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We have officially entered Wrestlemania week and the match card has started taking shape. 15 matches have already been confirmed. A match for the RAW tag team titles is going to be announced either before or during the event. There is a skit from Elias as well which is rumored to be interrupted by either the Undertaker or John Cena, which takes the total to 17 matches.
It is very difficult to fit in these many matches in a time frame of 5-7 hours where there are also other segments like talk shows and extravagant time-consuming entrances from superstars. Moreover, with the ever-reducing attention span of today's audience, it is necessary to keep things fast-paced.
Hence, some matches from the event are kept short and they wrap up (excluding entrances) within 5-10 minutes, or even less some times. There is also room for the odd squash match
Here are some of the matches which might fall under the short match category to make room for the high profile matches at Wrestlemania this season.
#5 Inter-Continental Championship
Finn Balor won a handicap match against Bobby Lashley and Jinder Mahal to earn his shot at the IC title. On the RAW go-home show, Balor announced that he will unleash his Demon King persona at WrestleMania.
Demon King is a highly protected gimmick and Balor has never lost a match using his alter ego on the main roster. Even if we look at his NXT career, he only lost one match which proves how protected the Demon King is.
The last time we saw the Demon King was when he appeared to squash Baron Corbin at Summerslam and now he is expected to make quick work of Bobby Lashley, ending their feud once and for all.
#4 RAW tag title match
There is no confirmed match scheduled for the RAW tag team championships, but as Stephanie McMahon announced, all titles are going to be defended at WrestleMania. By that logic, there's definitely going to a match for the Revival to defend their championships.
During a WWE.com exclusive backstage segment, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder confronted the tag champs and asked for a match at WrestleMania for the titles.
At this stage, there are two viable options for WWE - either go with the team of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, or let the Revival defend their championships against an unknown team. In both cases, the match is expected to be short because either Hawkins and Ryder will pull off an upset, or the surprise opponents defeat the Revival before the surprise wears off. The Revival is expected to drop the title in some form or fashion before they leave the company.
#3 Cruiserweight Championship
Tony Nese won a tournament by defeating Cedric Alexander in the finals to earn a shot at the Cruiserweight championship which, his then-ally, Buddy Murphy holds. Murphy then came to the ring to congratulate Tony and eventually turned on Nese, thus ending their friendship.
As seen in the Super Showdown in Australia, this match is going to be an exhibition for the purple brand and the two performers are going to make the most of whatever time they are given.
The length of the match is mostly dependent on its placement. If it is on the pre-show, it will be allotted amply time, but it down-grades all their hard work as they deserve to be on the main card.
On the main card, the match might get a maximum of 10 minutes but that is enough for the performers involved to showcase their talent and endorse 205 Live.
#2 United States Championship
Samoa Joe is scheduled to defend his United States title against Rey Mysterio, but plans could change at the last moment. Rey Mysterio could be replaced owing to an injury that he sustained on RAW from the hands of Baron Corbin.
Even if he gets cleared, the match is expected to wrap up in under 10 minutes in order to make room for other high stakes match-ups.
If there's a last minute replacement, say, John Cena, the match is going to end quickly like his match with the Undertaker.
#1 Kurt Angle's retirement match
Kurt Angle entertained us for more than two decades and now he has announced his retirement at Wrestlemania. His opponent for his last match is chosen to be Baron Corbin, which wasn't approved by the fans. Fans still hope that Corbin is going to be replaced at the last minute.
But let's face it - irrespective of the opponent that Kurt faces, the match isn't going to drag out longer than 10 minutes given the physical shape Angle is in. If it goes further, the match risks the chances of being a below-par contest.
