At the time of writing, WrestleMania 34 is only 16 days away, which means it’s only 17 and 18 days until the real highlight of the ‘Mania period – the Raw and SmackDown Live after.
The post-WrestleMania Raw has given us so many incredible moments in the past – Goldberg debuting in 2003, Brock Lesnar returning in 2012 and Paige capturing the WWE Divas Championship in 2014 to name but a few. Equally, the SmackDown Live after ‘Mania has given us such memorable moments as Jack Swagger cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase in 2010, Shinsuke Nakamura’s main roster call-up last year and… okay, it’s obvious WWE don’t put as much stock into SmackDown Live as they do Raw, but still.
This being the case, wrestling fans can expect to see plenty of incredible moments on the 9th and 10th of April respectively. No one can say for sure what’s going to happen on those nights, but, because we here at WrestleTalk love nothing more than to play god, we thought we’d try and predict the future. Here are five big things that could happen on the post-WrestleMania Raw/SmackDown Live.
1. Samoa Joe Returns To Challenge Roman Reigns
Samoa Joseph (or Samoa Joe, as he’s known to his friends) has been out with an injury since January this year. If recent rumors are to be believed, however, we could see the ‘Samoan Submission Machine’ back on our screens pretty soon and in a pretty big way.
The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter claims that the current plan in WWE is to have Joe feud with Roman Reigns over the WWE Universal Championship after Reigns dethrones Brock Lesnar at the ‘Show of Shows’.
Joe’s out-and-out heel persona would mesh well with Reigns’ (supposed) babyface character and Joe isn’t viewed as highly as other superstars on the WWE roster, so the company probably see him as the perfect filler feud for Reigns to take him into SummerSlam.
The two men have clashed in the past and have produced some pretty good matches, so if this were to happen, I doubt we’d get many complaints. When Reigns goes over Joe clean for the 42nd time in a month, however, then things might be different.
2. Daniel Bryan Resigns As Smackdown GM
In one of the best pieces of wrestling news since the announcement of Scooby-Doo: WrestleMania Mystery!, it was revealed this week that long-time fan favorite, Daniel Bryan, has been cleared to once again wrestle for the WWE.
Bryan, who was forced into an early retirement by WWE doctors in 2016 following multiple neck and head injuries, marked his return to active competition by throwing some of his trademark running dropkicks at Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on this week’s SmackDown Live, before being powerbombed onto the ring apron. Not how I usually celebrate things, but who am I to judge.
This was likely done to set up the long-rumored Owens and Zayn vs. Bryan and Shane McMahon tag team match at WrestleMania 34, but what plans do WWE have for the bearded one after ‘Mania? It is currently unclear how regularly Bryan will wrestle now that he’s been cleared, but, if WWE wants to avoid a storyline headache further on down the line, then they would be wise to have Bryan resign his role as Smackdown Live General Manager, so they can focus on booking him solely as an in-ring competitor.
Whether he remains on SmackDown Live as a wrestler or gets drafted over to Raw in the Superstar Shake-Up, it seems unlikely that Bryan will remain an authority figure for much longer in the WWE, which begs the question – who will take over as the blue brand’s GM? Well, I know a certain 2017 Hall of Fame inductee that isn’t doing much right now, playa.
3. Carmella Cashes In… On Raw
Wow, WWE really has booked themselves into a corner regarding the women’s Money In The Bank contract, haven’t they?
Though it hasn’t been at the forefront of storylines over the past few months, Carmella won the first ever women’s Money In The Bank ladder match back in June of last year and is still yet to cash-in on some unsuspecting champion. Ok, technically James Ellsworth won the first ever women’s Money In The Bank ladder match, but WWE seems to think that we’ll all just forget about that.
#NeverForgetJamesEllsworthWinningTheFirstEverWomen’sMoneyInTheBankLadderMatch
Funny how the actual match from Money in the Bank isn’t on WWE‘s YouTube channel but the ‘we’re sorry we had a man win the first one so here you go’ do-over from SmackDown Live is, ain’t it?
Carmella is a SmackDown Live superstar and, the way things are looking at the moment, the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion following WrestleMania 34 will most likely be Asuka. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think if Carmella became the first woman to pin Asuka – not only on the main roster but in the entirety of her WWE career – then I think we genuinely may have a riot on our hands in New Orleans.
The only way I can see around this is to have Carmella move over to Raw (as part of the Superstar Shake-Up, perhaps) and cash in the contract on the winner of Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania.
Both Bliss and Jax have been beaten plenty of times in the past, so having Carmella pin one of them wouldn’t damage either too much. Also, it might be a nice way to add a little extra flavor into the Jax/Bliss feud following ‘Mania, as a triple threat between the two and Carmella (maybe even a Fatal Four-Way with Mickie James) could be set up for further down the line.
Whenever Carmella cashes in, it had better be soon. Before you know it, we’ll be having another ladder match and who knows who’ll win this one. Probably Michael Cole at this rate.
If you want to read more about this option, we previously fantasy booked it here.
4. All The NXT Call-Ups
This one sounds a bit vague, but NXT call-ups have been kinda hard to predict over the last couple of years, especially when it comes to former champions.
Some stick around on the yellow show even after losing their belts, some debut literally the night after and some have even been called up whilst still holding the belt. WWE sure love to make my job difficult, don’t they?
If a report by Sportskeeda is anything to go by, however, we won’t have this issue, as the reported five call-ups post-WrestleMania are all non-champions at the moment.
The names in question are No Way Jose, the Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) and the Iconic Duo (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay). All five of these individuals are extremely talented and have developed strong followings in NXT, so hearing their music played on the nights after WrestleMania definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Equally, we could see some current (but soon-to-be-ex) champions in NXT make their way to the main roster. Ember Moon might make the jump if she loses her NXT Women’s Championship to Shayna Baszlar, whilst current NXT Champion, Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas, stands a pretty good chance of losing his strap to Aleister Black. Both had well-received surprise spots in the Royal Rumble matches earlier this year, which could put them in good stead for a quick call-up.
We may not know for sure who’s getting called up following WrestleMania 34, but we know that someone definitely is, which is something we can all get very excited about. Let’s just hope they’re used better than Tye Dillinger has been since his call-up. Poor guy.
5. John Cena Says Farewell To The Undertaker
Although yet to be officially announced for WrestleMania 34, WWE will have a riot to deal with if John Cena vs. The Undertaker doesn’t go ahead. Wow, two riot warnings in one list. Guess it’s true what they say about New Orleans being a party town.
Whatever the outcome of this match (and, at this point, it could go either way), it’s looking like this could be Taker’s final bow in the WWE. That said, people have been calling ‘Taker’s “last match” for about the past decade now. Even when the guy “retires” it’s only for a year.
If ‘Taker is going to use this match to finally say goodbye to the WWE Universe, then it wouldn’t feel right to have him do it himself. As weird as that sounds, can you imagine the Undertaker going through a heartfelt final win/agonizing final defeat against John Cena, only to have him turn up on Raw the next night to cut a promo? It would be weird.
The final image of the Undertaker shouldn’t be one of him with a mic in his hand. If his opponent were to say goodbye for him, however, then we avoid that problem entirely.
There could perhaps be nothing more fitting for one of the greatest wrestlers of all time to have another one of the all-time greats say goodbye on your behalf. Cena is probably the only person on the current WWE roster that could do ‘Taker justice in a farewell promo, allowing the ‘Deadman’ to ride off into the sunset as the mysterious badass he is.
Although some fans might not agree with this idea, in my opinion, it would be the best way to bid farewell to a true legend; an in-ring goodbye from ‘Taker himself, then an emotional on-mic goodbye from another megastar. Get the Kleenex ready, everyone. This is going to get emotional.
How many of our predictions do you think will come true? What are some of your predictions for the nights after WrestleMania? Let us know in the comments and be sure to read some of the other great articles on WrestleTalk.com and subscribe to the YouTube channel to be kept up to date with all the big WrestleMania rumors heading into the ‘Show of Shows’.
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