There are many speed bumps on the road to WrestleMania.
As WrestleMania begins to take shape we dive into the potential outcomes of Fastlane and what that means for the WrestleMania card. We also check in on Impact Wrestling and where two of their top stars may be going next.
1) What are your thoughts on the New Day hosting WrestleMania this year?
Corey: I feel that New Day hosting Mania is WWE’s way of still keeping them in the spotlight seeing as how they’re still popular, but have absolutely nothing to do with them at the moment.
Josh: I’m fine with it. They’ll get some screen time and should do a pretty solid job of helping transition between the matches. I can also definitely see them doing some more interactions with the legends that will return at Mania so there’s some fun possibilities.
2) With the Sheamus/Cesaro run clearly coming to an end soon do you foresee these two having a match at WrestleMania?
Corey: That would be a huge maybe at the current time. Their last match in their best of 7 series was absolutely amazing and way better than I expected. But with the number of one-on-one matches this year they may not have the time on the card for it.
Josh: Are we sure this tandem is breaking up soon? I kind of think with how things went down on Raw they might be building towards a three team title match at WrestleMania with The Club vs Cesaro/Sheamus vs Enzo/Cass.
3) TNA is finally in a somewhat stable situation, but they are definitely taking some cost cutting measures and it seems that maybe not renewing the contracts of the Hardy Boys could be one of those measures. If that ends up coming true what would you say is the next step for this legendary tag team?
Corey: I would love to see them have a farewell run in WWE, but I don’t think they plan on retiring anytime soon. It would be amazing to see what they could do with their “Broken” gimmick in Ring of Honor or New Japan. I would bet money if it’s not WWE then ROH would be the next step.
Josh: New Japan would be a great destination for both of them. Whether that’s as members of the Bullet Club or something separate, there’s some great options for them in Japan. Also, small outside shot of them joining up with Lucha Underground and then working the indies in the offseason similar to their current deal with Impact (TNA).
4) Where do you see the WWE Universal Championship after WrestleMania?
Corey: I previously predicted that Jericho may cost Kevin Owens the title at Fastlane but if that would be the case then that would mean Goldberg, a part timer, would be champion and then defending against another part timer and if either wins then we’ll go back to the way things were when Lesnar was champion and only seeing the title defended every few months so I think I’ll change my prediction. Owens will retain at Fastlane due to interference from Lesnar and then will win cleanly over Jericho at Mania.
Josh: So the question is who holds the Universal Championship on the Raw after WrestleMania. I believe I’m going to subscribe to my partner’s original theory of Goldberg capturing the title at Fastlane with Lesnar then defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania. Then maybe a few weeks after WrestleMania or perhaps even the Raw after WrestleMania Lesnar will drop the title to Finn Balor. You heard it hear first!
5) Luke Harper and AJ Styles fought to a draw in the battle royal on Smackdown (AJ’s feet clearly touched first) for the number one contender spot. How do you see this building towards WrestleMania?
Corey: This is going to help towards two builds. Rumor already has it Styles and Shane McMahon will face each other at Mania so once it’ll be decided Harper is the winner this can lead to Styles taking out his frustrations with the person in charge aka Shane. This will also help set up Harper vs Bray at Mania which will then end up having Orton added into it to make it a triple threat.
Josh: The Wyatt family triple threat match is a done deal at this point. Which I like. I’m not entirely sold on Shane vs AJ for a WrestleMania match. It’s a cool idea, but there’s alternate matches I’d much rather see.
Additional notes
Corey:
– With the way that Strowman is being built I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a Strowman title reign before the year was over.
– It absolutely broke my heart to see Naomi have to drop the Women’s title on Smackdown. She worked so hard and has put in more than her fair amount of time to earn that spot. I just hope they don’t give up on her once she’s healthy again.
Josh:
– Corey Graves called Cesaro – Claudio on Raw and I about died from laughter. It’s been nearly a decade since I’ve heard him called Claudio on television.
– The Kevin Owens promo to open Raw gave me chills. It was just enough where you could convince yourself Owens might beat Goldberg at Fastlane.
– So here’s something to ponder over the next few weeks. If Owens drops the Universal Championship, should Jericho drop the US title before WrestleMania so the probable Jericho/Owens match is a grudge match and not a match for a championship? Sami Zayn as US Champion is a likely destination and then that title can be defended separately. Something to think about.
Corey Stewart
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