Wrestlemania 36
Wrestlemania 36 is officially coming to Raymond James Stadium on April 5, 2020! A press conference was held in Tampa Thursday morning featuring WWE executives and Superstars as well as officials from the city of Tampa. In addition to Wrestlemania on the 5th, we’ll also see NXT TakeOver, the Hall of Fame Induction, Raw, Smackdown, Fan Axxess, and a number of other community activities. Presumably NXT, Raw and Smackdown will be happening at Amelie Arena with the location of Axxess yet to be revealed. Obviously, the Scrum team will keep you up to date on all things Tampa Mania.
This logo is going to look amazing on merchandise!
Fastlane
The Fastlane PPV is this Sunday, so let’s preview the card and make some predictions…
Kickoff match: Mysterio vs Andrade- This pair of luchadors has put on a great show every single time they’ve stepped in the ring together, and we should expect nothing less this time. Either man can win at any time, but based on what I expect from the rest of the card I’m going to give the heel the edge here. Prediction: Andrade
Smackdown Women’s Championship- Asuka© vs Mandy Rose- With all the creative hype centered on the Raw Women’s Title feud and to a lesser extent the Women’s Tag Titles, Smackdown Women’s Champion Asuka has been the forgotten woman lately. This match has barely existed on SDL, but it is happening. No way Asuka drops the belt though when she can hopefully have a better feud for Mania next month. Prediction: Asuka retains but remains irrelevant
Women’s Tag Championship- Banks and Bayley© vs Jax and Tamina- Receiving only slightly more attention than the SD Women’s Title, the powerhouse team of Nia Jax & Tamina Snuka are the first challengers for inaugural Women’s Tag Champions Sasha & Bayley. The champs will be presented as underdogs throughout this match, but there’s no way they drop the belts when they are likely to face a tandem of past stars (likely either Trish & Lita or The Bella twins) at Wrestlemania. Prediction: The Boss n Hug Connection retains
Raw Tag Titles: Revival© vs Ricochet and Black vs Roode and Gable- The Revival finally got their long overdue title reign but haven’t been presented very strongly since doing so. They now face stiff competition from the former champions Roode & Gable as well as the newly promoted NXT standouts Ricochet & Black. On one hand, the momentum seems to be entirely in the corner of the new guys. On the other hand, is defending the Raw Tag Titles the best place for them come Wrestlemania? Prediction: Revival retains… to keep them happy for now or something.
Smackdown Tag Championship- Usos© vs Miz and Shane- We all know that this is just the final match on the long journey towards Miz vs Shane at Mania. The Usos are just here to make things look good along the way and then carry the belts towards better things next month. Prediction: Usos retain due to miscommunication between Miz & McMahon
The Shield vs McIntyre, Corbin & Lashley- At the urging of newly healthy Roman Reigns, the Shield went through a somewhat rushed reunification Monday night. They’ve come together one last time to face the trio of Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley. This may be the hardest match to predict. I’d like to think the Shield gets a happy ending before going their separate ways, but happy endings are rare in wrestling so I don’t put it past WWE’s creative team to swerve us here. Prediction: Shield… tentatively
WWE Championship- Daniel Bryan© vs Kevin Owens- They swerved us a couple of weeks ago by bringing in the returning Kevin Owens to replace Kofi Kingston in this match. Owens new face persona has done a remarkable job of further getting over the “New Daniel Bryan.” Alas, no matter how good this match is, and I’m sure it will be, we all know where the real money is at right now. Prediction: Bryan retains and Kingston gets his shining moment at Mania
Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair- On the women’s front, they continued taking strange twists and turns en route to the eventual Wrestlemania triple threat main event. This week we saw Lynch officially reinstated but forced to sign a hold harmless agreement. Rousey also unleashed her full heel persona and beat the hell out of Lynch while Flair watched from the sidelines. Lynch and Flair will meet on Sunday at Fastlane with Becky playing the beaten and broken but resilient underdog who must win her way into the Mania match. Prediction: Screwy finish. We know that this all ultimately leads to a triple threat next month, but they’ve already proven that the obvious route isn’t the only route to get there. On paper, Becky needs to win Sunday, but I feel like they’ll save her win for Mania so it has even greater impact. Instead I see Rousey interfering and this match going to a total non-finish. Over the coming weeks before Mania we’ll get all 3 women inserted in the triple threat with an additional retirement stipulation of some sort added to Rousey’s participation. Stephanie will add this due to Ronda’s behavior on screen as well as her continuing to expose the business on social media. This will all lead to Lynch’s crowning Mania moment and Rousey’s long rumored post-Mania time off from the company.*
*I know that’s way more than a one match prediction, but I’m putting it all in writing now just to see how well I know this company.
Injury Report
A serious neck injury and imminent surgery is set to take NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa out of the picture at the worst possible time. Not only is he still the reigning NXT Champion, but he was also recently called up to the main roster and reformed the team of DIY with Johnny Gargano. Now he’ll need to vacate his title, which will send plans for TakeOver: New York into a chaotic shuffle. This would be difficult enough on the main roster with only a few weeks to tell a new story, but given that most of this month’s NXT shows have already been filmed they will have even less time to alter the build into Mania weekend.
All that said, reports indicate that officials were aware of his injury situation and that he would need surgery soon. They were hoping he could get through TakeOver before taking his time off, but alas that was not the case. Fear not for his future though as the company sees him as a huge star and have already got a plan ready for his eventual return. Let’s all hope for a speedy recovery so that we can enjoy whatever those plans may be sooner rather than later.
R.I.P.
Legendary big man Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies passed away this week at the age of 61. Though his time with WWE was relatively short, it was impactful. He wrestled on the 1st three Wrestlemania cards, including facing Hulk Hogan in the main event of Mania 2. After a few years away he made a brief return in the 90s and was victim #4 of Undertakers legendary Wrestlemania streak. There are many stories circulating this week of what a good guy he was and how supportive he was of younger talent entering the locker rooms. Our condolences to his friends and family.
Departures
Last week we touched a bit on the surprise release of Arn Anderson from his role as a producer for WWE. I speculated that it might have just been a retirement given all the fresh blood recently brought in to work as producers. Unfortunately, the story circulating this week suggests a far more serious situation. Alicia Fox is said to have shown up at a house show inebriated, and Anderson sent her to the ring to wrestle anyway. This dangerously poor judgement is said to be the reason for his dismissal from WWE. No word yet on punishment for Foxy, but I hope there will be some soon.
205 Live
#1 Contender results: Round 1: Oney Lorcan defeated Humberto Carillo, Cedric Alexander defeated Akira Tozawa
NXT
Dusty Rhodes Classic: Round 1 Results:
Ricochet & Aleister Black defeat Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel-Although they’ve primarily been used to enhance other teams thus far, Aichner & Barthel’s European Union has a ton of potential. Even as they put over teams with current stories to tell they look strong and competitive in their matches. That said, there was no way they were going to upset the high profile team of Ricochet & Black just yet.
Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeat Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan- The “Brit-Am Brawlers” as they’re sometimes called are one of my favorite tandems in wrestling right now. They can and do have great matches with nearly every opponent. That said, this was not my favorite match of theirs as there were some odd, almost uncharacteristic moments dictated by the story being told. The Forgotten Sons on the other hand seem to be in a strange place on the roster. Based on appearance, presentation, and the presence of a 3rd man on the outside they SHOULD be a dominant faction. However, for every win they pick up they lose steam with a couple of losses. It’s as if the powers that be just aren’t sure if they really want to push them or not. They got a much needed win here, but I don’t see them getting another in round 2.
Mustache Mountain defeat Street Profits-Dawkins and Ford are another tandem that seems to suffer from hot and cold booking. They’re extremely popular with the NXT audience, but they never quite get to that next level on the ladder of success. Lately they have shown a new, almost heelish edge at times that may finally get them there, but not yet. Seven & Bate have not only served as building blocks of the NXT UK brand, but have also spent a fair deal of time showing their skills stateside. They had a fantastic rivalry with Undisputed Era last year that saw them win the NXT Tag Titles for a brief run. This was a match where either team could believably have moved forward, so perhaps this loss is what pushes the Profits over the edge into full heel mode and future success.
DIY (Ciampa & Gargano) defeat Undisputed Era (Fish & O’Reilly)- This was a phenomenal match from 4 of the most talented guys on the entire WWE roster. This could easily have been the tournament final instead of round 1. I’m not sure where UE goes from here, but the saga of DIY continues… for now (this was taped prior to Ciampa’s medical leave).
Next Week: Round 2 of the Dusty Classic featuring Ricochet & Black vs DIY AND Mustache Mountain vs Forgotten Sons as well as the #1 contenders match between Io Shirai and Bianca Belair
PPV Event Plans
NXT TakeOver: New York, Apr. 5
NXT Title: Due to Ciampa’s medical situation a new champion will need to be crowned. No word yet on how they will set that up or who will be in contention.
NXT Tag Titles- War Raiders© vs Winners of the Dusty Classic
NXT Women’s Title-Shayna Baszler© vs either Io Shirai or Bianca Belair
WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, Apr. 6
-Degeneration X: Shawn Michaels, HHH, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn
-Honky Tonk Man
-Torrie Wilson: No offense to Ms. Wilson, but it seems WWE find themselves in an unwinable situation. The current state of womens wrestling almost requires that they induct a woman into the HOF each year. Unfortunately, given the state of womens wrestling in the past, they now find themselves running low on worthy inductees. Torrie did a fine job with the role she was expected to play during her era, but if they keep going I fear any and every women who ever set foot in a WWE ring will be considered a Hall of Famer, and that diminishes the honor for the truly deserving inductees.
Wrestlemania, Apr. 7
Universal Title: Brock Lesnar© vs Seth Rollins
Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey© vs Charlotte Flair
Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy© vs winner of current 205 tournament
Rumored matches: Asuka vs Lacey Evans, Miz vs Shane McMahon, Samoa Joe vs John Cena, Aj Styles vs Randy Orton, Sasha & Bayley vs returning stars of the past, Usos vs Hardyz, Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston
