WrestleMania 34 is in the books. It’s too early for there to be concrete plans for WrestleMania 35. Between now and then, new stars will emerge, new storylines will develop, the fans will have their opinions heard, and real life events like injuries will happen. Just the same, you can rest assured that Vince McMahon and the powers that be at WWE are looking ahead and already considering what the next WrestleMania might look like.

One of the more intriguing factors as we look at this WrestleMania: there are relatively few sure things or definitive fan favorites for matchups or lead storylines at this point. Compare where we are now to where we were a year ago.

At WrestleMania 33, Brock Lesnar finally got one up on Goldberg to return to world champion status, while Roman Reigns joined Lesnar as the only men to have beaten The Undertaker at WrestleMania. It was clear enough WWE was setting these two on a collision course, and likely as not that it would culminate at WrestleMania 34. Similarly, while it was less clear WWE would make it so, fans were clamoring for AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE ring for a full year. They wanted to see WWE rekindle their highly regarded issue from New Japan. The longer WWE kept them on the same brand, but separated—never having a full fledged match—the more momentum gathered for the idea that WWE was saving their pairing for ‘Mania. While far less certain, seeds had been planted for Ronda Rousey’s debut and that she might clash with The Authority based on their interaction at WrestleMania 31. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka was one of several women’s dream match scenarios centered on the Empress of Tomorrow as she dominated NXT and seemed main roster bound.

So what might WWE have in store for WrestleMania 35? This article looks at 15 rumored storylines Vince may already have in mind.

15 Ronda Rousey Vs. Charlotte Flair Vs. Asuka

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The conventional wisdom going into her mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 34 was that WWE was putting Ronda Rousey in a protected position. Particularly with Triple H and Kurt Angle involved, she had the opportunity to work a well-rehearsed match with seasoned ring generals to direct traffic. From these controlled circumstances, Rousey could prove herself and work toward challenging for a title at WrestleMania 35.

Rousey more than held up her end of the bargain at WrestleMania 34, while the other most featured women’s match at the show saw Charlotte Flair upset Asuka, ending her undefeated streak. Things took another turn when Flair dropped her SmackDown Women’s Championship two nights later to Carmella. Was it possible WWE booked Flair to win at ‘Mania just so Carmella wouldn’t get dubious credit for ending the streak on an episode of SmackDown, as opposed to Flair doing so at the biggest show of the year? Carmella’s cash-in, plus Asuka moving to the blue brand suggest that Asuka still has a championship in her future, and her rivalry with Flair likely has many matches to come.

So, there looms the possibility of a Rousey-Flair-Asuka three-way. WWE could do worse than to put the still green Rousey in the ring with two of the best female wrestlers in the world. Moreover, Asuka and Flair are probably the most credible stars to stand up to Rousey. Sure, there’s the complication of Rousey being on Raw while the other two are on SmackDown, but with the women’s Royal Rumble in play, besides the possibility of WWE contriving a trade or two between now and WrestleMania, that’s a minor obstacle for this women’s dream match, and potential main event, to come together.

14 Daniel Bryan Vs. AJ Styles

Bryan Vs Styles

In a dream come true to wrestling fans, Daniel Bryan was cleared to return to the ring shortly before WrestleMania 34. While his first outing went down in a controlled environment—working a tag team match, and doing so opposite two of the most skilled workers in all of WWE, the company has since demonstrated Bryan is back for real, and won’t be heavily protected. He has gone on to what looks like a full time schedule, worked for seventy six minutes straight at the Greatest Royal Rumble, and was booked for his next feud with a far less safe, proven talent in Big Cass.

Two nights after WresleMania 34, WWE booked Bryan into a dream match with AJ Styles. The outing was good, but kept short and undecisive with Shinsuke Nakamura getting involved in the non-finish. So, while the less experienced fan might think Bryan-Styles has already happened, there’s reason to believe WWE was just whetting our appetites, while saving this pairing for down the road.

Not unlike the purist’s dream match of Styles-Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, Styles-Bryan at WrestleMania 35 would have all the potential in the world to steal the show.

Moreover, Bryan’s a far more proven commodity than Nakamura in the context of WWE, and while most fans were disappointed in this year’s WWE Championship match, there’s little doubt this WrestleMania 35 bout would steal the show, whether or not there’s a title involved.

13 Braun Strowman Vs. Triple H

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Survivor Series 2017 saw a strange dynamic develop when the main event inter-branded elimination tag team match came down to Triple H and Braun Strowman as the last men standing. Triple H was a bit of a non sequitur survivor—only added to the Raw team six days earlier after having been absent from WWE television for half of a year. Strowman, a mere month earlier, might have been cast as The Game’s right hand heel lackey, but WWE cashed in on his budding popularity in edging toward a face turn starting at TLC in October, and culminating in Strowman power slamming Helmsley into oblivion after their winning effort.

Some hypothesized this was the start of angle between Strowman and The Authority, but it instead wound up being more of a footnote as Strowman’s face status was confirmed, while Triple H mostly disappeared from TV again until he was ready to start building to the mixed tag team match between himself and his wife and Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey.

Make no mistake about it, though—WWE is serious about Strowman. The only face pushed more heavily has been Roman Reigns, and on the assumption Reigns will be back in the Universal Championship picture by WrestleMania 35, there are few more prestigious spots available for the biggest show of the year than casting The Monster Among Men against Triple H.

12 Brock Lesnar Vs. Bobby Lashley

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When fans learned that Bobby Lashley was done with Impact Wrestling, the rumor mill started up that he’d come back to WWE to finally realize his dream match scenario opposite his fellow MMA fighter, amateur wrestling veteran, and genetic freak Brock Lesnar. The idea seemed to fizzle when it looked as though Lesnar was on his way out the door, but now that Lesnar has signed a contract extension and remained Universal Champion longer than anyone expected, Lashley-Lesnar is back on the table.

To be fair, Lashley will need a heck of a push to justify this match. The early days of this new WWE run haven’t exactly inspired confidence as he already feels largely lost in the shuffle.

He’s a unique enough talent, though, that WWE could very reasonably get him elevated in a hurry. A year’s time, to set him up for a match that fans are clamoring for should provide ample opportunity to get him ready for the biggest match of his career.

If this match does come to fruition, one of the biggest questions is whether WWE will have the Universal Championship on the line, or get the title off of Lesnar sooner. It’s not a match that needs the title, but if WWE keeps pushing Lesnar’s reign, Lashley would be viable choice to pose a credible challenge.

11 Seth Rollins Vs. Dean Ambrose

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Summer 2017 saw long time rivals Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose set aside their issues to come together as a tag team. After a fun story that stretched over a month, they combined forces and managed to unseat The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championships a SummerSlam. Given a little more time, they teamed back up with Roman Reigns and The Shield was back.

The Shield reunion didn’t exactly come across as planned. First Reigns fell ill and had to miss what was meant to be their big comeback match at TLC. Then Ambrose got injured, which called an incontrovertible finish to the reunion story.

It was widely rumored that The Shield was going to split by WrestleMania 34, and the prevailing theory was that Ambrose would finally turn heel to rekindle some of the villainous madman magic he had demonstrated when the faction first debuted on the main roster. Waiting a year to play out a similar story may well be for the best for a slower, more dramatic burn, with Ambrose either turning on Rollins promptly upon his comeback, or perhaps reigniting the faction one more time for a brief spell before the not so shocking turn.

10 The Undertaker In The Hall Of Fame

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Of every WWE Superstar, past or present, who is not currently in the WWE Hall of Fame, it’s difficult to argue The Undertaker isn’t the most deserving to be inducted. No one who isn’t an active full time talent has won more world titles, main evented more WrestleManias, or had a career with anything like The Phenom’s longevity.

But will The Deadman be inducted?

There are two main reasons for him not going into the Hall yet. First is the fact that he still isn’t entirely retired (even after a fake out at WrestleMania 33, he did come back to work his short bout with John Cena at WrestleMania 34). Secondly, his protected persona doesn’t make sense breaking kayfabe to the extent a Hall of Fame induction would demand—the guy has rarely even appeared at Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for his desire not to break character in front of a WWE audience.

The Undertaker wasn’t up to working a full fledged match at the most recent WrestleMania, though, and he looked a little rough working The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia—particularly for hitting a dangerous looking Tombstone on Aiden English. Combine these factors with him appearing out of character more and more for WWE documentary projects like the WWE 24 specials on WrestleMania 33 and Raw 25, and it may well be time for him to bite the bullet, if not on complete retirement, then at least induction.

9 Samoa Joe Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

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In the wake of the 2018 Superstar Shakeup, the SmackDown brand came up with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to super talents who came of age in the indies or internationally. There’s AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, not to mention Cesaro from The Bar, and Eric Young’s Sanity faction. And then there’s Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Joe and Nakamura are each cast as heels now, and there’s little reason to think they’d cross paths in the immediate future, particularly when they have guys like Styles and Bryan to match up against, not to mention Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton.

But a year is plenty of time for that to shift, and particularly for Joe to make his first face turn on the main roster.

Joe and Nakamura already had a solid rivalry over the NXT Championship. On the main roster, Joe may well be one of the few guys available who knows how to get the most out of Nakamura, who has struggled to find his footing with the main roster talents and main roster fans. A strong style battle at WrestleMania between these two may well be a lot of fun, and a way to properly feature both of the heavy hitters.

8 Jeff Hardy Gets Woken

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At present, WWE is pushing Jeff Hardy as a singles star on SmackDown, while his brother remains on Raw, currently teaming with Bray Wyatt. Keeping the brothers separate makes reasonable sense, if only because Matt is locked into his immersive Woken gimmick, where as WWE currently seems to see more value in Jeff playing his same old character that took him all the way to the World Heavyweight Championship a decade ago.

There’s little question the Hardys will come back together at some point in WWE. They’re popular as a tandem and WWE loves a good reunion tour. Moreover, as his age catches up to him, the bloom is off the rose for Jeff as a top tier singles guy.

It’s possible that Matt will regain his mental stability and we’ll see the old school Hardys rally again. The more intriguing possibility, though, is that Jeff will get Woken and join his eccentric sibling in his oddball gimmick. Maybe it will be a matter of Jeff coming back to Raw to help even the odds if Bray Wyatt turns on his new ally. Or maybe Matt and Wyatt make their way to the blue brand to help out Jeff against a threat like Sanity. Time will tell, but Matt and Jeff may well be teaming again in some permutation by WrestleMania 35.

7 The Authors Of Pain Vs. The Bludgeon Brothers

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After years of stop-start pushes and mostly living in the shadow of Bray Wyatt, Harper and Rowan’s WWE runs got a new lease on life with the Bludgeon Brothers gimmick. This persona has allowed them to work the straight ahead, bruising style they probably always should have been, and WWE has pushed them strongly, including largely dominating The Usos and New Day.

In the shorter term, The Bludgeons vs. The Bar seems like an inevitability, and it’s a stretch to forecast Harper and Rowan keeping the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a full year. Nonetheless, the act has enough momentum and intrigue that they will hopefully still be relevant come WrestleMania 35. With every PPV co-branded at this point, there’s plenty of opportunity to set up a co-branded dream match of sorts with The Authors of Pain.

The Authors of Pain are, to over-simplify, what WWE always wanted The Ascension to be, as a dominant monster team with the size, strength, and in-ring talent to back up their badass persona. The AOP vs. The Bludgeons wouldn’t be a technical masterpiece, but it could be a lot of fun as a hoss war by the time WrestleMania 35 rolls around.

6 Sasha Banks Walks In Champion

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The Raw Women’s Division from WrestleMania 33 to WrestleMania 34 mostly revolved around Alexa Bliss and it was fitting enough that she’d walk into the biggest show of the year as champion. Moreover, it was sensible for Nia Jax to dethrone her, finally realizing her potential and telling a feel good story with her face turn and response to a bully. The only problem? Sasha Banks and Bayley were left out in the cold, relegated to the pre-show women’s battle royal.

The rumor mill suggests that Banks vs. Bayley was penciled in for ‘Mania, but ultimately scratched because it would mean adding a fifth women’s match to the show (if you count the mixed tag as such), and the pair’s star power and rivalry was needed to add heat to the battle royal. The logic is fair, but it was still difficult to watch Banks in particular—as a workhorse and one of the most talented women on the roster—miss out.

Banks is long overdue for a heel turn, particularly given how successful she proved she could be as a heel in NXT.

She’ll probably wind up more fully realizing her feud with Bayley before the end of the year—with some delay as they team up against the Riott Squad—and that will hopefully leave her free and clear, as a heel to transition into the Raw Women’s Championship scene, and to head into ‘Mania with the title.

5 No Way Jose’s Longest Conga Line

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No Way Jose was a popular act in NXT for his infectious personality and fun entrance. WWE has stepped things up for him on his main roster entrances, including not just an Adam Rose-style band of anonymous revelers coming behind him each time he heads to the ring, but Jose luring Titus Worldwide, Bobby Roode, and others to come party with him.

Jose’s future with WWE is not entirely clear. For as entertaining as he may be, the guy’s absence of gravitas doesn’t have main event, or even secondary championship written all over it. However, if he can hang on and garner enough popularity to justify a one on one match, or at least participation in a multi-man tag match, we may well get his rumored WrestleMania-sized entrance in New Jersey.

Everything is bigger at ‘Mania, and it’s traditional for entrances in particular to be more elaborate versions of what Superstars typically do. To date, Jose’s conga lines have tended to involve about five to ten party people, but for the biggest show of the year we may well see the parade multiply with a cast of twenty, thirty, or more for a unique spectacle befitting the large stadium setting.

4 The Iconics Vs. The Bellas

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Rumors have been going around in recent months about a women’s tag team championship for at least one of the brands. The debut of The Iconics seems to further that idea, as WWE has introduced Billie Kay and Peyton Royce not as individual personalities, but rather as a tandem right off the bat. Moreover, WWE has started them off with a push, making the duo integral in no lesser star than Charlotte Flair losing the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Their beat down of the Queen sent an immediate message, and set up Carmella to cash in Money in the Bank on her. While Flair has generally gotten the best of the rookies since then, it nonetheless stands to reason that they do their best work, not one on one, but as a pair, and thus are a perfect fit to help launch a proper tag division.

The Iconics feel like the latest take on a dynamic WWE has visited a few times before—a mean girl persona previously embodied by the likes of LayCool and The Bella Twins.

Speaking of The Bellas, they haven’t been seen in the ring much lately. Given their length of tenure, though, Nikki’s year-plus Divas Championship reign, and their reality TV presence, WWE is reasonably justified in treating them like legends and, for example, making it a big deal when they came back for the women’s Royal Rumble. Bringing them back to face off with their spiritual successors in The Iconics, with our without titles on the line, could make a lot of sense for a special attraction at WrestleMania 35.

3 Y2J Is Back

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Chris Jericho has broken new ground as a WWE part timer. No, he’s not the first guy to work a reduced schedule or take sabbaticals, but he is quite arguably the first to truly come and go from WWE as he pleases. First, he took the time to heal up, tour with his rock band, and act. More recently, he has bounced between WWE and New Japan with surprising ease, and reportedly even the blessing of Vince McMahon. It’s telling that he’d work Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo and then show up in New York for the Raw 25 special, let alone that he’d work WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble, then resurface in Japan mere weeks later.

Jericho has missed his share of WrestleManias on account of his sabbaticals, but there’s little question WWE would want one of its biggest all around stars back for its biggest show of the year next year. Maybe he’ll revisit issues with Kevin Owens and by extension Sami Zayn. Maybe he’ll work as a returning face opposite someone like Elias or Jinder Mahal, or plays a heel guest spoiler to someone like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, or Braun Strowman, we can rest assured Jericho will find a place on the card as long as he and WWE can come to terms.

2 Shane McMahon Vs. The Miz

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From 2016 into 2017, The Miz accomplished the unlikely in becoming one of the most successful heels on the SmackDown brand. His work, particularly on the mic, was sharp enough to all but erase the stink of his poorly received 2010-2011 WWE Championship reign, and have folks prepared to accept him as a main eventer again. A move to Raw threatened to derail his momentum, but The Miz beat the odds there, too, becoming the quintessential heel mastermind of the brand opposite The Shield and Braun Strowman, besides being the staple Intercontinental Champion.

Back on SmackDown, the future is bright for The Miz. He has a new reality TV show—Miz and Mrs.—airing soon, and the foundation is well established for a rivalry between him and Daniel Bryan. We have to expect he’ll take some of his rumored and well-deserved parental leave time in the not too distant future, maybe after he blows off his issue with Bryan. But what of his plans for next year’s WrestleMania?

Assuming he can keep up his momentum, The Miz is on the very short list of stars WWE could justify putting in the ring with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania.

Moreover, as Shane gets older, and his signature dare devil style gets less defensible, WrestleMania 35 may represent one of his last heavily featured one on one matches. The Miz is an ideal opponent to be able to carry a feud on the mic with Shane, and to be able to work a safe, conservative, but still entertaining match with the SmackDown commissioner at the biggest show of the year.

1 The Return Of American Alpha

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The Superstar Shakeup saw Chad Gable move from his heel tag team with Shelton Benjamin on SmackDown into a face singles role on Raw. Gable is certainly talented—a deceptively powerful technical wizard, with the smaller size to always make sense as an underdog. Despite his potential, and the possibility of moving into a featured Cruiserweight position, the odds seemed stacked against Gable really making a name for himself, as opposed to getting lost in the shuffle on a bloated roster.

Being on Raw puts Gable back on the same brand as Jason Jordan, though. Jordan had an uneven go of it in his own singles push. He had the spotlight thrust on him with the Kurt Angle’s son storyline and largely flopped as a white meat babyface. The guy was just starting to show potential with hints of a heel turn when he got injured.

Gable and Jordan may well have the capacity to succeed on their own, but with only so many featured spots available on Raw, it’s likely as not they’ll wind up teamed back together in a reunion angle heading into WrestleMania season. The good news is that both men really are better established with the audience than they were for their first main roster run, and with familiar teams from NXT like The Authors of Pain and The Revival on the landscape, they could do some great things paired back up.