As a service to fans who have a general interest in the WWE
but might not have watched a match since WrestleMania last year, I'm happy to
provide this FAQ as a guide to WrestleMania 35.
Q. WHY ARE THEY
BACK AT METLIFE STADIUM FOR WRESTLEMANIA?
From a "claimed attendance" standpoint,
WrestleMania 29 in East Rutherford in 2013 had the third-largest gate in the
history of the event, behind the legendary WrestleMania III (93,173) at the
Silverdome in 1987 and WrestleMania 32 at Jerry World in Dallas in 2016. That
latter event claimed a WWE record of 101,763 in attendance, but Vince McMahon
later admitted that the number included "ushers and ticket-takers and all
of that." And having seen that stadium, they might have 10,000 ushers.
Also, WrestleMania prides itself on unpredictability, so
obviously the stadium that just saw Odell Beckham
Jr. traded to Cleveland was a natural flex.
Q. IS THIS THE
FIRST ALL-FEMALE MAIN EVENT IN WRESTLEMANIA HISTORY?
Yes. After 34 years in which the main event featured an NFL
player, an actor, King Kong Bundy and Roman Reigns three
times, the WWE is finally showcasing women
competing at the top of its signature event: RAW women's
champion "Rowdy"
Ronda Rousey versus SmackDown women's champion Charlotte
Flair versus champion of the people and discerning fans
everywhere, Becky Lynch.
Q. WHAT'S THE
STORYLINE HERE?
Remember "Stone Cold" Steve Austin? What if he was
a 5-foot-6 woman from Limerick, Ireland? That's Becky Lynch, or at least how
the WWE has chosen to book Becky Lynch.
Stop us if you've heard this before: There's a
rule-breaking, charismatic heel that's so completely over with the fans that it
basically turns them face, to the point where the WWE starts selling black
T-shirts with white lettering featuring their catchphrase. They win the Royal
Rumble to earn a championship match, but are then suspended
when -- and again, stop us if any of this sounds remotely familiar -- they have
a physical altercation with a member of the McMahon family (Stephanie, in
Lynch's case) who wasn't allowing them to wrestle due to injury. Yet they still
showed up at the arena while suspended and had to be "arrested" by
"police" for again going after a McMahon. The only thing missing was
Becky Lynch driving a tanker truck full of Guinness to the ring.
Anyway, Flair was elevated to the WrestleMania match during
Lynch's suspension, and then Lynch was added back to make it a triple threat
after Rousey attacked her in a match against Flair at Fastlane last
month. The winner of this match will win both titles.
Q. IS THIS
ROUSEY'S LAST MATCH?
There's heavy speculation that she's planning to take time
off after this match. The news has been divisive for the fans. Some have been
critical of her mat and mic skills, others have lauded the heat she generates
for the women's division. If this is the end, for a bit, we just hope Becky
keeps tweeting at her, because that social media feud has been hotter than 99
percent of the ones in the WWE.
Q. ARE THERE OTHER
WOMEN'S MATCHES AT WRESTLEMANIA?
Yes. WWE women's tag team champions Sasha Banks and Bayley,
aka the Boss 'N' Hug Connection.
Q. SO THEY'RE NOT
EVEN TRYING WITH THESE NICKNAMES ANYMORE?
Considering that Beth Phoenix and Natalya are
called "The Divas of Doom," no, they're not. That's the second team
in this four-way tag team match, along with Nia Jax and Tamina and The IIconics,
Billy Kay and Peyton Royce, who are snarky and fun and Australian and the team
that seemed to be the inspiration for the invention of these titles last
December.
They also just announced a second-ever women's battle royal
at WrestleMania, so Asuka has
something to do. Hey, those plastic "Empress of Tomorrow" masks
aren't going to sell themselves.
Q. WHO'S IN THE
MEN'S BATTLE ROYAL?
That's the sixth annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle
Royal to you, buster.
It's a rather eclectic group this year, featuring several
midcard tag teams, older stars (The Hardy Boys), former NXT favorites (EC3, No Way Jose),
cruiserweights (Ali, who was Mustafa Ali until
last week) and Braun
Strowman, who really should have a match elsewhere on this card, but
then the WWE could never be accused of knowing how to book Braun Strowman.
Oh, and of course, there's Colin Jost and Michael Che.
Q. SORRY, WHAT?
Look, there's a long legacy of celebrities being involved in
WrestleMania, from Mr. T wrestling in the first one to Rob Gronkowski interfering in the
WrestleMania 33 battle royal to Pete Rose getting Tombstoned by
Kane while dressed as the San Diego Chicken (don't ask). Jost and Che have a
beef with Braun, who called them out to appear in this match. And so the
"Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update guys will be stepping inside the
squared circle, hopefully with Jost wrestling in a three-piece suit.
Q. IS THIS GOING
TO BE A DISASTER?
No, as long as there's a run-in by either Stefon or Kate
McKinnon dressed as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Or, sparing that, Strowman throws Jost
into the sun.
Q. SPEAKING OF
ENDING THINGS, THIS CARD FEATURES KURT ANGLE'SFINAL
MATCH, RIGHT?
That's correct. The 1996 Olympic gold medalist is ending his
in-ring career against Baron Corbin,
who has gone from a feral biker type with a penchant for wolf T-shirts to what
appears to be a guy pouring craft cocktails at a Brooklyn speakeasy. There are
some scores to settle here, after which Angle will hang up his singlet until
his next comeback. Anyway, win or lose, he'll have his tearful WrestleMania
Moment™ goodbye in front of an appreciative crowd chanting about how much he
sucks.
Q. ARE THERE ANY
OTHER 50-YEAR-OLDS WHO SHOULDN'T BE WRESTLING ON THE CARD?
Hey, Shane McMahon is
only 49! But Shane-O-Mac is back at it again, wrestling in a grudge match
against his former tag team partner, The Miz,
having turned on him at Fastlane by attacking his father (!) at ringside. It's
also a "falls count anywhere" match, which really opens up the number
of opportunities for Shane to climb something tall, jump and/or fall off of it
and, since he's the villain here, completely miss, leading to a pinfall defeat.
Q. WHAT ARE THE
OTHER NON-TITLE MATCHES ON THE CARD?
AJ Styles and Randy Orton face
each other in a match to see [checks notes] who can rightfully claim to have
built the SmackDown brand, which is both the most strained premise and
delightfully old-school motivation of this year's WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns, who returned from
leukemia treatment in February, takes on "The Scottish
Terminator" and/or "Psychopath" Drew McIntyre.
They've thrown everything at the wall to see what makes this feud stick:
McIntyre attacking Reigns physically; McIntyre attacking Reigns verbally,
basically begging him not to take this match for the sake of his wife and kids;
and McIntyre attacking Reigns' friends Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins,
which probably would have been more consequential had The Shield not defeated
McIntyre & Co. at Fastlane in their farewell match as a faction.
Q. SO NO ROMAN
REIGNS VS. BROCK LESNAR AGAIN?
No, the honor of facing Brock goes to Roman's Shield buddy
Seth Rollins, who is considered the best worker in the entire company at the
moment. He won the Royal Rumble to earn his shot at Lesnar's Universal
championship. Please recall that at WrestleMania 31 (aka "The One with
Sting"), Rollins cashed in his
Money In The Bank briefcase during Lesnar's match against
Reigns, pinning Roman for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The buildup for this match has been similar to other Lesnar
WrestleMania matches -- the champ not appearing on television, leaving Paul
Heyman to sell the thing like he's on QVC -- but this one feels like it should
be a passing of the torch ... especially with the
ever-present "Brock back to UFC" chatter.
Q. WHAT'S THE WWE
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH?
Potentially the best one on the card: "The
New" Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston.
Now, this was a buildup. In summary: Kofi put on incredible
performances in a gauntlet match and in the Elimination
Chamber, and was given a title match against Bryan at Fastlane. But
then Mr. McMahon Thanes-snapped him out of that match, replacing him with Kevin Owens.
An outraged New Day asked
for a title shot for Kofi, and he was given another gauntlet match --
beating Samoa Joe, The Bar, Randy Orton and Rowan,
before McMahon made Bryan the last competitor and he got the win.
So then McMahon put it on the New Day: If Xavier Woods and Big E won
a tag team gauntlet match, Kofi would get his title shot. And that they did on
SmackDown, defeating Bryan and Rowan in the last match to spark an emotional
celebration.
Which of course means they'll turn on him for some dumb
reason and break all of our hearts.
By the way, for the uninformed: The formerly beloved Daniel
Bryan has been working as a monster heel since last November, using his
veganism and environmentalism as the crux of his villainy. That included
throwing away the title belt because it was made of leather and creating a new
one ... out of hemp. Dastardly!
Q. WHAT ABOUT THE
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP?
Bobby Lashley is
the IC champion, and his laborious feud with Finn Balor may
finally come to end at WrestleMania.
Balor was in last year's rather terrific IC match with The
Miz and Seth Rollins, and there have been more than a few matches for this
strap that have stolen the show. Needless to say, it would be a surprise were
that the case with these two mismatched foes. But the promotional materials
seem to indicate that Balor's "Demon King" alter ego might make an
appearance at 'Mania. So we'll have that ring entrance, which is nice.
Q. AND THE U.S.
CHAMPIONSHIP?
Rey Mysterio --
yes, he's back -- is being fed to champ Samoa Joe like a chum salmon to an
orca.
Also, before you ask: The WWE cruiserweight title is also on
the line, as champ Buddy Murphy is minus-500 on
the money line against his former training partner Tony Nese,
in case you were wondering how emphatically Murphy will win this match.
Q. THERE SEEM TO
BE SOME BIG NAMES MISSING HERE FROM RECENT WRESTLEMANIA HISTORY. IS THE
Undertaker scheduled to be there?
While his face still adorns the side of WWE production
trucks, and while he's appeared in a record 24 of these, The Dead Man isn't
expected at this 'Mania.
Q. THE ROCK?
Not likely, considering "Hobbs & Shaw" doesn't
come out until August.
Q. JOHN CENA?
There are several reports that he's expected to be in New
York and have a role on the show. Some believe he'll be a surprise replacement
for Corbin against Angle. But it probably involves Elias like
last year, with a smashed guitar.
Q. HULK HOGAN?
Please recall that the WWE reinstated Hogan last summer
after having terminated his contract, following published audio of him using
racist language. He also made an appearance at the WrestleMania 36 news
conference in Tampa just a month ago. Hogan is also expected to support this
year's Hall of Fame class which includes Degeneration
X, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Harlem Heat, Torrie Wilson,
The Hart Foundation and, most importantly, The Honky Tonk Man, baby.
Q, TRIPLE H?
Does he still draw breath on this mortal coil? Then yes,
he'll be there. And wrestling.
Q. WRESTLING WHO?
Drax The Destroyer himself, Dave Bautista! Once in a while,
wrestling does that magic thing where you're watching at home and you're
stunned by a plot twist and you just mark out. Such was the moment when Ric
Flair was supposed to come to the ring for a birthday celebration, no-showed,
and the cameras cut to the back to find Bautista beating the snot out of him to
get Triple H's attention. (Please recall all three were in the
"Evolution" faction 15 years ago.)
And so we get a WrestleMania 21 rematch, with a classic
setup: Bautista wanting one more match to prove he's better than Triple H, and
Trips putting his "career on the line" against his former friend,
despite being 49 years old and having this other career where he, like, runs a
wrestling federation.
Q. SO IS THIS
WORTH WATCHING?
Of course. WrestleManias are like that proverb about a slice
of pizza: There's no such thing as a horrible slice of pizza, because at the
end of the day, it's still pizza.
Even the worst events -- we see you, WrestleMania XI -- have
their virtues. And in fact, this card boasts more than a few changes for
four-star matches and a main event -- the women's triple threat -- that has the
potential to be one of the best in 35 years of this nonsense, because it could
go one of three ways: a surprising Rousey defense, a crowd-pleasing Lynch
victory, or Flair walking out with double gold. But probably "The
Man" gets her WrestleMania moment and everyone goes home happy.
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