The 2021 Royal Rumble has come and gone, and now WWE can start building towards WrestleMania 37 this coming April. We already know who the Rumble winners are (Edge & Bianca Belair), there’s a very good chance both Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns are both still world champions by April and there’s enough talent on both rosters (without even having to dive into stars possibly returning from absence or legends being booked) that you can build a sizable chunk of a WrestleMania card right now. So let’s do just that!
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Are there any missing matchups? Or would you book the show completely differently? Let’s hear your thoughts down in the comments!
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Edge
Heading into Sunday’s show there were quite a few pitfalls WWE nearly booked themselves into but mercifully managed to avoid. Goldberg did not become the oldest man to ever win the WWE Championship, McIntyre’s momentum as a dominant babyface champion wasn’t derailed, WWE didn’t feel compelled to set up Edge vs. Randy Orton III at WrestleMania by having them eliminate each other and Orton wasn’t rewarded with a third Rumble win after sitting out 90% of the match with a fake leg injury. All good things.
So now the big question is who does Edge challenge at WrestleMania? I’ve seen plenty of arguments already for Edge vs. Roman — which would absolutely work since basically anything involving Reigns is gold at this point — but I think “The Tribal Chief” could be used better elsewhere.
Which leaves us with McIntyre vs. Edge. There isn’t much of a ready-made story on the surface, but McIntyre has been able to deliver in each of his title programs since last year’s Mania (yes, even the one with Dolph Ziggler). Plus they could eventually lead to a story where Edge’s mission to become world champion again turns from determination to obsession after he fails to beat McIntyre, which could then lead to a heel turn and a return of “The Ultimate Opportunist.” Because for as much as we love Edge now, he’s always been at his best as a villain.
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan
With Edge out of the way, it’s time to pick out what Reigns will be doing. Kudos to SmackDown’s recent booking, they made guys like Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro and Big E all look like possible Rumble winners over the past few weeks. But I’m sticking with the man I thought was originally winning the Rumble — Daniel Bryan.
Bryan’s latest Talking Smack promo (before he, Otis and Chad Gable started talking about hip thrusts) hit the nail on the head about why this feud works. Reigns’ initial push to the main event was so resoundingly rejected by fans, and few moments encapsulated that more than in 2015 when fans angrily demanded Bryan win the Rumble instead Reigns even while The Rock was raising “The Big Dog’s” hand in victory. It makes perfect sense for Reigns’ heel persona to now resent the fans for rejecting him, but he hasn’t had much of a chance to take his frustrations out on them (chalk that up the crowds still being virtual).
But with Bryan, Reigns has somebody who embodies, in his mind, all of the fans who disrespected him. He’ll do everything he can to punish Bryan, and the lovable vegan will combat Reigns’ jealousy with his genuine love of pro wrestling. As he explained to Paul Heyman, “I have a theory as to why that is, and it’s this. I think you’re right, Roman Reigns might be the best right now. He’s performing at a whole different level than everybody else, but he doesn’t wrestle with his heart. It’s a facade, always has been… the big difference is not about who’s the best or who wants glory, it’s who’s willing to go out there and fight with heart.”
The only other wrestler who would be a better fit as the fans’ embodiment of rejecting babyface Roman is CM Punk, and I’ve long since stopped holding out hope for that comeback.
Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
A Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley rematch makes all the sense in the world — smarter men than me have already explained why. But I’m keeping Asuka in the equation because I feel like she deserves something nice after the weird way WWE has used her over the past year. Her first Raw Women’s Championship reign ended in utterly bizarre fashion last summer, and now she feels like an afterthought on Raw.
Remember how important it was when Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley all held two championships simultaneously? Asuka was a double champion for a month, but she was still fourth on Raw’s pecking order behind Charlotte Flair, Lacey Evans and spooky Alexa Bliss.
She doesn’t need to leave WrestleMania as champion or even take the pinfall, but I’d really like to see her in a fun Mania match with some high stakes.
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Beliar
Belair’s Royal Rumble performance was nothing short of spectacular, and that post-match promo immediately had me thinking, “she’s going to demolish Sasha at WrestleMania.”
She very well might, but the big question WWE has to answer with this year’s WrestleMania is do they want to put Belair and Ripley on the highest level of the Women’s Division with Flair, Becky, Banks, Bayley, Asuka and Bliss.
My sincere hope is the answer is “yes” for both.
Firefly Fun House Match: The Fiend vs. Randy Orton
Can WWE keep the already-shaky storyline between Orton and The Fiend interesting until April? Probably not, but they can buy themselves some time by having Edge and Orton complete their trilogy at either Elimination Chamber or Fastlane (my guess is the latter, gives the first pay-per-view on Peacock a nice headlining match).
After that you have The Fiend return and we get another Firefly Fun House cinematic match like last year. Wyatt would have yet another rich canvas to work off of, and you could even have John Cena reemerge and tie up that loose end from last year’s Mania.
Intercontinental Championship: Big E vs. Seth Rollins
Big E’s run in this year’s Rumble wasn’t nearly as long or dominant as many fans hoped, and now his plans for WrestleMania aren’t as clear. I still think he’s on the road to being in world championship matches, but if Reigns is already occupied let’s give E a major win at WrestleMania. Beating AJ Styles and Omos would fit the bill, but I doubt Styles would get moved back to SmackDown just for that. So let’s go with Rollins!
By all indications from the Rumble, the former world champ is sticking with his Messiah gimmick for the immediate future. So why not have him try to “convert” E now that he’s away from the rest of New Day? E could continuously rebuff Rollins’ attempts, and eventually, “CrossFit Jesus” tries to take his Intercontinental Championship instead. By the end of Mania E could still have the IC title and have a win over a four-time world champion. If that’s not momentum I don’t know what is.
United States Championship: Bobby Lashley vs. Keith Lee
Lee missed out on Sunday’s Rumble, which is a huge shame because that match is made for powerhouses like him to shine. “The Limitless One’s” run on Raw hasn’t been what most fans have hoped for so far, but just like Big E he could benefit greatly from the right opponent at WrestleMania.
Enter Bobby Lashley and The Hurt Business, who have consistently been one of the best things about Raw even in its recent streak of bad episodes. Lashley is a dominant heel champion, MVP is his cocky mouthpiece and Shelton Benjamin and Cedric (Prime!) Alexander could be continuous roadblocks — all of whom Lee could overcome en route to becoming United States Champion.
Honorable Mentions
Mustafa Ali vs. Kofi Kingston — it’s one of WWE’s best programs right now. The only downside is the best parts of it are taking place mostly on Twitter.
Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross — now that we know WrestleMania is two days again, I feel like WWE might have to dive into the NXT talent pool to help fill up the cards. The NXT Women’s title got the Mania nod last year, so this year let’s give Balor a shot.
AJ Styles vs. Ricochet — because it would be fun.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn — see above.
Daniel Bryan vs. Chad Gable — this needs to happen at some point this year, regardless of whether Bryan is facing Reigns at WrestleMania or not.
Lana vs. Nia Jax — this all has to be leading somewhere, right?
