Is WrestleMania 34 shaping up to be one of the worst ever?

Admittedly, the title is designed to be a bit hyperbolic. It's still very early. With the exception of one match, these possibilities are more the doodles on an Etch a Sketch rather than set in stone. The trend could be shaken up easily at any moment.

Yet, now's the time when WrestleMania plans begin to take shape, and given what we've seen so far, the signs aren't encouraging. Far from a triumph, if the card shapes up as below, we could get a repeat of the WrestleMania 32 trainwreck.

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Main Event: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

The sequel few want to see

This match is far from a secret. Unless illness or injury intervenes (after TLC, I guess we should never say never), it's been set in stone as the main event ever since Goldberg took the Universal Championship off of Kevin Owens, and few are excited about it.

In its defence, the WrestleMania 31 encounter between these two was far better than most people expected. It was a brawl that saw blood which added to its intensity, yet this time around, there won't be one crucial ingredient — a Money in the Bank cash in from Seth Rollins that electrified the crowd.

This match is supposed to be another coronation for Roman Reigns, but it already feels like an inevitability, a routine going through of the motions rather than an exciting and climactic payoff to genuinely look forward to.

In addition, if this winds up being Brock Lesnar's last match, he might well just phone it in, leaving us with a clunker of not much more than suplexes, F5s, spears, and Superman Punches with a lot of finisher kick outs to prove how strong Roman is. Let's hope that Dana White is correct in that Brock Lesnar's contract isn't up the next day. Maybe he'll try to put on a show.

WWE Championship: Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena

WrestleMania's worst nightmare

You see this possibility and only one question bubbles up: "Is Vince McMahon totally out of his mind?"

It's safe to say that Jinder Mahal's WWE title reign has been a catastrophe. The main event on SmackDown, bleak before that, has been a black abyss ever since he won the title. His reign hasn't produced a single good match or segment. Fans have almost universally been clamouring for him to drop the title since SummerSlam if not well before that.

The idea seemed to be forming that after the India tour in December, Jinder Mahal would drop the title, perhaps at the Royal Rumble. There was no way he would take it into WrestleMania, the conventional wisdom had it. Yet, to the horror of the WWE Universe, that possibility seems to increase every day. The odds seemed to be heightened given the likelihood of John Cena being the special referee for Jinder's match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.

Now, it might just be that Jinder Mahal will defeat the challenge of AJ Styles. From that point on, there would be only one man left in a position to contend for the title. That man also just happens to be in line to break the record for most world title reigns, and that's a moment that WWE would instinctively try to make "a WrestleMania moment," no matter how haphazardly and inorganically.

Disastrous as Jinder's reign has been, a good rub should come from the immense feelings of relief that will wash over the WWE Universe when the title is finally liberated from him. John Cena needs that rub the least, so the payoff wouldn't be as satisfying, and the match will surely be a clunker.

Triple H vs. Kurt Angle

The match that should have stayed in 2000

Stephanie McMahon's return to Raw last week, where she did her usual insufferable routine on Kurt Angle, means this match is currently far more likely than not.

2017 has had its highs and lows, but in my opinion, it's been the best of the past few years, especially on Raw. Aside from Braun Strowman, the biggest reason for that is a very simple one — Stephanie McMahon has been off TV. It's actually allowed the roster to breathe and the show to change direction.

Now she's back. She might not appear this week or next, but it won't be long until she's a far more frequent presence. That alone would be bad enough, but it would in all likelihood lead to a power struggle on Raw, and Triple H would step in as her champion against Kurt Angle.

Aside from the poor storyline involving yet more McMahon antics, I have zero desire to see Kurt Angle have a match with Triple H in 2017. If I want to see that, I can watch their matches from the early 2000s when they were both in their prime.

At WrestleMania 34, it would just be another plodding match. Kurt Angle can't do nearly as much as he used to and Triple H, while not as limited, hasn't had a good WrestleMania match in years. Why should I want to see this?

WWE Four Horsewomen vs. MMA Four Horsewomen

Who wears the name better?

This one's been more or less in the works, on and off, since the Mae Young Classic, when three of the "Horsewomen" from each faction confronted one another. The odds increased for this match being a go when it was revealed that Ronda Rousey was in training at the WWE Performance Center.

Now, from a business standpoint, I understand the idea behind this match. Rousey isn't anywhere near as relevant as she was two years ago, but she is a very recognizable name and a crossover battle always gets eyeballs. It'll get WWE's women's division arguably more attention than ever. If I were in Vince McMahon's position, I would want this match to happen as well.

But I'm not in Vince McMahon's position, so from a fan's perspective, is there any big upside to this match? It's still an unknown, but it can't possibly be better than some other matches that would necessarily be sacrificed for this one, as with Charlotte, Sasha, Becky, and Bayley otherwise occupied, the women's title matches would have to go forward on more or less set lines.

Raw Women's Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka

Empress vs. Goddess incoming?

It's arguable that this was the match that was coming anyway, but with the likelihood of the Horsewomen match, it would more or less have to.

This match doesn't have to have a bad storyline. If told right, the build could be very entertaining. Remember the fun feud between Edge and the Undertaker heading into WrestleMania 24, where Edge played his Machiavellian games until he couldn't run anymore? That's what should happen here. The idea being: "Alexa, you can play your games and do your ambushes and cheap shots, but at WrestleMania, Asuka's gonna kill you."

If that was the idea, with a short, decisive payoff, it wouldn't be bad (but not nearly as good as Asuka vs. Sasha Banks would have been). Yet, we should know from past Alexa feuds that they don't tend to be that way.

Rather, we get weeks of juvenile promos and then a so-so match limited by Bliss's ring skills where she beats her opponents cleanly but unconvincingly. Worse still, because it's at WrestleMania, there is a real possibility of that happening to Asuka and ending her streak, even though Bliss needs the rub the least.

Perhaps that's still too speculative. After all, there hasn't been a women's singles match at WrestleMania since 2007. Yet, this match would be the only logical direction to head in based on current booking. Raw's women's division has decayed considerably, and only Bliss and Asuka actually feel like genuine stars at this point.

SmackDown Women's Championship: Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Carmella

Add Natalya somewhere to this picture.

Unlike Raw's women's division, which has been solely about Alexa Bliss until Asuka debuted, SmackDown's women's division has gone the opposite way in 2017 — it's been one multi-woman match after another with scant clear feuds.

With Charlotte and Becky occupied elsewhere, this seems like the only possible title match unless we see Ember Moon or the Iconic Duo called up to the main roster beforehand.

Carmella eventually must cash in her Money in the Bank contract, so it's possible she pulls a Seth Rollins here, but it seems likelier to happen before then, and there's no reason to suspect that the multi-woman formula of SmackDown (or WrestleMania in general) would change here.

We've seen a variation of this feud so many times already and I can't see anything that would make this match special. Another snoozefest incoming?

The Deadman lives?

Was his sadness premature?

We still have no indication, as yet, that the Undertaker is returning to the ring. We'll know more at the special Raw 25th-anniversary show in January, where the Undertaker is scheduled to appear.

Speculations about the Undertaker's retirement have been proven wrong for years. The send-off at WrestleMania 33 was more convincing than any beforehand, but Undertaker's loyalty to WWE and Vince McMahon has known no bounds before, and if the chairman wanted to see him back in the ring again, would he refuse?

I hope this isn't the case. The match with Roman was sad, but it would make the moving sendoff meaningless if he came back. It's very unlikely that we'd get another classic match out of Undertaker either, rather than another clunker due to his age and injuries. Much as I love and grew up with the Undertaker, I never want to see him in a match again. It would just make for another bad part of this potential card.

So while it's still early, and we still have no idea how the mid-card will shape up, the sketch of this card isn't very inspiring. Let's hope things shake up in ways we'd never expect before next April 8th.

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