Pre-Show: The Ascension v The Lucha Dragons v Itami & Balor
I was hoping we'd get an NXT spot on the Mania card- and while two of these teams have effectively been called up with The Lucha's working Main Event etc. the biggest disappointment from my point of view is that The Ascension were called up, messed with and vanished all within the course of about 2 Months. Itami & Balor are doing fine in NXT, and as you've seen in my NXTMania blog I rate both guys highly.
Sami Zayn v Cesaro
Once again I'd hoped we'd see Zayn get called up, but given how this Mania's been built its perhaps a good thing Zayn is safely under the Triple H safety blanket as we speak. Cesaro was well and truly off the rails by Early October when I did the original, but I'm over the moon he- along with Kidd has somewhat of a purpose headed into this Mania. This was one of those matches that would get a lot of hype from the supposed "smarks" similar to how Zack Ryder ended up getting his run to the US Title, and that would've made the crowd at Mania care about the match and if they were given 10-15 Minutes or so this would've been a great match to open the show with.
Andre the Giant Battle Royal
I had Rusev, Wyatt and Harper as the main guys in my Battle Royal 6 Months ago, two of these guys are positioned a lot higher on the card- not the two I'd have ideally wanted to see but beggars can't be choosers when you're getting Wyatt/Taker. Instead this match is even more of a filler Battle Royal than it was last year- and I'm just holding out hope we get an Axelmania moment for the ages.
Chris Jericho v Seth Rollins
This match isn't entirely outlandish looking back- had they have given Jericho a program with Rollins I'd like to say he'd have returned to work Rollins at a Mania as 1/4 of the storyline that was threaded through multiple Mania matches that I pitched with all of The Authority storyline coming to a head at this years Mania. Then last Survivor Series happened and it pretty much went to hell. The Rollins match is still somewhat like this- but obviously with Orton going up against Rollins and The Authority, which I'm happy to see just because it briefly looked like we were going to get Rollins v Jon Stewart.
Stephanie McMahon v Brie Bella
This was the token Total Diva match on the card, with the alternative being Bella v Bella- which would've have I'm sure been the E Network's pick. I thought considering Stephanie had shown a willingness to get back into the ring should the storyline call for it as at Summerslam we'd get a lot of back and forth between Stephanie via Nikki and Brie- and perhaps even an injury angle if Brie wanted to be home with Bryan while he was recovering from his surgeries, but instead we're getting possibly the least built match on the card #GiveDivasAChance indeed.
Dean Ambrose v Randy Orton
I hadn't anticipated Orton becoming one of then anti-Authority guys headed into this Mania, and this was the third part of my Authority storyline for this Mania. Ambrose is someone who if they'd built right after his feud with Rollins could've been playing a much bigger part in this Mania than sharing the stage with a load of other guys in the IC Title match. Had they have kept Ambrose on the right track and not had him one of the most dragged out feuds of the last 2 or 3 years with Wyatt, combine that with Orton in his heel authority role, between this match and the Jericho/Rollins match we would have some good guys on the card with a storyline that worked, and people cared about- while not being too long.
Roman Reigns v Triple H
I really didn't see Sting v Triple H coming in all honesty, I was sure if Sting was going to come in it'd have been with some kind of reassurance of a match with Taker. That said the way they've built the Sting match is good- thanks to Heyman I almost care about Roman, but not quite. I'd have preferred a more gradual build for Reigns so it was a tad less obvious he was being forced down our throats whether we liked it or not- and this would have been the match to do it in in my opinion. Reigns going over strong against someone like Triple H would've been a good set-up for the year to really make Roman in my opinion.
A.J. v Paige v Charlotte
I saw this as potentially A.J.s last match- I wrote this before Punk's Cabana Podcast, but had I done it after it wouldn't have changed my opinion, if not made it even stronger- but as its turned out it looks like A.J. might be hanging around for a bit longer. Paige is positioned almost exactly where I had her in my 6 Month before blog, just on the brink of the Divas Title and possibly winning it. I think them not having a Title match at Mania is a travesty quite frankly. Charlotte does seem to be on the brink of a call-up now, although I would still favour Sasha- and this match isn't entirely out of the question in the future.
John Cena v Daniel Bryan
This was my most outlandish match on the card, I had hoped we'd get Bryan coming back from his injury as a heel because all of the momentum would have been in a babyface respect. Cena facing Rusev- and most likely beating him at Mania is a waste in my opinion, of both guys. Hopefully Cena can elevate the US Title likewise with Bryan and the IC Title enough to not make me wish they'd gone this route before. I just think a Heel Bryan is so much more entertaining.
Brock Lesnar v Undertaker
Taker v Wyatt wasn't a match I anticipated would happen- which is why I didn't factor it in to my 6 Months in advance blog- but I'm ridiculously happy they've gone down that route for both guys. I spoke about it in my "Taker/Wyatt Who Needs It More" blog I put up as the blog directly before this one about how many Matches Taker has left in him, which in my opinion is this one and Wrestlemania 32 in Texas where he'll likely retire. As such this match is one of the options they definitely have to explore next year because while I'm still holding out hope for a Wyatt win- it is likely Taker will go on to win and then who knows what'll happen at Wrestlemania 32, but in my opinion it can still be achieved with a Wyatt win.
Thanks for reading as always, this is another one down of the 31 this week- so stay tuned for further blogs this week and feel free to look back over the one's I've already done. I hope you're enjoying all of these and while I'm not expecting everyone to read all of them I hope y'all see a few you like and give them a read. Thanks again.
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