WWE WrestleMania 35 Preview
It’s finally here —with 13 matches (excluding the kick-off show) it’s gonna be a hell long show. Let’s get right into it! (Apologies for getting this out late!)
(All images via WWE website)
Kurt Angle’s Farewell Match: Kurt Angle vs Baron Corbin: The fans’ negative reaction have been well-publicized, even prompting Angle to tweet about it, but it’s a fair reaction —it’s not about putting over a future star here, he deserves a bigger star to end his career (e.g. Shawn Michaels ‘retiring’ Ric Flair). Anyway my main concern is whether Corbin have the capability to carry the match, since we all know Angle’s limitations now (I thought Dolph Ziggler did a good job carry their match at Crown Jewel). Expect lots of interference to carry Angle to victory.
Winner: Kurt Angle
United States Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs Rey Mysterio: From his Hall of Fame interview, Rey Mysterio said that he is about 95%, after his injury during the last week’s Raw episode, so hopefully we will have a full-length match. With him currently in ‘semi-retired’ status, this would serve as a memorable match to solidify Joe’s reign, hopefully like what Miz did with the Intercontinental title a few years back.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs The Demon Finn Balor: Ignoring NXT, Finn has never lost when he is in the Demon mode, so this should be a straightforward victory for him. Since his previous title win over Lashley was via a Lio Rush pin, it is important to secure a clean victory —the title looks damn good on him.
Winner: The Demon
AJ Styles vs Randy Orton: Even though there is nothing on the line, this is one of my more anticipated matches, simply because it tells a simple story about who is better, an indie-grown wrestler or a WWE-developed one. Judging from his invested promos we should expect a motivated Orton against Styles, who is able to have a good match with anyone.
Winner: Vince would likely want to make a statement, so Randy Orton
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs The Bar vs Aleister Black & Ricochet vs Rusex and Shinsuke Nakamura: A match booked by Alexa Bliss due to the Usos forfeiting their tag team gauntlet match against The New Day, this promises to be a balls to the wall match, with all four teams having bags of experience and each bring a different style into the mix. Based on momentum Aleister and Ricochet should win it, but I think they would fare better chasing after the titles against a heel team.
Winner: I’m bored of The Bar getting the titles again, so I’ll pick Rusev and Nakamura
Raw Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) vs Zack Ryder and Kurt Hawkins: Wow, this match came out of nowhere. I don’t think they will allocate much time into this, and I really want Hawkins to break his losing streak by himself, so probably a squash match.
Winner: The Revival
Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection (c) vs Nia Jax and Tamina vs The IIconics vs Beth Phoenix and Natalya: The buildup to this match was poor, with sub-par matches between the teams and having the champions losing frequently. With Beth Phoenix looking strong during the buildup to this and Natalya’s dad getting inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame, it seems like the titles will change hands.
Winner: Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre: There is absolutely no way Roman will lose after his comeback from leukemia, so it’s a matter of how they can make Drew look strong even in defeat. Expect a proper hoss fight between the two powerhouses.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Falls Count Anywhere: Shane McMahon vs The Miz: I was totally wrong in guessing the buildup to this, as Miz and Shane swapped their usual moral alignments. With all titles fully occupied in various programs, Miz doesn’t really have anything going for him after this, so maybe this feud will continue till, say Extreme Rules? The stipulation also means that we will see Shane doing something crazy again.
Winner: THE BEST IN THE WORLD Shane McMahon
No Hold’s Barred + Triple H’s Career On The Line: Triple H vs Batista: Another one of my anticipated matches, this will surely be mega-over with the fans with the sheer star power of both veterans combined. My concern is whether both aging wrestlers will be able to sustain the crowd throughout the match, as Triple H is know for indulging in 30-minute matches. I don’t get a sense that he is planning to hang up his boots yet, so maybe he gets a win here —it will be awesome if the Nature Boy is able to pull a dirty trick up his sleeve to help him win haha.
Winner: Triple H, probably tearing a muscle in the process
WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston: There’s nothing left to say, but KOFIMANIAAAAA!!!
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Seth Rollins: Everyone is expecting Rollins to take the title off Brock, but somehow with Rollins standing tall in the go-home Raw show makes me doubt a little. Who knows, maybe with Roman back earlier than expected Vince will stubbornly go back to having him winning the title instead? Or still have Rollins win it and be the ‘seat warmer’ for Roman in the future? Maybe Dean Ambrose appears to help? It’s really a coin toss for me.
Winner: Not all faces will win, so since I’m betting of Kofi to win here I’ll choose Brock Lesnar
Winner Takes All for both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch: The ending to this match is obvious, so only thing is how they lay this out to be an absolute classic, being the very first female main event in WrestleMania historyherstory. Seriously, I would pop hard at the sight of Kofi and Becky lifting their belts high up.
Winner: The Man Becky Lynch
That’s all for now, thanks for reading!