I know it has been a while since Serena and I have done this but we wanted to do so for the New Year as we kick off the Road to WrestleMania. My predictions are in blue and Serena's are in red.
2018 Men's Royal Rumble match: Finn Balor // Shinsuke Nakamura
ZX: I would agree on Samoa Joe but he’s out with that injury until like a few weeks before WrestleMania. Finn might be the dark horse to win on Sunday just because WWE seems to have renewed stock in him all of a sudden. Plus, they still have the narrative to market that match with him being never defeated for the Universal title and never gotten his rematch.
Serena: Oh fuck, I completely forgot that he got that injury… Yeah, so then I’m pretty much left with Finn as I don’t want to believe that they will give Roman another Rumble win. Also, Randy Orton seems to be upped with his sudden TV return on Smackdown. Randall might give us a surprise.
ZX: Remember Orton won last year so that was them patting themselves on the back that they actually remembered that. Call me nuts, but I got a feeling they MIGHT go with Shinsuke Nakamura winning. AJ Styles vs. Nakamura would be a Wrestle Kingdom rematch and a HUGE deal for international fans coming in for WrestleMania. Then again, that’s just fantasy booking from me here. WWE never seems to do the most logical in these situations.
Serena: Randall Orton. Friend of the people. Or… Jinder will win. And I will drink all the alcohol in my home lmao
ZX: If that happens or if WWE’s stupid enough to continue to go with Roman Reigns as the guy to win the Rumble again, I’ll be right there with you drinking myself into a coma.
Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane: Braun Strowman // Brock Lesnar
ZX: I want to believe Strowman, but gut says that they aren’t taking the belt off Lesnar until WrestleMania. That’s why Kane is in there to take the pin while Strowman still looks strong.
Serena: I’m going on limb here, because I saw quite a few predictions that WWE might take off the belt of Lesnar, give it to Braun and then do something rad for Mania.
2018 Women's Royal Rumble match: Asuka or Ronda Rousey // Asuka or Ronda Rousey
ZX: I’m with you on Rumble picks but I got predictions on spots. Trish Stratus and Lita appear in it to set up the Bella Twins versus them at WrestleMania in some fashion. Just imagine the heel heat if the Bellas eliminate Trish and Lita though?
Serena: I doubt that Lita will appear. She wasn’t invited to Raw 25 and she said that publicly on Twitter. So Trish might appear, but very much doubting she will be in the Rumble.
ZX: I read that too, but things could change between now and Sunday. I mean there was that rumor going around about McCool in the Rumble and she looked like she had a pregnancy bump on RAW 25. Is she having another kid?
Serena: I saw her workout videos on Instagram, she doesn’t look pregnant… Maybe an unflattering angle? I’m betting on Beth Phoenix making an appearance, both Bellas, Kelly Kelly and pretty much all of the women that we saw on Raw 25, except for Maria and Maryse, because of their maternity leaves.
ZX: Kaitlyn might make an appearance as she was on the indies training again. I could see WWE calling her back but not AJ Lee (laughs).
Serena: True. Yeah, Kaitlyn, maybe Alundra? Also, Victoria might make an appearance as well. She’s been going around signings loads in recent months.
ZX: I dunno about Victoria. She seemed pretty pissed that she wasn’t invited to RAW 25. Then she’s always at some random wrestling shows (PWG BOLA of course) in the crowds. I know she still does work occasional matches on the indies, but I doubt she wants to do anything mainstream again anytime soon. If Alundra’s in, I’m sure she’ll only want to toss out Beth Phoenix or Nattie just for some closure to that feud she begged for a few years back on social media but never happened.
Serena: Same as Lita. She didn’t seem too happy. As was Randy’s wife :D Still, even though WWE might throw a curveball and fuck this up, I want the obvious and boring choice: Asuka.
ZX: Might as well go with Asuka. If they go with her, I wonder what’s the endgame? Paige might not get cleared by WrestleMania, if ever according to the reports going around.
AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: AJ Styles // AJ Styles
ZX: I honestly haven’t been keeping up with SmackDown! Live lately as I haven’t given a flying fuck about the bulk of their current storylines, but the only way I see Styles losing the title is if they want to pull this comedy act of Sami/Owens working together as co-champions until they do that Chamber match next month. Do the big split up and have Sami vs Owens at WrestleMania like they should have done a few years ago in the first place.
Serena: I doubt that they will give Owens/Zayn the title. Might be that Zayn will pin Styles and claim the title for his own?
ZX: That COULD work, but Sami is nowhere over as a heel or babyface for that to work. Plus, Styles is their best worker in the company. Why not have him keep the title going into WrestleMania. Seems like a waste to put it on anyone else at this point.
Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus: Cesaro and Sheamus // Cesaro and Sheamus
ZX: Even Ray Charles can see where they are going with this after that ending of the Peep Show segment on RAW. This partnership is ending big time on Sunday. The Bar returns back to their former glory, even though they somehow have two losses against Titus Worldwide somehow…
Serena: Yeah, I honestly doubt that JJ Angle and Rollins are in a team for much longer. Seth is a main event guy and he needs to get back there.
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin: Usos // Usos
ZX: Usos. I can’t see them taking the belts off them before Mania. Gable and Benjamin are solid workers but they aren’t the team who are over enough to dethrone the best tag team in the company right now. I would say that title goes to The Bar, but the Usos have been amazing in the past year or two now. That speaks volumes as I never cared much for those guys prior to now.
Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT championship: Johnny Gargano // Johnny Gargano
ZX: Only way I see Almas retaining is that Ciampa comes out and screws Gargano out of the title, but at the same time, it would make the better story to have Gargano vs. Ciampa for the title for WrestleMania weekend. No offense to Almas, but he needs something MUCH more to be a main eventer. I’m glad he ditched the Chippendales stripper look and got Rosie Perez… errr Zelina Vega as a valet, but he still comes off bland to me in terms of whatever his gimmick is supposed to be. Is he a gigolo or male stripper? To be fair though, his ring work is solid.
Serena: Oh, absolutely. Gargano vs. Ciampa could truly be an epic match. Plus, I’ve been a Gargano fan for a hot minute, so seeing him with the belt would definitely make my evening. Haven’t seen much about Almas, but Gargano is a personal favorite, so I have be bias here.
ZX: Even if Ciampa is still injured they could do something fun and have Gargano’s wife, Candice LaRae who they just signed be in his corner at the following Takeover if him and Almas have a rematch. That would get a nice pop too if they got Zelina Vega and Candice LaRae involved in that rematch. My only issue with that is I’m sick of these Gargano versus Almas matches. Feels like they have fought about 3-5 times already.
Shayna Baszler vs. Ember Moon (c) for the NXT Women’s title: Ember Moon // Shayna Baszler
ZX: Shayna prolly is going to win for WWE can continue to brown nose and cater to Rousey’s inner circle for they can still do Horsewomen vs Horsewomen at WrestleMania. Besides, I see a main roster call up for Ember Moon and the Iconic Duo during the Women’s Rumble match. They haven’t had Iconic Duo on TV since the last Takeover, so I think they are a lock for the Women’s Rumble in that regard. In Ember’s case, she could debut in the Rumble and still get her rematch at the next Takeover if she wanted. Remember they had Roode, Dillinger, Owens, and more currently Sonia Deville and Ruby Riot pulling double duty.
Serena: For some reason I think that Ember is still gonna keep the belt. Not a lot of rumors circled around the matter of Ember being called up. So, I am sticking to Ember retaining and Shayna maybe winning on Wrestlemania weekend?
ZX: They could do that. Kairi Sane is reportedly still injured from being banged up from her last few matches in STARDOM and that nasty bump she took during the Mae Young Classic finals, so I doubt they are going to rush her off the bench to start a hard-hitting program with Shayna. I just know that NXT needs to quit playing around and start debuting/introducing those other girls they signed from MYC before people forget about them.
Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (c) vs. Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team championship: Undisputed Era // Undisputed Era
ZX: Undisputed Era without a shadow of a doubt. I see Authors of Pain getting called up sooner more than later too, even though I think they are still pretty green in terms of in-ring ability. I’m still calling them reDRagon in my head from their ROH days. Still damn bothers me that they are aligned with Adam Cole, given the fact that O’Reilly and Cole were trying to kill each other in ROH at the top of last year. I know, I know. Different promotions, but NXT is supposed to be the smark/smart mark show.
Serena: I agree with you. I think that since they just won the titles, I doubt that WWE will take the belts away so soon. Plus, those guys together with Adam Cole seem pretty over, so no real reason to make them lose.
Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole in an Extreme Rules match: Adam Cole // Adam Cole
ZX: I’m going with Cole here, just because he hasn’t had a singles victory on a Takeover show to date. In that regard, I’m expecting a heel finish to steal it from Black. They need to keep Black’s push be a slow build as I see him potentially being WWE’s next “Undertaker” level megastar if they protect him throughout his career. By this time next year, he should be walking into WrestleMania weekend with the NXT title or in line for the belt period.
Serena: I do think that Cole will win. Because, as I mentioned, it just seems to me that NXT really has their minds set on him and he seems to be really over with the crowd. Yet, since I haven’t been that much in the loop with NXT in the recent months, I can be completely wrong. Yet, shooting in the dark and saying that Cole will take the win.
ZX: If Almas retains, I can easily see them fast tracking Cole into position to take the gold from Almas, sooner more than later. Only issue with that is it would be really odd to market a heel vs. heel match for WrestleMania weekend.
Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream: Kassius Ohno // Velveteen Dream
ZX: Knowing NXT, this will be the opener that sets the tone for the rest of the show as the match to top for evening. Given Dream’s performance at the last Takeover against Black and Ohno always seems to have a good match, this should be a good one. I say they let Dream go over for once to give him a Takeover win. Ohno will always be able to bounce back.
Serena: Honest to God, I have no clue or the slightest idea on how to call this one. I’ve seen Kassius Ohno before, but never saw Velveteen Dream. Can’t even imagine how the guy looks like. So, just to make it different between the two of us - Kassius Ohno gets the win. Because of stuff, things and etc…
ZX: Wow, really? Do yourself a favor and watch Black vs. Dream from the last Takeover. That was arguably the best match on that show.
Serena: Oh, fair enough. I’ll definitely need to check it out then. Told you, honestly haven’t been keeping up with NXT probably for a good half a year.
ZX: To be fair, it’s not that bad. I’ve told other friends and people on Twitter the same thing. You could get by not watching the bulk of WWE’s programming and just watch the PPVs TBH. The bulk of their writing is extremely lazy, but NXT manages to have SOME good moments, but nothing that you have to see at that moment. I treat them like I treat my habits of watching Impact Wrestling - I’ll read the spoilers, then use that as my gauge on how much I’m going to pay attention during the broadcast since I do want to see the matches that interest me.
I will say that the build to Dream vs Black was a straight rip off of Goldust vs The Undertaker from the Attitude Era, but had its own spin to it that made watching the whole thing worth the watch. Simply put, Dream’s whole issue with Black is that he’s ignoring him and failing to acknowledge that he even exists. So the whole match is about how far Dream goes to earn his respect and acknowledge him.
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