[Emperor Smeat]

According to Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, the tentative plans for Mania right now are these matches:

WWE Title - Orton vs Batista OR whoever beats Orton at the Rumble vs Rumble winner
Streak match - Taker vs Lesnar
Triple H vs CM Punk OR Triple H vs Roman Reigns
Reigns vs Langston for the IC belt (if Reigns vs HHH doesn't occur)
Cena vs Bray Wyatt OR Hogan/Cena vs the Wyatts OR Sheamus vs Cena
Daniel Bryan vs HBK (assuming HBK agrees to unretire)
Cody Rhodes vs Goldust

Rest of the card probably gets decided very close to Mania itself.

While this could change, right now they have a Batista vs. Orton match scheduled for WrestleMania. He’s actually been on the books to be at Mania this year for a few months, probably dating back to around the period the first rumors came out that he denied, about coming back. Batista is expected to be in the Royal Rumble. If Orton ends up as the champion at Mania, then the original plan was likely for Batista to win the Rumble. If Orton loses the title, then the plan was likely for whoever gets the shot at the new champion to be the guy who takes the Rumble.

HHH vs. C.M. Punk is now on the books for Mania as the climax of The Authority angle. Roman Reigns is a back-up plan for HHH’s opponent, but there was a Langston vs. Reigns singles match tease on TV this week, and I don’t see that taking place at the Rumble because that would seem way too soon, and the Elimination Chamber is a multiple-person main event. Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar is also still on the books for WrestleMania. With all the top guys seemingly taken, that would still seem that Cena is in for something to do with Hogan in some form, since Cena should be involved if they do a Hogan final deal type of show. As of last week, Cena vs. Bray Wyatt, believe it or not, was the main event planned for the show. Vince McMahon stated to the writers and producers that “Cena is the main event until his time is clearly up. That man feeds us!”

The booking is based on the idea Hogan won’t be able to do a match or pass the medicals. That still leaves a Bryan vs. Michaels spot open (as noted, everyone internally is being told Michaels will not work another match, as are friends of Michaels, but even so I wouldn’t reject that possibility 100%) as well as a lot of other guys not accounted for. Sheamus doing a heel turn could be a backup plan for Cena if they don’t think Wyatt is ready for that spot, but that would be tough to put as the main event. It’s a match that was done for months straight and as a main event program, and while it’s foolish to think that Mania has to be all new matches, Cena vs. Sheamus doesn’t feel like a Mania main event. Sheamus’ shoulder hasn’t recovered yet, which may cut into the time to get him over enough to be in that position, if that can even be done at this point, unless there was a great idea to heat him up.

One match that was earmarked for the show, Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust, to me would be a big mistake. The two wanted to do the match last year, and even had an angle put in place to start it, but Vince McMahon vetoed it. This year, the tag team was originally set to lead to a split and a match at Mania. The problem is, the two have ended up forming a good team and not only is it way too early to split them, I think splitting them and feuding wouldn’t work now, and may never work. Real brothers feuding only works when there is a story with real meat and believability to it (Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart). When it’s done when there’s no real good reason that people can buy (Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy, and no, nobody believed Matt set fire to Jeff’s house and killed his dog) you can spend months building up a cartoon feud and the people will crap all over it. Plus, both have far more upsides together than either would separate for the time being, and for Goldust, it’s a career saver because once they split, no matter how good a worker he is, they aren’t going to push him as a single at his age..