WWE News: Current Plans For The New ‘Probable’ Main Event For ‘WrestleMania’
WWE officials have been going back and forth for weeks in trying to determine which match will headline this Sunday’s WrestleMania. Much like last year, there has been a ton of discussion backstage in regard to which match is the most worthy of going on last in what is viewed by many as the biggest match of the year in the WWE.
For WrestleMania 32 in 2016, the decision came down to the Hell in a Cell match between the Undertaker and Shane McMahon, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout featuring Triple H and Roman Reigns. Ultimately, of course, they went with the title match which gave Reigns his second consecutive WrestleMania main event in just his fourth ‘Mania since debuting in the WWE.
This year, the three matches that have emerged as potential show-closers for WWE’s Showcase of the Immortals are the WWE Universal Championship match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, the WWE Championship match between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, and the showdown between the Undertaker and Roman Reigns. Over the last month, all have been rumored to main event, but a final decision likely won’t be made until the night before.
According to Dave Meltzer on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE officials are now leaning toward Reigns and Undertaker as the “probable” main event on Sunday. Things are always subject to change in the WWE, and this is no different. As noted, Lesnar vs. Goldberg and Orton vs. Wyatt were penciled-in at one point during the build to main event Sunday’s extravaganza, though the WWE Championship bout seemed to drop from contention as the weeks went along.
As the Inquisitr reported early last week, there was an initial feeling that the negative chants Goldberg was getting on RAW led to the decision that his title match with Lesnar would get moved down the card. While they certainly didn’t help, Vince McMahon and WWE officials changed their minds more so because of the status of the Undertaker. There is a legitimate chance that the Deadman’s date with Roman Reigns could be his final showdown, and if that’s the case, the WWE wants to give the match the red carpet, main event treatment.
Meltzer indicated that aside from the possibility (though far from an absolute certainty) that this could be the Undertaker’s last match in the WWE, it’s also the match that has generated the most interest online. The WWE puts a lot of stock into online searches and traffic results, so the fact that more people are searching for news on ‘Taker and Reigns could be a major influence. Incidentally, you can count the WWE’s Apex Predator, Randy Orton, as one who believes the Deadman should go on last.
“‘Taker is going to face Roman Reigns and that’s going to be a good one. I honestly believe that should be the last match on the card, I think that everybody will be happy with the outcome of the match. I expect the Undertaker to throw Roman Reigns around like a rag doll. Roman Reigns is going to get his, but at the same time, this is the Undertaker we’re talking about. Will [Undertaker] be around after this? If this is his last one and there’s speculation, all I can say is I hope not. Whether it was twenty years ago or today, when he comes to the ring and the gong hits and the music plays, the energy in the arena, it’s not like that for anyone else. I don’t care if its [John] Cena, Shawn Michaels or whoever, it’s a different kind of energy and he’s got more respect from the fans than I think any character or superstar has ever had in our business.”
It’s expected that Reigns will defeat the Undertaker on Sunday, and that’s the other major factor in all of this. WWE officials are aware that Roman will receive the most boos of anyone on the WrestleMania card. If they decide to put them on last and put Reigns over, the show will end in an overwhelmingly negative fashion. But perhaps that’s what they want.
[Featured Image by WWE]
