Gonna get a huge boner if my Styles/Joe suggestion from months ago actually comes to fruition.

SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR A 2-TIME WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION WHO NEEDED EDGE TO HELP HIM WIN HIS FIRST ONE AND HAD LAUGHABLY SHORT RUNS BOTH TIMES!!!!!!

Top matches have been locked for months

Or Vince legit doesn't know what he wants to do for Mania outside of wanting select guys locked into spots for the multiple main event matches.

People who have worked with him before stated he changes plans all the time because he can't commit to plans or long term booking. Also him suffering from paranoia about people knowing stuff before it gets officially announced. For example Jericho was meant to win the 2012 Rumble before it got changed at the last minute to Sheamus and wrecking some of the plans in place for Mania at the time.

Most the matches that have been locked up for a while involve part timers. Shaq/Show, Lesnar/Goldberg, and HHH/Rollins. Cena and Taker are locked into spots on the card maybe the same spot but both are part timers.

This isn't Bound for Glory

They have about 6.5 hours to work with given how long last year went

I think the cruiserweights are getting the multi-man ladder match this year

Even when considering the part-timers, only Lesnar/Goldberg and Shaq/Show are really locked in. Lesnar/Goldberg is the only one that fits as a top match candidate and Shaq/Show only got locked because it was announced right after the last Mania.

Everything else is just assumed to be happening either because of the status of those wrestlers or delays that occurred. HHH/Rollins was something originally planned for Summerslam but kept getting pushed back to now being a Mania or bust match.

According to CyNick they are to weak and small to handle the ladders.

Meltzer talking about WM on Wrestling Observer Radio r/n. Meltzer re-iterated Strowman vs Taker is not happening at WM. Plans for Cena are undecided for WM but Cena vs Taker is not happening. Sounds like Taker vs Roman or Taker vs Balor tbh from what he is saying.

I've got no interest in Taker vs. Reigns.

Taker vs. Reigns would be nothing short of dreadful

Finn vs Taker would be interesting. Battle of the 20 minute over produced entrances.

Finn can cost Taker the Rumble without having to get too physical and it can be an appearance/promo build until he's ready to come back.

Makes sense if Taker is facing a Raw gut but not any of the big nsmes

I really don't think that will be going ahead. There's more to Reigns/Goldberg at this point. Cena/Taker is the choice. I think Vince is still set on it, or if he has changed his mind, will quickly change it back.

And I don't see a way Taker doesn't win this Royal Rumble, to be honest. Unless they have Braun Strowman eliminate him illegally to set up a feud between the two, but that would be dreadful too.

A complete miss-match on paper. Balor could work as a cocky prick heel trying to bury Taker, I guess, but there is lower fruit hanging with more pay-off.

Thinking outside the box here - I could actually see a triple threat between Reigns, Taker, and Strowman for the Universal Title. Taker could pick up his second WrestleMania loss without actually being pinned, and it could set up a Reigns/Taker showdown at WM34 in New Orleans, home to Undertaker's greatest defeat. Vince has such a raging hard-on for Reigns, I'm thinking Taker/Reigns does wind up happening somehow and I could see Vince intentionally building to it for a long period of time as opposed to 2 months.

So if that happens and Cena/Taker is off the table, I've warmed up to the idea of The Miz winning Elimination Chamber (and fulfilling Daniel Bryan's greatest nightmare) to become #1 contender for the WWE Championship and facing John Cena at WrestleMania. He's been the most effective heel in the company for quite some time and I feel that warrants a high profile Mania match. It'd have to be better than their WM27 match because Miz got concussed and people spent the entire match waiting for The Rock to show up. That match didn't do either man in it justice.

Neither Taker/Strowman/Reigns nor Cena/Miz feel like show closing bouts, but I guess that doesn't matter as much if Goldberg/Lesnar is going to be the main event as Dave suggests. Bleh.

Where did you get that info from?

Most of the key matches at Mania involve part timers. So like I said, most of the card has been in place for months.

By the nature of the division they are small. They are too small too handle ladders without looking weak and inferior. If they could pretend Kane was a CW and he could do all the set up work, the little guys could jump off the ladders and entertain.

They set the ladders up before ladder matches now anyway. Half the work is done already those little guys should be able to do the rest.

Why didn't Meltzer just reveal the card?

Imagine his conversations if we are to believe his "reporting" is accurate:

*Text messages received from an anonymous former MI6 agent*

Meltzer: hey it's Big Dave

Random WWE Writing Staff Coffee Getter: oh hey Dave, great to hear from you. How's the movie business treating you?

Meltzer: No no it's BIG Dave!

RWWSCG: from the escort service?

Meltzer: WTF, it's Dave from The Sheets

RWWSCG: huh? Oh, shit...Joke. lolz.

Meltzer: so what's the word on Mania? Ya know? Haha.

RWWSCG: I dunno, I keep telling you, that stuff is kept air tight with Vince's inner circle, I just get coffee for the writers assistants. And other...tasks.

Meltzer: you're useless, and to think I got you out of that whole DDP Yoga ponzi scheme. You gotta give me something. Ya know? Haha.

RWWSCG: okay well I did see a piece of paper with some matches jotted down.

Meltzer: perfect. So what is listed?

RWWSCG: Can't tell ya, I think they have our phones tapped.

Meltzer: what if I guess?

RWWSCG: this again? And why is your font so small?

Meltzer: Yes, this again! Ya ungrateful shit

RWWSCG: sorry...

Meltzer: Okay, Taker vs Cena?

RWWSCG: I didn't see that written

Meltzer: good enough for me. Now let me tell the Mexican kid to post this on our site and do a breaking news audio spot. Ya know? Haha.

RWWSCG: okay, I gotta go, someone just made a mess of the bathroom.

*End of transcript

That works outside the ring. Inside they still gotta be set up. Then that look like midgets trying to carry a ladder to the check out counter at a home Depot.

From interviews and stories of people who worked in Creative and/or management after they left the WWE.

One of the former main writers of Creative spilled the beans a while ago about what the original plans were for the 2012 Rumble and Mania prior to its last minute changes.

Names? I know lots of people who worked at various companies, doesn't mean they were in on the top level planning meetings.

For the record, Vince is THE MAIN writer. He decides when to bring everyone in in his plans.

Legit thought about searching online for the names and stories/reports you want but in the end would just be a huge waste of time since you'd just brush it off or cling on to the same stance you always have in regards to stuff like this.

Rather spend that time watching the rest of this week's episode Lucha Underground and the upcoming Nintendo Switch event.

If you want, Google can be very helpful in finding the stuff you want.

I'm not the one trying to prove a point. I KNOW what these ex writers say is generally BS. They take a small nugget and turn it into something bigger because they want to extend their five minutes of fame. Guys like you will eat it up and continue to keep them relevant.

I've heard enough interviews and talked with people who were actually in the inner circle to know 99% of the stories you hear from these ex writers is BS. You my friend are the one who should do research and not just jump on any fake news you read and take it as fact.

I can't even imagine the live crowd if Roman goes against Taker of all people. At a WrestleMania. If would make the oh-so-warm reception he received against HHH and Lesnar seem joyous.

All I have gathered from the latest game of "try reasoning with cynick" is that he obviously listens to a lot of Meltzer to have his alleged speech patterns down and that he believes people inside the company have less reason to work people than people outside it. People that Vince McMahon apparently paid to do nothing. What a philanthropist.

I'm still not buying Undertaker not winning the Rumble. Even if he goes against Reigns, why wouldn't you have him win the Rumble to get a Universal Title shot against him? I'd rather see AJ/Taker, as I think they could have some sort of Taker/HBK quality to their match. Cena can face Samoa Joe.

Because if he wins the Rumble only to lose at Mania it kinda kills the aura a bit? Unless he's gonna retire this year, he should prob win.

Meltzer sheep,,,,,,,,,,

Anyone who's been a loyal follower of mine would know I was a subscriber of the Observer for years. Hell I've met Dave a few times. I think he's a nice guy. I think aspects of his work are great. I just don't believe he has CREDIBLE inside sources to report backstage news. So yeah, my incredible wit comes from a place of experience.

To me it's very simple. If he has a guy or guys on the inside, why not post the ENTIRE card as it stands today, and then post it again next week with all the changes. He'll if he's got someone on the inside they should be able to produce material like proofs for upcoming ads that will promote individual matches. Instead is always these vague one offs. Cena v Taker is OFF the card. Okay cool story bro, but what's the new card? You think Vince is like "well we'll either do Taker vs Cena or we will scrap that and we'll give them programs two weeks before Mania!"?

He either has access to this info or he doesn't. The way he"breaks" his news like this, and he does it almost every year when he doesn't get the card, is he'll start with some matches, then say they were changed, but may change again, and then if they go in the direction he guessed (based on watching the TV) he goes well they went back and forth for weeks. Or if he was wrong, he says Mania has been rewritten so many times, and this is where they landed. So it justifies why he couldn't get the card ahead of time.

Where did you get that info from?

I know the process. I've heard it from credible sources with first hand experience. I've seen proof.

Must be why the moved the Undertaker from Smackdown to Raw... was written in stone months ago..........................................................

When did they move him to RAW?

Maybe you missed the part about the National Championship being played against RAW. It behooved WWE to promote something special for RAW to minimize lost viewership. Seemed to work fairly well.

Plus he was never drafted to either brand. So no change was made.

Major Major Major news about Undertaker incoming...

How major is it?????

Big Cass is one of the people being considered for Undertaker's opponent at WM33, which would mean Cass would have to eliminate Taker at the Rumble, turn heel on Enzo and then squash Enzo at Fastlane.