WWE WrestleMania 29 Predictions: Projecting Main Event Winners and Aftermath
The most entertaining aspect of professional wrestling is the sense of the unknown. From the first time fans watch a promo or match, they begin an emotional roller coaster. It is this emotional investment that keeps fans tuning in each week to see what happens to their favorite entertainers.
WrestleMania isn’t just the culmination of one year in the WWE; more importantly, it's the beginning of another. The "Showcase of the Immortals" sets the tone for the company for the next year of programming. Winners and losers are important, but equally as important is how wrestlers win and lose on the grand stage.
This year, the WWE boasts three main events featuring six of the most popular and skilled wrestlers in the history of the industry. The WWE knows it has done a fantastic job building these rematches guaranteed to excite and draw massive numbers. It also knows these rematches are going to pave the way for the Road to WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans.
The Undertaker vs. CM Punk
1 of 8Winner: The Undertaker
Along with the greatest gimmick known to professional wrestling, "The Streak" defines The Undertaker’s career. His matches, just like his abilities, have gotten better with age. He still has the skills to compete at a high level, and his rivalry with CM Punk this year has been better than most we’ve seen from him in recent years.
Simply put, "The Streak" should never end.
It is symbolic with The Undertaker and WrestleMania in general. It is a spectacle each year and one of the biggest selling-points for the WWE heading into the "Road to WrestleMania." As the WWE prepares for the 30th anniversary show of the biggest and most important event in the business, the company would be foolish to throw away arguably its biggest draw one year prior.
The Undertaker won’t just impress us at WrestleMania 29; he’ll also make critics look silly for saying he should retire.
What’s Next for CM Punk?
2 of 8Vacation
CM Punk has been the hands down, undisputed, every-cliche-in-the-book best wrestler in the world for more than a calendar year. The man deserves a well-earned vacation to rest his breaking body to come back stronger and better than ever for the remainder of the year.
WrestlingInc’s Marc Middleton (h/t Wrestling Observer Newsletter) reports that CM Punk isn’t expected to wrestle at Extreme Rules, and the WWE is looking to feature The Rock and Brock Lesnar due to his absence.
This makes perfect sense, because after losing to The Undertaker, it wouldn’t be right for CM Punk to once again complain about a loss since he already did that after losing to The Rock at the Royal Rumble. There also isn't any other legitimate face for CM Punk to battle unless he restarted his feud with John Cena (or The Rock if the WWE goes that way) for the WWE Championship.
The best thing for CM Punk’s character and status is to simply disappear after losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 and come back to shock the world by attacking somebody else at the end of May or early June to set up the "Summer of Punk."
What’s Next for The Undertaker?
3 of 8Smoke and Mirrors
The Undertaker is being promoted for a SmackDown event in London on April 23, but that could very well just be a one-off appearance—one that is just to appease the overseas audience and won’t even be seen on television.
The safest path for The Undertaker to WrestleMania 30 is to follow the same path he took to WrestleMania 29: the road less traveled.
At this stage in his career, fans just want to see The Deadman at WrestleMania and should deem every other show insignificant. Let the man rest his body and train for 2014 when he takes on another megastar in John Cena.
Promoting The Undertaker vs. Cena at WrestleMania XXX would be a major draw for the WWE and one that makes sense for both men. It's difficult to have a bigger match on any card, and Cena would have arguably the best shot at ending "The Streak" as any man in WWE history.
More importantly, the fans would more than ever believe "The Streak" could be broken.
Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
4 of 8Winner: Brock Lesnar
The WWE could easily work around Triple H being forced into retirement by Brock Lesnar if it so desires. It’s tougher to dig Brock Lesnar out of a losing record against the best in the business in the man’s first three matches back. If Lesnar does go 1-2 in his first year back in WWE, he would look like a fool and should just quit due to his failures.
The WWE is lacking in main event heels and desperately needs Lesnar to come out of WrestleMania looking like a threat to the WWE Championship. The storyline easily lends itself to Triple H winning since his career is on the line and he is looking to avenge his friend, Shawn Michaels, and father-in-law, Vince McMahon.
That’s why the WWE will throw fans a curveball and have Lesnar win. He needs a dominant performance against Triple H one more time, but more importantly, he needs another victory.
What’s Next for Triple H?
5 of 8Shawn Michaels
The WWE will want WrestleMania XXX to be the biggest show in the history of the industry. One way to ensure its greatness is to have two of the best wrestlers in history finally settle the score once and for all.
When Shawn Michaels announced on Raw this past Monday that he would be in Triple H’s corner, alarms started to sound. A major swerve at this year’s WrestleMania to set up next year’s would-be for Michaels to screw Triple H and force him into retirement, just like he was forced into retirement in 2010 against The Undertaker.
We haven’t seen this feud with Michaels as the heel and Triple H as a babyface, so it would add a new and fun dynamic. Plus, when they wrestled for the first time at SummerSlam in 2002, it was an unsanctioned match because then-general manager Eric Bischoff refused to sign off on the trade.
With both Michaels and Triple H heading into WrestleMania 30 "retired," the WWE would be able to have this rivalry come full circle by having them compete in one final unsanctioned match with Triple H winning and bringing his friend back from his evil ways.
What’s Next for Brock Lesnar?
6 of 8Ryback
Unless somebody like Batista returns to screw Brock Lesnar against Triple H to set up a dream bout, there’s little top-flight faces left for Lesnar to wrestle.
The best option right now would be Ryback, because they are of similar build and personalities, so it would be a highly intriguing matchup. The sheer strength of both men alone would have fans in awe when they finally lock horns.
Ryback will likely defeat Mark Henry at WrestleMania 29, so he would at least have momentum heading into a match with Lesnar. At some point, these two need to square off; having them carry their WrestleMania momentum into Extreme Rules would be fun for everybody.
John Cena vs. The Rock
7 of 8Winner: John Cena
It only makes sense for John Cena to defeat The Rock after losing last year to "The Great One" in Miami. This rematch has been built on Cena’s redemption following a down year for the future Hall of Famer.
This match may have the most obvious outcome because logical booking would have Cena even the score to put him on an even level as The Rock as far as bragging rights are concerned. More importantly, the WWE knows it needs to get the WWE Championship off of The Rock at some point; he won’t be with the company in this capacity since he’ll be filming more movies.
Cena is one of few men who could defeat The Rock cleanly and deserve it. The WWE's leading workhorse will finally "right the biggest wrong of his career" and defeat "The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment" cleanly at the biggest pay-per-view event in wrestling history.
What’s Next for Both Megastars?
8 of 8Part III and Brock Lesnar
John Cena will defeat The Rock to even the score 1-1, so it only makes sense that the WWE would promote a rubber match to determine who is truly the better man.
The Rock will be able to utilize his rematch clause for a WWE Championship match. In order to avoid a WrestleMania hangover and help The Rock promote his upcoming movies Pain & Gain and Fast & Furious 6, the WWE will hold The Rock vs. Cena Part III at Extreme Rules on May 19.
That main event will see Brock Lesnar interfere to make sure no man walks out victorious. This draw will allow the WWE to promote both Rock and Cena as equals and leave the door open for another match at a later date. However, the focus will be on Cena and Lesnar as Lesnar seeks revenge for last year’s loss to Cena at Extreme Rules.
This will lead to a SummerSlam match between Cena and Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Regardless of the outcome of that match, Lesnar will go on to win the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble 2014 to set up his WrestleMania 30 matchup.
With The Rock having used his rematch clause, he’ll have to work his way back to a title shot. He’ll announce his inclusion in the 2014 Royal Rumble and go on to win that match to set up a title match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX.
The WWE would be able to promote The Rock in similar fashion as this year, except he’ll be challenging for the WWE Championship instead of defending it. Plus, The Rock vs. Lesnar is one of the biggest ‘Mania matches WWE could put together from a mainstream perspective.
As for Cena at WrestleMania XXX? He’ll go on to challenge The Undertaker with "The Streak" on the line and put fear in the heart of every fan that it could be snapped by WWE’s top dog.
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