FINAL CARD & PREDICTIONS: WrestleMania 34
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FINAL CARD & PREDICTIONS:
4/8/2018
WWE WrestleMania 34
New Orleans, LA
Pre-Show
Women's WrestleMania Battle Royal
The first ever Women's WrestleMania Battle Royal has already caused waves of controversy. After initially being called The Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal, the WWE was forced to change course after sexual slavery allegations were levied against Moolah. The bout was renamed generically and has lost some of its initial luster and hype. Still, this will be a historical event as it is indeed the very first all female Battle Royal in WrestleMania history. Some of the matches most important competitors include Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. Neither Banks nor Bayley will come out of this one as its victor, however. Neither woman needs this kind of a push to add to their legitimacy or further their push. Instead the match will be used to push the Banks/Bayley feud, which should head into SummerSlam as one of summer's hottest. Look for the two to eliminate each other in some capacity & look for heated violence between the two. The WWE could use the moment to push Becky Lynch; but, the company has already invested much in Lynch and seen little payoff in return, so don't look for that to happen. Ruby Riott; however, is on the cusp of becoming one of the companies brightest stars. Look for her to use the Riott Squad to her advantage and then eventually overcome all to become the last woman in the ring and the first ever Women's WrestleMania Battle Royal winner.
Winner: Ruby Riott
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Baron Corbin is hoping to win his second Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, as his wrestling career is stuck in first gear. His lackluster run since winning his first Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal can only be described as disappointing. Corbin looks to rebuild here and with the very best of the WWE roster wrestling on the main card, he has a great opportunity to do so; but, he isn't counting on a very BIG surprise. There will be one very large man to stand in his way, however, a seven foot man and you can't teach that. Look for Big Cass to enter the match as a surprise entrant and get the victory here, as he returns from a terrible ACL injury and looks for life after Enzo Amore.
Winner: Big Cass
Cruiserweight Championship Final: Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali
Both of these competitors are worthy and two of the very best in the world of professional wrestling. That is independent of whether fans know who they are or aren't. This match would make much more sense on the main card as WrestleMania's opening match, in lieu of other bouts with lackluster build like the United States Championship Match or the SmackDown Tag Team Championship bout. Mustafa Ali is a groundbreaking performer, taking unimaginable risks to entertain audiences the world over. Cedric Alexander was long touted as the next big thing in the WWE Cruiserweight division; but, the likes of TJP, Enzo Amore, and Neville all stood in his way. Now after cruising through the Cruiserweight Championship, Alexander has his opportunity. Ali is in a familiar role. He has always been the underdog and that may catch the over confident Alexander off guard. Still, look for Alexander's superior strength and Ali's risk-taking style to play right into Alexander's strategy for victory.
Winner and NEW Cruiserweight Champion: Cedric Alexander
WrestleMania 34
FATAL 4-WAY: United States Champion Randy Orton vs Bobby Roode vs Rusev vs Jinder Mahal
Randy Orton was given the United States championship opportunity to further legitimize his Hall of Fame career as a Grand Slam Champion. Orton's best in-ring days; however, are well behind him and he is seen as stale in the wake of an influx of new talent to the main roster. His days are numbered as United States Champion and if rumors are any indicator, possibly in the WWE altogether. Bobby Roode has simply not gotten over the way the company imagined when he was called up last year, which may have more to do with him being a face in lieu of a heel. Mahal has had an unimaginably successful year, even capturing the WWE Championship, once thought of as an impossibility to Heath Slater's running mate in 3MB. No one has had a more successful 2018 than Rusev, who is more over with fans than ever with his singing companion and his Rusev Day. Look for Rusev to use Aiden English to his advantage to win the United States Championship for a third time. After all, it is Rusev Day.
Winner and NEW United States Champion: Rusev
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar vs Braun Strowman & a Mystery Partner
The main question heading into this tag team championship match is: who will it be? After posting a picture traveling to WrestleMania with his old Wyatt family mate, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman may have let the proverbial cat out of the bag. Bray Wyatt makes the most sense here. He and Strowman already have chemistry and Wyatt has no other planned involvement on the card. Look for the two big men to overpower The Bar, who are at the disadvantage of not knowing, nor being to prepare for their opponents. Strowman and Wyatt will win their first tag team gold at WrestleMania.
Winners and NEW RAW Tag Team Champions: Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt
TAG TEAM TRIPLE THREAT
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs The New Day vs The Bludgeon Brothers
The build to this match has been somewhat disappointing unless your into masked giant woodsman with hammers. Some of the best tag team action over the last decade have been between The New Day and The Usos. The Bludgeon Brothers seem to be an unwelcome interruption to that rivalry, one that very much deserved wrestling's biggest stage all to itself. That doesn't mean this will be a bad match. Look for The Usos and The New Day to keep things entertaining; but, at the end of the day, The Usos will capitalize on the excitement of their very first WrestleMania match to come away with the victory.
Winners and STILL SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Usos
WWE RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss vs Nia Jax
This match has received phenomenal and controversial build. Wrestling fans all over the world are waiting for Alexa Bliss to receive her comeuppance after betraying and then cruelly fat-shaming Nia Jax. Although Bliss is the more savvy veteran and will use Mickie James to her advantage, it simply won't be enough to stop the powerhouse that is Nia Jax. Jax is on a mission for revenge, an enraged giant motivated by an unquenchable bloodlust. Even if rules are broken to the extent that this becomes a handicap match, Jax will still overcome and capture her very first WWE gold on wrestling's biggest stage.
Winner and NEW RAW Women's Champion: Nia Jax
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins
The Miz has become one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions in history, as he has forged a Hall of Fame career in the WWE. He is also coming into the bout a new father, focusing on family and his wife Maryse. While those are wonderful events in The Miz' life, they will serve as a distraction in the wrestling ring. The Miz can not afford any such distractions, especially while facing the likes of Seth Rollins and Finn Balor who are savvy enough to capitalize on any perceived weakness. Balor and Rollins have clashed before, famously at SummerSlam nearly three years ago, when Balor beat Rollins with a shoulder injury to become the first ever Universal Champion. Balor hasn't forgotten that he was able to get the better of Rollins, even while facing such a brutal handicap. He is confident coming into this bout. Look for him to build on that confidence to pin Rollins here to become the new Intercontinental Champion.
Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Finn Balor
Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Daniel Bryan hasn't wrestled in nearly three years and in sentimental fashion, he returns to the Super Bowl of wrestling, in New Orleans, the very place that his dreams came true at WrestleMania 30. While this gives everyone the feels, realistically Bryan may be walking into a buzz saw. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have teamed together to annihilate both McMahon and Bryan in recent weeks, brutally beating each and now Owens & Zayn have a reason for victory, a clear cut path to return to WWE television on SmackDown LIVE. Interestingly enough, Bryan may have chosen his own demise in naming Shane McMahon his tag team partner. It was Bryan who enabled Zayn & Owens to become so out of control they would actually attack their own SmackDown commissioner. That's a fact that isn't lost on McMahon, who despite his hatred for Zayn and Owens, will betray his own partner tonight in New Orleans, setting up a SummerSlam match between Bryan and himself. To add insult to injury, Bryan will lose his comeback match in the same building he first became WWE Champion.
Winners: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte vs Asuka
Not since The Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan have the company's two top faces clashed on such a stage. Ultimate Warrior came into that WrestleMania VI match, never having been cleanly pinned before and much like Asuka, fans wondered if he could ever be pinned; but, also questioned whether any one could ever cleanly defeat Hulkamania. Like two wrestling gods, Hogan and Warrior clashed before the Skydome audience, with the young and up and comer gaining a pinfall to get the win on his way to his first ever WWE Championship. Charlotte is arguably the greatest female wrestler in history; but, that is a crown Royal Rumble winner Asuka is capable of claiming herself. Look for a classic bout; but, look for Asuka to show a bit more brutality as she looks to preserve her own streak and claim the SmackDown Women's Championship for the very first time.
Winner and NEW SmackDown Women's Champion: Asuka
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs Stephanie McMahon & Triple H
Stephanie McMahon & Triple H are brilliant business people and have designed this match to be a career propeller for Rousey, who may have some first-time jitters. No worries, she has one of the greatest tag team partners imaginable, in the WWE Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle. Where Rousey falls short, Angle will succeed and he won't allow his inexperienced partner to fail. Angle is the forgotten component in this bout; but, he has not wrestled at WrestleMania for twelve years and is worthy of much celebration in his own right. He will come into the match with a vengeance and is the perfect partner for Rousey, who will catapult to wrestling stardom with her first wrestling win. The future is too bright for Rousey. Triple H and Stephanie don't stand a chance.
Winners: Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle
The Undertaker vs John Cena
Will it or won't it? Will he or won't he? Right now those are the questions heading into this potential dream bout at WrestleMania. Although the WWE once deprived wrestling fans of a WrestleMania dream match between The Undertaker and Sting, even the WWE isn't cruel enough to build this match week after week without giving fans a payoff. Look for The Undertaker (who hasn't ever said no) to formally answer John Cena's challenge and return to WrestleMania prominence with a victory over Cena, who will take time off to do more movies in Hollywood.
Winner: The Undertaker
WWE Champion A.J. Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura
In one of several dream matches this evening, A.J. Styles puts his WWE Championship on the line against Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura has taken the WWE by storm since debuting on NXT only two short years ago, winning NXT championships & inevitably the WWE Royal Rumble on his way to this WWE Championship opportunity. A.J. Styles is already one of the best wrestlers in history. Like Shawn Michaels before him, he puts on great match after great match night after night regardless of opponent. Nakamura is his equal; but, with the majority of his career spent in Japan, he is hardly a household name in the United States. Look for that to change tonight on wrestling's biggest stage. Expectations are high as the two are expected to put on one of the greatest matches in history. These two won't disappoint; but, look for Shinsuke Nakamura, riding a hot streak, to be just a little bit better.
Winner and NEW WWE Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
It can be argued that this bout has had a three year build, one of the longest in WrestleMania history. It was at WrestleMania 31 that Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar last main evented a WrestleMania. Just as Roman Reigns was about to become WWE Champion for the very first time, Seth Rollins cashed in and stole the opportunity from his SHIELD mate. Only Seth Rollins prevented that the first time around. Confidence goes along way in the wrestling ring, especially when facing a beast like Lesnar. Reigns hasn't forgotten how close he came that evening and after surviving Elimination Chamber to earn this opportunity, the Samoan Superstar will capitalize using everything in his arsenal to send the Beast back to the MMA. Reigns knows he can beat Lesnar.
Winner and NEW Universal Champion: Roman Reigns
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