Wrestlemania 36 Preview

Hi guys,

Well, despite everything going on in the world, WWE really are going ahead with business as usual. It turns out that despite many protests from fans, they are going ahead with Wrestlemania without any crowds. They've also gone one step beyond that! 

Now airing on both Saturday and Sunday (US time), WWE have followed New Japan's lead and made the biggest show of the year run over two dates! This means that there will now probably be nearly twice the amount of matches and whether that's a good thing or not, well we'll have to wait and see! I guess in one way you could see it as a replacement for NXT Takeover which always happens the day before Wrestlemania.

Of course, with more matches, it means a lot more matches to preview and it's especially hard at the moment as we have no idea which matches are going to be on what day. So, I've decided to stray away from my usual match by match preview (because it will take me all week), and instead I'll categorise them into four categories and look at them in a summarised paragraph! Hopefully, it will be a much easier read and easier to digest it all! 

RAW Title Matches

RAW have some very strong matches going into Wrestlemania. They've also done a fairly decent job in the build up to the show and these are really high calibre matches that have the potential to really steal the show. Even after news that Andrade is no longer able to compete with Angel Garza for the tag titles against the Street Profits, a last minute replacement by NXT's Austin Theory is definitely a solid choice. Street Profits have just gained more and more popularity since debuting on the main roster and really made their mark. However, the same can be said for Angel Garza who has won the hearts of fans from NXT, 205 Live and now Raw even with his cockiness and the fact that his pants rip isn't as good as NJPW's Taichi. It will be interesting to see the dynamic between Theory and Garza as they are very similar in many ways! However, the tag team experience of Street Profits should help them retain their title.

You've then got Becky Lynch v Shayna Bayzler for the women's title: a dream match for many. Since winning the title, Lynch has been almost unstoppable but then, she's never had to go 1 on 1 with the force that is the Queen on Spades. Both have very different styles with Bayzler being more submission based compared to Becky's more diverse offence, however it's their passion that they have in common which will make this match. Personally, I would love to see Bayzler pick up the win because it might be time for a change in the women's title picture and Shayna can be that change.

We've then got the possible main event of Brock Lesnar v Drew McIntyre. I am upset that Drew won't get his massive Wrestlemania moment, but I just hope that WWE finally does right by him and gives him that WWE title because he is so talented and deserves it - also I don't like Brock so a Drew win would be the best outcome for me!

Smackdown Title Matches

For me, Smackdown has always been the grade A show and by looking at the title matches set, it's still strong even years after the first draft. After Drew Gulak beat Shinsuke Nakamura on SD, it set the stage for Sami Zayn v Daniel Bryan. Considering how Sami Zayn won the title to start with, his reign so far has been a mixture of hilarity and brilliance. However, as much as I love Daniel Bryan, I want Sami to retain and for WWE to let Zayn have a proper title reign showcasing just how talented he actually is; which is so talented. There's also the triple threat for the SD tag titles, but this match is another hit by what's happening as the Miz has been pulled from the match because of health issues. There haven't been any announcements regarding this match, so I can't really say much because, unlike the Raw tag match, how can there be a match without the champion?

After the dominant reign Bayley has had as SD Women's champion (despite what everyone says, because I've liked her reign), Paige's decision to put her in a fatal 5-way was a great decision. It's not only allowed a lot of the women on the roster to shine, but it's there's a nice dynamic between the people involved. What will be most interesting is to see how it plays out between Sasha and Bayley and whether their friendship goes out of the window when the title is on the line. Also, wouldn't it be great if Naomi got another title reign? That's just my thoughts... The main title match is still very much an unknown after Roman Reigns rightly pulled himself out of Wrestlemania for his health. It will be interesting to see what WWE does with this match and how high on the card it will be.

Other Title Matches

I've put these matches here because both are title matches but neither fit into the Smackdown or RAW brand. I'm glad to see the Kabuki Warriors finally defending their women's tag titles because, for me, Asuka and Kairi Sane are two of my favourite female wrestlers in WWE with amazing in-ring skills but also now a great badass heel persona. I'm also happy that their opponents are Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross who were missed out of the SD women's match. All four wrestlers are so diverse and it's going to be an amazing match full of high risk moves, hip attacks and whatever Nikki Cross is going to do because I can't predict it! In my opinion, I want the Kabuki Warriors to retain but I know why people would be against me, mainly because of the lack of investment from WWE on these titles. Maybe a new set of champions might breathe some life back into these titles. 

We've then got the historic NXT Women's title match which is being defended for the first time at WM after Charlotte used her Royal Rumble win to answer Rhea Ripley's challenge. It's definitely going to be an amazing match with two scarily gifted female wrestlers who are both extremely fast and strong. In so many ways, they're both very similar to each other and that's just going to make the match exciting. On paper, you'd think that Flair has the advantage, but Ripley is not to be underestimated and I really hope she keeps the title and carries on dominating the NXT women's division.

Other Matches

The mix up for the non-title matches were quite an interesting read for me and some spiked my interest immediately like the Firefly Fun House match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena as well as the Edge v Randy Ortan Last Man Standing Match which is Edge's first WM match back from retirement and even Kevin Owens v Seth Rollins which is always going to be a great combination of wrestling and personality.

However, the others have me on the edge... Otis v Ziggler doesn't feel like a Wrestlemania worthy match especially with the story behind it basically being something out of the Divas era. I haven't seen a build up or one that interests me between Aleister Black and Bobby Lashley and, in the case of the Undertaker v AJ Styles, just let the man retire! However, there is a nice mix and some of these will be great ways to break up the huge title matches!

We've obviously got matches like the Universal title and even the Smackdown titles that are still very much changeable after news that certain wrestlers are unwell and thus not able to participate in Wrestlemania. This was to be expected during times like this and WWE are going to have to flexible with these matches until the very last minute considering everything that's going on at the moment.

However, there are some solid matches here that I am looking forward too like Daniel Bryan v Sami Zayn, Edge v Randy Orton and the fatal five way for the Smackdown Women's Championship. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out but I know that, for a lot of people, it's going to be a welcoming distraction and is what we all probably need during times like this.

Hopefully you all enjoyed my preview and you are looking forward to this weekend, because oddly enough, I am. 

As always, make sure to give follow me on social media (@Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG)! for some top quality banter!

Also, keep an eye out for my fortnightly podcast where I talk a lot about all thing wrestling: https://www.mixcloud.com/WrestlingChatter/ because I will try and start posting content more regularly.

Until next time,

Bye