WWE WrestleMania 32: Early Predictions for 2016's Marquee Show
On Sunday night, WWE pulled out all the stops to put on a WrestleMania worthy of the hype—and such a home run will always spark speculation as to how things will be topped next year.
WrestleMania 32 may be 12 months away, but fans are already beginning to predict what we'll see at the event. With long-term storylines spanning a full year becoming all the more common, it's possible that we've already seen hints at how the card will shape up.
However, for the time being, all we have is hypotheses—although Monday's edition of Raw might have a few more clues for us.
Here's an early look at what we might be able to expect when WrestleMania 32 airs from Texas in 2016.
The Rock Will Return to the Ring
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The Rock hasn't missed a WrestleMania in the past five years—but expect him to lace up his boots once again next year in Texas.
Make no mistake: The Great One has a passion for The Showcase of the Immortals. Scheduling issues have prevented him wrestling at the event for the past two years, but next year could be a good chance for Rocky to return to the ring before his role as DC Comics superhero Black Adam monopolizes his time.
Of course, there's no shortage of opponents for The People's Champion when he does make his return. A faceoff with Triple H was rumoured for this year, but last night seemed to suggest that a mixed tag involving Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey might be the new plan.
However, The Rock's potential WrestleMania 32 match might be tied to the future of his cousin, Roman Reigns. We'll have to wait until tonight to see how Reigns is taking his loss in last night's main event.
If WWE takes this opportunity to present Reigns as an embittered villain following a tough loss on The Grandest Stage of Them All, it's easy to imagine Roman spending the next year prepping for a showdown with The Rock. Built correctly, that could be a great way to reposition The Juggernaut.
The Undertaker Will Wrestle as Big Evil
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The Undertaker has spent the majority of his career as the larger-than-life Deadman. However, next year might be the right time to see a resurgence of the dormant American Badass.
The reinvention of The Undertaker as a territorial biker in the 2000s deserves a lot of credit for preserving the character through a changing period in the wrestling landscape. As The Phenom became a WrestleMania-only attraction, it made sense to revert back to prior theatrics—but it could well be time to switch back.
We saw signs of the shift in Undertaker's presentation Sunday night. With his hair slightly longer than his last couple of appearances and attire that was similar to that of Big Evil, it wouldn't be too surprising to see The Lord of Darkness hit the ring on a motorcycle.
With WrestleMania 32 taking place in Undertaker's home state of Texas, it would be apt to see an all-time legend appear in a guise closer to his real-life personality—particularly if it is indeed his retirement match.
A Giant-Killer Is Born
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On Sunday night, Big Show won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which will surely have to play into next year's event.
Big Show is likely coming to the end of his career as an in-ring talent, so there's little sense in him having such an accomplishment on his resume for his own benefit. Instead, it will likely be used to reinforce the fact that big men do well in the situation of a Battle Royal.
When Big Show or another similarly sized competitor brags about the advantages of height and weight in such a match, there will be a great opportunity for a smaller entrant—perhaps even an NXT call-up—to prove him wrong.
It certainly seems like Big Show won Sunday night so that someone else can have the pleasure of knocking him from his perch. The only question is whether this plays out next year or as soon as tonight's post-WrestleMania edition of Raw.
Triple H Will Outdo Himself Once Again
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While Triple H has been criticized for plenty of things over the course of his career, it would be difficult to argue against the idea that he's enjoying a second prime in terms of his in-ring ability of late.
At WrestleMania 30 he put on a classic against Daniel Bryan—and Sunday night's match with Sting was similarly great. Some will be put off by the run-ins, but both The Stinger and The King of Kings deserve a lot of credit for their part in proceedings.
Next year, you would expect that we'll see a Triple H match once again—and it's likely to be among the best bouts on the card. We've seen that The Game can go with a current talent or a legend, so it'll be interesting to see who gets the opportunity to take him on.
Much like The Rock, there's no shortage of possible opponents for Triple H. However, unlike The Great One, The Cerebral Assassin has no distractions to keep him from the all-important WrestleMania build.
Expect a lengthy storyline leading up to a marquee match.
The Shield Will Meet Again
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After Sunday night, there seems like no better scenario for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship than for the three members of The Shield to chase it for the next year.
A Triple Threat match between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose would be a killer main event for WrestleMania 32—important enough to close out the biggest show of the year without relying on any part-time talent or legends from the past.
The future is now, and it revolves around the biggest stable of the past decade. Last night's outcome puts both Rollins and Reigns in ideal situations to mature over the course of the next 12 months. All that's left is for Ambrose to be given a more prominent position on the roster.
This could very well be the defining main event of the new era that is dawning for WWE. Fans have waited a long time for the new generation to take the reins—the movement started last night, but rest assured that it will be in full force by the time WrestleMania 32 rolls around.
We never really got to see every member of The Shield at odds when the group split up, and the world title would be a great central point to focus the feud around. The hardest part to predict is the winner—although seeing Seth Rollins retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship would be a great way to demonstrate that last night wasn't a fluke.
That being said, any of the three could feasibly be the best choice for world champion in one year's time. Rollins may have won the race to the top, but his one-time brothers will surely be hot on his heels.
What early predictions do you have for WrestleMania 32? Do you foresee the Tag Team Championship match being bumped to the pre-show? The Divas match going for less than 10 minutes? John Cena beating a promising up-and-comer? Let us know in the comments section below.
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