Wrestlemania 36 Preview

This will be Showcase of the Immortals we will never forget. With everyone stuck in their houses, Vince McMahon and the WWE will give everyone a great distraction with two nights of Wrestlemania. Under these difficult circumstances, my expectations are lower than usual, but I'm also intrigued by what WWE will do to make this show feel special. I know I'll be getting some takeout from B-Dubs and drinking some Steveweisers on my couch the next two nights.

The two-night extravaganza is loaded with 16 matches, but WWE hasn't revealed which matches would take place on each night yet.  I'll give a quick break down and prediction of the ten matches I'm most interested in.

1) Edge def Randy Orton - Last Man Standing Match

This has been the best program of Wrestlemania season, with both guys cutting great promos. I’ve always been an Edgehead and I’m excited for his first singles match back in the squared circle. A motivated Randy Orton is capable of putting together a great match as well. I can see this match being similar to the Shawn Michaels-HHH match from Summerslam 2002, where Edge wins but Orton attacks him after the match to keep the feud alive.


2) Kofi Kingston def Usos and Morrison (c) - Smackdown Tag Team Championship Ladder Match

There’s a history of classic ladder matches at Wrestlemania and I think this has a chance to steal the show. The match changed from a tag team to a 3-way singles match for the titles after The Miz became ill before the taping. I think Kofi can use a big singles win after being mostly ignored since losing the strap to Brock.

3) The Fiend def John Cena - Firefly Funhouse Match

This is a match that I'm looking forward to because it was filmed off location, at Bray Wyatt's creepy Pee Wee's Playhouse. Hopefully WWE learned from the mistakes of Bray and Orton's House of Horror match, and can use the cinematic post-production to enhance the match. Luckily, they found famous actor John Cena to compete while Fast Nine is on hiatus. I'm sure we'll see appearances from all of The Fiend's puppet friends as well.

4) Undertaker def AJ Styles - Boneyard Match

The Boneyard allows this match to get out of the Performance Center and into a presumed graveyard, for what sounds like a modern day Buried Alive match. The bells and whistles will help hide the Undertaker’s weaknesses and accentuate his positives. This should be a fun brawl. I've enjoyed this feud with AJ and Undertaker doing some worked shoot promos, including Styles calling Undertaker by his real name "Mark", gasp.

5) Brock Lesnar (c) def Drew McIntyre - World Heavyweight Championship

Drew McIntyre earned his title shot after winning the 2020 Royal Rumble, being the man to toss Brock over the top rope after he eliminated 13 men. This just doesn't seem like a Wrestlemania title match to me. Drew worked his ass off after being released from WWE in 2014, but he still doesn't move the needle for me. Maybe this is a biased pick, but I'm hoping the Beast Incarnate retains.

6) Braun Strowman def Goldberg (c) - Universal Championship

This title match has taken several backstage twists and turns. The original plan was for The Fiend to defend the title for another Roman Reigns Wrestlemania coronation. McMahon, probably fearing the Big Dog would get booed again beating hardcore fan favorite Wyatt, brought back 53 year old Goldberg to win the title in Saudi Arabia. Then, Reigns pulled out of the match over concern for his health last week, and it was rumored Braun was penciled in as a last minute replacement.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani this week, Triple H said everything would make sense from a storyline standpoint. Instead, last night on Smackdown Michael Cole just announced the change in a throwaway segment. Either WWE scrapped an angle since everyone knew, or there really wasn't a plan in the first place. I think you need to strap the rocket on Braun after having him lose in big matches too often. Also, I think don't see Goldberg being able to carry the Blue Brand much longer.

7) Shayna Baszler def Becky Lynch (c) - Raw Women's Championship

Former NXT Women's Champion and UFC fighter, Baszler gets her Wrestlemania moment after winning the Women's Elimination Chamber last month. After a weird angle where Shayna bit Becky's neck like a vampire, the two women have cut some intense promos. I’m thinking Ronda Rousey returns to help her friend Shayna win the belt on the anniversary of the event where she lost the strap to The Man.

8) Daniel Bryan def Sami Zayn (c) - Intercontinental Championship

This feels like a prototypical Wrestlemania opening match between two great workers. Daniel Bryan is back as a babyface, and I can see him carrying the Intercontinental Title for a while.

9) Rhea Ripley (c) def Charlotte Flair - NXT Women's Championship

This has been a pretty boring storyline, with Charlotte winning the Rumble and deciding to challenge the NXT Women's Champion Ripley. I can’t see Charlotte going back to NXT on a regular basis despite the battle with AEW on Wednesday nights. Both women are good in the ring, and should have an entertaining match.

10) Kevin Owens def Seth Rollins

I can see this match being the opener for the other night of Mania. I'm just ready for this feud to end. Since December it seems like the Monday Night Messiah's faction with AOP and Buddy Murphy have been wrestling KO and a random assortment of friends on every Raw. I think the babyface Owens goes over.

Rest of the Card
Sasha Banks def Bayley (c) , Tamina, Lacey Evans, Naomi - Smackdown Women's Championship
Otis def Dolph Ziggler
Aleister Black def Lashley
Street Profits (c) def Austin Theory and Angel Garza - Raw Tag Team Championship
Elias def King Corbin
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross def The Kabuki Warriors (c) - Women's Tag Team Championship

After winning the first 2 rounds in UFC 249 vs COVID, Dana and company lost the 3rd round 10-8 and now are even, 28-28, going into the championship rounds.  In a wild five days, Khabib on an Instagram Monday said that he was stuck in Russia, and wouldn't be able to fight in the main event. 

“Staying home in quarantine and reading the reaction of people to the situation around my fight, it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?”

Dana White was quiet this week, just saying  Everyone knew he’s not fighting,”. Then Thursday, Khabib backtracked, saying: 

"One-hundred percent I’m gonna fight. Just give me location. Everyday I send Dana White message: ‘Hey, where’s my location?’ You know, like this is not my mistake, and you know, too many crazy stuff, too many questions. I don’t have answer. Like I understand people upset because this fight is like dream fight for fans.”

There are also rumors Justin Gaethje may step in as a last minute replacement against Tony Ferguson, or Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal being a replacement main event. At this point, if Dana White put together any five fight pay per view he can charge triple the normal event price, and I'd buy it without thinking twice.