Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Robert DeFelice, Hannah Irelan, and Aryan Jeff Malhotra will be giving their thoughts on what happened at the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble!

Rollins and Lynch punched their tickets to MetLife Stadium. What's next on the road to WrestleMania? Let's discuss...


IRELAN: I’m pretty eager about this one. For me, it’s always interesting to see the mashups of the larger “beasts” like Lesnar and the smaller, but larger-than-life characters like Rollins. Seth has really been able to build himself up as a force to be reckoned with as of late, so I foresee a clash like no other when he meets the force of Brock Lesnar. The match won’t be short on energy or power, that’s for sure.

DeFELICE: So, one of the most intriguing things about this match to me is the fact that we have only seen one prior meeting between the two, and it was only about five minutes in length. Another good thing is that Seth Rollins Is genuinely loved by the fans and that can lead to an actual joyous uproar when Rollins dethrones Lesnar, which is what I think is going to happen until I see otherwise.

MALHOTRA: Honestly I’m way more than done with Lesnar’s title reign at this point so that does take away some of the glamour for me, but nevertheless, in the current circumstances, I believe Seth is the best option to face Lesnar. I have enjoyed Brock’s recent matches against smaller guys such as Bryan, AJ, and Finn much more than his finisher fests against Braun, Kane and Roman, and considering how good Seth is I feel like it will be a pretty good to even great match up. The rivalry is new and fresh but there’s work to be done storyline wise to invest the fans emotionally I feel, maybe a “do it for Roman” type story for Seth?


MALHOTRA: I guess there are quite a lot of ways WWE can go with for Bryan’s match at Wrestlemania, assuming he wins the Elimination Chamber match which I’m pretty sure he will. It can be Rey as mentioned by my peers, or Mustafa Ali getting a huge spotlight match. Reading the rumors of Andrade turning face and forming a stable plus his recent push by beating Rey continuously makes me think Face Andrade vs Bryan is also a possibility. The lesser likely choices I guess are AJ again, Rusev or Nakamura as shock challengers, or going the old way of Orton, or even Cena fighting for his 17th World Title. But the one I think at the top of my mind will happen is Bryan against the underdog young hungry rising babyface star Mustafa Ali.

IRELEAN: Mysterio vs Bryan is a dream match that I’ve been waiting to see for a while now, and how cool would it be to see that happen at WrestleMania? Rey’s getting closer and closer to retirement every year, so if it’s going to happen, now’s the time to make it happen. No one can match Rey’s high-flying athleticism, but I believe Daniel Bryan would make an interesting contrast. He’s never been seen as the more grounded wrestler, but facing off against Mysterio, he would clearly have to adopt an adapted style. It would be so interesting to see these two guys of similar style wrestle each other. That’s where my money’s at this year.

DeFELCE: I have to agree with Hannah. I see a lot of parallels between Daniel Bryan of 2019 and CM Punk of 2010, Bryan has perfectly portrayed the self-righteous babyface gone bad. Much like Punk, I think Bryan meets his match in the superhero-like Rey Mysterio. Bryan has said that one thing he wanted to do was compete in a hair versus mask match, and I think putting the title on the line versus the mask of Rey Mysterio before getting to the hair is a good way to start.


DeFELICE: Congratulations to Becky Lynch, who had one of the most genuine moments I’ve seen in WWE in a long time. However, I’m not a fan of the idea that they’re still considering including charlotte flair into the equation but I am not at all surprised. In regards to whether or not we will see the women headline WrestleMania this year, I won’t believe it until I see it. I will say that Ronda and Becky are very deserving of that opportunity.

MALHOTRA: At this exact moment is the most I have ever been invested in the women’s division of the WWE, no exceptions. The single most interesting story for me right now is the story of Becky Lynch’s new character, and combining that with Ronda’s popularity and the already great build up from Survivor Series has made their rivalry the top one in my mind at the moment and hence the clear choice to main event Wrestlemania, whether they add Charlotte to the match or not. And among other superstars, recently they have revived Asuka as a big superstar after a post mania slump, reviving Sasha into a legitimate contender for Rousey after doing nothing for like 2 years, and they still have many other superstars who can be used prominently as and when needed, and the cases mentioned above show that they can be reinvigorated as more important characters. So the news of women’s Tag Titles means more use of the other talented women, and of course, the scenario of completely stacked NXT and NXT UK women’s divisions filled with great matches and storyline’s exists right now. And this will obviously keep improving with more talent and exposure like the Mar Young Classic, so I am very excited for the future of women’s wrestling, and not because women are great feminism equality etc., but because Women’s wrestling has proven to be absolutely great and has my interest as a Wrestling division, disregarding the gender.

IRELEAN: I am super excited about women’s future in WWE! I sure hope that the first women’s WrestleMania main event is in our future this year. These ladies have surely earned it. I mean, my favorite match on the card so far is Rousey Vs. Lynch and I think those two are more than capable of putting on a main-event caliber match. The women are shattering glass ceilings every day, so yes, I hope to see a lot of firsts for the women this year.