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Keep in mind, WrestleMania 35 is FAR away from now. But given that it is the biggest wrestling show of the year, everyone likes to book a fantasy card for this event despite how far away it seems. For the sake of “fantasy”, here are four potential matches for the card. Nothing unrealistic, either.
The Undertaker vs Braun Strowman
After surveying the roster, I could only think of one logical choice to fight Undertaker at WrestleMania, and that is Braun Strowman. If we look back at Strowman’s track record at Mania, it’s clear he hasn’t been given the best, or even decent, stories to work with. His angle at WrestleMania 34 caused a lot of fans to scratch their heads. It was charming, but now WWE has a random ten year old as a record holder in their company. On a side note, I actually thought Cesaro was going to uppercut the kid for the easy win.
After having to work that angle, Strowman quickly got back to what made him great. Only he hasn’t been as great as we have expected as his booking is teetering on the edge of baby face and it’s not quite a good fit on him. The rest of the year isn’t quite clear for Strowman, but the beginning of next year should be somewhat like this.
Strowman dominates the Royal Rumble, and is eventually tossed out by whoever, doesn’t have to be Undertaker. He goes on another monster tear and once again demands competition, similar to when he first left The Wyatt Family and went to Raw solo. That bring out The Undertaker, who points to the banner and the match is made. No physical interaction is needed between the two prior to the event. At WrestleMania, Strowman puts away The Undertaker. While it racks up loss three on The Undertaker, at this point it is to be expected and Undertaker’s legacy remains firmly intact. This is more about building Strowman as the next great big man than it is about a nostalgia angle for Undertaker.
Undertaker should fight quality opponents with a well known name. At this point, unless WWE is looking at a Cena rematch, there are few guys left for ‘Taker to fight. Strowman is the biggest guy in terms of size and strength on the current roster who has yet to face the Deadman at WrestleMania. This one is up in the air, and it depends solely on IF Undertaker will be featured on the card at all.
WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs Finn Balor
I was surprised when Nakamura won the 2018 Royal Rumble. He’d been the victim of several high-profile losses on SmackDown up until the event. Furthermore, I had hopes of Finn Balor vs AJ Styles taking place once again, but for the WWE Championship. The build to this one is easy.
Finn Balor wins the Royal Rumble, and says he isn’t going to choose his opponent until he knows who the champions are heading into Mania. Styles retains the championship at whatever SmackDown PPV is produced after the Rumble, and Balor jumps to the blue brand to challenge Styles one night on SmackDown Live. Styles is once again a heel, feeling threatened after being reminded of a prior loss to Balor at TLC 2017. Styles resorts to every trick in the book, even using former Bullet Club stablemates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to help ambush Balor in the weeks leading up to the event. Balor eventually gains the upper hand and holds the title overhead on the go-home edition of SmackDown.
At Mania, Styles brings The Club to ringside for the match, while Balor brings his old demon entrance back for nostalgia sake. In what we all hope is a stellar match-up, Balor overcomes the odds and beats AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship despite heavy interference.
I had this pegged for the last two years now, and I personally don’t want to give up on this bout taking place. I’m confident enough to say this match is good enough to close out a WrestleMania. However, WWE may have other plans for that, which I’ll outline later in this article. It seems Balor’s vote of confidence isn’t as high as it used to be, but hopefully that changes at some point soon for the sake of this potential match.
Next Page: Looking At Four Possible Matches Shaping Up For WrestleMania 35 (cont.)
