8 predictions for WrestleMania 31
We’re no soothsayers here at WWE.com, but we’ve been around the block long enough to know when the winds of change are blowing. Superstars are rising through the ranks, allegiances are switching and even by WWE COO Triple H’s admission, a new era in sports-entertainment is beginning.
Although the dust hasn’t quite settled from WrestleMania 30, we’ve already broken out the crystal ball and shifted our gaze down the horizon toward next year, when The Show of Shows breaks in the brand-new Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area. We could be wrong, we could be right: difficult to see, the future is. Nevertheless, here are WWE.com’s totally off-the-wall, pie-in-the-sky predictions for what will go down between now and WrestleMania 31.
John Cena will join The Wyatt Family
Bray Wyatt’s not done with John Cena. Not by a long shot.
Yes, the Cenation leader bested the Wyatt head at WrestleMania 30, but you can bet your last Hawaiian shirt that this rivalry has only just begun. Wyatt’s a deep thinker, a long-term planner and momentary setbacks are meaningless in the face of his overreaching scheming. And John Cena is most definitely a part of that macabre vision, be it tomorrow or WrestleMania 31.
Photos: Cena preserves his legacy | Watch Wyatt rebound on Raw
Sometime between the three-count that befell him on April 6 of this year and the opening fireworks of the 31st annual Show of Shows, The Eater of Worlds will count The Champ as a disciple.
Bray’s gonna what? He’s gonna indoctrinate you, Cena. — ALEX GIANNINI
Roman Reigns will win the 2015 Royal Rumble Match
Okay, so we’re not exactly going out on a limb with this one. After his performance in last year’s Royal Rumble Match — in which Reigns shattered Kane’s longstanding elimination record by dumping 12 bodies on his way to making it to the final two — it’s apparent that the muscle of The Shield has a talent for this type of melee. So WWE fans won’t exactly be shocked when he powers his way through Bray Wyatt, John Cena and Cesaro (yes, we went ahead and predicted the final four, as well) to become king of the hill. What’s more interesting to consider is the fact that this means Reigns will be competing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania in Silicon Valley. Will Brock Lesnar (spoiler alert!) be ready for him? — RYAN MURPHY
The WWE World Heavyweight Championship will be split back into two titles
Don’t get us wrong, we love the fact that there’s an undisputed champion as much as anybody, and we love it even more that that guy is Daniel Bryan. But here’s the reality: Triple H has never been one to suffer embarrassment lying down, and he was shamed twice over at WrestleMania 30 when The Beard defeated him and his two protégés to claim the championship. Smart money says he’ll contrive a way to screw Bryan over again, and what better way to do it than by splitting his hard-won title in half?
Watch: The Champion of Champions comes to Raw
Even if The Game does decide to let have Bryan have his moment in the sun, that doesn’t mean something else weird won’t happen to tear the titles asunder. Maybe Paul Heyman will finagle a way to separate the prize so both Cesaro and Brock Lesnar (more on them later) can make a go at the throne? Maybe Bryan will be coerced into putting both titles on the line, individually, at one event? Maybe there’ll be Money in the Bank briefcases that target each title? Maybe … Oh, who are we kidding? Triple H is gonna break the thing in two and hold half of it in #abeyance until such a time he can find a champion he sees fit to wear it. We missed you, Vacant. — ANTHONY BENIGNO
Stephanie McMahon will target the Divas Championship
If we were reminded of anything when Triple H made his symbolic descent from his throne at WrestleMania 30, it’s that WWE is in the control of an Authority who wields power well beyond business governance. Before there were pinstriped suits or three-letter corporate titles, both the COO and his bride wore WWE’s top prizes as ring warriors themselves. The Game stepped back into the game at WrestleMania, coveting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It only makes sense – especially if you’ve seen the slaps she’s recently landed on the faces of several Superstars — for Stephanie McMahon to make a statement of her own, 14 years after her reign as Women’s Champion.
Today’s Divas Championship is a metaphor for supremacy among women of sports-entertainment and it’s one Stephanie has never held in her haughty hands. Don’t be surprised if you see WWE’s ruling power couple looks to adorn their regime with tokens of omnipotence — one butterfly-emblazoned. — CRAIG TELLO
Watch: Stephanie confronts AJ Lee
Zeb Colter will form a stable of Real Americans
Cesaro’s recent defection to the Paul Heyman camp was a major hit to Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger’s Real American campaign, but if you think Colter’s satisfied with guiding the career of just one patriotic pugilist, you’ve got another thing coming. I submit that Colter will return the Real American team to its original strength and beyond, supporting the movement with a full-blown stable of Superstars by the time WrestleMania 31 takes over Levi’s Stadium next March.
Follow The Founding Father on Twitter
The managerial mastermind has already gone to Twitter to solicit recommendations for new charges to replace the “sneaky Cesaro,” so we know growth is on his mind. Given Colter’s wealth of squared-circle experience, it’s easy to think he’s established a wide network of connections. Whether those contacts are truly interested in subscribing to Colter’s polarizing worldview, let alone living in a world according to Zeb, is less certain. But as there’s a logjam in the middle of the card in WWE right now, Superstars like Damien Sandow, Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder should jump at the chance to have Colter steer their ship, if an overture is made. When the day comes and Colter’s faction comes to fruition, expect way more than a hodgepodge of desperadoes; instead, you can bet that Colter will give new life to a swathe of talent that’ll proclaim, in a loud and clear voice, “We, the people!” — JOHN CLAPP
Cody Rhodes will win (and cash in) Money in the Bank
Sometimes, destiny comes calling for a WWE Superstar and that time will soon come for Cody Rhodes. The son of legendary WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, Cody is already an accomplished Superstar, with several WWE Tag Team Championship and Intercontinental Championship reigns to his name. The next step for him is certainly the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Watch: Cody sends Sandow's briefcase swimming | The Brotherhood & other WWE Tag Champs
How will he get there? Look for Rhodes to ascend the ladder and capture the Money in the Bank briefcase — a feat he nearly accomplished in 2013. Cody will wait for the perfect opportunity to cash in the Money in the Bank Contract and when he does, he will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With this, he will not only ensure his place in the main event, but he will put the Rhodes family back on top of sports entertainment. — KEVIN POWERS
Cesaro will break away from Paul Heyman and challenge Brock Lesnar
After standing in Brock Lesnar’s corner when The Beast Incarnate snapped The Streak, Paul Heyman is now considered by many as the greatest manager in sports-entertainment history and rightly so. Prior to WrestleMania 30, Heyman was, arguably, tied with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, despite the fact that the mad scientist is the only manager to have represented three consecutive WWE Champions: Lesnar, Big Show and Kurt Angle.
Watch: "I wanted The Streak, I got The Streak" | All hail "The Conqueror"
There is only one WWE World Heavyweight Champion and Paul Heyman wants to manage him. But when lobbying for one of his “Guys” to challenge for the WWE World Championship, who will Heyman choose: Cesaro or Lesnar? The Beast Incarnate has more experience in the title picture, so Heyman will push for Lesnar. Cesaro, being a proud alpha male, will then have Heyman and Lesnar in his crosshairs, and a battle between two of WWE’s strongest Superstars will ensue that will break bones – and the bank – in equal measure. – @JOEYSTYLES
The Undertaker will retire
In a moment that will be forever etched onto the collective consciousness of the WWE Universe, Brock Lesnar pinned a battle-weary Undertaker’s shoulders to the mat at WrestleMania 30 — a feat that seemed impossible mere seconds earlier. The Streak had been broken. An icon had fallen. A Universe was shaken.
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Each year, The Undertaker’s vaunted WrestleMania Streak drew the reclusive Phenom from the abyss to face those Superstars bold enough to challenge his immortality on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Now that The Anomaly has put The Undertaker’s WrestleMania legend to rest, perhaps it is time for The Deadman to step away from the bright lights of the squared circle indefinitely, receding into the darkness one last time. What better place to end The Undertaker’s historic career than at WrestleMania 31, where his final bell will toll the loudest? — JAMES WORTMAN
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