Hey, everyone! Welcome to my final article in the WrestleMania In-Depth series, which has seen Gary, Duckman and I preview three of the biggest matches scheduled to take place this Sunday at WrestleMania 30.
I urge you to go back and read my first two instalments (here and here), where I have looked at both the evolution and build-up to Batista and Randy Orton’s encounter in New Orleans. You can also treat yourselves to Duckman and Gary’s takes on Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker, and Triple H vs Daniel Bryan respectively.
We are just 3 days out from the thirtieth anniversary of WrestleMania, and the excitement is rising by the minute amongst many WWE fans, including myself.
There are several potentially great matches pencilled in for Sunday’s event, such as Bray Wyatt taking on John Cena and The Undertaker going one-on-one with Brock Lesnar. But perhaps the most anticipated match on the card is the triple threat match, which will see Randy Orton defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Batista and either Triple H or Daniel Bryan, which will be decided when they go head-to-head on the same night.
The Road to WrestleMania has been rocky, with some moments perfectly personifying the electricity and excitement of ‘Mania, and others not so much. Nevertheless, the important thing is that in less than 100 hours, we will all lay witness to the final product of this bumpy ride. To be perfectly honest, I can’t wait.
I know a lot of people think the feeling that WrestleMania is just around the corner hasn’t hit them this year, but for me personally, I think you just have to say the word ‘WrestleMania’ and I get Goosebumps. It’s a show where you can sit back, relax and enjoy the biggest wrestling event of the year without any added commitment.
No IWC, no smarks, no works, no shoots, no squash matches, no jobbers, no burials. It’s just wrestling. For a couple of hours, that’s all that matters. You can be sure as holy hell that I’m going to talk about all that stuff right afterwards, but while it’s unfolding before your eyes, just take it in and enjoy it for what it is.
There’ll be more on that this Sunday when I upload my official WrestleMania XXX preview and predictions post (which also happens to be my 100th article on SLTD Wrestling, which I still can’t wrap my head around), but today you’re going to get a little sneak peek of that. Today is all about predictions!
And just like some of the other extremely talented writers here aided Gary and Duckman with their predictions for Triple H/Bryan and Taker/Lesnar this week, today I can present you not only my own opinions on the triple threat match at WrestleMania, but the opinions of four of my esteemed colleagues here on the SLTD staff.
So without further ado, let’s talk WrestleMania, shall we?
While I’ve mostly been focusing on Batista and Randy Orton for the past few weeks, WrestleMania itself will be an entirely different story. The outcome of this match will be completely dictated by whoever wins between Daniel Bryan and Triple H. Randy Orton and Batista both have the characteristics to make them significant factors at WrestleMania (i.e. Batista’s strength and Orton’s agility), but I wholeheartedly believe either Triple H or Daniel Bryan to be the victor here.
We saw it on Raw this week. The animosity between Triple H and Daniel Bryan far outweighs the emotion that Orton and Batista have heading into this bout. An animosity that caused Daniel Bryan to attack Triple H from behind, and wreak havoc in the main event. An animosity that saw Daniel Bryan use punches, kicks and kendo sticks to lay waste to an unsuspecting Game.
Triple H and Daniel Bryan want to tear each other limb-from-limb, and no matter who wins, that aggression will be carried into the main event. As for who I think will win that match, well it has to be Daniel Bryan, doesn’t it? His efforts over the last nine months cannot be in vain, and he cannot give Triple H the satisfaction of being right all along.
The WWE has made some god-awful decisions over the last few decades, but having Daniel Bryan lose to Triple H at WrestleMania XXX would definitely find its place near the top of that list. Expect Bryan to overcome the cerebral assassin and move onto bigger and better things.
As for his involvement in the triple threat match, I think the clear ending is for Bryan to walk out with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Imagine 80,000 screaming fans, chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!” at the tops of their voices, each raising their hands in-sync with an overwhelmed Daniel Bryan, who proudly clutches to a title belt with each hand. This is what WrestleMania moments were made for.
I can imagine Triple H trying to screw Daniel Bryan over (yet again) in the main event, like that one villain in an action movie who, despite the hero’s efforts, just will not die until about the eighth attempt. And by then it’s just ridiculous.
I expect to see Hunter either coming out to attack Bryan or even insert himself into the match, making it a fatal four-way. But in the end, much to the chagrin of a furious and fatigued Triple H, Daniel Bryan isn’t going to let SummerSlam happen again. A double Knee Plus to Orton and Batista (and another to Triple H for the craic) will solidify him as the new Champion.
Triple H was correct when he stated that a new era will begin in the WWE at WrestleMania. But despite what he believes, it won’t be the ‘Reality Era’. This Sunday will be the beginning of the ‘Yes Era’. And that’s an era I want to be a part of.
Right, now that you’ve heard my thoughts, let’s here from some guys that actually know what they’re talking about. These dudes were nice enough to send me their thoughts and predictions for the match, so here they are:
Grant Cook: “Bryan joins Batista and Orton in the match, and about the only thing we can guarantee is that Batista will spend a fair bit of the match on the outside as Orton and Bryan attempt to tear the house down. Late in the match Batista gets involved, when it looks like he may lose to Bryan, Hunter interjects. This ultimately leads to a Bryan win, and the revelation that HHH had planned it all along.”
Duckman: “Daniel Bryan is injured and sells most of the match. Orton and Batista stink the joint up for a while, until Bryan makes his big comeback. HHH out again but Daniel Bryan takes him out with the flying knee. Batista with the powerbomb on Bryan. Batista is taken out of the match by Orton with an RKO, but before he can pin Bryan, he’s caught in the Yes lock and Orton taps out. Bryan is new WWE Champion and everyone goes home happy.”
George: “I feel sorry for Randy Orton. He’s been booked like a pussy, and Haitch-Ah’s bitch, since SummerSlam. It’s not right. He’s amazingly talented and deserves better than that. And then we’ve got the Love-Matic Grandpa (aka Batista), dressing like a man who’s going through a mid-life crisis. Big Dave has never been a main-event WrestleMania calibre talent – proven by the fact that the only time he’s headlined Mania was when he took the World Championship from Haitch-Ah at WM21. Dave’s fine, he’s just not a “top” guy, or a returning hero for that matter.
Of course, there’s a wild card here with the addition of either Bryan or Haitch-Ah being the third man in the triple-threat. My heart says Bryan, because he deserves it. My head says Haitch-Ah because WWE are never happier than when they’re screwing the fans. So who walks out as champion? The winner of the triple-threat. It’s HIGHLY unlikely that Orton or Batista walk out with the strap.”
Gary: “Nobody really wanted to see Randy Orton vs Batista in the main event, that much has been made abundantly clear since Batista’s return at the Royal Rumble.
Luckily it has been salvaged by the addition of either HHH or Daniel Bryan to make it a triple threat. We could still see a fatal 4 way but my money is on D-Bry winning his match with H and heading into the main event and winning to lead the whole stadium in the biggest YES! chant ever seen or heard!
CM Punk’s probably pretty pissed right now”
So there we have it. The majority of people think that Daniel Bryan will be walking out of WrestleMania with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. And those that don’t, think it will be Triple H. Not many people have faith in Batista or Randy Orton to pull off this victory, and rightfully so. In all honesty, if Orton or Batista do win, what changes? Diddly squat.
At least if Triple H wins the strap, we’ll be seeing something slightly different to how things have gone for the last six months. Plus, perhaps it would call for a visit from Vinnie Mac to say the board of directors is unhappy with Triple H’s megalomaniacal ways. Then he can put an end to this endless tirade of “behold the king, the king of kings” at the start of every Raw, followed by the same promo we got for the last nine weeks in a row.
But let’s just hope that doesn’t happen anyway, okay? Daniel Bryan is the clear-cut right decision here, and like I said, you’ve had your “boyhood dream has come true”, you’ve had your “Austin era has begun”. This Sunday marks the start of a brand new era. An era that can only be described by one word… Yes!
And that about wraps up the WrestleMania In-Depth series, folks! Like I mentioned before, I implore you to go and read the fantastic instalments by Gary and Duckman. Without them, this series would just be me talking nonsense about one match for three weeks.
These guys have managed to excellently contextualise each of their chosen matches, storylines, what have you, so do yourself a favour and check those out. Gary’s predictions for Triple H’s bout with Daniel Bryan can be found here, and Duckman’s outlook on how The Undertaker’s match against Brock Lesnar will end can be found here.
Also, the Triple H of SLTD Wrestling (in terms of day-to-day duties, not boring promos and a large nose), George has taken on the daunting challenge of reviewing every single WrestleMania EVER right here on SLTD Wrestling, with the build-up to the thirtieth anniversary of the show.
It has been awesome to see the evolution of WrestleMania through George’s efforts, and the guy deserves some sort of medal or a small trophy for the amount of work he’s put into this site to get you all the best WrestleMania content possible in 2014.
The same can be said for Greg, Gary, Duckman and every other writer on here. The guys bust their asses to get you (and me) some quality wrestling articles. You really don’t need to go anywhere else for your wrestling needs, because there’s so much stuff going on here to keep you going every day!
If you enjoyed this final in-depth look at a top WrestleMania main event, please do give it a like on Facebook, tweet the link and comment below! All feedback is appreciated and never ignored.
You can also go ahead and follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_SLTD to speak to me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all!
I’ll be back on Sunday to give you my full preview and predictions for WrestleMania XXX, and it’ll be an important one because lots of eyes seem to be on WrestleMania on the day. I wonder why… Also, it’ll be my 100th article here, so stay tuned for that milestone!
Thanks for reading!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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