WWE WrestleMania 35: Preview and predictions
By Luke Norris
WWE Championship Match
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
Sometimes the stars align for a WWE Superstar and that time seems to have come for Kofi Kingston. For 11 years, the former Jamaican (remember when that was a thing?) has given the WWE Universe countless memorable moments over the years, and he took full advantage of the injury to Ali just ahead of Elimination Chamber to grab that proverbial brass ring. He’s been an absolute stud in his gauntlet matches over the past few months and his spot in the WWE Championship couldn’t have gone to anyone else. We don’t know what the original plan was for Bryan at WrestleMania, but this build with Kingston since the swerve has been amazing to watch.
Prediction: I’ve gone back and forth with this one so many times. With his custom eco-title belt, the plan was to keep the championship on Bryan for quite a while. However, things change and outside of Becky Lynch, there may be no hotter superstar in WWE right now than Kingston. Perhaps he may not hold the title for long, but they have to pull the trigger on a Kingston win here. He’s always been one of the guys who has done everything that’s been asked of him and has done it with class. He’s one of WWE’s biggest brand ambassadors and deserves this moment of glory. KofiMania for the win.
WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins
On just about any other night, this would be the match to close the show. However, with things being what they are this year, Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins will just be thrown in somewhere. But it should still be one hell of a match. These are the Lesnar matches that I like to watch. He performs so much better against guys like Rollins (see Bryan, Styles, Balor) and it’s not just because he can attempt distance records with his German suplexes. He just seems more into these types of matches and that simply makes the match better. Lesnar looks like he wants to be there. We’ve seen these two go at it on numerous occasions before, albeit with others usually involved in one way or another, but it’s always been entertaining. Expect nothing less from this match, as well.
Prediction: Remember how everyone just knew that Roman Reigns would dethrone Lesnar last year at WrestleMania and then didn’t? It was funny to hear Heyman bring that up on Monday because it feels like we’re going to get the same result here. That may prove incorrect, but with the Kofi Kingston and Becky Lynch stories being what they are and the rumors running wild that Lesnar is going to sign yet another short-term contract to stay in WWE, it’s hard to like Rollins’ chances. If the Kingston-Bryan match goes on before this one and Kingston loses, Rollins’ chances do get better. But to have all of these happy endings in one night seems like a stretch. The advice to WWE would be this: If you’re going to book Rollins to lose, do it before you have Kingston win. Or have them both win. Nope, sorry, I can’t do it. Lesnar retains to get Twitter upset.