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WWE WrestleMania: Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match Preview

By Dusty Haralson

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This Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, Bad News Barrett will defend his Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match against R. Truth, Luke Harper, Stardust, Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler, with the latter 3 names being the clear favorites to snatch the title. All seven competitors have played keep away with the belt in the last few weeks, building up the ladder match that will take place at WrestleMania 31.

Ziggler, Bryan, and Ambrose are the crowd favorites to win the match. Since the Fastlane loss to Roman Reigns, it seems clear that Bryan is putting people over for the time being. Bryan has lost back-to-back matches to Ziggler in very high-skilled and entertaining wrestling contests. With the direction the WWE has had Bryan in the past couple of months, I don’t believe he will be the one to snatch the IC Title from above. He will most likely have a major role in the match, probably climbing the ladder several times and getting so close to grabbing the championship. I have a hunch that Bryan will feud with whoever wins the title Sunday for the next couple of months. And yes, I will hold my breath everytime he dives head-first off of a ladder.

That leaves Ziggler and Ambrose. Both have the crowd on their side. Ziggler has been in the WWE for a long time now, and he’s proven to work great matches and that he can be a heel or face. If Ziggler wins the ladder match this Sunday, I have a feeling he will live up to his Twitter handle (@HeelZiggler) and do something damning to a crowd favorite. This could set a heel run for him for many months to come. As for Ambrose, he’s been on a reckless tear throughout the mid and lower main event card. If he wins, I could very well see a long reign as the Intercontinental Champion.

As for the other guys who, let’s be honest, don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hades, will at least add a layer of entertainment to the show. Harper, the biggest man in the match, will throw all the little guys around, stare at everybody strangely, and he will clothesline some unlucky competitor inside-out. R. Truth is, according to the story line, afraid of heights (don’t worry Truth, I am too). Bad News Barrett won’t be popular again until they bring Nexus back, so he won’t win. And of course, Stardust, who won’t win either. Don’t be surprised if Goldust gets involved in the match.

All-in-all, this match won’t disappoint. It’s going to be high-octane, high risk, it will packed full of entertainment, and there will be crying and complaining when Daniel Bryan doesn’t win. I don’t know who will win the match. But I do know that this match will steal the show, 7-man ladder matches tend to do show thieves.

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