The showcase of the immortals is upon us. WrestleMania 41 is here, with a two-night spectacular from Las Vegas that takes all of WWE’s biggest storylines from the last year and brings them to a close in their massive stadium show.
Instead of predicting the winners from each match we’re diving into the biggest story elements of the show and other weirdness which could impact the WWE. Here are our predictions for WrestleMania 41.
John Cena will win the WWE Universal Championship
A year ago Cody Rhodes “finished the story,” and hoo buddy has the last year felt like this story has been done. Through no fault of Cody, his run as WWE Universal Champion has been one of the most boring, inconsequential runs in recent memory.
Much of that has been due to the creative direction, or lack thereof. However, Cody’s run was given relevancy again by John Cena’s heel turn. Six months ago the idea of another Cena run was ridiculous, but now it feels like a much-needed pivot to put Cody back on the chase (where he’s much better), and eventually lead to Cena vs. Reigns for the title.
This is going to be the show Logan Paul is cemented as a contender
I don’t care for Logan Paul personally. I’m not sure anyone over the age of 15 does. That said, he’s a much better wrestler than he has any right to be — and WWE seems him as a critical part of their push to be as mainstream as possible.
Putting Paul against A.J. Styles is designed to legitimize Logan as a legitimate main event guy — even if it’s an undercard match. I fully expect Logan to win, and then work towards being a possible World Championship guy. It’s just the way WWE is now.
Seth Rollins aligns with The Rock and Paul Heyman after beating CM Punk and Roman Reigns
In the most high profile non-title match on the card, Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Roman Reigns face off in a decades-long feud that’s built on the most hatin-ass story of all time. But what really stands out to me is in the last promo before the match, where Rollins said he was trying to protect the business and “do what’s best for business” before hitting Roman Reigns in the back with a chair (SHIELD CALLBACK BABY). It scares me a little bit that Rollins was the last one standing before Wrestlemania, as those people tend not to win at the biggest show of the year. However, I think it makes too much sense for Rollins to beat Punk and Reigns, taking Paul Heyman with him as his “favor” and aligning himself with The Rock to be his eventual champion.
Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley/Bianca Belair is a Match of the Year contender
To say I have high hopes for this match would be an understatement. Three of the best wrestlers in the world regardless of gender squaring off to see who becomes the face of the women’s division. We’ve seen the magic they can work when they wrestle each other–Bianca and Rhea have been circling each other on the main roster since the brand split happened, and now that these two are finally colliding on the Wrestlemania stage it feels important. However, I think Iyo still is underrated in this. The entire story has been about Rhea and Bianca having their own issues both with each other and around them, overlooking Sky, who is the champion at this time. I think there’s a really good chance Sky comes out of this as the winner.
We’re going to see a lot of UFC crossover promotion
This feels like a pretty safe bet, but up to this point TKO Endeavor hasn’t really leaned too far into cross promotion between their two big combat brands. That will change with Mania being in Vegas, where the majority of UFC fighters train, and where the UFC is headquartered.
I expect we’ll see Dana White in attendance, lots of cutaways to MMA fighters, and potentially even some involvement with CM Punk already teasing potentially facing Seth Rollins in a octagon.
President Trump will be at WrestleMania
This one seems like a foregone conclusion. At this point WWE, UFC, and the federal government are all so intertwined it’s a weird insidious family. Linda McMahon, the matriarch of the company is the secretary of education. The Rock is deeply tied to the Republican party, and Trump has appeared as UFC events before.
Since everything in the country is going so well and there are absolutely no problems right now, expect the President to watch wrestling.
Full card for WrestleMania 41
Night One
- Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso — WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
- The War Raiders (c) vs. The New Day — WWE World Tag Team Championship Match
- Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano (Chad Gable)
- Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
- LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu — WWE United States Championship Match
- Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair — WWE Women’s Championship Match
- Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins
Night Two
- Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley — WWE Women’s World Championship Match
- Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria — WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
- AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
- Bron Breakker (c) vs. Penta vs. Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio — WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
- Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre — Sin City Street Fight
- Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena — WWE Universal Championship Match