WWE News: Major ‘WrestleMania’ Angle To Be Cemented On ‘SmackDown’ Next Week


While there are WrestleMania plans in the works for the SmackDown roster, nothing has been solidified on television as of yet with five episodes left before the big show in Orlando. Viewers can get a sense of the direction the blue brand is headed, but even without a pit stop on their road to WrestleMania, fans haven’t had a single confirmed match signed for Camping World Stadium on April 2.

In fact, the only confirmed match for WrestleMania at this point is the final encounter between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, which is expected to include the WWE Universal Championship. The card should start to become clearer in the coming weeks, especially on RAW, where they still have to produce Fastlane before things take shape for WrestleMania.

The SmackDown creative staff has taken an interesting approach to their angle for the WWE Championship this year. Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble but turned down the opportunity to face Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania for the belt. This is all part of the storyline, however, as Orton is expected to be involved in the match. As of last week, WWE officials were considering the idea of inserting Luke Harper into the mix and making it a Wyatt Family three-way.

[Image by WWE]

A big part of the reason for SmackDown delaying any announcements for their brand’s matches at WrestleMania is the fact that they had a full seven weeks between Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania. In today’s era, that’s a lifetime of build time as the company operates pay-per-views on a monthly basis with five weeks in between each event at the most.

However, thanks to backstage reports from the Inquisitr and other outlets, there are several SmackDown matches currently on the table for WrestleMania. Wyatt will defend his title, either straight up against Orton or in a multi-man match. Dean Ambrose will likely defend his Intercontinental Championship against Baron Corbin. Despite some backlash, AJ Styles appears headed for a match with Shane McMahon. American Alpha and The Usos will square off. And John Cena will team with Nikki Bella to take on The Miz and Maryse in a mixed tag match.

That still leaves question marks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Last week, the Inquisitr reported that there were no plans for the title to be defended at WrestleMania, but it’s unclear how Naomi’s injury affects that decision.

One decision that won’t be affected for WrestleMania, barring injury, is the one to move forward with the aforementioned mix tag team match with Cena, Nikki, Miz, and Maryse. And those plans will be cemented next week when Cena is the special guest for MizTV on SmackDown, as covered by SportsKeeda. That announcement was originally made Tuesday night on Talking Smack with Renee Young and Daniel Bryan.

[Image by WWE]

Their WrestleMania match, which was questioned quite a bit by fans, officials and reporters originally, has had several seeds planted already, but the subtlety will disappear next week on SmackDown. Those seeds included Cena eliminating The Miz from the Elimination Chamber main event, Maryse feeling the brunt of backstage brawls between Nikki and Natalya resulting in a pipe attack by Maryse, Cena tossing out The Miz during Tuesday’s Battle Royal, and The Miz returning the favor minutes later before running back through the crowd.

It’s unclear whether their WrestleMania match will actually become official next week, but the new rivalry will be front and center on MizTV. It will also lead to Nikki and John’s real-life relationship being used as part of the storyline, with both superstars involved at the same time. It will mark the first time Maryse has been involved in a match in a WWE ring since 2010 and could be Nikki’s final match of her career if rumors of her neck injury are believed to be true.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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