Velasquez And Fury Reportedly NOT Lesnar's Opponents For Mania And More

Dave Meltzer has confirmed that neither Cain Velasquez nor Tyson Fury will be Brock Lesnar's opponent at WrestleMania 36.

This news, which was reported in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, was a relief to read as I have felt that the Lesnar/Velasquez rubber match idea made no sense considering how their match in Saudi Arabia was booked. 

As for Tyson Fury - this was another suggestion that seemingly grew legs from a tweet made by TalkSport's Alex McCarthy in which he claimed that Lesnar's Mania dance partners were planned to be either Velasquez or Fury.

Fury didn't make any sense as well when you consider that WWE has already teased that - if or when - he works again for the company - it'll be as a tag team partner of Braun Strowman. 

With that said, Fury did tease the possibility of him destroying Lesnar at Mania, when he sat down for an interview with the Behind The Gloves YouTube channel.

Meltzer's article has also confirmed that Edge - who has denied he's making an in-ring comeback after retiring from injuries  - will not be Lesnar's opponent for next April.

The piece continued with Meltzer writing that if Lesnar's opponent is 'not a surprise outsider, and it's not Edge, it's hard to say who would be left'. The editor dismissed names like Goldberg, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels but highlighted wrestlers like Drew McIntyre, Erick Rowan and Aleister Black were in the midst of pushes.

Of the three, Black makes the most sense to me considering McIntyre and Rowan are in the heel camp along with Lesnar.

I was quite surprised the name of Kevin Owens was not mentioned at all in Meltzer's suggestions. 

Owens' name screams out to me as a possible Mania opponent for the WWE Champion considering he has now ascended to the top babyface of the Raw brand after Seth Rollins' switch to the dark side. 

Also playing in the back of my mind - as it has been since I first suggested Owens .vs. Lesnar for Mania in this post from the summer - is the report that Owens was meant to be Daniel Bryan's WrestleMania opponent for this year, but that plan was changed due to Kofi Kingston getting hot and the decision was made to move Bryan .vs. Owens up to WWE Fast Lane. 

Owens didn't even get a match at Mania 35, so it seems to me that they're going to make good with him this time around by giving Owens the WWE Championship bout for the 2020 edition of the event.

This could be me looking through rose-tinted, hopeful specs as Lesnar .vs. Owens has been a dream match to me for years. The chance of it finally happening has never looked as good as it does right now considering they're at their respectively at the top of the contrasting heel-babyface divide for their brand.