coming here, again proving that Triple H is the smartest man/best politician in wrestling.

Yeah Triple H wins here because Batista doesn’t need to wrestle again and Triple H can still wrestle an occasional match when necessary. The match itself should be a solid brawl because these two know how to do a street fight style match very well. I’m sure it will be entertaining and get a lot of time (because Triple H) and hopefully they don’t go too long and ruin things.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: SmackDown Tag Team Titles: Usos(c) vs. Aleister Black/Ricochet vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev

Expect what should be expected.

This is another match that doesn’t need to be on the show but is anyway because we need to get these eight people, most of whom have been inconsequential in recent weeks, on the show. It should be a nice little nine minute match at most, but the entrances alone will add close to ten mote. I like the Usos but I’d definitely prefer seeing them face the Hardys in an actual dream match.

I’ll actually go with Black vs. Ricochet just to mix things up a little bit. The SmackDown tag team division is dying for some fresh blood and it makes sense to have the newer teams getting the titles. That being said, since it makes sense, the Bar or Nakamura/Rusev are probably the favorites. I’ll take what I want to see, though with very little confidence in seeing it happening.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Boss N Hug Connection(c) vs. IIconics vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

For those of you who think Natalya is a legend.

So we have the first champions, the annoying challengers, not Trish Stratus and Lita and those two monsters who won’t stop appearing on every single show for reasons. I’m not sure why we need Phoenix and Natalya on the show but I guess since they came up with the idea of a legends team (Natalya: Legend), they couldn’t just drop it and do champions vs. red team vs. blue team.

I’ll go with the champs retaining, though the IIconics stealing the titles wouldn’t shock me. Bayley and Sasha Banks are way too early into their reign to lose and it’s not like there are a ton of teams for either heel team to face anyway. Keep them on the champs and figure out what you want to do with the belts later on.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: United States Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Rey Mysterio

Or so it seems.

Now here’s one where I’m not sure because it’s not clear who’s going to be in the match. Mysterio is already injured and might not be able to make the match….and it just so happens that John Cena has been rumored for a match on the show, which has just so happened to have Cena vs. Samoa Joe for weeks. As much as I’d like to see Samoa Joe vs. Mysterio, I think you can tell where I’m going.

So yeah, I’m going with the theory that the injury is a work and Cena comes out to challenge Samoa Joe instead. I’ll go with the champ retaining in a surprise, which doesn’t feel right but would be a great way to push him. The problem with putting the title on Cena is that he’d have to lose it, and unless that takes place in the next two nights, I’m not sure I see that happening. Unless…..say to someone debuting on Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live in a US Open Challenge? But what kind of a Freak would you have to be to do that?




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Intercontinental Title: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Finn Balor

I still don’t know if it makes sense.

I’ll spare you a long rant about how little this story makes sense, or at least how horrible of a job WWE has done at explaining Balor’s use of the Demon. Or how little sense it made to have Balor win the title for a few weeks and drop it back almost immediately. This is the Demon’s debut at Wrestlemania and I’m not sure what to expect from it. I don’t think the match’s result is really in doubt, but the question is how we get to that ending.

Balor will get the title back once and for all, but I’m not sure if it’s in a squash or a competitive match. It’s one thing to have the Demon destroy Corbin at Summerslam but having him do it to Lashley here doesn’t make sense. You don’t squash a monster like that and that leaves a dilemma for Balor. I’m sure he’ll win, but if it’s too competitive then it doesn’t make that much sense.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

This could go somewhere.

I’ve been a big McIntyre fan for years now so I’m rather happy with him getting this spot. He’s gotten a lot out of beating Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose so facing Reigns is the most logical next step for him. It’s going to be a hard hitting fight and that’s exactly what a match like this needs to be.

And naturally Reigns wins, because you don’t have your top star come back from leukemia and lose his first match at Wrestlemania. Reigns winning here is fine and McIntyre will get a lot out of just rubbing elbows with him. It’s a good idea and this should be a strong match for both of them. Reigns survives the Claymore and hits a few spears to win as McIntyre gets a rub and Reigns can start gunning for the title again.




Wrestlemania XXXV Preview: Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin

GAH!

If there is any hope for this show, this match will be about two minutes long and be a complete squash with Angle winning and getting to have a proper sendoff. There’s no need for this match to keep going because there is no reason to have Corbin anywhere near a ring for a long time at the moment. Or for Angle to ever wrestle again for that matter.

This is the biggest layup on the show as Angle isn’t going to retire after losing a match to a goon like Corbin. This really should have been anyone else but if this is the best we can get, so be it (I guess). Angle wins with the ankle lock to go out as a winner and is thankfully allowed to heal his broken and mangled body. And Corbin can go tend sheep or something.