WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, is nearly upon us. The show will take place in Las Vegas this weekend, as the professional wrestling company’s biggest stars feature across two nights at Allegiant Stadium.
There are plenty of title bouts, plus some good old-fashioned grudge matches, and below, The Independent looks at how each contest may play out.
Of course, WWE is scripted entertainment, so our predictions are based on what might make the most storyline sense – on the nights themselves, and for the rest of the year.
Despite the predetermined nature of wrestling, some betting sites do have WrestleMania 41 odds available on all the major matches.
Without further ado, here are our picks for WrestleMania 41...
Cody Rhodes vs John Cena
After years of fans crossing their fingers, longtime ‘good guy’ Cena has finally gone bad. He bids to take the Undisputed WWE title from Rhodes in the Night 2 main event, and we reckon Cena will do just that – breaking Ric Flair’s record of 16 world-title wins, in what is Cena’s final year as a wrestler. Despite his character’s vow to retire as champion, we predict Cena will have some nostalgic clashes with the likes of CM Punk and Randy Orton before honouring tradition and retiring on a loss (perhaps dropping the belt back to Rhodes at the end of the year).
Gunther vs Jey Uso
The other men’s world-title fight pits villainous champion Gunther against fan favourite Jey Uso. This one feels fairly predictable; Uso has twice failed to beat Gunther in big matches, sosurely he has to win at the third time of asking. Doing so would be the biggest moment of his singles career, after the tag-team specialist won the Royal Rumble to earn this match in January. Cue 70,000-odd fans “yeeting” along with their new champion.
CM Punk vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins
No titles on the line in the Night 1 main event; this is simply a grudge match between former partners Reigns and Rollins – and Punk, who has issues with both men. A key part of the build-up has seen Punk call in a favour from Paul Heyman (his old friend and Reigns’s manager), who will be in Punk’s corner for this one. We think there may be a swerve that sees Heyman betray Punk and Reigns, joining Rollins and helping him get the win.
Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair
Yes, yes, “pro wrestling isn’t real”, except there is genuine bad blood between these two. Charlotte (daughter of Ric) seeks a record-extending 15th world title as she challenges WWE Champion Stratton, and the pair have both gone off-script in recent verbal exchanges – with mentions of real-life divorces and boyfriends. This is actually a tricky one to call; Charlotte has had more than enough titles in her career, but after her big return and win at the Rumble, WWE may follow a familiar formula when it comes to the “Queen”: putting the belt on her.
Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair
This Women’s World Championship match might follow a similar pattern to (what we predict will happen in) the Rollins-Punk-Reigns triple threat. The expectation is that Ripley or Belair will walk away with the belt, with champion Sky an afterthought at times in the build-up. That might have been intentional, setting up Ripley and Belair to be overly focused on each other, allowing Sky to grab a win and keep the gold.
Logan Paul vs AJ Styles
Fans tend to respect Paul’s incredible athleticism and how quickly he has taken to professional wrestling, but they are still desperate to see veteran Styles get the win here. Paul can afford a loss more than Styles, who we’ll pick to get the nod after the opponents produce some high-flying, viral moment.
Bron Breakker vs Penta vs Dominik Mysterio vs Finn Balor
Breakker puts his Intercontinental Title on the line in a fatal four-way, against one of WWE’s newest luchadors Penta, plus Judgement Day allies Balor and Mysterio (son of the legendary Rey, more on him later). All signs point to “Dirty Dom” betraying Balor and picking up his first singles title in the company. Balor may even take the pin, keeping Breakker and Penta looking strong.
LA Knight vs Jacob Fatu
Knight is a fan favourite, and those same fans were glad to see him regain the US Championship recently. So, it would feel strange for his second reign to end quite quickly, but Fatu has been made to look unstoppable. WWE could use some creative booking to allow Knight to escape as champion, while protecting Fatu’s image, but we think they’ll give Fatu the win and the gold.
Rey Mysterio vs El Grande Americano
An all-luchador match here, as the iconic Mysterio takes on recent debutant El Grande Americano (who is definitely not Chad Gable in disguise...). Surely the dastardly Americano picks up the victory? Mysterio can afford to lose, especially after some likely trickery and comedy in this bout.
Naomi vs Jade Cargill
Another one that seems quite easy to call... After Naomi betrayed her friend and brutally attacked her last year, the returning Cargill should exact revenge – potentially in quick, emphatic fashion.
Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest
Another grudge match here, and a ‘Sin City Street Fight’. McIntyre is due a statement victory, which we expect the Scot to get, setting him up for bigger things. This one should be fairly brutal, in any case!
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs Bayley and Valkyria
The WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships are on the line as Morgan and Rodriguez defend against Bayley and women’s Intercontinental Champion Valkyria. There hasn’t been an especially long build to this one, so it feels a tad harder to call, but it’s possible Morgan and Rodriguez will retain so Valkyria can focus on her own title reign.
War Raiders vs The New Day
The last match to be announced for ‘Mania. The dastardly New Day may claim the gold here...
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
