WrestleMania Predictions

Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton – This is the first match on the card that I think will be affected by Lesnar sticking around.  Before, I figured we’d either get an Orton win combined with a Rollins cash-in later or a Rollins win with help from J and J security.  Now with Lesnar firmly in the fold I think Rollins wins to get certified as a top tier player in the company.  Despite the roll he’s been on he has yet to go over any of the long established top level guys (I’m talking Cena, Bryan, Lesnar, etc).  Orton is one of those guys, and him giving the rub to Rollins here matters even if it’s not clean.  So I got Rollins winning with help and then a rematch happening at Extreme Rules.

4-way Tag Team Title Match: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs the Usos vs New Day vs Los Matadores – I think the champs retain here.  With the Battle Royal getting moved to the kickoff show you no longer need this as a ‘good guys win to pop the crowd’ match here.  It’ll be fun and exciting but no need to do a title switch here.  Champs win.

Divas Tag Team Match – The Bella Twins vs AJ Lee and Paige – AJ and Paige win.  It’s WrestleMania, and the faces always win this kind of Divas match.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal – A few days ago I said that Ryback would win.  Now? I’m going with Hideo Itami, fresh off his win to gain a spot in the match.  I figure that if they have plans for him in the company this will be a good launching pad.

Rusev vs John Cena (US Title Match) – Cena obviously wins, the question is how.  I think he get the title here and serves as a champion for the heels to chase after.

Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt – I got Bray winning here for the reasons I said in my previous WrestleMania post.  Next year ‘Taker gets one last hurrah and rides off into the sunset for good with a victory.

Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title:  Wade Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler vs R-Truth vs Daniel Bryan vs Luke Harper vs Stardust vs Dean Ambrose – This will probably be the best match of the night.  You have great in ring workers in Bryan and Ziggler and five other guys who can do more than their part to put on a good show.  My pick is Bryan winning as a bone to Bryan fans and to set him up as a ‘have a great midcard match’ stalking post for the next few months.  He’s never held this title and several of the others have already so putting it on a new titleholder makes sense here.

Triple H vs. Sting –  Sting obviously wins here.  My guess is we get some run-ins on behalf of both men (Booker T is absolutely going to help Sting out here some kind of way) to add to things since I don’t think Sting can go 15 to 20 minutes all on his own anymore.

Main Event (WWE Title Match): Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns – I said before that they should just have Reigns go over for the title and eat the hostile crowd reaction.  The Lesnar re-signing reshuffled everyone’s deck who writes about this stuff.  Now there’s an easy way to avoid having a vocal section of the live audience booing or silent as Reigns holds the belt over his head in victory.  Lesnar will retain the title some kind of way, saving Reigns and the company from embarrassment. Now could we still get the Rollins cash-in afterward?  Maybe…….  I’m not gonna call that here but I won’t rule it out.

I think the likely best match of the night will be the ladder match, especially if they get 20 to 25 minutes to work.  Rollins and Orton could be great as well if they get enough time.  The rest of the card is filled with ‘could be very good’ matches like Cena-Rusev and Sting-Triple H and ‘might not be as bad as you think they will’ matches like Reigns-Lesnar and Wyatt-Undertaker.  Battle Royals are what they are.  The Divas match will be short.  The Tag Team Title match will likely be a paint by numbers affair that’s fun to watch.  My guess is that in the annals of ‘Mania history this will fall somewhere in the middle.  Not a stinker like WrestleMania 2 or 9 but not an all-timer like 10 or 17 (or last year).  And that’s no outrage, really.  I’m going to enjoy the show and I hope you do, too.