The 30th annual Royal Rumble is done and dusted, and the winner is SmackDown Live’s Randy Orton, which means that the road to WrestleMania has started. While there were some matches from last year’s WrestleMania which were good, they failed to deliver a proper finish.
Also, a few major names were absent last year, which made the show a lacklustre event compared to its previous installments. This year, a lot of the company’s major stars are fit and available and since WWE calls WrestleMania ”The Showcase Of Immortals”- they will be very eager to make this ‘Mania as grand and successful as they possibly can and set the tone for the rest of the year.
The seeds have been planted for quite a few matches at this year’s WrestleMania. Here are 5 such possible matches:
#1 John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse
SmackDown has been blurring lines between reality and kayfabe ever since the brand split.
Nikki Bella has been talking about retirement and wants to wrestle her final match at WrestleMania, and since WWE was bold enough to use the John Cena-Nikki Bella relationship angle in the Carmella-Nikki Bella feud, it is expected that John Cena will be involved in a mix tag team match with his real-life partner Nikki Bella against The Miz and Maryse.
There is enough time to build a feud up since The Miz and John Cena are the best on the mic currently and Nikki Bella is also quite potent on the mic. It would mean that Maryse will come out of retirement, something that the fans want to see.
The rivalry can be expected to be brought back to life inside the Elimination Chamber as Bray Wyatt is odds-on favorite to win the Chamber match. The only problem is, it will temporarily put The Miz’s push to becoming WWE Champion for the second time in his career, on hold. But, the fireworks will be lit if these two couples bring their best to the ”Grandest Stage Of Them All”.
#2 Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton:
It’s hard to say what Bray Wyatt’s true objective is as his promos keep varying each week. What’s not hard to tell is the fact that, Bray deserves to be the top heel on SmackDown Live’s roster.
Ever since his match with John Cena at WrestleMania, he lost all credibility. The WWE did consider giving him a WWE Championship opportunity when they had him confront then WWE Champion Triple H but he got injured soon after and was directionless at the same time.
Although, the creative team has always struggled to make any sense of Bray’s promos and had him lose all his big matches but, if they have him win the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship and face Randy Orton for it at WrestleMania- they just might be able to save Bray’s career.
What makes more sense for this match to happen is that, Orton is still a member of the Wyatt Family but, having these two on the same team doesn't make much sense as they have lost the Tag titles and facing each other at the grandest stage of them all is the most sensible decision to take since there seems to be turmoil amongst the Wyatt Family ranks.
#3 The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns:
This is one match that makes little sense yet, it seems to be in motion. Roman Reigns eliminated The Undertaker at the Royal Rumble and this was more shocking than Maven eliminating The Deadman at 2003’s Royal Rumble because this match-up could well destroy Roman’s career forever.
The Undertaker is arguably the greatest professional wrestler, hailed by many greats of the profession, whereas Roman Reigns is the most despised babyface of the 21st century. Roman may well be facing Braun Strowman for now, but expect The Deadman to show up and interfere as payback for when he got eliminated by Roman and had an intense stare down.
However, this match does make sense as Roman Reigns is a safe worker and he can work with The Undertaker at a slow pace.
#4 AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon:
AJ Styles displayed his anger when Daniel Bryan made the match for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble against John Cena, which he lost. So, it is quite obvious that he will look to blame Daniel Bryan and the Commissioner Shane McMahon for his loss.
Now, it is quite obvious that WWE won’t let Bryan wrestle anymore otherwise this would’ve been a great match-up. However, Shane McMahon maybe a target of AJ’s assault in the coming weeks and this can set up a match between the two at WrestleMania.
Shane will obviously try to do his daredevil acts in the match but he will not have to push himself too much, as AJ is efficient enough to carry the match against an opponent like Shane.
#5 Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens:
Finn Balor never lost the WWE Universal Title. He had to relinquish it due to injury and Kevin Owens won it with Triple H’s help. Owens has not properly defended the title without outside interference from Chris Jericho.
So, when Finn Balor makes his return, which is scheduled to be before WrestleMania, the most obvious thing would be to get back the title he never lost. If you’re looking to build a rivalry between the two- then it’s already there. The two had quite the rivalry in NXT and Finn beat Owens to win the NXT Championship.
This will be a very interesting match, should it happen at the grandest stage.
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