WrestleMania 35: 5 things we learned from Raw & SmackDown this week

With just ten days left to the biggest wrestling event of the year, WWE has been stepping up the stories which will unfold at the mega event.

With the second last week of shows before the event, WWE tried to throw everything they had at the WWE Universe to ensure that they stayed glued to the WWE Network until the final bell rings at WrestleMania 35.

In doing so, the company managed to tell the fans some good and some bad things which have managed to teach us a lot about the event and the matches that will take place in it.

In this article, we will look at 5 such things and what their impact could be on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Feel free to share your views and opinions of this week’s Raw and SmackDown Live in the comments section below!

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#5 The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal won’t be too exciting

Is this feud worthy of the Battle Royal?

Since inception, the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal has been of little to no value to the wrestlers who have won the trophy.

The winners from the past have all been mainly mid-card players, and Mojo Rawley, who won the trophy in 2017, has completely been buried after his win.

This year too, there isn’t much hype at all regarding the battle royal, as it is more a card-filler which will give a chance to some of the mid-card superstars who don’t have a match for the event feature in it.

Till now, only Braun Strowman has been the major announcement for the match a story between him and SNL's Colin Jost and Michael Che has been brewing which has led to the latter two also confirming their participation in the match.

No other superstar has been revealed for the multiple-participant match yet. This clearly shows how little WWE really cares about the match itself, and the superstars involved in it.

#4 Shane McMahon will jump off something huge

The Miz's announcement this week sets up a Flying McMahon

The story between Shane McMahon and The Miz has gone from positive to negative in just a matter of weeks since Fastlane. The two superstars have done fairly well to build this storyline in such a short time, and it has become one of the non-title singles matches to look forward to at the event.

On this week’s SmackDown, The Miz announced that the match between the veterans will be a Last Man Standing Match. This is interesting as WWE has been using this stipulation more now than they used to.

Keeping that in mind, and Shane’s love for jumping off tall things onto flimsy tables, one can expect that the stipulation has been set for him to take another leap of fate.

Whether he’ll land on The Miz, or the announce table remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see how these two make use of their surroundings in this match.

#3 The United States Championship match has no build-up

Samoa Joe has no clear direction at the moment

Since the beginning of the year, the United States Championship has become the cursed championship of the blue brand.

First held by Shinsuke Nakamura, the title was lost to Rusev but was regained by Nakamura once again who lost it a few days later to R-Truth.

The championship has found a home around the waist of Samoa Joe, but there hasn’t been any real rivalry between him and any other wrestler since he won the championship.

After Rey Mysterio pinned Joe in a tag team match on the March 12 episode of the show, WWE announced that Mysterio will face Joe for the United States Championship at WrestleMania.

Keeping in mind how they were building Almas, and without any background or story for this clash, the match doesn’t seem very appealing even though it has two of wrestling’s biggest stars.

#2 Dean Ambrose might not feature in any big match

Will next week's Raw have Ambrose's final big match?

Seth Rollins is all set to slay The Beast at WrestleMania and win the red belt. Roman Reigns is also ready for a high-profile clash against The Scottish Psychopath in a match which could define the future of the Universal Championship.

While two-thirds of The Shield will be in high-profile matches at the Grandest Stage of Them All, Dean Ambrose will continue to feel like an outsider till the day he departs the company.

This is because he still hasn’t been booked for a match at the event, and it’s surprising that WWE is letting go of a good chance to let Ambrose go out on a high and also please the fans.

With the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal set, it seems like Ambrose may feature in that and even win the match to get some spotlight. However, that move will only take the spotlight off many other deserving up and coming talent in the company.

It’s quite surprising that WWE has booked Ambrose so poorly prior to his departure and haven’t given him a proper farewell match after all his service and achievements in the company.

#1 Two championships could be on the line in the main event

The surprise title change is a game changer

WWE has announced the main event for WrestleMania, and we will see Ronda Rousey, Charlotte and Becky Lynch headline the show.

While we were expecting Ronda Rousey to be the only woman holding a title walking into the match, WWE threw another screwball at us. This week, Charlotte defeated Asuka to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship and could well walk into the match as the SmackDown Champion.

Keeping this in mind, WWE could spice things up by introducing a new stipulation for that match with two championships involved.

They can either go with whoever gets the pinfall or submissions wins both the titles or whoever pins one of the women holding a championship gets to win that championship.

This will increase the stakes of the match, and make it an even bigger headliner than it already is.