As of now, all WWE fans are focused on the road to WrestleMania. It’s little wonder that that’s the case given that this is the biggest show of the year that will inevitably be of historical significance and will inevitably have more eyes on it than anything other event in professional wrestling.
‘Mania is all the more compelling for all of the news and reports going into this year’s show. Roman Reigns is out battling leukemia, thus putting an end his streak of closing out the show which fans otherwise assumed would have continued. That opens the door to the possibility of the first women’s main event—particularly with Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch drawing so much heat. Alternatively, someone like Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman might get the big opportunity to challenge Brock Lesnar at the Showcase of the Immortals, or Daniel Bryan might get the opportunity to walk into a WrestleMania main event as the reigning WWE Champion.
Looking beyond the main event, there are also intriguing sub-plots around part time acts that might be in the mix. John Cena is back and has already made his intentions clear that he wants to work a ‘Mania match. The Rock and Batista have each been rumored to return to the ring, though at press time neither has returned to WWE television just yet. The Undertaker is always a possibility. After Crown Jewel, Shawn Michaels may be back in play.
This article takes a look past WrestleMania, though, to changes on WWE’s horizon that may have a big impact as the year goes on. Here, the focus is on twenty changes that will affect the company after WrestleMania 35.
20 The FOX Deal Goes Into Motion
In late 2018, WWE signed a deal with FOX to bring SmackDown to their network. While not unprecedented, it has been a while since WWE served two, totally separate networks. While the USA deal has a long history behind it, and represents a relationship with a major cable entity, FOX is a major network. TV has changed, so having a weekly deal with them might not be as momentous as it would have been a decade or more ago, but nonetheless means that WWE will potentially have access to its largest audience yet with this show.
The ramifications have yet to be seen, but the odds are that the blue brand won’t be so focused on hardcore fans’ favorites like Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe. Rather we can anticipate a more even balance, or perhaps even tipping the scales toward SmackDown featuring WWE’s biggest names and part timers.
19 All Elite Wrestling Gets Rolling In Earnest
All Elite Wrestling got its unofficial start with All In, and has gathered steam via announcements early this year and its Double or Nothing Pep Rally. The Double or Nothing event itself goes down in May, steering clear of WrestleMania season, which may be a shrewd choice to stand out from the crowd, and strike during a time when WWE traditionally isn’t so hot.
Might AEW legitimately compete with WWE? It’s yet to be seen, but with a billionaire’s financing, the momentum Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks have gathered, and big signings like Chris Jericho and the former Neville, this could be the closest thing to a threat WWE has faced since it won the Monday Night War.
18 Brock Lesnar Goes On Sabbatical
It was heavily expected that Brock Lesnar would ride off into the sunset after WrestleMania 34 to focus on MMA for a while. His presence on the WWE landscape kept extending to the Greatest Royal Rumble stadium show and then to SummerSlam. Just when fans really thought he was gone, he made a surprise return at Hell in a Cell, seemingly to set up a one match return for Crown Jewel. It’s unclear if WWE intended to keep him around or scrambled when Roman Reigns went out of action, but Lesnar has since reigned as Universal Champion again.
The fan response to Lesnar has grown more and more underwhelming as the past year has gone on. Meanwhile, all indications are that The Beast Incarnate will still get back in the Octagon, most likely opposite Daniel Cormier. The odds are that after WrestleMania, Lesnar really will be out of the title picture, and off WWE television for at least a few months.
17 Tommaso Ciampa On The Main Roster
Tommaso Ciampa has been an unlikely success story for NXT. After a forgettable run in the original Cruiserweight Classic, his tag team with Johnny Gargano turned heads, and then Ciampa positively caught fire upon feuding with his former partner. He has been an excellent top heel in developmental and looks more than ready to move up to the main roster.
How Ciampa will do on Raw or SmackDown remains to be seen, as many promising NXT stars have fallen by the wayside on the main roster. He’s too talented and too over as a heel to limit his audience, though. Expect him to move up after ‘Mania.
16 The McMahons’ On Screen Presence Fades
The McMahons upped their television presence at the end of 2018 in response to low ratings and a general consensus that the preceding months of Raw, in particular, had been pretty bad. They walked the line between on-air authority figures, and reassuring fans that, in real life, they were taking a more hands on role in producing the product.
By the time WrestleMania comes and goes, we can expect the McMahons to take a step backward again. The Raw and SmackDowns following ‘Mania are often a time to hit the reset button, and it would make sense to introduce new authority figures at that juncture. Additionally, the odds are high that Shane McMahon and Triple H (if he is recovered from injury) will have high profile WrestleMania matches, and will likely honor the tradition of disappearing for a while when those stories wrap up.
15 Another Superstar Shake Up
Call it a Shake Up, call it a Draft, but it has become a short-lived, but sensible enough tradition for WWE to mix up its rosters not too long after WrestleMania. Particularly given Raw’s struggles, and all the more so given SmackDown’s impending move to FOX this fall, we can anticipate WWE shuffling the deck to recalibrate and create new matches.
What moves can we expect? It’s too soon to say for sure, but it’s likely we’ll get more established veterans and big names on the blue brand, and a set of more polished workers going to Monday nights to even things out.
14 Batista Rides Off Into The Sunset
As of press time, Batista hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since the Evolution reunion. Rumors persist, though, that the tensions teased between him and Triple H toward the end of that segment weren’t incidental, but rather meant to subtly build toward a WrestleMania match between the returning Animal and The Game. Triple H’s injury at Crown Jewel put the match in doubt, though the latest indications suggest he will be back in time for ‘Mania or, if not, that Randy Orton may be a back up opponent for Batista.
Regardless of whom Batista winds up wrestling, there’s little doubt he’ll be a major presence on WWE television if he is booked for any WrestleMania match at all. Given the Hollywood career he has built in recent years, though, another certainty is that he’ll ride back off into the WWE sunset and leave a high profile void after the big show.
13 A Focus On International Shows
In the aftermath of WrestleMania 34, WWE notably took a hard turn into promoting international stadium shows, including two big time events in the Greatest Royal Rumble and Crown Jewel, and one in Australia called Super Show-Down. The events brought WWE huge money and wound up creating some huge news including Shawn Michaels’s return to the ring and Brock Lesnar regaining the Universal Championship.
It's unclear at this point what 2019 will bring for WWE in terms of big shows abroad, but given what big business they were for WWE in 2018, the odds are they won’t abandon the concept. Sure, things got messy given the real-life events around Crown Jewel time last year, but if anything WWE has surely learned some lessons and will be all the better equipped in continuing with these kinds of shows.
12 Aleister Black’s Call Up
Aleister Black has been the beneficiary of one of WWE’s most sound and thorough pushes during his time in NXT, including winning big matches at TakeOver special after TakeOver special en route to winning the NXT Championship. From there, he has been featured prominently at the top of the card alongside fellow top players, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.
While Black could easily continue to thrive in developmental, he’s a talented and unique enough wrestler that it feels like only a matter of time before he makes an impact on the main roster. He would make a lot of sense as guy to move up immediately after WrestleMania to shake up Raw or SmackDown.
11 Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn Back In Full Swing
After largely dominating SmackDown programming for half of a year, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn promptly felt lost in the shuffle when they moved to Raw, before each going down to injury. WWE teased their return in the discussion of the McMahons giving fans what they want at the turn of the year, but as of press time we haven’t yet seen the duo back on television.
While their vignettes suggest Owens and Zayn will be back well ahead of WrestleMania, we can depend on them being fully integrated into the product and back to having major roles as WWE transitions from WrestleMania season to the rest of the year.
10 John Cena Goes Back To Hollywood
John Cena is clearly loyal to WWE and seems willing to come back when the company needs him, and particularly to help build WrestleMania season. The last couple years have also, however, seen him blossom from a wrestler who sometimes appeared in movies to a full-fledged actor. He may not have an acting career like The Rock, but Cena is quickly gaining on any other current or former wrestler for the number two position among guys who transitioned from WWE to Hollywood.
So, we can anticipate Cena departing the WWE Universe again after WrestleMania season, maybe to show back up for international shows or SummerSlam, but more than likely absent for several months in between engagements.
9 The Four Horsewomen Of MMA Reunited
Pundits have been calling for Ronda Rousey to team up with real life friends Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke ever since the quartet appeared on screen together during the Mae Young Classic and had a confrontation with WWE stars. Particularly since Baszler’s success in NXT, and Shafir and Duke signing to join her in developmental, talk of a main roster stable has only intensified.
WWE seems wise to have exercised patience, letting Rousey ride out the natural face run that follows from her MMA celebrity, letting Baszler get better and better in NXT, and perhaps most importantly allowing Shafir and Duke to find their footing in a wrestling ring. After the dust settles from WrestleMania, though, it’s entirely possible that we will these four performers join forces on Raw or SmackDown.
8 The Kenny Omega Effect
As of press time, it remains unclear whether Kenny Omega is bound for WWE, All Elite Wrestling, or conceivably elsewhere. Reports suggest WWE made him a very big money offer, but that he is leaning toward working with his friends in AEW.
Regardless of where Omega lands, his decision may have a big impact on WWE moving forward. If he does come to WWE, we can make an educated guess that he’s coming with the understanding he’ll get a big push or have some degree of creative control to justify the decision. Thus the main event picture of Raw or SmackDown may be reshaped around him. Alternatively, if he doesn’t come to WWE, then Vince McMahon and company may get all the more aggressive about locking down other top talents to shore up its roster and keep them out of AEW’s hands.
7 Becky Lynch On Raw
While the FOX deal may change WWE’s outlook, for now, Raw remains the show where WWE tend to feature its highest profile, most casual fan friendly acts. Previously, Becky Lynch wasn’t in the conversation of the company’s top stars, but her rebranding as The Man has largely seen her catch fire, probably among the top five most popular acts in the company. Between that and her hot rivalry with Ronda Rousey, there’s a good chance we’ll see Lynch make the leap to Monday nights. While things can change, with WWE possibly wanting Ronda Rousey on FOX, the short-term plans seem to be for Becky and Ronda to collide on RAW.
6 The Return Of The Bludgeon Brothers
Going into the summer, The Bludgeon Brothers were positively dominating the tag team division on SmackDown, including decimating New Day and The Usos at WrestleMania 34. The odds are WWE would have continued to book Harper and Rowan on top for some time had Rowan not gotten injured at SummerSlam.
While some might suggest that WWE is underserving Harper in keeping him off TV in his partner’s absence, this may instead be a testament to how invested the company is in the tag team—wanting to keep Harper safe and the team fresh when they do make their return as a unit. We can expect the Bludgeons to take the lead in the tag division for whichever brand they resurface on.
5 A Female Commentator For SmackDown
WWE made big news when Renee Young got the call up to a full time color commentator role on Raw. The choice was well received enough, and women’s wrestling has taken on a prominent enough role that we may well see WWE follow suit with a full time female broadcaster on SmackDown, too.
WWE may promote form within by trying out someone like Charly Caruso in the spot, or transitioning Alexa Bliss into a heel color commentator role. Alternatively, WWE may look to sports broadcasters from outside its own ranks to further diversify and legitimize its broadcast team, particularly with the move to FOX.
4 A Face Turn For Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe has become one of WWE’s steadiest hands in a top and upper card heel role. There’s a very real argument to be made that he has done all that he can in that capacity, though, in feuding with guys ranging from Seth Rollins to Roman Reigns to AJ Styles, to even a heel vs. heel program with Brock Lesnar.
Joe has proven his chops as a face outside WWE and even in his early work with NXT. Moreover, he has the credibility with hardcore fans to immediately draw cheers from them. We can reasonably anticipate a face run for him going into, or at least coming out of WrestleMania season.
3 The Undisputed Era
The Undisputed Era has been one of the best featured acts in NXT for over a year now. Their in ring talent and personality has made them extremely over heel threats, and very popular among the hardcore fan base. It feels like only a matter of time before the faction makes its presence felt on the main roster.
Particularly given how highly Triple H seems to regard Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish, we can reasonably anticipate they will be protected and pushed at at least an upper mid-card level upon their call up. Having a faction of that size pushed out of the gate would mean big shifts for Raw or SmackDown and a lot fresh matchups.
2 The Fashion Police Back In Action
Tyler Breeze and Fandango found unlikely success when they redeemed their flagging main roster careers with a fun tag team that put on some of the most entertaining, comedic vignettes in WWE’s recent history. Fandango has been out due to injury, and while WWE has featured Breeze in the occasional showcase match, like his recent bout with Dean Ambrose, he has mostly been kept out of the spotlight.
We can anticipate WWE picking up where it left off on Breezango after WrestleMania, with the entertaining duo helping to diversify the tag team picture for whichever brand they land on.
1 The New Daniel Bryan Isn’t New Anymore
Daniel Bryan’s new heel persona has largely redefined SmackDown in recent months, and WWE has gone so far as to consistently announce him as The New Daniel Bryan to underscore the changes in his character. By the time WrestleMania season is over, though, his turn will be a half-year old and there really won’t be any justification to call it new anymore.
There will be a big test for Bryan as he keeps his heel act compelling for those months to follow, or if WWE decides to shift course and recast him in his highly popular face persona. One way or another, we can expect some level of change coming out of WrestleMania season.