5 things that must happen before WrestleMania

With just 40 days left for 'The Biggest Spectacle in Professional Wrestling', the month of March will be full of quick storyline development for the feuds and matches that are supposed to happen during this WrestleMania season. Last Night's Elimination Chamber was the last Raw-exclusive pay per view before WrestleMania, and almost all the main rivalries from Raw are now on track. Although The Blue Brand's Fastlane is two weeks away, their top rivalries also appear to be on track for various high profile matches at Mania. Hence, the next few weeks will feature a series of impressive episodes of WWE programming.

WWE usually put everything, that it is capable of, in order to make the WrestleMania month a success among the fans- Be it surprise returns or unexpected betrayals. This year as well, WWE must take the familiar route and surprise and enthrall the fans with a few surprising but important decision that could change the immediate landscape of WWE programming. Here are the 5 things that must happen in WWE before 'The Show of Shows'.

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#5 A friendship torn apart

The Fans deserve to see this match at WrestleMania

Ever since Bayley's main roster debut at Battleground in 2016, a very important part of her career has been her friendship with Sasha Banks. The two have consistently been with each other and have called each other best friends. However, over the past month or so, Sasha has been showing some villainous traits. The eliminations of Bayley at Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber by 'The Boss', along with her proclamations of being better than 'The Hugger', can be considered as signs that Sasha is finally embracing her negative side.

The last night's episode of Raw witnessed a very interesting development as Bayley abandoned Sasha and Asuka during their tag team match. 'The Hugger' has been portrayed as a happy-go-lucky character for the entirety of her WWE career, but her actions on Raw have made it clear that the fans are going to witness a different side of Bayley as well in the upcoming weeks. Whether it's Banks or Bayley, WWE must have at least one of the two attack the other in order to set a match between the two at WrestleMania. The friendship must end within the next few weeks.

#4 The rebirth of The Viper of 2009

Randy Orton is at his best as a heel

Ever since his return from his long injury layoff in 2015-16, Randy Orton has been a shadow of a performer he was during his prime years between 2008 and 2015. As a matter of fact, 2017 can easily be regarded as the worst year of Orton's 15 year long WWE career, with his matches against Bray Wyatt and Jinder Mahal regarded as the worst matches of the year. He needs a change or renewal of his energy and passion in the ring, and what better way to do that with the much-needed return of The Viper from 2009.

It is clear that Orton is a far more convincing bad guy than he is a babyface. Some of the best work of his career, which include his rivalry against HHH and John Cena in 2008-09, had Orton taking the role of the sadistic villain who just loved to hurt people. Since his rivalry with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Orton has shown some glimpses of that heartless, cold-blooded Viper, and his recent RKO out of nowhere has brought some fresh air to his character, but Orton needs a full-fledged embrace of the dark side to again become relevant in WWE. He is on course to a clash with Bobby Roode at 'Mania. With Roode's 'Glorious' character still over with the fans, it is time for Randy to take a trip down memory lane and become the Viper that he was in 2009.

#3 The return of the Wrestling Machine

This GM storyline has to end now

If there was one thing that was made pretty clear on Raw last night, it was that Ronda Rousey would team up with Kurt Angle against The Power Couple of HHH and Stephanie at WrestleMania. Kurt Angle has been at odds with both Stephanie and HHH since last summer, hence it made sense to have him face the two in order to bring an end to that storyline. However, this suit-wearing, afraid to lose his job Kurt Angle is not the one that the fans want to see at 'Mania. It is the perfect time and scenario for the return of the Wrestling Machine.

Triple H has attacked Kurt Angle twice- first at Survivor Series and then at last night's Raw - yet we haven't seen Angle retaliate or defend himself. Although this makes perfect sense given that Angle is actually a storyline employee of The McMahons, but this GM storyline has run its course and must end as soon as possible. Kurt Angle must bring back that fire, that desire to fight and win a battle that helped him reach the top of the mountain in WWE. He does not have to appear on Raw as the Olympic Gold Medallist, WWE must preserve that special occasion for 'Mania, but the Wrestling Machine must definitely appear before 'Mania. Having Kurt attack HHH and lock him in the anklelock will certainly bring more credibility to his character that has become too subtle and calm due to the GM storyline.

#2 The falling apart of SmackDown authority figures

All this bickering must lead to either of the two embracing the dark side

This is the storyline that just doesn't seem to end. Ever since Hell in a Cell in October 2017, Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager, Daniel Bryan have been embroiled in a cold war. The two have often taken decisions that have not sat well with the other, yet somehow the two have managed to retain each others' support. Everyone expected the two to finally fall apart after they were made co-referees at Clash of Champions, but here we are almost at WrestleMania and we haven't seen any progress in this storyline. However, expect a lot to change following Fastlane.

Daniel Bryan has constantly supported Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in the past few months, but if the last few weeks were a sign, either Owens or Zayn is soon going to turn on the other and set up a clash at Mania between the two. Since these two have been an integral part of this power struggle between the authority figures, it is almost certain that Shane-O-Mac and D-Bry will feature heavily during the build of this matchup. A heel turn for either of the two could finally bring an end to this months-long bickering, with each of them siding with either Owens or Zayn leading to WrestleMania. If Daniel Bryan gets a clearance from the doctors to wrestle again, we can expect them to square off with each other at Mania.

#1 The Beast decimating The Big Dog

This has to get physical before Mania

Ever since his victory over Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, Brock Lesnar has been portrayed absolutely unbeatable by the WWE. The man has had victories over the likes of Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and AJ Styles over the past one year, and all those victories have come in very convincing fashions. He even managed to pin his WrestleMania 34 opponent, Roman Reigns, in that chaotic SummerSlam main event in 2017. Brock Lesnar has managed to stay true to his nickname 'The Beast', and in order to increase the buzz for this match, WWE has to make sure that it stays this way at least till WrestleMania.

There is no doubt that Reigns is leaving New Orleans with the big red belt, but WWE has to add more excitement and craziness to this feud to keep fans invested in this rivalry. And how do you do that? A big, old-fashioned brawl. WWE made a big mistake during Mania 31 by not having Brock and Roman exchange blows before their match. This time out, we can see these two heavyweights engage in a typical WWE brawl, which will end with Lesnar completely destroying and decimating 'The Big Dog'. Not only will this get the fans riled up for the Universal Title match, but it will fulfill the storyline purpose of portraying Lesnar as the unstoppable and undefeatable beast. This concept has worked for various Lesnar feuds, hence expect WWE to take the familiar route in the coming weeks.