We are less than one month away from WrestleMania 41 and the card is starting to come into focus with six matches announced so far across the two nights. Though, there are still some question marks as it comes to what remaining matches, championships, and superstars will make the final cut. Make sure to check back often as we update you on the full card for the Showcase of the Immortals, taking place April 19 and 20 from Las Vegas, Nevada’s Allegiant Stadium.
WrestleMania 41 Card – Announced Matches
WWE Universal Championship – Cody Rhodes (C) vs John Cena: The heat is on for this one. At Elimination Chamber, John Cena emerged victorious, earning the right to face Cody Rhodes for the title on the WrestleMania 41 card. But it is what happened after the match that got fans buzzing. Cena brutalized Rhodes, turning heel in the process and seemingly aligning with the Rock. While Dwayne has yet to be seen since, Cena has appeared throughout the WWE European Tour, breaking up with the fans and promising to ruin pro wrestling for them when he wins his record-breaking 17th world championship. Standing in his way is Rhodes, who believes he is the antitheses of everything Cena has become. In a lot of ways, this is like Rock/Cena, where one man believes the other left everything he stood for behind and turned his back on WWE and its fans. Rhodes is promising to retire Cena early at WrestleMania and Cena is promising to etch his name in the history books. This might come down to whichever man wants it more…or whichever man has the backing of the Final Boss.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship – GUNTHER (C) vs Jey Uso: It’s David vs Goliath in the truest sense of the word. Jey Uso shocked the world when he threw John Cena over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble and earn his spot on the WrestleMania 41 card. It was no shock however, when Uso chose to once again challenge the man who has beaten him three times in GUNTHER. But Uso wasn’t letting those losses get in his head…at least not at first. As soon as Uso finalized his challenge of GUNTHER, the Ring General has made it his sole mission in life, to make his challenger regret it. GUNTHER doesn’t believe Uso is worthy of the world title and he’s gone out of his way to prove it, week in and week out. And now, it seems Uso is starting to lose his own belief. Whether scripted or not, the last few weeks have seen Uso off his game, making uncharacteristic mistakes. Uso’s brother gave him a pep talk recently and perhaps that will be enough to bring Main Event Jey Uso back. That’s the Jey Uso who could give GUNTHER a run for his money.
Raw Women’s Championship – IYO SKY (C) vs Bianca Belair vs Rhea Ripley: This one has taken a turn and it seems the twists might not be done yet. When Bianca Belair won the Elimination Chamber to secure her spot on the WrestleMania 41 card, it looked like she was gearing up for a fight with Rhea Ripley. But then, Ripley surprisingly lost her women’s championship to IYO SKY, albeit thanks to some unintentional interference from Belair sitting ringside. And that’s brought us to where we are today. The most recent development in this story is that after weeks of Ripley, Belair, and SKY sniping at each other, Adam Pearce has a solution. Ripley was owed a rematch and she got it on Raw only for Belair to be named special guest referee. After Belair threw the match out, Pearce had enough and made the WrestleMania triple threat official.
Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns vs CM Punk: It’s perhaps the grudge match to end all grudge matches. As we outlined a few weeks ago, this is a triangle of hatred with no love lost at all. The animosity goes back over a decade but the recent heat dates to a few Novembers ago when CM Punk made his spectacular return to WWE. Not everyone felt that way though as Seth Rollins has been at Punk’s throat ever since that fated Survivor Series. Punk and Rollins have feuded with the lines between shoot and work being heavily blurred. Punk eliminated Rollins and Roman Reigns from Royal Rumble and then Rollins tried to end Reigns’ career. Later, he cost Punk the Elimination Chamber before Reigns returned to cost Punk his Hell in a Cell match and return the favor to Rollins. These three men despise each other more than life itself but…they also share some common threads. Reigns and Rollins were Punk’s mercenaries way back when and as Punk reminded after the match was made official, he brought Reigns and Rollins into WWE and he was going to take great pleasure in being the man to take them out. This feels like an enemy of my enemy type of thing where Reigns and Punk and Reigns and Rollins may team up in spurts to take down the one they hate the most. For Rollins it’s Punk, for Reigns it’s Rollins, and for Punk, well it’s likely all going to depend on who he can get his hands on first. And there is that pesky favor we can’t forget about. As Punk said recently, Paul Heyman isn’t just Reigns’ Wiseman…
SmackDown Women’s Championship – Tiffany Stratton (C) vs Charlotte Flair: This might be as straightforward as straightforward gets. Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble and all the rights that come with it. She chose to challenge Tiffany Stratton for the SmackDown women’s title on the WrestleMania 41 card. Stratton and Flair have engaged in a war of words over the last few weeks along with some physical confrontations including a brawl that spanned a commercial break. Flair thinks Stratton isn’t worthy to lace her boots but only time will tell if the Queen will reign supreme or if it really is Tiffy Time.
AJ Styles vs Logan Paul: It feels like this one has been building up for a while but WWE made it official as AJ Styles had enough and formally challenged Logan Paul to a bout at the Show of Shows. Styles is a great guy to have in the ring with Paul and this should produce a pretty fun match fueled with Paul’s usual antics and Styles’ professionalism for the craft.
Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest: A matchup of Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest felt like a bit of an afterthought. It was the two guys who fell on the outside looking in of the Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns/CM Punk story. But…that all changed when McIntyre added some fire to his recent feud with Priest by claiming Priest may not have been the one who screwed him over, but he was the one who benefited from it every time. McIntyre reminded Priest that he was always the beneficiary of the bad things that happened and he was done letting that happen. McIntyre has promised to make sure Priest can no longer take things from him and over the weeks, the two have begun engaging in heated wars of words. While the match hasn’t been made official yet, all eyes are pointing to that announcement being made sooner rather than later. Likely even, before the European Tour wraps up.
WWE Intercontinental Championship – Bron Breakker (C) vs Penta vs Finn Balor vs Dominik Mysterio: Bron Breakker is going to defend the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Rumors swirled that Breakker could be defending against Penta or Finn Balor, but perhaps due to those rumors, WWE booked both of those matches back-to-back on two weeks of Raw. AJ Styles was rumored for the match at one point but he and Logan Paul are headed toward a match at the Showcase of the Immortals instead. The latest rumored match is a bit of a cluster as it has Breakker defending against Penta, Balor, and Dominik Mysterio in a fatal four-way. Balor and Mysterio have been at odds ever since JD McDonagh’s injury and while right now, Mysterio seems like all he wants to do is help his faction mate, eagle-eyed fans noticed the look in his eyes when he picked up Breakker’s title. Take into consideration Mysterio’s recent failed attempt to recruit Penta to Judgement Day, inserting Mysterio into this match may not be as crazy as it seems. After a tag team bout, the rumors on this one were confirmed and we are getting the first-ever IC fatal-4-way at WrestleMania.
Jade Cargill vs Naomi: After it was revealed that Naomi was the one who attacked Jade Cargill, taking her out of action and stealing her spot alongside Bianca Belair, it was only a matter of time until this would come to a head. The two women have been going after each other since and now, they’ll have a chance to settle things on the biggest stage of them all.
WWE United States Championship – LA Knight (C) vs Jacob Fatu: The United States Championship is just one of a handful of titles that has changed hands on the Road to WrestleMania but it may be the most inconsequential. Shinsuke Nakamura had largely been a paper champion but now, LA Knight is back on top and looking for a new challenger. Insert Jacob Fatu, who defeated Braun Strowman in a massive last man standing #1 contendership bout.
Rey Mysterio vs El Grande Americano: No wrestler has made quite the impact as El Grande Americano, who just a few weeks after his debut, already has a WrestleMania match. Rey Mysterio took offense to the new luchador, specifically how he unmasked Dragon Lee and has seemed to mock the entire genre of lucha libre. Seems like it’s time at WrestleMania for Americano to be unmasked by the lucha legend.
Rumored Matches
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship – Lyra Valkyria (C) vs ???: There is no guarantee Lyra Valkyria and her women’s intercontinental title will make the WrestleMania 41 card. Valkyria most recently defended her title against Raquel Rodriguez and there doesn’t seem to be a next obvious challenger. Valkyria and Bayley’s friendship has been played up late though so perhaps WWE is gearing toward a friendly bout between the tw0.
WWE Women’s United States Championship – Chelsea Green (C) vs ???: There also doesn’t seem to be a clear path for Chelsea Green and the United States Championship, but it would be hard to argue keeping her off the card makes sense. Green’s heel persona has helped her thrive as. the U.S. Champion, especially overseas. Green recently noted how much it would mean to her to defend the United States Championship on the WrestleMania 41 card and she’s earned that chance. Green has recently tussled with Michin and has Zelina Vega in her sights, but could it be a match with Nikki Bella that awaits Green? After all, the U.S. champion made no secret that she wants to wrestle the Hall of Famer, and what better place to showcase the evolution of women’s wrestling in WWE than to have one of its revolutionaries take on a woman she helped inspire. It kind of writes itself.
World Tag Team Championship – War Raiders vs ???: The War Raiders emerged victorious in a mini feud with American Made’s Creed Brothers but beyond that, it’s not super obvious who their next challenger will be. Raw’s tag team division has been a little on the back burner but it’s always possible A-Town Down Under could call their shot. Or perhaps another team will emerge from the shadows to seek the gold. Either way, if there’s a title that seems poised to be left off the WrestleMania 41 card, it’s looking like this one.
WWE Tag Team Championship – ??? vs ???: Quite frankly, it’s hard to know who will even be the WWE tag champs come WrestleMania in less than a month. We started the Road to WrestleMania with #DIY holding the belts but they dropped the titles to the Street Profits. The Profits take on Pretty Deadly in London and it’s not out of the question that these titles will change hands again. It seems like we’ve headed to a massive brawl of Street Profits vs #DIY vs Motor City Machine Guns vs Los Garzas vs Pretty Deadly. Add in a stipulation of some kind, like perhaps a tag team ladder match, and we could be in for an unexpected show-stealer.
Women’s Tag Team Championship – Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez (C) vs ???: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez don’t have any obvious challengers lined up short of maybe a Bayley/Lyra Valkyria tag team. But keep in mind, these titles can be defended across brands so perhaps Chelsea Green’s secret service of Piper Niven and Alba Fyre could make for ample challengers.
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