The WWE is really putting the “wrestle” in WrestleMania this year.
WWE will invade Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Sunday for its marquee event, which features a jam-packed card with an insane 13 matches. It should come as no surprise that WWE has blocked out at least six hours of live coverage, including a two-hour preshow and a four-hour main show which likely will extend beyond the anticipated 11 p.m. ET end time.
It’s obviously a lot to digest even for the most diehard fans, but we’re ready to dig in and give you our ranking of each amatch on the card based on what we’re most excited to see.
Here’s our list counting down to the match we’re looking forward to the most.
13. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (preshow)
This match is always a nice way of getting the maximum number of guys on the show to perform at WrestleMania. It’s also makes for solid background noise while you’re preparing your snacks and drinks for the main show.
12. Alexa Bliss vs. Smackdown Live women’s roster (Smackdown women’s championship match)
We’d rank this higher if we had a better idea of what and who this match totally entails.
11. Neville vs. Austin Aries (Cruiserweight championship match, preshow)
It says a lot about this card that this match lands this low on the list. The relaunch of the Cruiserweight division has been a work in progress, to say the least, but they’ve done a nice job of building up this feud, which feels like the first real must-see Cruiserweight match since the division returned.
10. Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin (Intercontinental championship match)
In a vacuum, it’s a solid matchup, but there has been so much going on in the Smackdown picture it feels like this feud has kind of been pushed aside, as evidenced by how little TV time it has received.
9. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Sheamus and Cesaro (Raw tag team championship ladder match)
The token WrestleMania ladder match, this has the potential for some really cool high spots. The door also is left open for a Hardy Boyz appearance, which would make sense given their ladder-match history. But other than that, there hasn’t been a whole lot of reason to get excited for any of these teams.
8. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jaxx (Raw women’s championship match)
The match itself is going to be awesome. You could argue three of the best women’s workers (Bayley, Sasha Banks and Charlotte) are featured in this match, and history says they’ll put together a good display when they all come together. But it hasn’t been a great lead-up, culminating with a clunky segment to kick off the go-home episode of Raw.
7. Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton (WWE championship match)
What a classic professional wrestling storyline. Guy can’t beat his opponent, so he teams up with him for a few months, eventually turns on him by burning down his compound in the woods, desecrating the remains of a family member. There has also been some borderline Satanic references. Everyday stuff, right? As far as in-ring work goes, these guys are great and will tell a really good story making for a fine match.
6. Triple H vs. Seth Rollins
There’s plenty of intrigue as to how Rollins will be able to perform here given his recent history of knee injuries. If he’s anywhere near 100 percent, they’ll have a great match.
5. John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse
A month ago, this would have been much farther down the list. But everyone involved in this match has turned in some of the best work of their careers in the last few weeks, highlighted by Miz/Maryse doing a “Total Bellas” spoof topped only by an incredible Cena promo in the go-home Smackdown.
4. Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles
Styles is the best in the world at what he does right now, and it sucks his WrestleMania draw is a 47-year-old part-timer who was never really a wrestler to begin with. However, Styles can draw a good match out of anyone, and Shane certainly has proved he’s willing to put his body on the line for a big spot.
3. Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (Universal championship match)
We’ve already touched on this earlier in the week, but these guys certainly have a low bar to reach. Their WrestleMania 20 match was a train wreck, and while everyone’s now 13 years older, there’s reason to believe this match can be retribution. They’ll need something lengthier than the 86-second Survivor Series match, but they can’t go too long. But there’s enough intrigue about a match featuring two of the biggest stars in the industry main eventing the biggest show of the year.
2. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens (United States championship match)
What a brilliant build. The WWE took its time with these two — starting them out as best of friends, slowly building to a fantastic breakup and setting the wheels in motion for a highly anticipated showdown. Jericho is doing arguably the best work of his career (which is saying a lot), and Owens is in his prime as one of pro wrestling’s biggest all-around stars. This one will be memorable.
1. The Undertaker vs. Roman ReignsÂ
Maybe it’s just nostalgia that has us putting Taker and Reigns in the top spot, as anyone who grew up watching WWE in the Attitude Era and on probably has a soft spot for The Undertaker, especially at WrestleMania. But he obviously isn’t the worker he once was. The intrigue in this match, however, is what happens with Reigns. Will he finally make a full heel turn? He got white-hot heat Monday night while delivering what certainly felt and sounded like a heel promo. If WWE decides to put him over The Undertaker — at WrestleMania, no less — “The Guy” could become WWE’s best “bad guy” in a long time.
Thumbnail photo via YouTube screenshot
