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WrestleMania 35 is almost upon us. The Show of Shows comes across as a very promising pay-per-view, with many spectacular matches set to take place at the show. AJ Styles vs Randy Orton is sure to be a match of the night contender, while Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre is sure to be an explosive match.
Not only these, but the prospect of having amazing matches like Shane McMahon vs The Miz and Triple H vs Batista is definitely going to make this year’s flagship event one to remember.
While many dream feuds are set to come to a head at WrestleMania 35, a heavily stacked and talented roster makes sure that WWE has many excellent rivalries at their disposal. So, without further ado, let us take a look at the amazing feuds that WWE needs to book this year:
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#5 Samoa Joe vs John Cena
I’m sure we all are waiting for this rivalry to take place in WWE. These two men are exact polar opposites of each other. One speaks about giving it all for his fans and about never giving up while the other doesn’t hesitate to get into his opponent’s head and dominate them with his utter brutality. John Cena is the true definition of a babyface in WWE, while Samoa Joe is the embodiment of the sadistic heels that are rare these days.
Both men are excellent talkers and can hold their own in the ring. While Cena has often been criticized for having a limited move set, he has proved that he can pull off quite interesting maneuvers in big matches like the dropkick off the top rope and the Springboard Stunner. Samoa Joe, on the other hand, is very agile for his size. Joe’s work in TNA, as well as NXT, has proved why the Samoan Submission Machine should be made an integral part of the brand he’s on.
While his agility has decreased a lot in recent years, he can still pull off quite a few suicide dives in each match he performs. His striking style too has been appreciated a lot by the fans. While he has not been utilized properly on the main roster, one should remember that big superstars of the company, like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles have been put to sleep by Samoa Joe’s Coquina Clutch. In fact, Joe is the only superstar to have defeated Finn Balor’s ‘Demon King’ persona (defeating him in NXT) and was the first ever two-time NXT champion.
Also, Joe’s Muscle Buster is one of the most protected moves in the WWE. While he hasn’t used the move lately, he has made it clear that he’ll bring the move out if and when he feels the need to do so. Joe’s US Title win may be a sign of better things for him and the US title. It is rumored that Joe is going to retain his title against Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 35, before reigniting his rivalry with AJ Styles. In order to bring back prestige to the US Title, Joe needs to retain his title against The Phenomenal One.
Post that, a feud with John Cena is surely going to help in bringing more attention towards the US Title and Samoa Joe. Given John Cena’s history with the US Title, it makes sense for both men to fight with the title on the line. The basis of the feud will be very simple. John Cena would bring out the fact that he made the US Title important by issuing open challenges and giving an opportunity to new superstars. He would also claim that Joe’s unfair ways of retaining the title have only tainted the US Championship.
Joe, on the other hand, could refer to how Cena betrayed WWE for his Hollywood career and has failed, causing him to make his return to WWE. Such a high profile mid-card is exactly what the doctor ordered for the US Title SmackDown Live before the blue brand moves over to the FOX network. The Franchise Player vs The Right Hand of Destruction – I smell a lot of money. Do you, WWE?
#4 Daniel Bryan vs The Miz
I know that this rivalry has already taken place in 2018. But, things have changed a lot since then. Daniel Bryan shockingly turned heel at the go-home episode of SmackDown Live for Survivor Series 2018, winning the WWE Championship in the process. His gimmick of being ‘The Planet’s Champion’, which was initially thought of as an uninteresting gimmick, has turned out to be a big success because for the flying GOAT.
His in-ring abilities are second to none and the man has gone on from being the most-loved face to becoming the most-hated heel of the industry. On the other hand, The Miz, who was acclaimed to be one of the few natural heels left in WWE, has seemingly turned into a loveable face. The Miz’s initial run as a face was a complete flop to say in the least, but that was almost a decade ago.
While working as a heel, Miz has not only improved in the ring, but is now one of the best talkers of the wrestling industry. Credit needs to be given to WWE for the way they paired Miz with Shane McMahon and involved Mr. Miz (Miz’s dad) in the storyline. A feud which people were opposing a few months back has now got everyone talking. I have already mentioned why Kofi Kingston is not winning the WWE Title at WrestleMania 35.
Even if he does, I seriously think that WWE would have enough time to re-build Bryan again as a top heel, allowing the two to collide at the SummerSlam PPV. While the two men have a long history with each other and have fought each other several times, it was always with The Miz as the heel and Bryan as the face. With the dynamics switched around, this rivalry will surely seem fresh. Both men seem to have settled in their new roles perfectly and the promos delivered by the men in their new gimmicks have been truly phenomenal.
While WWE tried this rivalry during SummerSlam 2018, the feud was truly underwhelming and was way too stretched. WWE does have a chance of correcting it by properly booking this feud for this year’s SummerSlam. Be it with or without the WWE Championship on line, WWE needs to give Miz the big win here. This would eventually make Miz the WWE Champion or set him up for a title shot, something which the A-Lister has earned over the last few years.
Also, there is just too much history between the two men for this feud to not happen. Remember how Bryan replaced Miz in team WWE to fight Nexus at SummerSlam or the fiery promo between Miz and Bryan at Talking Smack in 2016? While fans may complain of seeing Bryan vs Miz way too many times in 2018, they surely haven’t seen The Miz and the ‘New’ Daniel Bryan mix it in the ring. This feud for sure would be AWESOME!
#3 AJ Styles vs Drew McIntyre
My colleagues at Sportskeeda have already explained why AJ Styles should to move over to RAW at this year’s Superstar Shakeup. However, with new plans emerging of revisiting the Joe/Styles rivalry, Styles’ move to the red brand may be scrapped. We could instead see Styles’ WrestleMania opponent, Randy Orton, move to RAW. With SD Live short of a top-level heel and WWE intending on bringing their top talents to the blue brand before moving over to the FOX network, we may see Drew McIntyre making it to the land of opportunity.
Drew McIntyre has been booked very strong since his re-debut on the main roster. He has rarely lost any match clean and has single-handedly dismantled The Shield in two weeks. He may even get a clean win over the Big Dog Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35. Post that, a highly athletic feud between the Scottish Psychopath and AJ Styles is sure to tear the house down. One may argue that Drew should go on to challenge Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship post-Mania, we all know that WWE won’t cut the Architect’s reign this short.
McIntyre’s booking has seen quite ups and downs recently, and losing to Rollins is only going to harm the former Intercontinental Champion. Instead, after getting a decisive win over Roman Reigns, the Scottish Psychopath should move over to SmackDown and start dominating each and every other superstar present on the brand. This would lead to the Phenomenal One stepping up against Drew McIntyre to protect the ‘house that AJ Styles built’.
We all know that AJ Styles was the one who carried TNA on his shoulders for over a decade, before impressing everyone with his performance in New Japan. The former Bullet Club leader is already a 2-time WWE Champion and a 2-time US Champion. These accolades are enough to prove that WWE views Styles as a main event talent. On the other hand, Drew McIntyre had always been liked by the WWE, with this being the reason for him being crowned the IC Champion in his first run with the company.
However, Drew didn’t appeal to the fans a lot, leading to him being released by the WWE. Post his release, McIntyre underwent a full body transformation and set the indie circuit on fire, before returning to NXT. Both men are extremely talented and their mic skills are superb. AJ Styles is known to work better with opponents bigger than him and it would certainly be awesome to see how the two men mix it up in the ring.
This match can headline any PPV, even WrestleMania. WWE needs to book McIntyre properly and give him a massive victory over AJ Styles, which would eventually lead to the Scottish Psychopath contending for either the WWE or Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.
#2 Finn Balor vs Daniel Bryan
This has been a long time coming. Many had predicted that it would perhaps be Finn Balor who would win the Royal Rumble and finally make the move over to SD Live in order to challenge Daniel Bryan for the coveted WWE Championship. Finn Balor’s booking has seen more downs than ups and the Irish wrestler is in serious need of a reboot. Perhaps, a move to SmackDown Live may rejuvenate Finn Balor’s career.
Just look at the case of Sami Zayn. He was busy jobbing out to others on RAW before he was drafted to SmackDown Live in 2017. There, Zayn went heel and along with Kevin Owens got involved in a highly exciting rivalry, which led to him even getting a marquee tag team match at WrestleMania. It is still rumored that Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper are going to return and reunite with Rowan, acting as muscles of Daniel Bryan and thus forming the ‘Bryan family’.
The team is sure to dominate any brand they are on and they need to be involved in a rivalry with the best teams WWE can offer. With Dean Ambrose seemingly set to leave WWE after WrestleMania 35, we may never see The Shield reuniting again. In this case, finally reuniting The Club makes sense, as not only does it give us a solid team to fight the Bryan family, it also gives Gallows and Anderson the spotlight they have always deserved.
With Styles set to be out of the world title picture for some time now, this also serves as a meaningful storyline for him. Not to say at all, this benefits Finn Balor the most. When the Balor Club had reformed around RAW 25, Finn Balor’s stock had really risen. He was taken seriously and fans loved his pairing with the Good Brothers. Making these two teams feud against each other will also give us an interesting rivalry in the form of AJ Styles vs Bray Wyatt. The two men have never had a proper feud during their time on SmackDown and thus this rivalry would surely be accepted by the fans with open arms.
Even if the Bryan family/Club angle isn’t executed by the WWE, they do still have an amazing rivalry at their disposal here. Daniel Bryan, the planet warrior, will speak about how Finn Balor is just like the crowd, before cursing the audience for their malpractices as usual. He can also bring up the fact that Finn Balor loves to hide behind paint and call himself the Demon King.
Finn, on the other hand, can talk about how Daniel Bryan has betrayed the WWE Universe by turning on them and that he’s here to take revenge from Bryan on behalf of the fans. The odds will certainly be stacked against Balor, with Rowan being on Daniel Bryan’s side.
The two men have incredible talent and can certainly deliver a 5-star classic. Finn Balor’s agile offense against Daniel Bryan’s technical mastery is something that the fans cannot wait to watch. The involvement of the ‘Demon King’ persona is surely going to make an incredible storyline even better. In short, WWE needs to make this happen.
#1 Sting vs The Undertaker
Yes, I know that there is a possibility of The Undertaker not even fighting at WrestleMania this year and with the rumors circulating around that he has quietly parted ways with WWE, he may have even retired. But, according to reports, Undertaker is certainly scheduled to perform at the Saudi Arabia house show after WrestleMania. So, we can safely say that Undertaker hasn’t retired till now in the least.
Also, in a recent interview, Sting has stated that he is willing to come out of retirement for one match only, that being against The Undertaker. With Batista’s wish of facing Triple H coming true, we can surely see WWE bringing Sting back to WWE for a mega program against The Undertaker.
For those who don’t know………
Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW", Sting held a total of 15 championships in the promotion. Sting was often regarded as the Hogan of WCW. After WCW was taken over by the WWF/E, Sting decided to tour around the world, before joining the new upstart called Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Sting’s presence in the company was of such impact that the years 2003-2015 had been dubbed by the company as the Icon Era. Sting was the inaugural inductee of the TNA Hall of Fame as well.
We all know who The Undertaker is. Debuting at Survivor Series as ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase’s mystery partner, the Deadman went on to win 21 consecutive matches at WWE’s annual PPV, WrestleMania, with these series of wins often referred to as The Streak. Fighting Taker at WrestleMania was considered equal to competing for a World Championship at the said PPV.
The Phenom has had truly epic rivalries in his career, with his rivalry against Shawn Michaels and Triple H being termed as his best ones. Even though The Prince of Darkness has been in the wrestling business for over two decades, he has remained loyal to the WWE and played an important role in winning the Monday Night Wars against the now defunct WCW.
After Sting started donning the face paint with a spooky attire and gimmick, he was considered an equivalent to The Undertaker in the wrestling industry. While Sting did join the WWE in 2014, his first and only WrestleMania match came against Triple H, which saw the return of teams like NWO and D-Generation X.
Sting went on to lose that match, before making his return in September 2015 in order to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Icon suffered a real-life injury in the match, leading to Sting’s retirement and eventual Hall of Fame induction in 2016.
Can we really see this one happening?
The biggest problem with this match is the age of both the wrestlers. Both men are currently above the age of 50 and while Sting did have a great showing against Triple H at WrestleMania 31, one should remember that the match took place 4 years ago and that Sting has not wrestled since the last 4 years. Also, Undertaker too is not at the peak of his career and his performance at the Crown Jewel PPV did show signs of aging.
However, in August 2016, Sting appeared on the WWE Network show Legends with JBL and talked about his career. He also stated that he has still not undergone surgery, which would definitively end his career, and he still holds hope for a match with The Undertaker, claiming that such a match is his "unfinished business" in wrestling. This, linked to the recent reports stating the same, do tell that even at this stage, Sting really wants to fight The Undertaker once.
While the match may not be great and may last only a few minutes, the entrances of both the wrestlers and the prospect of seeing the two legends together inside the same ring is enough to sell the match. A no holds barred stipulation certainly helps. But, given the age of the two legends and the fact that Vince McMahon is not invested into this program, there’s less possibility of seeing the two legends fight each other.
So, here you have it. Which dream feuds would you like to see in 2019? Do drop in your valuable opinion in the comments box!
Vince Russo answers who killed WCW HERE
