Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale:
If Braun Strowman doesn’t get a match for mania tonight, which I doubt he will, then I expect him to show up in this and walk away with it. Guessing Sami ends up in this match too?
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson © Vs Sheamus & Cesaro Vs Enzo & Cass for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship:
I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about any of these teams. I liked Enzo and Cass when they first arrived, but their shtick has already worn on me a bit. Cesaro is awesome, but I can’s say I care about him all that much now that the unlikely tag team has more or less become just a regular tag team. Liked Gallows and Anderson a lot more when they were in Bullet Club.
Only way I likely wind up caring about this match is if Finn Balor returns, helps Gallows and Anderson steal a win, and reforms The Club right there and then. I dunno, that seems more like a “Raw after Mania” kind of thing though.
Nevile © Vs Austin Aries for the WWE Cruserweight Championship:
This is probably the first time I’ve cared about the revamped Cruiserweight division since it launched. I’m really starting to enjoy Nevile as a heel and Aries is just awesome. Hope they let this one go a bit long, as I think both of these guys are capable of putting on a high caliber, not-so-spot-driven match. There will be spots, sure, but this one still has potential to be more.
Bayley © Vs Charlotte Vs Sasha Banks Vs Nia Jax for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship:
I like Jax, but I’m not entirely certain why she’s in this match other than to give the Raw women’s side numbers in comparison to the Smackdown side, I guess? I’m calling it right now, Sasha wins either by outright turning on Bayley or sort of turning on her.
Either way, this should be a good match. Three of the women can definitely go and Jax seems like an intriguing wildcard, if nothing else.
Alexa Bliss © Vs every women on the Smackdown Roster, stipulation TBC:
This has clusterfu** written all over it. Unless there’s some crazy sort of interference from, I dunno, Emma, or perhaps, if they want a bigger splash, Asuka, I could see either Alexa retaining or maybe Becky winning.
Personally, I think the Smackdown women’s side could use Asuka, as Alexa and Becky are really the only ones that scream championship material, at least at the moment.
Shane McMahon Vs AJ Styles:
What a waste. I like Shane and his ability to take some crazy risks in the ring, but that doesn’t really equate to having a top shelf match overall, especially with someone capable of putting on a show stealing performance. So what’s the point exactly?
I would’ve loved it if AJ had faced off against Nakamura or Roode, but I guess NXT needs their big show too.
Undertaker Vs Roman Reigns:
Roman needs a full, mustache twirling, heel turn in this match. He needs a sneaky, underhanded win that pulls Taker in to a feud or pulls someone else in to a feud with him that can carry on for a few months until Taker returns and beats him at Summer Slam. That’s my hope.
If they just have Roman go over on him clean, like some sort of passing the torch BS, then WWE’s doing a terrible disservice to both guys. Not to get side tracked here, but I think Roman needs a group again. I think he should start a new, full on heel version of The Shield, preferably with someone that has mic skills.
Either way, this match, due both to Taker’s age and Roman’s tweener status, has the potential to be one of the worst matches of the night, especially if the ending deflates the whole stadium.
John Cena & Nikki Bella Vs The Miz & Maryse:
This should be a fun one. I hate to say it, but it’s kinda nice seeing Cena in a non-title match and this feud has been fun. While I hope Miz and Maryse win just for the fun of it, I could see this being a “Cena wins and proposes to Nikki” kind of thing.
Who knows, either way, this is a good filler match, especially if it does wind up going on after Taker / Roman. The crowd will likely be flat if Roman wins, but I think that these four can reengage the audience over the course of the match.
Chris Jericho © Vs Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship:
Definitely looking forward to this one. Jericho just keeps getting better, more engaging, and more fun to watch as he gets older, while Owens is always great. I could see either of them winning, so that makes it fun in and of itself. Jericho gets the WM good guy win, or Owens gets the younger guy enhancement.
Either way, I’m looking forward to it.
Dean Ambrose © Vs Baron Corbin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship:
Not really a Corbin fan, so this one’s kind of a bathroom break match for me. Ambrose seems kinda mired in the middle right now, which sucks because I think he has more potential than that. I think they kinda need to tweak his character a bit. The “crazy / edgy” guy thing just seems to be kinda fizzling out now, but maybe that’s just me.
Either way, I’m guessing Ambrose wins, if for no other reason that to give a good guy a W.
Goldberg © Vs Brock Lesnar (With Paul Heyman) for the WWE Universal Championship:
I don’t think that this will be a squash match. I think that this will be a long match where both guys put everything they have in to it. Not super long, but maybe ten minutes, which is probably pretty long for either of these guys.
I almost have to think that Brock has to win, otherwise his whole beast aura /shtick is sorta gone, but who knows. Obviously, this has worst match of the night potential, but something tells me it ends up being better than expected. Not “good.” But better than a 30 second spear/jackhammer.
Bray Wyatt © Vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship:
Looking forward to this one. They’ve done a really good job with Orton over the last several months and Wyatt seems to be rejuvenated. I’m curious if this one will go down clean or if there will be some sort of interference / otherworldly / Sister Abigail stuff.
I don’t think they need any outside stuff for this match and I kinda hope they just let them go, but also REALLY hope that Wyatt retains. He’s a great performer with a great character and Randy’s had the belt tons of times. Let this be the match that sort of solidifies Wyatt as a top tier, main event talent. I think he’s earned that.
HHH Vs Seth Rollins in an unsanctioned match:
This whole unsanctioned thing screams nonstop interference. I don’t know if this blows up in to an Authority vs those on Raw that hate HHH / Stephanie type of deal, like maybe Sami and Joe play a role in this match, but I’m guessing this isn’t a quality “match,” but rather a way of either bringing in a new talent, bringing up an NXT talent, or starting some new war or whatever.
If not, then this will just be a beat down with interference and ya know, whatever. That’s fine, I guess. Sucks that Rollins seems injured to the point where they can’t do a regular match.
I always notice that I’m not really in to a card when I’m actually hoping for interference or new talent or general shenanigans to happen, so yeah, can’t say I’m all that psyched for this.
The battle royal, the raw tag match, the Smackdown womens title, Shane / AJ, Taker / Reigns, Ambrose / Corbin, Goldberg / Lesner… There’s a lot on this card that could underperform.
Seems kinda crazy that there’s no ladder matches. I feel like the Raw tag title match could use that for some added spice. Maybe that’ll happen tonight?
Also, I haven’t watched Smackdown much recently, is there seriously no Smackdown tag title match happening at mania? Seems like an odd omission.
