WWE WrestleMania 35: Preview and predictions

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Tony Nese

Yet again, the cruiserweight division won’t make it onto the main card but with how the main show is stacked up, it’s not surprising to see this match on the WrestleMania Kickoff Show, though it is disappointing. Tony Nese was the surprise choice to win the No. 1 contender’s tournament but it’s a good story. For those unaware, Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy and Nese are very close friends and training partners so the chemistry between these two should make for another great match from the cruiserweight division.

Prediction: It’s really difficult to pick against Murphy right now so we won’t.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Confirmed participants: Braun Strowman, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Tyler Breeze, Jinder Mahal, No Way Jose, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Viktor, Konnor, Ali, Shelton Benjamin, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Otis, Tucker, EC3

For the sixth year in a row, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will be a part of WrestleMania. While this is obviously an easy way to get those who don’t have anything else going onto the card, there really hasn’t been a big benefit to winning this thing. There’s no incentive like the Royal Rumble has about getting a future title shot; the winner gets get the Andre trophy and that’s about it. The addition of Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” co-hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che pretty much means that there’s once again no reason to take this seriously.

Prediction: We might get a fun spot here and there but the expectation is that this to be your run-of-the mill battle royal until the focus shifts to Braun Strowman and the SNL guys. It will be funny enough and that’s fine for this match. It’s crazy to think that Strowman was seemingly being groomed for a top spot and is now being put in angles like this, but that’s just what happens sometimes. Strowman is the favorite here as there’s really nobody except Ali that that could believably win this match. Maybe Nicholas returns to help Strowman get the win. Does it really matter? Okay, the official pick is Braun. Moving on.

WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal

Confirmed participants: Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Lana, Mandy Rose, Sonya DeVille, Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mickie James, Zelina Vega

Debuting a year ago, the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal makes its way back onto the WrestleMania card as defending victor Naomi is seeking back-to-back wins after outlasting the competition in New Orleans. This seems to have a little more importance than the men’s version but not by much. I’m sure that there will be a few surprise competitors thrown in there from NXT and perhaps we’ll get a blast from the past as well.

Prediction: While not yet listed as a confirmed participant, the winner that makes the most sense would be Lacey Evans. Plenty of people are pulling for Asuka given her recent loss of the SmackDown Women’s Championship but we’ve gotten the Evans tease for a while now and it’s time to pull the trigger, even if only so we don’t have to deal with the ridiculous pop-ins anymore. It’s been heavily rumored that she’s in line for a major push in 2019 and a win here could get that going.