WWE Already Has a Direction in Mind For Top Match at WrestleMania 36

As noted earlier, part of the reason why Vince McMahon decided to take the SmackDown Women’s Title away from Asuka is that he felt that there would be little interest in her match and he wanted to make the main event strong.

As noted by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, McMahon also wants to come out of WrestleMania 35 with a clear direction for WrestleMania 36 in Tampa.

It’s not clear if the direction is Rousey returning for a match with Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair vs. Lynch but the direction should be clear with whatever finish they come up with. Of course, if Rousey is in the plans for next year, they will need to work around her time off. No one seems to know how much time she will be out for but if she plans on starting a family then I wouldn’t expect to see her back in the ring until early 2020 at the earliest. As of this writing, she is not scheduled for anything after the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw. She is not advertised for May events, including the European tour.

Meltzer pointed out that whatever direction they come up with next year can change several times as they did for this year’s show. Basically, the top three matches for this year’s show were determined by the fan reaction. If not for the fans and the concussion from Nia Jax’s potato punch, then Lynch would have never been considered to be in the main event this year.

There were different opponents planned for Rousey at different times. At one point, it was going to be Flair vs. Rousey in a singles match. Then it was going to be Natalya (as a heel) against Rousey but Vince McMahon felt that it was not a good idea to turn her heel after the death of Jim Neidhart.

---

LATEST NEWS

---