February 21, 2016
Cleveland, OH
TV: PPV/WWE Network
It's that time of year again. The Road to Wrestlemania. It seems just like yesterday that we were going into Fastlane and fans were hoping that Roman Reigns would lose a match to prevent him from going into the main event at Wrestlemania. Well, on that front, not much has changed in the past year. This year the scrappy underdog that fans have gotten behind is Dean Ambrose. Will Dean Ambrose challenge Triple H (is this 2002?) in the main event at Wrestlemania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? Will the WWE piss fans off once again with the likely scenario of Roman Reigns going on to challenge the COO? Or will Brock Lesnar finally get his chance to regain the belt? We'll get to that shortly.
(Pre-Show) Kalisto (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio 2 out of 3 falls for the WWE United States Championship:
First off, we have Kalisto defending the United States Championship against the former champion Alberto Del Rio. Not much to say about this match. At least they've added the 2 out of 3 falls stipulation to differentiate it from the 20 other matches they've had over the past month. I could see it going either way, since it seems that they've basically killed all the momentum that the US title had during the Cena reign.
Prediction: Kalisto
Ryback, Big Show, and Kane vs. The Wyatt Triplets:
A nothing match that was added after the "main event" on Raw this past Monday. There is literally nothing interesting about this match for me. Neither team winning would surprise me. I lean more towards the Wyatts since Vince seems dead set on pushing Braun Strowman later this year. So I think he'll want to attempt to make him "look strong".
Prediction: The Wyatts
Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks vs. Team Worse:
This match is basically just to set up the divas angle going into Wrestlemania in my opinion. Some tension between Becky and Sasha could cost them the match. I still think they're setting up the triple threat between those two and Charlotte at Mania.
Prediction: Team Worse
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Intercontiental Championship:
I don't see them taking the title back off of Owens until at least Wrestlemania. Ziggler has no chance. It will be a good match like these two always have. There have just been too many of them lately.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
Charlotte (c) vs. Brie Bella:
Brie is probably on her way out soon. Possibly after this match. They could give her a "thank you" win and have her lose it back the next night on Raw, but I don't think that's very likely.
Prediction: Charlotte
AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho:
Thrice in a lifetime. The match on Smackdown last week was a pretty good match. That said, I hope that this is the rubber match that ends the feud. I think that Styles should and will win, but I'm not sure this ends the feud. It could, but I could also see it ending with a Jericho heel turn and the feud continuing to Wrestlemania.
Prediction: AJ Styles
Main Event - Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar to determine the #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania:
I think that we all know where Vince McMahon and company wants to go with this. The obvious scenario is Reigns winning this and getting the WWE Championship back at Wrestlemania. I agree with many people in thinking that this could end in disaster, closing out Wrestlemania to a chorus of boos. At the same time, part of me thinks they need to just follow through with their plans and see if Reigns can sink or swim as the top guy. In my opinion, they should go with Ambrose here and turn Reigns, but I don't see that being too likely. I also hope that they figured out that going with Lesnar vs. Wyatt at Wrestlemania is NOT a good idea. I think Reigns wins here. I can see them possibly setting up Ambrose/Lesnar going into Wrestlemania here as well.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
Overall, I think it will wind up being a solid show. The main event, despite the likely winner, should be interesting. Owens/Ziggler and Styles/Jericho should both be good. I'm most interested to see the direction that they'll go after this show heading into Mania.
