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WrestleMania 34, the biggest WWE event of the year, emanates from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday.
A total of 13 matches have been announced for the annual extravaganza, with the Universal title match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns expected to feature last on the card.
The event will also see Ronda Rousey make her WWE in-ring debut, teaming up with Kurt Angle to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, while Daniel Bryan will return to the ring for the first time in almost three years to team with Shane McMahon against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE title) and Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (SmackDown Women’s title) are also among the featured matches, while there are still question marks about whether John Cena vs. The Undertaker will even take place.
In this article, we run through the card and predict the outcome of every match.
#1 Kickoff: Mustafa Ali vs. Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Championship)
Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander are arguably the best in-ring performers in the cruiserweight division and they will be looking to seriously rival the likes of AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for Match of the Night at WrestleMania.
Cedric has been involved in the Cruiserweight Championship picture a lot longer than Ali and looked set to win the title from Enzo Amore before their match at the Royal Rumble was cancelled. For that reason, let’s go with a win for “The Entertainer”.
Prediction: Cedric Alexander wins
#2 Kickoff: Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
If either Samoa Joe or Big Cass are cleared to make their return in the Battle Royal, then they’ll immediately be among the leading contenders to win. However, their statuses remain unclear at the time of writing, so let’s play it safe and go for one man who is guaranteed to be in the match: Dolph Ziggler.
“The Showoff” hasn’t had as much television time as fans would have expected after signing his new deal earlier this year, so perhaps a win in New Orleans could kick-start a meaningful storyline for him after WrestleMania.
Prediction: Dolph Ziggler wins
#3 Kickoff: WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
The extra spaces in the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble were largely taken up by legends from WWE’s past, with only Kairi Sane and Ember Moon featuring from NXT, so we can expect to see a lot more NXT representation in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
That being said, the current frontrunners appear to be main-roster stalwarts Becky Lynch and Bayley. After a relatively uneventful 12 months, will Becky win to propel her way back to the top of the women’s division? Or will Bayley outlast them all, finally getting revenge on Sasha Banks in the process? Let’s go for the latter.
Prediction: Bayley wins
#4 Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax (Raw Women’s Championship)
There’s only one winner here, isn’t there? Alexa Bliss has been Raw Women’s champion for 47 of the last 48 weeks, while former best friend Nia Jax is yet to hold a title in either NXT or WWE and is long overdue a championship reign.
Alexa has been an entertaining champion but WrestleMania 34 will be Nia’s time to shine. The only question, as we speculated in our five potential finishes to this match, is whether Carmella will attempt to cash in her Money In The Bank contract (yep, we know she’s on SmackDown Live!).
Prediction: Nia Jax wins
#5 The Usos vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers (Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
Harper and Rowan are undefeated since returning to action as the destructive Bludgeon Brothers in November 2017, and it was their brutal attack on The Usos and The New Day at Fastlane that set this match up in the first place.
It’s crazy to think that the former Wyatt Family members have never held the tag titles together on the main roster, but that will surely change on Sunday.
Prediction: Bludgeon Brothers win
#6 Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
Many fans seem to think this is an obvious win for Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. While that could quite easily happen, giving the crowd a feel-good moment on D-Bry’s return, there’s also a chance that Shane could betray Bryan and allow Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens to get the win.
Granted, that might not make the most sense because Shane has more problems with Zayn and Owens than he does with Bryan, but WWE likes to throw surprises our way at WrestleMania, so you just never know!
Prediction: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens win
#7 Randy Orton vs. Rusev vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal (United States Championship)
Now, the obvious winner of this Fatal 4-Way for the United States title is Rusev, but a recent report from PW Insider suggested that “The Bulgarian Brute” recently asked for his release and that may be the only reason why he was suddenly added to this match.
If that really was the case, did WWE add him to the match just to get him on the main card? Or did they do it with the intention of making him the US champion? For the sake of Rusev Day, let’s hope it was the latter.
Prediction: Rusev wins
#8 The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Championship)
This is the most unpredictable match of the night. The Miz has been racking up Intercontinental title reigns for fun over the last couple of years, so another loss here wouldn’t hurt, but then it’s tough to choose between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins.
If Roman Reigns wins the Universal title, then Rollins will surely be among his first challengers. The two Shield members have some unfinished business from earlier in the year and Rollins has built up a ton of momentum in 2018, so he'd easily slot into a world title storyline post-WrestleMania. For that reason, let's go with Balor.
Prediction: Finn Balor wins
#9 The Bar vs. Braun Strowman & TBC (Raw Tag Team Championships)
If Braun Strowman was facing The Bar in a handicap match, we’d be going for a Strowman win. Now that he has to face them in a tag match, we’re definitely going for a Strowman win.
As for his partner, the likes of Big Show and Elias have been mentioned, but Samoa Joe looks to be the leading contender (if he’s not in the Battle Royal) after he was advertised for the 16 April episode of Raw.
Prediction: Braun Strowman & TBC win
#10 Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
There will never be a bigger WrestleMania surprise in New Orleans than ‘The Streak’ being broken by Brock Lesnar four years ago, but Asuka losing her undefeated record against Charlotte Flair (or possibly Carmella) would definitely be second on the list.
“The Empress of Tomorrow” has won every match she’s competed in during her two-and-a-half years in NXT and WWE, and (as crazy as it might sound) it still feels too early to end her historic winning run.
Prediction: Asuka wins
#11 AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Championship)
Two of the best in-ring performers of their generation will battle it out when WWE champion AJ Styles and Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura meet in one of the most-anticipated matches of the night at WrestleMania 34.
It feels like fans really don’t mind who wins – they just want to see the match – but for the simple reason that his current WWE title reign hasn't yet been quite as “phenomenal” as the man himself, let’s pick Styles to retain.
Prediction: AJ Styles wins
#12 Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey simply have to win, don’t they? The Olympic duo are the overwhelming favourites against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, with Ronda almost certain to start life as a WWE Superstar with a high-profile WrestleMania victory.
Expect the match to end with Stephanie tapping out to a Ronda armbar, possibly with HHH tapping out to Kurt’s ankle lock at the same time.
Prediction: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey win
#13 Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship)
Every Paul Heyman comment, every Dana White comment and every Roman Reigns comment seems to suggest that Brock Lesnar will leave WWE immediately after WrestleMania 34, so we’re not going to believe any different.
Outside of a possible Reigns-Paul Heyman alliance, the biggest question surrounding this match isn’t whether Reigns will win, it’s whether it will go on last. If it does, then “The Big Dog” will have headlined WrestleMania four years in a row – something only Hulk Hogan has ever done before.
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins
#14 The Undertaker vs. John Cena (yet to be announced)
Depending on whom you believe, The Undertaker vs. John Cena will either definitely take place at WrestleMania 34, despite not being announced yet, or there might just be a confrontation between the two men to set up a match further down the line. Either way, WWE has played this storyline amazingly well and it’ll be fascinating to see what happens.
As for a prediction, let’s combine the two rumours that are currently out there and guess that the match goes ahead, with Undertaker shocking Cena with a quick victory, which then sets up another match in a few months.
Prediction: The match happens and Undertaker wins
