What were the biggest questions the superstars of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live left behind this week?
The WWE had their final stop before WrestleMania 34 this week. Both Raw and SmackDown Live looked to wrap things up before the biggest showdown of the year. Segments, promos, brawls and interviews took up a lot of airtime this week. However, generally speaking, there was a lack of urgency with the way creative approached the proceedings.
On Monday night, John Cena once again unsuccessfully tried to get the Undertaker to respond to him. Taker did not show up and am glad he didn’t. May be creative did see my post from last week! There is an air of mystique surrounding both Cena and Taker come Sunday. Perhaps the Phenom might decide to make an appearance to confront the man who has been verbally assaulting him over the past month.
Roman Reigns looked like a million bucks as Brock Lesnar sold his Superman punches like no one ever has in the past. However, when all was said and done, Lesnar caught Reigns with another devastating F5. If you were to follow creative’s usual booking trends ahead of a PPV, it mostly means Reigns will indeed win at Mania. Moreover, Lesnar will most likely make a return to the Octagon sooner than later, according to the latest comments from Dana White.
SmackDown really dragged despite it being the final stop before WrestleMania. Bryan’s return to the ring and the news of him teaming up with Shane McMahon was hot news. Regardless, the lack of any memorable interaction between them and the heels and the total lack of logic or purpose behind Owens and Zayn invading the show was disappointing. The same could be said for the build towards AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. But expect spectacular in-ring action from these two men.
Even with the lack of memorable moments, there are still plenty of questions to be asked. Here are the five burning questions from this week in the WWE, as we head closer and closer to WrestleMania 34.
Credit: WWE.com
5. Will The Rock show up at WrestleMania 34?
Personally, I am not a big fan of a part timer showing up and taking up the spot light from active wrestlers. In that sense, I have much grudge against the Rock. Two notable instances from recent memory are when he defeated Eric Rowan of the then Wyatt Family in record time at Mania and when Rusev had to job out to the Rock.
Regardless, the Rock can generate a nice pop, louder than most of the active full-time talent can think of. Moreover, it wouldn’t be WrestleMania without the Great One showing up in one form or the other. I wish he would show up to put somebody over but hey, that’s a story for another day. The big question right now is whether he will show up this year.
Earlier in the week, there was much speculation about a potential segment between the Rock and Elias. Cageside Seats wrote that there were rumors of a singing segment with both men involved. However, as it stands now, the idea could be scrapped altogether. Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated has now reported that this is no longer the case.
"WWE was not able to get a firm commitment from The Rock, so that segment was scrapped. Unless there were renewed discussions, The Rock is not planned to be a part of WrestleMania."
The question still remains though. Will he eventually show up at some point? Sharing the stage with the Rock would have done wonders for Elias. Now, creative might have to come up with something else for him to do. That something leads us to our next question.
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4. Who will team up with Braun Strowman?
Braun Strowman needs a tag team partner. An actual partner in his corner. Not just ‘Brains’ Strowman. So who will step up to grab this opportunity? We’ve already seen what Strowman would do to you if you’re not worthy of being his partner. Who will walk through the curtains to aid the Monster Among Men to try and defeat the Bar?
There are plenty of options for creative to play with here. We will start with the one we just spoke of. Elias needs something meaningful to do at WrestleMania. Given his history with Strowman, it makes sense for creative to pair them up. They don’t need to be friends per se but the magic that made team Hell No so popular could work here as well.
There are plenty of other options at creative’s disposal as well. Big Cass has been rumored to be cleared for in-ring action. The same has been speculated about Samoa Joe as well, with Joe himself taking it to social media to fuel the spreading rumors. Another rumor yet again from Cageside Seats names Bray Wyatt as a potential partner. One could weigh in on all the pros and cons of Strowman being paired with each of these four men in a detailed analysis.
However, the fact of the matter is, Strowman’s stint in the tag division should not be an extended one. He is too good to not be challenging for the Universal title. Odds of Bray Wyatt or Samoa Joe teaming up with him seems slim to me. However, it would be exciting to see Big Cass make a return to team up with another big man. It could even lead to a feud between these two later down the line.
Photo by WWE’s Twitter
3. Will Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon work together?
As announced this week on SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon will indeed team up with Daniel Bryan to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. This will be Bryan’s first match since being cleared for an in-ring return. As such, the odds of him losing this match are slim to none. That spells bad news for the heels as their careers are on the line this time.
If Owens and Zayn lose, they will be fired from the WWE. What will happen then? There is the possibility of them appearing on Raw the very next night. But that just merely downplays everything creative has done to this point. The build towards this match hasn’t been red-hot to say the least.
The more I think about this, the more I feel like Bryan and Shane might implode at some point. It could either lead to them losing the match cleanly to the heels or one of them turning on the other. It would be bold on the part of creative to even think about turning Bryan heel at this point in time. However, on the flip side, it would be illogical to think Shane would turn on Bryan and align with Owens and Zayn.
The prospective idea of Bryan turning on his superior, proving everything that happened up to this point was carefully planned by him alongside Owens and Zayn would be huge. Imagine these three in-ring geniuses working together and slowly invading all of SmackDown Live. Or creative could just take the easy way out and have them fired and show up on Raw instead. That connects us to our next question.
WWE.com
2. Who will be the first one to challenge Roman Reigns?
It is almost certain at this point in time that Roman Reigns will defeat Brock Lesnar to become the new WWE Universal champion. Reigns will once again shine in the main event of WrestleMania and take on Brock Lesnar, much like their first encounter from three years ago. However, in place of that new controversial star on the rise, stands a polished wrestler who has proven his mettle in the ring.
Unless something clearly out of the blue happens, Reigns will walk out of Mania with the gold. What lies ahead then? A champion is only as memorable as the challengers he faces. Who will step up to face the Big Dog first? Samoa Joe? Big Cass? A returning Dean Ambrose?
Another option would be Kevin Owens and/or Sami Zayn. Yes, you read that correct. Like I said in the previous slide, what if Owens and Zayn are fired from SmackDown Live and show up on Raw the night after Mania? What if they immediately challenge Roman Reigns? It would be a good start to a new era in the WWE, without Brock Lesnar.
Whoever steps up, Reigns will need to go through a plethora of challengers to get the fans on his side and to ensure they stay that way.
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1. What exactly will John Cena do at WrestleMania?
John Cena says he will go to WrestleMania this year as a fan. He will not be participating in the Andre the Giant battle royale. He will not be Braun Strowman’s mystery tag team partner and according to him, he will not be having a match at all, let alone face the Undertaker. So what will the leader of Cenation do at this year’s WrestleMania?
Since creative put so much time and effort into Cena’s one-way program with the Undertaker, there will definitely be some payoff or an endgame to all this. May be the two will collide in a non-match scenario, backstage. May be they will brawl across the arena and backstage. Perhaps the druids could accompany Cena to an unknown location.
Whatever may happen, Cena still needs something to do at WrestleMania for taker to interrupt him. I don’t see him sitting casually among the fans sipping on his beer. May be he will show up during the pre-show at throw further insults at the Dead Man. He could even serve as a guest commentator for some of the signature matches.
But when all the smoke settles, Taker has to confront Cena. The possibility of a match between these two might be the biggest mystery of this year’s WrestleMania. We are not yet sure whether an impromptu match will be setup. With so many high-profile bouts on the card already, WWE doesn’t need to advertise this match heavily.
Next: WWE WrestleMania 34: Stars With The Most Momentum
What do you expect will go down this Sunday? Will the Undertaker finally lay his hands on John Cena? Let us know in the comments section.