I don’t know if it’s because crowds are back or if WWE has finally pulled out of the post-Wrestlemania slump, but I’m more excited for this show than I have been for any WWE show since Royal Rumble.
Money In The Bank has had a disappointing few years. The women’s briefcase was non-existent last year thanks to Becky’s pregnancy, and the men’s briefcase has been treated like garbage and hasn’t had a good cash-in since 2016. I don’t know why, but I feel like this year is going to be different. WWE’s history doesn’t really warrant this optimism, but sod it; I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
The non-ladder matches all look pretty damn promising too. As much as the weekly TV product has been in the toilet, WWE’s Pay-Per-View output this year has been surprisingly great every time.
Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio(c) vs The Usos (Smackdown Tag Team Championships) (Kickoff Show)
Surprised this was the match that got bumped to the pre-show rather than the other tag titles. It’s reasonably arbitrary at the end of the day. It just felt like this match had more build & heat going into it.
Either way, I think it will be good. I know pre-show matches don’t usually get as much time as they need, but The Usos practically lived on pre-show tag matches for a while, and they still pulled it out of the bag in a major way every time. Rey & Dominik have been great, and I’m super happy for them about getting the tag titles, but I don’t see their reign lasting any longer.
The Usos have the momentum right now, and them winning the tag titles will just make Roman look even more legit if he’s backed up by two champions. I guess their disagreements could screw things up, but they already told that story last month with Roman costing them, so now’s the time to switch those belts.
AJ Styles & Omos(c) vs The Viking Raiders (Raw Tag Team Championships)
The one thing that hasn’t picked up since Wrestlemania is the tag title scene on either show.
Styles & Omos are great in general as a pairing, but this tag title reign has been really underwhelming. They’ve defended the titles twice, and neither match has been anything worth shouting about. I feel like we’re all still waiting for Omos to show us what he can do, and it’s starting to seem like he can’t do a whole lot. Either that or management don’t trust him to do anything. I’m not sure which is worse.
That said, this could still be a good match. The Viking Raiders are one of the best tag teams WWE have on the main roster, and even with Omos’ limited moveset, I’m hoping the other three can pull this out of the bag. Unfortunately, if any match is going to get cut for time or bumped to the pre-show, it’s going to be this one.
I’ll go with AJ Styles & Omos to retain. It’s a possibility Raiders win the titles. It’s not like it would make much difference, either way, to be honest. It just felt like WWE were trying to do something with Styles & Omos in this title reign, and they haven’t done it yet, so the reign should continue.
Bobby Lashley(c) vs Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship)
I’m just happy to see Lashley defending against someone other than Drew.
This storyline has been pretty good. Xavier Woods has surprisingly been the MVP of the storytelling (pun intended). Even though this is Kofi’s story (who has still been great), Woods is the one whose fire I can feel whenever he cuts a promo. He’s looked surprisingly good against Lashley, too, even getting a win on Raw.
I’m confident this will be a great match. Kofi’s run as champion a couple of years ago proved he could compete in high-quality singles world title matches consistently, and Lashley is better than he’s ever been right now. The big man vs little man dynamic is obvious, and both men know how to play to that potential.
Bobby Lashley is 100% retaining, though. A second run with Kofi at the top would be incredible, but there’s just no way Lashley’s losing that title before Summerslam. Every story the rumour mill has about Summerslam involves plans where Lashley is champion, so I don’t think WWE is budging on him anytime soon.
Rhea Ripley(c) vs Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
After the bizarre and terrible ending to their match at Hell In A Cell, I’ve not been particularly interesting in this rematch. I really only care about the result.
The build’s been ok, but nothing particularly special. Charlotte & Rhea have been going back and forth since just after Mania now, so we’re running out of directions for the story to go. They’re also taking Rhea’s character in a weird direction. They want her to be heel, but they’re putting her up against Charlotte, who is even more of a heel, so it’s not going to work. I’m sure the match will be good. Both these women are at the top of their in-ring game. It’s just all a bit heatless at this point.
As for the result, it’s a hard one to pick. It’s Charlotte, so her winning is always a possibility; it’s just a matter of what you think the Summerslam plans are. Becky Lynch is definitely going to be fighting for one of the women’s titles; it’s just a matter of which one. If she’s going for the Raw title, Rhea is almost certainly retaining here because no one wants to see Becky vs Charlotte for the 100th time.
However, I actually think Becky is going to return to Smackdown and challenge Bianca. This is partly because, after Bayley’s injury & Sasha’s absence, the main-event scene of the Smackdown women’s division is pitifully shallow. It is also partly because that’s where Rollins is, and WWE (rightfully) like to keep couples together on the road.
It’s really a coin flip in my head, so I’m going with Rhea Ripley to retain because it’s what I want.
Roman Reigns(c) vs Edge (Universal Championship)
As much as I was thrilled when Daniel Bryan got added to the Wrestlemania main event, I was a little disappointed we wouldn’t see the singles match between Reigns & Edge instead. Thankfully, WWE knew there was still money there.
Edge came back and kept all that fire he had in the Wrestlemania build. The added wrinkle of the drama between The Usos has given this build a different feeling to the Wrestlemania one, though. Reigns has very much settled into his groove for this character, and we know what to expect from him, which allows his opponents to consistently play off it to great effect.
The last few PPVs have shown that Reigns’ title matches will always get as much time as they need, so I’m really looking forward to seeing these styles collide. Roman hits hard and fast, while Edge is notoriously more wily and opportunistic. I think a lot of great storytelling will come from Edge picking his spots and creating opportunities for himself.
Roman Reigns is winning, though. Unless something monumentally unforeseen happens, there is no way Reigns is losing that title any time this year. In fact, assuming WWE can get Reigns vs Rock for next year’s Wrestlemania, I wouldn’t expect to see Reigns drop that title before 2022’s Summerslam.
Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match
The booking surrounding this match has been bizarre. Raw sorted out all four of their participants the week after Hell In A Cell, but Smackdown has been drip-feeding them. They also conspicuously left the final spot open, only to suddenly announce it would be Tamina on Twitter.
The last-minute nature of it all very much feels like some sort of plans have fallen through, especially considering fans were speculating that people like Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch or even Sonya Deville could fill that final spot.
Regardless, here are each competitor’s chances.
Natalya & Tamina – Lumping these two together because the reason they won’t win is the same, they’re the Women’s Tag Champs. I know that just a year ago, those champions were also singles champions, but Natalya & Tamina are not in the same position that Bayley & Sasha were this time last year.
Zelina Vega – A surprising return, especially considering what her husband’s currently up to, but a welcome one. Hopefully, on this run, WWE will fully treat Vega as a wrestler and not as a manager who sometimes gets in the mix with other women. Vega would be the most interesting choice to win, in my opinion, but I don’t see it happening.
Asuka – Asuka’s run as Raw Women’s Champion last year was great when it was allowed to be. Unfortunately, the lasting impression of that reign was how badly she was treated in the latter half of it. I don’t think WWE have any intention of putting her back in the title picture anytime soon, and she’ll probably move to Smackdown in the draft, so she’s not getting the briefcase.
Nikki Cross – I’m not really sure what this new character of Nikki’s is supposed to be. From what I’ve seen, it looks like she’s the one who came up with it and is enjoying doing it, so good for her; I just don’t quite get it yet. Of course, if it gets her featured on TV more often, then I’m all for it; I think she’s great. I think she has a very small chance to win this briefcase, but I’m not optimistic.
Naomi – Again, I think her chances are slim, but not zero to win. She’s been on the back burner for a long while, but people react to Naomi when given the opportunity. I could easily see WWE wanting to put her back in the spotlight with this briefcase, and I’d be all for it too.
Liv Morgan – Normally, I’d discard Morgan as someone with no chance, but on Smackdown, she actually has been making some waves in her story with Sonya Deville. It would be awesome to see it go somewhere, but I can’t really convince myself it will. I certainly hope it does because, as I’ve said, Smackdown is in desperate need of more top talent in the women’s division; I’m just unsure.
Alexa Bliss– On the surface, Bliss seems like the only legitimate pick, but I’m not so sure. I think Bliss will get a women’s title match at Summerslam (assuming Becky goes to Smackdown, as I have previously predicted), but I don’t think she needs the briefcase to get there. She’s been slowly building since Wrestlemania, and even if her stuff is just a poor man’s Bray Wyatt, it’s more interesting than Charlotte going after the title for generic reasons.
This is a really tough pick because the field is so open, and I’m not behind the seemingly obvious choice. I’m going to go with the only person with a solid story going into this match and pick Liv Morgan.
Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match
What an incredible lineup this is. I’ve really got nothing more to say, this is eight of the best out there right now, and we could be in for one hell of a match when they all get together in the ring. It’s made it a very tough match to call too.
Ricochet & John Morrison – The “no chance” club, as I like to call them. They’ll no doubt both get some great spots, and the rivalry they’ve built for themselves has been fantastic. The Falls Count Anywhere match on Raw was a great watch and showcased both men to their fullest. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re going to get even close to winning this thing. The only way I could see Morrison winning is to further drive the wedge between him & Miz.
Drew McIntyre – Normally, I rank these in order of how much chance I think they have, but honestly, all six of these remaining guys have an equal chance as far as I’m concerned. Drew has only just got out of the WWE title scene, and I don’t see him going back into it anytime soon. He’s not even allowed to challenge Lashley anymore, so I see little point in giving him the briefcase.
Riddle – He’s got the tag team with Orton waiting in the wings, which will be a good story whichever way they go. Personally, I hope they challenge for the tag titles at Summerslam, but Riddle winning the briefcase and then feuding with Orton would be a good way to push him to the top as fast as possible. Like almost everyone in this match, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he won.
Shinsuke Nakamura – It looked like he was going to receive a substantial push at the start of the year, but it ended up going to Cesaro instead, so maybe Money in the Bank would be a way to make that up to him. He’s been on quite the hot streak recently, and it’s put him in the forefront of people’s minds in regards to this match. I just can’t quite see it.
Seth Rollins – This top three is so hard to pick between. Ultimately, what’s made me move away from Rollins is that I think he’s going to stay on Smackdown after the shakeup. As I’ve said, Roman is not losing that title anytime soon, so having a Smackdown guy win it is pointless. Whoever wins it will end up on Raw after the shakeup, which I think both of these next two guys will do.
Big E – The man who seems to be the sentimental favourite to many (myself included) Big E’s time in the spotlight feels like it’s so very close. I think a switch to Raw and a New Day reunion is in the works for the shakeup, and he would be arguably the perfect candidate to eventually take the title from Lashley. There’s a really compelling argument to be made here.
Kevin Owens – Like Big E, I feel pretty confident that Owens is switching to Raw soon. He’s done all there is for him to do on Smackdown. He wrapped up his feud with Sami Zayn, feuded with Roman at the start of the year and has been everywhere in between. There’s nothing left for him to do on the blue brand. His face run is absolutely deserving to be in the world title picture, and Lashley vs Owens is a nice, fresh matchup, which Raw is desperately lacking. On top of that, Money In The Bank has always felt like a gimmick that’d suit Kevin Owens perfectly.
This is such a tough choice. There are six viable candidates, and I could honestly be talked around to the other two as well if someone conjured a compelling enough argument. This is going to be one hell of a match where I will be on the edge of my seat.
I want it to be Big E, but I think it’ll be Kevin Owens.
Man, I’m excited.
Thanks for reading! I’ve been a lot less active on here lately because I’ve been writing for Game Rant! Check out my stuff here: https://gamerant.com/author/ryan-woodrow/
Hell In A Cell is just around the corner, and…I’ll be honest, I’m not very excited. Smackdown has been pretty consistently great week-to-week, but all of their matches on this show are rematches, so it’s not that interesting. Raw, meanwhile, has been terrible. With the possible exception of the celebrity guest host era, I can’t think of another point in time where Raw has been this consistently bad on a week-to-week basis. I hate to use the word “unwatchable”, but when even the wrestling YouTubers – who make a living off of watching & reviewing Raw – are like “fuck this, I don’t wanna watch it anymore”, something is clearly dire.
All told, there is only one match on this card that we haven’t seen before. That is the clearest sign ever that WWE is creatively bankrupt right now. However, their Pay-Per-View output has been pretty consistently good so far this year, even if the TV product isn’t up to scratch, so maybe this will be surprisingly good.
Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
Why though?
Surely an Intercontinental Championship with one or both of these guys would’ve been better than them going one on one for…nothing? It’s not even for the number one contender ship. Don’t get me wrong, it’s Owens vs Zayn, so it’s not going too bad. I’m just not entirely sure what the point is. When Reigns vs Mysterio got bumped to Smackdown, and this is what they replace it with, it seems like a hilariously stupid decision.
As I said, Owens & Zayn always put on great PPV matches, but I would’ve preferred to see an original match over this one, preferably for the IC title, since that seldom gets onto PPVs these days.
I don’t really know who’s going to win, but it probably doesn’t matter. I want to say Zayn because Owens won at Wrestlemania, and if there’s one thing WWE loves more than endless rematches, it’s giving all of those rematches 50/50 booking. However, Owens is probably next in line to challenge Crews for the IC title one-on-one, so he seems like the better choice. It’s a coin flip, but I’m going with Kevin Owens.
Alexa Bliss vs Shayna Baszler
Two – Three years ago, I would’ve been very excited about this match. Alexa Bliss has always been better in the ring than people give her credit for, and I am still firm in my belief that Shayna Baszler is the best of the best when it comes to women’s wrestlers in WWE. Seeing these two clash would’ve been a sight to behold in 2018/19.
Unfortunately, the story building to this match has been FUCKING AWFUL.
First of all, Baszler gets thoroughly manipulated by Nia Jax in their “frenemies” relationship to look like a chump. She then loses to Reginald of all people because God is dead, and Vince McMahon killed him. Then there was that Raw segment where Lily…did some spooky things while Shayna was in the room. It was WWE trying to do Bray Wyatt’s stuff without any of Bray’s creative genius that made it work.
Alexa Bliss is going to win, and I hate it. I hate that Shayna Baszler has been relegated to the first stepping stone on Bliss’ path to the title.
Cesaro vs Seth Rollins
Out of all the rematches on this show, I think this is the best-built one.
Rollins’ attack on Cesaro at the end of his Backlash match against Reigns was a brilliant way to reignite the feud, and the build week-to-week on Smackdown has been pretty good. Rollins feels like he’s a revitalised version of his messiah character that was getting a tad stale, and Cesaro has had a meaningful way to continue his momentum from the Roman Reigns feud.
Additionally, it will be a fantastic match. Cesaro & Rollins put on a great showcase at Wrestlemania, and after Cesaro put on a blinder against Reigns last month, I think this match might get more time than the Wrestlemania match and be even better. Even if it is a rematch, I’m going to get my enjoyment out of it somehow.
This is another one where picking the winner is tough. Cesaro could do with a win after losing to Reigns. However, he’s definitively beat Rollins twice over the past couple of months. This makes me think Rollins will get the win because otherwise, what was the point in doing this again? Additionally, I have a feeling that Rollins is going to be going after the Universal title soon, or possibly even winning Money in the Bank, so a win would solidify his rise after a string of losses.
It’s a bit of a coin flip, but I’m going to go with Seth Rollins.
Rhea Ripley(c) vs Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
I feel I should be more excited for this than I am.
The feud this month took all of the fun intensity between the women from their Backlash feud and just threw it all away. Instead, the story has centred around both women failing to beat Nikki Cross over and over, which is so stupid. It doesn’t make anyone look good. Cross constantly gets treated like a pushover, making her wins feel flukey and meaningless, while Flair & Ripley keep losing someone they see as beneath their level.
I am, and I’m not excited about this match. On one level, it’s Rhea vs Charlotte. They had Wrestlemania’s best non-cinematic match in 2020 and were involved in two of WWE’s best matches last year. On the flip side, this is a relatively heatless story, and I can’t get past the fear that WWE will end Ripley’s title reign prematurely just because…it’s Charlotte.
I really don’t know who to call for the winner. I would hope WWE have shown they’re committed to Ripley as champion, but when Charlotte’s involved, you can really never tell. Even if Ripley does win, I doubt it’ll be clean. Bliss will probably cost Charlotte, or, hell, maybe Becky Lynch will show up. There are too many moving parts, so I’m going to play it safe and say Rhea Ripley will retain.
Bianca Belair(c) vs Bayley (Smackdown Women’s Championship) (Hell In A Cell)
Again, this is a good feud that I’ve just seen enough of.
At least this one has the Hell In A Cell stipulation for some intrigue, but it’s not exactly a game-changer. The story beat of Bianca using her hair was going to come up eventually, and Bayley was the right character to be able to run with it and make it compelling. Bianca has played a largely reactionary role in this feud, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as Bayley has slowly become more unhinged and unpredictable.
Is this feud intense enough to justify using Hell In A Cell? Not really, but it’s better than most feuds that just get shoved inside when this show comes around. I’m sure it’ll be a good match, though. I enjoyed what they did at Backlash, and as long as this match properly builds on that, it’ll be good. We’ve yet to see how Bianca handles a hardcore environment, but Bayley is well-versed in this type of match, so they should be able to put together something great.
Bianca Belair is absolutely retaining. There’s nothing to be gained in Bayley winning the title back, and Bianca can continue her first run at the top in glorious fashion.
Bobby Lashley(c) vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Championship) (Hell In A Cell)
I’m so done with this.
What amazes me is that this is actually only the second time these two have gone one on one this year, and yet it still feels like it’s dragged on forever and has gotten really boring. Lashley’s general characterisation has been great, but creative has failed to utilise that characterisation to build an interesting feud or tell any kind of good story with it. Drew is still Drew, and he’s still great, but he’s lost so much fire since Wrestlemania, and I can’t summon the passion to get behind him like I could last year because of it.
I’m honestly not expecting much from this match. If they massively ramp up the brutality and make them really try to destroy each other, it could be good, but I don’t think it’ll be that. I think it’ll be the standard, plodding Hell In A Cell match where they just lumber about setting up spots for 5 minutes for 5 seconds of underwhelming payoff.
I initially thought there might be some possibility Drew gets the title back, but there’s no way that’s happening. Not only have all the rumoured Summerslam plans we’ve been hearing about recently feature Lashley as champion but Drew actually pinned Lashley on Raw, and that seals his fate. Bobby Lashley is retaining, and there is no doubt in my mind about it.
It’s been a rather eventful couple of months for AEW since their last Pay-Per-View. Their arrangements with Impact & NJPW have clearly boosted all companies involved. Impact especially feels like it’s hotter than ever right now, and you’ve got to give AEW some credit for that.
As much as it’s all been pretty cool, I haven’t been keeping up with Dynamite on a week-to-week basis as much as I would’ve liked recently. In fact, I’ve watched more episodes of NXT UK over the past month than Dynamite. That said, I’ve done my best to catch up with all the goings-on and make my predictions for Double or Nothing, which looks to be a brilliant show!
Serena Deeb(c) vs Riho (NWA World Women’s Championship) (Buy-In)
AEW’s women’s division is slowly improving. Not enough to get more than one match on a Pay-Per-View, but one step at a time, I guess.
I don’t think there’s a great deal to be said about this match. Both women are fantastic wrestlers who will no doubt be involved in the title scene sooner rather than later, but for now, they’ve just got to have matches to stick in our minds.
I’ll go with Serena Deeb to retain. As great as Riho is, the NWA Women’s title doesn’t seem like a good fit for her, and with NWA running their own shows again, I doubt they’d want the title to change hands on an AEW pre-show.
Hangman Adam Page vs Brian Cage
Page’s trajectory continues to be an interesting one. I still think he’s on track to eventually be the person to dethrone Omega as champion, but he’s definitely taking the long road to get there.
Cage is a great competitor, and I’m glad AEW are still finding good spots for him. He’s one of those people that I feel could fade from TV at any moment without anyone really noticing. That sounded like more of an insult than I meant it to be, but the point still stands. His win over Page was a surprising upset, as I did not expect Page to be taking any major losses this year, but it worked out well in terms of this story.
Page should hopefully come into this one with a lot of fire in this one, and the story can play with the mistakes he made in their first match together. I think Hangman Adam Page is going to get his win back here. As I’ve said, he needs to be on an upward trajectory now, and while another loss to Cage wouldn’t be the worst thing, a win seems like a better outcome.
Cody Rhodes vs Antony Ogogo
Sod this. Sod this so much.
I know the whole feud hasn’t been about the “yay America” thing, but its presence has really overwhelmed the feud. The whole schtick feels so outdated by this point, and I don’t see what this feud has to gain from it. Rhodes is an expert at creating emotional matches while facing down bigger opponents, playing on that would’ve been easy to create a compelling story.
I get it, the pro-USA stuff does good for the live crowds, but this is a company with an international audience. At best, people in non-USA countries have no reason to care, and at worst, they feel directly alienated because they’re being told that their country is the bad country. It doesn’t matter what country it is; I think the overall negative reception to Cody’s recent promos should be proof enough that it just doesn’t work anymore.
If this were WWE, I wouldn’t think twice about the pro-America person getting the win, but I’d like to think AEW would be more willing to take the risk of having Ogogo win. That said, now Cody’s using Dusty’s “American Dream” moniker, I don’t see him losing. Cody Rhodes winning will be a nice moment for the live crowd at the very least.
Sting & Darby Allin vs Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page
I can’t help but feel like this partnership with Sting is why Allin lost the TNT title. Not to say his run with Sting hasn’t been good, I just think he should’ve been given more of a chance to flourish on his own as a singles competitor with the title. He still defended it plenty, but it always felt secondary to whatever he was doing with Sting.
On top of that, is this really the best use of Sting? Sure, putting him in a singles match might be a terrible idea this late in his career, but what is anyone getting out of Sting feuding with Sky & Page, two (admittedly great) mid-card talents who have little to do with each other? It’s nice that the two of them are getting featured on Pay-Per-View, but losing to Sting & Allin can’t be a good look, right?
Or maybe they’ll win? It’d certainly be a nice surprise if they did. I’d originally considered picking Sky & Page for the reasons I said above. There’s nothing to gain from them losing, so surely they should win? Then I thought about it some more and realised Allin’s coming off a big loss to Miro, so he should probably get some heat back, and this is Sting’s first match in front of a full live crowd since his AEW debut, so it’ll probably be Sting & Darby Allin with the win.
Casino Battle Royale (Winner Gets A Future AEW World Championship Match)
It’s battle royale time!
I’m not too convinced the Casino Battle Royale is that great of a format. It’s more interesting than a straight-up battle royal, I’ll admit. However, with the entrants coming in groups of five, it makes everyone feel less indistinguishable and like they all get less of a chance to shine, other than the Joker. All-in-all, it just feels like a kinda cheap Royal Rumble, which is such a top-tier piece of booking perfection, it’s better to not even try and replicate it.
Looking at the lineup we’ve got set out before us, I can’t see many viable contenders for the win. Matt Hardy is a possibility, that would make a nice dynamic with Omega. You should never count Penta out of the running. There’s a possibility Andrade shows up to put a spanner in things, but picking someone who’s not even in the match is generally a poor decision for predictions.
In the end, I’m going to go with who everyone else seems to be going with, and that’s Christian Cage. His story with Omega would likely be really good and would parallel Edge’s Wrestlemania story too (probably ending in the same crushing loss).
The Pinnacle vs The Inner Circle (Stadium Stampede) (If The Inner Circle Lose, They Must Disband)
What a crazy couple of month’s it’s been. At the start of the year, everyone was picking all kinds of crazy directions the Jericho/MJF story could go in. Would MJF depose Jericho as the group’s leader? Would the tension between Sammy & MJF tear the group apart? As always, MJF went with option C and tore the whole thing to shreds, starting a brand new faction that has been looking very strong ever since its formation.
I didn’t expect to see another Stadium Stampede match, but given the success of the first one, I don’t blame them for trying. It’ll be interesting to see how this will mesh with the live crowd. As entertaining as it is, I doubt they’ll have them staring at a screen for half an hour. Whatever happens, my expectations are high.
Picking a winner is a bit difficult. The Pinnacle got the win at Blood & Guts, so it wouldn’t hurt them to take a loss in this one. However, the stipulation of The Inner Circle breaking up if they lose has pushed me the other way. The Inner Circle has been around almost since the very beginning of AEW, we’ve seen all of those guys in the same formula for almost two years now. I think it’s probably time for everyone to move on. I know they have, for the most part, been great, but everyone involved is more than ready to break out on their own.
It’s a tough call because I could easily see this being a feel-good face victory, but I’m going with The Pinnacle.
Miro(c) vs Lance Archer (TNT Championship)
Wow. I mean, we all had a feeling that his partnership with Kip Sabian was holding Miro back, but who knew he’d rise so quickly after ditching him?
Miro’s TNT title win was one of those decisions that seemed shocking and unusual in the moment but actually makes a lot of sense the more I thought about it. Allin was too busy dealing with Sting to bother with that title, so let’s get it away from him and do something more interesting with it, like a big ol’ hoss fight.
Lance Archer is an incredible talent. Whenever he’s on-screen, his whole performance sets the atmosphere on fire, and I love that. Jake Roberts is the ultimate mouthpiece for the guy, and amazingly, he works as both a heel and face. When it comes to the meshing of in-ring styles, I think Archer will have no trouble clicking with Miro for a heavy-hitting encounter.
I’m a little conflicted on the winner, though. Normal wrestling logic would dictate that Miro should retain since he’s only just won the title. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that Miro’s title win might just be to get the belt on Archer without having to do a face vs face fight. It would be a shame, but I’d also have no complaints as I love Archer right now. You could even create a scenario where the two trade the belt once or twice just so Miro isn’t left in the dust. It’s a risky pick, but I’m going with Lance Archer to get the title.
The Young Bucks(c) vs Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (AEW World Tag Team Championships)
The Young Bucks’ trajectory as of late has been interesting. All the weird non-drama of what may or may not be going on backstage aside, their heel turn has been weirdly understated. They aligned themselves with Omega, which isn’t even remotely a surprise, but given Omega was already doing really well with Gallows & Anderson, they felt a bit like secondary henchmen, which they never should.
Still, this feud with Moxley & Kingston has been pretty good on the whole. Moxley & Kingston have felt like kindred spirits ever since they first started feuding. Their chemistry and history was clear from the moment they appeared on screen together. Putting them in as a tag team is the perfect use of both men now Moxley is out of the title scene. It’s true that, if this were WWE, I’d criticise such a decision, but the difference is that I know AEW treats their tag division with some respect.
I could honestly see this one going either way. It may just be me, but it still feels like The Young Bucks have only just won the titles, even though they’ve held them for over 6 months, so I’m apprehensive to say they’ll lose. Then again, Moxley & Kingston are a really hot tag team at the moment, and a run with the titles would be a fantastic use of both men, so…flip a coin, I guess?
When in doubt, pick the champs to retain, so that’s what I’m doing. The Young Bucks win.
Hikaru Shida(c) vs Britt Baker (AEW Women’s World Championship)
At last, we reach the point that the AEW Women’s Division feels like it’s been inexorably sliding towards since AEW’s announcement.
That makes it sound like I think it’s a bad decision, but in actuality, I think Britt Baker as women’s champion is the very best option for the company. She’s been far and away the best character in the division since its inception and is one hell of a wrestler with some brilliant matches under her belt. Her Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa shot her popularity into the stratosphere too.
Shida’s title reign has been a bumpy one. When given the chance to shine, it has been one of the best parts of AEW programming, as her matches with Nyla Rose will attest. The problem is those opportunities have come few and far between. Thankfully, the women’s division is getting more expansive and treated better in AEW. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s absolutely heading in the right direction, and Britt Baker as champion is what it needs to get to where we all want it to be.
In case I hadn’t already made it obvious, I’m picking Britt Baker to win the title. It just has to happen.
Kenny Omega(c) vs Orange Cassidy vs Pac (AEW World Championship)
AEW has this amazing talent for giving us unexpected but brilliant world title feuds.
I did not see Orange Cassidy getting anywhere near the world title scene for a while. As great as he is, I’m not sure if people would’ve bought him in a singles feud for the title just yet. However, they went about it perfectly and carefully crafted a feud that has got him over as a main eventer better than any singles match could’ve.
First of all, him & Pac put on a great number 1 contender’s match on Dynamite. Putting Pac in the feud two gives things a great dynamic, as it allows Cassidy to be more of an exclamation point on the match than anything else. Pac vs Cassidy last year was easily one of Cassidy’s best ever matches, so pulling in that opponent specifically was a great choice.
That said, Kenny Omega is not losing that title anytime soon. His run as the belt collector with the AAA & Impact titles has been one of the most exciting stories in wrestling of late, and there’s no way he’s losing the AEW title before he loses both of the other titles first. That said, this match will put Cassidy in the position of the credible main-eventer he should be, which is all I think anyone really wanted out of this feud. So good job.
There’s a Pay Per View this weekend? Oh, ok, I’ll do predictions then.
Wrestlemania already feels like it was aeons ago, but this show still managed to sneak up on me. It’s not been a particularly active month creatively for WWE, and even this show is still trying to cling to the Wrestlemania name. There’s some cool stuff lined up for this show, though, so it could end up being one of the more underrated ones of the year.
Damian Priest vs The Miz (Lumberjack Match)
For a man who was WWE Champion just three months ago, The Miz is still being booked like a complete chump.
I really have no idea why this feud is still ongoing. Well, I do, it’s because they don’t have any other ideas for Damian Priest, but that’s beside the point. At least if Bad Bunny was still involved, I’d understand having the celebrity appeal, but we’re done with that now; Priest isn’t going to gain anything by beating The Miz again.
This match should be alright, but the Lumberjack stipulation could overbear on it a little. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of shenanigans involving said Lumberjacks. I just hope this isn’t some lame excuse to give The Miz a cheap win. Just let Priest get the win here and wash his hands of The Miz. I’m pretty sure John Morrison’s going to turn on The Miz soon too, so hopefully, that goes somewhere.
It might be a stupid heel win, but I’m going with Damian Priest to get the win on this one. He’s still a fresh face, this is the first PPV singles match, so he has to win.
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode(c) vs Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio (Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
Smackdown has tag titles? Who knew.
As much as I mock, Smackdown does have the makings of a great tag scene right now. Ziggler & Roode are pretty good heels, even if they don’t have the best chemistry. The Street Profits are extraordinary, Otis & Gable have good chemistry, the Mysterios are tremendous, and The Usos are back in action now.
Speaking of The Usos, word on the dirt sheets is that they’re going to get together and beat a face tag team for the titles, so I don’t fancy Ziggler & Roode’s chances in this one. Even without that, I doubt they’d hold onto the titles here anyway. Their heel run has been fine, but I think it’s run its course. The Mysteries have a more fresh and exciting feel to them, and I’d like to see Dominik start to get some credible accolades under his belt.
Even if they are only going to hold the titles briefly, I think Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio are coming out of this one as the champions, in a feel-good family moment.
Bianca Belair(c) vs Bayley (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
Simply put, Bayley is the perfect first opponent for Bianca.
Even putting how incredible she’s been since turning heel aside, Bayley’s character is so perfectly opposed to Bianca in every way, it feels like they’re destined to be eternal rivals. Everything that went on between them in the build-up to the Royal Rumble was pure gold, and now they’re back at it again, and it’s a joy to watch.
Bianca’s match with Sasha at Mania was one of the best of the year so far, and I’m expecting a similar level of performance from these two, provided it’s not poorly booked. The matches they’ve had here and there on Smackdown were great, so giving it 15-20 minutes on PPV is all you need to satisfy me here.
Bianca Belair will win because she absolutely should. Her crowning as champion was the emotional high-point of Wrestlemania, and it would be a travesty to see it snatched away so suddenly. Sasha may get involved to screw with this match, but I’m hoping any such shenanigans happen after the match, not during.
Bobby Lashley(c) vs Drew McIntyre vs Braun Strowman (WWE Championship)
I’ve had pretty mixed feelings about this whole feud.
I think Lashley has been a fantastic champion so far. He’s got a presence and intensity like something we haven’t see in a long time, and MVP as his mouthpiece makes him this brilliant total package. Drew’s been ok as a challenger, but I feel like he’s lacked a lot of fire since losing at Wrestlemania, the intense spark that he had while chasing Lesnar for the title isn’t there this time. Admittedly, creative isn’t giving him much to grab onto, but what can you do?
Strowman’s presence is fine. I didn’t want to see Drew & Lashley go one on one again anyway, so why not throw in a third hoss to this contest of big beefy boys. As much as the build hasn’t been super interesting, I think this could be a killer match if all three men are allowed to go wild. They could really try to destroy each other, and it’d be tonnes of fun to watch.
Picking a winner is tricky. Some people have said Strowman’s just there so Drew doesn’t have to pass out again, while others have said it’s so Lashley can lose the title without being pinned. I think one of them is correct, but I don’t know which one. I expected Drew to win the title back at Mania, and when he didn’t, it signified to me that WWE was choosing to run with Lashley for the time being. As such, I don’t see why they’d back down on that plan now. So I’m going with Bobby Lashley to retain the title.
Rhea Ripley(c) vs Asuka vs Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
The weird circumstances surrounding Charlotte’s lack of participation at Mania seems to have brought the best out of the situation. I couldn’t be more thrilled at Rhea getting to hold the title. I know people are upset that Asuka’s not being treated so great, but she was champion for almost a year, she can go on the back burner for a bit, and it won’t hurt.
Charlotte, meanwhile, has reverted back to her heel persona, which is where she should always be. She was a face so briefly, but even in that short time, it was clear that it wasn’t working. People just aren’t willing to cheer her, and she performs so well as a heel that her face work comes off as disingenuous. Regardless, this is a triple threat match between three of the best women’s wrestlers active in WWE right now, so I’m excited to see what’s they can do when all put together.
I don’t know where the result is going through. Rhea should win, that much is obvious. She’s only had the title for a month, and it would totally undercut her Wrestlemania moment. That said, the momentum is 100% in Charlotte’s corner. She has been the driving force of this story, and it would almost seem weird for WWE to go so hard on this angle and not put the title on Charlotte. On the flip side, there is the looming spectre of a Becky Lynch return, which could be a straightforward device to sideline Charlotte for a while without giving her the title.
At the end of the day, I’m going with Rhea Ripley because it would be a disaster for her title reign to end so soon, and I’m putting a little faith in WWE to do the right thing.
Roman Reigns(c) vs Cesaro (Universal Championship)
FINALLY.
It felt like we’d never see the day, but here we are; Cesaro is getting a one on one shot for a world title in WWE. Even though there’s no way he’s winning, it feels good to see. He’s been a force of nature since Wrestlemania too. His association with Daniel Bryan kept him in the backseat while boiling up for a while, and finishing out his feud with Seth Rollins was enjoyable to watch. Since he’s had his sights set fully on Roman, it feels like the Cesaro we’ve known was there this whole time can finally shine.
I have pretty high expectations of this match. I know there will be some Uso-based interferences (there always are), but there’s a lot these two guys can work with. Reigns always wrestles a powerful style, and Cesaro can absolutely match that while bringing in an extra dose of technicality. Cesaro should really be able to take Reigns to his limits, and that’s what will do him good in the long run.
As I’ve said, Roman Reigns is absolutely going to retain, but that’s ok. If Cesaro puts on the killer performance he’s capable of, he’ll have the momentum that’ll stop him from falling back into obscurity once this is all over.
And there you have it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Let me know what your predictions are, either in the comments below or on Twitter @SStyleSmark. Finally, make sure to come back here early next week for my review!
After what has managed to be both the shortest and longest year of all our lives, we’ve got ourselves another Wrestlemania to enjoy. The build this year has been a bit muted, in my opinion. There’s not that usual buzz that comes with Wrestlemania season. Is it because we had a Pay-Per-View less than a month ago? Who’s to say (it is).
Regardless, there is still plenty to be looking forward to on this show. All of the main event matches promise to be absolute barn-burners in their own way, and the undercard is full of matches with tonnes of potential. On top of that, we’re finally getting fans back in arenas! Whether or not you think it’s a good idea, the fact is, it’s going to do wonders for the atmosphere of this show. While Wrestlemania last year was still great, it felt like it had been taken down a peg by being stuffed into the Performance Centre. Not only did it make it look like an indie show, but it made it look & feel like every other show WWE had because they all had to be out of the PC. With the big stadium and all the fans, things are looking much better for the feel of this year’s show, and I’m looking forward to it.
Enough chatter, we’ve a lot of matches to pick.
Night 1
Lana & Naomi vs Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose vs The Riott Squad vs Natalya & Tamina vs Billie Kay & Carmella (Winners get a shot at the Women’s Tag Team Championships on Night 2) (Tag Team Turmoil)
The women’s tag team division has been in dire straight for a long time now. For the first few months of 2021, we’ve had champion & challenger combinations team up to face Nia & Shayna, and one of them even won the titles for a brief spell. WWE doesn’t care about their men’s tag divisions either, but at least they keep a couple of established teams lying around for situations like this. Here, we have one team with an established history but very little credibility and three teams that have basically just formed. Sure, they’ve been vaguely aligned with each other for a while, but they’re not over as tag teams.
I’m expecting this match to be given less time than it should, which does undermind the point I’m about to make a little bit. However, I’m hoping this match serves as a good show-case for the woefully underutilized & underpromoted women’s mid-card. WWE have such a strong & deep women’s division if only they’d try and use it properly. I’m praying that at least one wrestler comes out of this with people thinking, “wow, she’s really good, she deserves more”. The truth is, all of them deserve more, but WWE just isn’t willing to give it to them.
Due to so little build or attention being paid to these teams, it’s pretty up in the air who will win. The title match on night 2 won’t be heel vs heel so that rules out Natalya & Tamina right away. Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose haven’t done anything of note since about this time last year, so I’m casting them aside too. This leaves us with the one established team, who has been doing ok recently, even if they are still under pushed; or the rag-tag team of Naomi, who has been underappreciated her whole career and Lana, who is still a crap wrestler, but at least has some story with Nia & Baszler.
I really don’t know between those last two, so I’m going to go with what I want and say The Riott Squad will get the win.
Cesaro vs Seth Rollins
A few months ago, we were all sure Cesaro was getting this big push, and he’d get to fight Reigns. That didn’t happen, but I’m still thrilled that he’s getting this opportunity.
I’ve been a bit critical of Rollins’ character, and I stand by what I said about his current direction feel stagnant. However, I’ve come to appreciate how well he’s been performing it in recent weeks. The segment on Smackdown last week where Graves oversaw a confrontation between them was excellent, and both men really fed off each other in a way that only wrestlers who know each other as well as these two do can. Cesaro has got to feel like a legitimate contender for the first time in forever. While I’m pessimistic that this will lead to anything significant for him, it gives me hope that he still has somewhat of a bright future ahead of him.
When it comes to in-ring action, you surely don’t need me to tell you how great this has the potential to be. Rollins is one of the best pure-wrestlers in WWE right now (and has been for a long time), and it should never be understated just how bloody brilliant Cesaro is when he’s let loose. I’m expecting a technical affair with plenty of fast, flying action and exciting counters. It feels like the perfect show opener, let two incredible wrestlers do whatever they want for 15 minutes to start things off with a bang.
I’m pretty torn on picking a winner too. Cesaro getting one over on Rollins seems like what would make the most sense to the story. On top of that, Cesaro is seeing a new rise and having him win his first-ever singles match at Wrestlemania would easily launch him forwards for whatever they want to do with him next. Unfortunately, I’m just not sure I have that kind of faith in WWE. They’ve almost pushed Cesaro so many times that I can’t bring myself to believe it’s going to happen. Rollins is the bigger star, and – with the exception of last year – he doesn’t tend to lose at Wrestlemania. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m picking Seth Rollins to get the win.
Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon (Steel Cage)
This is the one match across both nights that I don’t see any potential in at all. The story surrounding this match has been utter crap. I’ve complained about it already, but Strowman has been utterly destroyed over the past 12 months, and this is just putting the cherry on top of all the shit he’s been put through this year. We’ve got Shane, who I don’t to see wrestle, taking on an absolute monster of a man for reasons that are still unclear. That’s already bad, but when you throw on top the involvement of slime and report cards and all kinds of other stupid crap, I just don’t even slightly care about this match.
I’ve got no faith in the in-ring action either. I’m not a fan of Steel Cage matches at the best of times, which is far from the best of times. I’m expecting Shane to pull out all sorts of shenanigans and jump off of the cage at least twice. It’ll make for a nice still-shot, but that’s about it. Braun should absolutely wipe the floor with Shane, but he’s probably going to be made to look like an idiot like he has this whole feud.
This should be an easy pick, but I’m expecting the worse. Everything about wrestling logic says Braun should win, but Shane just wins matches when he has absolutely no right to. I can easily see WWE copying from a few years ago and having Strowman throw Shane from the top of the cage to the floor, meaning Shane wins on a technicality. I’m going to take the leap of faith, though and say WWE won’t fuck this up. A risky move, I know, but I’m picking Braun Strowman to win.
Bad Bunny & Damien Priest vs The Miz & John Morrison
Remember when The Miz was WWE Champion? That was a wild Monday.
I think the fact that I see more potential in this match than Strowman/Shane should say everything I need to on how much I’m not interested in that match. Looking at this one, it’s always hard to tell how good a celebrity match is going to be. Maybe they’ll be a Stephen Amell or Pet McAfee and do a really good job. Maybe they’ll be like pretty much every other celebrity that’s wrestled and be crap. At the very least, I definitely feel like Bad Bunny understands what he’s getting himself into, it’s clear he loves and respects pro-wrestling, and I can’t take that away from him.
The Miz as his choice of opponent isn’t very exciting, but it makes sense. From a character perspective, they’re pretty diametrically opposed, and from an in-ring perspective, there are few safer hands to guide Bad Bunny through the match. With Preist & Morrison able to get in the match, I’m expecting this to turn into a shenanigans-fest pretty quickly so Bad Bunny doesn’t have to do too much in the ring. As long as Bunny’s competent in the ring and there’s a couple of fun moments in there, I’ll be happy with this one.
Bad Bunny& Damien Priest is going to win for sure. The Miz has been booked like chump supreme for almost a year now, and there’s no way WWE will bring in a big celebrity like this and have them lose. On top of that, this is Priest’s first major PPV match, and he’s not going to lose. Giving him the celebrity rub like this hopefully means they’ve got big things in mind.
The New Day(c) vs AJ Styles & Omos (Raw Tag Team Championships)
Well, the tag titles may not be treated with that much respect these days, but at least the Raw ones made the show…
I’ve not been thrilled with the developments in the Raw tag division as of late. Styles & Omos teaming up is a good thing and puts some more star power into the division, but WWE just keeps breaking up great tag teams. I like the New Day, but I don’t care that they’re tag champions, they’ve been the titles ‘default’ setting for years now. They’ve only become 11-time tag champs because there’s no one else to hold the belts. The Hurt Business should’ve kept those titles, and it blows my mind that WWE decided breaking them up would be any kind of a good idea this soon.
Hopefully, this match will be good, it definitely has the potential to be. Kofi & Woods are as good as they always have been. While I’m tired of seeing them as champions, I’m not tired of watching them in the ring by a long stretch. Styles can still turn it on whenever he wants, so I’ve got absolutely no worries there. Omos is the only unknown factor here, but I’m going to choose to be optimistic. He’s been entertaining as Styles’ sidekick, with some surprisingly great comedic chops. He’s got a great look and carries himself like he knows how great he is, which I love. Will he be any good in the ring? Hard to say without seeing any of his work, but he’s going to be in there with a wrestler who should be able to bring the best out of him.
I’m going with AJ Styles & Omos to win because it’s by far the more interesting choice. This is Omos’ debut, and having him lose – even if it’s not his fault – wouldn’t be a good look. There’s the potential here to build a relationship similar to watch Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez currently have in NXT if they win the tag titles, and it’ll do wonders for Omos’ career.
Bobby Lashley(c) vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Championship)
Bobby Lashley turned into one of Raw’s best wrestlers, so gradually, I didn’t even notice until I became super hyped for his title win. He was thrown about for a couple years following his WWE return with nothing interesting – and also a cucking angle. Once he got together with MVP, the trajectory was only upwards. His run with the US title was really good, and The Hurt Business became far and away the best part of Raw week-on-week. Why WWE decided to break up the faction, I still don’t know, I think it was a terrible decision, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I’m in love with Lashley right now, and I’m very excited for this match.
Drew has had exactly the kind of year we hoped he’d have when he won the WWE title. He held it for almost the whole year and decisively beat everyone who was put in his path. This past year has solidified Drew as a top guy in WWE for the rest of his career, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the guy. His style should mesh perfectly with Lashley’s for a hoss fight to end all hoss fights. I’m expecting a lot of high-impact stuff, with a slower pace but meaningful action that draws you in right until the close.
I think the winner is a little up in the air too. Conventional wisdom says Drew is going to win back the title. It seems like WWE want Drew to get the moment he didn’t get last year, winning the WWE title in front of a stadium of cheering fans. I could see Lashley continuing his run, though, and I wouldn’t be against that. As I said, I’m enjoying his work like never before, and it would be a shame if he only got to have a short title run. I’ve got to go with what my heart wants, though, and my heart wants Drew McIntyre to get that title back and spend at least another few months continuing the fantastic run he’s been on for almost a year now.
Sasha Banks(c) vs Bianca Belair (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
I really hope this is the main event of night 1 because these women deserve it.
Bianca Belair’s rise has been such a joy to watch. I don’t just mean from the Royal Rumble either, I mean from her time in NXT, where she was seen as someone who couldn’t hang in the world’s best women’s division. She’s one of those wrestler where I can so clearly see the monumental improvement she’s gone through in her career so far, to the point where she is absolutely worthy of being at the very top of the wrestling world. Her character as a heel was a joy to watch, but once she turned face, she somehow managed to get even better. Her cocky attitude switched to one of the most hard-working and genuine wrestlers on the face of the planet, and I’m so endeared to her. Her Royal Rumble victory has been the highlight of 2021 so far in WWE, and I’m extremely excited for this match.
Sasha, meanwhile, has spent the six months having the best title reign of her career. Similarly, a fantastic heel character gave way to a somehow even better face character, having a feud of the year with Bayley and defending her title against all comers in good-to-great matches. There are no doubts in my mind that this will be a great match, one worthy of a Wrestlemania main-event spot. Banks has been an incredible technical wrestler for years, and her in-ring storytelling ability is second to none. Belair, meanwhile, is exactly what she says she is, the EST of just about everything.
Bianca Belair has to win this, she just has to. I wouldn’t be totally shocked to see Sasha retain since Belair is still a relatively fresh face, but this story would be so perfect if it ended with Belair on top. WWE has put such an emphasis on how hard she’s worked to get to where she is, and everyone is behind her on this one. I’m praying for the feel-good moment of the weekend when Belair holds that title aloft, crowned as the star she will always be from now on.
Night 2
Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
When you’re looking at ol’ reliable matches in WWE, few are as evergreen as this one has been.
As Owens said on Twitter, these two have fought hundreds of times across their career, so for it to finally happen at Wrestlemania just feels right. They haven’t played up the history so much this time, but that’s mostly because they don’t really need to. Zayn’s conspiracy theory stuff has been a really strong story for a long time now, and when you’ve got something as strong as that at the core of your narrative, you don’t need to pull in the other elements. Owens is continuing his fantastic run as a face. I’ve gushed about him several times before already, but there’s something about the genuine way in which he cuts promos and interacts with Sami that makes him one of the best of this era.
This is going to be great in the ring, of course, it is. These two have chemistry like few others because they’ve been inexorably linked in their careers, like you wouldn’t believe. In terms of their WWE history, at least, this has a bit more of a fresh twist to it, as this is the first time the heel/face roles are this way around. I think it’ll be interesting to see how Owens makes himself look more like an underdog against a guy he’s been fairly dominant over in WWE up until this point. I’m sure they’ll nail it though, I have all the faith in the world.
As for a winner, Logan Paul being an outside factor (I’m not going into it) does throw a bit of uncertainty in there. Normally I’d say they wouldn’t have a celebrity align with the heel, but Logan Paul is pretty hated by the mainstream audience, so it wouldn’t be unjustified here. Ultimately, I think Kevin Owens has to come out the winner. While his work in his feud with Reigns was excellent, he did lose A LOT, and you can’t be keeping that up forever. Giving him a win over Zayn will give him a new launching point for whatever endeavours he pursues after Mania. It’ll be a shame to hand Zayn another loss, but his character is pretty resilient against losses right now. I know eventually Vince will lose interest in it, and that’ll be that, but let’s make the most of it while we have it.
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler(c) vs Night 1 Tag Team Turmoil Match Winners (Women’s Tag Team Championships)
I’ve already said everything I wanna say about the women’s tag division, so let’s just get down to business.
Will this be a good match? If it gets time, then hopefully yes, but much like with the night 1 match, I’m not confident it will. Each team will bring a different dynamic to the match, so things could be very different depending on who wins on night 1, but as I said, that won’t make much difference if they get less than 10 minutes.
I’m going with Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler to retain, whether it’s the Riott Squad or one of the other teams who challenges. Jax & Baszler are the only properly established team on the roster right now, and flipping the titles onto one of the other teams would only lead to the belts being treated even worse than they currently are. That’s not how it should be, and I wish I could be more optimistic in my hopes here, but WWE has given me absolutely no reason to believe they have any interest in properly investing in this division any time soon.
Riddle(c) vs Sheamus (United States Championship)
I’m really not sure what to think of this one.
At the moment, I’m pretty firm in that I like both wrestlers. I’ve had plenty of ups and downs with Sheamus, but since his feud with Drew McIntyre, he’s been really entertaining both in and out of the ring. Riddle, meanwhile, he’s good in the ring, but outside of it? I’m just not liking any of it. WWE is forcing this outdated style of stoner comedy onto him that I just don’t find funny. Tom Riddle’s credit, he’s been performing it about as well as it can be performed, but they’ve lost the intense side to Riddle’s character that made me love him so much in NXT. That’s not saying he has to be all serious, of course, one of the best things about Riddle is that he can mesh the serious & the silly to great effect, that’s why his tag team with Pete Dunne got over. I just think that what they’re doing now is uncreative and unfunny.
I’m looking forward to this match from an in-ring perspective, though. Riddle’s style meshes technical manoeuvring with hard striking in a way that I find fascinating, and I’m hoping that’ll mesh really well with Sheamus’ brutish style. I think it’ll be really fun to watch if they can establish a firm balance between a technical and hard-hitting style that plays to both guys’ strengths.
My gut says Riddle, so I’m going to go with it, but I’m not super sure about myself. Sheamus has been a feature player on Raw since the start of the year, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a US title reign was the way WWE went to keep that going. The argument against that is that A) It’s very similar to what Lashley did with the title not very long ago, and B) Riddle is the younger star, and it’s his first Mania, so he should win. As I said, I’m going with my gut and picking the champion to retain, but this is one of the ones I’m most unsure of.
Big E(c) vs Apollo Crews (Intercontinental Championship) (Nigerian Drum Fight)
Weird name aside, I’m really looking forward to this one.
The match between these two at Fastlane showed us a little hint of what they can do, and I wrote in my review of that show that I wanted to see more, and I’m thrilled that more is what we’re getting. Big E has found such a wonderful balance between his eccentric and intense character modes since becoming Intercontinental Champion, and it’s just confirmed what I, and many others, have been saying for ages now, which is that Big E is a future top guy in WWE. Apollo Crews, meanwhile, has been doing the best work of his whole career. His new character direction has made me sit up and pay attention to what he has to say every week, which I couldn’t say at all this time last year.
As for what I want in the ring, I want the stuff we got a hint of at Fastlane but like…more. More intensity, more hard-hitting offence with a fast through-line of action to carry the thing. I’m not entirely ensure what a Nigerian Drum fight entails, but I think it’s fair to assume it’ll be some variation of a street fight. This will likely lead to a slower-paced match, but that could work well with the styles we have at play. As long as I feel the intensity is there and the action keeps me engaged, I’ll be happy with this one; and I think they’ll deliver.
I’m a lot less confident about this match than I was at Fastlane, that’s for sure. It’s a matter of whether I think WWE are ready to push Big E up the card any time soon. I could easily see him being in the Money in the Bank ladder match this year, but the mid-card champions are in those matches all the time, so whether or not he has the belt is largely irrelevant. Crews absolutely deserves another run with a mid-card title, and if you were going to do it, now would definitely be the time. I just think that belt is going to stick with Big E a little longer. He’s had a really good reign so far, and it would be ok if he lost it, I just want to keep this train rolling.
The Fiend vs Randy Orton
There’s no way this can be just a straight-up singles match, right? It just feels wrong. At the time of writing, no extra stipulation has been announced for the match, and it has me quite worried. This feud has involved burning people alive, a possessed Alexa Bliss and vomiting black goop at every available opportunity. If this were to just end with a plain old wrestling match, it’d be such an anticlimax. In an ideal world, we’d get another Firefly Funhouse match, but given that they’ve got a crowd this time, I doubt they’ll do a whole match on VT. It’s a crying shame because last year’s was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on a wrestling show, but it looks to be a one-off.
Truth be told, one of the reasons I don’t want this to be a straight-up wrestling match is because I don’t think it’ll be all that good if it is. Neither of these guys are bad wrestlers, but The Fiend wrestles a very specific style, and it’s one that I haven’t really got on board with when he’s just left to wrestle a regular match. It’s this weird balance that has to be struck because his character-work and overall creative output is utterly incredible, once in a generation kind of stuff, but his in-ring work feels a bit dull. That’s not a knock on Bray Wyatt’s ability, he’s had plenty of amazing matches, and I applaud him for committing to that style with the character, it just doesn’t grab me.
Picking a winner is a tough choice too. It was so long ago that it’s easy to forget, but Orton did win their last match. On top of that, it’s The Fiend, and he has just risen again after being burned alive. It’d be a bit crap to see him eat an RKO and take a pin after all was said and done. On the flip side, it is Randy Orton, and he doesn’t lose too often unless he’s going to be going away for a little while after Wrestlemania. It makes me wonder if there’s some creative way to get out of the situation where The Fiend wins the match, but Randy somehow frees himself from The Fiend and his world, thereby getting a symbolic victory and allowing him to move on. It’s a tough call, so I’m going to go with what I think should happen and book The Fiend to win.
Asuka(c) vs Rhea Ripley (Raw Women’s Championship)
To think that a few months ago, the plan was Lacey Evans vs Charlotte Flair. That is a match I’d be significantly less excited for.
This is the nicest surprise of the card, as I did not expect to get this match in this form. It’s a genuine dream match for WWE’s current women’s division, and I’m thrilled that WWE is investing in Rhea Ripley again this year, much like they did last year. I’m glad it’s just a one-on-one too. That’s not to knock Charlotte, if the reports are true and she’s really just been left off of the Mania card because of a false positive on a pregnancy test, then that’s awful. However, given how badly WWE has treated Asuka since the end of summer last year, it feels pretty vindicating for her to get a major singles match at Wrestlemania.
I don’t know how these two will mesh in the ring, but I’m confident that I’m going to enjoy it. Both of them are among the best of their generation. Rhea isn’t very technical but has outstanding in-ring flair (pun sort of intended). Her match with Charlotte at Mania last year was the best pure-wrestling match of the entire weekend, and I’m hoping she can work her magic again with Asuka, this time in front of a crowd. Asuka is no stranger to working a hard-hitting style and is great at mixing in the mat-based grappling. On top of that, these are two women who played a huge role in defining their respective eras in NXT, so as far as hype goes, I’m about as high as you can get.
Once again, this is a match that I think could go either way. Rhea is obviously someone WWE want to go far, so putting the Raw Women’s Title on her right out of the gate would be a fantastic movie. On top of that, it lines her up perfectly for a rematch with Charlotte after Wrestlemania. Turning that around, though, it could be argued that it’s way too soon, and given that the original plan was for Charlotte to have the title coming out of Wrestlemania, maybe WWE will just want to put it right back on her? If that’s the case, then it’d be far less damaging for Asuka to lose the title to Charlotte than Rhea. Similarly, will Becky Lynch be coming back any time soon? We’ve not heard anything about it, so I’ve honestly got no idea. If Becky is coming back, though, surely it makes more sense for Asuka to have the title since Asuka never beat Becky to win the belt?
There are many different arguments to make on this one, and all of them make sense. This means that I’m going to do the only thing I can think of and predict the outcome I want to happen. That outcome is Rhea Ripley to be crowned champion.
Roman Reigns(c) vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan (Universal Championship)
Just look at that lineup. There are few matches more worthy of the Wrestlemania main-event spot than that.
Throughout February & March, I had so many complaints about how WWE was booking Daniel Bryan, and I was made to look like a complete fool when it turned out to be part of WWE’s plan all along. Since the triple threat plan became apparent, I’ve been totally behind this story, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. The shades of grey they introduced in both Bryan & Edge has been excellent, as both men have excelled as heels & faces in their career. Meanwhile, Roman has continued to do the best work of his career as the Tribal Chief, sitting and overseeing everything.
I cannot wait to see this one get down to business in the ring. You’ve got Daniel Bryan, who is – in my humble opinion – the best in-ring wrestler of all time. You’ve got Edge, who is a fantastic wrestler, riding a great story and the comeback we never thought we’d see. Then finally, you’ve got Roman Reigns, who is arguably the best character in WWE right now who has also evolved into one of this generation’s best wrestlers. It’s a triple threat, so it means the pace is going to be fast and furious throughout, letting us switch between the different combinations of competitors in the ring and building that drama all the way to the second bell.
Who’s going to win, though? Beats the hell out of me. When it was just Roman vs Edge, I was 100% sure Roman was going to win; there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind. Now Bryan’s been thrown in the mix…I honestly think all three men have an equal chance. Bryan has said he’s considering retiring from in-ring competition in the next year, so this could be the last chance to give him another world title run. I don’t think it’d be a particularly long one, but I’d be overjoyed if we got to see it happen. If Edge were to win, it would be a culmination of his comeback story, and even if he is going to be on a part-time schedule, I don’t mind at all if we just get a few dream matches out of his title run before he drops it at Summerslam or something like that. Then you have Roman. As I’ve said, since his Summerslam return, he’s been a highlight of programming in just about everything he’s done. WWE has finally crafted a situation where Roman can be a world champion without everyone hating it. Do you really think they’re going to let that go so easily?
I’ve been turning this over for literally days now, and I’m still no more certain than I was. I want Daniel Bryan to win, I want Edge to win, and I think they both could. I just can’t pull myself away from Roman, though. Would WWE have their top heel retain in the main event of Wrestlemania? It wouldn’t be the first time, but it hasn’t happened in a long, long time. I don’t know. I just don’t know, and it’s tearing me up a little bit that I can’t make this decision.
Roman Reigns. There, I’ve typed it now, no deleting that. I have no confidence in that pick, but I’ve done it.
The Strong Style Smark 