Edge, Goldberg and Stars Under Most Pressure to Deliver Memorable 'Mania Matches

With WrestleMania comes an undeniable pressure to deliver the best performance of your career, and with the show forced inside the WWE Performance Center due to the coronavirus pandemic, that pressure has never been greater for Superstars such as Edge and Goldberg.

Despite facing significant expectations due to the positioning of their matches and their individual stories, The Rated-R Superstar and the universal champion are just two of the competitors facing tremendous pressure ahead of WrestleMania 36.

Who are the others and why?

Edge has not competed on The Grandest Stage of Them All in nine years. That, plus the overwhelmingly positive reaction to his superb feud with Randy Orton, has created a genuine excitement for their Last Man Standing match.

The problem is that with a great story comes increased expectation to provide the audience a quality payoff.

While Edge has a long and storied history of doing just that, the wild card of ring rust and his ability to walk right back in the door and deliver the type of performances he did at the height of his in-ring career intensify the pressure.

Can he rise to the occasion and provide the desired culmination to his show-stealing feud with Orton or will this be the latest match in the last 10 years with an underwhelming end?

More importantly, what would such an outcome mean for The Rated-R Superstar’s legendary career?

Goldberg is a Hall of Famer and an icon in the industry. He will defend the universal title at WrestleMania 36, not against Roman Reigns as originally scheduled but Braun Strowman, as reported by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Regardless of the opponent, the veteran is under pressure to prove he deserves to be in the spot that he occupies on the card.

It is almost ridiculous to insinuate someone who is as big a star and has accomplished all that he has still has anything to prove, but he does. Goldberg defeated "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown in February to an overwhelmingly negative response across social media. 

He has not had a single classic match since returning to the company in November 2016 and has been given opportunities ahead of younger, full-time competitors for no reason other than box-office appeal.

Now, it is time he proves there is a reason WWE continues to bring him back and that he can provide the company and fans a bona fide WrestleMania moment. If that means spearing his way through The Monster Among Men or putting him over, Goldberg must do it and in a way that inspires goodwill with fans.

Can that be accomplished in a four-minute sprint? Absolutely, especially if he throws hands with Strowman. But the same old spear/jackhammer combination with little or nothing else in between is a surefire recipe for disaster.

The WWE Championship match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 is the single biggest bout of Drew McIntyre's career.

Once dubbed "The Chosen One" by Vince McMahon, the Scot has the opportunity to silence the critics and write his own narrative by defeating The Beast Incarnate and hoisting the top prize in the sport. 

Thus, there has never been more pressure on him to deliver a memorable match than there will be when he sets foot inside the squared circle at the weekend.

McIntyre's entire legacy could be forged in the main event on the biggest stage known to professional wrestling. 

A show-stealer against Lesnar cements him as "the guy" in WWE. A disappointment creates doubt that he has what it takes to be the star McMahon, Paul Heyman and the rest of the creative team have set him up to be.

Of all the Superstars on the two-night WrestleMania extravaganza, there are none with the weight of the world on their shoulders quite like McIntyre.

Becky Lynch has spent the last year as the face of WWE.

It is the first time in WWE history that Vince McMahon and Co. have put that much stock in a female performer, going as far as to book her to share the screen with the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock in high-profile segments.

She has been The Man in both nickname and stature alike, the undisputed top dog in pro wrestling's most storied promotion.

It is for those reasons that she is under incredible pressure to deliver a memorable match against Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36.

The Raw women's champion does not only have a reputation to uphold, but she also has the unenviable task of working with a performer who has yet to compete at The Show of Shows.

As unshakable as the dominant Baszler has been, she has never competed in a show of this magnitude. It is a whole other beast, whether there are fans in the stands or not.

If The Queen of Spades fails and the match underwhelms, a great deal of blame will be placed at the feet of Lynch, of whom much is expected because of her status in the company. 

The Irish Lass Kicker has been tasked with delivering in one of the night’s marquee bouts while also making a star out of Baszler. The two go hand-in-hand.

Failure could deal Lynch's legacy damage and in that regard, she has as much to lose as any of her peers.

Kevin Owens has been involved in some seriously high-profile WrestleMania matches, but despite his best efforts and those of the creative team, he has yet to produce a classic bout.

Against Seth Rollins, who has done just that against everyone from Brock Lesnar to Finn Balor and The Miz, he has his best opportunity yet to deliver the type of match expected from someone of his ability.

KO and The Monday Night Messiah have a strong story and the added element of the babyface’s failures on the WrestleMania stage make for an even higher-stakes match for The Prizefighter.

Not only are we aware that he hasn't delivered that classic performance, but we also now have management calling him out for it through the most hated man on Monday nights.

Hopefully, Owens fares better than Big Show, who answered the same criticisms at WrestleMania 28 with a so-so match against Cody Rhodes.

If not, his legacy at The Show of Shows becomes muddied by mediocrity and disappointment—two words not typically used to describe one of the more interesting performers of his generation.