14 Burning Questions For WWE WrestleMania 32
Will Shane/Undertaker and Reigns/Triple H entertain? What will steal the show?
WWE will tell you that the buildup has been “epic” and that we are on the cusp of one the biggest events in all of wrestling history. The company will sell you on the belief that Sunday’s WrestleMania XXXII will be a seismic-shifting event that will alter the landscape of the WWE forever.
But let’s call Mania 32 what it is: an injury-plagued, star-deficient event with a card that looks nothing like it was conceived as recently as last fall. John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Sting and Cesaro all have been taken out of action, leaving WWE to scramble to put together a compelling card.
The result is a 46-year-old Shane McMahon being brought back to fight the Undertaker, a heatless United States Championship match and six (out of 11) multi-competitor matchups (the old adage being that if you don’t have something good on paper, throw more stuff at it to disguise the weakness).
Still, this is WrestleMania. As much as smart fans don’t like to admit it, the event itself is a draw. It’s the biggest show of the year. That doesn’t make it the best as far as in-ring competition, but it does mean that if something important or “seismic-shifting” is going to happen, it will be Sunday. And so, we will watch.
And we will have questions that need to be answered by the end of the night. Let’s take a look at the big questions that are hanging out there as WrestleMania prepares to take place…
14. Who Will Win The Battle Royal?
When it was originally conceived, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was viewed as an annual signature event for WrestleMania, a way to honor a legendary wrestler and provide a way for many members of the roster to participate in WWE’s biggest event. Ideally, it also would serve a role similar to what King of the Ring and the Royal Rumble used to in the 90s: a stepping stone to the future.
After Cesaro won in 2014 and immediately ditched Zeb Colter in favor of Paul Heyman, many felt that this is exactly what was happening. The Swiss Superman was destined for the upper card and possibly a PPV main event. Instead, the creative team lost interest in him and Cesaro faded to the background, having to build himself back up with Tyson Kidd as Tag Team Champions.
Last year, Big Show won the battle royal, which already was moved to the Mania pre-show, and proceeded to do nothing with this honor other than to pose with the Andre statue. Whoopee. And this year, Show is looking to repeat, but Kane stands in his way. Oh, and the Social Outcasts and a host of other lower-card wrestlers are looking to claim victory. Could the battle royal return to its original idea and have someone break from the pack?