WrestleMania 36 Preview, Predictions And Thoughts

We’re finally here. It’s that time of year again and as weird as it is to have a two day Wrestlemania, I’m going to need two days to preview this whole thing. This is one of those VERY stacked cards (read as Wrestlemania) and that means we are going to be seeing a lot, albeit without any fans in front of them. This could mean a lot but we’re coming into this so differently that I’m only going to be able to guess how some of these things are going. Let’s get to it.

Note that I’m not going to try to guess which matches are on which night so these are in no particular order.

Elias vs. King Corbin

Yeah let’s just get this one out of the way early. It’s one of those matches that you have nightmares about but at the same time, I’m almost curious to see how bad this can actually be. This is your nightmare show of the year and my goodness it could be incredible in one way or….well ok there isn’t another on there because this isn’t going to work, but that might be the case for another reason.

Music hater:

I don’t think Elias is working this match. They did the big injury angle last week and I think you know where this is going: Rob Gronkowski takes his place and gets his win over Corbin. As much as I could go for seeing Corbin lose, I think Gronkowski might be even more annoying. This is something that we’re just going to have to get through because Gronkowski has personality, which is code for he’s one of those people you want to see get tasered and throw off a bridge in Louisiana. Somehow this might be worse, but at least this should be short.

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

This is something that seemed to be a much bigger match than it wound up being. The biggest problem here is how the story has kind of fallen apart due to so many people involved being out of the show for various reasons. That makes things all the more complicated, but at the end of the day it just isn’t all that interesting on its own. Rollins has cooled a bit, but who hasn’t at this point?

That’s some revisionist history:

I’ll take Rollins here and I don’t know why he would lose in this situation. I know that they’re setting up the idea that Owens has never won anything at WrestleMania (incorrect but whatever) but Rollins seems to have a lot more potential moving forward than he does. Hopefully the match is good, but this should be Rollins the entire way, albeit after some good near falls.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits(c) vs. Angel Garza/Austin Theory

Here’s your match that might have been changed as much as anything else. At the end of the day, there is no reason for these teams to be fighting, mainly because Garza and Theory weren’t even a team until four days ago. If nothing else, that shows you just how bad the tag division is at this point. You would think that the solution might be to bring over another team from Smackdown or NXT, but this is what we’re getting instead. Points to Theory for getting here though, as that’s quite the nice nod.

Two feuds at once:

In what might be the easiest pick of the night, I’ll take the Street Profits to win here. There is no reason to suggest that they are going to drop the titles to a literally thrown together team and I can’t imagine the match being anything more than what should be a cool down match or Kickoff Show match. Just go with what makes sense here and don’t do anything stupid, which I don’t think they will.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors(c) vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

Can we just go ahead and call this the worst title in recent memory? They haven’t actually been defended on TV since December and I don’t think many people really care. There is nowhere near enough depth for something like this and it shows worse and worse every single week. The Warriors are the third champions and I’m not sure they even have three challengers right now.

Half and half:

Bliss and Cross win the titles here and they’re not going to be able to do much with them anyway. At the end of the day, there is just nothing going on with the titles and there is no need for them. Having the titles defended on all three brands helps a bit, but when you’re not defending them on any brand, what difference does it make? Just go with the title change as the titles die a little more each day.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Now we’ll get to something interesting for a chance with a rather intense feud. These two have the potential to beat the living heck out of each other and that could make for a very good brawl. It’s a personal rivalry and that’s one of the best things that you can get. I’m curious to see if Beth Phoenix is going to interfere here, as it would certainly fit in the story they have at the moment.

Takes one to know one:

I think I’ll take Edge here, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m wrong on this one. Orton winning in the end with an RKO or two would make a lot of sense, but Edge winning and getting his revenge feels like the right idea. Edge has a much better story to tell at the moment and having Orton win doesn’t make a ton of sense. I’ll go with Edge, but I’m not convinced.

Raw Women’s Title: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Shayna Baszler

I’m not used to this. One of the longest running statements that I would make in these things would be “Baszler has to lose this time” and then be horribly wrong more often than not. This time around she’s challenging though and I’m not sure how to take that. Somehow it has been a year since Lynch won the title in the first place but the problem is she has run out of serious challengers. That’s where Baszler comes in.

This has been brewing for a bit:

I’ll go with Baszler winning because otherwise, what is she supposed to do? She dominated NXT at a level that rivaled Asuka and losing would just make her look like she choked (different than when she chokes people out of course). At the same time, Lynch needs ANYTHING else to do at the moment. She’s still over and on fire but at some point you have to reset things a bit. Lynch may be the biggest female star ever and a loss after a year as champion isn’t going to do any career ending damage.

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler

This is a match I didn’t think I would actually see but it is the kind of thing that has been built up well. Otis has gone from what should be a goofy character to a goofy character with a purpose. The fans are into him and while I don’t think he’s going to be able to last long term at the top of the card, but you would think this is where Mandy Rose sides with Otis and dumps Ziggler. If nothing else there were certainly hints at Ziggler having some kind of a plan with Sonya Deville last week.

Here’s your twist:

In the other prediction I’m sure I’ll get wrong, I’ll take Otis here, though for the life of me I can’t picture Ziggler losing to him. It seems like a situation where no matter how much sense something makes, Vince McMahon would wind up saying that no one would believe Otis wins the match and Rose chooses him. I hope I’m wrong because it would be so annoying, but it isn’t out of the question. Otis wins and mixed tag rematches abound, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Now we have one of the most confusing matches on the whole thing. On one hand, I can go with the idea of showcasing the two of them on the biggest show of the year. On the other hand though, I’m not big on adding more matches to the already crazy bloated card for the sake of putting them on the card. That doesn’t often work well, but a good performance here would be a big deal for both.

That’s some power striking:

Black winning here is really the only thing that makes sense as Lashley has nothing going on at the moment. I’d go with Black winning here because he seems to have more potential, though I’m not sure I could see Lashley losing after everything he has done in recent months. You could go either way here, but the logical pick seems to be Black.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley(c) vs. Tamina vs. Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks vs. Naomi

This is another instance where the champ has cleaned out the division but in this case I could buy most of the challengers taking the title. WWE would be crazy to not try and push Evans at some point, Naomi has been pushed before, Banks and Bayley are joined at the hip forever and then there’s that other person in the match who seems to have video of Vince tickling a judge with a rubber duck. I’m not sure where this goes and that’s a nice feeling.

The champ isn’t happy:

For some reason I want to say Evans wins here, but this seems like a setup for another Bayley vs. Banks feud so I’ll take Bayley retaining. Maybe she stabs Banks in the back to win it or maybe it’s the opposite, but for the sake of this I’ll say Bayley keeps the belt. It won’t be for much longer though as she needs something else to do, but she has gotten something out of this reign and that’s a good thing.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Miz/John Morrison(c) vs. New Day vs. Usos

So here we have a scheduling issue as the match is already going to be changed to something else, but since I’m putting this together early, the best I can do is go off of spoilers. The word on the street is that the triple threat tag team ladder match turns into a triple threat singles ladder match for the titles. The good thing is that doesn’t change my pick.

I’d say they’re ready:

The champs retain here because that’s one of WWE’s favorite booking tropes: have the champs lost over and over and over but hey they win in the title match so everything else is forgotten. At the same time, the Usos and New Day have been champions so many times already and neither of them need the belts again. Let Miz and Morrison win, and then have them win a few more times on top of that so they can look like champions for a bit.

NXT Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley(c) vs. Charlotte

The deeper we get into this the more difficult they become. Back in November/December of last year, they had no choice but to make Ripley into the star. She was over, she was nailing the matches and there was nothing to hold her back. That should be the case again in the biggest match of her career, but there is one problem: it’s Charlotte, who gets more pushes and title reigns than any woman in history, seemingly because she’s Charlotte. She’s better than most women, but we have seen it so many times now (including with the NXT Women’s Title) that I don’t think we need to see it again.

How to get ready:

For once I’ll give WWE the benefit of the doubt and hope that they will go with what makes sense, which would be Ripley retaining. Charlotte absolutely does not need this title and while Ripley got the big win over Baszler, having her lose to Charlotte here would take a lot of that status away. It doesn’t make sense to do that and while I’m sure WWE will be tempted to do so, I think they’ll do the right thing and keep the title on Ripley.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn(c) vs. Daniel Bryan

Dang this would have had fans drooling a few years ago. Now though, Zayn is banged up and more annoying than anything else but it’s still nice to see him finally get a title reign like this. At the same time you have the rather interesting Bryan/Drew Gulak pairing, which could go in a few different and entertaining directions. This match could as well, but I think I know which it is.

A proper warmup:

Remember that after this show is over, WWE is going to have some TV time to fill. Over on Smackdown, I think there might be some mileage out of having Bryan, as the new Intercontinental Champion, pick an opponent and go out there to fill in twenty or so minutes every week. He’ll have to win the title in the first place here though and I think that is what happens here.

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

Here’s your other personal match, along with your “what does that mean” match. This is a Bone Yard match, which sounds like something that is going to be taking place on location in a cemetery, which might not be the best name to use in the current world. It also seems to be more like BikerTaker than Dead Man Undertaker, which makes a lot of sense. If you’re in a small building with no fans, the Undertaker mystique goes away.

No seriously what is it:

As for the match itself, I’ll go with Undertaker because it’s Wrestlemania, but I’m having some issues with making myself care about it. I’ve never been hue on the biker character but it’s something different and given the situation, it’s the right move. If nothing else, just mixing things up after another sixteen year run with the Dead Man is a good idea. It could be a solid brawl, but I’m not exactly intrigued.

John Cena vs. The Fiend

This is your other on location match and I’m not sure what that is going to mean. It would seem to be a match taking place in the Firefly Fun House, which hopefully isn’t treated as some mystical place after Seth Rollins attacked it at one point last year. The match could be a heck of a mind trip if they let some creative people work on it and really, that is the best thing you can do in something like this. Having the Fiend just come out there and wrestle doesn’t really work, so let it be all zany.

I’d jump too:

There is no reason to give Cena the win here as odds are he is gone after WrestleMania anyway. The Fiend could be a heck of a monster down the line, perhaps even getting his win back from Goldberg (which was TOTALLY necessary) down the line. This should be a big win for Fiend, as Cena can fight back but ultimately fall to the Mandible Claw, because we need to build Fiend back up. Again.

Smackdown World Title: Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman

It’s another match that hasn’t been announced yet, even though Roman Reigns himself has already announced that he won’t be wrestling on the show due to health concerns. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but there is something wrong with WWE advertising him up until the night before WrestleMania when they know he won’t be there. There isn’t time for a tweet, a website article, a voiceover? Not a single thing in all that TV time they have to fill?

Add Strowman to this list:

I keep thinking that this should be a layup answer, but then I can’t decide which one is the layup. In theory it should be obvious that Goldberg loses and goes back to whatever he does when he isn’t on another WWE run but the idea of Strowman actually winning the title doesn’t seem possible. They have had so many chances to do it before and I’m not sure I can picture it happening here. I’ll go with Strowman, but I won’t believe it until I see it.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Drew McIntyre

And we’ll wrap it up (maybe) with this, as the Royal Rumble winner gets to headline the show. Lesnar has been champion so many times and for so many days now that it is hard to imagine him losing again here. That being said, and it has been said many times before, Lesnar has been champion for so long that it would be nice to see him doing ANYTHING else besides another lengthy Lesnar title reign.

Do it again, but on the big stage:

McIntyre has to win here because it would be up there with Reigns losing back in 2018. Just go with what makes sense here and have McIntyre kick Lesnar’s head off. At some point you need to just push someone as the next big star and that is where we are with McIntyre. He might bomb as champion but you can only have Lesnar keep the title warm for so long and we passed that point years ago. McIntyre wins here and we move on from there, but he has to win the title first.

Overall Thoughts

A preview for a show wouldn’t take six pages. As is almost always the case, these shows are just too long and I don’t think the two nights idea is going to make it better. Maybe the shows can make up for it (and they certainly could, just like last year’s did), but I can’t help sighing when I look at that very long card. That being said, it’s still Wrestlemania and that alone puts it on a different level. Have some fun and enjoy your weekend because there will never be another one like it.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!