What's the story?
With WrestleMania, WWE's grandest PPV, just two months away. WWE seems to have already started planting seeds for matches at the grandaddy of them all.
According to F4WOnline's Dave Meltzer, WWE's already figured out the card they want to carry out at this year's Mania, and it goes something like this:
1.) Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship2.) Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker3.) Triple H vs. Seth Rollins (If Rollins is fit by WM as WON has reported that he is out for 8 weeks)4.) Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Championship5.) Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens6.) John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse(The Observer notes that John Cena could possibly propose to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania. It is also rumoured to be Nikki Bella’s final WWE match before retirement.)7.) Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal8.) Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women's Championship
In case you didn't know...
Meltzer announced the card mentioned above last week, but it was only limited to matches featuring the RAW roster. The Championship match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt was rumoured to be on the WrestleMania card, but it all depended on if Orton won the Royal Rumble.
Meltzer stated that things could, and can change at any moment. There is still no word about the booking of the rest of the SmackDown roster.
Heart of the matter
As far as the 'Mania card for RAW goes, Meltzer reported that Goldberg would be facing Kevin Owens for the Universal Title at Fastlane, where he's supposed to win. After that, he'll lose the title to Lesnar at 'Mania. Also, Meltzer reported that Lesnar might lose the Universal Championship at SummerSlam.
The match between Roman Reigns and Undertaker was something Vince McMahon wanted to do for a while now. And as it is probably ‘Taker's last Mania, this should be probably the year where they should do it. The idea behind this match is the "passing of the torch" from a legend to the Superstar of tomorrow.
Triple H's bout against Seth Rollins was something WWE was going to carry out last year at WrestleMania 32, but after Rollins' injury, they scrapped the match. But, it seems like even this year the outcome for the angle is going to be the same.
Rollins accidently injured his previously repaired knee on last week's Monday Night RAW during a segment with Samoa Joe. WWE is already planning contingencies just in case Rollins won't be up to the task.
Bray Wyatt is expected to win the WWE World Championship at Elimination Chamber, thus allowing Orton to turn babyface and chase the title till 'Mania. If Orton wins the title at 'Mania, this would be his ninth reign as the WWE Champion.
The feud between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens was supposed to kickstart at Survivor Series, but after acknowledging their popularity, WWE decided to elongate the "Best Friends" angle. Meltzer's reported that their match at 'Mania may-or-may-not involve the US Championship.
The tag team match featuring John Cena and Nikki Bella came into existence because John and Nikki, who're dating off-screen, have never gotten themselves involved in an angle throughout their run. And as it is probably Nikki's last 'Mania, this would be the time to do it.
Big Show's rivalry with Shaquille O'Neal goes back as far as 2009. However, WWE decided to officially kickstart that feud in last year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale. There have been no segments carried out on RAW for this feud. Big Show challenged O'Neal on the red carpet at the ESPY's, which O'Neal accepted.
The Charlotte-Bayley feud officially began at Survivor Series. WWE's idea was to make Charlotte a force to be reckoned with, while Bayley played the likeable underdog. Sasha Banks, who'd been feuding with Charlotte for months, was relegated to a mid-card position, feuding with Nia Jax.
However, it seems that WWE is planning to have all the four women face each other at 'Mania.
What's next?
Now that WWE's decided what it wants to do at Mania, the promotion will focus on booking other Superstars. According to Meltzer, WWE's got nothing planned for Dean as of yet. Meltzer feels that Ambrose might have a match on the pre-show.
American Alpha are still wandering around without any decent challengers for Mania. We thought that The Revival might make their main roster debut on last week's SmackDown, but that didn't seem to be the case. AJ Styles might face Shane McMahon at Mania.
No word on any NXT call-ups either.
Sportskeeda’s take
The card above, just like we said the last time, seems pretty average. Superstars like AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose deserve better matches.
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