WWE WrestleMania 38 – Saturday
April 2, 2022
AT&T Stadium
Arlington, Texas

Watch: Peacock

Full WrestleMania Weekend Schedule

WWE provides its first night of the most stupendous WrestleMania ever this Saturday and Joey O’Doherty (@awesomeojoe) of Wild Thing Podcast (@MoxPodcast) has volunteered to preview it as no one else was willing. Joey will be watching on Saturday with his 7-year-old daughter and below are his thoughts on what to expect at perhaps the most unanticipated WrestleMania in recent times.

RAW Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair

On paper, I want to be excited about arguably two of WWE’s top female stars. However, with WWE providing a less than spectacular build, coupled with their tendency to provide fuck finished, it’s hard to really get invested in a match that has the potential to steal the show. It’s been a feud six months in the making since Becky Lynch returned at SummerSlam to humiliate Bianca Belair in seconds to become Raw women’s champion, and after that abysmal squash, the “let it play out” were out in force. So, I have let it play out and we arrive at this WrestleMania match. While it may have one of the better builds on the card, it’s still fairly lacking. Lynch has been miscast and out of her depth as the cocky, flamboyant heel. Belair, to her credit, has looked stronger than most top babyface in recent memory, though that’s a low bar. The story has been dragged out without much substance. Bianca needs the win here and anything less will push her into that “just another superstar” sphere. But this is WWE and I think they will do the opposite of what they should do. Prediction: Becky Lynch

The Miz & Logan Paul vs. The Mysterios

An utterly boring build to a match that I cannot even fathom being invested in or caring about. WWE has given the talentless offspring of Rey Mysterio more opportunities than either of their secondary champions or any of their vastly more talented roster. Rey’s kid, 24 going on 25 by the way, is not ready to work competent matches let alone share the stage in front of 50 thousand onlooking fans. Give his spot to Damien Priest, Finn Balor, or even Drew Gulak. Anybody! The build to this match is nothing we haven’t seen before and nothing I could care about. A waste of a celebrity spot and a waste of Rey Mysterio’s diminishing talents. Prediction: Rey Mysterio and his bumbling son

Seth Rollins vs. TBA

The match I’m most curious about is due to the potential debut of Cody Rhodes. The build to this has involved the annoying antics of Seth Freakin’ Rollins (full name) as he does his best to catch the eye of next year’s pantomime talent spotters. Seth is an accomplished in-ring talent and he no doubt will deliver inside the ring if Cody Rhodes debuts, but as a character, he can fuck right off. His opponent has to be Cody, right? If it’s not, expect whoever else comes out to be met with crickets. Part of me hopes it’s a swerve and “Here comes the money plays” instead just for the LOLs. Realistically Cody is the easily the best bet, but John Cena, Undertaker or even Shane McMahon could be slotted in here. Prediction: Cody Rhodes

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin

How far has Drew McIntyre fallen since beating Brock two years ago? He is now in a never-ending, holding pattern feud with fucking Baron Corbin and his hapless sidekick. I don’t think anyone ever has wished for a Happy Corbin match at any stage of his career and I’ve seen enough of Corbin to never want to see another match of his ever again. Fair play to Corbin though, I admire how he has navigated the WWE game to the point where he is in a featured single match at Mania. Bravo. While it’s clear the winner will be Drew, the losers will not only be Corbin and moss, but also everyone who tunes in. It’s a match no one wants, nor cares about. Prediction: Drew McIntyre

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura

Modern WWE storytelling presents us with a match between three talented dudes and Rick Boogs, booked on a whim for the worthless tag team titles. Honestly, though, this match can be good, Usos are pretty decent and Nakamura, when not dreaming of that surfboard, can deliver. There is no real substance in this match. It’s an instantly forgettable build and the match will most likely be equally unmemorable. WWE neglects its undercard and this is the fruit it bears. Prediction: Jimmy and Jey Uso

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey

This is what WrestleMania 30 would have looked like had Daniel Bryan not be added to the main event. Flair is Randy Orton, Rousey is Big Dave Batista and I couldn’t care any less. WWE will do their usual attempt to make it seem important, but it’s not. Does anyone care? I have no real desire to see who wins, nor any feeling for what direction WWE will go in. Rousey most likely will win but I really have zero interest. My daughter is a Flair fan for whatever reason, so I will be watching I suppose. Expect it to be a decent affair but a boring, heatless affair. Prediction: Ronda Rousey

The Confrontation
Kevin Owens/Stone Cold Steve Austin

So this is what it’s come to.

A non-match, involving a 20-year retired legend, is headlining WrestleMania. While I have enjoyed Kevin Owens by the numbers build, to an extent, this segment headlining a WrestleMania shows how removed modern-day WWE is from the product I grew up on. This feels like a grander version of a predictable RAW segment that Austin has done repeatedly over the past 20 years. He will rock up, pose and flip the bird at Owens, before humiliating the modern star with a barrage of What chants, stunners and drink beers into the sunset. The build has been lazy, with Owens doing his best to make the most out of the situation, but he is capable of so much more. That said, Owens will earn a good payday, most likely enjoy himself and share the stage with one of his heroes without throwing his body off a ladder, so good for him. My expectations are rock bottom, but it probably won’t be half as bad as I envision, but as a main event, it leaves a lot to be desired. Prediction: Steve Austin

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