Wrestlemania Predictions (It's never too early)

[goodhelmet]

I posted this at DVDVR so I thought I would bring it here as well. Once we know the final card, we'll close this out and do an actual predictions folder. In the meantime, lets predict the card and the winners. I am not fantasy booking here. This is how I really think things will turn out, not how I want them to turn out.

 

Pre-Show Match - Sheamus, Kofi Kingston & Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian, Alberto Del Rio & Bad News Barrett

Big E vs. Cesaro (I think Cesaro beats Ambrose due to some screwy Shield mishap on a SD! to get the US TItle) - Big E unifies belts when Swagger cost Cesaro the match

Rusev vs. Mark Henry (or Big Show depending on who is hurt)

Rowan & Harper vs. New Age Outlaws vs. Goldust & Cody vs. Usos - Usos get their big win

Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose (w/ Seth Rollins as guest referee) - Reigns loses because of Rollins

Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena - Cena pins Wyatt after both Wyatts interfere

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar - Taker's streak continues

Daniel Bryan vs. HHH (No title shot for DB) - The Game pins DB but DB gets the pop back post-match

AJ vs. Funkadactyl - AJ Loses

Batista vs. Orton - Batista wins WM anyway

EDIT: No Punk at Mania

[Grimmas]

Here we go,

 

Pre-Show: Battle Royale with everybody else

1. Bryan wins he gets title shot, Triple H wins Bryan shaves: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H

2. WWE Tag Titles: New Age Outlaws © vs. Usos vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes

3. Christian vs. Sheamus

4. US-IC Title Unification Ladder Match: Big E © vs. Dean Ambrose © vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger

5. Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena

6. Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Tamina

7. Street Fight: Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
8. WWE World Heavyweight Title: Randy Orton © vs. Dave Batista vs. Daniel Bryan

[Fantastic]

- Assumes Punk IS returning:

- Assumes Roman Reigns wins the Intercontinental Championship prior to Mania

 

Pre Show: Goldust wins a Battle Royale, where the winner is given a chance to face anybody on the main card who isn't already booked, he chooses Cody (naturally)

1. Elimination Tag Team Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships: New Age Outlaws © vs. The Usos vs. Rowan & Harper vs. Goldust and Cody Rhodes

2. Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust

3. US and Intercontinental Championship Unification Match: Roman Reigns © vs. Dean Ambrose © (Rollins sides with

and helps Ambrose win and thus Reigns turns face)

4. Wrestlemania XXX Anniversary Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E. vs. Christian vs. Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins vs. Fandango vs. Ryback vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Sin Cara

5. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker

 

6. Winner Gets to Referee The Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan match: Kane vs. Big Show

7. Some Gimmick Match where No DQ is in play: John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

8.Street Fight: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H w/ Kane as Special Guest Referee (if Daniel Bryan wins, he'll get a future title shot, if he loses, he's gone for good) (Hogan appears, somehow convinces Kane to do the right thing when Daniel Bryan has Triple H's number, and Kane begins face turn #1929 and they all do the Yes! chant together afterwards)

9 . WWE World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton ©

[goodhelmet]

Is there word they will do a ladder match on this year's Mania? Both you and Grimmas have a ladder match on your card.

 

Also, it never occurred to me that Big E would lose the belt prior to Mania but it makes perfect sense now.

[Dylan Waco]

I have assumed it will be Cesaro v. Swagger for the I-C belt since last weeks Raw. I think Sheamus will team with Big E against Christian and Del Rio.

[Stiva]

If Punk shows up tonight, I'll go with this:

 

0 - Pre Show Battle Royale - I dunno, this is a crap shoot. Rey? Goldust? Titus O'Neill?

 

Hogan open where he makes HHH/Bryan No DQ

 

1. Usos over New Age Outlaws for the tag titles and their big win

 

2. Sheamus over Christian

 

3. Cesaro over Reigns to unify the IC and US Titles --- Reigns beats Ambrose for the US Title to further Shield break-up, Ambrose costs him this, Rollins cries a bit

 

4. Cena beats Wyatt after they try the sneak attack thing again but Cena wises up. Cena wins the match but they lay him out afterward

 

5. Tamina over AJ

 

6. Bryan over HHH with possibly some Hogan and Kane shenanigans. Hogan and Bryan yes it up.

 

7. Taker over Lesnar

 

8. Batista over Orton and Punk.

 

-----

 

I think your Shield break-up matches should really be happening at Extreme Rules and beyond and I think they'll take that route with the Bryan title win. I think Punk will finally take his time off after they appease him with the main event and I expect Cena will probably want to put Wyatt over but they'll go with that instead. I didn't even think of Rusev getting a spot but I'd guess they save the Henry stuff before they feed him to Cena/Bryan/Cesaro/whatever babyface is holding a singles title.

[goodhelmet]

OK, I think by Mania, Emma is contending for the Divas title pissing off a lot of the Divas in the back.

[Timbo Slice]

Well, if any of the other Divas were remotely over...

[Grimmas]

Is there word they will do a ladder match on this year's Mania? Both you and Grimmas have a ladder match on your card.

 

Also, it never occurred to me that Big E would lose the belt prior to Mania but it makes perfect sense now.

 

Not that I am aware of, it's just something that they tend to do to unify titles or to fill out spots at Mania.

[goodhelmet]

OK, no Punk in the main event... Batista still wins. HHH still wins.

[flyonthewall2983]

Bryan has to beat HHH to get into the main event. No way two heels are going to headline.

[El-P]

I know these are only predictions, although the few big main event matches are pretty much locks, but is it me or WM 30 seems a lot less of a big deal than WM 20 and 10 were in their respective times ?

 

And really, there's nothing on top that is particulary exciting or intriguing to me. Lesnar vs Taker is the biggest match on the card to me, and I've been bored by the streak gimmick for ever, not to mention Taker's matches have been ridiculously overrated for years, from the good matches against Michaels to the abomination that was the cage match with HHH. Could be cool with Lesnar involved, but I really wonder what can Taker do at this point. And should it be his farewell match (which to me seems like a muhc bigger selling point than anything else on the card) ?

 

Orton vs Batista is just a nothing main-event, and it looks dated as all hell too.

 

And then there's Bryan, who should be in the main event and win it, but instead goes against HHH, who already bored me senseless by 2001. Cena vs Wyatt is just a WTF match to me. May be decent, but it seems like a complete throwaway.

 

Hogan as a host is a sad state of affair judging by his appearance on RAW, and he doesn't even seem like a big deal anymore (nor should he, we're in 2014 for fuck's sake). The excitement I felt with the comeback of the Rock two years ago is long gone, and this top of the card looks horribly dull to me.

[Fantastic]

Well I guess I was off. I can imagine them playing it incredibly safe and not really going for anything all that special. I'm just assuming a multi-man ladder match of some description, to get as many secondary players involved as possible.

[peachchaos]

Undertaker, Batista, Cena, Reigns and Triple H all go over.

 

I really hope we get a Sheild-Wyatts doubles tag and a Cesaro-Sheamus slugfest.

 

Usos defend on the pre-show. AJ drops her title. Big E will be there.

 

Couldn't be less excited.

[Guest The Jiz]

I know these are only predictions, although the few big main event matches are pretty much locks, but is it me or WM 30 seems a lot less of a big deal than WM 20 and 10 were in their respective times ?

 

And really, there's nothing on top that is particulary exciting or intriguing to me. Lesnar vs Taker is the biggest match on the card to me, and I've been bored by the streak gimmick for ever, not to mention Taker's matches have been ridiculously overrated for years, from the good matches against Michaels to the abomination that was the cage match with HHH. Could be cool with Lesnar involved, but I really wonder what can Taker do at this point. And should it be his farewell match (which to me seems like a muhc bigger selling point than anything else on the card) ?

 

Orton vs Batista is just a nothing main-event, and it looks dated as all hell too.

 

And then there's Bryan, who should be in the main event and win it, but instead goes against HHH, who already bored me senseless by 2001. Cena vs Wyatt is just a WTF match to me. May be decent, but it seems like a complete throwaway.

 

Hogan as a host is a sad state of affair judging by his appearance on RAW, and he doesn't even seem like a big deal anymore (nor should he, we're in 2014 for fuck's sake). The excitement I felt with the comeback of the Rock two years ago is long gone, and this top of the card looks horribly dull to me.

 

I have similar sentiments, though I do think WWE could be hitting on something big with the recent surge of talent. This year's Wrestlemania will decide whether WWE wants to revert to status quo antebellum or to actually shake things up with real changes. Wyatt is a cool character, and the point of his match against Cena should be to turn it to a 20 minute war where Cena barely escapes with a victory.

[Loss]

There is no reason for Cena to win that match. They need more top heels, so I think Bray goes over.

[Guest The Jiz]

There is no reason for Cena to win that match. They need more top heels, so I think Bray goes over.

 

True, but do you think Wyatt has sufficient credibility by this point to go over convincingly? Sometimes, it's just best to show he can hang and do a rematch down the road.

[Loss]

Credibility is obtained through winning. If they had more strong heels, maybe I would think Cena going over would be more likely.

[Guest The Jiz]

Credibility is obtained through winning. If they had more strong heels, maybe I would think Cena going over would be more likely.

 

Austin became the top dog of WWF in 1997 despite never having beaten Bret Hart or any other top guy. Austin was booked as a guy who could fight top dogs despite being a notch or two below. The biggest win Austin had before Wrestlemania XIII was maybe against HHH or Marc Mero, both of whom were below Goldust, who he himself wasn't near elite status. I just think they should draw this out rather than rush it. Wyatt has only been around for around 8 months.

[Loss]

I actually think they are setting up a Wrestlemania where with the exception of Undertaker, every single established star loses. They have been pushing that fans are ready for a change on commentary pretty hard.

 

With Cena and Bryan as top babyfaces and Reigns and Cesaro soon to turn and join them, that pretty much leaves Batista and Bray Wyatt to carry the heel load by themselves.

 

Yes, Orton will be featured to an extent. He always is. But there's literally nothing left for him to do after Wrestlemania. I have no idea what they'll do with him.

 

I wonder if Ambrose is going to get a little more shove too.

[Loss]

I get that he's fairly new, but what is your response to the issue of needing strong heels post-Wrestlemania? They are very babyface-heavy right now.

[Guest The Jiz]

I get that he's fairly new, but what is your response to the issue of needing strong heels post-Wrestlemania? They are very babyface-heavy right now.

 

That sounds strategically reasonable. I don't watch frequently enough to notice the disparities. Besides, I thought WWE was getting away from the face-heel dynamic, which would benefit the company if it allows for more in-ring variation so the psychology of those matches can be executed more soundly. Do you think Sheamus could work as an Authority heel? He'd be a great foil for a sympathetic babyface.

 

For your other comment, I think there's a good chance Undertaker will lose, especially since the company seems intent on transitioning into this Network phase where selling points like being undefeated won't matter as much.

 

It looks like they're going to keep the Shield as a tag team, with Rollins being out. I don't understand the move though since the company seemed more behind Roman Reigns. Strategically, it's important for WWE to not push too many new guys since the result will be potential talent getting lost in the midcard.

 

One thing I like about current WWE is the card looks stacked from top to bottom, which is in great contrast to the last two years in particular where the undercard was full of childish acts like Santino and Brodus Clay. Santino is funny, but he's not a guy who should be on PPV if WWE is intent on marketing itself as a sport. Since most of the viewer are adults, it's necessary that the company doesn't make viewers feel embarrassed by watching their shows.

[Loss]

They say there are no babyfaces and heels, but that's just talk. There are still clear babyfaces and heels in the company. Last night's RAW proves that more than anything else I can point to.

 

No way Undertaker loses. He's never going to lose. Ever. I do think he may do a job at some point, but he'll end up wrestling an extra match on a show like Summerslam and do it there so the streak stays intact. If he was going to lose, it would also be to someone like Cena, not Brock.

[Fantastic]

No way Undertaker loses. He's never going to lose. Ever. I do think he may do a job at some point, but he'll end up wrestling an extra match on a show like Summerslam and do it there so the streak stays intact. If he was going to lose, it would also be to someone like Cena, not Brock.

 

Agreed, the streak is never ending.

 

I personally believe they are aiming to take it to 25-0, so they can increase the mysticism of The Undertaker by having him retire undefeated at Wrestlemania, having defended a streak that totals a quarter of a century.

 

Hypothetically, if he continues to wrestle only one or two times per year, only gets in the ring with reasonably safe workers (or rehearses matches for a number of weeks with the more physical wrestlers like Lesnar), limits his high spots, and keeps healthy outside of the ring, then they could pull this off quite easily.

[Loss]

I will say Undertaker is fragile at this point. The Shield took care of him on that spot last summer and he still got hurt from it. But that was a silly spot to try anyway.