Roundtable: WrestleMania 35 Predictions

On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate the buildup to WrestleMania 35?

Chad Gelfand: 7. There are a million matches on the card and a decent amount of them don’t have much buildup, but the ones that do have buildup and a story that have me excited. Kofi vs. Bryan, Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles, The Miz vs. Shane McMahon and Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte are the matches I’m anticipating most.

Juan Bautista: 7. Although there have been bright moments like Becky winning the Royal Rumble, then she gets suspended. You could look through the entire card and find gaps in the stories or there’s only one signature moment and the rest is just filler.

Neal Wagner: 4. There are matches on this show (Styles vs. Orton, Kofi vs. Bryan) where the matches look awesome, but the stories are lackluster. The best stories going in are Batista vs. Triple H and the women’s triple threat. Good matches, but the buildup has been next to meaningless.

John Corrigan: 6. I’ve been watching nearly every week on the Road to WrestleMania, and I’ve mostly enjoyed it. Rousey finally snapping, Charlotte surprising everyone by beating Asuka again, and that ridiculous brawl with the police on Raw was fun. Despite Mr. McMahon’s blatant racism (it’s the only conclusion we can draw!), the storyline between Kofi and Bryan has been intriguing, and both men have elevated themselves as a result. I’ve also loved the promos between Orton and Styles. On the other hand, the Lesnar-Rollins storyline, or lack thereof, has been terrible and Batista and Triple H dropped the ball since the Flair birthday party.

Anthony Mahalis: 3. I don’t think they have done a very good job with the major feuds leading up to Mania. Kofi/Bryan had so much potential, but they dicked around for four weeks. They have taken all of the air out of the triple threat main event. It is kind of just exhausting at this point. I am sure the match will be good, but I am no longer excited for it. Lesnar/Rollins has been pretty solid, but not having Lesnar on every show limits what you can do. HHH/Batista has had the best buildup on the card.

Steven Jackson: As I don’t watch WWE regularly, I will put my answer as 5 to be impartial. However, I do think WWE has used social media extremely well this year in the lead up to WrestleMania, which has helped build up storylines a lot more.

Jenna Leigh: 8. The things I care about, I am PUMPED for. The things I’m not invested in…I’m truly apathetic.

David Gibb: 3. I’ve dipped in for Kofi and the Becky-Charlotte-Rousey build, but beyond those title matches, there’s not a bout on the card that makes me regret not watching more closely.

Jack Goodwillie: 5. Let’s face it, there’s some great matches on this year’s show, but the same problems plaguing WrestleManias of recent years plague this year’s as well: oversaturated match card and bad writing. Becky Lynch and Kofi Kingston ascending the ranks and leveraging fan support into WrestleMania world title matches are great stories on paper, but upon further examination, both have fallen victim to bad booking. Mr. McMahon’s unexplained intervention in the Kingston storyline has been one of the biggest ‘WTF’ moments of the year and the prerequisite for WWE to involve ‘police and local authorities’ in every single high-profile match these days hurts the performers. The redundancy in booking really waters it all down.

Which match are you most looking forward to?

Bautista: The main event. The match has had the most build and is the most intriguing. Now that it’s “winner take all,” it’s the best main event presented since maybe WrestleMania 24.

Wagner: Kofi vs. Bryan. It’ll be a great match and the crowd will be into it, which will just make it even more entertaining.

Corrigan: Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Ronda. Finally, we get a main event that the crowd won’t be burned out for. Plus, we get “Bad Reputation” live!

Mahalis: Kofi vs. Daniel Bryan, and it’s not close. Kofi has been my favorite wrestler ever since I got back into wrestling in high school and I have long thought that he deserved this type of spotlight. I can’t wait to finally get to see his WrestleMania moment.

Jackson: Without a doubt, the main event. It is going to be a brilliant showcase for women’s wrestling on the Grandest Stage of them all!

Leigh: The first-ever women’s WrestleMania MAIN EVENT! Two of the three women in this match have proven that they can absolutely tear the house down. Ronda Rousey, while still “green” as a pro wrestler, is an extraordinarily gifted and talented athlete. Placed in this match with these two ring generals, she will shine. Of that I have no doubt. Truly can’t wait to see what happens.

Gibb: The main event. Duh! If you’re not excited for Becky, I don’t believe you’ve been watching wrestling for the last six months/four years.

Goodwillie: Triple H vs. Batista has far and away had the most complete build with no wasted segments. These guys also fought in the main event of my first WrestleMania, so there’s some sentimental value there. I don’t how good the match is gonna be, but both guys seem motivated enough, so maybe the match itself surprises? I’m very curious to find out.

Will KofiMania run wild?

Gelfand: Yes! Yes! Yes! It is Kofi Kingston’s time. Eleven years in WWE and grinding all of his life for this opportunity to have a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship. This storyline has been fantastic for so many reasons, the racial undertones, the ultimate underdog story, Daniel Bryan turning into the very thing he fought so hard against. The only way that this storyline can have a truly satisfying conclusion is if Kofi Kingston wins the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

Bautista: I hope so. While some say Daniel Bryan’s run as champion should last longer, it will probably be the best moment of the night. For WWE’s sake, it better be so people forget about shenanigans that possibly went down earlier in the night.

Wagner: For the same reason that I’m looking forward to this is because KOFI IS TAKING THE TITLE. Eleven years and he completely deserves it. KofiMania will run wild all over WrestleMania 35.

Corrigan: Nope. Daniel Bryan will retain after Big E and Xavier betray their buddy, splitting up The New Day and shocking the world.

Mahalis: I’d like to say that Kofi wins, but I am highly concerned that he won’t. I have been looking at the card and I just see so many faces winning and I figure some heels have to win, and Kofi might be the odd man out. I REALLY hope I’m wrong here. To make Kofi go through all of this, only to lose, would kind of spit in the face of the fans.

Jackson: KofiMania will definitely run wild and it will take over MetLife Stadium more than the Yes! Movement five years prior!

Leigh: I don’t know…but I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see it!!

Gibb: We’ll get Kofi or Becky, but not both. I think Kofi has a feel-good visual win before getting screwed in a way that extends the issue between New Day and Bryan’s crew and gets us into tags and 6-mans for the next month.

Goodwillie: No. This is the right match for WrestleMania, but that does not mean the babyface needs to go over in every single match. New Daniel Bryan is still firing on all cylinders and it’s not time to drop the belt just yet. For Kofi, I look at this more as an audition. We’ve always known him to be one to rise to the occasion, but he’s never had this stage in this level of match so we’ll see if he can cement his status as a main eventer. Remember, last year’s SmackDown championship match, seemingly a dream match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, was heavily criticized after the fact, so Daniel and Kofi will go into this one with a stigma to break.

Will The Beast finally get slayed?

Gelfand: Yes. It is time for Brock Lesnar to finally be beaten at WrestleMania by a member of The Shield. Every year that Lesnar has been back, there have been diminishing returns. Yes, he usually puts on a great performance when he’s around, but the problem is he’s never around. The Universal Title needs to once again become a weekly fixture on Raw and Seth Rollins is the perfect person to carry that title right now.

Bautista: It’s a tough question because while we all want a new champion, we have to consider WWE’s traditional booking. As far as world championship matches go, they only want it to be one person’s night. If Daniel retains, that leaves it between the women’s triple threat and Seth vs. Brock and both matches might be decided at the last second. WWE has reportedly waited on what Ronda will do after WrestleMania. When it comes to Brock Lesnar, well, no one knows what to expect. Last year, we thought Brock’s contract was expiring right before our eyes, but he won. This time around it might just be a matter of if WWE gets cold feet.

Wagner: I’ve been back and forth on this considering that there was so much hope last year that Roman would take out Brock, but then Brock retained. Knowing WWE, there is a chance that Brock retains at least until the next Saudi show. My prediction is that the KingSlayer becomes the BeastSlayer and NEW UNIVERSAL CHAMPION.

Corrigan: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Dream on, Mahalis!

Mahalis: I would be shocked if Rollins doesn’t walk out of WrestleMania the champion, but then again I thought the same thing about Roman Reigns. Still, I believe Rollins is victorious.

Jackson: I’ve always been a massive fan of Brock Lesnar, and I’ve always been a huge fan of Seth Rollins, so this is quite tough. For nostalgic reasons, I want The Beast to win. However, realistically, it is Rollins’ time to shine!

Leigh: This is one of those situations where on one side of the coin is what I’d like to see happen. On the other side of the coin is what WWE is most likely to do. It always feels like no matter how “over” a guy is, Brock Lesnar is the wall they cannot move past. By now, a significant number of fans feel that keeping the Fruit Roll-Up Championship around Lesnar’s waist now devalues it. In kayfabe, it doesn’t appear to matter to him enough to bother defending it with any regularity. Seth Rollins more than deserves to be the one to “slay the beast” and I *HOPE* he does. I fear that out of touch VKM will keep the title on Brock…because…duh! Big muscles!

Gibb: Probably. As good and potentially valuable as Lesnar is, I don’t think there’s any juice left in this run because of the way things have been booked and scheduled over the last three years. Not with a bang, but a whimper, etc. etc.

Goodwillie: I will say yes, just because I really, really want to believe Brock is gonna fight Daniel Cormier this year. On paper, Seth probably has a case to both win and lose this match considering Roman’s previous results, but since we know it won’t be going on last, I’ll go Brock Chalk on this one.

Who wins the triple threat main event between Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey?

Gelfand: Becky Lynch has to win. The journey to this match has been long, exciting and convoluted, but all of that can be forgiven if the conclusion is satisfying and makes sense. The Daniel Bryan story had a similar disjointed build, but all was forgiven when the night ended with confetti falling and the underdog hero holding up both titles. Five years later, I hope to see the same visual occur.

Bautista: My heart says Becky, my head says Ronda and my gut says Charlotte. Becky has to win because Ronda winning will be ignorant and Charlotte winning will just be annoying.

Wagner: There is only one option for a winner in this match: Becky Lynch. I’m going one step further to predict that she will pin Charlotte to win so that WWE can protect Ronda for when she “may” come back. Charlotte will probably go straight for a rematch.

Corrigan: As stated on The Wrestling Estate Podcast, Charlotte will emerge victorious because she is a Flair.

Mahalis: Has to be Becky. Has to be. However, would anyone really be surprised to see Charlotte add to her already HOF worthy resume by winning this? The only outcome that would shock me would be Ronda winning. My official pick is still The Man.

Jackson: Charlotte. She has been the leader and face of the women’s division since it’s rebirth in NXT back in 2012, and it is only appropriate she wins both Women’s Titles in the first all-female main event in WrestleMania history!

Leigh: This is another one of the “what I think should occur vs. what may very well occur.” Being blunt: amazing last few months aside, Becky is still a bit of an underdog here. WWE was thrown titles at Charlotte every time she sneezes for a pretty lengthy stretch of time and while yes, she’s talented, Ronda Rousey has coasted through her time in WWE, title in hand. I *WANT* to see Becky win, because I dare say no one since Daniel Bryan and the Yes! Movement has a WWE superstar captured the imagination of the fans the way Becky Lynch has. Truthfully, her rise to the top is not unlike Bryan’s, the fans fought for her like they did Bryan. However, while she is most deserving of that ever marketable “WrestleMania Moment®”, WWE, as I’ve said before, goes one step forward, several steps back. If not her, Charlotte would still be great as the winner. But I’m fearful that Ronda Rousey is going to be “their girl,” that her celebration will be what we see at fade to black. I hope not, but….ya know….

Gibb: Becky Lynch!

Goodwillie: Becky Lynch. She’s the one, and inside and outside the ring there’s nothing not to like about her. Charlotte? You can respect the talent, but it’s just not her time. Ronda Rousey? I’ve always considered Ronda a bit of a brat, who has sort of worked her way into a situation where she’s “so underrated she’s overrated” because of her lack of experience. She’s fine. I still think she overacts, is a subpar promo and sells too much given her legitimate credentials, but none of that matters because she’ll be taking a hiatus to “have babies” with her Neanderthal, wife-beater, ugly ass ogre of a husband, Travis Browne. BYE FELICIA! #DerrickLewisWasRight