As covered in our latest Rumor Roundup, over the weekend Dave Meltzer reported that the card for WrestleMania 36 has been significantly changed from the plans he wrote about in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. They’ve released Dave’s entire discussion with Garrett Gonzales on Wrestling Observer Radio for free on their YouTube channel here, so you can listen to the entire thing in the original Meltzer.
In a nutshell, “five or six” matches WWE was thinking about doing on Sun., April 5 in Tampa have changed recently. Most or possibly all of those are from the SmackDown side of things, where “everything’s up in the air”. The two specifics mentioned were that Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns and John Cena vs. Elias are almost certainly nixed.
That’s prompted a lot of speculation. Much of that Observer Radio clip is Gonzales and Meltzer thinking out loud about what will happen instead of those matches. We’re likely to have new rumors by the time this post goes live, but what the hell, let’s join in the fun.
Lots of folks are making the assumption this means Goldberg will beat Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown on Thursday and become Universal champion. It wouldn’t be a shock. Giving the Hall of Famer the belt is the easiest way to set-up something for him at WrestleMania. The Fiend would have motivation for a rematch, or Cena or Reigns could come gunning for the title.
Any of those options are, on paper, ‘Mania-worthy. But getting to them by damaging months of Wyatt build isn’t smart. It also isn’t even necessary.
The set-up for Super ShowDown proves they don’t have to do much to justify a Goldberg match. “You’re next!” suffices. A showdown with Cena could also get the “Once in a Lifetime” treatment. Reigns and Goldberg have planted the seeds of a Reality Era beef on social media.
If they opt to do the latter, Cena’s history with Wyatt fits in perfectly with Bray’s current gimmick of forgiving/avenging past foes. It would also be in line with another rumor which was floating around a couple weeks back.
So that, and one other possibility, makes up the “best case” list. That other is Braun Strowman vs. The Fiend - something which fits Bray’s character & history AND for which the seeds have been planted online. There are tons of candidates for a possible worst case, but I’d go with...
Best case
Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
or Bray Wyatt vs. Braun StrowmanWorst case
Goldberg vs. Bray Wyatt II
John Cena & Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin & Robert Roode
While you’re hoping for the best, join in the speculation below.