WrestleMania 35 Preview

For the first time in history the main event of WrestleMania will be a women’s match. As many people have already pointed out, the championship match between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch absolutely deserves to main event, not because they are women, and not because it will make history, but because it is the biggest story in wrestling in 2019.

The Cards:

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Since WWE started the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2014, it has basically served as a way to get as many Superstars on the WrestleMania card as possible. This year is no different. However, there are two surprising entrants in this year’s match. Colin Jost and Michael Che. Yes. From SNL’s Weekend Update. They have had a weird, sometimes funny, storyline with Braun Strowman for several weeks now and are joining the battle royal as a result. Braun will likely spend his time focused on the 2 comedians which will cost him the match. There are 29 entrants confirmed already, and my guess is whoever that #30 is will be the winner. This could be a returning Superstar like Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, or Sami Zayn, an NXT call-up like The Velveteen Dream, or someone completely random, say a recently retired NFL star, like Rob Gronkowski…

Prediction: Surprise Entrant Wins

Women’s Battle Royal

WWE has only announced 13 of the 20 women involved in this match, so expect some vets and NXT call-ups to be involved. There has been basically zero build for this match, so it’s really hard to even guess who might win, but after Asuka’s surprising title loss to Charlotte last week on SmackDown Live, hopefully she will get this win to at least give her a little something to hang her hat on. That being said, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone like Mandy Rose won by eliminating her friend Sonya Deville and letting that lead to a feud. In fact...

Prediction: Mandy Rose Wins

The Miz vs. Shane McMahon

Falls Count Anywhere

We have one person who is on WWE TV every week facing off with someone who comes and goes as they please. There is no reason for Shane to win this match. This feud serves to only turn Miz back into a likeable face, and make Shane an authoritative heel. Adding the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation pretty much guarantees that Shane will jump off of something ridiculous, which will cause him to lose the match, and his father’s respect.

Prediction: Miz Wins

Bayley & Sasha Banks (c) vs. Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. The IIconics

Women’s Tag Team Championships

This could be a really good match, if it is given the time that it deserves. WWE just debuted the Women’s Tag Team Championship a couple of months ago, they need to give this match some time and make the titles seem important. Beth Phoenix came out of retirement for a shot at these belts. It wouldn’t be surprising if they let Natalya and Beth win the belts and have a short reign with them, just to put some iconic names in the record books. But my guess is the Boss and Hug Connection retain, and Beth is mostly there to show off her strength against Nia and Tamina. I expect one of the Samoans to take the pin so the IIconics can stay strong and continue to be built as a legitimate threat.

Prediction: Bayley & Sasha Retain

The Usos vs. The Bar vs. Rusev & Shinsuke vs.  Aleister Black & Ricochet

SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship

The SmackDown Live tag division has gotten a little stale recently. A title change here would spice things up a little. Putting the belts on Shinsuke and Rusev would give them a catalyst for their eventual breakup down the road, and it’s always better to have your faces changing the titles. Since the Usos are now faces apparently, it makes sense to go that route.

Prediction: Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura Win

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

Randy Orton is the type of guy that you never really can get invested in, but he has a great move set, so if you need a good match with little to no build, put him in it. That’s exactly what it feels like has happened here. These two will put on a fun match but the thing about Orton is, he doesn’t need to win. He will lose and go away for a couple of months, then come back and just start a new feud like none of this happened. But with a win, AJ will be able to start his climb back into the title picture. Since they gave away the phenomenal forearm into an RKO on SmackDown Live this week, expect them to play that up and AJ fake out Randy with it on Sunday.

Prediction: AJ Styles Wins

Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Tony Neese

Cruiserweight Championship

Simply put, there is no reason for a title change here. Neese won this opportunity by winning a multi-week tournament on 205 Live. These two will have a very fun and exciting match, and once again try to show people that 205 Live is worth watching. (Which it is!) But on a card like WrestleMania, this match will likely be sandwiched between two big bouts, and serve as a bathroom break for most.

Prediction: Buddy Murphy Retains

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin

Kurt Angle’s Farewell Match

There’s a general rule in wrestling that you always go out on your back, meaning when you retire, you lose to a younger guy. There is no doubt that Angle will lose this match. However, I am still not convinced that he will face Baron Corbin. NO ONE wants to see that. Not the fans, not Vince, not Kurt Angle, probably not even Baron Corbin. I believe that some way, somehow, John Cena replaces Corbin in this match and defeats Angle. Cena faced Angle in his first match in the WWE, and it would only be fitting for him to be the one to retire the Olympian.

Prediction: Angle Loses

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

This match was made a couple of weeks ago, seemingly from out of nowhere. There is absolutely no way that Roman Reigns does not win this match. This will be his first singles match since he returns from his battle with leukemia and WWE is going to ride that wave as long as they possibly can.

Prediction: Roman Reigns Wins

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

US Championship

Again, I see no reason for a title change here. We’re looking at several title changes on the card already, so why not keep the belt on Samoa Joe a little longer? This will be a good match as well, with these two having very contrasting styles. Rey will give us some cool high flying moves, but ultimately tap out to the champ.

Prediction: Samoa Joe Retains

Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Finn Balor

Intercontinental Championship

Throughout his career, Finn Balor has worn body paint whenever he needed to ‘kick things up a notch’. Some of the paint he wore while working in Japan were comic book inspired masterpieces. When he came to NXT, Balor continued to do this, and when he wore the paint, they referred to him as “The Demon”. Balor would surprise the NXT audiences with his paint at NXT Takeovers. Since his call-up to the main roster, they have always announced ahead of time when Balor would be wrestling as “The Demon”. It completely demystifies the gimmick and takes away the element of surprise when he appears from the smoke with his body covered in some demonic work of art. I was optimistic that they were not going to do that again. But they did. Balor appeared on Raw this week in his Demon paint and will dawn it again on Sunday to face Lashley. This almost guarantees his victory, but the real star of this match will be Balor’s entrance.  WrestleMania always has a few over the top entrances, and Balor’s “Demon” entrance is already over the top. So the “Demon’s” debut at WrestleMania should be a spectacle like only the WWE can produce.

Prediction: Finn Balor Wins

HHH vs. Batista

No Holds Barred, Triple H’s career on the line

Batista beat HHH at WrestleMania 21. So why did he come back for a rematch? HHH has put his career on the line and I can’t imagine he’d hand over his career to a guy who shows up to wrestle a couple of times every few years. This really just seems like a way to get Batista back on WWE TV while he is out promoting Avengers: Endgame.

Prediction: HHH Wins

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins

WWE Universal Championship

Seth Rollins earned this title shot by winning the 2019 Royal Rumble in January. Despite Rollins running down the champ and his advocate Paul Heyman every week for the last 3 months, this build has been pretty lackluster. Even with Rollins attacking Brock on Monday with a couple of cheap shots to the crotch. The championship needs to be taken off of Lesnar ASAP. This is supposed to be the company's top prize and its holder is only on TV every 6 weeks or so. It is a waste of the title. Rollins is a great candidate to take the title, but with Kofi and Becky Lynch also poised to win their title matches, it seems unlikely that we’d have three top titles change hands in the same night. The Universal title seems most likely to stay where it is. This match could go two ways. It will either be a good bought where Brock has to hit Rollins with 3 or 4 F5’s to win, or Brock will hit Rollins with about 20 German Suplexes, 5 F5’s and wrap this match up in about 5 minutes. With so many matches on the card, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get the latter. Maybe Rollins gets in some offense, but Brock will look incredibly strong after this match, building him up to look invincible once again.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar Retains

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Kofi Kingston finally earned his one on one shot against Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Championship. Well to be fair, Kofi’s New Day partners, Big E and Xavier Woods earned him the shot. If Kofi wins he would become the first African American WWE World Champion and the first African American Grand Slam Champion in WWE. (Grand Slam Champion is an unofficial honor for someone who has won two mid-level championships, a tag team championship, and the top title). Besides the history making aspects, Kofi deserves a reign as champion. He has been with WWE for 11 years and has been a fan favorite the majority of that time. There is all manner of speculation that The New Day will turn on Kofi if he wins, but it seems more likely that they will turn on him down the road and let his victory be a feel good moment. I mean, Kofi HAS to win. Right? They wouldn’t have made Vince try so hard to keep him down and teeter on making him a blatant racist for Kofi to just lose. ...Right? RIGHT?!

Prediction: Kofi Wins

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair

Raw & SmackDown Live Women’s Championship

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but Becky Lynch wins this one. This will be an incredible match too. Becky and Charlotte will work to take Ronda out of the fight early and then put on a masterpiece. This has the potential to get extremely overbooked with Ronda’s UFC pals, Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke (all currently wrestling in NXT) potentially getting involved, and Sasha and Bayley coming out to even things up a bit. But hopefully WWE just lets these women show the world why they are main eventing the company’s biggest event, and why they are among the most talented wrestlers on the roster. If Kofi does win his title match, Vince could punch us all right in the stomach and have his chosen one, Charlotte Flair walk out with both titles in hand, but fingers crossed they actually give us the payoff we have been waiting 6 months for.

Prediction: Becky Lynch Wins

What are your predictions? Comment below or DM us on our IG or FB pages to get a shout out on the Wrestlemania recap episode we are taping next week! 

Story by Tim Howell