WWE WrestleMania XXXIV- General Discussion Thread

[That N Word]

WrestleMania XXXIV is in less than three weeks, here's your projected FINAL card...

Official WWE WrestleMania 34 promo poster featuring various wrestlers.

1 Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Heavyweight Championship
2 AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship
3 The Miz (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor (vs. Samoa Joe?) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
4 Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Nia Jax for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
5 Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Asuka for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
6 Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Braun Strowman and Elias for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
7 Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali for the Cruiserweight Championship
8 Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
9 WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal
10 Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn vs. Shane McMahon, TBD
11 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
12 Randy Orton(c) vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Bobby Roode for the United States Championship
13 The Uso's vs. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day in a Ladder Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
14 (Career versus Career) John Cena vs. The Undertaker


This should be a fun show, I personally hope Sami vs. Kevin should remain one on one. IF Shane needs a match so bad, he should just fight Dolph, in a story to put the latter over. Now, it's too late for that obviously but regardless it'll be a great show. I expect Cena vs. Taker or Nakamura vs. Styles to close, I expect the SmackDown Tag Title bout or Lesnar vs. Reigns to open. Best match will likely be the SmackDown Tag Title bout, Nakamura/Styles, Charlotte/Asuka, Reigns/Lesnar or (IF it stays one on one) Owens/Zayn.

Expect the mixed tag match to be full of moments to protect Ronda's lack of ability, and Kurt's no longer having the ability. Could we see Ronda tap Triple H out? Could we see Triple H Pedigree Ronda? Could The Rock get involved in someway? Anywho, I expect some big reconciliation after the match where everyone is "friends again."

We may very well see the return of "The Demon" character as a Mania surprise. I would personally not book Joe for the match. Just let Balor get his WrestleMania moment by winning the IC Title in a bout between one of the biggest stars in WWE's current era, and a man that is ARGUABLY a legend in the game in The Miz. Have Samoa Joe win the ATGBR this year as a surprise entrant, then have him appear on the main card and ruin Balor's moment, by choking him out outta nowhere, following his big win. That could start a big feud for the IC Title going into the Summer months.

Cena vs. Taker? I expect Undertaker to win, even if "Career vs. Career" is the stipulation. Something tells me that Undertaker is still not going to truly retire. We believe so every year, but the man doesn't want to stop, and probably won't until he dies. Obviously, Cena isn't going anywhere either, but I've read on several outlets that Cena is not scheduled for anymore show's in 2018, with the exception of the 'Greatest Rumble Ever.' You never know with WWE, but I doubt they would be foolish enough to have Taker lose at another WrestleMania.

Heel Turn Heard Round The World? Could it happen? I doubt it, but after watching RAW last night, it should. WWE has done LITERALLY everything they've could with Roman. I don't blame Roman, or even WWE at this point. Fans just love to hate the guy, no matter how good he gets. During his promo last night, it went from all mixed reaction, to all cheers. They F'd it up with the sympathy angle with Roman, that has literally failed almost every time they've done it. After "You Deserve It" and "Goodbye" chants after a brutal assault like that, why should Roman be fighting for the fans? They don't give a damn about him. You can either have Paul turn on Brock for Roman, or a worked shoot Montreal screwjob type story with a double turn happening. If this goes down, it needs to close the show. Roman Reigns joining The Authority could be a nice angle to work with in the long run, the guy's a great heel. If Brock re-signs, have him off TV for months to sell it, before returning on some Matt Hardy type shit and destroying Roman.

The staff normally says:

"Keep all talks of the WrestleMania in terms of fantasy booking, card speculation, who should go over, who shouldn't, etc. here."

Not my own wording, let's talk Mania!!

 

[Radical]

The only thing I really care to focus on here for WM is Brock vs Roman. I agree with most of what you said.

I don't blame Roman, he's doing the best he can in the position that (let's be honest) Vince wants him in. But it's no working they way Vince is hoping. Clearly, he wants him to be a super-over babyface like The Rock or Stone Cold were. That's NOT what the majority of the fans feel.

And I actually don't have any problem with Reigns being near or at the top of the card, but he clearly needs to go FULL-ON badass, ruthless heel so that the fans can actually focus their dislike for him with good reason!! Then, naturally, a more accepted crowd favorite can come up and face Reigns.

There is actually so much you could do with a full heel Reigns, but for some reason Vince doesn't see it or want it.

The quickest example of how full heel Reigns could work is just REVERSE the situation from Raw. Had Brock Lesnar been suspended, then showed up on Raw anyway, got cuffed, then attacked law enforcement, and Reigns came out and brutally attacked a defenseless Lesnar over and over again (and could even throw in an attack on Paul Heyman) ... you could imagine how HEAVY the boos and heat would be on Roman for that!

Then imagine the intrigue for Brock vs Reigns at WM? Just weeks away and fans can embrace, with good reason, their hate for Reigns as he has fully shown his heel nature, and fans can fully get behind Lesnar as just a bad-ass fighter who got totally defenselessly attacked. Even if he did show up on Raw when suspended, fans for Brock would accept that maybe he shouldn't have but would be more furious at how he got attacked by Reigns.

Instead, you have what actually happened. Clearly an attempt to gain mass sympathy for Reigns, but instead you have many fans cheering and enjoying it. Now, WWE has to try and go ahead with this sympathy angle were they want fans to feel sorry for Reigns and hope to see him get revenge on Lesnar ... when really most fans will be apathetic to Reigns' plight and just want to see him get beat again at WM ....

OR EVEN WORSE ....... fans who dislike Reigns already saw a brutal beatdown and now don't need to tune into WM to see Lesnar beat Reigns.


So, hopefully Vince sees and hears the response and prepares smartly to turn Reigns full heel at WM or right after on Raw, because otherwise.... man, it's going to be a helluva bumpy road for Vince trying to book Reigns as a babyface after WM!

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The weird thing about this whole build up for wrestlemania is that they're three matches that seem could be the main event match of the show right now.

Reigns vs lesnar, The mixed tag match and cena vs taker and I wouldn't surprise if they call audible like last year and lesnar vs reigns doesn't get the last match of the night like previously reported in the dirt sheet.

Personally, I could see either the cena vs taker match or the mixed tag match get that spot this year since the build up for those match are as strong as the lesnar/reigns match.

In the end, I love that the order of the matches are not set yet and the main event will probably be decided at the last minute like they did last year.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The road to WM, especially the main events, have been like driving south through Pennsylvania. Just not much to look at. Not just this year, it's more like every year that I can remember has been disappointing or directionless. Right now, I find myself enjoying Braun's feud and mystery partner. The Daniel Bryan news and segments last week were terrific and have added to whatever is going on with Zayn and Owens. Nia and Alexa have been good. The rest of the low and midcard has been ok.

But the main event builds have really been a struggle. Roman is now supposed to be a sympathetic character now after being the trash talker? That just doesn't feel right and he still doesn't do that good of a job in either role. Did Heyman hire those "US Marshalls" or are we supposed to believe Reigns got away with a serious crime? Cena's promos have been obnoxious. Are AJ and Nakamura even feuding? The Rhonda/HHH/Steph/Angle taped stuff hasn't been good but every time she is live things get really stiff.

And what did they do to her eyes last night?

I don't know. I hope others are enjoying. Maybe I'm not supposed to enjoy it. Mania and even the Road to WM do "sell themselves". These main events don't need much build, on paper they are pretty compelling and check boxes for all types of fans plus my opinion may not be the experience others are having but I am really struggling to enjoy this build.

Have are others enjoying the build?

 

[damz07]

IMO this Wrestlemania will suck, the card does not have any thought behind it, the matches seem like they have been rushed together and apart from 1 or maybe 2 there has been very little build.

The majority of the matches have predictable outcomes, nobody cares about Roman vs Brock so this SHOULD NOT be the main event as we all know that Roman wins clean.

Cena vs Taker is 5 years too late, neither winning makes sense.

Rousey looks very awkward in the ring and will be carried through the match by HHH and Angle.

Three work horse matches of the show will be Charlotte vs Asuka, IC title match and the WWE title match. I'm looking forward to these three. However as a fan for over 25 years, and someone who spends thousands every year to travel from the UK to be there to watch it, I am actually ok with the fact I am missing my first Wrestlemania in 10 years.

That's how I feel guys lol....

 

[thebarber]

What matches get pushed to the pre show? After Dean Ambrosevhit dumped last year, nothing surprises anymore. They need piss break matches on the main card, but they can't push quality off the ppv.? I see 10 matches on the main card and 4 on pre show. Guessing those 4 will be the Cruiserweight title match, Andre battle royal, women's battle royal and US title match unfortunately.

 

[Ceen]

What matches get pushed to the pre show? After Dean Ambrosevhit dumped last year, nothing surprises anymore. They need piss break matches on the main card, but they can't push quality off the ppv.? I see 10 matches on the main card and 4 on pre show. Guessing those 4 will be the Cruiserweight title match, Andre battle royal, women's battle royal and US title match unfortunately.

Nah, both Battle Royals are going on the Preshow. Just for paying less royalties.

All the rest of the card is pretty strong, the only match is meh is Alexa vs Nia

I really hope to see the SD Tag Team Championship in a TLC match and Roman vs Brock being No Holds Barred

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Nah, both Battle Royals are going on the Preshow. Just for paying less royalties.

All the rest of the card is pretty strong, the only match is meh is Alexa vs Nia

I really hope to see the SD Tag Team Championship in a TLC match and Roman vs Brock being No Holds Barred

There's no way that both battle royal are going on the Kick off, especially since the second hour is being broadcast on USA. Their going to have at less one big match on that second hour like they did last year with Ambrose and corbin.

So looking at both Battle royal, which one is the most important of the two. I feel the women's battle royal as more going for it so you put that to open the second hour of the kick off and since this one is more about bayley and Sasha and fans watching on USA will know what's going on with that and have the U.S title four way as the main event of the kick off show. As for the andre the giant battle royal, use it as a buffer match between 2 of the three big main event matches to give the crowd a rest and can go to the bathroom or something like that because the show is at less 7 hours long if you count the kick off so you need matches on the main card that will serve that purpose, plus you also need buffer matches between the big matches because in years past, they would put big matches back to back near the end of the card and big the third one, nobody was reacting because they were spent from reacting to the other matches so using a battle royal will help cool down the fans so that you get the desired reaction for the big matches.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

They announced earlier tonight that the Cruiserweight Championship match between Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali and both the men's and women's battle royals will be on the kickoff show.

The Cruiserweight Championship match is no surprise, nor is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but I'm a little surprised that the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal will be on the kickoff show. I'm sure someone might raise some sort of stink about it as WWE is in the middle of the whole I am woman, hear me roar thing. Still, between two women's championship matches and Ronda Rousey & Stephanie McMahon being three high profile matches on the main card, the fairer sex is more than adequately represented.

 

[JoeMallard]

Great, the cruiserweights get to wrestle in front of a crowd of 500...

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The great thing about both battle royal being announce for the kickoff is that at less, the cruiserweight won't get the death slot this year since one of the 2 battle royal will be put in the 5:30 spot. So the cruiserweight match will get on of the 2 spot on the USA broadcast probably the opening match of the broadcast but at less they will have some sort of a crowd since most of the fans will be in the stadium by 6 o'clock.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Who do you guys think will be Braun's tag-team partner at Wrestlemania?

Or do you think it will be no-one, and he will fight the Bar in a Handicap Match, and win both belts.

I think this is a farce. One of the most popular new wrestlers, versus one of the best tag-teams in WWE, for a title, and they haven't announced the partner yet.

It smacks of not being able to think of a proper Wrestlemania match for Braun, or the Bar, so having this match instead. This is the type of thing you pull out for a "B" PPV, not the main show.

I wonder if they have held off in case Cena v Taker doesn't happen, and John Cena will turn out to be Braun's partner instead.

 

[Ceen]

The card seems closed.
Finally, no CW match on the main card, as it seems they are really the worst brand in WWE in terms of relevance.
No prize rather than the trophy for the Battle Royals
No TLC or Ladder match, or even a No Holds Barred/Extreme Rules/Falls Count Any Where

It looks like a NJPW card rather than a WWE card...

 

[Dmbfantomas]

They announced earlier tonight that the Cruiserweight Championship match between Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali and both the men's and women's battle royals will be on the kickoff show.

The Cruiserweight Championship match is no surprise, nor is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but I'm a little surprised that the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal will be on the kickoff show. I'm sure someone might raise some sort of stink about it as WWE is in the middle of the whole I am woman, hear me roar thing. Still, between two women's championship matches and Ronda Rousey & Stephanie McMahon being three high profile matches on the main card, the fairer sex is more than adequately represented.

They want to bury this ramshackle affair of the Women's Battle Royal as much as they can this year. They'll either kill it off completely, or totally retool it for next year. Nothing about it has come off well at all.

 

[d_henderson1810]

They want to bury this ramshackle affair of the Women's Battle Royal as much as they can this year. They'll either kill it off completely, or totally retool it for next year. Nothing about it has come off well at all.

The Women's Battle Royal will be back next year, as well as the Andre Battle Royal.

It is a cynical attempt by WWE to get all the talent on the card, to compensate them with a massive Wrestlemania payday to make up for losing money on PPV paydays because of the Network.

WWE has way too many wrestlers. While they have such a fat roster, they will keep sticking surplus men and women in Battle Royals, when they don't have something else for them. Heaven forbid they keep them off the card or actually start future-endeavouring some people.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

I hope they don't flub around with the pre-show matches like they did last year and keep them the way they are now. I know a lot of people have wanted the CW title to be on the main show, but they're gonna get so much more time on the pre-show, plus it looks like they're gonna be getting that "main event" pre-show spot, I doubt there's gonna be that much of an attendance issue. It's good to see that the Uso's FINALLY getting their spot on the main card.

 

[JoeMallard]

The card seems closed.
Finally, no CW match on the main card, as it seems they are really the worst brand in WWE in terms of relevance.
No prize rather than the trophy for the Battle Royals
No TLC or Ladder match, or even a No Holds Barred/Extreme Rules/Falls Count Any Where

It looks like a NJPW card rather than a WWE card...

205 live is the worst product, are you fucking ******ed? That tournament held more prestige than any title on the main roster. Boo fucking hoo, there's no stipulation matches, cry me a damn river.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

205 live is the worst product, are you fucking ******ed? That tournament held more prestige than any title on the main roster. Boo fucking hoo, there's no stipulation matches, cry me a damn river.

Yes, the tournament held more prestige but the fact is nobody cared about it except the few hardcore fans that still watch 205 live..

It seem like most fans just don't cared about the brand as a whole, the only guy that seem to be over is kalisto and the lucha house party. Everybody else is meet with silence.

The views for 205 live aren't that great either since a couple of weeks ago, a episode of thunder had more views then 205 live.

Sadly 205 live is the worst product not because of the wrestling but because of the way it's presented and the lack of interest for the product.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

My final thought on this year's wrestlemania.

I have to say, wwe did surprise me this year by making one of the best mania in years.

I thought the three kickoff matches we're really good and both battle royal we're used correctly this year and it help advance storyline which makes me want to see where both the Matt & bray alliance and the sasha/bayley feud is going.

The ic title match was great and I'm happy that Seth won the belt. Now I could see them give miz a break after tomorrow's raw.

Surprise by the outcome of the asuka/Charlotte match but still a great match and in a way, I'm glad they ended asuka streak and that Charlotte is the one who broke it.

The u.s title match was the weakest of the night but the outcome makes sense and I see JInder doing a great job with the title.

The mixed tag match was better then I was expecting and they use rousey strength in that match.

The taker/cena segment/match was well done and give taker a dominant win on his way out

The smackdown tag title match was physical and I loved that match mostly because I'm a big fan of the bludgeon brothers so I'm happy to see them be crown champions. I hope this mean that the uso's will get drafted to raw soon.

Bryan/Mcmahon vs owens/Zayn was against better then I expected and the right outcome happened. I'm expecting to see Owens and Zayn coming out on raw tomorrow night and saying they sign a new contract on raw.

Mia vs Alexa was another strong match, happy to see nia finally winning the belt, it should have happened last year but still happy to see her win the belt and I want to see what they do with her next.

Aj vs nakamura was really good, loved the ending and while I don't understand nakamura's heel turn, it got me intrigue to see where they're going with this.

Strowman and Nicholas vs the bar was entertaining and I just want to see how this will work with having a fan being raw tag team champions.

Reigns vs lesnar was brutal and entertaining, the ending was surprising as pretty much everybody,including me, thought it was a lock that reigns would win the title but that didn't happens but they did make reigns look strong in the end I feel this will help reigns gain some respect from some of his haters in the end. So I'm guessing that lesnar is sticking around for a while, either that or he's dropping the title at either the Saudi Arabia show or at backlash. Either way, great way to end the show.


In the end, this was a great mania and i didn't see the time past by. It didn't feel like a 7 hour show if you count the kickoff which is good for a event like mania. Not a bad match on the card and they keep the crowd hot for the whole show which is hard to do with a long show like this one. So I've have to say great job by wwe and I'm hoping they continue this trend no for next year's mania because for me this was the show of the weekend.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I don't know what to say.

Rowdy was above expectations. Charlotte/Asuka was great. D Bry's 10 min involvement.

Yep, thats it.

US title was forgettable. IC Title was average.

Cena/Taker saga was, I dunno, why not just do a fucking match WWE!

Braun/Fan Vs The Bar... *Jim Cornette long sigh* WHY? Just tell me why? What was the problem promoting Lars Sullivan? Why couldn't get a Legend like Nash or even Show just come out and do what works?

Nia Vs Alexa, was ok-ish.

Brock/Reigns sucked, the mother of sucks. The ME of Mania, got This Is Awful chants. Now I know Mania drags out the most jaded of fans but fuck you this is a company that gave Brock/Reigns at Mania 31 that tore the house down.

This was just so bad.

Am I alone?

Hello?

 

[Psykohurricane55]

That's your opinion and you have the right to it.

Personally, I thought this was one of the best mania they did in years.

They didn't have a bad match on the card and made the 5 hours fly by plus they keep the crowd awake for the whole show which is hard to do.

They prove that they can actually surprise fans with some of these outcome plus for the first time in years, no musical performance, no downtime between matches, and almost no overrun which was great. The kick off matches served a purpose for once and everything else got me interested in watching raw and smackdown this week to see where they are going.

So, for me, I would say this will make my top 10 greatest mania list as I truly enjoyed the show from beginning to end. If you didn't like the show, That's your choice but it was far from being pathetic.

 

[HenryOGodwin]

It must be tough living live as such a Negative Nancy like most people on this site. I stayed off wrestlezone for the entire show because I knew most of you mopes would be pissing and moaning about everything. All in all it was an entertaining show.

 

[Spencesc11]

I have to disagree. Some shocking moments for sure but the card held up. And despite the boos the Reigns-Lesnar match was actually pretty good. The problem I have with it is where does WWE go from here with the Universal Title? You build up Reigns after he beats Stroman who gave Lesnar more issues than anyone and you have Lesnar pretty much destroy Reigns. So who is actually "worthy" of winning the strap from Lesnar now? I have a hard time seeing Lashley get the rub coming in after a long absence, maybe Braun but that remains to be seen. Just think they put themselves in a tough spot with the booking. Lesnar should've dropped the strap and depending on his contract negotiations could've always came back after Reigns but now your likely getting an extended stretch of no Universal Champ on Raw again.

 

[damz07]

My honest opinion us I thought the show was better than I predicted back on this thread earliet.

Apart from the Braun/Tag Partner issue which was pathetic, and dragging out the Taker thing whoch resulted in a poor stupid match showing an old man against a scared 15 time champ or whatever he is. Oh and the whole pancake shit going on was stupid.

The rest of the ppv was solid and the outcomes were far from predictable. I dont think anyone on these forums saw a Lesnar win. Charlitte beating Asuka was great and Rousey looked so much better then everyone anticipated.

I think last years was better but still a good solid 7/10 show.

 

[Edwardannabell]

Complete and total bullshit. Wwe needs to get the belt off of brock Lesnar. Why the wwe would waste another wrestlemania main even on Lesnar vs. Reigns again and have reigns not win is beyond me. What that shows is wwe could really give a damn less about the universal title. I been watching wwe for over 20 years and this was one of the most disappointing main events I've ever seen. Brock is overrated no doubt about it.