Wrestlemania predictions: Intercontinental Championship Ladder match

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well. It's finally Wrestlemania week! It feels like the build up has taken forever but in reality I suppose it's actually gone pretty quick. I remember starting the Wrestlemania season on my blog last month after the Fastlane pay per view and thinking it was never going to come to an end and I would never get all the blog posts done, but hear I am coming into the final stages and I have to admit. I'm going to miss it, witch I never thought I was going to say. Emotional little speech over. We are in the final week of Wrestlemania and we are only six day's away from the biggest event of the year. Because it's the last week it mean's it's of course prediction week. The week I dread the most. This when I spend six day's giving you full predictions for every single match on the Wrestlemania card. In each post I will remind you of everything that has happened over the past thew months or even year to get to this point, what I think will happen on the night of the show and what I think is best for business for both Wrestlemania and the months after. I plan on hopefully uploading a post a day but there may be day's when two prediction posts go up. There will be changes to the regular uploads, RAW Predictions and Review and Reactions will still go up but NXT and Smackdown review and reactions and Saturdays top five will not be going up this week. Right, some quick reminders before we get into the post. The link to the most recent post in Wrestlemania season will be listed bellow including the latest prediction post. I will also leave my Q&A information blog post down bellow also so you can go and check that out. You guys will all probably know by now that I'm hosting a live Q&A two hours before the show. I will also be live tweeting throughout Wrestlemania. Finally, you can let me know what your predictions for all the matches on the Wrestlemania card by either leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria. Right, let's get into the post!

So we are onto day two of Wrestlemania prediction week and it's time to take a look at the Intercontinental championship ladder match, witch will see current champ, Bad News Barrett defend he's championship against Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan at the grandest stage of them all. I have commented several times over the past couple of months how delighted I am that this match is actually taking place and more so how beyond delighted I am about how much attention the actual championship is getting. You would have seen me moan a heck of a lot both on twitter and here on my blog how much it frustrates me that now day's championships mean next to nothing in the WWE, especially championships like the IC and US, but over the past month or so we really have seen a lot more effort and attention be put into the title and with bigger names like Ambrose, Ziggler, and Bryan being put in the mix, it does have a more important feel to it. If we go back in history, this title was a pretty big deal to say the least, with legends like Bret Hear, Razor Ramon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and so many more competing and holding it, and I do think that slowly but surely importance is coming back to the title and having such a big match at the biggest stage of them all is a pretty big deal and if it's pulled off right, this could easily be the match of the night, especially with this line up. What I'm going to be doing in this post is writing up little bits and bobs about each superstar competing and what they have done in the past thew months then I will go into my full predictions. Right, let's get into it.

I recently wrote up a post about superstars in need of a Wrestlemania moment and I will insert what I wrote about Ambrose and Harper now:The first superstar I'm going to be talking about today is a man who I talk highly of twenty four seven, that man of course is Luke Harper. I have written up so many articles about why I'm such a major fan of Harper. I have spoken about he's career before the WWE and what he has achieved so far in World Wrestling Entertainment. If you haven't seen any of Harpers work as Broodie Lee then do make sure you go and research he's early career,  because trust me, when I say he is seriously underutilized I mean he is seriously underutilized.  Over the past year we have really seen him grow on the roster as a singles competitor. During he's run in the Wyatt family, he was the stand out member and was highlighted by the fans to be the strongest, most experienced, diverse, superstar in the faction. Time and time again he would shock the WWE universe with he's insane move set, doing stuff in the ring that realistically, everybody deemed it to be physically impossible for him to achieve. When the WWE split up the Wyatt family and all three superstars went their separate ways, Harper shined in singles matches and very quickly became the Intercontinental champion after defeating Dolph Ziggler on an episode of RAW. At the Survivor Series pay per view, Harper competed for team Authority but had a less than average performance. Now, you guy's all know by now that I'm beyond angry with the treatment of Harper. I have brought this up so many times over the past nine months or so, but I still have no idea why the WWE did not put the tag team championships on Rowan and Harper all those months back when they were feuding with the Usos. In the long run, the decision would of been a great business move. The Wyatt family could very easily had one of the best tag team feuds in recent years with the Ascension for the championships when they got the call up; and maybe just maybe, if Konnor and Viktor debuted as baby faces and in a strong feud, they would be receiving the hate they are getting now. Anyway, I realise I'm going off topic, but my main problem is the lack of belief in Harper. Since the moment he arrived in the WWE, he has been proving himself over and over again and anyone who has seen him not only in the WWE but in the inides, will tell you that Harper can very easily be one of the biggest heels not only in the WWE right now but in history. He's one of the most comfortable superstars on the roster when it comes to he's gimmick and in ring style. He know's who he is as a character and how to portray Luke Harper the character in the best possible way. He's one of the most diverse in ring competitors the WWE have ever had and to be honest I think it would be easy to place him in both a solid, entertaining, storyline and the main event picture. I do worry that because of he's age he hasn't got as much time compared to superstars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose, and the longer they hold him back the worse it will effect him in the future. He's Wrestlemania booking this year is perfect in my opinion. This will be Harpers first Wrestlemania

match and so it needs to be a good one. We know that he will be competing in the Ladder match for the Intercontinental championship and I really do think he is really at home with this match and he really will be a stand out of the night. Now, there are a lot of amazingly talented and top names going into this match so Harper has a lot to live up to. I do think that this match will allow him to show off he's skills to the best ability. It's such an extreme environment/stipulation and that really does suit and match he's style.Because of the poor booking he has received over the past thew moths, Wrestlemania is a big deal for Harper. A solid, strong performance will be enough for him to make he's way back at the top of the roster.

We then have the lunatic fringe, Dean Ambrose. You guys have all seen me talk about Ambrose and he's most recent work and know full well how I feel, so I'm not going to go too into this, plus a lot of what I will say in today's post will be in my prediction post so I will try and keep it as limited as possible. Right, there is no denying it, Dean Ambrose is one of the hottest talents in the WWE right now and he has been for a while. He has proven over the past year he is not someone the company can push aside, and he won't be living in Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns' shadow. He has proven to be main event talent and a huge huge fan favourite. He's merchandise sales have rocketed, the WWE universe love him and he is hands down one of the most must see WWE superstars of this generation. He's one of the best speakers around and one of the most experienced wrestlers and entertainers on the roster. However, over the past thew months we really have seen the WWE struggle in getting him into something major, that showcases he's skills to the very best. I think the main problem is the WWE focus way too much on it's main event stars at the current time and not the other superstars on the roster. I have mentioned before that I don't think he will be in this section of the roster for long. The WWE cannot afford to fail him what so ever but for now he needs to carry on making an impact and have an amazing performance at Wrestlemania. He needs to steal the show, the man everyone needs to remember on the night. A weak performance will hurt him more than anyone in the IC championship ladder match. He of course is really at home in this type of match but he needs to be the man that we all keep out eyes on throughout the match, or we could see him really struggle in the next thew months. So far he has a great Wrestlemania history and it would be great if they carried that on this year.

We then have Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett and Stardust. All of these superstars have done a lot over the past year to say the least. Let's start with the current champ, Bad News Barrett. Barrett was shaping up to have a great year in twenty fourteen and things were really getting back on track for him but when he suffered a shoulder injury everything cam crashing down and he was out of action for a number of months. But when he did come back we saw him recapture the championship and go on to become a five time Intercontinental champion. You guys all know how much of a fan I am of Barrett and I do think he will go on to hold the championship on several other occasions. He has been really entertaining throughout this storyline and the build up to Wrestlemania and while he may not have won many matches he has been in some of great ones that have still allowed him to gain some momentum. I think he will have a decent showing in the ladder match but I do think superstars like Ambrose, Harper, and Ziggler are going to steal the show and take the attention away from the champ. Ziggler is another superstar who has had a very up and down year. He still never got that major push we all want to see him get but he has some great matches and performances, the best being at the Survivor Series Pay per view when he was hands down the man of the night. He also held the IC championship on a couple of occasions last night, while in the process actually competing against Luke Harper in a ladder match for it. He's managed to fit in some great matches in the build up, but surprisingly he hasn't been the centre of attention and to be fair he's been one of the least involved. Stardust is the newest to the line up so there's not much to really go on for him but what I can say is he has had yet another great year also. You guys all know I'm not a fan of the Stardust gimmick but what I will say is that it has allowed Cody to really show a whole other side to he's in ring talents and he's little feud with brother Goldust was actually pretty entertaining. I think going into this match Stardust is the underdog and could very easily be the stand out.  R-truth has also been a nice addition to the storyline and has kept it all very very entertaining. Daniel Bryan on the other hand brings that importance to it. He brings that main event feel to it and on he's way brings a heavy, strong, group of fans. I will insert what I wrote a thew weeks back about Bryan being in the picture.
After what happened on Monday, it became clear the WWE had some huge plans for the IC title and Wrestlemania this year witch is great, fantastic even. I'm always talking about how important it is that the WWE bring back importance and prestige back to the IC and US championship. Now, adding Bryan to the picture is huge! Really huge! We now have four top stars in the IC title picture, Ambrose, Barrett, Ziggler and Bryan. This already makes the IC title a big deal and to be honest it makes it look more intresting the WWE Championship picture.However, as an Ambrose fan I worry. He's had a great year, yes, but he hasn't won a pay per view match in a very very long time. All these losses are really doing some serious damage and if he was to suffer yet another loss at Mania this time then it could be a serious problem and I really do think a Wrestlemania moment is what he needs. But then again I have another thought that a strong strong performance may be enough for him and kick starting a feud between Bryan and Ambrose after Mania turning Ambrose heel may just be a smart smart idea. So I'm very split but I thought this was an amazing start to the show, really strong and entertaining and it's really nice seeing so much attention on the championship and seeing top stars go after it, finally the WWE are listening to the fans and what we want.

I have said several times over the past thew weeks that I think this match could easily steal the show. We have some of the best of the best competing in this match and the fact it's a ladder match makes it so much more interesting. I know there are a lot of people who are not really feeling this match but I could not be more delighted that it's even taking place. I do think that they came very close to over doing it and going over the line a little. But I think the build up has been strong, it's been entertaining, and a good amount of attention has been applied to it. I think going into the match the underdog is defiantly Stardust.  Since Cody has been given this gimmick we have really seen a new side to he's move set an he has proven it's a very very diverse move set and I really do think he is going to really

stand out this weekend. So defiantly keep an eye on him because I think he is gonna pull some interesting stuff out of the bag. Out of everyone in the match up, Harper and Ambrose are most at home with the stipulation and I think that's going to shine through quite a bit. The barbaric environment is right up their street and I think they really are going to men of the match and they really will bring that feeling of extreme to it all and keep us fully entertained. They are both in need of a stand out performance anyway. I think Bryan, Barrett, and Truth might struggle  a little with the stipulation but I think they will all pull out a really good performance, the weakest being R-truth. Personally, I'd like to see Ambrose win, I think he needs it the most. Everyone else could very easily be put in a new feud after Mania without the championship. I still think that Bryan might start a feud with Sheamus the night after Wrestlemania but I do think he is the favourite to win this weekend and it would make sense. We have been teased a feud between Ziggler and Bryan but to be honest I'm really not feeling that feud. I say it's anyone's game and this is likely to become the match of the night if they are given the right amount of time.