Wrestlemania 35 will have a lot to live up to. Mania is the biggest night for wrestling every single year and therefore, it must deliver at all costs. WWE has not been lucky in recent times, with injuries and Roman's heartbreaking leukemia ruining their plans, which has also caused a slump in viewership. Therefore, they need to put on a solid Mania to set things right. Let's try to see what they could do to achieve that goal.
This list considers that Triple H would not be able to return in time to have a well-built match in time for Wrestlemania 35, so no match involving him has been included. Although, we here wish him the speediest of recoveries and hope that he will be able to compete in some capacity. Again, this is just my opinion, your's may vary, so please consider that before commenting.
Preshow Matches
#1 Women's Battle Royal (Winner: Ruby Riott)
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The Women's Battle Royal, despite its absolute insignificance, can give a prospective wrestler something to brag about. This match can feature up to 20 women comprising of main roster women who are not on the main show and a handful of promising women from NXT.
Keeping that in mind, I would have a heel win. Ruby Riott would be ideal for this. The Riott Squad can gang up against others for the entire match and the final four can come down to Natalya and the three members of the Riott Squad.
This can lead to a situation similar to Royal Rumble 2009, where the babyface eliminates the inferior heels just for the main heel to eliminate her at the end to win. This would give Ruby her much needed memorable win and as mentioned, she could then brag about it for quite some time.
#2 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Winner: Lars Sullivan)
Just like the Women's Battle Royal, this match also has hardly any significance. Therefore, by the same logic, i.e. for the sake of bragging rights, I would have a heel in need of recognition win this.
This match can feature up to 30 wrestlers comprising of under carders from Raw and Smackdown, maybe one or two legends and some mid-carders from NXT. The final four can be Sullivan, Mojo Rawley, Tye Dillinger, and Kane. Sullivan can win by last eliminating the legendary Kane, which would give him an even bigger push.
#3 Gable and Roode (Champions) vs AOP vs The Revival - Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the Raw Tag Team Championships (Winner: The Revival)
This assumes that Gable and Roode would win the tag titles from AOP before Mania. The Revival can be added to the fray to save this already lame feud from the mundane course of rematches and can also get their much-needed big win.
Main Show Matches
#1 Buddy Murphy (Champion) vs Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali vs Drew Gulak vs Tony Nese vs Hideo Itami vs TJP - 7 Man Ladder Match for the Cruiserweight Championship (Winner: Mustafa Ali)
The cruiserweight division has a lot of potential to succeed. All the wrestlers mentioned in this match, as well as the likes of Akira Tozawa and Lio Rush, are all very talented and capable wrestlers. Therefore, a ladder match should be ideal to showcase how good they are. The winner should be Ali, as he has had some of the best matches this year and deserves to be champion.
#2 The Miz vs Shane Mcmahon (Winner: The Miz)
The only way I think the current Shane and Miz story is going to end is with Miz revealing that he was planning to take advantage of Shane the entire time and the two wrestling over it. WWE has to give Shane Mcmahon a match at Wrestlemania, and the Miz does not seem to have anything much going forward.
He's too good to be left out, so maybe having these two wrestle each other could be a viable alternative. This could be 10-minute match with Miz winning with his characteristic shenanigans.
#3 Demon King Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt (with a debuting Sister Abigail) - No Holds Barred Match (Winner: Bray Wyatt, after supernatural interference from Sister Abigail)
The Finn and Bray rivalry which was abruptly ended last year after Bray fell ill can be revived to introduce Sister Abigail and give Bray a fresh start. Bray can attack Finn out of nowhere anytime soon and they can restart what they left unfinished.
The rivalry can get heated enough until Mania, where Finn will summon the Demon for the encounter. The two can have a grueling match with Finn about to emerge victorious, but Nikki Cross emerges as Sister Abigail to help Bray defeat Finn after hitting his finisher multiple times.
#4 Rusev (Champion) vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe - Fatal Five Way for the United States Championship (Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas)
This match could be a good way of having all these top-level superstars along with upcoming mega-star Andrade on the card. This match should ideally be around 15 minutes long with Andrade getting a win at the end after pinning Nakamura or Rusev.
#5 Boss and Hug Connection (Bayley and Sasha Banks) vs Nia Jax and Tamina for the Inaugural Women's Tag Team Titles (Winner: Banks and Bayley)
A tournament can be held for the inaugural Women's Tag Team Championships with teams like the IIconics, what once was Absolution, and the Riott Squad, along with the two mentioned in the match participating. This tournament could climax at Mania with the duo of Banks and Bayley triumphantly overcoming the monstrous duo of Jax and Snuka.
#6 Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio - Hair vs Mask Match (Winner: Rey Mysterio)
Orton and Mysterio seem to be part of a long storyline. This could culminate at Wrestlemania with Orton's hair against Mysterio's mask on the line. Although this seems a bit lame, this seems to be the direction WWE is heading in with these two legends.
Having Orton lose and having to shave his hair (which he can regrow later) would be an apt end to this rivalry provided Randy does not have a problem with it.
#7 Drew McIntyre (Champion) vs Bobby Lashley vs Elias for the Intercontinental Championship (Winner: Drew McIntyre)
Seth can somehow retain the title at TLC against Dean after a grueling match. He can then have an open challenge the next night on Raw, which is answered by Drew McIntyre, who, after interference from Ambrose, becomes the new Intercontinental Champion.
Dean and Seth can then continue to feud separately and this match involving these three can take place at Mania. Drew can retain after a Claymore on Lashley.
#8 Becky Lynch (Champion) vs Asuka for the Smackdown Live Women's Championship (Winner: Becky Lynch)
Becky and Asuka are capable of having an excellent match together if given the proper opportunity to do so. The ideal case would be for this match to go near fifteen minutes with an impressive Asuka Lock or Armbar to Disarm-Her reversals and vice versa. In the end, Becky can triumph after making Asuka tap out to the Disarm-Her in the center of the ring after a very competitive match.
#9 The Bar (Champions) vs Gallows and Anderson vs The New Day vs The Usos - Fatal Four Way Elimination Tag Team Match for the Smackdown Live Tag Team Championships (Winner: The Usos)
The New Day can score a quick elimination over the Bar to shock everyone. This can be followed by Gallows and Anderson being eliminated by the Usos.
After this, multiple finishers can be traded between the two surviving teams, with the Usos prevailing at the end. After years of being relegated to the pre-show, the will finally get their WrestleMania moment.
#10 Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose (Winner: Dean Ambrose)
Seth and Dean can have an epic encounter on the Grandest Stage of them All. This can be a back and forth, hard-hitting match with well-paced storytelling. Having Dean beat Seth clean after multiple Dirty Deeds would cause fan anger which would in a way cause the fans to hate Dean even more and also make them more invested in this storyline.
Seth can later get a win to end the feud on a later pay per view, perhaps at Extreme Rules in a stipulation match.
#11 Daniel Bryan (Champion) vs AJ Styles - 2 out of 3 falls Match for the WWE Championship (Winner: Daniel Bryan)
A two out of three falls stipulation would be a good place to showcase the tremendous wrestling potential of these two top-notch performers. Bryan can score an early upset pin with a roll up about 5 minutes into the match. This can be followed by Styles scoring the second pin after a phenomenal forearm at around the 12-minute mark.
Multiple finisher kick outs could happen, culminating with Daniel sending AJ into an exposed turnbuckle without the referee noticing followed by a running knee for the win. This would cement him as a true heel.
#12 Brock Lesnar (Champion) vs Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship (Winner: Braun Strowman)
This is assuming that Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar ends in a No Contest at the Royal Rumble after both are unable to compete. This is followed up by Braun winning the Elimination Chamber to face Brock for the title at Mania.
The two can have a finisher heavy, hard-hitting match in which after trading their finishers multiple times, Braun can reverse an F5 into a running power slam and follow it up with another to become the new Universal Champion.
#13 John Cena vs The Undertaker - Career vs Career Match (Winner: John Cena)
John Cena and the Undertaker can have their rematch from last year with a retirement stipulation. This time, WWE can tell the story where John Cena survives all of Undertaker's offense and the Undertaker is too old to survive repeated Attitude Adjustments after a certain point.
Cena triumphs in the end with a show of respect to the Deadman, and the Greatest of all Time finally hangs up his boots.
Kane can come out to pay tribute to the Phenom while he's almost close to the entrance /exit point on the ramp and pay a tribute to the once in a millennium superstar. This would be a fitting end to the Dead Man's incredible career.
The Main Event
#14 Ronda Rousey (Champion) vs Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women's Championship (Winner: Ronda Rousey)
Charlotte Flair wins the Women's Royal Rumble match, which would cause certain fan outrage owing to the similarity of her booking to the likes of Roman Reigns and John Cena. This would be a good thing as it would make the fans hate her even more which is what is wanted for a heel.
Just like last time, this year's winner would have the liberty of choosing between the Raw and Smackdown Women's Champions, and Charlotte would predictably choose Rousey.
This would lead to an epic feud between two top performers of the company playing off their Survivor Series altercation. After an intense 20 minute match, Ronda can win by making Charlotte tap to the armbar to cheers from the crowd for a fitting end to the show.