Four days removed from the dust settling at Elimination Chamber, the road to WrestleMania has finally come into full focus. While the match card initially felt like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, the fallout from the Chamber has provided some of the clarity fans have been waiting for.
Until this past Saturday, the only confirmed matches were CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship (pending a win over Finn Balor), and Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Championship.
Fast forward to today, and the card has doubled to four matches. Jade Cargill will defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley, following the events of Saturday. Meanwhile, after outlasting the field in the Men’s Elimination Chamber match, Randy Orton has secured a date with Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship as he looks to capture the fifteenth world title of his career.
But it might not be McIntyre who “The Viper” faces at WrestleMania 42. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced after the show that McIntyre will defend his championship this Friday against Cody Rhodes. This follows “The Scottish Warrior” interrupting the Chamber match, distracting Rhodes, and allowing Orton to catapult to victory.
Moving forward to what many describe as wrestling’s version of the Super Bowl, it couldn’t be clearer that things remain foggy regarding what fans can expect on April 19 and 20. Not all the blame lies with creative, as injuries to Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed have disrupted plans; however, many fans are still questioning the writers’ ability to build a card that people can truly get excited about.
Reports suggest WrestleMania is expected to feature between 12 and 16 matches spread across the two nights. With only four officially on the books, time is running out to finalize the rest of the card.
With that in mind, now is the time to officially project the rest of the card while breaking down the logic behind each pick. The fallout from Chicago has finally given us the puzzle pieces we were missing; now, it’s just a matter of seeing how they fit. By the time we reach WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas, many of these high-stakes matchups may very well be set in stone.
