Your Taker and Lesnar opponents for Mania

[Str8Shooter]

With Cena being out it's thrown a huge wrench into the suspected plans for Cena vs Taker at Mania. And with Reigns likely facing Triple H it means Lesnar is without an opponent as well. And given the lack of depth from the injuries, there isn't a laundry list of top guys for either to face. So who would you pick?

My picks for Taker:

Kevin Owens - To me he has the biggest upside of any of the midcard heels that could be thrown into this slot. I mean the others options are guys like Sheamus (a boring choice and makes the match a throwaway), Del Rio (Given his price tag it might be him, ugh), Rusev (Decent choice, but through booking and injury, he hasn't been a threat for months), Wyatt (been there done that, I don't want to see it again).

Owens can talk you ear off and he seems like the type of guy that's the perfect foil for Taker for a match this big. I feel like it's a good step up for him, even with a likely loss.


My pick for Brock:

Bray Wyatt - To me this choice is the best one for Brock given the lack of top level challengers. Bray's whole gimmick could work well opposite Brock, and with Harper, Rowan, and Stroman behind him maybe they can be made to look like a credible threat to someone of Brock's aura. Brock could have to fight them all off leading up to Mania and he might even be able to take a beating or two. Heyman could get beat up by them as well.

[EmperorWu]

Am I the only one who finds Bray Wyatt boring as fuck?

[SlightlyJames]

Am I the only one who finds Bray Wyatt boring as fuck?

Nope. I have zero enthusiasm for seeing him right now, I had felt that his character presented an opportunity to do some interesting things but the way it's panned out I dread seeing him come out. There's only so many times you can swallow the same meandering, nonsensical, empty promo. He's a solid in the ring but his gimmick is too much of a pain in the arse for me to want to see him prominently featured on any show, never mind Wrestlemania.

I'm reasonably certain that either Brock or Taker will be facing Kevin Owens. I've been saying Owens/Lesnar for a while now but in the event we get the rumoured Rock/Brock instead, the next logical opponent for KO is Undertaker.

I suppose it's theoretically possible that the Reigns/Triple H match that everyone saw coming a mile off doesn't happen, in that case Reigns would quite possibly find himself across from Brock for the second year in a row. I wouldn't count on it though.

Other than Owens, there aren't many opponents I can think of for Undertaker. John Cena was the obvious choice for me initially but he's out. Seth Rollins could have had a go if he was still around but that's another one that won't be happening. Who are we left with? Rusev? Sheamus? Alberto? Fucking Kane?! Bugger me.

[JPG619]

Am I the only one who finds Bray Wyatt boring as fuck?

No I find him extremely boring. He was OK when he was in NXT but I think it time to scrap the whole gimmick now. I think it was OK for a bit but since it seems they act the same with all the feuds they have been in so it got really old fast.

[Messiah]

Reigns is facing Triple H. That much I am sure of.

I don't know what they do with Undertaker or Lesnar, whichever one doesn't get Owens is kind of screwed. I mean who would they face? A Lesnar/Wyatt feud just wouldn't make any sense. Undertaker/Wyatt already happened. There is nobody credible enough left after that, and Wyatt isn't even all that credible. He's just someone that is always involved in a top program and over with the fans.

Apparently Rock can't wrestle at WrestleMania because he will be shooting a movie, so that throws him out of the equation. I mean honestly WrestleMania is kind of fucked due to how poorly WWE has built up most of their roster.

[Str8Shooter]

Am I the only one who finds Bray Wyatt boring as fuck?

No I find him extremely boring. He was OK when he was in NXT but I think it time to scrap the whole gimmick now. I think it was OK for a bit but since it seems they act the same with all the feuds they have been in so it got really old fast.

Scrap the whole gimmick? What?

The guy is still reasonably over everywhere even with his shitty booking. He has a unique look as does his "Family". He's spent years cultivating this gimmick? What do you want him to do? Go back to being Husky Harris?

It's a damn good gimmick on a roster full of guys with no gimmick. It's not his fault that the writing is so bad.

[The Legend]

My top choice for both Taker and Lesnar would be Owens. He's the best guy for either of them to face. I'd have him face Lesnar most likely though because the match would be significantly better. Odds are that would be the best match of the night - at least the best singles match.

Taker, it's really hard to find a guy for him to face that would be a big enough draw to make it worth the fact that the match won't be very good and will be much of what we've seen from Taker the last five years.

As for Bray Wyatt, I don't find him altogether boring and I think the gimmick is good enough with the Wyatt Family, but Bray himself is miscast I think as a wrestler. I think Bray would be much better cast as a manager of a great stable of a lot of guys as the Wyatt Family. The biggest thing holding the Wyatt Family back is that Luke Harper isn't just the workhorse of the group, but the only guy worth giving a story to. I almost would have preferred that instead of this "Social Outcast" group they started two or three of those guys joined the Wyatt Family because Slater, Axel and even Bo Dallas are probably all better than Rowan or Strowman.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Owens v Taker and didnt' Sheamus have a match with Lesnar at a house show that was decent - they could do a Sheamus w/League of Nations v Lesnar, try to conjure up some angle at the Rumble.

[Headlesspete]

If he's not injured anymore, the Undertaker should face Sting. Owens is already a perfect opponent for Lesnar, and i think that match could really do well, so there's no point trying to force a KO/Taker feud. Del Rio, Rusev, Ryback, Shemaus....none of those guys are anywhere near the level to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I'm all for pushing fresh blood against the old guard as a way of creating new stars, but no one bar Owens has that much to offer on a main event level, or would gain that much from an Undertaker match up.

The fact is, this should be and probably will be the Undertakers last match, and if that's the case, it should no longer be about who the Undertaker can put over, but who would give the character the best send off, and give the fans a storyline match that would be most satisfying. Sting vs The Undertaker has been the dream bout for more than a decade, and while we all know it will never be as good as it COULD have been, it can still be a dream match that gives the fans that "moment" they've always wanted.

WWE would only need to announce its both mens final ever matches, and the crowd would give them the ovation of a life time, even if all the did was rest holds! If both men were to end their careers against each other, it would be perfect.

Of course, I'll hear complaints now about how Undertaker needs to put someone over and not fight old has been s etc...and to that i ask, what would we really get from an Undertaker/Del Rio or an Undertaker/Ryback match? If the Undertaker wins, he beats a lackluster midcard act, and if "Insert lifeless midcarder" wins, WWE won't do anything with them meaningful anyway.

Give the fans what they want. Sting vs The Undertaker is the way to go.

[The Legend]

From what I know about Sting's current neck injury, 1) it hasn't been long enough to recover from it. 2) It's something you likely don't ever recover from and if he were to get in the ring again it would be to risk paralysis.

[Str8Shooter]

Yeah Sting had surgery for his neck injury in December, there's no way he'd be healed by Mania even under the best circumstances. I also heard it's pretty serious and it's not likely he ever wrestles again with an injury like that.

Sadly the Taker vs Sting match will probably never happen. I'm not sure how good it would have been now anyway to be honest. Maybe 5 or 10 years ago.

[Hanley!]

You could do Kevin Owens against either of them, and it'd be a good match. I'd say it's more likely that he gets the Undertaker match though, because there's almost nobody else left for Undertaker to fight at this point. And I think the company (correctly) sees Lesnar as a better draw for them right now, so he's more likely to get a main eventer or Attitude Era wrestler as an opponent, if there's one available.

Here's what I would do though: I'd have Owens face Lesnar. I'd actually strongly consider having that match be for the title. The company needs to get over a top heel that's a FUCKING WRESTLER and Owens is by far the best candidate. Having him win the title or compete for the title at Wrestlemania could really help there, if they pushed him hard enough. And the Triple H vs Roman Reigns match doesn't necessarily need to be for the title. It'd be just as good without, and I'd like to see the control of the company on the line instead maybe. If Triple H loses, he has to give up his role as Commissioner or whatever.

As for Undertaker, I'd have him face Finn Balor. This will be the spectacle match with the huge, fancy entrances - the match that Undertaker/Sting was supposed to be before they missed the boat on it. It'd be a great way to get Balor over as a huge new star, even if he lost (provided he was protected correctly). Though I'd probably have Balor win or have them fight to some kind of stalemate (it'd have to be a cool creative finish though).

I think that'd be a pretty strong top three matches for the show.