WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (C) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Excitement level: 9
I’m going to guess this is the consensus most anticipated match for hardcore wrestling fans. Styles and Nakamura are thought to be two of the best performers in the world, and here they are wrestling for the world’s biggest title in the world’s biggest event. The only concern in this match is AJ’s health. He’s rumored to be dealing with a knee injury, but it hasn’t kept him out of matches on SmackDown Live. I just hope he doesn’t have any physical restrictions going into the biggest match of his career.
Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura. He’s already lost a couple of title matches over the past year and I think another loss would set him back significantly. It’s time to either put the WWE title on him or send him to RAW. He just can’t keep treading water on SmackDown Live every week.
Non-title Match
Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Excitement level: 5
I should be way more excited for this than I am. Being that none of these people wrestle on a regular basis, I think the in-ring performances by all will be borderline unbearable. Ronda Rousey has never wrestled a match in her entire life and has been 10 out of 10 awkward in her promos leading up to WrestleMania. Kurt Angle’s neck may very possibly be held together by duct tape at this point in his career. Stephanie last wrestled maybe two or three years ago if my memory is correct. So, basically, Triple H will need to carry this match for about 90% of its duration.
Prediction: Triple H and Stephanie. Rousey and Angle are the obvious pick, but Triple H loves himself so much and has such a huge say in what happens in WWE that it weighs heavily on my decision. I think Triple H pinning Kurt Angle would work story-wise without making Ronda look weak by taking a loss.
WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar (C) vs. Roman Reigns
Excitement level: 9
Round two of Brock vs. Roman should be a classic. They first met at WrestleMania 31 when everyone thought Roman would win the WWE Championship, but the match was interrupted by Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and pinning Roman to steal the title. Now, three years later, the build up feels the same. Reigns is once again being positioned as the good guy who tries to overcome the unstoppable powerhouse that is Lesnar. A Reigns win seems inevitable as Lesnar passes the torch on his way back to UFC. Expect the fans in attendance too boo any offense mounted by Roman because they feel he is being forced upon them as a champion.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar. It makes no sense to have Brock win, but going with Roman feels too predictable. I just get the sense there will be more complexity to the outcome than a clean Reigns over Lesnar victory. On top of that, the WWE seems to hate it when the fans think they have everything figured out and this is one way to prove them wrong.
