WWE WrestleMania 36: Predicting the entire SmackDown side of the card

With Royal Rumble in the books, we are officially on the road to WrestleMania. Everyone is already getting excited for the top matches on the show.

Brock Lesnar will defend his WWE Championship against the 2020 Royal Rumble winner, Drew McIntyre. And after this week's excellent and emotional end to Monday Night RAW, Edge vs Randy Orton is pretty much a lock for the Show of Shows.

Also, many other stories have been set in motion on the Red brand with the saga between Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, with their respective partners, set to come to a head at WrestleMania.

But on Friday Night SmackDown, these stories are yet to begin. Several top feuds on the Blue brand seemingly ended at Royal Rumble and we are about to, hopefully, see some fresh matches for the Showcase of the Immortals in April.

This article will cover five SmackDown matches that are likely to happen at WrestleMania, primarily using full-time Superstars. RAW has probably used up WWE's part-timers' quota for WrestleMania with Edge and Brock Lesnar. The likes of John Cena and Triple H could wrestle, as could another few names. But let's keep the use of them as minimal as possible.

Anyway, here is the likely Blue side of the WrestleMania 36 lineup.

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#5 Braun Strowman vs Sheamus (Intercontinental Championship)

Will Sheamus win the only title he's never held?

This is under the likely assumption that Braun Strowman will defeat Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. It's about time that the 'Monster Among Men' does something of substance once again, after over a year of no proper direction.

Strowman should enter WrestleMania as the IC Champion, against a man who has never won the title. Sheamus returned to action this month, defeating Shorty G on the Royal Rumble kickoff show, and he is in the best shape of his life.

The story of him going after the only championship he hasn't won is the best thing WWE could do with the 'Celtic Warrior' at 'Mania. Sheamus and Strowman could have a decent hard-hitting affair, between some of the bigger matches on the card.

#4 The New Day vs John Morrison and The Miz vs The Usos vs Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown Tag Team Championship)

WrestleMania sure loves it's multi-team tag matches

One of the most common WrestleMania tropes in recent years has been booking a multi-team match for the RAW, SmackDown or Women's Tag Team Championship. Each of the past three 'Manias have had a triple threat or a fatal-4-way for the tag titles, with last year's show hosting two 4-way tag team matches.

It is an effective way to have some fast-paced action as well as to get as many stars on the WrestleMania card, as possible. This year will likely be no different, as the SmackDown tag team division has a good amount of teams who could fill up this match. The New Day are the current champions and are set to feud with John Morrison and The Miz for the titles.

While this feud might have the legs to culminate at WrestleMania, we could see two other teams added to the mix. The Usos are one of the best tag teams in the world and would fit right in with their friendly rivals in The New Day.

Also, Sami Zayn's team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro could enter the fray if the 'King of Strong Style' loses his Intercontinental Championship to Braun Strowman. This match, with these four teams, could be one of the best on a stacked WrestleMania card.

#3 Bayley vs Sasha Banks (SmackDown Women's Championship)

Now is the time for WWE to pull the trigger

For years now, WWE fans have been craving for a feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks. Every time it would seem like happening, things end up changing. And here we are, four years after they made their way to the main roster of WWE, and they are still best friends. But this time, more than any other, is the time for the company to pull the trigger on a feud between Bayley and Banks.

The former 'Hugger' turned heel, and aligned herself with the 'Legit Boss' around the end of summer, with both of them joining SmackDown. A match between these two is the only match worthy of WrestleMania, featuring two women on the Blue brand.

Bayley does not have a lot of heat as a heel right now and perhaps, a face turn with a more serious attitude could help her stand out more. Evil Sasha would get the best out of her if they do face off at 'Mania. It's also high time that the 4-time RAW Women's Champion gets a proper run with a singles title in WWE.

After years of waiting for Sasha Banks and Bayley to rehash their historic NXT feud from 2015, now could be the perfect time for the pair to make some magic together on The Grandest Stage of Them All. It truly will be a special moment.

#2 Daniel Bryan vs King Corbin

These two can have a really good program

The top of the card on SmackDown is very limited, with only around four men who could be classed as main eventers. And one of them is King Corbin who, while improving a lot over the past year, has been a part of some tired feuds that went on past their expiration date.

After losing what is, hopefully, a feud-ender against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble, expect the 2019 King of the Ring to remain around the top of the card.

Corbin's possible WrestleMania opponent, seemingly by default, is likely to be Daniel Bryan. There aren't any other top babyfaces he could face at the show. And similarly, the options for Bryan are slightly limited as well after losing to The Fiend at the Rumble.

However, this might end up being a success. These two are on opposite ends of the fan support spectrum, so it will be easier for us to care about this program.

Bryan is certainly more over than Corbin's previous long-term rivals, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. He also has the expert ability to elevate everything and everybody around him. While it might not be the most exciting match for Bryan to have, this program would heavily benefit King Corbin and his buddies, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.

Plus, if John Cena does wrestle at WrestleMania, a possible spot for him would be to team up alongside Daniel Bryan against Team Corbin. It would surely be a fun moment to see the most hated heel of the past year, get his WrestleMania-sized comeuppance at the hands of the two biggest WWE babyfaces in the past decade.

#1 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns (Universal Championship)

It's going to happen

Well, it is happening. As mentioned earlier, the main event scene on SmackDown is very limited and there aren't many booking options other than to flip the two biggest storylines on the Blue brand. After The Fiend succesfully defeated Daniel Bryan in a Strap Match at Royal Rumble, he is looking for new victims.

While Bray Wyatt might face a couple of placeholder challengers on the road to WrestleMania, all signs point towards Roman Reigns being the one who will have a Universal Championship match at the Show of Shows, despite not winning the Royal Rumble match.

The Fiend will want to 'hurt' Reigns after the Big Dog soundly defeated Wyatt inside Hell in a Cell during their 2015 feud. But the 4-time world champion will not back down, as he will be looking to win back the Universal Championship he never lost. Reigns did not even get a rematch for the belt since his leukaemia returned and he had to relinquish it.

Despite what some fans might think, Roman Reigns should be in this position at WrestleMania. But whether this match main events the show is a different question, with Drew McIntyre vs Brock Lesnar possibly being the better option for the show-closing spot.

Also, the outcome of this bout could play a pivotal role on how the fans percieve Reigns, Wyatt, and the match in general. If WWE decides to take the title off The Fiend here, it has to be in a creative way.