Filed under:
Meanwhile, Sami Zayn’s role at the show has been planned for a while, but isn’t currently confirmed.
We’re two months out from the Showcase of the Immortals, and the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has a rundown of WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 39 in greater Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on April 1-2.
Dave Meltzer writes that five matches are “locked in”:
o Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Universal championship
o Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the SmackDown Women’s title
o Biance Belar vs. the Elimination Chamber winner for the Raw Women’s title
o John Cena vs. Austin Theory
o IYO SKY & Dakota Kai vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women’s Tag title
There’s no mention of splitting the WWE and Universal titles before ‘Mania, but it’s not clear if Meltzer is just using “Universal” to refer to both belts Reigns has been carrying or if WWE is still weighing other options. He does specify that he hasn’t been able to confirm if Cena’s match will be for the United States championship, which makes sense since Theory is defending it at Elimination Chamber in a couple weeks.
Rousey’s pursuit of the Tag gold hadn’t been reported in this way before, but it tracks with what we heard about why she wasn’t used at Royal Rumble — and her own comments about what she wanted to do after dropping the blue brand’s belt to Flair.
By now you’re probably asking, “what about Sami Zayn?” He’s among the “teased” matches Meltzer hasn’t been able to confirm:
o Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins
o Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
o The Usos vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
Paul eliminated Rollins from the Rumble. Seth refused to answer a question about that on Raw, and Paul & Cody Rhodes made sure to bring it up while the men’s Rumble winner was on imPAULsive this week, so that seems to be full speed ahead. The Mysterio clash may hinge on Rey’s health, but Meltzer writes that “from the start” that father vs. son match has been “destined to be held off for WrestleMania in Los Angeles”.
Zayn & Owens vs. Jimmy & Jey has “been talked about for ‘Mania going back months”. Should the fact it’s not on the “locked in” list give us hope Sami could end up with a larger role come the first weekend in April? While he may see more value in Zayn than his father-in-law, it still doesn’t sound like Triple H sees Sami as a WrestleMania main eventer. So probably not.
But at this point on the calendar in 2014 and 2019, WWE didn’t see Daniel Bryan or Kofi Kingston as worthy of a singles title match on the Grandest Stage of Them All either…
Originally posted at: Read More