We’re just a few weeks away from wrestling's biggest night, and the WrestleMania 39 card is getting pretty close to set. We have eight confirmed matches and a handful more with storylines actively developing. Between what’s confirmed and what’s rumored, most of the major WWE names have something to do, but there are still several superstars who have gotten regular TV time over the last several months that, right now, look like they might be left out. According to a new rumor, however, WWE may have a plan to solve that.
This morning over on the Twitter, WrestleVotes dropped a juicy little tidbit. The outlet said WWE is preparing to add two additional matches to the card: one men’s four way tag team match and one women’s four way tag team match. The men’s would reportedly feature Alpha Academy vs The Street Profits vs The Viking Raiders vs Braun Strowman and Ricochet, the last of which still needs a cool name. No potential participants in the women’s match were mentioned.
Now, this obviously, with all due respect to WrestleVotes, needs to be treated as a rumor right now. WWE has not confirmed this on television or even really hinted at it, and the other usual wrestling sources haven’t said anything. So, right now this is a big maybe.
That being said, this makes a ton of sense. There are some who feel a smaller WrestleMania card is better, but I want to see the performers I watch every week get a moment during the biggest nights of the year. And, also, even if you think WrestleMania spots shouldn’t be handed out. It’s hard to imagine a world in which The Street Profits and Braun Strowman especially wouldn’t be on a ‘Mania card. They’ve very over with the crowd, and someone like Chad Gable has been putting in tremendous work almost every week elevating top talent on Raw.
It’s also hard to imagine a world in which WWE leaves Ronda Rousey, Liv Morgan and Alexa Bliss, among many other deserving women off the card, either. I love seeing Lita and Trish back. They’re both among the best women ever, and I’ve enjoyed their feud with Damage CTRL. I’m stoked to see them perform at ‘Mania, but right now they’re at the center of one of only three women’s matches on the entire card. We have to get a fourth.
As I said, there weren’t any rumored women's names that came along with the tweet, but if I needed to pick eight women to put on the card, based on recent storylines and also star power, I’d put Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Carmella and Chelsea Green, Natalya and Tegan Nox and Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. That still leaves off Alexa Bliss, but she can be used in the Bray Wyatt and Bobby Lashley match, if that happens given whatever is going on with Bray.
There’s no perfect way to plot out a WrestleMania card. Everything always comes with tradeoffs. You can have less matches and give the participants more time, which can potentially lead to better individual moments, but then fans don’t get a chance to see some popular characters who are legitimately over. Conversely, you can add a bunch of additional matches but it’ll come at the expense of the time given to the more featured attractions. Putting one fatal four way on Saturday and one fatal four way on Sunday, in my opinion, is a great compromise. It adds sixteen performers to the card, but it does it in a way that will likely only soak up twenty minutes each night, especially if you streamline the intros a bit.
We’ll keep you updated as WWE officially confirms the remaining matches on the card. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see this or something like this, at least on the preshow, but we’ll just have to wait and see if this happens. And also if they add LA Knight, which seems like a must given how over he's getting. YEAH.
