With a host of stars, some edge-of-the-seat wrestling action, a few unexpected appearances, a bagful of drama, and a redemption tale — WrestleMania 40 had all the ingredients necessary for a blockbuster show. The two-day action left wrestling fans around the world happy yet wanting for more as the marquee event drew to a close on Sunday, 7 April. Now, all eyes are slowly turning towards the matches at WrestleMania 41.
However, let us have a quick recap of the WrestleMania 40 before we mull over next year’s lineup.
The flagship event under World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) banner, the WrestleMania 40 saw some of the biggest fights in the history of the promotion show. It started with the duo of The Rock and Roman Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag-team affair on Saturday, 6 April.
This gave The Bloodline full authority to interfere in the main event’s proceedings according to their will.
In the main event of WrestleMania 40, Rhodes challenged Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal title. As was expected, the members of The Bloodline came to Reigns’ aid and tried taking down Rhodes. But a surprise visit from John Cena benefitted Rhodes greatly as the former silenced Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline.
While The Rock dealt with Cena and Rollins, fans were not ready to see The Undertaker rise to Rhodes’ help as he choke-slammed The Rock in a wild, epic sequence. This cleared the way for Rhodes to finish his story and claim the championship by defeating Reigns and avenging his defeat from a year back.
Now that you have enough context about the state of affairs in WWE, join us as we try to predict the top five bouts at WrestleMania 41.
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The Rock vs Roman Reigns
Let us kick-start our predictions for the WrestleMania 41 matches with one of the most obvious face-offs on the cards — The Rock vs Roman Reigns. Does this seem too baffling, given that The Rock returned to The Bloodline prior to WrestleMania 40? Well, give us a minute to paint you a clear picture.
Before The Final Boss (as is The Rock often called) teamed up with Reigns and the Bloodline, theories about him being in cahoots with Cody Rhodes were rife. Following Rhodes’ win at WrestleMania 40, there are some in the WWE fraternity who are of the opinion that The Rock deliberately costed Reigns the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion’s title. If we go by that theory, it won’t be a surprise to see The Rock being excommunicated from The Bloodline.
For context, The Bloodline is a villainous professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on its SmackDown brand. Reigns leads this outfit, and as of this moment, its members include Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and The Rock. All of them are part of the Anoa’i family, which is a family of professional wrestlers hailing from the Samoan Islands.
Any man who is excommunicated from such a band of wrestlers is not to be trifled with. If The Rock does not stay a part of The Bloodline, he will seek revenge on the outfit. And what better way to do so than to defeat their leader with the whole world watching?
A fight between The Rock and the Tribal Chief (another name for Roman Reigns) will take WWE’s viewership ratings off the charts. Therefore, it is imperative for the promotional show to structure the storyline well leading up to WrestleMania 41.
Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk
Against all odds, Cody Rhodes emerged victorious in the main event of WrestleMania 40 as he finished his story. Heartfelt wishes for him have poured in from all parts of the world. Even WWE legends such as Charlotte Flair and CM Punk have joined the bandwagon. However, the latter wasted no time to issue a warning to Rhodes.
“I will warn him. It is much harder to stay on top than it is to get there. We all saw how hard it was for him to get there. There are a lot of people gunning for him,” Punk said in a show following Rhodes’ win at WrestleMania 40.
Punk’s statement has left us wondering if the former WWE champion is planning to challenge Rhodes for the crown. Rhodes and Punk share a rich history of adversity. Now that Rhodes will be defending his Undisputed WWE Universal title in the coming months, the promotional company might just plan to reignite the fire between these two wrestlers.
If Rhodes and Punk go head-to-head against each other in WrestleMania 41, it will be one of the most decorated matches of all time. Besides our anticipated brawl between The Rock and Roman Reigns, this bout has the potential to be the main event as of this moment.
John Cena vs Logan Paul
Logan Paul made the headlines by defeating Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to win the WWE United States title at WrestleMania 40. Therefore, it is only logical for us to predict that he will return to the ring in WrestleMania 41. But who will fight Paul?
Ever since he joined WWE as a wrestler, Paul made it known to everyone that John Cena is his dream opponent. While nobody expected him to return to WWE anytime soon, Cena made a grand entry in the main event of WrestleMania 40 as he took down Solo Sikoa before getting thrashed by The Rock.
Cena — an established Hollywood actor who is famous to the contemporary audience for playing characters like Peacemaker, Jakob Toretto and most recently Ricky Stanicky — has been performing in WWE as a part-time wrestler since 2018. He is well past the time of being a WWE champion. Nevertheless, his appearance in WrestleMania 40 got us wondering whether the wrestler is looking to end his WWE career on a high.
If Cena is indeed in the swansong of his career, the producers of WWE cannot find him a better opponent for the last fight than Paul. A Cena vs Paul battle might not make it to the WrestleMania 41 as its main event, but it will surely be one of the matches to look out for.
Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair
On the opening night of WrestleMania 40, Rhea Ripley got the better of Becky Lynch to retain the WWE Women’s World Championship. In a post-match interview, Ripley said, “I’m feeling alive. I’m feeling like I’m on top of the division.”
As a world champion, Ripley is all but guaranteed an appearance in WrestleMania 41. The question is, who will she face in the flagship event in 2025?
To be absolutely honest, the only female wrestler in WWE at present who can potentially challenge Ripley for the crown is Bianca Belair. These two women are the faces of WWE’s women’s division, and they both share a fabled rivalry. The last time Ripley and Belair faced each other is in the post-WrestleMania 39 Raw, following which they were made the ambassadors of two separate brands (Ripley fights in Raw while Belair is in SmackDown).
A fight between Ripley and Belair will be a titanic fixture at this point. Not just one of the important matches, if included in WrestleMania 41, this bout holds the potential to be the main event.
If WWE is tempted by the prospect of viewership boost, they might go ahead with the inclusion of this brawl in 2025’s flagship affair.
Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair
Last but not least in our predictions of WrestleMania 41’s matches is a return of Charlotte Flair.
The American wrestler was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and meniscus on 8 December 2023. As a result, she was forced out of WrestleMania 40. However, recent developments suggest that Flair might make a return to the WWE sooner than expected.
In her absence, the SmackDown women’s division has hardly been interesting. This is one of the prime reasons why Bianca Belair found it rather easy to become the unofficial queen of this WWE brand.
However, it is foolish for anyone to expect Flair vying for the crown as soon as she returns to wrestling. The sensible path for her to take will be against relatively easier opponents. If she wants to appear in WrestleMania 41, a bout against a wrestler like Tiffany Stratton would make perfect sense.
A former NXT women’s champion, Stratton is relatively young. She has often been compared to Flair in terms of her fighting style. Getting an opportunity to face such an established star in such an early phase of her career might be beneficial for Stratton’s career. If she manages to take down the senior pro at WrestleMania, Stratton might achieve stardom overnight.
Well, we don’t know who will win in this fight, but if this fixture is announced by WWE, the fans of the sport will be the biggest benefactors!
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(Main and Featured Images Credits: WWE)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Where will WrestleMania 41 take place?
According to rumours, WrestleMania 41 is expected to take place in Minnesota. The U.S. Bank Stadium, which is home to the NFL side Minnesota Vikings, is likely to serve as the arena for the fights.
