The potential main event for WrestleMania 35 may have been revealed. For several months, the belief has been that the main event would see Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey for the RAW Women’s Championship. However, those plans appear to have changed.
WWE has confirmed that SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch had been pulled from her scheduled champion vs. champion match against Rousey at Sunday’s (November 18, 2018) Survivor Series pay-per-view event in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center. It’s been reported that she suffered a broken nose and concussion during the RAW invasion angle on Monday’s show. Now, Rousey will face Flair at the show. According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is for Lynch vs Rousey to headline WrestleMania 35. It was noted in the report that once Lynch suffered these injuries, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Rousey decided that the best thing to do was save the match for the biggest event of the year for the company. Thus, this is the reason that Lynch and Rousey exchanged heated words on social media on Wednesday. WrestleMania 35 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network.
Vince McMahon is said to know which match he wants to main event WrestleMania this year. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, the current planned main event for WrestleMania 35 is Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey.
“Right now the plan is for Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch to headline WrestleMania,” wrote Dave Meltzer. He would continue to say the decision was made after Lynch suffered a concussion Monday. The injury will prevent Lynch from competing on Sunday but likely allows WWE to move the match to their premiere event of the year.
“The next day, both Vince McMahon and Rousey decided that the best course of action was to do the match at WrestleMania,” Meltzer continued. “Rousey and Lynch immediately went at it hard on social media, even though Rousey’s new opponent on the PPV is Charlotte Flair.”
WWE considered doing Ronda vs Charlotte Flair as the main event of WM35 earlier this year. At the time, there were concerns about Ronda’s ability, however.
“Rousey vs. Flair was talked about after last year’s Mania, and at the time there were questions about Rousey headlining such a big show as a single with her level of experience,” Meltzer continued. “There is far less doubt about that now.”
WrestleMania 35 Main Event & Top Matches
This last month has seen a lot of shakeup at the top of WWE’s roster. Roman Reigns will not be involved in WrestleMania this year either. He had previously been in the main event of the last 4 WrestleManias.
Barring an extremely rapid recovery, Triple H will probably not be back for WrestleMania either. His torn pec suffered at Crown Jewel will likely prevent a potential match with Batista taking place.
It is believed Brock Lesnar is signed through WrestleMania. Current speculation holds he will not face Braun Strowman at the event, however.
A rather dapper and well-groomed John Cena appeared on SiriusXM today. During the course of a Q&A session with a group of children who were in attendance, Cena confirmed he will be at WrestleMania 35.
The last question in the Q&A posted was whether Cena will be at the event next year in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
“Where is WrestleMania 35?” Cena asked the live audience. “New York. I’m here right now, right? Would you like to ‘see me’ at WrestleMania 35? Then you know what? I was thinking about missing it but because you wanna see me there, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I promise you I’ll be there, I promise. Okay? We’ll shake on it, we’ll make it official.”
So unless Cena plans on breaking a promise to that child, he’ll be at WrestleMania next year.
John Cena At WrestleMania 35
Cena was asked first what his favorite match was and he talked about facing Brock Lesnar.
“Do you know a WWE Superstar by the name of Brock Lesnar?” Cena asked in return. “Okay, if you know Brock Lesnar, he is big, he is bad, and he is mean. He was easily my toughest match. Now I’ve had some moments where I’ve done okay against him, and I’ve had some moments where I have not done okay against him. And the greatest thing about having a match with Brock Lesnar is you’re always nervous and you’re always afraid because he’s stronger than everybody, but you’re still brave enough to go in there and do it, and win or lose, you try your best.”
Cena also named the Rock as one of his favorite opponents.
WWE usually has their top WrestleMania matches planned months in advance, but it appears that this is not the case this year for the upcoming WrestleMania 35 event.
According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, while the Officials often know about the top matches for the show months in advance, this time the company is undecided on the WrestleMania 35 main event.
There was a discussion of the Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair match main eventing the show a few months back. While it’s still possible, things are not locked as of yet.
Whether or not this match ends up in the main event will likely depend on the current Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch storyline and how much more Charlotte is hurt by the time due to this feud.
If they don’t go with Rousey then the current Universal Champion Roman Reigns is going to be the headliner of the show once again, but no direction is set in stone for him either.
As far as the ongoing Shield reunion is concerned, it’s said that the company has long-term plans for this and they have a direction for how the teased tension with Dean Ambrose will play out. Though details or what they have in mind for Ambrose are not available yet.
On the other hand, they have no long-term plans for the Dogs Of War and the WWE writers have been coming up with weekly material for them, with no clear goal in mind.
Although the officials are still protecting Drew McIntyre as they see him as a top singles competitor for the company in the upcoming times.
This week’s Raw indicated that we might be getting a McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman feud in coming days and it’d be interesting to see which one of these two come on top in this rivalry.
The location for this year’s WWE Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) has been announced. Recently, the SAP Center in San Jose, California Tweeted out that they will be hosting this year’s TLC PPV.
The PPV goes down on December 16 and tickets go on sale Friday, September 21st at 10 A.M. Here’s the SAP Center’s official Tweet:
“NEW EVENT: TABLES, LADDERS & CHAIRS! WWE is coming to San Jose on December 16th. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 21st at 10AM!”
NEW EVENT: TABLES, LADDERS & CHAIRS! WWE is coming to San Jose on December 16th. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 21st at 10AM! pic.twitter.com/gDBSBNAgl1
Next year, WrestleMania 35 goes down from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. As always, there will be several events and attractions for visiting wrestling fans to attend throughout the week.
PWInsiderreports that WWE is actually looking into these following venues for potential use during WrestleMania 35 week:
The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
The New York Philharmonic
The New York Ballet
It was noted that WWE is searching for a location for WrestleMania AXXESS. Perhaps one of these venues could get the nod for the event.
Many believe the angle could be teasing a future match between the pair again. Ross said that the two legends put on the best segment he has seen on WWE TV in some time:
“The thing that stood out the most to me on Monday Night RAW, and I don’t know what would be second, and that sounds like I’m knocking the show, but I’m really not! I thought The Undertaker/Shawn Michaels business was so much better than anything that I have seen on television.
“I thought the Becky Lynch and Charlotte [Flair] business at times has been extremely good because it feels real; it’s organic; I get it. But, boy, this took me back.” Ross later added, “The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels stole RAW. They stole the show.
“They’re so far ahead in making an emotional attachment than some of their peers, might I say most of their peers on their team, it’s not even funny. These guys are what you would say is over. They’re really over. And it’s a lot easier to support your guy if he’s ‘over,’ either as a villain or as a hero.
“And to get over you’ve got to get on a roll. At some point, these guys have got to get on major extended rolls, R-O-L-L-S, rolls. So we’ll see how that works out for the rest of the roster. Bottom line, ‘HBK’ and Undertaker were amazing.”
Neither The Undertaker or Michaels are in the prime of their careers anymore. Their best matches are likely behind them given their ages, but Ross still thinks they can put on a quality match in WWE:
“I had the privilege of being there for WrestleMania 25, 26, and many prior to that, with those guys and Triple H, so I’ve had a lot of experience with those three men and their matches.” Ross recalled, “I think one of the best matches I ever called or ever saw was Triple H and Shawn when Shawn came back fro his four-year hiatus!
“It was awesome! I mean, it was textbook. He didn’t miss a damn beat, so anyone that thinks that Shawn and The Undertaker couldn’t have a good match, think again please. And if the glass is always going to be a half empty, they’re not in their prime. Well, no s–t. They’re not in their prime.
“Wow, what a revelation! Of course they’re not in their prime physically. Mentally, I suggest to you, they’re probably the best they’ve ever been mentally to tell a story, to bring you in, to captivate you, to capture your attention. It’s done psychologically more often than not. I just think that they can give us a great match if and when it’s going to happen.”
Finally, if the match were to happen, Ross thinks WrestleMania 35 would be the perfect location:
“If we said Undertaker and Shawn were going to be figured in some way at WrestleMania in New York City [New York], MetLife [Stadium], whatever, New Jersey, everything, you guys know.”
“That would be huge! That’s huge! That’s huge. It’s going to sell out anyway no matter who’s wrestling. The name, the brand, the event sells out. The card sells pay-per-views and [WWE] Network subscriptions. That’s why the card [has] got to be extraordinary for these extraordinary events, these tentpole events.
“And that’s why I think that there is a better than average chance. You don’t develop this much time on television without going somewhere with it.
“Why make me think that that could happen and give me that great of a sales job to measure my level of anticipation and enthusiasm regarding the storyline without somewhere down the road being able to deliver it? So time will tell.”
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan was recently interviewed by Gorilla Position to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Bryan mainly discussed his rivalry with former WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz. Bryan explained why he and Miz work so well against each other:
“I would describe The Miz as somebody who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth, who doesn’t know when things get taken too far,” Bryan said. “I can be accused of the same thing as well if you look at that Talking [Smack] — I said some pretty derogatory things toward him. I was in the midst of this and I had two options, I was either gonna punch him in the face and honestly the reason he said those things is he knew I wanted to quit.
“He knew I wanted to leave and do the independents if they weren’t gonna clear me. I had said these things in interviews. He said ‘hey if you really believe these things then why don’t you go do it?’ The thing is I had asked for my release and they didn’t give it to me. There was this rage there and it was like, I’m gonna punch this guy in the face or I’m gonna walk off.”
Bryan said he is definitely up for a WrestleMania 35 match against The Miz. The only thing is he questions WWE’s ability to tell the story from now up until next April:
“I am definitely up for it. You ask me that question, I will answer with a question: do you trust WWE telling that story from now until WrestleMania 35? What in the last several years has shown to you that something like that is possible [in WWE]?” Bryan continued, “If something accidentally happens and they’ve got no control over it, it’s possible that it can happen.
“I think that would be awesome. I think it would be something the fans would be excited to see. Whether or not we can prolong because people wanna see me punch Miz in the face. I wanna punch Miz in the face. Whether we can prolong that on television for that period of time, I don’t know.”
As far as dream matches go, Bryan names a bout with Brock Lesnar as his ultimate goal, saying it’d be the ultimate David vs. Goliath story:
“If you’re talking one dream match it would be Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 35 in Seattle Washington. Because that I think would be the ultimate David and Goliath underdog story in front of a hometown crowd that would be rabid for that. So that would be my dream match and even if it wasn’t WrestleMania, if it was just in Seattle it would be super cool.”
You can listen to Bryan on Gorilla Position by clicking this link here.
Ronda Rousey really impressed during her performance at WrestleMania 34 this past weekend in New Orleans.
The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion teamed up with Kurt Angle to take on the team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and the four put on one of the best matches of the night.
Rousey picked up the win for her team by locking in an armbar on Stephanie McMahon, forcing her to tap out. The following night on RAW, McMahon attempted to bury the hatchet with Rousey – who instead pulled a flying armbar on McMahon after ripping off her cast.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reports that Rousey’s impact on WWE has been so big that the company is already talking about her main eventing next year’s WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey.
No opponent was specifically named for the potential match, but if there’s anyone with the star-power to put on the first-ever female match to main event a WrestleMania card – it’s Ronda Rousey.
A WrestleMania 35 press conference was held on Friday morning at MetLife Stadium. The event featured appearances from Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Ronda Rousey, John Cena and The New Day.
It was a rather uneventful affair, aside from Triple H noting that Ronda Rousey will be competing at the event. After running down some of her past accomplishments and stating that he hopes Rousey does not injure him or his wife at WrestleMania next month, he introduced Rousey and the two had a brief stare-down.
You can watch the full half-hour WrestleMania 35 press conference below. Triple H and Ronda Rousey’s confrontation occurs around the 24-minute mark of that broadcast.
– It appears that WWE is planning to hold WrestleMania 35 in the Northeast part of the U.S. in 2019, per a report from PWInsider. There’s still a chance plans could change as WrestleMania 34 was originally expected to take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, however, New Orleans offered WWE a better deal.
– We previously posted a video from Shayna Baszler’s Twitter in which she goes nuts and chokes out a fellow NXT Performance Center trainee, Jessie Elaban. Baszler is expected to make her NXT TV debut this Wednesday, and Tweeted out the following about why she’s in WWE:
Fans will turn the 1st chance they get & forget all you did for them. You think I’m at @WWENXT to play for that crap anymore? I’m here to win. Like it or hate it, but get used to it.
Over the weekend, WWE posted this video of Baszler interrupting a training session at the WWE Performance Center. Baszler offers to show Jessica Elaban the proper way to apply a submission hold.