WrestleMania XXX predictions

April 1, 2014

Time for my annual WrestleMania prediction commentary; I've been doing these since 2006, and I go out of my way to make sure I have no inside information what so ever. Each year I predict who is going to win and lose at WrestleMania and I've been keeping track of my win loss record which sadly is not very good, but I have been making a comeback the past couple years. So before I get to the Mania XXX card let's take a look at my record to date:

The Tale of the Tape:
Mania 22: 63%
Mania 23: 63%
Mania 24: 44%
Mania 25: 50%
Mania 26: 20%
Mania 27: 38%
Mania 28: 75%
Mania 29: 75%
Average: 54%


WrestleMania XXX

Usos vs. Real Americans vs. RybAxel vs. Matadores (Tag Titles): This match has as of now been bumped to the pre show, which excludes it from my picks. In the off chance that it gets put back on the main show I'll add it here but if it's on the pre show, win or lose it will be excluded in my overall average. I'm really torn on this one. I feel we need to have another heel winning on this show but I don't like switching all of the titles on the show either. I think the WWE Title is switching and the Divas title is so over due for a switch. Matadores have been nonexistent on RAW, RybAxel have not been doing anything lately either, so I wouldn't give either team the win and the Real Americans have been looking like they are about to break up. The Usos are a good pick but that gives us another baby face win. So with all of that indecision I guess I'll go with the Real Americans putting off their break up a little longer, perhaps doing the partners that can't get along gimmick which is always fun; always nice to start a show of with excitement in the preshow.

Andre Battle Royal: These matches kill me because picking a winner is such an absurd long shot. I was so happy when they removed the MITB match from WrestleMania because it was so hard to predict so if this match is an annual thing my average is going to take a hit again. In all the other matches I've got a 50/50 or at worse a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right but with 30 people in this match it's an absurd long shot. To make it worse there are only 7 matches on this show so this match could make a big difference in my overall average. On top of that they have only announced 27 of the 30 guys so I have to consider the entire free agent possibilities as well. Of the current 27 I think only 5 have even a remote shot of winning: Sheamus because they always push him and seem to really like him, Big Show because he is a Giant and it's the Andre Battle Royal, Miz because carrying around the winning trophy for a year is obnoxious as hell so who better, Ziggler I doubt but he deserves a push and carrying the trophy around would definitely be showing off, Big E is someone I think has a lot of upper ward mobility and I think the office agrees with me. There is a chance RVD will be added, and I would expect Rusev to also be added, which leaves on last vacant spot. I'm going to hedge my chances a bit here, which some of you may think is unfair, but so what. If a surprise entrant, that I have not mentioned here, wins I'm excluding this match from my percentage. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to pick someone as the winner when I didn't know he was even in the match. If Rusev is in the match he is my pick, and if Rusev isn't in the match, my pick will be.... Miz.

The Shield vs. Kane & New Age Outlaws: I've got to go with the Shield in this one. NAOs are not a regular act, and Kane doesn't need it, so no way I'd beat the newly turned Shield. IMO the Shield is going to be a big part of WWE's future and thus should be protected and pick up the win here. Believe in the Shield.

Divas Match: Another long shot crap shoot in picking a winner. There are 14 people in this match and I have to pick just 1 to winner; this gives me about a 7% chance of picking a winner. Well that's not entirely true, I can't see Aksana, Rosa, Alicia, Emma, or Layla winning. Nothing against those 5, just to me the only story possibilities moving forward are someone from Total Divas winning, AJ retaining, or AJ losing the title to her body guard Tamina. So I've likely got a 1 in 9 chance of picking the winner which still sucks. I think AJ is due to lose, so I'm down to 1 in 8 and of those 8 I'm going to pick Summer Rae. The reason behind this pick is that I think it opens the most doors creatively. She is the new girl on Total Divas, so her winning can create a ton of drama on that show. In addition to heat with all the girls on Total Divas, she can rematch on RAW with AJ, she's had heat with Emma via the Fandango vs. Santino program and on top of that they could use her winning the title and Fandango's somewhat stalled career as an angle to break them up, which they have teased on at least one occasion. Summer Rae for the win.

HHH vs. Daniel Bryan: I can't for the life of me see any result for this match other than Daniel Bryan picking up the win. Beating Daniel Bryan in this match to set up a Heel vs. Heel vs. Heel Main Event Title match would be the death of this show. Despite having a poor track record in predicting HHH matches I am reasonably confident in my pick of Daniel Bryan winning this year.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt: I was figuring I'd have a harder time predicting this match but as I look at the rest of the show I'm picking a lot of Baby Face winners and when that happens I like to balance it out a little bit. With Bray Wyatt being the newer guy and Cena being close to bullet proof at this point I'm going to pick Wyatt for the win. The only real concern I have is that they go with more of a none finish where Wyatt is left standing looking strong but Cena technically picking up the win. In either event I'll take Wyatt in this match.

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar: This to me in that one match I can't screw up. I don't believe they are ever going to beat the Streak so a Taker win is my one guaranteed pick each year. Undertaker wins. 22-0

Orton vs. Batista vs. ?????? (WWE Title): This one is a bit of a gamble because I technically have to predict the finish before the match is even finalized. I'm pretty confident that Bryan will be in this match so, that shouldn't be too much of an issue. If on the off chance that HHH beats Daniel Bryan and ends up in this match I'll pick HHH to win, I don't see the point of having him beat Bryan just to just lose here. Now assuming Bryan defeats HHH and ends up in this match, which is what I'm predicting, I'm not so sure. Closing the show with Bryan holding the title with 65,000 fans chanting YES would be an awesome sight, but part of me thinks WWE will decide to not give the fans everything they want and have Batista steal the win from Bryan to get a ton of heat on him to build towards Batista vs. Bryan at Extreme Rules. Bryan totally dominating last night on RAW worries me a little too but in the end I think Bryan winning after being screwed 6 ways till Sunday since Summer Slam is the needed result, so I'm going with Daniel Bryan winning the Title to close out the show.

Enjoy the show,
Lance Storm


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