With WWE WrestleMania 36 just under six months away, we take a look at how the entire night’s match card could shape up on April 5, 2020.
Even with WWE WrestleMania 36 just under six months away, there are indications of what things might look like at Raymond James Stadium on April 5, 2020. Perhaps the biggest indicator would be the recent WWE Draft, which divided up superstars between brands into positions they’ll likely stay in on the “Road to WrestleMania.”
Some of the superstars we’ll see walk into WrestleMania 36 as champions may be holding those very titles right now, whereas some beloved stars may not even make it into the final card. That’s the double-edged sword of WrestleMania. Even with the event now lasting upwards of 7 hours, someone always gets left off.
This WWE WrestleMania 36 card may not have everyone’s favorite in a prominent position, but it feels like a real possibility that could resemble what WWE will give us in April. Without further ado, let’s begin with the Kickoff Show.
Andre the Giant & WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royals
We can fully expect these matches during the Kickoff Show as they were last year, and there’s really no telling who the favorites could be to walk out as victors. The reality is that the superstars who stand out in these matches will in ways be the winner of consolation prizes. They’ll each get the chance to have a big win at WrestleMania, or at least on the preshow, but didn’t impress enough to actually earn a spot on the card.
Unfortunately, winning these Battle Royals hasn’t led to much success otherwise, and it quickly becomes a forgotten accolade for past winners like Naomi, Carmella, Cesaro, Mojo Rawley, and Braun Strowman who won last year by last eliminating celebrity competitor Colin Jost. Despite all of that, getting to compete in these matches is at least a confirmation from WWE that you’re doing something right, even if they don’t think it’s your time just yet.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Revival (c) vs. Heavy Machinery
Looking first at the tag team division, the sad reality is that a few of these will probably end up on the Kickoff Show along with the aforementioned Battle Royals. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t get a fun and interesting matchup.
The Revival look like the cornerstone of SmackDown’s tag team division coming out of the draft, but Heavy Machinery are on the rise. They’re likely to still be in the hunt by WrestleMania 36, and could even be looking for their first championship.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: The Kabuki Warriors (c) vs. Team Kick
In the women’s tag team division, we have a match that I feel almost prescient in choosing considering what we now have for this coming week on WWE NXT. While Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox have a shot at dethroning Asuka and Kairi Sane in only a few days, it seems more likely that it’ll take them some time to earn that accolade.
We could very well see them on the Kickoff Show of WrestleMania 36, which would be a huge accolade for Kai and Nox. Plus, we gotta have a custom pirate entrance for Kairi Sane since the show will be in the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Raw Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match: Viking Raiders (c) vs. Street Profits vs. AOP vs. The Usos
Our final tag team match, and the most likely of these three to make the main card, would showcase a stacked tag team division on WWE Raw. Viking Raiders were recently crowned the champions and left an undeniable path of destruction on their way to the gold.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see the team once known as War Machine carry the Raw Tag Team Titles all the way to WrestleMania 36, and they might even stay undefeated during that journey. However, there are several other teams chomping at the bit.
Street Profits and AOP are new to Raw, but carry a lot of impressive experience from NXT. The Usos are the wildcard here, as they’ve been taking some time off, but could refocus and find themselves right back in the hunt by WrestleMania.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. The Miz
Moving on to the mid-card championships, I find myself frustrated that so many names aren’t in these matches. Even some of my most beloved superstars will likely end up in a Battle Royal or off the card altogether, but this match has the potential to be one for the ages.
Daniel Bryan looks ready to put his sights on Shinsuke Nakamura and the Intercontinental Championship, a title he’ll likely take off Nakamura at some point. After that, the now fan-favorite Daniel Bryan could find himself against an old enemy, The Miz.
After a strong babyface run that few could’ve seen coming, it’s time for The Miz to go back to his roots as one of the most hated superstars in wrestling. On top of that, he’s two Intercontinental Championship reigns away from breaking the record of nine set by AEW World Champion Chris Jericho.
That’s surely a record that WWE will want to break, which makes this a bit too perfect. Miz is currently an 8-time champion, so a rivalry could see the title on Miz to tie the record and back on Bryan before WrestleMania, allowing The Miz to get a huge win at WrestleMania and become a 10-time Intercontinental Champion.
United States Championship Triple Threat Match: Aleister Black (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens
Back on WWE Raw, I’ve looked no further than the superstars currently on the rise. Aleister Black has been utterly dominant since leaving NXT, and taking the United States Championship from AJ Styles could begin a dominant run towards WrestleMania 36.
The most likely challengers would be former United States Champions in their own right, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. We saw Owens go back after AJ Styles this week, whereas Joe is currently on the shelf due to injury.
Hopefully, Joe is back in time for WrestleMania season, and could find himself alongside Kevin Owens while chasing a dominant United States Champion in Aleister Black.
Mask vs. Career: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker
In a rare opportunity, WWE could right a lot of past wrongs with this matchup. Bray Wyatt has been the victim of bad booking for most of his career, but even an historically horrendous ending at Hell in a Cell hasn’t cooled off “The Fiend” in the eyes of fans.
We’ll see the return of Firefly Fun House, and “The Fiend” now becomes the sole property of SmackDown. At the show’s best, WrestleMania often has some huge non-title matches that could include legendary superstars.
The Undertaker has looked like a shell of himself for a few years now, but things hit a breaking point after his terrible performance against Goldberg at one of WWE’s regular blood money Saudi Arabia events. Undertaker even recognized the issue, later giving his best performances in years when tagging against Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon at Extreme Rules.
With The Undertaker having a resurgence and Bray Wyatt being at a whole new peak, WWE has the opportunity to right the wrong of Wyatt initially losing to Undertaker back at WrestleMania 31. On top of that, they can create a true behemoth by having “The Fiend” finally retire The Undertaker and give him the sendoff he so rightly deserves.
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Now we’re finally two the top championship matches from each brand. We begin with Raw, where Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch could very well carry the title from WrestleMania 35 all the way to WrestleMania 36.
“The Man” has reached an almost incomprehensible point in her career. Not only is she dominating and leading the women’s division, but Lynch has earned mainstream notoriety being brought on ESPN, being the cover co-star of WWE 2K20, and many other media appearances.
As for her challenger, I’m predicting Charlotte Flair to challenge her after winning the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Flair came close to doing so last year, but it was Lynch powering through an injury who eliminated Flair to take the win. Now, we could see this rivalry renewed at WrestleMania 36 in what would surely be another instant classic from Flair and Lynch.
Universal Championship Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles
As for the Universal Championship, there are a few stars who could find themselves challenging for the title come WrestleMania 36. None seem more likely than AJ Styles. While he’s currently the United States Champion, Styles is a former WWE Champion and has been on a path of destruction with Gallows and Anderson at his side as The O.C. on Raw.
WWE seems wholeheartedly and undeniably invested in Seth Rollins as the top guy on WWE Raw, which makes him holding the title all the way to WrestleMania 36 seem a bit too obvious. We’ve seen glimpses of these two squaring off, but AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins with a top championship on the line really is a WrestleMania dream match for the two indie veterans.
I don’t believe the Royal Rumble will play a role here, and I’ll be talking about my predicted winner of the men’s Royal Rumble in a moment. Rather, this could likely stem from Rollins continuing to power through competition on the Road to WrestleMania only for The O.C. to target him with the goal of taking the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Bayley (c) vs. Ember Moon vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nikki Cross
We’ve seen a few multi-woman championship matches at WrestleMania in recent years, and this one seems most likely to fit that role. Bayley is at the beginning of what should be an absolutely dominant run as a heel champion.
I wouldn’t expect Sasha Banks to make a claim for the title for quite some time, and even then, neither should be turning face any time soon. The best way to counteract that conundrum is add people to the equation.
Ember Moon is currently out with injury, and hopefully will be back with plenty of time before WrestleMania 36. As for Nikki Cross goes, she recently won a Six-Pack Challenge to decide the current #1 Contender for Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Even if Cross comes up short in her first attempt at Bayley, it keeps her in the title picture and she could keep that rolling by WrestleMania 36 and re-stake her claim. This would also be a really fun and fantastic match so long as WWE gives it a proper amount of time.
WWE Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
That brings us to the headliner. The main event. The match I don’t even like predicting. Brock Lesnar recently squashed Kofi Kingston to become the new WWE Champion, setting the stage for a clash with Cain Velasquez in Saudi Arabia.
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The unfortunate reality is that Cain Velasquez is in need of surgery, one which he’ll likely get after their upcoming match. Chances are Velasquez will be out until after WrestleMania, meaning Brock Lesnar will need a challenger while he refuses to compete and carries the title all the way to WrestleMania 36.
I’d love to see names like Matt Riddle or Daniel Bryan being the ones to take on Brock Lesnar and topple The Beast, but chances are we’ll be seeing a re-run of Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. After having to take time off and send his cancer back into remission, Roman Reigns is back on top as one of the biggest and most beloved names in WWE.
There will always be detractors, but everything Roman Reigns has done since returning has been top-notch. He’s been producing great matches and promos on a weekly basis, despite some terrible writing trying to get in his way.
Roman Reigns will likely carry that momentum into the Royal Rumble, where he could win his second one. Roman was the victor in 2015 but was also the runner-up in 2014, 2017, and 2018. We could very well see him chalk up a second Royal Rumble victory en route to taking down The Beast at WrestleMania 36.