WrestleMania Weekend is here.
It’s ridiculous just how jam packed the weekend is with shows, events, pay-per-views, interviews, and so on. No matter what kind of wrestling you’re a fan of, there’s something for you to watch. Exciting times.
As always, my prediction columns are slightly different than the usual ones you see. Yes, I make my predictions of what I think will happen, but I also like to talk about what should happen. It comes from the point-of-view of what I would do if the company came to me and let me make the decisions for the show. There are times when the “what will happen” and “what should happen” will match up perfectly, but there are also times when they’re about as opposite as can be. With me looking at an NXT show and two nights of WrestleMania, I have a lot to talk about. As of right now, there are 21 combined matches on the three cards, so let’s not make this column any longer than it needs to be. We’ll go in chronological order, starting with Stand & Deliver and then moving into WrestleMania. Here we go.
Toxic Attraction vs Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez – NXT Women’s Tag Team Title Match
I’ve already seen a bunch of people complaining about Dakota and Raquel reuniting, saying it doesn’t make sense after their heated rivalry. Normally, those people might have something of a point, but I don’t think they do in this instance. Everything we’ve seen recently with Dakota and Wendy Choo painted the picture for this reunion. If you haven’t really been paying attention, the story was that Dakota was having issues with trusting her friends/partners based on what happened with Raquel, who she felt “stole” her “spot” and stepped ahead of her to win the NXT Women’s Title. Slowly, but surely, Wendy was able to chip away at the walls Dakota put up, and eventually, Dakota felt she could actually trust again. Fast forward, and we have a newly face-turned Dakota being beaten down by Toxic Attraction, and who makes the save? Raquel Gonzalez, who Dakota originally felt she couldn’t trust, now showing that she could be trusted.
Simple, no?
One of the biggest mistakes in NXT history is not capitalizing on just how hot of an act Dakota and Raquel were when they first tagged up. They were on fire in the beginning of 2021, earning a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, held at the time by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Everybody and their mother was predicting a title change, anticipating a fun run for Dakota and Raquel on the main roster, but it never happened. Then, NXT got their own Women’s Tag Team Titles for no reason whatsoever, and the titles were just given to Dakota and Raquel… who would go on to lose them to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart an hour later.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Is this a “make good” for those dumb ideas? People were seemingly thinking Raquel and/or Dakota were on their way to the main roster soon, but now, they’re back together in NXT and competing for the Women’s Tag Team Titles again. Unless them reuniting is a swerve and one of them is going to stab the other in the back… which WOULD be stupid writing that doesn’t make any sense… you have to think they’re going to win here, right? Can you imagine going through all this just to have them miss out on another opportunity?
I still think both Raquel and Dakota should be on the main roster sooner than later, but they can have a good run in NXT for now and get the call up down the road.
What Will Happen: Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez (New Champions)
What Should Happen: Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez (New Champions)
Tommaso Ciampa vs Tony D’Angelo
They sure are selling this match as if it’s going to be Ciampa’s “farewell” to NXT, coming four months after Johnny Gargano left the brand, and WWE, as a whole. Not only does Ciampa not fit the “youth movement” that NXT is going through, but he doesn’t have a lot left to accomplish there. If this really is Ciampa’s final stretch, it’s the perfect scenario, as he’s facing one of the top young stars on the brand.
Grayson Waller sending Gargano packing did a lot for him, albeit maybe not as much as some expected it to at this point. This could be an even bigger opportunity for D’Angelo. Ciampa has, arguably, been an even bigger name for NXT through the years than Gargano was. Say you have D’Angelo not only win this match, but then deliver a post-match beating of some sort. That can make D’Angelo look like a major force moving forward. If you have a chance to really build a young star, shouldn’t you take it? D’Angelo is still only 26 years old, and doesn’t even have two years of in-ring experience.
To me, this should be an easy call to make, but that’s why I’m concerned a bit. We could still end up with half of what I mentioned earlier, with a post-match beatdown happening, but after a Ciampa victory. Would that outcome surprise me? Not in the slightest. Do I think that’s the right outcome? No, not at all. Give D’Angelo the “rub” here and let’s see how he fares with that type of push moving ahead.
What Will Happen: Tony D’Angelo Wins
What Should Happen: Tony D’Angelo Wins
LA Knight vs Gunther
Look, I have no idea how or why this match is happening, but here we are. It’s a weird spot, booking-wise. LA Knight has built a ton of momentum during his face run, and even though he’s going to be 40 later this year and doesn’t exactly fit the “youth movement” I mentioned earlier, he clearly seems like someone who the company has a lot of faith in.
Then, on the other side of the ring, you have wrestling’s version of a psychopathic serial killer.
What do you do if you’re booking this? You have one of the hottest face acts in all of NXT. He could really use a big win right now. Hell, he could use a win, period. As of the time of this writing, we’re coming up on two months since his last victory. Needless to say, a victory here would be the biggest win of his NXT career. To pull it off, he needs to beat a man that has only lost one singles match since signing with WWE. That is asking a lot of someone. Of anyone.
As much as the LA Knight face turn has been working out, I don’t think The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-WALTER can take a loss here. You’ve built him up as almost this mythical character, and for him to lose in a random match on a random show… especially a match that had barely any build behind it… doesn’t make sense. They’ve already changed his name. They can’t make him just another guy now.
What Will Happen: Gunther Wins
What Should Happen: Gunther Wins
Imperium vs The Creed Brothers vs MSK – Triple Threat Match for the NXT Tag Team Titles
So much potential for fun here. Different styles make for fun matches, and that’s what we have here. The more I look at this, the more I see a match that could go in any direction.
The champions were putting in some of the best work of their careers leading up to winning the titles, but that was five months ago. In that five-month span, they have wrestled a grand total of two tag team matches. Still doing good work, but they just aren’t doing as much of it.
The Creed Brothers arrived on the scene with a huge bang, then seemed like they might fizzle out a bit, but have been building up a ton of momentum again. It culminated with them defeating Grizzled Young Veterans to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Even with the erratic crowd reactions, and the mind-numbingly stupid reasons behind said crowd reactions, MSK remains one of the hotter teams in all of NXT. They dropped the Tag Team Titles to Imperium at Halloween Havoc back in October, but they haven’t lost a tag match since.
You could really make a case for each team winning here. The x-factor here is the “whodunnit” angle with The Creed Brothers being attacked and then having their locker room messed up. MSK says they didn’t do it. Imperium says they didn’t do it. Is one of those teams lying? Are we going to see a debuting team being responsible for the shenaniganery? I’ve seen all sorts of predictions from people, ranging from the “boring” (Imperium) to “wildly unlikely” (Gable & Bobby Steveson), and just about everything in between. (Writer’s Note: The rest of this paragraph was written before this week’s episode of NXT aired.) To me, it seems like we’re going to get the NXT televised debut of former NXT: UK Tag Team Champions, Pretty Deadly. During the locker room destruction angle, “Don’t Cry” was being spray painted on the wall. Pretty Deadly’s finishing move? Spilt Milk. What have they said on several occasions, including on social media? Don’t cry over spilt milk. If it is them, hopefully there’s a logical explanation for it. It’s weird that Pretty Deadly would attack The Creed Brothers and not the Tag Team Champions. Don’t be too surprised if we see Pretty Deadly here, though, either way.
Right now, I think Imperium needs this win more than the other two teams. Their first reign as NXT Tag Team Champions was a bit of a dud, but things had really changed for them in winning the titles for a second time. It would be a shame if they had to drop the belts after another “meh” reign.
What Will Happen: Imperium Wins
What Should Happen: Imperium Wins
Mandy Rose vs Cora Jade vs Kay Lee Ray vs Io Shirai – Fatal Four-Way for the NXT Women’s Title
Raise your hand if you’re a fan of Mandy Rose’s title reign. Now, put your hand down if the only reason you like it is for something along the lines of “she’s hot.” I’m not sure that I’ve seen a single person that has anything positive to say about the reign.
Even with the addition of one of NXT: UK’s best and the most decorated woman in NXT history, it sure seems like the popular line of thinking is that this is going to be Cora Jade’s time. Like just about every one of the young talents in the NXT 2.0 era, she came out of nowhere to become one of the top names on the brand’s roster. She has been made to look like a bigger and bigger deal on a near weekly basis. Back in January, she got her first taste at a title shot, falling short in a Triple Threat at New Year’s Evil that also featured Mandy Rose and Raquel Gonzalez.
She may or may not be “ready” for this, but why not shake things up a bit? There’s some entertaining television and intriguing matches you can put together with Cora Jade as the new NXT Women’s Champion. Let’s get crazy.
What Will Happen: Cora Jade Wins (New Champion)
What Should Happen: Cora Jade Wins (New Champion)
Carmelo Hayes vs Santos Escobar vs Solo Sikoa vs Grayson Waller vs Cameron Grimes – Ladder Match for the NXT North American Title
If you’re looking for an early candidate for NXT Match Of The Year, this could be the pick.
As always, when Cameron Grimes is discussed, I am legally and contractually obligated to mention that he nearly broke my leg at an independent wrestling show a few years back.
Let’s get something out of the way right now… I don’t see Escobar, Sikoa, or Waller winning this match. My jaw wouldn’t hit the floor if they did, but I just don’t see it happening at this point. That leaves us with Melo retaining the title or Grimes taking the title to… the… mooooonnnnn. Picking a winner depends on how long you think NXT can hold off on doing one thing…
Bron Breakker vs Carmelo Hayes.
That is the big money match for NXT, in my opinion. Two of the biggest young talents in NXT, both being built up tremendously. They have to feud at some point, but when? Next week? In a month? Next year? If we can hold off on that feud, then it makes a lot of sense for Carmelo Hayes to retain here, allowing him to add even more prestige to the North American Title. However, if you don’t think the match can be pushed back for too much longer, then let’s go ahead and give Cameron Grimes the title here.
This isn’t one of those situations where we need the NXT Champion facing the North American Champion to unify the titles. Personally, I feel we can hold off a bit. Carmelo feeling like the North American Title is the “A” title in NXT helps that idea. Normally, kayfabe would indicate that a “midcard” champion wants to move up and win the “top” title in the company, but if Carmelo already feels he has the “top” title in NXT, keep him where he is. Build him and Bron Breakker up, and you can have them feud later. At the earliest, they could face off at SummerSlam weekend, but if NXT plays their cards right, you could headline next year’s WrestleMania weekend card with Bron vs Melo. The writing is on the wall there. Bron Breakker… LeBron James… Carmelo Hayes… Carmelo Anthony. The top two names in NXT and two stars for the Los Angeles Lakers. WrestleMania 39 takes place in Inglewood, California… the home of the Los Angeles Lakers for 32 years until they moved ten miles away. That’s the kind of thing that will be talked about a lot on NXT programming if the feud happens then.
Grimes will have his day, but I think this needs to be a win for Carmelo Hayes.
What Will Happen: Carmelo Hayes Wins
What Should Happen: Carmelo Hayes Wins
Dolph Ziggler vs Bron Breakker – NXT Title Match
It’s still really, really weird to see that Dolph Ziggler is the NXT Champion in 2022. As I’ve said in my columns before, Dolph looks more motivated than he has in a long time, and it has translated to some very good performances. I have a hunch that this match will continue that streak.
A lot of the predictions here seem to be based on what you think Dolph and Bron’s futures could, and should, look like. For example, I’m seeing people predict a win for Dolph here, not because they feel he should beat Bron again, but more that they think Dolph and Bron should switch places. Dolph stays in NXT, at least for a while, and Bron moves to the main roster.
If Bron wins the title here, it would make him just the sixth person to win the NXT Title on more than one occasion. He would join Finn Balor, Tommaso Ciampa, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Karrion Kross in that exclusive club. All of those names were seasoned veterans that had won titles almost everywhere else they wrestled. Bron Breakker, of course, is a rookie. A rookie with an insanely bright future, but a rookie nonetheless. Let’s put it this way… this match against Ziggler could be his 15th match for NXT. Kross, due to an unfortunate injury cutting his first NXT Title reign short, took 14 matches to win the title on two occasions. That wasn’t received well by fans whatsoever, but Bron is juuuuust a little more popular with the NXT Universe right now than Karrion Kross was at the time.
Barring some sort of insane unforeseen circumstances, Bron Breakker is going to be wrestling regularly on Raw or Smackdown, and it will happen sooner than later. I just can’t see it happening right now, and if that means he gets a second reign as the NXT Champion this early, so be it. My hope is that Dolph can keep this momentum going and bring that fire with him to Smackdown. He can still be a major player there if the cards fall correctly.
What Will Happen: Bron Breakker Wins (New Champion)
What Should Happen: Bron Breakker Wins (New Champion)
Now, let’s go from Stand & Deliver to the first night of WrestleMania 38.
Drew McIntyre vs Happy Corbin
What have we done to deserve this? For that matter, what has Drew McIntyre done to deserve this? Two years ago, he won the Royal Rumble and would go on to defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania to win the WWE Title. One year ago, he was challenging Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania for the WWE Title. This year, he’s in a match that nobody cares about, stuck in a feud that nobody cares about. Ouch.
Get this fucking shit over with already.
What Will Happen: Drew McIntyre Wins
What Should Happen: Drew McIntyre Wins, Happy Corbin goes back to being Bum Ass Baron Corbin, Madcap Moss goes back to whatever he was doing before this
Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio vs The Miz & Logan Paul
It wouldn’t be WrestleMania without celebrity involvement, and this is the first of three matches featuring such involvement at this year’s event. Logan Paul has a lot of qualities that make him a good pro wrestling heel. With that said, how many of you are actually looking forward to this match? As I’ve said before, feuding with The Miz does absolutely nothing for anybody these days, and that rings true for both Rey and Dominik right now.
I’m not saying Dom should be challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title or anything, but damn, Rey certainly deserves a lot better.
These types of matches are generally pretty easy to predict. Logan Paul is there to get heat. He’ll do that and get some offense here and there against both of the Mysterio men. In the end, though, one of the Mysterios will come out on top, and it will probably end up being Miz that takes the pin.
What Will Happen: Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio Win
What Should Happen: Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio Win, The Miz Gets Booked To Be Less Of A Waste Moving Forward
The New Day vs Sheamus & Ridge Holland
Because of what happened to Big E, it almost makes me sad to see anything involving New Day now. To make it even worse, this match has absolutely no business taking place at WrestleMania. If WrestleMania was a seven-night show this year, you’d probably be able to squeeze this in somewhere, but otherwise, this is a middle-of-the-episode match on Smackdown and nothing more. WWE could have, at the very least, given us Sheamus and Butch Dunne here. My goodness.
New Day has to win here. I don’t even know what you would do with them after Mania. Do you put them back into the Smackdown Tag Team Title picture and a potential feud with The Usos for the billionth time? How about putting them both into singles action? A few days ago, Woods tweeted that he intends to become the Intercontinental Champion in 2022. I’d be fine with him moving into that type of situation, but what about Kofi? Does he become a main event player again? Normally, I would be thrilled with that idea, but how much confidence do you have in WWE treating him right against the winner of the Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns match? I have less than zero confidence in that happening.
Let’s just move on beyond this feud so we can try to get the bad taste out of our mouths, and we’ll figure things out how to cross future bridges as we get to them.
What Will Happen: The New Day Win
What Should Happen: The New Day Win
The Usos vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs – Smackdown Tag Team Title Match
It’s crazy that we’re living in a place and time where Rick Boogs is involved in a title match at WrestleMania. Nothing against him, mind you. He performs the gimmick well. It’s just a wild ascension for someone who, not that long ago, couldn’t even make it onto NXT programming. In the two-and-a-half years he was in NXT, he wrestled on television exactly one time, losing by submission to Drew Gulak in under three minutes in February 2019. Then he shows up on the main roster in a tie-in involving the 24/7 Title and Old Spice commercials, before finally moving to Smackdown in the role he’s currently in.
Dolph Ziggler is a two-time World Champion. Boogs beat him.
Robert Roode is a two-time World Champion (three if you count the NXT Title). Boogs beat him.
Sami Zayn is one of the most decorated pro wrestlers of the last two decades. Boogs beat him.
His push came out of nowhere, and here we are with a Tag Team Title shot at WrestleMania. You can’t give him a win here… can you? Even if you’re sick of The Usos at the top of the Smackdown tag division, are you really clamoring for Nakamura and Boogs to take their place? I’m a huge fan of Nakamura, and I don’t want that shit at all. The problem there is that Smackdown’s roster is so shallow that you don’t have a lot of good options. If The Usos don’t drop the titles here, you have to think that the winners of the previous match will end up being next-in-line for a shot. Usos vs New Day again? Yikes. Usos vs Sheamus and Butch could work, but I don’t think people are really looking forward to seeing Ridge Holland involved, even in a “Freebird Rule” type of situation. Los Lotharios? They just lost to New Day 29 weeks in a row. Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss? Go fuck yourself. The Viking Raiders? As good as they are, they aren’t taken seriously anymore because of how they’ve been booked. Jinder Mahal and Shanky? Jump in front of a moving car, asshole. Those are literally all the options right now unless a new team gets thrown together randomly, and with the 2022 WWE Draft probably six months away (based on the last three happening in October), there doesn’t appear to be much help on the way.
Now I’m even sadder.
Let’s just say The Usos win here and continue the longest Smackdown Tag Team Title reign in history. Like I said in the last match, we’ll cross future bridges when we get to them.
What Will Happen: The Usos Win
What Should Happen: The Usos Win
??? vs Seth Rollins
Obviously, it won’t be him, but imagine if Seth’s mystery opponent is Dean Ambrose.
Social media had a laugh with the idea of the mystery opponent being Shane McMahon, and then it was reported that WWE was bringing Shane to Dallas for WrestleMania, although we don’t know for what capacity. With live crowds anticipating the huge Cody Rhodes return here, the heel heat that Shane would get if he comes out… my goodness.
If that’s the case, why not take advantage of that? It’s certainly not above WWE to do something like this. A recent example is SummerSlam 2021, when everyone was expecting Becky Lynch to return as Bianca Belair’s new opponent after Sasha Banks was pulled from the match, only for Carmella to come out before we finally did get The Man’s return. Something similar to that here could be fun.
Seth is in the ring, awaiting his opponent. The “Cody” chants are super loud at AT&T Stadium. “Here Comes The Money” hits, and out comes Shane to some major heel heat. From there, I don’t even care how you bring Cody out. He could attack Shane and take his place. Vince McMahon could come out, say that Shane doesn’t belong here, and then announce Cody as the real opponent for Rollins. It doesn’t matter. Just make it happen.
Once it does happen, though, I think it’s safe to say Cody wins. That’s fine. Seth Rollins is one of the few “Teflon” guys in WWE. He can lose matches and still remain one of the top guys in the company. Cody needs this to be presented as a huge deal to WWE fans. Let’s not forget that there’s still a decent chunk of the WWE Universe that doesn’t watch AEW, so their last real encounters with Cody Rhodes was when he was Stardust and didn’t pick up a win in his last 24 matches on television or pay-per-view, and 28 if you don’t count winning a pay-per-view pre-show match as being a part of the pay-per-view itself. That’s nearly a full calendar year of losing. Yeah… he NEEDS this win.
What Will Happen: Cody Rhodes Is The Mystery Opponent, Cody Rhodes Wins
What Should Happen: Cody Rhodes Is The Mystery Opponent, Cody Rhodes Wins
Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair – Raw Women’s Title Match
For me, this is one of my most highly anticipated rematches in a long time. Yes, they’ve faced each other since SummerSlam, but those were the appetizers. The amuse-bouche, if you will. This is the main course that we’ve all been waiting for. Some people feel that the build for this is being hurt because most people are under the assumption that Bianca is going to win. While that’s true to a certain point, it doesn’t matter as much as it would in other situations because these are two of the most over people on the roster, and the fans are amped to see the match.
Count me in as someone who feels Bianca is clearly going to win the match here. It has been built up as a long-term play at her finally getting revenge over that 26-second loss at SummerSlam over seven months ago. It’s the right call. Like I mentioned earlier with her husband, Becky is a huge enough star that taking a loss does absolutely nothing to her. She’ll be fine.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this ends up being one of the best matches of the weekend. Not just at WrestleMania, but anywhere, for any promotion.
What Will Happen: Bianca Belair Wins (New Champion)
What Should Happen: Bianca Belair Wins (New Champion)
Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey – Smackdown Women’s Title Match
The early rumor is that this match will main event the first night, so I’m placing it in the last spot. I certainly feel Becky vs Bianca should go on last, but here we are.
Can we be honest with each other? We’re all friends here.
Ronda Rousey has been downright atrocious since she returned to wrestling. In her first stint with WWE, she still carried herself with the aura that the “Baddest Woman On The Planet” should have. She wasn’t a shining star on the mic, but she was passable enough. Her second stint, though? After her return at the Royal Rumble, she had a backstage interview for WWE.com that featured a quote that went viral. She talked about how things were going to be different this time around, and that the only thing she cared about was getting back on her bus and loving her newborn daughter.
The problem here, two months later, is that we can tell she meant every word of that. She clearly doesn’t care about anything else. Not the way she looks, not the promos that she cuts, not the way she tries to connect with live crowds. Nothing.
I love checking up on what other people have to say about wrestling, no matter the company, event, wrestler, etc. It helps me keep my ear to the streets, so to speak. During the build of this feud, I have seen two things happen over and over and over again with fans all over Ana de Armas’ internet…
One, big fans of Ronda are already growing tired of her in this second go-around for her.
Two, people who really dislike Charlotte are rooting for her to win this match, hoping that it will mean a quicker exit for Rousey this time around.
That’s a lot of dislike. Someone is failing Ronda Rousey on a regular basis. She’s either failing herself by needing this promo time, or WWE is failing her by continuously making her go out on live television with a microphone. For fuck’s sake, give the woman a Manager! Accentuate the positives and hide the negatives. It’s not brain surgery here.
If I have control over this, Charlotte wins and Ronda either goes away to be a family woman full-time or she gets a Manager on television. Rewarding her for what seems like half-hearted and half-assed work doesn’t send a good message to anyone.
Unfortunately, I don’t have control over this. Bringing Ronda Rousey back was a big deal for WWE, and you have to assume it wasn’t cheap, either. You’re not bringing her back to have her lose to Charlotte two months into her return. Not when it took a full year for her to get pinned the first time around. I have to assume Rousey wins the title here, sadly. At the very least, that could finally set up a match/feud with Rousey and a returning Asuka at some point, so I guess there’s that.
What Will Happen: Ronda Rousey Wins (New Champion)
What Should Happen: Charlotte Flair Wins
Two shows down. One to go. Let’s move on to night two of WrestleMania.
Pat McAfee vs Austin Theory
Our second match involving a celebrity, although this one is a little different, as McAfee is under WWE contract. I’m seeing a lot of people predicting a win for McAfee here, and it wouldn’t shock me, but I just don’t see it happening. We’re talking about Smackdown’s Color Commentator taking on someone who appears to be getting the Vince McMahon “rub” as a potential future star in the company. Theory has picked up some wins over big names since returning to Raw, and has been booked to look really good in his losses. Clearly, Vince sees something in the guy. Losing to a Color Commentator… even a Color Commentator that is 34 years old, 6’1″ tall, 233 pounds, and is a former Punter in the NFL… isn’t something that should happen to someone that is on that type of trajectory.
McAfee will have his moments here, as he should, but Theory should pick up the win, even if he has to cheat to do so.
What Will Happen: Austin Theory Wins
What Should Happen: Austin Theory Wins
Johnny Knoxville vs Sami Zayn – Anything Goes Match
Our third, and final, celebrity involvement of the show. I think we know what we’re getting here. Both men are willing to go the extra mile to entertain the fans, so when you put them in the ring together and put the “Anything Goes” stipulation on the line, you’re going to get some wild spots.
As the non-wrestler, Knoxville probably gains the most from the match stipulation. Sami knows more moves and holds, so Knoxville being able to do whatever he wants should help “even” the playing field a bit. I would expect this match to be half-comedy, half-brawl with Knoxville taking some Jackass-style bumps because… well… that’s what he does.
Sami recently re-signed with WWE and he has been delivering some of the most entertaining work that he’s ever done. You could say that just getting this match is a “reward” for his good work, but why stop there? This is going to be a “high profile” match, based on Knoxville’s involvement, so let’s give Sami a “high profile” victory. I’ll hold off on saying Sami will get a big push coming out of Mania, but by golly, he should. Someone, somewhere, is fantasy booking a face turn for Sami, followed by him defeating the winner of Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns somewhere down the line. That’s a little too crazy for me.
What Will Happen: Sami Zayn Wins
What Should Happen: Sami Zayn Wins
Queen Zelina & Carmella vs Sasha Banks & Naomi vs Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan vs Natalya & Shayna Baszler – Fatal Four-Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
I’m not sure if it’s an exact number, but I believe this is the 4,894th title shot of Natalya’s career. When you consider that she’s only been a champion on three different occasions in WWE, that’s not a good track record. Will this match help that record?
I doubt it.
Predictions seem to be coming down to either Sasha Banks and Naomi or Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan. That makes a lot of sense. If one of those teams wins the match here, a “streak” will come to an end. Sasha Banks has wrestled in six matches at WrestleMania, losing all six of them. Liv Morgan has wrestled for some sort of title on five occasions in her WWE career, losing all five of them. Because I said that, watch Zelina and Carmella retain here, just to keep the suffering going for Sasha, Liv, and Natalya.
I’m thinking we’re going to see Sasha and Naomi win the titles here. Even WWE, through their Twitter account, made mention of Sasha’s luck at WrestleMania. Because the company doesn’t understand subtlety at all, that’s how they like to choreograph things.
If it were up to me, though, I think I’d go with Rhea and Liv to win the titles. No, Rhea Ripley doesn’t “need” this. Yes, Rhea Ripley should probably be competing for the Raw Women’s Title. Liv Morgan deserves this, though. She has improved so much, and has become very popular with live crowds. This could be a really good moment for her. The Fatal Four-Way format can allow one of the other two teams to take the pin so that Sasha and Naomi aren’t “hurt” by a loss. They would be just fine.
What Will Happen: Sasha Banks & Naomi Win (New Champions)
What Should Happen: Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan Win (New Champions)
Bobby Lashley vs Omos
Ooh… intriguing. Omos has been pushed as an unstoppable monster, but I’m not sure things have worked out the way WWE hoped they would. He kicked 2022 off by defeating AJ Styles, but recently, he’s only facing people that WWE isn’t doing anything with, anyway. A win over AJ Styles is one thing, but a win over T-BAR is another thing entirely.
As a “special attraction” performer, Omos doesn’t need to wrestle like Bryan Danielson, but he doesn’t really seem to be getting better in the ring. He’s still super green. Putting him in a match with Bobby Lashley is going to do one of two things… either get his push back on track, or put the kibosh on that push entirely. Lashley is too good to be a speed bump for someone right now. Yes, so is AJ Styles, but at least AJ had the “out” for his loss because of his feud with Grayson Waller at the time. Putting Omos over Lashley here would be a big mistake. This can be a major deal for Lashley, who can be pushed directly back to the top by beating who was previously unbeatable.
What Will Happen: Bobby Lashley Wins
What Should Happen: Bobby Lashley Wins
RK-Bro vs The Street Profits vs Alpha Academy – Triple Threat for the Raw Tag Team Titles
I’m expecting a ton from this match. Three tag teams who are putting in some incredible work, and have been for a while now. Yet another match where you can make a convincing case for each team to win. I wouldn’t mind seeing any outcome here, but the more I think about it, the more I keep looking at the team who has been changing a lot recently.
Out of left field, The Street Profits began to act more and more heelishly. At first, I didn’t like the idea. They were really good faces, and Montez Ford has a bag of moves that are tailor-made to cheer for. Then I kept watching, and I started to come around to the idea. Crazy, right? Who would’ve thought that giving something a chance might change your mind about it?!? Montez Ford still has that offense that is exciting, but it’s not a stretch to have him play the “nobody can do what I do in this ring” card and be a bit of a dick about it. Angelo Dawkins has the type of aggression in his offense that fits being a heel, too. It works.
If we’re going to turn them, let’s make it worthwhile and give them the titles here. That’s what I would do, anyway. When it comes to what I think actually happens, I’ve gone back-and-forth between a Profits victory and an RK-Bro victory. No offense to Chad Gable and Otis. I just think the other two teams are the “favorites” here. In picking a winner, I decided to go with the actual “favorites” in the match, at least based on betting odds for the card, which means a win for Randy Orton and Riddle.
What Will Happen: RK-Bro Wins
What Should Happen: The Street Profits Win (New Champions)
AJ Styles vs Edge
It has been a few weeks, and I’m still trying to understand the out-of-nowhere heel turn for Edge. Don’t get me wrong… he definitely does his best work as a heel. This turn just didn’t make a ton of sense. It’s weird to issue an open challenge and then get mad when someone accepts that challenge. Edge’s heel work has been far too good for something stupid like that.
This is a “Dream Match” for some, and not for others. What I think damn near everyone can agree upon is that this is going to be a banger of a match. It’s also a match that features two competitors who really need a win.
Edge is on a roll now, winning four out of his last five televised matches after being positioned as someone who is clearly a level or two beneath Roman Reigns in the WWE hierarchy. With a heel turn, no matter how it happened, he needs that roll to continue.
Styles, on the other hand, is also on a roll after losing to Omos on Raw to kick off 2022. The only three matches he didn’t emerge victorious in since that loss to Omos are the Royal Rumble, a United States Title match against Damian Priest on Valentine’s Day, and the WWE Title Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia less than a week later. His latest face run could use some really big wins. It has been a while since AJ was a top-tier singles performer. The last time he held any sort of singles title was on August 21st, 2020. On that night, he dropped the Intercontinental Title to Jeff Hardy.
If Wrestler A badly needs a win, and if Wrestler B badly needs a win, what the hell do you do?
“Don’t put them in a match against each other.”
Well, yeah, that’s correct, but other than that, what do you do?
WrestleMania Backlash is the next event on the calendar after WrestleMania. As you all know, the pay-per-view after WrestleMania has been full of Mania rematches for a long time now. I would be shocked if AJ and Edge didn’t face each other again at WrestleMania Backlash. That would probably indicate that we could be getting somewhat of a screwy finish here. Edge cheats to win or gets disqualified. That kind of thing. Maybe even an AJ win, followed by a post-match beatdown from Edge. Just for fun, I flipped a coin to pick a winner, and the option for an AJ victory won out. AJ winning a tough, hard-fought match, only to be laid out after the bell rings makes sense, and clearly opens the door for a rematch with AJ wanting to get some payback.
With AJ being the full-time performer, I think it’s more “important” for him to pick up a win, allowing him to potentially move into the title picture when this feud is over.
What Will Happen: AJ Styles Wins
What Should Happen: AJ Styles Wins
Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns – Winner Takes All Match for the WWE Title & Universal Title
Well, here we go. The match that is being billed as the “biggest WrestleMania match ever.” A lot of people are up in arms about that title, but… it’s true. Lesnar and Reigns are presented as two of the absolute biggest stars in the history of pro wrestling, and their statistics back that up. Throw in Reigns having a 581-day (on Sunday) reign as the Universal Champion, which is the longest title reign of any kind that the main roster has seen in decades. Now, throw in the fact that this is supposed to be a title unification, with both the Universal Title and WWE Title on the line. Finally, sprinkle in the fact that this match is happening for WWE when the company is making more money than it has ever made.
Yeah, this is the biggest WrestleMania match ever. Sorry.
This is the sixth singles match between these two, although the first one (WrestleMania 31) turned into a Triple Threat. If you remove that match, we’re looking at two wins for Brock (WrestleMania 34 and Greatest Royal Rumble) and two wins for Roman (SummerSlam 2018 and Crown Jewel 2021). Making this the “rubber match” in one of the most epic feuds in company history only adds to its stature.
Even with those two wins over Lesnar, it is almost being presented that Brock is the one hurdle that Reigns hasn’t fully been able to get over. One of his two wins happened before this current version of his character was a thing, and the other match saw him needing a “turn” from Paul Heyman and interference from The Usos to wrap it up. Throughout this entire historic title reign for Reigns, Brock has been standing in the background like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhies, and you can believe that Roman knows he’s there. If you’re looking to take the title reign to yet another level, giving Roman the true “coronation” that he missed out on at WrestleMania 31 and WrestleMania 34 would be the way to do that. To take it even further, have him do it as close to “clean” as possible. He’s a heel, so he can wrestle like one, but I’m talking about having no interference. No Heyman, no Usos, no Solo Sikoa, no Afa, no Sika, no Rock, no Rikishi, no Jacob Fatu, no Gable Steveson, no Cody Rhodes, no John Cena… nothing.
That’s probably a lot to ask for. I do think Reigns wins the match here, but I don’t think it will be as clean as it should be. Either way, let the “Roman should hold be the champ heading into his match against The Rock at WrestleMania 39” talk officially get going.
What Will Happen: Roman Reigns Wins
What Should Happen: Roman Reigns Wins Clean
Your turn, ReaderLand. With so many matches, you certainly don’t need to make predictions for everything, but I want to know some things you’re expecting to take place this weekend. As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind. I will be back with three Running Diary columns this weekend before coming back next Wednesday in my usual spot. Busy times. Enjoy yourselves, wrestling fans!
Weekly Power Rankings
- CM Punk vs Dax Harwood: A really good old school match between two really good old school performers. Hard to go wrong there.
- Cameron Grimes vs Roderick Strong vs A-Kid: Part of my legal and contractual obligations require that I only need to discuss Grimes once in a column. With that said, this was an entertaining spotfest with high stakes on the line, and the right man won.
- Dustin Rhodes vs Lance Archer: We’re coming up on three years of existence for AEW. In that time, Dustin Rhodes has wrestled 50 matches for the company. Of those 50 matches, 30 of them have been on television, pay-per-view or on streaming special (Fight For The Fallen and events like that). Only eight of those matches have taken place since the beginning of 2021. He’s a couple weeks away from his 53rd birthday, so it should make sense that he isn’t appearing as often. It should, but for him, it doesn’t. Whenever you see him wrestle, he proves that he’s still working at a high level. This was yet another great performance from the guy. He deserves more. How much more, I can’t say, but more. Tag Team Titles? I’d be down with that, depending on his partner. TNT Title? That would make a lot of sense. He’s having quite a run.
- Shad Gaspard: It was announced that Shad is the recipient of the Warrior Award at this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony. When the Warrior Award was created, it was to be given to someone who “exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who live life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of The Ultimate Warrior.” Say whatever you want about Warrior, either as a wrestler or as a human being, but Shad Gaspard fit that description perfectly, right up until the final act of his life.
- RK-Bro vs The Usos: It was a very “down” week for WWE television, but that makes all the sense in the world as the company tries to get to WrestleMania without any more damage done to the roster. This was easily the best match that we saw on Raw or Smackdown, but to be fair, that wasn’t a high bar to clear.
- Ricky Starks vs Swerve Strickland: A good match, but it almost seemed like both men were holding back a bit, like they’re looking to revisit this down the road. That’s fine with me. I know what they’re capable of.
- Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole: These two go way back, being opponents and occasional tag partners since 2011. They’ve faced each other for multiple promotions, and have had matches in four different countries. Another good chapter in their rivalry here. To me, it was only “hurt” by the fact that Jay Lethal has seen his profile plummet since signing with AEW four months ago. A big debut on pay-per-view, followed by a TNT Title match on television in his first match for the company, and then… alllll the crickets. He has only had three more matches on television, counting this one, and he has been on the losing end of all three of them. He’s 10-0 on YouTube, though, so pin a rose on his nose, I guess.
- The Steiner Brothers: Not too long ago, a rumor came out that this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony might be different than previous editions, with not every inductee getting a chance to give a speech. The possible reason given was that the show only has a certain amount of time, and a huge chunk of that time will be dedicated to The Undertaker’s induction. That makes sense, but now we know the REAL reason for a possible chance. The company is piss-your-pants terrified of giving Scott Steiner a live microphone after years and years of him having some pretty harsh words about the company and a lot of the people involved in it. In all seriousness, congratulations to one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the business.
- LA Knight & MSK vs Imperium: I’m still not sure how or why we’re getting a feud between LA Knight and Gunther, but hey, at least this was a fun match.
- The Hardys, Sting & Darby Allin vs The Butcher, The Blade & Private Party: Matt Hardy has wrestled like a 65-year-old man for the last decade. Sting is a 63-year-old man who is moving better than he has in a decade. The Butcher is a 44-year-old man who is putting on some of the best matches of his career. Jeff Hardy is a 44-year-old man who has never looked or wrestled like his age indicates, but this match let some of that age creep in. Maybe it was nerves, or maybe just an “off” night, but this wasn’t his best performance. Yeah, he had a vintage spot where he got to jump off of something really high and crash through a table, but I’m hoping for more out of him in AEW after some uninspired booking in WWE pushed him down the card a ton.
This Week’s Playlist: “REMIX” by Daddy Yankee… “PASATIEMPO” by Daddy Yankee & Myke Towers… “UNO QUITAO Y OTRO PUESTO” by Daddy Yankee… “AGUA” by Daddy Yankee, Rauw Alejandro & Nile Rodgers… “LA OLA” by Daddy Yankee… “Monkey Wrench” by Foo Fighters… “Wind Up” by Foo Fighters… “My Hero” by Foo Fighters… “Enough Space” by Foo Fighters… “Everlong” by Foo Fighters… “Walking After You” by Foo Fighters… “New Way Home” by Foo Fighters… “The Colour And The Shape” by Foo Fighters… “Learn To Fly” by Foo Fighters… “Gimme Stitches” by Foo Fighters… “Best Of You” by Foo Fighters… “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters… “Walk” by Foo Fighters… “No Love” by Summer Walker, SZA & Cardi B… “Sinner” by Ekoh, Rittz & Merkules… “Sigue” by J Balvin & Ed Sheeran… “Nothing In This World” by KeKe Wyatt & Avant… “I Feel For You” by Chaka Khan… “Through The Fire” by Chaka Khan… “Ain’t Nobody” by Rufus & Chaka Khan… “You Are The Reason” by Calum Scott… “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi… “Man Of The Year” by ScHoolboy Q… “Can’t Help But Wait” by Trey Songz… “I’m Bad” by LL Cool J