Universal Championship match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan
Jake: I mean, what an incredible Wrestlemania main event. Seriously, this is one of those matches that when WWE spams the term (dream match) it actually adds up. Now it’s definitely not the most conventional of those “dream matches” but the collective superstars involved and their own personal journeys leading up to this moment makes for an incredibly compelling main event that could truly go either way.
Daniel Bryan feels like he’s earned this moment. Roman has been dodging him on and off for years and has never truly wanted to be threatened, but DB is always hanging around. DB held down WWE while Roman was unfortunately out during his battle with cancer. DB is like the WWE “in case of emergency pull here”. But this time he earned his way. He is involved in this main event because he deserves to be, regardless of Edge’s career accolades or Roman’s recent dominance.
For Edge this is the chance at ultimate redemption. The Ultimate Opportunist has one of the biggest opportunities of his career. He went bell to bell in the Rumble triumphantly and after 10 years has a chance to reclaim his spot atop WWE. We never imagined he would be in this position again. Does he have enough left in the tank to defeat arguably the two greatest superstars and champions of the last 10 years.
And for Roman Reigns? This is an opportunity to cement his legacy. He has been a dominant champion with Paul Heyman by his side. The Head of the Table has remained atop the food chain since last year and no one besides Bryan has really stepped up and provided a credible challenger.
Does anyone really believe that tonight isn’t just an opportunity to make Roman look strong by defeating two of the greatest WWE superstars and in-ring workers we’ve ever seen in a star-studded main event match. After night one, it looks like WWE is ready to make their future stars apparent. I think that trend continues, and Roman gets a Mania main event title defense under his cap.
WINNER: ROMAN REIGNS
Ty: Daniel Bryan has earned the opportunity given to him tonight, but it shouldn’t have come at the expense of Edge. I think it gives the WWE a way of someone losing and not being the one pinned to further push the storyline. Hopefully this match lives up to its high expectations. I think Reigns ends up retaining the title, but does not pin Edge. That causes him to further lose his mind and pushes the Rated-R Superstar moniker. Also, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see Brock Lesnar back causing trouble with Paul Heyman…
WINNER: ROMAN REIGNS
The Fiend vs. Randy Orton
Jake: Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton have been doing this dance for years now. The Fiend is back after burning alive. I can’t believe that’s even a sentence I’m typing right now but here we are. To be fair, he looks pretty terrifying. If someone is just tuning in to check this match out because of Peacock, he might legitimately creep them out. So what does this match involve? Is it in-ring? Cinematic? A mixture of both?
I have no idea what’s going to happen. Is Bray going to be on fire at the end? Is Randy? I’m just rooting for chaos. Hopefully, they have a worthy pay-off to this roller coaster of a feud.
WINNER: THE FIEND
Ty: The Fiend is the best thing the WWE has had going for the past few years, but always seems to fumble the bag. The cinematic matches with The Fiend are usually great, but with fans back, I think we see them in the ring to start. After being burned alive and brought back to life, I feel like The Fiend has to win this one. Let’s all hope we get a WrestleMania moment with The Fiend hitting the “Crank that Soulja Boy” on Randy Orton’s KO’d body.
WINNER: THE FIEND
Raw Women’s Championship match: Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
Ty: Rhea Ripley is an absolute star. She’s dominated NXT and is one of the main reasons that I got back into watching WWE regularly. It feels like it’s her time, her moment, but with Bianca winning the Smackdown Women’s title last night, I’m not confident the Raw Women’s title changes hands. Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch’s returns seem imminent and could throw a curveball into this one. Asuka retains, but the storyline is gonna get wacky!
WINNER: ASUKA
Jake: I’m almost along the same line of thinking as Ty. If Rhea wins, that’s a lot of change that WWE would be throwing at us in the hierarchy of the Women’s division. But, maybe that is their intention. I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE is using this as an opportunity to make Rhea and Bianca big deals immediately by giving them title runs. Give me Rhea for the intrigue. And hopefully a Becky Lynch or Ronda Rousey surprise return.
WINNER: RHEA RIPLEY
Intercontinental Championship match: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews.
Ty: I can’t say I know what a Nigerian Drum Match is, but Apollo Crews can so I feel like he gets the upper hand in this one. Why go through this much character transformation to fall just short again? Big E could take a loss here, then make a push at the Universal Title in the near future.
WINNER: APOLLO CREWS
Jake: No Holds Barred seems to be the story of tonight’s Nigerian Drum Match. That bodes well for Apollo Crews. I think it’s time to give him this moment. We saw it with Cesaro yesterday too, a couple of indie veterans who have been grinding and reworking their WWE characters for years getting their chance to shine. Besides, Big E should be looking at Roman or whoever is Universal Champion at the end of the night, not the next IC challenger.
WINNER: APOLLO CREWS
United States Championship match: Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus.
Ty: Wow, I still can’t believe Sheamus had the audacity to assault Riddle with his own scooter. What a bully! Sheamus ’recent mean streak gets ended by the most over-the-top bro the world has ever seen and hopefully Riddle will scoot over Sheamus’ body at some point as payback.
WINNER: RIDDLE
Jake: RAW. IS. BRO.
WINNER: RIDDLE
Sami Zayn (with Logan Paul) vs. Kevin Owens
Ty: This was a decently interesting storyline, then the WWE added Logan Paul. It’s an obvious attention grab, but we’ll see what they do with it. From the promos, it doesn’t seem like Logan Paul will really be helping Sami, but you never know. As a conspiracy theorist myself, I think we possibly see a fluke ending with Sami getting screwed over on a bad call from the referee.
WINNER: KEVIN OWENS
Jake: I don’t know why Logan Paul is here. I don’t even really get why this is happening, except for the fact WWE knows they can bank on Zayn-Owens to be a banger regardless of storyline. And that’s what I’m banking on too. Give me Kevin Owens stunning Sami and Logan Paul into oblivion.
WINNER: KEVIN OWENS
Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. winners of Night 1 tag team turmoil match
Ty: Now that we know it’ll be Tamina and Natalya in this match, I think Jax and Baszler retain. I do think that the fracture between the two will grow with them soon losing the belts and feuding.
WINNER: NIA AND SHAYNA
Jake: Champs retain. There’s no reason to take the belts off of them right now unless one turns on the other. Natalya and Tamina get a big-time Wrestlemania match and it’s well deserved, so hopefully, WWE makes them look good in defeat.
WINNER: NIA AND SHAYNA
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