Wrestlemania 32 Preview

 

Wrestlemania 32 Preview

Wrestlemania. THE Wrestling event of the year. Its the time of year where every old wrestling fan, and all the people bored on Twitter and Facebook, tune into the 'show of shows'. However, this year is slightly different. One, there is a LOT of injured Wrestlers that have been ruled that have been ruled out of the PPV (John Cena, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins to name a few). Two, there is frustration among fans that the main event, Triple H vs Roman Reigns, is predictable for Reigns to win his third WWE World Heavyweight title because Triple H is semi-retired and there is no other main event babyfaces (good guys for those who don't regularly watch Wrestling) to carry the WWE until ex-champion Seth Rollins returns. Anyway, Wrestlemania is still a massive event in the Sporting calendar and in this post I will be breaking down the matches that will feature in Wrestling's thirty-second annual grand event, Wrestlemania.  

 

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (30 men enter for the Andre the Giant Trophy)

This will be the third annual Wrestlemania Andre the Giant Battle Royal Memorial Battle Royal in which 30 men will compete for the Andre the Giant Trophy of the legendary French pro-wrestler in his iconic stance. The last two winners have been mid-carders in Cesaro and Big Show so expect someone you almost certainly forgot about to win this Battle Royal.

WINNER: Kane (just picked a random mid-carder to be honest).

 

 

The Total Divas (Brie Bella, Paige, Natalya, Alicia Fox, and Eva Marie) vs. B.A.D. & Blonde (Naomi, Tamina, Lana, Emma, and Summer Rae)
It's a shame that these ten 'Divas' will most likely do nothing more than screaming, pulling hair and/or throwing rabbit punches in this match (except Paige maybe because she's the only developed one in this tag match aimed to give men over the age of 13 something to look at without having to think too hard). I won't go to in detail with my opinion on the so-called 'Divas Revolution' that has taken place in WWE over the last ten or so months but in short, it only gave a handful of 'Divas' (can't stand that word) a platform to show their legitimate wrestling ability. Unfortunately, I see this being an awful match with a win for the Total Divas.



WINNER: The Total Divas.


Kalisto(c) vs Ryback (for United States Championship)
Well, this match is going to be quite bad. I, like a lot of fans, thought that there would be a multi-man ladder match for the US title that would actually be fairly decent from a group of mid-carders with good ladder spots. But this match won't be good due to Kalisto being a botch machine when he's got some eyes on him and Ryback tries too hard to be a 'beast'. Not interested one bit in a singles match between these two.



WINNER: Ryback.

 

The Usos vs The Dudley Boyz
Again, this looks like a match that no-one will be massively interested in seeing as the Usos are boring and the Dudley Boyz are too old and past it with their gimmick of being old-fashioned and 'extreme'.



WINNER: The Usos.


The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs the League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and King Barrett)
I feel like a broken record here but again WWE have created yet another match that I'm not at all bothered about. Mostly due to the New Day being one of the weirdest things that Vince McMahon has thought of (although there have been a lot of them) and the League of Nations are an awful group.



WINNER: The New Day.

Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles
The actual lay-out of the feud aside, meaning the stupid chants that they do when they walk down to the ring at each other, this match could be very interesting for two reasons. One, to see how these two fantastically technical Wrestlers work together in what should be their best match of their feud. Two, to see if WWE will have a repeat of Wrestlemania 31 and have Styles lose his first Wrestlemania match (like they did with Sting against Triple H last year). I'm very excited to see how Styles does and hopefully wins in the year that he has featured at both NJPW 's (New Japan Pro Wrestling) Wrestle-Kingdom, their flagship show, and WWE's flagship show, Wrestlemania.



WINNER: AJ Styles.


Seven Man (Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, The Miz and Stardust) Ladder Match (for the Intercontinental Championship)
So in this match, there will be quite a few good spots with ladders and then some quite boring brawling in and around the ring. The realistic candidates for winning this match are Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler. I think that a Owens vs Zayn feud will appear from the ending of this match so I think that Owens will retain the title, potentially costing Zayn the belt at the last second.



WINNER: Kevin Owens.


Charlotte vs Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks (for Divas Championship)
Women's Wrestling has been the best it has been since the days of Lita and Trish feuding, in which they once main evented RAW (but probably won't reach those heights again). Charlotte, being Ric Flair's daughter, is the favourite to walk out champion but with Sasha and Becky being two of the best women Wrestlers I have seen make it hard to predict. I think Charlotte will win however due to WWE playing it safe and continuing with Charlotte as champion, and therefore confirming that they're not that confident in Sasha or Becky as champion.



WINNER: Charlotte.

 

 

Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose (No Holds Barred/Street Fight)

Brock Lesnar is always guaranteed a big match at Wrestlemania, as he attracts the most attention for the run to Wrestlemania from casual fans and just general Sports fans. This may not be the main event of Wrestlemania that Lesnar, and his manager Paul Heyman, push for but it is a big match with an opponent that is built for this type of match. Following on from their mini feud before, during and after Fastlane, Ambrose is hell-bent on proving he can beat Lesnar, like some have since he returned in 2012. Lesnar is like he has always been since he first left the WWE in 2004, aggressive and not the littlest bit bothered of speaking in order to promote the match. I think Lesnar will win because he's due a win after not getting a shot at Triple H and the WWE World Heavyweight title. Unfortunately, Ambrose is going to take another loss in quite a frustrating PPV run for the 'unhinged' Superstar.



WINNER: Brock Lesnar.

 

 

 

Shane McMahon vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (if Shane wins he will gain control of RAW)

Now this is a weird one. Bizarre, but very weird. In February, Shane McMahon returned to WWE after six years away building successful businesses and announced he wanted to gain control of RAW, too many fans' joy. Vince then said well that's all great but you've got to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania... in Hell in a Cell. Well, fantastic. In a way. It had been largely rumoured that Undertaker vs John Cena was the planned match for Wrestlemania. However, with Cena out for Wrestlemania, it's quite clear that Vince needed a plan B for the Undertaker. For me, the Undertaker hasn't been the same big-name since he lost his Wrestlemania streak to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30 but it's still amazing to think that Shane, a guy who hasn't wrestled since 2009 and looks very old, is wrestling in a very dangerous situation for control of RAW (which the majority want to see). To be fair to WWE this maybe the one match that pulls a lot of the casual fans back into the WWE viewing figures for a decent amount of time.

In terms of who wins, I want Shane to win because it will be interesting if there might be a brand split for the first time since RAW and SMACKDOWN joined together in August 2011. But does that mean fans are expected to boo the Undertaker at Wrestlemania? In front of a record Wrestlemania crowd? I don't think the fans will do that. One thing is for certain though. ALOT of interference will happen (surrounded by some crazy spots). Possible interferes? Sting? Vince? Who truly knows. Anyway, I think that Shane will win because they wouldn't had built up this angle on the road to Wrestlemania up if they were going to just have the Undertaker kill it. AND, if Undertaker loses, it will be his last Wrestlemania and therefore subsequently destroying any hope of a dream Wrestlemania match next year with John Cena. I'm predicting this to be the match of the night, purely for drama purposes.



WINNER: Shane McMahon.

 

 

 

Triple H vs Roman Reigns (for WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
Now this is where it gets hard to swallow to for regular Wrestling fans. Prior to this year's Royal Rumble, which was for the WWE title and not for a World title shot at Wrestlemania like the winner usually gets, Roman Reigns was the champion after Seth Rollins was forced to vacate the title after getting injured at a house event. Reigns lost the title at the Rumble (as he should have, being against 29 other competitors) and Triple H won the Rumble and the title. Reigns then gained a championship shot by defeating Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar at Fastlane.

Quite rightly, many are annoyed that Triple H keeps appearing in big and irregular events in order to sustain his personal feelings in regards to main event storylines and PPV outcomes. However, I'm pretty sure Reigns will win and launch into the next big Superstar that WWE want him to become (due to John Cena not getting any younger). Therefore, I can understand why Triple H is holding the championship until Wrestlemania, to give Reigns his Wrestlemania moment. But the fans won't be happy and this will be were Wrestlemania could end in a course of boo's.



WINNER: Roman Reigns.

 



10 Things WWE Want You To Forget About CM Punk

 

10 Things WWE Want You To Forget About CM Punk

It's fair to say that many WWE fans are still one of the following in regards to CM Punk having left WWE in 2014. Annoyed. Angry. Not bothered. The ones who start the 'CM Punk' chants whenever they see Roman Reigns. Writing rumour articles on his expected return. OR have completely moved over to UFC at the time Punk signed for them. Many, many articles have been written about the things WWE want fans to forget about Punk and his career and I'm jumping on the bandwagon, as you can see by the title.

 

 

10, The 'CM Punk' chants

Whenever the current state of WWE becomes boring and pathetically painful to sit through, often featuring Roman Reigns and/or the New Day, fans often chant 'CM Punk! CM Punk!', due to fans' perspective of Punk as an ideal anti-establishment status quo promo King that he was in the middle to end of 2011. Now, WWE do't acknowledge these chants outright on TV but they surely want to them to go away and be replaced with chants such as 'This is Awesome'.

 

 

9, His feud with Jeff Hardy

Not the matches from the feud in 2009 between the two of the most athletic wrestlers in WWE's recent history. What WWE want you to forget is the real-life edge to the feud that came from the clash between Hardy's drug-filled lifestyle and Punk's straight-edge lifestyle. At one point, Punk said that Hardy knew a thing or two about buying narcotise but didn't know he could get some from a Doctor. A week after Hardy left WWE in late 2009, he was arrested for trying to move illegal drugs. So WWE would like you to forget their personal clash and remember the matches they had.   

 

 

8, The Shield was his idea

On Colt Cabana's podcast, Punk stated that WWE Creative approached him with the idea of a heel stable that would feature Big Show and Daniel Bryan. Punk quite rightly said this was stupid and wanted a three man NXT heel stable, that would allow for Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Creative were fine with this up until the very last minute when they decided to have the group, later called the Shield, attack everyone and not have Punk allied with them. WWE want you to remember the spring of the Shield and not that Punk came up with the actual idea himself.

 

 

7, He wasn't a fan of Roman Reigns

In relation to the previous point, Punk wanted a heel alliance made up of NXT stars. WWE were fine with this but they want current Number 1 Good Guy Roman Reigns to be a part of it. Punk accepted but didn't really approve (which didn't really matter considering he wasn't even allied with them).

 

 

6, His time in TNA

Punk had a brief time in TNA during 2002 to 2004 but the WWE NEVER mention TNA at all. This was evident in the WWE's 2012 release of 'The Best In The World' DVD that detailed Punk's life and career up-till the 2011 Money In The Bank PPV. That's all well and good but WWE left out his time in TNA before moving to WWE's development system. They were happy to mention Ring of Honor, where Punk had signed his WWE contract on the ROH belt, but didn't mention TNA as they didn't want fans to remember that one of their best Wrestlers hadn't just come straight from Ring of Honor.

 

 

5, His lawsuit with a WWE Doctor

Punk is currently involved in a lawsuit with a WWE Doctor that didn't treat his concussions and staph infection and has therefore lead to WWE becoming annoyed by the case's long-winded nature and the sheer fact that it just won't go away.

 

 

4, He had the best match of Wrestlemania 29

The Wrestlemania 29 card had three good matches (Brock Lesnar vs Triple H, Punk vs Undertaker and Cena vs The Rock II). Punk's match was hands down the best one. Due too not being in the Wrestlemania main event for the third year in a row, Punk quite literally put his body on the line to prove a point to Vince and co backstage. And he did, with many saying that the match should have gone on last. On Cabana's podcast, Punk recalls his discussion with Vince after the match with Punk saying that he hadn't watched it back because he was there. I'm pretty sure that Vince would look back now and say that it should have closed the Wrestlemania 29 card instead of Cena and Rock's underwhelming rematch.

 

 

3, He had the longest WWE Championship run of the Modern Era

Punk held the WWE Championship for 434 days between the 20th November 2011 till 27th January 2013. You would think that WWE would want to promote this and reference it as the sixth longest reign of all-time but when you consider the way that things ended with WWE and Punk, you'll understand why they want you to forget about Punk's historic title reign.

 

 

2, He was fired on his Wedding Day

After Punk initially left the company after the 2014 Royal Rumble, he was suspended for two months. Evidently, WWE then fired Punk and sent him his termination papers on June 13th 2014. However, that day was Punk's wedding day. Punk obviously took this personally like any other normal person and this is most likely the final nail in the coffin for Punk never returning to WWE.

 

 

1, The Pipebomb Promo still has relevant factors

When Punk took to the mic on 27th June 2011 and cut one of the best promos in Wrestling history, the Internet ate it up and analysed it to the death. However, what WWE want you to forget about the 'Pipebomb Promo' is that it STILL is relevant to the way in which WWE run five years later. A few examples being Vince McMahon being out of touch, the reliance on part-timers to boost ratings/views, the lack of respect and opportunities for genuine professional wrestlers and the number of 'kiss-asses' in WWE history.

 

Ultimately, it doesn't seem likely that Punk will return to the WWE and quite subsequently, he will have a good run in UFC for the next few years.