JC’s Top Rope Report: My Final Wrestlemania 30 Card

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We are just a few weeks away from the build to the Royal Rumble, which officially kicks off Wrestlemania season. Usually the WWE waits until the new year starts to get into Royal Rumble mode. We might see something on the last RAW of the year to get things going. But we know for a fact the WWE will go into over drive come January 2014.

I really think this year’s Wrestlemania has a lot of potential. If the card shapes up the way I think it will, it could end up being one of the better Wrestlemania’s of all time. There are a lot of different match combinations out there. You could go so many different ways with a lot of wrestlers at this point. The ending of RAW a couple weeks ago laid out a lot of possible roads to Wrestlemania. At this point last year, it seemed like we already knew what the top three matches on the card were going to be. This year is completely different.

So again, this is the way I would book Wrestlemania if I were in charge of the card.

Special Guest Host: Hulk Hogan

-Hulk Hogan should probably not be wrestling at this point in his career. So I think this role would be the next best thing for him. He gets to interact with a handful of talents backstage, cut some promo before the show starts, and probably do some type of run in where he hits some basic offense. Hulk Hogan is the biggest name in pro wrestling history. His presence alone will add some buys to the show, just like The Rock did at Wrestlemania 27.

Pre-Show Battle Royal

-With this being the 30th edition of Wrestlemania, I think the WWE will try to find a way to get everyone a Wrestlemania pay day. Putting them in a battle royal here allows that to happen. Plus, the winner of the Battle Royal gets a slot in the next match I have listed.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Bray Wyatt vs Big E Langston vs Alberto del Rio vs Mark Henry vs Antonio Cesaro vs Fandango vs Sheamus vs Wade Barrett

-Now that there is only one main title, it seems kind of pointless to have a Money in the Bank PPV. I honestly don’t think there would be an Elimination Chamber PPV if the WWE didn’t rush to unify the two titles. Let this match happen here. This match doesn’t have your typical ladder match guys and wouldn’t have as many high spots. But ladder matches like that can also look more brutal and be more fun to watch. I threw Sheamus into this match because I honestly have nothing else for him to do on this card.

Cody Rhodes vs Goldust

-This match has been talked about for the last few years. And I think this year it will finally end up happening. Goldust looks to be in the best possible shape of his entire wrestling career. I don’t think anyone would have predicted such a strong comeback from him. He’s even over-shadowing his brother Cody. That could prove to be a problem if the WWE wants to make Cody the good guy here. You would have to make the Goldust heel turn come off really well. The WWE could probably go either way here with who is the face/heel. It all depends on what the plans are for Cody long term. Hopefully, Cody doesn’t get lost in the shuffle after this feud.

Divas Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs Mickie James

-This one is just a gut feeling that I have. With Mickie helping out at the Performance Center last month, you would have to think that something would have been brought up about a return. I could see the WWE wanting to hold off on Mickie’s return until Wrestlemania season. It would make sense. Let AJ run through the Total Divas then set up a really interesting match at Wrestlemania. One might say it is a “dream match” as far as women’s wrestling goes. Some might argue for Paige here, but I don’t think she gets called up.

Tag Team Championship: Luke Harper and Erik Rowan (c) vs Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara

-There’s always been talk of a Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara match with the WWE wanting to set a Guiness World Record with the most lucha masks worn in one venue. Well, why keep it to just lucha masks? If you do this match for the tag titles, you can throw in some sheep masks too! I don’t know if you can trust Rey Mysterio in a singles match anymore, so this might be the next best option for him. I’d take him away from Big Show. As far as Rowan and Harper go, I think they end up taking the Titles off the Rhodes Brothers at the Royal Rumble.

Intercontinental/United States Title Unification Match: Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose

-I would almost guarantee that there will be some type of Shield match at Wrestlemania. Most people think it will be a triple threat match for the US Title. Others think it might be a 2-on-1 handicap match with Roman Reigns taking on Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Well, I came up with other plans for Reigns. So I decided to let these two Shield members go at it. A few weeks ago I suggested unifying these two titles. It just makes the most sense to me. When was the last time Ambrose even defended the US Title? The IC Title is getting far more prominence on TV and would probably be kept around over the US Title. Let these guys go for about 12-15 minutes and I’m sure they put on a very entertaining match for the viewing audience.

Batista vs Brock Lesnar

-The Batista rumors started early this weekend with Batista’s name coming up as being advertised for WWE Live Events in February. I would say that pretty much confirms his eventual return. Now, what exactly do you do with him? Why not throw him in a match with Brock Lesnar? Everyone is talking about Brock/Taker for Wrestlemania. My problem with that is the Undertaker is old and his body is wearing down. He can’t wrestle the type of match needed to face Lesnar at Wrestlemania. There’s quite an easy way to set this match up. Batista returns at the Rumble and talks about how the Animal is back. During a promo, Lesnar comes out and Heyman says Lesnar is the “Beast of the WWE.” And there you have it, The Animal vs The Beast at Wrestlemania.

John Cena vs The Undertaker

-We have to face facts: The Undertaker probably only has one or two Wrestlemanias left in him. He’s getting up there in age, and there was even speculation last year that he might have missed Wrestlemania. There are a couple matches left that could be done while Taker can still go. Cena/Taker is at the top of my list. The last time these two crossed paths in a singles feud was now almost ten years ago, when Taker was still Biker Taker. Cena would be seen as a viable candidate to break The Streak by the majority of the WWE audience. Plus, this match is more of a draw than Taker/Lesnar to me. Again, the build to this match is rather easy for me. Cena, after failing to become Undisputed Champion and either failing in his rematch or failing to win the Royal Rumble, says he wants to make a different type of history. Then he challenges Taker to a match at Wrestlemania. And away you go.

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk vs Triple H and Shawn Michaels

-If you ask me, there is way too much smoke around the Shawn Michaels story for there not to be fire. Then the question becomes what match he is in. There are two options for me: this tag match or a singles match with Daniel Bryan. I think there are a lot of people who want to see HBK wrestle not only Bryan but also Punk. That is why I made this a tag team match. If you listened to the HTCPulsecast this past week with special guest Rob Karpeles of the Twitter handle @WWECreative_ish, he didn’t think this match would happen because you don’t want to make D-X heels because there is still some use of that name long term. My argument: Do you think the WWE will even care the next time they bring up D-X? I don’t. This match would give us two mini-dream matches with HBK returning to the ring. Plus if HBK feels he can’t wrestle a full match, this helps that.

WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs Roman Reigns

-Yeah, this is probably where a lot of you call me crazy. And I get it. I would put the odds of this actually happening at about 1%. But think about it. We beg the WWE to push new stars all the time. And when you look at the card above, that is a pretty stacked card. So why not take a risk with your WWE Championship match? It is pretty obvious Reigns is thought of highly in the eyes of the WWE executives. So why not give him a Batista-like push. Reigns wins the Royal Rumble. This furthers tension within The Shield. Meanwhile, The Authority and Randy Orton are happy because they have a guy who they feel will do what is good for business and make sure Orton remains WWE Champion. Then at the contract signing, just when The Authority thinks everything is in the bag, Reigns gives his version of the thumbs down and takes out Orton. And then you’re off. I think the fans would get behind Reigns as a challenger to Orton. Like I said, this is my scenario and I would like nothing more than to see a new star end Wrestlemania 30 on top to close the show. Maybe even have The Rock come out to raise his hand to close the show.

What I Think The WWE Will Do

I won’t go as in depth here, but I see the WWE giving us this card:

WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs CM Punk Daniel Bryan vs Shawn Michaels Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker John Cena vs Triple H Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose Batista vs Bray Wyatt Cody Rhodes vs Goldust Rey Mysterio vs Sin Cara

Honestly, I really don’t have too much of a problem with that card too. We get HBK returning in a singles match. Punk more than likely wins the Rumble and main events Wrestlemania. Lesnar/Taker happens, but I just don’t think it ends up being as good a match as people think it will be. I’m left to pair Cena with HHH because I don’t think there would be anything else for either. Maybe Vince is in Cena’s corner. Batista throws a weird wrinkle into everything because I don’t know where he would fit in. I don’t think he fits anywhere in the current Authority storyline. The Shield Triple Threat happens here. And I feel like Cody/Goldust is about as close to a lock as one could get at this point.

So what do you think Wrestlemania 30 will end up looking like? How would you get there? Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments.

Until Next Time,

Justin C

Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka