Views From The Turnbuckle: Massive WrestleMania Preivew, Predictions, And More

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of WrestlingInc or its staff

Despite an almost unfathomable amount of injuries and some rocky booking decisions, WWE has managed to steer the ship all the way to Arlington, TX, for the annual extravaganza known as WrestleMania. The Road to WrestleMania was anything but an expressway, as WWE hit numerous bumps along the way, but they have made it to WrestleMania with a full card ready to go on Sunday.

The biggest issue has been the main event, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion Triple H and the challenger Roman Reigns. Where to begin on this one? The obvious problem is that Roman Reigns is not getting the reactions necessary of a top level babyface. In fact, as the date of his major coronation inched closer and closer, the reactions became less and less mixed, to the point that he was thunderously booed at RAW on Monday in New York City.

Despite the issue that the crowd doesn't support Reigns, WWE has remained locked in on their plans to make Reigns the new super-babyface of the company, firmly grabbing the torch from John Cena. The Cena/Reigns corollary is going to be all over the place, and WWE likes to think of Reigns as the new John Cena. Defenders of the company have argued that Reigns being booed by the audience isn't that big of a deal, because Cena has perfected the idea of a face that is cheered by women and children and booed by adult males. Cena has mastered that aspect, but the problem with the comparison is that it ignores the fact that Cena is an incredibly talented individual, and his skill set allows him to deal with a hostile crowd because he has tremendous charisma and is very comfortable ad-libbing during his promos. Reigns has skills, but ad-libbing on the mic and working a crowd are not in his wheelhouse, he is so lost on the mic that he didn't utter a single word during Monday's go-home show. If Reigns is going to be the next superface of the company, it isn't going to be because he is like Cena.

WWE has been extremely protective of Reigns in recent weeks, hence why he was not allowed to speak on Monday's RAW. That has really hampered the storytelling aspects of the feud between Triple H and Reigns. The feud has been treading water for weeks now, Reigns was literally written off of TV for weeks and the when he has been available, it has mostly been relegated to beat-down segments and pull-apart fights, to the degree that fans were given three different beat-down segments on Monday. The Authority have seem bored with the feud, cutting the same promo each and every week and not really breaking any barriers with their work. There is very little detail to the storyline other than Triple H being a bully and an egomaniacal boss, and Roman Reigns wanting the championship, and that isn't helping anybody getting over.

There are premonitions about the match on Sunday being bad, mainly because Reigns is a sub-par worker in the ring. I don't think that will be an issue, the stage and the stakes of the match are enough to make even a mediocre encounter come out looking really strong. The rules will likely be relaxed and both men will get some leeway with weapons and count-outs; it wouldn't surprise me if this was a four star match.

Reigns winning the championship at WrestleMania has seemed like a foregone conclusion since Triple H took the championship from him back at the Royal Rumble. The simplest and most logical result of the match Sunday will be Reigns overcoming the odds and defeating Triple H cleanly for the title. With such a backlash going against Reigns, the door has been opened for potential other options in the main event, ranging from Reigns turning heel to a Shield reunion to Triple H retaining. I would still bet on Reigns winning cleanly in the ring for the championship simply because WWE has had so many opportunities to do something different with Reigns and they have stuck to their guns. One scenario I do think could work out well would be Triple H defeating Reigns, if only because the logical progression from there would be Seth Rollins coming back as a babyface and eventually dethroning Reigns. I have a lot of faith in Rollins' ability to be a big hero to the fans when he returns, and he won't get nearly the amount of backlash that Reigns would get. With that being said, if I was a betting man I would put most of my money on Reigns winning clean.

The second biggest match on the card, and probably the one most fans are the most excited for, is the Hell in a Cell match between Shane McMahon and The Undertaker, with the control of Monday Night RAW at stake. The specifics of that stipulation are important; Shane would not win control of WWE with a win, just RAW, which opens up a lot of theories about a potential brand split and different ideas about what WWE's roster could look like moving forward.

I have personally found the whole build of the feud bizarre. Vince McMahon's son has randomly come back to WWE and is challenging the most iconic star on the roster in the most iconic match in company history, at WrestleMania. Shane has not really blown anybody away with his performances on RAW, flubbing lines and throwing some god-awful punches. He got a huge pop from the Brooklyn audience on Monday for jumping off the turnbuckle and through a table onto The Undertaker, which masks the fact that the most physically unqualified non-celebrity to ever have a big match at WrestleMania is going toe-to-toe with the freakin' Undertaker.

With that being said, even if I don't personally care that much for the feud, there is no argument against the idea that it hasn't been successful. The feud has gotten by far the largest loud reactions at every RAW since Shane returned and it is certainly the most anticipated match on the card, despite not being the main event. The build-up might lack logic, but none of that has mattered at all, the crowd is eating up the storyline and a majority of the audience is extremely excited for the match Sunday. WWE has hit a homerun so far with this feud, end of story.

While The Undertaker is past his physical prime and Shane hasn't wrestled in seven years and has not flashed that much in-ring ability since his return, the match will still probably be very strong. You don't have to be a great wrestler to have a good Hell in a Cell match, and similar to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, the stage and the stakes of the match will make an average match look exceptional. I guess the big question is will Shane jump off of the Cell? Nobody has done it since the Hell in a Cell was increased in size in 2006, but considering Shane's history and the fact that it is at WrestleMania, some fans think it is in the cards. I wouldn't bank on it, but if it were to happen, I imagine it would be in a stunty fashion, not organically like Foley's fall of the Cell but more like Rikishi's fall off the Cell in 2000. Some truck or big box or something will somehow end up near ringside and Shane will fall onto that.

Because the booking of this match has been so bizarre, pretty much anything could happen in the match and I will not be surprised. Ideally, Shane wins and takes over RAW as a soft babyface leader and brings a merciful end to the overdone Authority angle. Worst case scenario is that Shane and Vince turn out to be in cahoots, they screw The Undertaker, and The Authority angle starts all over again with Shane as the evil chairman. Any number of stars could run-in, either Shane or The Undertaker could likely win the match, it's all up in the air at this point.

Next on the card is the grudge match between Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar. The last few weeks on RAW the feud has been flying a bit under the radar. Lesnar has really gotten the physical advantage on Ambrose each time they have clashed, but that is okay because WWE has been really pushing Ambrose as the new hardcore guy, getting personal weapons from Foley and Terry Funk.

The intrigue in the match is similar to the Shane/Undertaker match in that it matches up a physically dominant wrestler with a scrappy underdog, and the fans are left speculating just what the underdog will do to gain an edge. Will Shane jump off of the Cell? Will Ambrose bring fire into the match? I suspect Ambrose will pull out all the stops against Lesnar and put on a really entertaining match, even if it isn't technically brilliant.

WWE has done a remarkably better job booking Brock Lesnar than anybody else on the roster. Brock has achieved a near-indestructible reputation in WWE because he has been booked to win matches just like this one. Ambrose could really use a big win, he is popular and has been carrying the company at times from a babyface perspective, but he isn't going to win on Sunday, he is just overmatched by Lesnar.

Perhaps the most significant women's match in WWE history will take place on Sunday as well, with Charlotte defending her title against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. WWE has finally come around on Banks, who has been the most popular female wrestler in the company since her debut last year. Banks will certainly become the champion of the division very soon, but it remains to be seen when exactly that will be. I have enjoyed Charlotte's heel turn and I'm not sure now is the right time to take the championship off of her and put it on Banks. I think there needs to be a longer chase for the championship involving Banks, who can easily become the most popular female wrestler in company history. I think that Charlotte wins by pinning Becky, who is very good, but is going to unfortunately end up as an afterthought storyline wise.

There is a lot of pressure on the women to deliver a high quality match, one on par with their clashes in NXT. WWE openly embraced a greater emphasis on the Diva's division over the last eight months or so, and despite initial hesitations, WWE has shown that this commitment is very legitimate. The women should get enough time to deliver a high-quality match and they have shown in the past that they are capable of having a very good wrestling match. I wouldn't be very surprised if they ended up having the best match on the show.

The final championship match on the main card is the seven-way Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. While WWE has taken the Money in the Bank match away from WrestleMania and built their own PPV around the match, they still like to give fans a multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania, an idea that has pretty much become a tradition at the event. The match mixes in some younger stars in Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and then some random mid-card wrestlers who are doing nothing, Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara, The Miz and Zack Ryder.

Owens and Zayn is the real story here, as WWE has been teasing a feud between the two on the main roster. I think Zayn could win the match to set up that feud, but they could get the same result with Owens retaining as well. The other guys in the match are just here to take some big bumps and reach for the title in a futile attempt that will surely end with them taking some colossal fall to the mat. Owens has been incredible since his debut on the roster, even if he hasn't always been recognized for his work. I'd like to see him have a bigger role at the event other than the multi-man ladder match that will surely open the show, but hey, if he had a bigger role Shane McMahon wouldn't get to have a 30 minute match.

Rounding out the main card are two non-title matches, first with Chris Jericho settling his feud with AJ Styles in a singles match. Jericho as a heel has been refreshing and while he is likely going to continue in his role of putting talent over, he has seemed to step-up his game in recent months. Styles of course, has managed to be one of the most universally liked wrestlers in the company despite getting little mic time, which is a testament to how great of a natural babyface he is at this stage in his career. Jericho is still a top level wrestler and Styles is one of the best in the world, so this should be a very good match with Styles going over.

The other non-title match will feature The New Day in a handicap match against the four members of The League of Nations. The League of Nations have been nothing but colorless heels since their inception, but they are heels and that is enough to motivate fans to do what they have wanted to do for a long time now: cheer the New Day. The New Day has become extremely popular thanks to their original promos and charisma, and they reportedly have a big surprise entrance for WrestleMania which will likely be the most interesting thing about this match. Considering it is currently set up as a 4-on-3 match there is some speculation that there could be a mystery wrestler joining the team, which hasn't been hinted at but could still take place.

There is a substantial pre-show that spans two hours and has some matches, most of which don't really matter and serve as a way to get everyone on the roster on the show. The U.S. Championship will be on the line when Kalisto defends against Ryback, a match I think Ryback wins because WWE seems to go through phases of pushing him and this looks like one of those phases. The Dudley's battle The Uso's in a nothing match that I think The Dudley's should win but The Uso's likely will win. There is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which could be on the main show, but has lost any semblance of importance because the last two winners (Cesaro and The Big Show) have gone on to do nothing in the company outside of appear in the Battle Royal the following year. Finally there is the 10-person tag team match with the members of Total Divas taking on the assorted Divas who are not on Total Divas in a match that is only going to be notable because Eva Marie and/or Lana might have a hilariously bad botch in their 30 second spot.

The build-up for WrestleMania has been questioned every step of the way, but on Sunday all of those questions will be answered. I haven't been the biggest fan of the build, but at the end of the day, I think the show can be very good, better than a lot of shows in recent years. On the main show there shouldn't be a bad match on the card. Perhaps the strongest compliment I can give to the show is that depending on how much time these matches are given, six different matches on the show (Reigns vs Triple H, The Undertaker vs Shane McMahon, Brock vs Ambrose, The Ladder match, Charlotte vs Sasha vs Becky and AJ Styles vs Jericho) could end up being the match of the night. Storyline wise it might not be the cleanest show, but in a vacuum I think it could easily end up being the best WWE show of the year.