WrestleMania is the biggest event on the WWE calendar and the most exciting show for fans. It can also be the least predictable, as evidenced by the last few years.
From The Undertaker losing for the first time at WrestleMania 30 to Roman Reigns stacking and pinning Daniel Bryan and Edge in the main event of last year's show, there is no such thing as a sure thing at The Show of Shows.
This year is no different.
While there may be an understanding of what will play out in certain matches, there is also some uncertainty hanging over other blockbuster encounters, including Reigns' Winner Takes All match against Brock Lesnar.
The Usos have been one of the bright spots on SmackDown alongside their cousin, Roman Reigns. The Bloodline has become a successful heel faction and is as dominant and over as The Shield, Evolution and the Four Horsemen.
This year, Jimmy and Jey Uso will defend their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs on April 2.
WWE likes to switch belts, give the perception of change and generate excitement for the coming weeks and months on television. What better way to do that than by putting the gold on a proven popular act and set The Usos up for the scorn of The Tribal Chief when he realizes they failed to hold up their end of the bargain?
It has been a while since we have seen Reigns angered or annoyed by the twins, and a return to that plot—after months of everything being swell between them—would be an effective way to freshen things up on Friday nights.
Besides, Nakamura and Boogs is a pairing that should never have worked but does. They are hugely popular and can easily carry the tag titles for a month or two until the story dictates The Usos win them back.
Raise your hand if you had the multi-team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship being one of the toughest matches on this year's card to predict.
Hmm.
The introduction of Liv for Brutality (Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley) and the team of Natalya and Shayna Baszler to a title match originally scheduled to pit Sasha Banks and Naomi against Carmella and Queen Zelina has opened up a number of possibilities for the outcome.
We saw a year ago that Natalya can capture gold with anyone when she partnered with Tamina on back-to-back nights and left Raymond James Stadium with the titles. This year, The Queen of Harts will look to run it back with Baszler as her partner, but they have to be considered the least favorite to win the match based on their booking alone.
At one point, it felt like Banks and Naomi were the runaway favorites. They are the most popular tandem in the match and with nothing else going on, a run as tag champions would be welcome.
Ripley and Morgan have been a great team thus far, though, and showed as much in their match with The Boss and Naomi Friday night on SmackDown.
All signs would seemingly point to one of the babyface teams winning but this feels like the perfect setup for the heels to retain. Carmella and Queen Zelina have hardly had a quality run, which can be blamed on WWE Creative rarely booking them in title matches.
There is also teased dissension among them, with Zelina frustrated at her partner being distracted fiancee and WWE commentator Corey Graves rather than focused on their upcoming title defense.
All of that should point to the champions dropping the titles and going their separate ways after WrestleMania but with so many moving pieces, don't be surprised when The Most Beautiful Woman in WWE and the 2021 Queen of the Ring find a way to steal a win.
Arguably the most difficult result to predict of the entire WrestleMania card is the dream match between Edge and AJ Styles.
The Rated-R Superstar has undergone a heel turn that has seen him abandon the pomp and circumstance for a darker, more ominous persona. He is a different Edge, a more interesting one than we have seen in some time.
Styles is the freshly minted babyface after a couple years as one of the top heels in the company, and he will be seeking revenge after a beating that put him out of action for a few weeks.
It would seem The Phenomenal One will enter WrestleMania, beat up on Edge and emerge victorious. The question is whether this is a one-and-done feud or if the two former world champions will continue their rivalry beyond The Showcase of the Immortals.
The hope that is the case is what drives this writer to think Edge picks up the win at AT&T Stadium, most likely through nefarious means, setting up a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash or SummerSlam.
Either way, this feels like a feud destined to continue, especially since it would be counterproductive to introduce this new Edge persona only to beat him a few weeks later and ruin the mystique.
On the surface, the Winner Takes All match for the Universal and WWE Championships between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns does not seem too difficult to predict.
Common sense would suggest The Tribal Chief will do as he has promised: Smash The Beast Incarnate and leave with both titles.
Except, the layout of the feud does not necessarily point in that direction.
Lesnar has been screwed over numerous times by Reigns and his special counsel, Paul Heyman. He was beaten down at Madison Square Garden recently. The build to his championship clash with Reigns has been defined by his desire for revenge.
If he loses to Reigns, the story goes unfulfilled. The bad guy wins, the hero is conquered and the WWE Universe is left wondering what is next for both.
Reigns has been dominant over the last two years, and while he is going to take a WrestleMania-sized ass-whooping at the hands of the baddest man in WWE, he will do as he has done numerous times since his return in August 2020 and absorb everything en route to the most definitive victory of his career.
It may go against the narrative WWE has told to this point, but Reigns is in God Mode right now and sacrificing that would be a disastrous bit of booking because credible heels you can book an entire show around do not walk through the door every day.
The Tribal Chief is one of them, and he will continue his title run April 3 inside AT&T Stadium.
