Yes, yes; we know we have to get through Elimination Chamber to get there, but we’re definitely excited about the road to WrestleMania. There will be lots of changes to come after the biggest show of the year, but we still have at least another month of speculation on what the actual WrestleMania 34 card will be.
There might be SOME idea of what the final card is going to look like, based on rumors and reports that are out there. And there are a few things we can already set in stone, like AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, the finals of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, and … you know, probably Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns.
And of course, there’s the eternal Ronda Rousey question.
We know that Rousey will undoubtedly be at WrestleMania, and that the show will definitely be her first pro wrestling match. While marketing materials are already looking ahead to Rousey’s appearance at SummerSlam, we need to get her a Mania match first. While many assumed she might be in the mix for one of the women’s championships, it was reported that WWE has other plans for her.
According to Sports Illustrated, the plan is still to have at least three matches with women Superstars, including two women’s title matches, and Rousey is currently not slated to be in either of them.
Reportedly, the plan is still to have Triple H and Stephanie McMahon face Rousey and a partner. The current candidates to be Rousey’s partner, according to SI, are the Rock, Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon, and Seth Rollins. Rock is the top choice (still), but it will all come down to whether it’s possible to schedule around Dwayne Johnson’s film commitments.
As for the women’s championship matches, the report says “penciled in” are Alexa Bliss defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Nia Jax, and Charlotte Flair defending her Smackdown Women’s Championship against Asuka. The question, of course, is how we get THERE from where we currently are, which is that the Raw brand’s Asuka is facing Jax at the Elimination Chamber, and if Jax wins, she gets added to the Asuka vs. Bliss championship match … or whoever holds the Raw Women’s Championship after the Elimination Chamber match … which Nia is not in.
So … Bliss would have to win the Elimination Chamber, Asuka would have to defeat Nia at the PPV, and then opt out of her match and decide to face Flair instead, and Jax would have to win a No. 1 contendership. Which is … probably exactly what will happen. But that’s a lot of moving parts to arrive at that match. So take this report with the appropriate ladleful of salt. Which is way too much salt.
