The road to WrestleMania is on fire with the pile of superstars returning to SmackDown and Raw not to mention the NXT call ups. These are exciting times for the WWE with so many potential story lines, feuds and matches to be rumored. Yes, there is a huge roster of superstars and all of them would love to be at WrestleMania so no one knows exactly how things will go down. That’s been the selling point of the event in recent times with the WWE looking for crowd pop ups. However, building a feud and story telling sells better than surprise returns. A good balance is what we can hope for and superstars tearing the house down. Plus, we saw the return of Roman Reigns announcing his remission from Leukemia. Time will tell what role he plays at WrestleMania but we know he will be there to lure in more attendance and sell merchandise.
The following matches are projected based on current story lines and rumors but have not been officially announced at this time.
WWE Championship — Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens
WWE stumbled onto something special in the story of Kingston vying to the world title he hasn’t been able to claim in 12 years on the main roster. After the performance Kingston put on at Elimination Chamber in just coming up short against Bryan at the end coupled with the crowd reactions he was receiving, this is the right move to make for the WWE title match at the show of shows. However, the expected but surprise return of Kevin Owens makes things a bit strange with potentially two baby faces in the title mix. We could see the mix reactions from the crowd as Vince McMahon announced Kofi would not be at Fastlane and replaced with Owens. Sure, Kevin Owens is undoubtedly one of the best performers but the timing of his return with Kofi on the rise is something that could add some spice to the situation.
Triple H vs. Batista
With Batista’s return and subsequent attack on Ric Flair to ruin his mentor’s 70th birthday celebration which he followed up by calling out Triple H, the feature match seems to be in the cards. This is the final WrestleMania match Batista has always wanted, and now we’ll see it come to fruition.
SmackDown Women’s Championship — Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose
Flair being Asuka’s opponent was a distinct possibility for a second straight year. Instead, we are left without a true challenger for the title considering both Lynch and Flair will be involved with Rousey. It looks like WWE is planning to elevate Rose into that spot, and in doing so, make a new star.
Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match — Finn Balor (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Elias vs. Dean Ambrose
We expected Balor to lose to Lashley, or win via disqualification, setting up this match at ‘Mania. Instead, Balor has already won the title and Lashley should be looking for retribution. There are plenty of others on the Raw side who could also contend — Elias, Drew McIntyre just to name two — and WWE could also go with a multi-man match or ladder match.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – The Usos (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. McMiz:
With Matt Hardy making a surprise return to SmackDown alongside his brother — and the duo immediately beating The Bar — it appears obvious that they will challenge for the titles at ‘Mania. The Usos have to get through Shane McMahon & The Miz first, but that should be expected. We expect McMiz to retain the titles before WrestleMania so we could see a triple threat tag team match.
John Cena vs. Drew McIntyre
While this reportedly was not the planned opponent for Cena on the grandest stage, it was explained that McIntyre was the one who removed Cena from the Royal Rumble match by injuring his ankle after a recent Raw went off the air. When his Hollywood obligations end, Cena will be back for his revenge and McIntyre should earn a huge win at WrestleMania.
