WWE WrestleMania 36 Preview and Match Predictions

The Street Profits (C) vs. Angel Garza and Austin Theory – RAW Tag Team Championships

The team challenging for the championships have been on the same team once, which was this week, and they lost that match. The other team really hasn’t done anything with the championships. This should be fun. Champs retain.

Winners: The Street Profits

John Morrison (C) and The Miz (C) vs. The Usos vs. The New Day – SmackDown Tag Team Championships (Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match)

So, if you have read any of the dirt sheets by now, The Miz will not be competing at WrestleMania because he showed up to the Performance Center sick. Yet, WWE didn’t even bother to address that in this week’s SmackDown broadcast and the match is still being advertised as is for some reason.

So right now I’m operating as though Morrison will just be in there by himself defending against both teams. It wouldn’t be the first time only one member of a tag team defended tag titles against other teams. You may remember Kane doing it in a multi-team ladder match on an episode of RAW in 2002 when The Hurricane was out of commission.

I can’t imagine the titles going back on The New Day, and Morrison retaining for his squad may be unlikely considering The Miz is sick. He’ll likely have to stay sequestered at his home and be away from others for a while considering the circumstances around us. Therefore, I think The Usos are the team to get the job done.

Winners: The Usos

Sami Zayn (C) vs. Daniel Bryan – Intercontinental Championship

If this were 2014, I have no doubt that this match would be off the chain. However, this is 2020, and much has changed since then. In this scenario, there is three extra parties at play in the form of Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew Gulak. Considering the caliber of wrestling acumen among those names, I shouldn’t be as underwhelmed as I am.

On the bright side, considering that WrestleMania is now divided into two nights instead of one, this may give more time to give this match the time it needs to tell a proper story. If this match can somewhat reach the level of Gulak and Bryan’s match at Elimination Chamber, we may be for a treat.

That being said, I cannot remember the last time Zayn had a great one-on-one bout. Since his heel turn a couple of years ago, he’s become somewhat of an incompetent coward who isn’t capable of winning an important match without help. That’s why I have Daniel Bryan winning the title. This could actually make up for the time Bryan won the title in 2015, but had to relinquish it early due to injury.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Bayley (C) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Naomi vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina – SmackDown Women’s Championship (Fatal Five Way Elimination Match)

We all know that this match is going to come down to what happens between Sasha and Bayley, because that’s the only story this match has. We know the relationship between these two has always been tentative. It’s all a guessing game and a matter of who’s going to turn on who. We’ve seen Sasha go straight up Scar from Lion King on Bayley and shove her from the top of an Elimination Chamber pod.

It’s hardly been Bayley to turn on someone for the sake of winning a championship. Of course, the dynamic has normally been Sasha being more hellish and Bayley always being the face. If I’m rolling the dice here, I’ll say that Bayley retains here and officially turns on Sasha. With the way things are now, it may be feasible for them to stretch out the inevitable Bayley/Sasha feud into the summer. I feel like putting the title on Sasha here would be too easy.

Winner: Bayley

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler

If there’s one thing about this match, it’s that there is way more storytelling than the Universal Championship. So that’s that. What has turned into a simple love triangle ordeal has now turned into a revelation that Sonya Deville was responsible for pulling the strings from behind.

Based on this week’s events, I would think the next course of action would be a mixed tag match, but going with the singles match here, I’m positive Otis will get the win and ride off into the sunset. At least for tonight. If you want to know a fun fact, this will be Dolph Ziggler’s first singles match at WrestleMania, and he’s 1-8 at this event. It’ll probably be 1-9 for him after this weekend.

Winner: Otis

Elias vs. King Corbin

So, this match was suggested by host Rob Gronkowski, Corbin finds Elias’ singing annoying and a WrestleMania match somehow constitutes the end of this feud. These are one of the matches that really can be just removed from the card to trim the fat. Give Elias the victory.

Winner: Elias

Aliester Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Two men who have never interacted before will be fighting at this event because of reasons. I don’t know what else to tell you other than that Black will probably win. Why? JUST. BECAUSE.

Winner: Aliester Black

The Kabuki Warriors (C) vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

The women’s tag team division is beyond sad at this point, and it really makes you wonder whether or not these titles are a lost cause. To give you perspective, The Kabuki Warriors won the titles FROM Bliss and Cross, and this was early in the fall last year. About 7 months later, the same teams are fighting over the championships.

The women’s tag team titles never mattered more than when Bliss and Cross were holding them. The Kabuki Warriors holding the championships was doomed for failure because Asuka was preoccupied in singles action, which took focus away from the tag titles. I expect Bliss and Cross to win for whatever it’s worth, but unless a stable set of challengers rise up, it may be time to start considering canning the championships altogether.

Winners: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross

Rhea Ripley (C) vs. Charlotte Flair – NXT Women’s Championship

A part of me truly believes that WWE is crazy enough to put this championship on Flair. What I’m thinking about is what the future of the NXT Women’s division will look like. I think it’s highly possible that WWE gives Charlotte the championship and put Bianca BeLair over her. Of course, that’s just me thinking and one avenue WWE could go with this.

However, I do think Rhea going over Flair is the right way to go in order to validate her title run. Her win over Shayna Baszler was huge in order to effectively usher in a new era, and I think a victory over Charlotte would essentially cement the fact that she’s the future. Flair certainly doesn’t need to win this championship. But again, this is Charlotte we are talking about. Anything is possible.

Winner: Rhea Ripley

Becky Lynch (C) vs. Shayna Baszler – RAW Women’s Championship

I don’t know about you guys, but Becky Lynch’s character has become increasingly annoying. I remember writing an article a while back about whether or not Becky lost some of her swagger. This feud kind of showcases the difference between her now and when she first turned almost two years ago.

Now, Becky shows up to the Performance Center in a truck, she’ll make some generic speech about being a badass and she’ll just trash talk for the sake of looking cool. Back when she was a heel, she was seething in her commentary and didn’t exude any of the super face psychology tropes that made guys like Cena in their prime annoying.

Baszler doesn’t do for much for me character-wise, as she’s just your everyday bully who bullies people to be a bully. That’s really the gist of her character. Part of me thinks that Becky has to defeat Shayna because she’s her biggest individual adversary.

However, I also acknowledge Becky’s been champion for a year now and it’s time to start exploring going into a new direction. Especially since the white hot streak Becky used to be on has since effectively cooled off. Besides, are you really going to have Shayna straight up chomp Becky’s neck and have her eliminate the entire field in an Elimination Chamber match just to lose the championship match?

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles – Boneyard Match

So, I really don’t know what a boneyard match entails. But seeing as how this match will be filmed at a remote location, my only hope is that it doesn’t hurt my eyes. Undertaker is really starting to get up there in age, and he really shouldn’t be in the ring for extended periods if he doesn’t have to.

The only thing I’m hoping for in this match is that this doesn’t go longer than it needs to. Also, one must also consider the fact that this match started with Undertaker attacking AJ Styles for no reason. So there really isn’t much heat behind the match anyway. I’m also wondering what this Unholy Trinity that Undertaker referenced is about. Since it’s practically guaranteed The OC will help AJ jump Taker, I’m assuming Undertaker will have reinforcements called on his end.

Taker takes this one.

Winner: The Undertaker

John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt – Firefly Funhouse Match

After seeing that dreaded House of Horrors match with Randy Orton, I don’t trust any special gimmick match including Bray Wyatt. Although, I will be honest with all of you. If this match is just a John Cena puppet fighting against a puppet of The Fiend, I would laugh uncontrollably hard and it would provide me more joy than an actual match between them would bring.

The beef behind this match is that The Fiend’s supposed downward spiral happened after losing to Cena at WrestleMania 30. I don’t know if I would go that far since he won the WWE Championship, Tag Team Championship and Universal Championship since that moment. However, I think hindsight has shown that there was no reason for Cena to have won that match six years ago. And it was anticlimatic at best.

It really wouldn’t feel like Wyatt would get his revenge anyway since this is a match no one has ever seen before, and is clearly tailored to give him an advantage. Cena is pretty much here for the paycheck, and even when The Fiend wins, it’s still Bray Wyatt underneath. A victory here won’t undo the work that has to be done with him.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

Edge vs. Randy Orton – Last Man Standing Match

I never thought I would type this match out, but here we are. For those of you who don’t know, Edge and Orton are my two favorite superstars in WWE history, and seeing this is like the biggest Christmas gift ever given to me.

By all intents and purposes, this should be the main event of the show. Off the strength of the storytelling, intense promos and backstory between these two alone, there’s no reason for this not to go on last.

You have two men who have been linked as not only tag team partners but as rivals. Edge makes a miraculous return to end his career on his terms, and Orton’s twisted logic tells him that by destroying Edge, he is saving him from Edge destroying himself. It’s all been done wonderfully and both men should be proud of how they’ve carried this feud in spite of the unfavorable wordly circumstances.

There’s no way WWE brought Edge back this far just to have him lose. I’m so excited to see what Edge looks like in a real match. While it’s a shame that no one will be there live to see it, this presents an opportunity for these two to do something special. Besides, if this match is the main event and if WrestleMania was still happening in a large stadium, you wouldn’t want to feed them a dead crowd after sitting through 15 matches. So it works in that regard. In the end, put your money on Edge to win.

Winner: Edge

Goldberg (C) vs. Braun Strowman – Universal Championship

So if you guys didn’t tune into SmackDown, Strowman is Roman Reigns’ replacement in this match. Why? Well, we don’t know because WWE didn’t even bother explaining the reason for the change. They literally just said Goldberg would be defending against Strowman in a casual manner as if that was always the plan.

They didn’t address why Roman Reigns was out, and didn’t have any segment to write him off. Strowman’s in the match, and we’re expected to just pretend that Roman didn’t sign a contract with Goldberg and called him a bitch a few weeks ago.

So if you’re keeping track, a way past his prime Goldberg will be defending the Universal Championship against a man he’s never interacted with on television. And this was announced literally the night before WrestleMania weekend. It’s funny that Triple H said that WWE was going to write Roman Reigns off in a unique way. I sincerely hope he meant WrestleMania, because otherwise, he was just pulling our legs.

After Goldberg’s embarrassing performance against The Fiend, I don’t expect him to even attempt a jackhammer on someone as big as Strowman. I didn’t think this would be how Strowman finally reaches the mountaintop, but better late than never I suppose. WWE dropped the ball with Strowman in the Lesnar feud two and a half years ago. Hopefully, they make amends. I believe they will.

Winner: Braun Strowman

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

These two have essentially been fighting all year, but this feud has developed into something more personal, and I have loved it. Seth Rollins has gone from being the Messiah to being a truth-teller that decided to relay the history between both men as a framework for this feud.

Rollins is the all-seeing, all-powerful entity that is superior to Kevin in every way. He also cites history by accurately describing himself as one of the best WrestleMania competitors. On that stage, he’s become Intercontinental Champion, Universal Champion, WWE Champion and defeated Triple H. And the only loss he suffered at WrestleMania came as a result of perhaps the greatest RKO Randy Orton ever hit.

Owens meanwhile is competing against Rollins’ superiority complex and is seeking a WrestleMania moment and Rollins’ expense. Seth called himself a God at WrestleMania, and when a heel makes a statement like that, it’s pretty hard to say they’ll win. So I think Owens will get the victory.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Brock Lesnar (C) vs. Drew McIntyre – WWE Championship

There’s no time like the present, and there’s no better time to put the WWE Title on Drew than right now. If this match doesn’t end with Drew hitting 5 Claymores in a row and Brock bleeding profusely, you can basically dub Wrestlemnaia 36 as an abject failure in every way.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

What do you think will happen at WrestleMania?