Bookie .vs. Blogger .vs. Punter: WrestleMania 37

With the biggest night(s) on WWE's calendar taking place this weekend, I thought I'd get in touch with 'The Bookie' to see if he would be up for another round of Bookie .vs. Blogger .vs. Punter.

For those who don't know what I am on about - Bookie .vs. Blogger is a series that started a few years ago in which myself and a bookmaker, nicknamed 'The Bookie', would compete against each other in a prediction contest. We later added extra players (friends of the blog) to the game to make it Bookie .vs. Blogger .vs. Punter/s.

The rules go like this: each player predicts who is going to win each match on a card and then places each selection in order. One point is given to the selection they feel less strongly about right up to the final selection which has the most points. If the selection wins, the player gets the points they have applied to their pick. Once the event is over, all points are added up to determine the winner.

For WrestleMania 37, we've covered thirteen of the fourteen matches that have been announced for the show. The bout that has been excluded is the women's tag team turmoil match as it has the potential to include additional teams that weren't advertised when we made our picks. We do have the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match, however. For the game, we had to choose 'Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax' or 'Tag Turmoil Winners'.

The previous editions of Bookie .vs. Blogger .vs. Punter had a four nations theme. This time, 'The Bookie' suggested our colours represent the three main brands within WWE. The Bookie wanted to be Raw, so I thought I'd go in the order of TV schedule with the middle player - yours truly - representing NXT and The Punter taking on the blue colour of Smackdown.

Here are our selections. Below the table are thoughts from each of us about some of our picks.

The Bookie

I went with Bad Bunny and Damian Priest as my thirteen-point pick because I doubt they will have either guy beaten. Priest has been booked strongly, so adding him and Morrison to the match makes it even more likely Bad Bunny and Priest will hop to victory.

One point was given to 'Tag Turmoil Winners' to beat Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. It's difficult to guess which team could win on Saturday. It could be Lana and Naomi to give Lana a WrestleMania moment. It could be any of them winning on night one, to be honest. Maybe even a surprise team. How about Billie Kay and Carmella? It would be nice to add to Billie Kay's resume.

I've chosen Bobby Lashley (5 pointer) over Drew McIntyre because Drew won in last year's main event. It's easier to set up a post-WrestleMania program for Lashley with Keith Lee, Riddle or a returning/debuting babyface.

Shane McMahon (2 pointer) winning against Braun Strowman could be from assistance to set up Braun Strowman's next feud (speculation on my part: maybe Karrion Kross if he loses tonight?).

Kevin Owens (9 pointer) beating Sami Zayn makes sense to me because I think he will jump from the pirate ship and think a loss for Zayn will further play into his conspiracy theory angle.

I have chosen Daniel Bryan (3 pointer) to win the Universal Title match in what I believe will be the main event as it's all Reigns does at WrestleMania (unless it's Rousey, Lynch and Flair). A babyface winning in the main event could set up a program with Edge moving forward.

The Blogger

In the spirit of competition, I decided to go all-in with my top picks.

Bad Bunny and Damian Priest were my thirteen-pointers, but I sensed that The Bookie and The Punter would also have the team as their highly-rated selections. Therefore, I decided to run with a wrestler I had a feeling would not rank high on their lists: Braun Strowman.

Strowman has been made to look, and I quote, 'stupid', throughout this feud with Shane McMahon. In my opinion, the only way this can be remedied is to have him get the last laugh at WrestleMania.

There are a couple of things that might work in my favour - one is the fact that the babyface was the person who announced the match stipulation and secondly, on this past Monday's episode of Raw,  Strowman dedicated his win to anybody who has ever been called 'stupid'. 

If Strowman does lose, I guess that'll make me the stupid one for giving him the 13 points.

The Fiend was my second pick, but - just like with Bad Bunny and Damian Priest - I sensed he would also be second-favourite to at least one of the other players, so I chose the person I believe will close night one with a title win: Bianca Belair.

In other picks, I have gone with Bobby Lashley (6 pointer) to beat Drew McIntyre. Mainly because it seems to me that they're building McIntyre's WrestleMania moment to be the pop he gets as the first man out in front of a live crowd on Saturday. McIntyre's promo on Monday night did not fill me with confidence - in regards to my gamble on Lashley - but I am sticking with the champ. I'm hopeful that The Hurt Business split will turn out to be a swerve and that it'll all make sense on Saturday.

As noted, I had Bad Bunny and Damian Priest as my top picks before I decided to gamble. They're not going to lose, so I think that's a safe ten points. The celebrity involvement from Logan Paul should help me get eight points for the babyface - Kevin Owens - in his Sunday night match against Sami Zayn. 

I have chosen to bet against Cesaro, by giving two points to Seth Rollins, because the build to their match has been all about Cesaro giving Rollins the swing. A record swing attempt could - and will - be achieved, but that doesn't necessarily mean Rollims has to lose, right? Right??

Fading AJ Styles and Omos - by giving The New Day three points - was from something that I saw in a promo that stood out to me. In it, they teased that Styles and Omos hardly know each other and I feel that could become something that'll explain a loss. The story has also pointed out that this is Omos' first match, so that could pave the way for a rookie mistake to cost them.

I have put one point on the 'Tag Turmoil Winners' to win against Baszler and Jax on night two. I have a feeling that Bayley and Charlotte Flair could be the two added to the match. It's a travesty of justice that Bayley has nothing to do considering the work she has put in for the past few years, so it makes sense to me to have her involved in the turmoil match. Charlotte Flair, if medically clear, could easily be added to this match as well. Seems like a perfect spot for Bayley and Flair considering their conspicuous absences from the card at this late stage.

Now that I've seen both of my friends' have gone for Daniel Bryan to win on Sunday, I am even more keen to see Roman Reigns win the triple threat match to add seven points to my tally. I had Reigns to win against Edge before Daniel Bryan was added to the match. I am sticking with the titleholder and I think he'll do it with Edge as the fall guy to tease those who think Bryan might be in the match to lose the fall.

The Punter

I have given the 'Tag Team Turmoil Winners' six points to win against Baszler and Jax on night two as I believe the team will be Naomi and Lana to play off the Nia/Lana feud from months ago.

As soon as the steel cage stipulation for Braun Strowman .vs. Shane McMahon was announced, my instincts were that Shane would win by Braun either throwing him off the top of the cage or throwing him through the cage. I have softened on that stance recently, but I've elected to stick with Shane as my pick and have given him two points. Either way, Shane is being carried out of the stadium. I could see a scenario play out where Shane is on the pirate ship celebrating his win with Ryker and Elias below him, Strowman emerges from behind Shane and launches him to the floor so Strowman stands tall. However, I believe there are two guarantees in the match: Shane takes a big bump and Braun stands tall at the end.

Sheamus (1 point) is my pick to beat Riddle as I feel he deserves a reward for his recent career resurgence. Riddle was not the first choice to be the US Champion either, so I could see Vince McMahon switching the title here to give Sheamus a well-earned victory.

I chose Cesaro (3 points) as it's his first WrestleMania singles match and I think he could do with a win more than Seth Rollins. With that said, I am worried that this match is too focused on the swing aspect and not enough on the win aspect, so Rollins winning wouldn't surprise me.

11 points has gone to a Kevin Owens win over Sami Zayn as I think Logan Paul will be involved in the finish leading to Zayn's defeat. This will give Sami more fuel to his conspiracy theory character going forward. I wouldn't be surprised to see Owens stun Logan post-match.

Even though I have given five points to Apollo Crews, I am concerned that Big E could win in his hometown of Tampa. I have picked Crews to take the Intercontinental Title as I feel Big E is destined for bigger things on May 16th.

I have picked Drew McIntyre (9 points) over Bobby Lashley as I feel Vince McMahon wants to crown him again at Mania, but in front of fans this time. McMahon has even sabotaged his own champion lately by breaking up Lashley's faction and temporarily aligning him with Baron Corbin - a move which I believe was carried out in an attempt to quell any favourable crowd response for Lashley on Saturday. It used to be 'they do it all for Roman', now I see it as 'They do it all for Drew'.

Daniel Bryan is my pick to win the Universal Title as I think they could go for a feel good Mania ending while protecting Roman Reigns by not having him involved in the decisive fall. Also, I like the irony of Reigns becoming champion in a triple threat match and then losing said title in another triple threat match.

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Thanks for reading and special thanks to The Bookie and The Punter for taking the time to play along.