A year ago I offered some delightfully wrong (but in one area not too far off) predictions for WrestleMania 37, most importantly, I got this exactly right…
Three months ago, WWE announced WrestleMania 37 would take place in Los Angeles, in the city’s new SoFi Stadium, but Covid-19 is causing everything in 2020 to delay, including the grand opening of that venue. Right now nothing is decided but the words “in jeopardy” have been floated around recently. Assuming the show is canceled for Los Angeles, my prediction is that the show will take place in…
Tampa Bay.
It makes perfect sense. The city was deprived of the event this year. Florida has already designated WWE an essential business*, and the state is much more lax and eager to “get back to normal” than California. I can see WWE pulling a mulligan and just running the city over again.
Other than that, it was a complete strikeout. Oh well, I’m shrugging off the o-fer and I’m ready to throw out some wild and crazy predictions for next year’s show. I’m not going to try and predict the entire card, because I don’t have the imagination or seventy+ years of Vince McMahon’s insanity to try and book two seven-match cards (as I assume Mania 38 to be).
Here we go!
UNDERCARD NONSENSE
AJ STYLES vs OMOS
Might be a hair early for this feud, but considering how Vince’s attention span dwindles with every passing day, I think it’s feasible. The moment these two paired up I knew we were destined for a Shawn Michaels/Diesel sort of run, culminating in a Mania showdown. It’s a tale as old as time and I expect whenever they finally meet, AJ will carry Omos to a match good enough to fool Vince into giving the big man a disastrous world title run in the spring.
EDGE vs FINN BALOR
I’m thinking of guys I want to see Edge tussle with before he re-retires and most of the names are guys who are small and quick and can work a fast-paced contest. Guys like Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and Adam Cole come to mind, but I’m going with Finn Balor, with him getting his biggest WrestleMania match yet against a veteran Hall of Famer. It’s a great accomplishment and would be a nice ‘thank you’ for his couple of years working on NXT, helping carry that brand in its early days of network television. I’ve no doubt Edge could hang with Balor, and seeing the Demon on the biggest stage ever would be more than memorable for the huge crowd in attendance.
UPPERCARD IMPORTANCE
RANDY ORTON vs TRIPLE H – RETIREMENT MATCH
Again, I called this last year for WrestleMania 36…and again for Mania 37. It didn’t happen in either year and Triple H didn’t work either show, in fact (this year was the first without Triple H and Undertaker since WrestleMania X in 1994). Triple H has already said in interviews that he knows his days in the ring are essentially over. I believe him. I also believe he will not formally retire without a big send-off match and I can’t think of a venue big enough to satisfy that man’s massive inferiority complex than the 100k-fan-filling Jerry World in Arlington, TX. That’d be the perfect place to do it.
Here’s what I said last year about a Triple H retirement…
Yeah, it’s time. Triple H seems like he has enough self-awareness to know better than to keep going out there at age 55, 60, 65, looking worse and worse with every outing. He’s not had a great singles match since Roadblock, 2015 and ending things on the highest note possible is the best way to go. As for his opponent, it would feel cheap to call up HBK to do the deed. You might want some NXT hotshot to be given the nod, but do you really trust Vince not to screw up that NXT guy? I think someone with history who is also on his way out the door in a few years makes the most sense. Flair went out via HBK (two years away from retirement). Batista went out via Triple H this year. I’m sure Randy Orton will go out in a few years too (he’s only 39 but he’s been doing this for a long time and has a ton of money). It feels right letting Triple H go down for good via an RKO.
I agree with that one year later, although my argument is slightly different: I think it should be Randy Orton over any NXT hotshot simply because Vince/Triple H won’t want to risk having the guy who retires Triple H jump ship to AEW a year or so later. He’ll want that honor given to a lifer. In that case, Randy Orton fits the bill.
THE MAIN-EVENTS
BAYLEY (c) vs CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs BECKY LYNCH vs SASHA BANKS
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You might think this match is overkill, and that the company would be wiser to have these ladies split between the two main shows. You’d be right, but I think there’s a good reason to work the roster however is needed to make this match happen. Selling out Jerry World means getting 100k ticket buyers, and if they’re going with a two-night show like this year, that means 200k ticket buyers. The only way to swing that is to have the most loaded and hyped-up Mania card possible. This is the biggest possible women’s match that doesn’t include Ronda Rousey. Three of these four have main-evented Mania already, and those three were in a triple threat match in their first Mania event, which just so happened to be Mania 32, the last time we were in Arlington, TX’s Jerry World. It would be poetic to do a rematch, this time featuring the one lady that missed the show last time.
SHAYNA BASZLER (c) vs RONDA ROUSEY
As said, this has to be the biggest possible Mania card to sell out the show. Getting Ronda back and pairing her up against her old running buddy, in a quasi MMA-style showdown would be the most interesting and attention-grabbing use of either lady WWE could do. With the other four biggest names available all working the other women’s title match, this just feels right.
ROMAN REIGNS (c) vs SETH ROLLINS
It might seem a bit random but who last year was predicting Edge to win the rumble and main-event the show? No one, that’s who. I can see Roman moving to RAW, in a desperate attempt to stop the ratings slide and ending up in a feud with his old Shield mate. It would require a Seth Rollins babyface turn to work but give him a redemption story and Royal Rumble win and you just might have something special here.
DANIEL BRYAN (c) vs THE FIEND – CAREER vs UNIVERSAL TITLE
Prediction: Next year will be Daniel Bryan’s last as a full-time performer. He made his big comeback and proved wrong everyone who doubted him or disbelieved he’d ever return to wrestling. Along the way, he recaptured the WWE title, and main-evented WrestleMania. He’s had a great second run and I suspect he’ll be steering away from full-time competition soon. We might be so lucky to see him in a short run here and there, but the days of being spoiled with him on TV every week are nearing an end, I think. I can’t imagine a better way to go out than on his back, putting over one of the guys who has been a persistent foil, especially in his early rise to popularity…
Just kidding, it’s the Fiend, so Bryan will win and then retire the next night on RAW, giving the Fiend not a smidgen of a rub, because that’s Vince for you.
Of course, that’s not THE main event. The real show-closer, I predict, will be…
ROCK vs BROCK – ICON vs ICON
Yep, I’m predicting this again. I’m riding this train till it happens. Here’s what I said last year when predicting Rock vs Roman…
Yep. It’ll cost Vince more money than he’s ever spent on a single match, but he’ll pay it. Right now the Rock is earning about $20-30mm per film, not counting bonuses and such. Vince would have to drop $50-$100mm to make the match happen, and [if given the opportunity] he will.
Those are my predictions, insanely wrong though they likely are.
Have any to share? Leave a comment below!
