Let’s just be honest. The Road To WrestleMania 42 hasn’t been as well-paved as planned this year. Injuries have piled up. There’s been a few questionable booking decisions, and fans are really in their feelings about the Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Pat McAfee situation. With the exception of Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar, you could make a case that not a single storyline has had a home run build, and yet, despite all that, there’s a chance WrestleMania 42 could still be a banger.

The dirty little secret about WrestleManias is that pre-show hype doesn’t necessarily translate to a well-reviewed show. Yes, you need hot characters paying off hot builds to get to that all-time great WrestleMania 17 level. I don’t think there’s anything WrestleMania 42 could be to get on that level at this point, but to please fans and be fondly remembered, you just need most of your matches to be fun to watch. Three or four bangers, a half dozen or so really good matches and most of the rest being pretty fun puts you in the top half pretty easily.

The good news for WWE is that there’s enough talent on this card to do that. In fact, if everyone performs even close to the level they’re capable of, this ‘Mania should be good. Problems with the build aside, a lot of wrestlers have been put in matches that, in theory, showcase their strengths, and I have a hard time believing Gunther and Seth Rollins or Stephanie Vaquer and Liv Morgan won’t over-deliver, whether I personally would have built them differently. Plus, throw in John Cena as host, and there's a lot to work with.

Before we get into the specifics though, let’s take a quick look at my track record on predictions from the most recent Big 4 PPVs, as well as my overall record dating back to WrestleMania 38...

Logan Paul, Austin Theory and IShowSpeed vs The Usos and LA Knight

Six man tag team matches with basically no stakes are notoriously hard to predict. I felt strongly that Paul and Theory needed to win the tag team titles to keep The Vision relevant, but now that they’ve done that, all possible outcomes are in play here. On the one hand, it’s appealing to pick IShowSpeed because, despite recent history, celebrities have a strong track record of winning at WrestleMania. On the other hand, it’s appealing to pick The Usos and LA Knight because the whole story here is how IShowSpeed doesn’t really seem to want to be aligned with Paul and Theory, who have kinda sorta forced him into this.

I think the most likely scenario is probably IShowSpeed turning on Theory and Paul and helping the babyfaces to a win, but you could tell me pretty much anything about this match and I’d believe it. You could tell me iShowSpeed is gonna stick around WWE and feud with Logan Paul, and I’d believe it. You could tell me Bron Breakker is going to return and help his stablemates win, and I’d believe it. You could tell me Danhausen is going to get involved and double down on his IShowSpeed curse to help the babyfaces win. No scenario is too outlandish here.

Predicted Winner: The Usos and LA Knight

Jacob Fatu vs Drew McIntyre

What a weird run it has been for Drew McIntyre. He’s the only person not named Cody Rhodes, John Cena or Roman Reigns in the last four years to hold the WWE Championship. His work with CM Punk is probably the best non-Bloodline feud WWE has given us in at least a half decade. He’s been a constant presence in key storylines, and yet, you could make the case that he really deserved more. In my opinion, he was the hottest character on the roster for almost a year, and many fans still have a sour taste in their mouth that he’s not walking into this ‘Mania as champion.

That being said, I think he’s probably going to lose here. Rumors are swirling that he’s going to take a break from programming for a bit to film the new Highlander movie, but even if he wasn’t, I’d have a hard time predicting him because of how mean he’s been to Jacob Fatu during this story. He’s repeatedly talked about Fatu’s past run-ins with the law in a way that’s felt demeaning and mean-spirited. That may not have mattered under Vince McMahon, but I think Triple H and company want to tell uplifting stories with broad messages like you can overcome your past.

Plus, WWE needs to heat Jacob Fatu back up again. I’m not saying he’s cold, but he’s been hotter and has more potential. I think fans would get behind him if WWE truly pushed him to the top of the card. This could be the time when that starts.

Predicted Winner: Jacob Fatu

Stephanie Vaquer (Champion) vs Liv Morgan For The Women’s World Championship

I really wish WWE would have devoted more time to this build because what we have gotten has been really good. Vaquer and Morgan have exchanged some fiery promos and gone at each other backstage in a way that’s felt personal and a little dangerous. Fans like both of the characters, and it sucks that one of them is going to lose and take a step back momentum wise.

To me, this all comes down to what Triple H and the writers want to do with Judgment Day. I love Vaquer and think she has an incredibly bright future in WWE, but to me, the most exciting long-term storyline WWE can tell involves Morgan and her Judgment Day stablemate Raquel Rodriguez. Putting the belt on Morgan and giving us an extended storyline of teases and an eventual turn on each other would be a fantastic program leading into SummerSlam.

The other possibility, of course, is that Rodriguez or her stablemate Roxanne Perez accidentally cost Morgan her chance at the title here and that leads into a storyline about Judgment Day fully imploding. That’s definitely on the table and would keep the belt on Vaquer, but that’s not the route I would take.

Predicted Winner: Liv Morgan

AJ Lee (Champion) vs Becky Lynch For The Women’s Intercontinental Championship

WWE has shown an openness to part-time champions in the past. Much has been made about Roman Reigns and his inconsistent schedule over the last few years, but even before him, the company has also gone down that same road with Brock Lesnar. AJ Lee, as beloved as she may be, however, doesn’t have that same level of cultural relevance or ability to move tickets.

I also think the Intercontinental Championship is fundamentally different than the World Titles. The whole point of the championship is it’s supposed to be defended on a regular basis, both on television and on premium live events. I don’t think having a part-time champion serves the division, and given what we’ve seen since her big return, there’s no reason to think AJ Lee is going to be around on a weekly basis post-Mania.

Because of that, I think this has to be Becky Lynch. She’s one of the biggest stars in the women’s division and has really helped elevate the Intercontinental Championship to a different level after it was introduced. I think there are a lot of fun stories she can tell if she gets the belt back, and I think giving her a second loss to AJ after she dropped the title to her initially does long-term damage to her character.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax And Lash Legend) vs Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs The Bella Twins

I think there’s a title run at some point in the Bella Twins’ future, but I’m going to rule them out here because of how little they’ve been on TV in recent weeks. Nikki is rehabbing an injury that left her ‘Mania status in question for awhile, and it just feels like they haven’t been built enough to get their big moment. If I were WWE, I’d definitely save that for later.

I’m also less high on Bayley and Lyra Valkyria than most of the more vocal fans on social media. Yes, Bayley got a nice reaction in San Jose recently where she’s from, but Alexa and Charlotte are significantly more over with the average fan. I think their storyline needs to take priority. If WWE is going to keep them in the tag team division, they should put the belts on them. If they’re going to break them up and implode their relationship, they should put the belts on them first and give them another run of success so they can tease a will they or won’t they for awhile.

That being said, it’s also possible WWE could just be planning to move Charlotte and Alexa back to the singles division without breaking them up, saving that plotline for later. If that’s the case, then I would just keep the titles on Nia and Lash. They work well together as a pair of monster heels, and I think you could tell a fun story by turning them into an unbeatable duo with an extended title run.

Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss

Seth Rollins vs Gunther

This has match of the night written all over it. Rollins and Gunther are probably the two best in-ring performers WWE has, at least amongst those at the very top of the card, and the lack of a storyline here shouldn’t stop them from cooking in the ring. I expect a twenty minute war that plays into their size difference and allows both men to show off why they’re among the best in the world.

The original plan was reportedly for Gunther to retire Rey Mysterio and Rollins to feud with Bron Breakker, but injury concerns forced the last minute switch to working with each other. I don’t think WWE is going to want either of these guys to take a clean loss; so, my guess is we’re going to get a Gunther victory that’s related to some kind of interference from Bron Breakker. That would allow Rollins to move into an extended feud with the new leader of The Vision, and it would allow Gunther to continue looking like an unstoppable monster.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Cody Rhodes (Champion) vs Randy Orton For The WWE Championship

No WrestleMania match has been talked about more than this one. Unfortunately, it’s mostly been for pretty negative reasons. The early build to the story was very underwhelming and suffered from a serious lack of depth and creativity. Seemingly in a panic, Pat McAfee (possibly on the orders of WWE’s parent company TKO) was introduced into the story, and his inclusion has not gone over well with wrestling fans, particularly those on social media. He’s felt to many like a distraction, given Rhodes and Orton have decades of shared storylines and personal history, and McAfee has none of that.

I don’t really know how WWE can get out of this cleanly. McAfee announced he would never participate in WWE programming again if Orton loses. I’m not sure that’s a promise WWE wants to make, given he’s got a long history of working commentary and TKO really wants to push WWE’s partnership with ESPN, a network McAfee has a morning show on. Then again, I’m also not sure WWE wants to double down on a storyline that’s clearly not working with a huge segment of fans. If Orton wins, it’s going to be weird if McAfee just disappears from television immediately, though I suppose that’s exactly what happened last year with Travis Scott.

This whole thing is a mess. There was a way to do this, with better planning and a more coherent storyline, that could have worked. That didn’t happen; so, now, WWE needs to choose the less bad of the options in front of them. I think that’s keeping the belt on Cody, but I think WWE is just gonna keep digging the whole deeper.

Predicted Winner: Randy Orton

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar

This has been the best build by a gigantic margin, and the story is as straight ahead as can be. Brock is the biggest, baddest dude on the playground and has been for decades. He called out everyone in the locker room, and Oba Femi stepped up and answered the call. In the time since, we’ve gotten a few brief physical exchanges, but in general, it’s just been two dudes using their natural charisma and connection with the fans to create hype.

Lesnar is widely expected to retire later this year, probably at SummerSlam in August. I hear the argument that you should keep him strong before his final match, which will probably be against Gunther, but personally, I think he needs to put Oba Femi over. WWE desperately needs to make some new stars. All four of the WrestleMania main eventers this year are 40 or older. Femi is 27 and looks to have near unlimited potential. In just a few short months, he’s gotten over with both hardcore and casual fans, and it’s not unreasonable to think he may be the favorite to win The Royal Rumble next year. Sometimes you need to do things for the future of the business.

Predicted Winner: Oba Femi

Penta (Champion) vs Je’Von Evans, Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh and Rusev for The Intercontinental Championship in a Ladder Match

Just like Gunther and Seth Rollins from night one, this match is the odds on favorite to be the standout of night two. There’s so much in-ring talent here, and when you throw in the ladder match stipulation, there’s the potential for some truly insane high spots and choreographed sequences. Evans, Lee and McDonagh are also likely going to go all-out, as this’ll be the first time each has made the ‘Mania card.

Matches with this many people are always panic attack city for predictions, but I actually feel pretty good about Penta. There’s some buzz around Je’Von Evans online, but he’s still really nice to the roster and could use some more seasoning on his promos. Penta has maintained his white hot popularity for more than a year, and to me, there’s just no reason why you’d want to take the title off him. Plus, TKO is invested in growing AAA, and Penta is a legend over there, as well.

Predicted Winner: Penta

Jade Cargill (Champion) vs Rhea Ripley for The WWE Women’s Championship

This match is clearly the product of the original creative not working out. Cargill was almost certainly being positioned to work with Bianca Belair, but unfortunately, she’s had setbacks in her recovery from a severely broken finger. Ripley was likely going to work with Iyo Sky, either as a tag team or against each other, but at some point, the decision was made to put Cargill and Ripley together to essentially make the biggest available title match possible amongst the women who didn’t have a locked in match.

I think who wins, once again, likely comes down to Bianca Belair. If WWE is confident Belair is going to be back shortly, I think they’re going to keep the title on Cargill so we can finally get that long-anticipated program with as high of stakes as possible. If her future is uncertain, at least in the short-term, I think WWE is going to pivot and put the belt on Rhea Ripley. She’s the biggest star in the entire business, and while Cargill has been coming along in both her promos and in-ring work, I think the company is not going to want to keep its biggest female star title-less for much longer.

Predicted Winner: Rhea Ripley

Sami Zayn (Champion) vs Trick Williams for The United States Championship

This might be the easiest match to predict on the entire card. Trick Williams is a rising star. He’s getting main event level reactions from the crowd, and it feels like apart from The Miz, he’s doing more media appearances than anyone on the roster. Sami Zayn, on the other hand, seems to be in the middle of a slow heel turn. He’s getting booed out of the building and borderline cheating to win matches.

A win here would push Trick to the next level, and it would allow Zayn to disappear and return as the full-fledged heel many fans have been wanting for the better part of a year. It just makes so much business sense, and also, it would suck all of the energy out of WrestleMania if Zayn held onto the title. This would be such an easy way to give the crowd a win they’re clamoring for, which is desperately needed right now given how sour fans have been on creative lately.

Predicted Winner: Trick Williams

The Demon Finn Bálor vs Dominik Mysterio

A lot of predictors have gone broke over the last few years betting on Finn Bálor to win matches. Every time it feels like the fans are ready and the storyline is there for him to have a big moment, he somehow finds a way to lose again. It’s obvious the creatives just don’t see as much potential in him as the rest of us do. That being said, Finn has to win this match, right?

I feel like a broken record continuing to ride for him, but if he gets kicked out of Judgment Day, brings back his Demon persona and loses as the babyface to a Dominik Mysterio who has been crushed on screen by Danhausen, we probably need to have some hard conversations about his future at that point.

So, yeah, I’m going to ride with Finn Bálor one more time. It makes me really nervous given everything we’ve seen recently, but that right play is obviously for him to win this match. That gives WWE maximum options. He can continue to work against Judgment Day and try to dismantle the group from the outside. He can go out on his own and chase a midcard title. The path is there for something fun. Besides, a loss is not going to hurt Mysterio long-term.

Predicted Winner: Finn Bálor

CM Punk (Champion) Vs Roman Reigns For The World Heavyweight Championship

WWE is in a bit of a slump right now. Even the fans who aren’t vocally complaining about the product are definitely not at a passionate high point in their fandom. Something needs to change, and my guess is those involved are going to rewind the clock to try and do that. The high point during the TKO era has definitely been WrestleMania 40, which is the last moment Reigns was champion. I’m not saying it was all downhill from there, but clearly, the run up to that ‘Mania is what fans look back at the most fondly.

Reigns is the biggest star in the business, and while he’s definitely a part-timer these days, he certainly ramped up his appearances in the lead-up to this ‘Mania. My guess is WWE puts the title back on him, and he agrees to increase the number of times a month he’s on the show. I’m not saying he’s going to be around every week, but he might do 2/3rds of the time in exchange for another title run, which is enough for WWE to create stories around.

Plus, as much as I love CM Punk, he’s better when he’s fired up and chasing something. He’s been a fine champion, but it might give him a little extra jolt of something to lose the belt and be able to reposition himself in the coming months.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns

We’re less than two months away from WrestleMania 42, and it’s a big yikes right now. I’m not normally one of those social media trolls crying about the state of WWE during every rope break, but even I’m ready to admit we need to listen to the referee’s count. There’s a serious lack of hot characters and compelling storylines.

Ordinarily, Elimination Chamber is WWE’s last big chance to inject some momentum, but it’s hard to even see how they do that this year. There’s no John Cena heel turn coming. Jade Cargill is not returning to attack Naomi. We’re almost certainly not going to get a big, splashy moment, but with fourteen or fifteen matches to book in the next six weeks, I’m hopeful we can at least make some meaningful forward progress in smaller ways.

Let’s use CM Punk and Finn Bálor as an example. We all know Punk is going to win. WWE is already advertising his match with Roman Reigns at ‘Mania, but I suspect Triple H and company will use the match to give Bálor a new path, possibly in opposition to Dominik Mysterio. I think we’ll see something similar inside the Elimination Chamber with Alexa Bliss. I don’t think she’s going to win the match, but I do think we’ll get a key plot point in her story with Charlotte Flair.

I expect a lot of little things like that. I also think there’s a chance we could see WWE pull an all-time surprise with LA Knight (YEAH!).

Before I get to that though, here’s a quick look back at my predictions record. I’ve been doing these for every WWE PLE since WrestleMania 38. I’m not exactly a prime Hulk Hogan (that doesn’t work for me, brother), but I’ve been right a lot more than I’ve been wrong. You can check out some of the bigger recent events, plus my overall record...

Becky Lynch (Champion) vs AJ Lee For The Women’s Intercontinental Championship

Why is this not happening at WrestleMania? I get AJ Lee lives in Chicago. It makes sense to feature her on the card, but there’s no way WWE decided to use her here and not WrestleMania, right? I have to imagine she’s going to work both dates, and since Becky Lynch would still be the person she would probably work with at ‘Mania, I have to imagine AJ is going to win here, right?

My guess is AJ Lee wins this match, maybe by some kind of flukey means, and that sets up a WrestleMania rematch with a bigger stipulation. Maybe it’s Hell in a Cell. Maybe it’s a street fight. I’m not really sure of the specifics, but AJ Lee would have to walk in as champion or why else would she get another title shot barely a month after losing her match?

Besides, this is AJ Lee’s first singles match since returning to WWE. If they’re planning on keeping her character at a high level, she probably shouldn’t be losing her first match back in the fold.

Predicted Winner: AJ Lee

CM Punk (Champion) vs Finn Bálor For The World Heavyweight Championship

This might be the easiest match I have ever predicted in the history of doing these predictions. Right now, the biggest selling point for WrestleMania is CM Punk and Roman Reigns squaring off for The World Heavyweight Championship. They’ve already made the marketing materials. I love the chaos of an unexpected swerve, but a shock upset would make no sense here. Finn Bálor is going to lose.

That being said, I’m very hopeful he is going to lose in a way that will lead to him having something compelling to do at WrestleMania. The most likely scenario is Dominik Mysterio trying to help him and accidentally costing him the match, but it also might be as simple as he loses, gets roasted by Judgment Day and that causes him to quit the group. Maybe that leads to an IC Title match at ‘Mania or maybe that leads to a new storyline for him and JD McDonagh. Either way, instead of rooting for a straight up win, Bálor fans need to be rooting for something interesting for him to do.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

Tiffany Stratton vs Rhea Ripley vs Kiana James vs Asuka vs Alexa Bliss vs Raquel Rodriguez In The Women’s Elimination Chamber For A Championship Match At WrestleMania

Now that the final Elimination Chamber qualifier is over, I'm jumping back in here to rewrite my paragraph. Raquel Rodriguez officially booked her ticket to Chicago, which was a bit of a question mark since Iyo Sky was also in the match. Her presence opens up some interesting possibilities I want to go over.

First, there's a chance Raquel could straight up win here. Liv Morgan seemed to pick Stephanie Vaquer as her WrestleMania opponent, but did she really? She just attacked her and walked out of the ring. What if Raquel wins here and says she also wants to face Raquel? That would create a really compelling triple threat storyline at a time where WWE really needs some of these stories to start popping off.

It's also quite interesting that Iyo Sky is not in the Elimination Chamber. I thought we might get some kind of crazy moment between her and BFF Rhea Ripley that could lead to a WrestleMania match between the two of them. The fact that she's not here probably means WWE doesn't want to see them cross each other and create conflict.

So, does that make Rhea a possible winner? Rhea Ripley is a possible winner every time she walks into the ring. She's one of the biggest stars in the company. None of the creative we've gotten for the last year has pointed to her facing Jade Cargill at 'Mania. Her entire storyline has revolved around Iyo Sky. It would be bizarre for the two of them not to interact, but since Bianca seems to be injured and was likely the OG Jade plan, it's possible the writers could decide to change course and just have Rhea win.

I also think there's a small possibility we could see Alexa Bliss win. We need some forward progress in her storyline with Charlotte Flair. The Queen has pretended to be happy for her tag team partner and BFF since she secured her spot in the Chamber, but would she continue to be happy if she got a title shot at 'Mania while Charlotte was left out in the cold? That could be a compelling storyline.

I'd personally prefer the Raquel angle, but I'm going to go with Tiffany Stratton. Jade injured her and took the title to end her run as champion, and the easiest pivot away from Bianca without creating a domino effect that messes up other storylines would be to have Tiffany Stratton win. I'm not sure fans would be overly excited for that match, but they're both main eventers with a ready made backstory that need something to do at 'Mania.

Predicted Winner: Tiffany Stratton

Randy Orton vs LA Knight vs Cody Rhodes vs Je’Von Evans vs Trick Williams vs Jey Uso In The Men’s Elimination Chamber For A Championship Match At WrestleMania

Who knows what’s going on with The WWE Championship? The current holder is Drew McIntyre, and he’s been calling Rhodes and Jacob Fatu both out in promos for weeks. He also attacked Randy Orton during the last episode of SmackDown. Many fans think WWE is trying to set up some kind of triple threat or fatal four way at WrestleMania. Maybe.

I think there are three possibilities here, one of which I want more than the others. The first is that the simplest solution is the one we’re going to get. Cody Rhodes has been the face of WWE for awhile, and it would be weird not to put him in a championship match at ‘Mania. He’s had an ongoing feud with Drew, and there’s a strong chance he’s just going to win and we’ll get the rematch we’ve all expected since Drew won the title.

The second possibility is that this multi-man match happens. Most likely, Cody still wins the Elimination Chamber, but thanks to some shenanigans, we end up with at least Jacob Fatu and maybe also Randy Orton all working together. That kind of sounds like a mess to me, but since WWE knows fans are down on Drew vs Cody, this may be the simplest pivot that allows Cody to still fight for a championship.

To me, the best answer is to go with someone random and unexpected, and while I love Trick Williams and see a ton of potential in Je'Von Evans, the answer is LA Knight. Fans have been dying to see him get his moment for three years now. He just keeps hanging around the main event scene, and despite losing every single big match, he’s remained incredibly over with the crowd. If WWE would give him some real momentum, fans would get behind him in a really big way.

I get Drew McIntyre and LA Knight isn’t a match for casuals who rarely watch the product, but right now, WWE needs storylines actual hardcore fans are invested in. They need to get anything hot, and we would all be hot for LA Knight finally getting his moment. This is the best way to inject some surprise and unexpected excitement into Mania season. Triple H and company can figure out something else to do with Cody Rhodes.

Is my preferred option actually going to happen? Probably not. I should pick Cody, but I feel so strongly that LA Knight is the right answer here that I'm picking LA Knight. YEAH!

Predicted Winner: LA Knight

Outside of Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes is the wrestler most responsible for WWE’s resurgence in popularity. He’s been worth every penny they’ve paid him since his return. You could even argue his match with Reigns at WrestleMania 40 is the exact moment the highest percentage of fans were happiest with the product since probably the Attitude Era. He’s everything you could want out of a lead babyface, but right now, well, right now he’s in the way.

That sounds like a horrible thing to say about one of the biggest stars in the company, but it’s also a frank appraisal of where we’re at with his character. He’s held the WWE Championship or been the main person chasing the WWE Championship for more than two years. Now that the belt is off him, WWE needs to introduce some new faces into the mix, but with WrestleMania around the corner, Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company look like they’re going to keep Rhodes in the title picture. That would be a mistake.

Let’s back up real quick. Rhodes lost the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre in one of the most shocking upsets I can remember in early January thanks to some interference from rising star Jacob Fatu. The decision was very well received, and in a smart move, WWE worked a provision into the contract that said Rhodes couldn’t demand a rematch. That has allowed McIntyre to work with other people, most prominently Sami Zayn at the Royal Rumble, but Rhodes hasn’t actually moved on to another storyline.

Rhodes, McIntyre and Fatu are still talking about each other and attacking each other on an almost weekly basis on television. Rumors are swirling that the three of them will fight in a triple threat at WrestleMania, likely with McIntyre retaining since fans aren’t exactly itching to put the belt back on Cody and Jacob, as amazing as he is, still feels a little underdeveloped to be given the most important title in the company. That’s not what I would do though.

Instead of putting Rhodes in a title match at WrestleMania 42, they need to spin him off to do his own thing with Fatu. Yes, it’s a little bit of a downgrade to put him in a non-title match at ‘Mania, but the most important thing for his character is to be in a hot storyline. This triple threat between McIntyre, Rhodes and Fatu is not a hot storyline. I’ve had plenty of excited conversations with other wrestling fans about how much they’re looking forward to CM Punk and Roman Reigns, the presumptive night two main event, but I haven’t heard a single person tell me they’re itching to see Reigns, McIntyre and Fatu. It’s a lot of “yeah, that should be kind of fun.”

We need to do better than “yeah, that should be kind of fun,” and Rhodes has proven over the years that he doesn't need the belt to create a compelling story. He did a lot of great work with Seth Rollins when he first came over, and I think if WWE let them build a real one-on-one storyline and let them go at each other on the mic, they could do something really fun in a few months. Jacob could go at Cody for being old and boring and say fans don’t want to see him anymore, and Cody could at Jacob and say he’s never accomplished anything and isn’t a main event guy.

That would free Drew McIntyre up to work with someone else for the WWE Championship, and there’s a really obvious person standing right there: LA Knight. He’s the one character fans desperately want to see get to the next level. He’s a natural babyface. Drew is a natural heel. Fans have watched LA Knight try and fail to get to the next level over and over again for the last three years. They would ride hard for LA if he got put in a big spot at WrestleMania, and it would be a joy to watch him go back and forth with Drew on the mic. There’s a strong chance they could put up a promo battle that we remember for years to come.

To me, getting there is pretty simple too. Cody, Jacob and LA Knight should all be in the Elimination Chamber. Cody and Jacob should screw each other over, which would further push the two of them into a feud, and LA Knight can take down the Chamber and give an it’s finally my time speech. The fans would go crazy.

There’s this conventional wisdom in the wrestling business that you need to put your biggest star at the top of the card for WrestleMania. Because of the casuals and because of the need to sell out a stadium, it’s imperative you put your biggest stars in the most high profile spots possible. I respectfully disagree.

The best way to sell a ‘Mania is to have storylines wrestling fans actually care about watching. Not a single person who wasn’t already planning on going to Mania is buying a ticket to Drew vs Cody vs Jacob, but people will certainly buy a ticket to try and see LA Knight finally get his moment. And who knows, maybe with a little time, Cody and Jacob could generate some momentum on their feud to the point where people would actually buy tickets to specifically see that.

The path is right here. Let’s make it happen. YEAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

The Elimination Chamber is a fantastic gimmick. Outside of the Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank matches, it’s perhaps the stipulation fans most look forward to watching. Unfortunately, because of where it exists within the yearly calendar and how formulaic the stakes have gotten lately, it is in desperate need of a change to not only reach its full potential but also stop partially undermining the Royal Rumble.

It’s not a problem with the match itself. It’s a problem with the prize for winning the match. Back in the day, the match was typically contested for one of the world championships, but now, it’s usually contested for a shot at the world title at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, that’s the exact same prize as you get for winning the Royal Rumble, and since there are only a small number of people who could conceivably win such a big prize, most of the elimination chamber participants are usually most of the same people who narrowly lost the Rumble.

This matters because when someone loses the Rumble, say Cody Rhodes in this instance, in the back of our heads, we’re all like, “Well, he’ll probably win Elimination Chamber” and get the other world title match at ‘Mania. That’s a problem. There should be a level of uncertainty for what happens if you lose the Rumble as an A-lister, and right now, it just feels like it doesn’t matter because there’s another chance next month.

The men’s Elimination Chambers in 2024 and 2025 and the women’s Elimination Chamber matches in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have all been for that second world title shot at ‘Mania. This year, Triple H announced before the Rumble even happened that the winner of the men’s and women’s Chambers will compete in the other world championship match at WrestleMania 42.

That’s such a missed opportunity. Obviously I’m not saying someone who loses the Rumble shouldn’t be put in a key spot to fight for a world championship at WrestleMania. What I’m saying is WWE needs to add uncertainty to how they get there. The best way to do that is by more regularly changing the stakes of the Elimination Chamber matches.

Here’s what I would do. I would give control of one of the matches to Raw GM Adam Pearce and the other to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. Then after the Royal Rumble, I’d build a week of storytelling around superstars campaigning for what they want the Elimination Chamber to be.

Maybe Carmelo Hayes says he wants a spotlight and wants to defend the United States Championship in there. Maybe Cody Rhodes desperately begs for the stakes to be a shot at the WWE Championship. Maybe Nick Aldis gets mad at Drew McIntyre and as punishment, tells him he needs to defend the title inside the Chamber. Maybe Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky put up the tag belts. There are so many more possibilities than what we're exploring now.

WWE is always better when there’s an element of uncertainty, and Elimination Chamber is begging for some uncertainty. Yes, a lot of the time the stake should be for a world championship match at ‘Mania, but some of the time, it should be for something else.

It should be a chance to show off the rising stars fighting for a midcard belt like we got in a fantastic match back in 2023. Some of the time it should be for a literal world championship. Having a different prize would make each one feel more unique, and it would also let Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company tell a unique story about how a wrestler earns their ‘Mania title shot without the guarantee of Elimination Chamber if they lose the Rumble.

The Royal Rumble is obviously a fantastic gimmick match, but I think the reason why it’s so popular is because it feels like the start of something. Yes, factually it begins the Road To WrestleMania, but informally, it also serves as a new beginning for every single WWE superstar. It doesn’t matter if they were buried at the bottom of the card or competing for championships in 2025. It’s a new day, and for everyone on the entire roster, it’s our first clue as to what we, as fans, can expect.

Yes, the biggest story is always about who wins and gets to fight for a championship at WrestleMania, but deeper than that, there are dozens and dozens of takeaways. For someone lower on the card and fighting for airtime, merely getting a spot in the Rumble can be a sign of hope that WWE plans on using that character moving forward. For someone in the midcard, an unexpectedly deep run can be a sign that they’re about to get a push. For uppercard guys, a notable conflict or heated elimination can be a sign of who they’re going to work with over the next few months or even into WrestleMania.

This article isn’t about subplots inside the Rumble though. It’s about predicting who is actually going to win the thing. As a fan, I’m stoked because it’s as wide open as last year when Jey Uso shocked everyone. This isn’t 2023 where everyone knew Cody Rhodes was going to come back and win. This isn’t 2024 where the fans were overwhelmingly pushing for Bayley. The women’s Rumble is extremely wide open with a a half dozen or so credible winners, and while Roman Reigns is the betting favorite for a variety of reasons, I’m going to pour some cold water on that later in the article.

Before I talk out what I think is going to happen, however, let’s take a quick look back at how my predictions have been going. I’ve made my guesses for every single PLE since WrestleMania 38, and while I’ve had my share of misses, I’ve also proven I’m right a lot more often than I’m wrong. Here's a look at the biggest events last year, plus my overall record...

Drew McIntyre (Champion) Vs Sami Zayn For The WWE Championship

I didn’t want any part of this match. I wrote an entire article pleading with WWE not to go down this road, but unfortunately, here we are in a lose-lose situation. We’ve all watched the plucky underdog Sami Zayn vow over and over again that he’ll win a World Championship at some point, and we’ve all watched him lose repeatedly in heartbreaking fashion, despite having some all-time crowd support. Now, we get to watch the same thing again.

Zayn is arguably the most popular WWE superstar in all of Saudi Arabia, and he is going to be cheered like a conquering hero with the Middle Eastern fans firmly behind him. As always, he’ll put on a spectacular match, but I just don’t see how WWE can take the title off Drew McIntyre this quickly. He just won it from Cody Rhodes, and while the Fed isn’t opposed to using brief transitional champions to move the belt from one babyface to another, I think Drew McIntyre should be a lot more than a transitional champion. Fans have wanted to see the belt back on him for years.

Maybe we’ll see Zayn lose this match and come back for The Royal Rumble, making him an even more sympathetic babyface. Maybe yet another loss in a key spot will facilitate a heel turn. There are a lot of options here, but I think the worst one among them all is taking the belt off Drew.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

Gunther Vs AJ Styles (Styles Must Retire From WWE If He Loses)

Back when Gunther and Styles first started feuding, I assumed the former was going to retire the latter at WrestleMania. Gunther has already taken out Goldberg and John Cena in their retirement matches, and it would be a great next step for his bruising and vicious Ring General to add Styles’ name to his list of victims. This feels way sooner than expected though.

WWE has been saying for months that 2026 would be AJ Styles’ last year, but it’s not even February yet! He can’t possibly go out this quickly, right? He can’t possibly be out of WWE before Mania, right?

Well, the truth is we don’t know. Rumors are swirling that Styles’ contract might be up in February. It’s also a bit weird to think about Styles having multiple retirement matches in the same year. Maybe he could beat Gunther and go out on his own terms later, but it feels like a setback for Gunther’s character to brag about retiring legends and then lose to a legend in his retirement match, even if he gets the win back later.

If this is really it for AJ Styles, I hope he goes out with his head held high after another all-time legendary match. The Phenomenal One will be remembered as one of the all-time great in-ring technicians. Like Kurt Angle, Bret Hart and others, he was able to work across a variety of styles and at many different paces, always making his opponent look great and always getting over with the fans. He’ll be missed.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Women’s Royal Rumble

There’s no clear favorite in the women’s Royal Rumble, though I’d say the most chatter has been around Liv Morgan. The fan favorite leader of Judgment Day recently returned from injury and putting her in a huge WrestleMania program feels like the next step in her career. She absolutely has the mic skills to handle being in the spotlight, and it would create a lot of fun drama within Judgment Day since her longtime friend and stablemate Raquel has been feuding for the world title and could conceivably win it.

There’s also a lot of noise around Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. The Tag Team Champions are main event levels of over, and given how incredible their prior matches have been, many fans would like to see them work together in a program at WrestleMania. It wouldn’t need one of the big belts to draw interest, but putting the belt on one of them would turn it into a contender to main event one of the nights. The best way to do that would be to have one of them win the Rumble and have the other win the title at Elimination Chamber of an upcoming event.

There are also plenty of people who you could put into the outside chance category. Becky Lynch is doing the best work of her entire career, and despite being Intercontinental Champion, we could all buy her character entering and winning the Rumble and then vowing to become double champion at Mania. Tiffany Stratton was also world champion prior to her injury and is all kinds of over with the crowd. She could return and challenge current champ Jade Cargill who took her out, and it would all make sense as part of a long-term story. I’ll also throw out Asuka, Nia Jax, AJ Lee and even Chelsea Green, who is always a threat to move up the card given her popularity.

I’m going to go with Bianca Belair though. She’s been out with an injury for nine months, and WWE desperately needs her back. The program with Jade Cargill that’s been built and teased for years needs to be paid off and is the highest upside non-Rhea and Iyo program WWE has available in its women’s division. Yes, she’s won a Rumble before, but that was at a very different spot in her career. We don’t know for sure if she’ll be cleared to come back, but if she does, this is who I’m putting my money on.

Predicted Winner: Bianca Belair

Men’s Royal Rumble

Roman Reigns is the odds on favorite to win the Royal Rumble, and it’s easy to see why. With John Cena officially retired, he’s the biggest star with the biggest fanbase and the most aura on WWE’s entire roster. If The Rock isn’t going to be around, Roman being the face of WrestleMania 42 is the best way to attract casual fans and bring lapsed ones back into the fold, which is always a goal at The Showcase Of The Immortals. He’s also super over in Saudi Arabia, and it would feel redeeming to give him another Rumble win, given his 2015 victory was booed and is widely considered one of the biggest creative missteps in company history.

But until Roman proves he’s actually going to be around week in and week out, he should not be winning the Royal Rumble. Period. I love Roman, but what’s always going to matter more to WWE’s bottom line is creating good storylines and television that people are invested in. That requires characters who are going to be on the show every week to help build a real story, which can’t be done if he’s on six scattered episodes of television between now and Mania.

Roman is the biggest star of his generation. There is always going to be a spot at WrestleMania if he wants to work it, but if he wants to go back to being the guy, he needs to work a full schedule. Being the main character comes with responsibilities. If he wants to work a Brock Lesnar schedule to protect his body and/ or to try to give Hollywood a go, that's a perfectly reasonable choice. He just shouldn't be doing that and winning the Rumble.

To me, the highest upside proposition for WWE is to create a new star, and the best way to create a new star is to have Oba Femi walk into WWE and win the Royal Rumble in his first year. Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company clearly know what they have. He vacated the NXT Championship instead of losing it before coming to the main roster. They’ve been running regular vignettes to get the fans prepared for him, and his showcase match with Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event ended without a clear finish. Everyone is expecting him to get a big spotlight at the Rumble, but I’d like to see WWE do something truly daring and have him win.

I think Reigns and Femi are the two most likely contenders, but there are some other choices to consider too. Bron Breakker should be considered a real contender, as he seems on a collision course with CM Punk for The World Heavyweight Championship. Sami Zayn could easily lose his match to Drew McIntyre and then enter the Rumble for another chance, which the crowd would get very behind. Finn Bálor is about to turn babyface and the fans seem really eager to push him. LA Knight is still waiting for his big moment and was featured prominently in a recent Unreal episode. Cody Rhodes is Cody Rhodes and is always a threat to win any Rumble he’s in.

I'm going to go with my heart instead of my head here though. I'm going to take the outcome I think is best for WWE.

Predicted Winner: Oba Femi

Last Friday, Drew McIntyre won the WWE Championship on a random episode of SmackDown. Fans really, really wanted to see the Scottish Warrior dethrone Cody Rhodes, but given he’s lost to him seven times in the past few months and only beaten him once by disqualification, most people assumed it was never going to happen, especially with WrestleMania approaching. Well, we were wrong. Triple H and the writing team decided to book a little chaos, and I couldn’t be happier.

No one has done better work in the wrestling business over the last few years than Drew McIntyre. Despite being booked to lose so many big matches and take some dumb character Ls, he’s somehow stayed over with fans and kept his aura. I can’t wait to see what his title reign looks like. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I know where WWE is going to go first. I think he’s about to enter a program with Sami Zayn, and I am not a fan.

We don’t know who Drew McIntyre’s first title defense will be against, but we do know when it’ll take place. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced there will be four matches on next week’s SmackDown to determine the top contenders for the belt. The winners will face each other in a fatal fourway at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and the winner of that will face McIntyre at the Royal Rumble.

I’m excited because I love little mini tournaments with clear stakes like this, but looking over the field, I’m a little worried about what is likely going to happen. The matches are Randy Orton and The Miz, Matt Cardona and Trick Williams, Damian Priest and Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn and Ilya Dragunov. Orton is definitely going to beat The Miz, Trick is probably going to beat Matt Cardona, Priest is definitely going to beat Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn is definitely going to beat Ilya Dragunov. As much as I love Trick and see big things for him on the roster, I think a shot at the WWE Championship is a little over his head right now, given he’s been on the roster for ten minutes.

In theory, WWE could go with any of the other three. McIntyre needs to get his win back against Damian Priest. He beat the founding member of Judgment Day in a fun match at WrestleMania 41 despite fan skepticism, but he lost to him in the steel cage follow-up at Saturday Night’s Main Event. This wouldn’t be the most exciting feud in the world, but for me, it’s the best of the available options. Priest has had some good matches in big moments, and it would be nice to see him get a singles match at the Rumble. It would also be nice to see Drew just beat someone clean and announce his presence.

Another option would be to go with Randy Orton. WWE has been heavily teasing him wanting to win another world title, and putting the Viper in a big spot is never a bad idea. With John Cena officially retired, he’s the biggest legend WWE has appearing regularly, and a win over Orton would be a nice feather in McIntyre’s cap to show he should be taken seriously, especially after he didn’t win cleanly against Cody.

To be honest though, it feels really random. Yes, we’ve all wanted to see Orton go after the title, but mostly, we’ve wanted to see him go after Cody’s title. Given their history and how many times they teased a possible heel turn, that was the appealing element.

That leaves Sami Zayn, and this is the direction I think WWE is going to go in. First, he has a long history with McIntyre. WWE has brought up numerous times that he’s been unable to ever beat the current champ. In addition, the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event is taking place in Montreal, which is Zayn’s hometown. He famously lost to Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in 2023 in Montreal and got one of the hottest responses in the history of wrestling. Him winning this match would be electric.

In addition, the Royal Rumble this year is in Saudi Arabia, and the crowd there arguably loves Zayn more than any other WWE superstar. His family traces its roots back to Syria, and he speaks Arabic fluently. The atmosphere would be electric for a hypothetical match against McIntyre, as they try to root him to victory. It just makes so much sense to put Zayn in that spot, except, in my opinion, it doesn’t at all.

I want to see Zayn win a World Championship in WWE someday. I’m not a big fan of just handing out championship reigns to every person who has been over with the crowd for a decade, but trying to prove to himself that he can be world champion has been core to Zayn’s character for years. There have been times in which he’s been the hottest babyface on the entire roster. It would feel so good to give him that moment, but I don’t want it to come a few weeks after McIntyre finally won the title back. That would be such a blow to Drew’s character. Now is not the right time.

I also don’t want to see Zayn lose. How many times can we watch him get close to the championship, only to fall short? You can only tell the same story so many times before people get bored with it. I don’t think another loss in a big spot, even if the crowd is hot for his character, is good for him. We need to save this for a spot where it makes more sense.

Besides, Sami belongs in the Rumble match itself. The Saudi crowd would get behind him big time, and while he’s not the favorite, he’s someone with a non-zero chance of winning. Keeping him out to almost certainly lose in yet another heartbreaking spot to Drew feels like a giant missed opportunity. I guess it’s possible he could lose and come back later in the night to be in the Rumble too, but I don’t know if WWE would go down that route.

Sami Zayn winning in Montreal and then facing Drew McIntyre in Saudi is the best way to create a compelling short-term story. It would lead to some big moments, but long-term, I think that’s the wrong decision, especially for Sami’s character. I need to see him in the Rumble, and whenever we see him fight for a world championship next, I want to be able to fully root for him, not be conflicted because I’m worried about what a loss would do to Drew’s character.

Damian Priest isn’t the sexiest match-up option, but it makes the most sense for Drew’s character right now, and since I want WWE to tell the best story over the next six months, not the next six weeks, I’d much rather see him win than Sami Zayn.

The 2026 TV schedule is underway, and even in the early weeks of January, there are plenty of great events to tune into. Wrestling fans have the luxury of recording SmackDown so that they can watch college sports or make other plans, but I would cancel them tonight. There's a big title change being rumored for this evening, and it's worth tuning in live for.

Bodyslam+ reports that there is an internal push from many in WWE to let Drew McIntyre win the Three Stages of Hell Match against Cody Rhodes (via Sports Illustrated). Obviously, this is huge news because it's for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, meaning one of the company's biggest belts would change hands on cable television. It's a wild rumor, but one I could see happening for two reasons.

Drew McIntyre Is Past Due For A Big Win

Drew McIntyre has been in the main event scene for a long time, and it's well-deserved. He's consistently put on quality matches with the top talent in the company, but has rarely been "the guy" with the championship in hand. In fact, he's been humiliated more often than not, having lost in his home country and having his couple of chances at glory immediately taken from him.

Wins and losses in the WWE may not be a huge deal to the performers themselves, but they matter to fans. If Drew McIntyre is constantly taking on top talent and losing, why should he be considered a top talent? We saw this problem with the late Bray Wyatt a couple of times in his career, where the crowd eventually lost hope that he'd ever overcome the champion when it was time for a feud. To remain as threatening as the WWE wants fans to perceive him, Drew needs to win, and taking down Cody in this brutal stipulation match for the title would go a long way, even if it's happening on USA and not on a PLE.

With SmackDown Moving Back To 3 Hours, It's Time To Make A Big Splash

For the time being, SmackDown is back to three hours on USA. The move couldn't come at a better time as the company seeks to set up key storylines ahead of WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. Of course, to really justify that time slot, the WWE needs to keep the action moving and compete against all the other things early in the year that are worth watching.

I'm specifically talking about live sports. We're in the midst of the College Football Playoffs, the NFL playoffs, and the height of the NBA and NHL seasons. There's a lot of live sports to prevent wrestling fans from watching live, and how better to pull them in than by hinting that something massive will happen if they do?

Putting the belt on Drew McIntyre shakes up the company in a big way, and has me genuinely wondering what this means for WrestleMania 42. Granted, I'm still hesitant to believe such a move would actually happen, because I've been burned by rumors of McIntyre winning before. Will this time be the time the WWE actually pulls the trigger? I guess I'll watch and find out.

SmackDown airs live on USA Network from Berlin at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm hoping the night ends up being as exciting as advertised, and we aren't disappointed yet again by the rumor mill.

There have certainly been WarGames matches with better builds than what we’re getting this year, but I’m not sure we have ever had more star power in a single match than what we’re getting on the men’s side this year. With all due respect to The Road Warriors, The Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and other legends who fought in the cage many times, the shared starpower here is extraordinary.

Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk and Brock Lesnar are all at least in the conversation to be on a list of the 10 biggest stars in the history of the wrestling business. Jimmy and Jey Uso are one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the business, and Drew McIntyre is a slam dunk future first ballot WWE Hall of Famer.

Logan Paul has clearly fallen in love with the business and if he stays on his current trajectory, he’s also going to be and should be a Hall of Famer someday. Bron Breakker is widely considered the most promising wrestling prospect in the entire business and Bronson Reed likely has at least one reign in his future with a World Championship. There’s an outside chance every single person in this match could be in the WWE Hall of Fame some day.

Now, whether the story comes together in a meaningful way is unclear. There's a reason Survivor Series has slipped compared to the other Big 4 PLEs. We’ll have to see whether the match is written like a glorified greatest hits house show or proves to be a big character building step toward whatever we get at WrestleMania. Fingers crossed it’s the latter.

Regardless, the other matches should pay off some storylines with a bit more simmer. Stephanie Vaquer and Nikki Bella are going to pay off their friendship turned rivals storyline. John Cena and Dominik Mysterio are going to have their long-awaited rematch, which should feature a really hot crowd in Dom’s hometown of San Diego, and there’s a lot of swirling tension and long-building storylines intersecting in the women’s WarGames match.

Before I get into what’s probably going to happen though, here’s a look back at my track record in WWE predictions, which I’ve done for every PLE since WrestleMania 38. I've highlighted the bigger events this year, plus my overall tally...

Men's WarGames Match: Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed vs Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Jey Uso And Big Jim Uso

It’s hard picking a winner in a match like this when it’s unclear what story WWE is trying to tell. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed vs all the babyfaces on the Raw roster has a been a recurring theme over the last several months. Their manager Paul Heyman has lingering bad blood with Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre have already had multiple world championship matches over the past few months and are still actively feuding. There are definitely story beats here and threads the writers can use, but they’re all pulling in a lot of different directions.

I’ve been saying for months that WWE needs to make The Vision stronger. They need to make Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker legitimate main event threats in the absence of former stable leader Seth Rollins. They’ve flirted with doing that a bit, as Reed picked up a huge win over Roman Reigns and Breakker seems likely to win The World Heavyweight Championship at some point, but they need to do more to get them there. They still feel a step behind the true main eventers in this match.

I’d like to think this will be their big breakout moment, but sometimes Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company have a hard time pulling the trigger. Drew McIntyre has felt ready to break out and be a World Champion again since his epic feud with CM Punk, but he just keeps losing in every big moment. LA Knight has been main event levels of over for literally years, and he’s still never won a World Championship. So, I don’t know. I want to say this is the moment the villains assert control and push WWE in an exciting new direction, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Predicted Winner: The Good Guys

The Women’s WarGames Match: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and AJ Lee Vs Becky Lynch, Kairi Sane, Asuka, Nia Jax and Lash Legend

Becky Lynch has been on one of the best runs of her entire career. I’m personally enjoying her more in this very moment than I ever have, and that’s saying a lot, given I think she’s one of the best female wrestlers ever. Asuka and Kairi Sane also have a nice little abusive plotline going that’ll probably end with the two of them having a WrestleMania match. I also like seeing Lash Legend on the main roster and think she’s a great fit working alongside Nia Jax, who has been mostly terrific since her re-hiring. I like this villains team.

But come’on. Whatever happens in this match will have to do with advancing the plot for the superstars on the faces. We’ve seen a lot of tension between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. Everyone is kinda expecting that, at some point, we’ll see a breakdown in the relationships of Charlotte and Alexa Bliss and Rhea and Iyo Sky. It’s entirely possible those will literally be WrestleMania matches too. I think it’s a little too early to see them turn on each other though; so, I’m going to be really basic here and say babyfaces stand tall.

Predicted Winner: The Faces

Stephanie Vaquer (Champion) Vs Nikki Bella For The Women’s World Championship

Nikki Bella is only three years older than Charlotte Flair and is two years younger than Asuka, but she rose to prominence during a time when women’s wrestling was transitioning from an era that was mostly about personality and showmanship to an era that demands high level in-ring work. Bella is capable between the ropes and is partly responsible for the much higher expectations fans now have for women’s matches, but there are times in which she still feels more like a legend returning than a current WWE superstar.

That’s not a bad thing. I’ve loved all the recent runs we’ve gotten from Trish Stratus, as an example, but I never expected Trish to beat Tiffany Stratton when they fought for the title. Similarly, I don’t expect Nikki Bella to beat Stephanie Vaquer for the title. That doesn’t mean I can’t visualize a scenario in the future in which she’s World Champion again, but she needs to get the audience to buy in a little more and get just a hair faster and more aggressive in the ring to be on that main event level.

Once again to be clear, I absolutely love Nikki. I’m glad she’s back in WWE. I want to see her on my screen every week, but I think she’s going to need to get a storyline a little more over with the audience to pick up the momentum she needs to be seen on that top tier.

Predicted Winner: Stephanie Vaquer

John Cena (Champion) Vs Dominik Mysterio For The Intercontinental Championship

I think it’s easier to think about this match by working backwards. This will be, most likely, Cena’s second to last match in WWE. So, do we think he’ll defend the Intercontinental Championship during his last match? Do we think he’ll lose his last match? If so, do we think WWE would have him lose two consecutive matches to end his career?

I think that last question is the most important one. I know Sting won his retirement match and there are a lot of wrestling fans clamoring to see Cena go out on top, but I think he’s an old school guy and is going to want to go out on his back. I think he’ll probably lose to Gunther in one final send-off, which means, I think, he really needs to win here.

A loss is not going to hurt Dominik Mysterio, and in some ways, it might actually help elevate him. He’s emerged as one of the biggest stars in the entire wrestling business, and there’s no reason to think his cheat-to-win, heelish tactics will be forever limited to the midcard. He could absolutely be a world champion. At this point, he could even win the Royal Rumble. So, yeah, I think Cena is going to retain here in a wild match the crowd will be super hot for.

Predicted Winner: John Cena

We’re about to get our fifth episode of WWE’s recently rebooted Saturday Night’s Main Event, and to be honest, the results have been a lot closer to a glorified Monday Night Raw than a PLE. Maybe it’s because of the commercials. Maybe it’s because of how WWE is booking the shows, but the collective fan excitement has fallen substantially over the last year… because very little of consequence has happened at any of the four previous shows (and there's not enough Jesse Ventura).

That may be about to change though. There’s a legitimate chance that we might see multiple world championships change hands this weekend. Throw in the fact that the show is airing on Peacock without commercials, as opposed to the previous episodes, and there’s every reason to think this could be the most consequential Main Event in decades, maybe the most consequential since more than 30 million people watched Andre The Giant beat Hulk Hogan in their WrestleMania III rematch in 1988. Let’s talk about why.

We Know We're Getting A New World Heavyweight Champion

Regardless of what happens with the rest of the card, The World Heavyweight Championship is changing hands. Seth Rollins got injured and had to vacate the title, and we’re getting CM Punk vs Jey Uso, with the winner claiming the belt. Wrestling fans have very strong and very divisive opinions about who they think should win. No, not just the usual bloviations we always get from wrestling fans. People are specifically and angrily fired up about this specific match.

Jey Uso is arguably the most divisive character on WWE’s entire roster. His meteoric rise to the top of the card, which included a Royal Rumble win earlier this year and a short run with the World Heavyweight Championship in the spring, has probably been the thing fans have argued about most in 2025. Many are very ready to see him get back to the mountaintop, while others think he shouldn’t be anywhere near the main event.

Throw in CM Punk, who has been one of the most divisive figures in wrestling over the last two decades, plus the absence of fan favorite LA Knight who many feel belongs in the match, and it’s clear whatever happens here is going to generate a lot of hot takes. It’s also going to probably be the primary storyline for the next few months on Monday Night Raw and may even have direct implications for WrestleMania 42. So, yeah, we’re getting a title change, and it’s really going to matter.

There Could Be Up To 3 Additional Title Changes Too

No, this is not my way of saying there are three other championship matches technically on the card. A lot of PLEs and previous Saturday Night’s Main Events are/ were filled with a bunch of title matches. I’m telling you that there are three matches here that actually have some doubt about the outcome. These aren’t Bret Hart beating Papa Shango for the WWE Championship in 1992. It’s very easy to play out a scenario in which some of these belts do change hands.

The most likely of the three to see a title change is Tiffany Stratton vs Jade Cargill. WWE fans have been waiting to see Cargill take the next step since she signed with the Fed. Unfortunately, between injuries and a perception that her in-ring skills and transitions haven’t developed as much as we all hoped, what seemed like a sure thing has become increasingly less sure. She lost to Stratton in barely 7 minutes at SummerSlam, but Cargill surprised fans with a new look and a heel turn last week. If she’s going to take the next step and become a singles champion, now feels like the best moment for her to do so.

Cody Rhodes’ title defense isn’t exactly a shoe-in either. Yes, he’s held the WWE Championship for the majority of the last year and a half, but Drew McIntyre has been doing the best work of his entire career. Fans are clamoring for something new, and this could be a chance to really surprise everyone and go in an exciting new direction. Rumors have swirled that Cody actually pitched to Triple H and the writers that he wanted to lose the title during his last match with McIntyre at WrestlePalooza in September. They said no, but given they’re going back to this feud so quickly, maybe they’ve reconsidered.

And then there’s Dirty Dominik Mysterio. The Intercontinental Champion is arguably the most over mid-carder on the entire roster. Fans have fallen in love with his heelish tactics. It’s likely he’s going to retain his title here, but given the match is against both Penta and Rusev, WWE has opened up the possibility he could lose without getting pinned. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but there’s probably a one in four chance it does, which makes it more likely than most title matches we get at Saturday Night’s Main Events and lower status PLEs.

To Sum Up

Saturday Night’s Main Event has had a reputation for a long time as being a snoozefest. Not this weekend. We know we’re getting at least one world championship to change hands, and I would be shocked if at least one other title didn’t get a new owner too. That’ll probably be Jade Cargill beating Tiffany Stratton, but Cody Rhodes is in big time jeopardy too. We haven’t been able to say that about many of his title defense over the last year and a half. This one is in doubt, and I love that.

It’s the nature of the business that not every event is going to be the most exciting. It’s the nature of Saturday Night’s Main Event that it’s not going to rival WrestleMania or the Royal Rumble. This weekend, however, is the best and most compelling card we’ve seen in a long time. It will feature title changes, and I cannot wait.

WrestlePalooza is the first PLE under the ESPN banner, and unfortunately, all the subscription issues have not been figured out yet. ESPN still hasn’t made a deal with Comcast, YouTube TV and other major cable companies to provide their customers, who already pay for ESPN, access to the new streaming service. That mess has led to a lot of understandable complaining on social media.

It’s also probably led to cable subscribers buying a lot of VPNs (which are heavily discounted right now) in order to watch the international Netflix feed or getting short-term subscriptions to ESPN’s new app (which is also running promo deals) in order to watch directly. What this will mean for WrestlePalooza’s viewership numbers is unclear, but regardless, those who do watch are going to be getting a really good card, at least on paper.

I say on paper because the build hasn’t necessarily been the best for all these matches. Brock Lesnar and John Cena’s feud hasn’t been the most well-developed of either of their careers, and Cody Rhodes hasn’t been as present as usual for his build with Drew McIntyre, given his current filming schedule. Fortunately, the crowd will still be hot for both of those matches, and they’ll certainly be hot for Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch vs CM Punk and AJ Styles, which has been given time for several promos and pre-match shenanigans.

Before I get into what I think is going to happen though, let’s review my historical performance. I’ve told ya’ll who I think is going to win in every PLE match since WrestleMania 38, and while I’m not exactly The Undertaker at WrestleMania or even Earthquake at WrestleMania, I’m still doing pretty well for myself. Here's my overall record, as well as breakouts for the bigger PLEs this year.

CM Punk And AJ Lee Vs Seth Rollins And Becky Lynch

This is not going to be the main event at WrestlePalooza, but if you’ve watched WWE’s weekly shows recently, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think it would be. Lee’s long-awaited un-retirement to partner with her husband CM Punk got one of the loudest pops we’ll hear this year, and the crowd has been very invested in all the promos and skirmishes we’ve gotten. There’s some real buzz here, and there’s a good chance it’ll be the match of the night, given fan investment and the in-ring skills of everyone involved.

One story beat we’ve consistently been getting has been both AJ and Becky getting physical with the men under the assumption that they won’t hit back. It’s been so pronounced that it’s entirely possible we’re actually going to see one of the men snap and deliver their finisher to the opposing lady. WWE very rarely does inter-gender matches, but we do occasional see physicality. Seth Rollins stomping AJ Lee, as an example, would produce nuclear heat with the crowd and put even more juice into the feud.

I’m not 100% confident that’s going to happen, but I am very confident that Punk and AJ are going to win here. She’s been going for a decade, and I would have to imagine WWE would want to establish her as an immediate threat to Becky’s Intercontinental Championship. The best way to do that would be with a win, and since Becky got in a cheap Manhandle Slam on her the other night, it feels like she’s going to pay her back here.

Predicted Winner: AJ Lee And CM Punk

The Usos Vs Bron Breakker And Bronson Reed

This is a tough match to predict, and you could make really reasonable cases for both sides. Even as I’m writing this, I’m not entirely sure who I’m going to pick. So, let’s just present the reason why each should win and then we can decide which is more compelling.

The Usos should win because they’re one of the best and most acclaimed tag teams in the history of the business, and when they get back together to fight people, it should mean something. Assumedly, the two of them are going to make a real run to the tag titles at some point again in the future, and we should all be invested in protecting their aura for when that happens. If Jimmy and Jey eat pins on their own, that’s fine, but as a tag team, I want to see them win in key spots.

But do we really want The Vision losing everything at WrestlePalooza? Paul Heyman is in the hospital and written off TV. I think Becky and Seth are going to lose to CM Punk and AJ Lee. Does it really make sense for the Brons to take an L here? I don’t think so, especially after Bronson Reed took an L to Roman Reigns at the last PLE. If we’re going to build these two into dominant forces on their own, that can inspire fear outside of Seth Rollins, then they need to actually win matches.

We’ve been getting a lot of teases from The Usos lately that they might not be on the same page. They got into an argument backstage this week on Raw, and Jimmy seems to be moving in a more face direction, while Jey seems to be moving more in a heel direction. Given there are compelling cases for why both teams should win, I’m going to use these teases to say The Usos are probably going to lose because of miscommunication or dissension within their partnership.

Predicted Winner: The Brons

Iyo Sky Vs Stephanie Vaquer For The Vacant Women’s World Championship

Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the other writers are clearly very high on Stephanie Vaquer. This is a huge position to put her in, given she’s only been on the main roster for a few months. Typically, that’s way too soon to even talk about fighting for world championships, let alone winning world championships, but you can’t argue with the crowd reactions she’s getting, nor can you argue with her in-ring skill. Her English is also getting better at a rapid rate, and I think it’s within the realm of possibilities that she wins here.

Obviously, Iyo is more than capable of being a world champion. She’s been there before and is arguably the third or fourth most popular woman on the roster behind Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair (and maybe Liv Morgan). It would make a lot of sense for WWE to put the belt back on her, and that’s probably the most likely outcome. It’s hard for me to imagine the two world champions on the women’s side being Vaquer and Tiffany Stratton, given their collective lack of main roster experience.

This story WWE is telling with Asuka, however, is giving me pause. We’re getting weekly signs of friction between Iyo Sky, Asuka and Kairi Sane, and it seems like we’re walking toward some kind of feud involving the longtime friends. I suspect we’ll probably even get a tag team match between Iyo and Rhea and Asuka and Kairi at some point in the near future. Does that storyline need the belt? I’m not so sure.

I’m picking Iyo because she’s Iyo freakin’ Sky and Stephanie Vaquer hasn’t even won a middle card title before, but I don’t feel super confident.

Predicted Winner: Iyo Sky

John Cena Vs Brock Lesnar

I’m done picking against John Cena. Sure, Brock Lesnar has been gone for an extended period of time, and you’d like to remind people of why he’s so terrifying with a dominant win, but I think there’s a real chance Cena doesn’t lose again for his entire retirement tour. In fact, I'm predicting it here. After his run as a heel, which had some great moments but ultimately didn’t work out, I think fans really just want to celebrate with him. He did a lot of winning throughout his career, and I think his supporters would like to see him go out the same way.

We also don’t know if there are long-term plans for Lesnar. Did he return simply to put in a few appearances and do some work with Cena, who he shares a lot of history with? Maybe. Did he return because he’s going to be a WWE superstar for the next several years and will be trying to win championships? Maybe. It’s really unclear what’s actually going on. I could easily believe either of those possibilities.

Cena and Lesnar are the same age. I can’t imagine Brock has that many runs left in him, but since this is Cena’s announced last year, I think he’s going to get a big win here. Expect this match to be a car crash with a ton of finishers and surprise kickouts in a short timeframe or for us to get some kind of outside interference to give these two some breathing room to beyond fifteen minutes.

Predicted Winner: John Cena

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs Drew McIntyre For The WWE Championship

Drew McIntyre is arguably my favorite superstar on WWE’s entire roster. I think he’s been spectacular over the past few years, and to me, his feud with CM Punk is the best storyline WWE has given us since the OG Bloodline disbanded. He’s had some big moments and won some big championships semi-recently, but a signature win over Cody Rhodes during the first PLE of ESPN’s contract would go a long way toward showing the audience he should be seen as one of the biggest stars in the company.

I would love to see it, but it’s really hard to bet against Cody Rhodes. Apart from high profile losses to the likes of Roman Reigns and John Cena, he’s basically done nothing but win. Do we think WWE is really going to want him to lose during the first event on ESPN? I don’t think so, nor do I think whenever he does lose it’ll come on the back of a feud with this little of a build. Yes, we’ve gotten some back and forths and a vicious attack from McIntyre on Rhodes, but we haven’t gotten some epic promo battle every week.

I want to see McIntyre win The WWE Championship again. I want him to be seen on that Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins level, but I don’t think this is the moment he gets there. We’ll need to wait a little longer.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

There was a bit of grumbling from some fans when WWE announced SummerSlam was moving to two nights this year. To be honest, I was a little skeptical, as well, but looking at the card, I’m ready to lace my boots up and get in the ring. Twelve matches have already been announced, and given Triple H’s normal booking style, it’s a safe bet that at least five of them would not have made the card if it was taking place entirely on one night. That’s a win, especially because of how deep the roster is right now.

It has never been harder to make a WWE PLE than it is at this very moment. Between the modern preference for only including five to seven matches per night and arguably the most superstars over with the crowd since the Attitude Era, you really need to earn your way onto one of these big shows. That’s why for WrestleMania and now SummerSlam, it’s nice to have that second night to reward more deserving talent.

Between the two nights, more than forty superstars are going to be in action, and it’s likely we’ll get surprise appearances and/ or segments from a few more. The main event is, of course, the long-awaited WrestleMania 41 rematch between John Cena and Cody Rhodes for The WWE Championship, but beyond that, there’s also going to be an additional eight titles up for grabs, plus a tag match featuring Roman Reigns and a wild celebrity tag featuring Jelly Roll, Logan Paul, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre.

Before I get into what I think is going to happen, here’s a look at my track record on predictions. I’ve been prognosticating ahead of every PLE since WrestleMania 38, and while my record is not exactly Hulk Hogan-like (RIP), it’s still enough to keep my contract getting picked up.

Tiffany Stratton (Champion) Vs Jade Cargill For The WWE Women’s Championship

There is perhaps no female superstar on the entire roster that fans are more divided on than Jade Cargill. She looks like a star. She executes specific moves in the ring like she’s a star. She has the aura and the charisma you want in a champion. She has the potential to be the face of the division, but it’s been more than a year and a half since her debut at the 2024 Royal Rumble and this is the first time she’s felt like a legitimate threat to win a singles championship.

That’s probably because there are times in the ring in which she seems to get a little lost, especially on the transitions between moves. There are times in which she seems a little reckless with her opponents. There are times in which it seems like WWE is protecting her with the way they put together her matches. There are times in which she hasn't been featured nearly as often as you'd think.

With all due respect to Tiffany Stratton, who has a long and bright future ahead of her, the outcome here is about Jade Cargill. She won Queen Of The Ring. She’s been beating everyone she’s been put in the ring with for months, usually in pretty dominating fashion. If WWE is going to pull the trigger on her, now feels like the moment. It feels like it’s time to rip off the band-aid and see if she can grow into the superstar we all know is there.

Predicted Winner: Jade Cargill

Randy Orton And Jelly Roll Vs Drew McIntyre And Logan Paul

More serious wrestling fans have had some complaints about this getting a spot on the SummerSlam card, but I’m supportive of mixing in celebrities, as long as they take it seriously. WrestleMania 1 was main evented by Mr. T, and we’ve seen some banger matches with non-wrestlers in recent years including Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville. By all accounts, Jelly Roll is putting in the work, and I loved seeing the recent segment the four stars did on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

I think we’re going to get a really fun match here. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul should have a great time playing it up with the crowd during moments they have the momentum, and I think Jelly Roll is going to surprise fans with a really unexpected move he’s probably been training on in the performance center. Throw in a hot crowd, and this could overachieve big time.

That being said, we all know Jelly Roll and Randy Orton are going to win here. WWE typically rewards celebrities with a victory in these sorts of matches, and there’s no reason to think this one will be any different, especially because Logan Paul can eat a pin without really affecting the trajectory or popularity of his character.

Predicted Winner: Randy Orton & Jelly Roll

Gunther (Champion) VS CM Punk For The World Heavyweight Championship

I’m finding this to be one of the harder matches to pick on the entire card. On the one hand, it’s time for CM Punk to win a singles championship. He’s too over with the crowd and has done too much good work since his return not to be carrying around gold in the near future. He needs to be rewarded with a signature victory, especially after a terrific promo on Monday where he talked about how much he needs this.

On the other hand, however, that signature victory feels like it should be for The WWE Championship. With all due respect to Gunther and The World Heavyweight Championship, that’s clearly the secondary prize, and given Punk’s long history at the company, it would feel a lot more poetic if his big moment was with a championship he has so much good and bad history with.

It would also be nice to see Gunther get a big win on a big stage like this. He lost in big spots at the last two WrestleManias, and even though he got his victory back against Jey Uso, he’s still dealing with fans chanting “you tapped out.” My favorite Gunther is the one that dominates, and it would do a lot for his character if we got to watch him go over CM Punk clean here.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Raquel Rodriguez And Roxanne Perez (Champions) Vs Alexa Bliss And Charlotte Flair For The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

Before I get into fawning over Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, let me say a few words about Raquel and Roxanne. They’ve done a fantastic job of keeping this title relevant since Liv Morgan got injured. They’ve been contributing good weekly backstage segments and putting on banger matches (shoutout Sheamus) whenever their number has been called. Raquel is really starting to maximize her potential in the ring and has quietly been a part of several of the best women’s tag team matches in company history. Roxanne has found her place on the main roster and thrived within Judgment Day, and under normal circumstances, I’d advocate for them to hold onto the titles.

But there is something here with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss that has main event potential, and the long-term upside is too high not to prioritize it. Like many fans, I wasn’t really sure where Flair could go after her poorly received program with Tiffany Stratton. She was getting the worst crowd responses of her entire career, and with so many talented women at the top of the card, I started wondering for the first time whether she’d ever be able to make it back on top.

Alexa Bliss has brought something new out of her though. The two have fantastic chemistry, and it has humanized Flair in a way we’ve never really seen from her. It’s made her really likeable, and fans gave her, arguably, the best reception of her entire career at Evolution. It’s been great for Bliss too, as she’s always had fantastic crowd support but hasn’t really been treated like a potential main eventer in a long time.

You could fantasy book a Charlotte and Alexa run a million different ways. Maybe they stay together for a year. Maybe they stay together for a few months. Maybe they remain friends over the long-term. Maybe they turn into bitter enemies. We all have our own opinions on how that should play out, but it’s pretty obvious the next step in their story needs to be winning these tag team championships and having a big moment together in the ring. That will make whatever comes later way more impactful.

Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair And Alexa Bliss

Roman Reigns And Jey Uso Vs Bron Breakker And Bronson Reed

The safer move here is to put Roman Reigns and Jey Uso over. They’re the two biggest merch sellers in the entire company, and they get significantly bigger crowd reactions than Breakker and Reed. They’re the bigger stars, and both of them could benefit from a big win on a stage like this. I’d have to imagine that’s probably what WWE is going to do, especially after Breakker and Reed dominated them on this week’s Monday Night Raw, which is often a bad sign for winning at a PLE.

Let me just make the case for Breakker and Reed here real quick though. WWE clearly sees a huge future for both. They were put into a faction with Seth Rollins after ‘Mania, and even after he got hurt, they have been pushed just as hard alongside manager Paul Heyman. We’re meant to see them as the future of the company, and there would be no better way to signal that future is here than by letting them beat Roman Reigns on a big stage at SummerSlam.

Given Reigns has slowed down considerably over the past few years on appearances and he’s going to be filming the new Street Fighter movie, it’s unlikely WWE is going to push him back into the title picture in the near future. Jey Uso’s future is also a bit in doubt, as he had that remarkable singles run but doesn’t seem likely to be elevated back to that level in the near future. So, why can’t they lose again?

I’m going to predict Roman Reigns and Jey Uso are going to go over here because they’re Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, but I think the smarter long-term decision here would be to give Breakker and Reed a moment.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns And Jey Uso

Sami Zayn Vs Karrion Kross

No match more obviously benefited from SummerSlam being two nights than this one, but I am here for it. Kross has been getting over with fans in a big way, and it’s nice to see him rewarded with a singles match on a prestige card like this. But you still have to ask yourself, why is this here? Is it because we're about to get a huge moment of character development for Zayn?

Sami has arguably been the biggest straight-up babyface (other than Cody Rhodes) in the company for the past few years. He was the sympathetic hero to root for during the Bloodline storyline, and he got rewarded with career-defining moments at consecutive WrestleManias with his wins over The Usos and Gunther. Exactly where he goes from here is a big question, however.

The crowd still likes Zayn, but he’s not as hot as he once was. He’s been vowing for a long time that he’ll become World Champion some day. I’m sure fans would get behind that quest if WWE would push him hard enough, but with so many household names at the top of the card, it’s unclear if WWE has any plans on actually doing that. Kross has been telling Zayn for months that to get to the next level, he needs to essentially become a bad guy. There’s a chance we finally get that here. It would be a big risk for Zayn, but it could be a really unique way to reinvent his character by watching him cheat to win here, something he’d ordinarily never do.

Predicted Winner: Sami Zayn

Naomi (Champion) Vs Rhea Ripley Vs Iyo Sky For The Women’s World Championship

There’s really no bad outcome here. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are both mega-over babyfaces that the crowd would love to see win the belt back, and Naomi is doing the best work of her entire career as the heel champion. You could tell a compelling story with any of these three winning the belt.

The case for Rhea is pretty simple. She’s the most popular woman in the history of the business, and while she’s had long runs as champion, she’s also done a lot of losing more recently. She’s been able to stomach those losses as they’ve involved outside interference or someone else eating the pin, but at some point, if you want fans to see you as dominant, you need to be dominant. Putting the belt on the most over performer is never a bad idea.

The case for Iyo is pretty clear too. The crowd loves her, and every single match she puts on is fantastic, no matter who her opponent is. She wasn’t really given enough storylines or weekly time the last time she had the belt, and it would be nice to put the strap back on her and lean in harder this time around.

Either of those possibilities works for me, but I’m still going to go with Naomi. I don’t think she’s going to be champion for six more months, but I do think she’s been too good to take the belt off her this quickly. She deserves at least a few more months with the title, and that starts with winning here. I don’t think it’ll be clean. It’ll probably involved some shady and underhanded tactics, but I think she’s probably going to walk out as champion.

Predicted Winner: Naomi

Becky Lynch (Champion) Vs Lyra Valkyria For The Women’s Intercontinental Championship

I think the big question is whether we see Bayley here. She gave a very somber interview on Raw where she talked about missing WrestleMania and now missing SummerSlam. I think we’re about to get a heel turn, and given how involved she has been in this entire program, it would make a lot of sense for it to happen here.

Now, how exactly a heel turn would work is complicated. She’s had matches with Becky and Lyra, though she clearly has more animosity toward Becky. Unfortunately, attacking Becky, given she’s a heel herself, wouldn’t exactly draw any heat from the crowd; so, my guess is she would just attack both of them, which would lead to a sequence of events that would see Lyra losing and Becky retaining.

Even if she doesn’t show up, I still think Becky is probably going to win here. The Intercontinental Championship picture has almost solely focused on these three women for months, and it’s time to get some fresh blood in there. If Lyra wins, we’re just going to get stuck in the same loop. So, look for her to lose and then possibly move to SmackDown with some new challengers being moved to Raw as future Becky opponents if there’s a draft.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

Solo Sikoa (Champion) Vs Jacob Fatu For The United States Championship

Jacob Fatu is a star. WWE has started making speciality merchandise for Fatu that’s custom to different cities, and there have been a lot of reports that Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the other writers plan on really pushing him. That almost certainly starts with winning this match. I was shocked to see him lose the belt to Solo the first time, but I would be even more shocked to see him lose to the wannabe Tribal Chief twice. That doesn’t make any sense for his character.

Now, how WWE chooses to handle the match is an open question. Even though the match is in a steel cage, it’s likely Solo Sikoa is going to play the numbers game. Fatu obviously has my guy Big Jim Uso in his corner, but it feels like he’s going to need more firepower than that. Maybe that’ll come in the form of a returning Tama Tonga who could side with Fatu or maybe that’ll come via a new debuting character or maybe Fatu will just straight up win despite a numbers disadvantage, which would make him look as powerful as possible. We’ll see.

Even though he’s going to lose, I will give a quick shoutout to Solo though. He’s really found himself in this more comedic character, I’m excited to see what he does moving forward.

Predicted Winner: Jacob Fatu

Dominik Mysterio (Champion) Vs AJ Styles For The Intercontinental Championship

Rumors swirled recently that AJ Styles quietly signed a one year extension on his contract. I think WWE is going to want to give him some big moments before he retires, if this is, in fact, his last run, but I’m skeptical they’re going to have him beat Dominik Mysterio here. The current IC Champion got a prime Stone Cold pop during his recent appearance at AAA in Mexico, and his Honky Tonk Man style bit as the cowardly champion is currently working really well. It feels too early to bail on it.

I expect these two to put on a hell of a match. Styles is one of the best in-ring workers in the history of the business, and Mysterio has worked hard to improve to the point where he’s pretty good. With a hot crowd and the potential for some outside interference, I think this could be one of the most popular matches of the weekend.

It’s also the sort of thing where we could see a sketchy finish. Triple H doesn’t really like DQ finishes that negate a title change, but there’s a lot more meat on the bone of this feud that they may want to carry forward. I think Dominik is going to remain champion, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw these two again at an upcoming PLE.

Predicted Winner: Dominik Mysterio

The Wyatt Sicks (Champions) Vs DIY Vs The Street Profits Vs Fraxiom Vs The Motor City Machine Guns Vs Andrade And Rey Fénix For The WWE Tag Team Championship

Fans were furious when the SmackDown tag team division was left off the WrestleMania 41 card, and those complaints only got louder after DIY, The Street Profits and Motor City Machine Guns dropped an all-time classic TLC match in the days after the event. I still can’t believe they got passed over, but this SummerSlam placement is at least some consolation.

I have no idea if this will be able to live up to the last TLC match, but expect all six of these tag teams to put on a hell of an effort to try. For many, it will be the biggest match in the biggest spot of their entire careers, or at least close to it. They will go all out to prove they belong and go all out to prove how good the SmackDown tag division is. Expect some WTF high spots and a bunch of coordinated, high athleticism moves.

I have no idea who is going to win the match. You could make a legit case for every team participating. Part of me thinks the right answer is to default to the current champions, The Wyatt Sicks, but I’m having a hard time betting against Andrade and Rey Fénix. They clearly have the most momentum, and the crowd has really gotten into every one of their matches. It wouldn’t be surprised to see them rewarded in a big spot here.

Predicted Winner: Andrade And Rey Fénix

John Cena (Champion) Vs Cody Rhodes For The WWE Championship

John Cena, despite his promises, is not going to retire with The WWE Championship. He’s not gonna take the belt and go home because it doesn’t make any sense to end a championship lineage going back to the early 1960s. That means he’s going to lose at some point, but exactly when that’s going to be is an open question.

Cena will be around in some fashion for the rest of the year, which means WWE needs to decide whether to take the belt off him now and give him time for a final run as a babyface or to let him keep rolling as the heel champion. I would have definitely said they’d keep the belt on him a little longer before announcing the Cody rematch, but now I’m not so sure. In fact, I think there’s a chance WWE might be about to execute something far grander.

A double turn in wrestling is when one character goes into a match as the face or hero and another character goes into the match as a heel or villain, but afterwards, they emerge playing the opposite roles. The most famous example is Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, which was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

I think there’s a chance we get the same thing here. For months, we’ve been getting the occasional hints that Cena is being worn down by his role as the villain, that maybe he doesn’t want to be cheating to win in every match. At the same time, there have been hints that Cody Rhodes is more willing to get his hands dirty, that he’s maybe not as clean cut of a good guy as we thought. What if Cody cheated to win, Cena realized the error of his ways, and they each emerged from the match in a very different place?

I don’t know if the double turn is going to happen, but I do think Cody is going to win the championship. Yes, it feels early, but since I think Rhodes is going to be the one to dethrone Cena and I don’t see them wrestling again in a bigger spot, I have to think this is going to be the moment. I also think these two are going to have a great match, as they're going to be particularly motivated after the reception to their WrestleMania 41 match was less than ideal.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

The WWE is a machine that never stops, pumping out storylines and angles year-round to keep the millions (a-a-and millions) of fans hyped about upcoming WWE events. Unfortunately, the writers don't always hit the mark, and while few things have ever been as disastrous for wrestling storytelling as the Montreal screwjob, I think what once happened to Drew McIntyre is a close second. It seems like the WWE superstar agrees, as he recently talked about a previous match and called it the "worst moment" of his life.

The wrestler named his title shot at Clash At The Castle as a memorable low point during a recent interview with Cultaholic. For readers who may not remember, McIntyre looked as though he'd defeat Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, but the surprise debut of Solo Sikoa helped the champion retain. That part was bad enough, but McIntyre laid out what sends it over the top for him in the interview (via ITRWrestling.com):

I think most wrestling fans expected Roman Reigns to retain his title until WrestleMania, so McIntyre losing wasn't a huge surprise. That said, the bizarro ass moment of McIntyre then pulling boxer Tyson Fury into the ring and singing "American Pie" to a disappointed Wales audience felt like a humiliation ritual that will live on to be revisited by those with a Peacock subscription for decades to come.

I watched the clip below for the first time since the week of the event, and I couldn't even make it through the whole thing because I was cringing so hard:

Keep in mind, there were rumors ahead of this appearance that Tyson Fury was going to appear in the WWE and have a feud with one of the superstars. So, when the Manchester native joined "The Scottish Warrior" in the ring and started singing a song about three American music icons dying in a plane crash, there was some widespread confusion about what the purpose of it was. I should add that the duo also sang "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond and "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis, so they were really hanging that camera on them.

At the time, it was alleged that the moment was to send the Wales crowd home smiling, as they were understandably upset to see Drew McIntyre lose. As many have pointed out in the time since then, however, moments like that are typically done when the cameras are no longer rolling. To air the moment live out for everyone watching made it seem weird that such an intense character like McIntyre was so jovial following one of the biggest losses of his professional wrestling career.

That's far in the past, however, and it is fair to say Drew McIntyre's journey in the WWE has only gone up from that moment. He's still a top name in the brand despite many wrestlers competing for the spotlight, with his recent injury being the only thing keeping him from television at the moment. It's unfortunate, especially considering his WrestleMania program with Damien Priest over-delivered on expectations.

Hopefully, we'll see more of Drew McIntyre soon and fewer embarrassing moments like what happened to him years ago on WWE programming. I'm hoping to see him get another championship run sometime soon, but until he's healthy again, it might be a little premature to talk about that.

I don’t want to get myself in trouble here by pulling a Bobby Heenan and prematurely bragging a little too aggressively, but historically, Backlash is the easiest PLE on WWE’s entire calendar to predict. I’m 14 and 4 over the last three years, and I’m hoping to improve on that winning percentage with another strong performance this year thanks to a crop of matches that mostly feel pretty straight forward.

It all comes down to where Backlash falls in WWE’s yearly calendar. Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the rest of the writers spend months setting up storylines and paying them off at WrestleMania. Then, less than a month later, we’re given another PLE, typically filled with a bunch of matches featuring newly crowned champions. I’m not saying WWE doesn’t ever give us a big WTF surprise, but in general, crowning a new champion and then having them lose the belt three weeks later doesn’t make a ton of sense. It’s a very late stages WCW move.

That being said, I do think we’re going to get one title change, and I do think we’re going to get some good matches the crowd will be hot for. This card might have some pretty obvious outcomes, but it also features some good workers and characters who are very over with the crowd. Plus, you can never go wrong with John Cena and Randy Orton going to war again.

You can check out a quick rundown of my recent and career record on WWE predictions below…

Pat McAfee Vs Gunther

Gunther is going to win this match. His character can survive the WrestleMania loss to Jey Uso without sacrificing much aura, but he can’t take back to back Ls to the Yeet Man and a broadcaster like Pat McAfee. It’s important Gunther comes out on top here, and ideally, comes out looking pretty strong.

It doesn’t need to be a squash match however, and it shouldn’t be. McAfee has proven in the past that he’s way better than you’d guess in the ring, and as a sympathetic babyface defending Michael Cole, he should at least be given some hope spots. I think there’s a real chance this ends up being a low key banger.

To me, the bigger question is whether this ends up writing McAfee off television for awhile. The former NFL punter typically takes an extended break during the year because of his football-related duties on ESPN. The sabbatical ordinarily doesn’t start until later in the summer, but given the timeframe, there’s certainly a possibility we could see Gunther “injure” the talking head to the point where he needs to step away for the rest of the year. That would certainly give The Ring General plenty of heat, and it would allow Pat some needed time off, as well as give Corey Graves the chance to return from NXT.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Lyra Valkyria (Champion) Vs Becky Lynch For The Women’s Intercontinental Championship

I’ve been really impressed with Lyra Valkyria over the past few months, and I was especially impressed with her microphone work earlier this week on Raw. She’s also getting over with the crowd. You can hear it during her entrances. You can hear it during her matches. She’s not quite on that top level yet, but she’s really getting there. I think it was a great decision by Triple H to put the IC Championship on her and let her run with it.

But I don’t see how you bring back Becky Lynch to have her lose here. She’s one of the most popular female stars on the entire roster, and she’s been gone for an extended period of time. Her winning the Intercontinental Championship would also legitimize it in a way Lyra isn’t capable of doing at this point in her career. If you look back at the history of the men’s title, an overwhelming majority of the biggest names held the belt at some point in time, and it would be nice to start adding some legends to the women’s side as well.

Plus, it seems like we’re eventually going to get Becky and Bayley. Becky admitted she was the one who attacked Bayley and took her spot at WrestleMania, and those two are going to need to have a program to settle the score at some point. WWE is going to want Becky with as much momentum as possible when that program happens, and that means she needs to win her matches.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

Dominik Mysterio (Champion) Vs Penta For The Intercontinental Championship

It’s hard to imagine the first few months of Penta’s WWE career going better than what we’ve gotten. He’s really won over the fans and become a big mid-card attraction. He also had his first WrestleMania match, which was extremely well received by fans and widely considered one of the best of the weekend.

Still, I don’t like his chances here though. He’s been feuding with both Judgment Day and Chad Gable/ El Grande Americano in recent weeks, and it seems like the long-term feud is going to be the one with El Grande Americano. That probably doesn’t need the Intercontinental Championship, as there’s plenty of built in excitement for that already. There’s even a possibility we could get a mask versus mask match between the two at some point.

Plus, Dominik Mysteiro just had a career highlight. His victory and post-match celebration was probably the best moment of the entire WrestleMania weekend. I’m not going to say a loss here would invalidate that, but it would make me really confused about where WWE is going with his character. He’s so hot right now, and a loss would only slow down that momentum. That being said, I don’t expect him to win clean here. Look for outside interference, random weapons or a referee bump. Something weird is going to happen, and he will not apologize for it.

Predicted Winner: Dominik Mysterio

Jacob Fatu (Champion) Vs Damian Priest Vs Drew McIntyre Vs LA Knight For The United States Championship

This match is probably the most exciting to me of any on the entire card. All four of these guys are super over with fans. McIntyre and Priest have both been world champions within the last year and change. Jacob Fatu is widely considered by fans to have future WrestleMania main event potential. LA Knight is sneaky still one of the most popular wrestlers on WWE’s entire roster. The crowd is going to be very hot for this match and rightfully so.

The most obvious choice here is to say Jacob Fatu is going to retain. He just won the title and is clearly ascending up the card. Weakening him so quickly doesn’t seem like it’s the right move, but it’s hard to know when his long-term plans aren’t clear. There’s a possibility he has a Gunther-like year-plus reign where he just dominates everyone at the mid-card level. Then again, it’s also possible that we’re finally going to get the long-awaited feud between Fatu and his sidekick Solo Sikoa. Many fans thought he’d lose at WrestleMania because of Solo and that would lead into an extended program between the two. That could still happen here.

If he does lose, it’s anyone’s guess as to who might win the title from him. LA Knight is probably the most obvious candidate, as he’s been involved in this title picture the longest and already has multiple reigns to his name. I wouldn’t mind seeing him on top again for a few more months.

This could also be a way to give Damian Priest direction. He was elevated to the main event scene last year with a big 'Mania moment and did a really nice job, but if we’re being honest, as much as I love him, he’s just not quite on that level. He’s a spectacular mid-carder or a halfway decent main event guy. I could see WWE putting this title on him again and letting him rule the mid-card. Drew McIntyre makes less sense to me, as he feels a little bit above this title, but if he’s not going to get booked to win a World Championship anytime soon, then this could be a way to give him something.

I’m going to stick with Jacob Fatu, but I have more doubt here than with most of the matches.

Predicted Winner: Jacob Fatu

John Cena (Champion) Vs Randy Orton For The WWE Championship

Deep down, we all know Randy Orton isn’t going to win this. I’m from St Louis. I love Randy Orton. It pains me in my soul to say he’s definitely going to lose out loud, but John Cena didn’t finally turn heel and beat Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania to lose a forty-five year old that’s lost a lot more big matches than he’s won over the last half decade. It’s just not going to happen.

Now, I think we’re going to get a terrific match. I think Cena is going to use some heelish tactics in order to win. I think there will be a moment or two where the crowd thinks Orton might win, but the upside of keeping the belt on Cena is just way higher. There are a lot more money matches to be had right now with the belt around his waist than on Orton’s.

I’m confident about a lot of these matches, but I’m the most confident about this one. Apart from teaching fans anything can happen, I don’t see a single reason why WWE would be better off with Orton as champion. So, expect Cena to win here.

Predicted Winner: John Cena

Most of the post-WrestleMania 41 conversation has been about the main event between Cody Rhodes and John Cena. I get it, but I also don’t want to talk about it anymore. Yeah, I wish things had gone down differently too, but there was enough that worked about WrestleMania that I’d prefer to take some time to celebrate the good.

Over the course of two nights, some WWE superstars worked together to deliver fantastic matches. The second night in particular had one of the hottest starts to a ‘Mania card I’ve ever seen. So, let’s celebrate that. Let’s get away from some of the negativity and talk about the superstars that really showed out.

Before we get there though, let me hype up a few honorable mentions. Jade Cargill vs Naomi was the toughest cut for sure. They were a strong sixth place in my opinion, but with just a little over nine minutes, they didn’t get quite enough time to get going. Liv and Raquel vs Bayley and Lyra was also a really solid match, though they were hampered by the same time issues and didn't even get nine minutes.

I’m also not going to include Randy Orton vs Joe Hendry, which was a ton of fun but in a more comedic and gimmicky sort of way. El Grande Americano and Rey Fénix also did their job, but with a last minute switch out and less than eight minutes of time, there was no way they could get up to the level needed to make this list.

5. Jacob Fatu Vs LA Knight

A lot of people felt like this match would feature some shenanigans that would lead into a feud between Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa, but sometimes you just need to let your rising stars grab a title and run with it. Fatu is a future WrestleMania main eventer. With all due respect to Bron Breakker, he’s the most exciting new star to make his main roster debut since Gunther. It was terrific to see him get his moment here.

But LA Knight deserves a lot of praise too. He held his own with the Samoan Werewolf and showed he’s perhaps one of the few mid-card guys on the roster who could keep the crowd on his side against Fatu. That’s no easy feat, nor were some of the more difficult moves pulled off during this match, particularly the moonsault into a BFT. Saturday, as a whole, had some struggles, but this was a clear bright spot.

4. Damian Priest Vs Drew McIntyre In A Sin City Street Fight

There were so many complaints about this match a month or so out from WrestleMania. Many fans felt Drew McIntyre deserved to be higher on the card and to be put in a more prominent position. I get that. I think he should be given another World Championship run ASAP, but put some respect on Damian Priest’s name. He’s one of the strongest and most reliable workers on the entire roster. He and Drew found a way to sell the program with consistent storytelling leading into ‘Mania, and they really delivered with a very good match here.

Both men willingly took some big bumps and consistent punishment throughout, but that was balanced well with some good combinations and more intricate sequences where they proved how capable they are as technical wrestlers. Plus, we got a fun viral moment from Drew McIntyre with another mid-match tweet and some excellent post-match selling from Damian Priest after the Claymore onto the chair. Job well done by everyone involved. Hopefully this’ll catapult Drew into another World Championship run and lead to Damian having another extended program with a top guy in the company.

3. Bron Breakker Vs Penta Vs Dominik Mysterio Vs Finn Bálor For The Intercontinental Championship

I think Dominik Mysterio celebrating his victory will be remembered as the single best and most memorable thing from this entire WrestleMania. He’s been doing fantastic heel work for years, and it’s been obvious for a long time that the boos he was getting were a sign of respect. He wasn’t getting go home heat. He was getting appreciated for his good work. So, job well done. I can’t say enough nice things about him or the moment he earned.

I can definitely say more nice things about the rest of this match too. It may have only been ten and a half minutes, but it was really fast-paced and well-constructed. Everyone got some really fun spots, and Carlito really delivered in his role too, as he interfered several times and took a very memorable spear spot from Bron Breakker. Also a big shout out is due for Penta who is an absolute star and to Finn Bálor who once again played the hard luck loser.

2. Seth Rollins Vs Roman Reigns Vs CM Punk

I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of the night one crowd, but they really made this feel like a big fight atmosphere and stayed plugged in throughout the entire match, which was more than thirty minutes. Most of the credit for that, however, should go to the three performers, who wrestled like they knew this match was going to be watched and rewatched for decades to come. Every spot felt important, and every near fall felt like edge of your seat drama.

Unlike the night two main event finish which was also designed to be cinematic, this one really worked. The interaction between Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns after he betrayed CM Punk and later Paul Heyman and Seth Rollins after he betrayed Roman Reigns was fantastic. Everyone involved here has been in huge moments on the biggest stages in the past, and they really showed that experience here. At most ‘Manias this would have been the fight of the weekend.

1. Iyo Sky Vs Bianca Belair Vs Rhea Ripley For The Women’s World Championship

I just looked at the official time and am shocked this didn’t even go fifteen minutes. Each of the women got some really good extended interactions with each other, and each one did some really good character work and told a believable story. I particularly loved Bianca leaning into the boos and telling the fans they needed to be louder. It gave her character ownership over what was happening and made her look empowered.

The in-ring work was just fantastic too. There were so many combinations where one move flowed into another move, and it was beautiful to watch these three superstars all show off their various movesets which are unique and visually different from each other. Wrestling is best when there’s obvious variance, and this match featured so much of it.

Bianca, Rhea and Iyo are three of the greatest female superstars in the history of this business. All three of them sold out to make each other look as good as possible, and all three wrestled to improve the quality of the match, not to make themselves look good. I’ll remember this as one of my favorite ‘Mania matches ever, and I think there are a lot of people right there with me.

It’s finally WrestleMania week, and I could not be more fired up. The Royal Rumble might be my favorite PLE of the year, but WrestleMania is, without question, the most important. Whenever someone who’s not into professional wrestling asks me to explain what it’s all about, I always use ‘Mania as a starting point. It’s the one event every single person is at least vaguely aware of, and in very practical television terms, it works like the season finale.

A year’s worth of characters, storylines and builds are, in theory, supposed to pay off at WrestleMania. It’s the show that brings resolution to what we’ve already watched and lets us know who the main characters are going to be moving forward. In a more special way only wrestling fans understand, it’s also just really meaningful. It’s a big deal to even make the card, and everything you do at a ‘Mania counts. It’ll be re-watched and remembered for decades to come.

This year will be no exception. After decades in the business, playing the most popular good guy almost the entire time, John Cena has finally been given the chance to play a heel, and he’s taken full advantage of it in his feud with WWE’s top baby face Cody Rhodes. They’ll close night two of the show, but beyond that, there are a ton of other huge names on the card including Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair, Gunther and more.

Before I get into what I think is going to happen, though, you can take a look at my track record predicting WrestleManias, as well as my overall record, as I’ve predicted every single WWE Premium Live Event for the last three years.

The War Raiders (Champions) Vs The New Day For The World Tag Team Championships

I don’t know what Triple H is doing here. I think fans on Twitter, with a few exceptions, have been a little too negative about this year’s WrestleMania build, but this is one program that I think everyone should be criticizing. The New Day were white hot when they first turned heel. The segment where they kicked Big E out was one of the best promos we’ve gotten in a long time, but then the writers waited way too long to actually do anything with them. They just had them give the same generic heel promo every week and even bizarrely had them lose some matches. Now they’re trying to heat them back up, but the spark just isn’t the same.

That being said, The War Raiders are among the best in-ring tag team workers on the entire WWE roster, and The New Day are future first ballot Hall of Famers. This match can and should still cook. I predict the crowd will be very hot for it by the end, with two possible results. Either The New Day will cheat to become tag team champs again, or they’ll lose the match as a result of interference from Big E. I’m going to go with the former, but keep your eyes open for the latter.

Predicted Winners: The New Day

Rey Fenix (Replacing Rey Mysterio) Vs El Grande Americano

UPDATE: Rey Mysterio suffered an injury on SmackDown and was replaced by Rey Fenix. It's hard for me to imagine WWE will give Rey Fenix his first singles loss this quickly after his debut, but I'm not 100% confident because we don't know if WWE is going to try and get back to the Rey Mysterio/ El Grande Americano storyline whenever he gets healthy. If Gable is unmasked here, that makes this more complicated.

Original Write-Up: In a really stupid but also amazing way, this match is a perfect encapsulation of what professional wrestling is all about. Rey Mysterio is a WWE Hall of Famer and arguably the most famous luchador of all-time, at least in The United States. In an effort to beat him, WWE mid-carder Chad Gable disappeared for several weeks, then returned as a masked luchador named El Grande Americano. He swears he’s not Chad Gable but is instead a totally different wrestler who has won every championship there is to win in Mexico.

In recent weeks, many WWE legends have tweeted about how unfair it is that El Grande Americano has a match and Chad Gable doesn’t. A recent crowd even gave us an all-time chant where half the people screamed that’s Chad Gable and the other half screamed no he’s not. The whole thing is beyond normal levels of stupid but also absolutely perfect in a really specific professional wrestling way.

Anyway, Rey Mysterio is going to win this. Afterwards, I suspect he’ll unmask El Grande Americano at the end, and we’ll just have to wait and see who is under there. It’s obviously gonna be Chad Gable, except, of course, if it’s not.

Predicted Winner: Rey Fenix

Jade Cargill Vs Naomi

It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a non-title women’s singles match on the ‘Mania card, but this one has more than earned its spot thanks to a good story that’s built slowly over the last year and some particularly strong character work, especially from Naomi. At ‘Mania 40, Cargill, Naomi and Bianca Belair all teamed together for a dominant victory over Damage CTRL. In the time since, they’ve told a story of friendship and betrayal, in which both women separately teamed with friend Bianca Belair to win the tag team titles and a jealousy naturally grew from that, leading to Naomi eventually attacking Jade.

I suspect Jade will win this match. She’s been presented as a dominant, main event talent since she arrived in WWE. In fact, you could say she’s been one of the most protected superstars on the roster. A loss here would really hurt her standing, whereas it would only give Naomi more fuel to grow her bitter, resentful heel that’s really helped break her out over the past few months. In fact, I suspect WWE will strongly consider her when Money In The Bank rolls around for a possible victory there.

Predicted Winner: Jade Cargill

LA Knight (Champ) Vs Jacob Fatu For The United States Championship

What happens in this match entirely depends on what WWE wants to do with Jacob Fatu. Whether fans like it or not, Triple H and company seem to view LA Knight as an upper mid-carder, the type of superstar who cleans up against most of the roster but loses World Title level matches to the actual main eventers. So, win, lose or draw, he’ll continue dropping mid-carders on their heads and giving ‘em three the hard way.

Jacob Fatu, however, is almost certainly going to be in the main event picture sooner rather than later. Despite being a heel, the crowd clearly buzzes every time he comes to the ring. He’s just got an aura about him, and many fans and observers consider him a future WrestleMania main eventer. So, what does WWE want to do with that? They can have him beat LA Knight here and go on an extended run with The United States Championship where he, assumedly, looks really dominant against most of the roster, or they could have him lose in some underhanded way that helps him launch into his next feud. Most likely that would be through a botched interference attempt by his Bloodline mate Solo Sikoa.

Ultimately, I think they’re probably going to want him to win his first WrestleMania match and get his first taste of singles gold. So, I’m going to go with that. A loss is definitely possible though, but if it happens, expect it to be a loss that still keeps him looking really strong.

Predicted Winner: Jacob Fatu

Tiffany Stratton (Champion) Vs Charlotte Flair For The WWE Women’s Championship

Let’s just rip the band-aid off here. The build to this match has been a disaster. It’s impossible to know as a fan with no backstage connections exactly what’s been going on, but from my vantage point, it seems like Charlotte Flair intentionally tried to make Tiffany Stratton look bad on multiple occasions by going off script and stepping on her big lines until Stratton got sick of it and hit her back on live television with a few really personal insults.

All that mess has added a little buzz and excitement to the match, but it’s also made both of the women look bad. Flair has come off, at least to me, as unprofessional and unwilling to help one of the youngest women on the roster, and Tiffy has come off, at least to me, like someone inexperienced who was made World Champion before she was ready. There’s been no winner.

I have no idea what to expect on Saturday. Stratton and Flair and two of the best workers on the entire roster. So, there’s a chance they’ll finally work together and deliver an all-time fantastic match, or there’s a chance they’ll just keep trying to show each other up and it’ll be a disaster. It could go either way, as could the outcome. I originally thought WWE would have Flair put over Stratton to give her a huge win on a big stage and signal to the audience that they’re building around her, but she hasn’t looked ready for the moment in the past several weeks, stumbling over her words and seeming out of sorts. Would WWE really reward Charlotte for what’s happened here though? That doesn’t feel like the right message to send to the veterans in the locker room.

Predicted Winner: Tiffy Time

Gunther (Champion) Vs Jey Uso For The World Heavyweight Championship

Gunther is probably my favorite wrestler on the entire roster. He’s absolutely fantastic, and his promo this week on Raw really showed why he’s a future Hall of Famer. I would love to see him win here and really cement his legacy as an all-time villain, capable of stepping on any babyface, no matter how over they are with the crowd. But what happens to Jey Uso if he loses in another big moment?

WWE has invested a ton in Jey Uso and in this story. He won perhaps the most stacked Royal Rumble in history. After fans weren't fully getting on board with his program, they let Gunther beat down his brother Jimmy, to the point where he’s not being used at WrestleMania in order to try and build sympathy. They’ve given him personalized entrances and significant time on almost every episode of Raw for months.

That’s paid off in huge merchandise sales and a lot of YEET chants, but if he loses here, it’s almost certainly going to stop a lot of his momentum. He’s going to be thrown back down to the mid-card and probably end up back in a tag team with his brother. That’s far from the worst thing in the world, but there’s always time to do that later. If he’s going to make a singles run, it needs to be now, which is why he’s almost certainly going to win.

Predicted Winner: Jey Uso

Roman Reigns Vs CM Punk Vs Seth Rollins

Fans are divided as to how effective the build for this custody of Paul Heyman match has been, but you certainly can’t deny the star power. These three would all quite easily fit into a top ten of wrestlers who have most defined the post-Attitude Era, and they all share plenty of professional connections and personal life overlap.

You could make a case for why all three of these guys should emerge victorious here, but I think the best case belongs to Seth Rollins. He’s a lot less involved in the Paul Heyman stuff than the other two, and he could really use a win on a big stage like this. He spent all of last year’s WrestleMania putting other people over, despite being injured, and if CM Punk and Roman Reigns are going to continue feuding together, it would make the most sense for him to be the one to escape with a win.

Predicted Winner: Seth Rollins

Liv Morgan And Raquel Rodriguez (Champions) Vs Bayley And Lyra Valkyria For The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

It feels like the long-term story here is Bayley and Lyra Valkyria feuding over the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, not these teams feuding over the Women’s Tag Team Championship. We saw Bayley waffle on whether or not to shake Lyra’s hand when she lost a few weeks ago, and while they teamed in the ring pretty well together during the gauntlet match, it’s hard to think that’s not going to come into play in the future.

Plus, I don’t really see any reason why Judgment Day should lose here. There’s a good chance either Dom or Finn is going to win the Men’s Intercontinental Championship, and if one of them does, that plus these belts could really solidify Judgment Day moving back into prominence without Rhea Ripley or Damian Priest.

Predicted Winner: Liv & Raquel

AJ Styles Vs Logan Paul

I’m still not really sure what story these two are trying to tell. The announcers and Karrion Kross seem to be telling us the story is about the soul of wrestling, but AJ Styles and Logan Paul haven’t really gotten into that a ton of the microphone. Instead, it’s mostly seemed like a showcase match, but given the talent level of these two, that’s absolutely fine. Styles is arguably the best in-ring worker of his generation, and Paul has proven over and over again that he can really perform on a big stage.

Because there’s really not a ton of story here, it makes this match uniquely difficult to predict. Paul is obviously on the upswing of his career, while Styles doesn’t have a ton of WrestleManias left. That could work in either man’s favor though, as you can see Styles putting Paul over to help grow his career, or you can see Paul laying on his back for a hero who deserves another big WrestleMania moment. I’m going to go with AJ Styles because it feels like it’s been forever since he got a big win like this, but I’m not confident.

Predicted Winner: AJ Styles

Bron Breakker (Champion) Vs Penta Vs Dominik Mysterio Vs Finn Bálor For The Intercontinental Championship

You can’t rule any of these four out. Normally in a multi-man match like this, there are a few people who are quite obviously not winning, but that’s not the case here. Bron has looked unstoppable since winning back his Intercontinental Championship and is widely regarded as the young star with the brightest future in WWE. Penta is one of WWE’s hottest characters right now and getting star treatment, and it seems like WWE really wants to reenergize Judgment Day, which means a win for either Mysterio or Bálor is on the table. It could even lead to the two of them feuding with each other, which would provide a lot of stories for WWE to explore in the coming months.

I’m going to go with Dominik Mysterio. It’s probably because I would like to see him rewarded for all the great heel work he’s done over the past few years, but beyond that, I also think a title could really take his character to another level. He’s never going to be a dominant champion like Gunther or even Bron Breakker, but it’s easy to imagine a scenario in which he cheated to win and picked up a ton of victories over the next several months. That would only increase the generational heat already on him, and that could help turn WWE’s most reliable mid-card character into a star.

Predicted Winner: Dominik Mysterio

Damian Priest Vs Drew McIntyre

I’m a huge Damian Priest guy. I felt like he was a future World Champion the day he moved to the main roster, and I’ve been stoked to see how his career has gone so far. His cash in on Drew McIntyre last year was my single favorite moment of WrestleMania 40. He’s my guy, and this match isn’t going to change that.

But Drew McIntyre needs to win here. He is capable of being the biggest star in the entire company, and his work over the last year or two has been the best of his career. I think he can be WWE Champion again and really give us a memorable title reign. That starts with beating Priest here. Don’t get me wrong. I hope the match is really competitive and both men come out looking fantastic, but the result is obvious. McIntyre needs to win a feud and start building momentum.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

Iyo Sky (Champion) Vs Rhea Ripley Vs Bianca Belair For The Women’s World Championship

This is the most unpredictable match on the entire card in my opinion. You could easily look at this and say they’re going to tell the oldest triple threat story in the book. Rhea and Bianca are going to focus on each other, and that’ll allow Iyo to sneak in and claim victory while they’re distracted. That’s certainly possible.

You could also say Bianca is going to win this, given she has a great WrestleMania undefeated streak going, which the company could really turn into something down the road, and there’s an enticing opportunity to turn her heel, given she’s been booed throughout this program despite being a baby face. She could also slide right from this into a feud with Jade Cargill, which would be a big money opportunity for WWE to put on some title matches.

Or you could easily say Rhea is going to win this on account of her being the biggest female star in the history of the wrestling business. She’s been behaving like a heel during the entire feud, and the fans still cheer her at every turn because she’s a breakout star. You can’t blame WWE for wanting to put the belt on the biggest name in the division. Hulk Hogan, John Cena and others spent larger parts of their career as champ for that exact reason.

I’m going to go with Bianca because I really like keeping the streak in tact, but my confidence level is not very high here.

Predicted Winner: Bianca Belair

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs John Cena For The WWE Championship

There are a fair number of fans who think Cody Rhodes is going to take this, but I just don’t see that. John Cena just gave us one of the biggest and most shocking heel turns in the history of the wrestling business. In order to keep his momentum going, he needs to win here. If he does all that and loses, he’s going to look like a fool, and I’m not sure he has enough appearances left this year to really get that momentum back.

I’m sure it’s going to be through cheating. I’m sure it’s going to be through underhanded tactics, but I would be shocked if John Cena didn’t walk out of WrestleMania as a champion. That would also allow him to break Ric Flair’s record for World Championships and give WWE a ton of really fun stories to tell for the rest of the year. Cena winning here is the obvious play, and I can’t wait to see it happen.

Predicted Winner: John Cena

Warning! The following may spoil the result of the Men's Elimination Chamber match for WWE. Stream it this Saturday with a Peacock Premium subscription and read at your own risk!

Just on the heels of CinemaBlend completing its Elimination Chamber predictions, a new spoiler claims the outcome of the Men's match and who will be the next major superstar to main event WrestleMania 41. An insider claims to have the scoop that Drew McIntyre is getting the win for the second year in a row, and I don't buy it.

Recent rumors have alleged WWE was thinking of switching up Drew McIntyre's plans for upcoming WWE events and now Dr. Chris Featherstone has alleged on Backstage Pass that the company has decided McIntyre will be Cody Rhodes' opponent at WrestleMania in Las Vegas. I don't have any insider information to counter that with, but my past years in covering pro wrestling lead me to not believe this for a second.

Drew McIntyre Has Spent The Past Year Feuding With Everyone But Cody Rhodes, Making A Last Minute Build Challenging

Drew McIntyre can have a great feud with anyone, which is why he's one of the top heels in professional wrestling. That said, after a year where he's faced Seth Rollins and CM Punk, it doesn't make sense to me that he'd suddenly be thrown into the ring with Cody Rhodes. Sure, in a non-scripted sport, things like that happen all the time, but there's just too much storytelling potential for Drew elsewhere to start fresh with Rhodes.

All that said, I love Drew, and don't think he's undeserving. I defended his win at Money In The Bank, and am not saying I think he'd be a bad fit for WrestleMania 41's main event. From a storytelling perspective, it just doesn't track that the WWE would book it, unless CM Punk ends up being The Rock's champion and is also added to the match for Cody's title. I would be all in on that, but now I'm just fantasy booking.

The WWE Wouldn't Widely Disperse The Winner Of Elimination Chamber To The Point It Would Leak To Insiders

When Jey Uso found out he was winning the 2025 Royal Rumble, he told Daniel Cormier in an interview that he wasn't made aware until the afternoon of the same day of the event. Uso's win (Yeet) was divisive amongst fans who wanted to see CM Punk and John Cena potentially win. McIntyre's win could be received the same way, so then why would the WWE intentionally leave that news open to leak knowing it may make people angry?

Someone could argue it's damage control to soften the blow, but then why are you booking it in the first place? As someone who has seen several WrestleMania scoops prove untrue, I think this one is completely bunk. I don't imagine anyone currently knows who is winning Elimination Chamber right now outside of Triple H and Bruce Prichard, and talent will find out closer to time.

Elimination Chamber kicks off on Peacock on Saturday, March 1st at 7:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to see if Drew wins, or if someone else emerges victorious to challenge Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

We’re less than two months away from WrestleMania, and there are only two confirmed matches. We’ll probably get somewhere in the neighborhood of fourteen at the actual show; so, Triple H and the writers have a lot of work to do in order to get there. Thankfully, I think they’re going to use the Elimination Chamber PLE to set up more than a few of them.

I say more than a few of them because we know the Chamber is going to set up two for sure. The winner of the men’s Chamber will face Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship, and the winner of the women’s Chamber will face Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship. Those are obviously the main event attractions, but some of the losers are likely going to be putting in character work and hitting story beats that help them get to their future WrestleMania matches too.

Because of that, I’m not only going to go through who I think is going to win these matches, I’m also going to go through some theories about what other stories might develop. Obviously, I’m not inside the writers room and don’t know exactly what the powers that be are planning with everyone, but I think there have been enough story beats to do some evidence-based speculation.

Before I get to that though, please gaze in awe and wonder at my upper midcard level record on predictions since I started doing them for every PLE since WrestleMania 38. Pretty impressive, huh? I’m like the Damian Priest of predictions. Maybe that’s too generous. I’m like the Bam Bam Bigelow of predictions. Actually, that might be even more generous. The British Bulldog of predictions? Why don’t you visualize your favorite upper midcarder.

Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus Vs Nia Jax and Candice LeRae

Tiffany Stratton is part of one of those two confirmed matches for WrestleMania. She’s going to be facing Charlotte Flair in what is easily the biggest showcase of her career. She’s also trying to prove she belongs in the main event scene permanently, and with all due respect to the other women in this match, that has to be the most important thing here, especially after she gave a pretty lackadaisical promo last week on SmackDown. WWE needs to remind everyone that she’s a rising star with a higher long-term potential than every woman on the roster not named Rhea or Bianca or maybe Iyo. Maybe.

So, in my mind, that’s the goal of this match. Let’s make Tiffy look like a future Hall of Famer, and as an added bonus, let’s give Canadian legend Trish Stratus another fantastic WWE memory by celebrating her 25th WWE anniversary with a win in Toronto’s famed Skydome. I suppose you could make a case that Charlotte could interfere here to cost the babyfaces the match and advance the storyline that way, but I just don’t buy it. To me, the play is Tiffy and Trishy winning clean.

That being said, one key thing to look out for in this match is whether it’ll hint at anything ‘Mania related for Nia, Trish or Candice. Nia has been a workhorse for the last year, having an extended run as champion and appearing in key plots basically the entire time. I personally think she’s too big of a star to leave off the card entirely, but Triple H has proven in the past that he’s not just gonna put someone on there for the sake of putting them on there, especially if they have a key match at a nearby PPV, as Nia herself found out when she main evented Elimination Chamber last year with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest found out when he gave us a banger with Bad Bunny at Backlash in ‘23.

Predicted Winner: Tiffy And Trishy

Sami Zayn Vs Kevin Owens In An Unsanctioned Grudge Match

This is probably the most nuanced and interesting story WWE is telling right now, which is particularly impressive given Owens and Zayn have worked together in all capacities across multiple promotions for many years. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though, given these two are arguably the best actors and character workers WWE employs right now. They can convey emotions and make audiences feel things in a way most wrestlers on the roster just aren’t capable of.

Most fans are pretty convinced that this match is going to lead to a Kevin Owens and Randy Orton match at WrestleMania, given Owens injured Orton and hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since. I tend to agree, but there are two different ways to get there. The first would be Orton showing up, interfering in this match and helping Zayn win. The second would be Owens beating Zayn in some sort of horrifying and vicious way, which prompts Orton to show up and confront KO. I tend to think we’re going to get the latter for the simple reason that I want this match to have a real ending, and also, Owens needs a win desperately. He just took his lumps from Cody Rhodes for an extended feud. He needs to remind everyone he’s capable of winning huge matches in big spots.

Predicted Winner: Kevin Owens

The Women’s Elimination Chamber Featuring Bianca Belair, Naomi, Liv Morgan, Alexa Bliss, Roxanne Perez and Bayley.

Let’s eliminate some people who are absolutely not going to win this before we start the hard analysis. With all due respect to Bayley who is a future Hall of Famer and won a World Championship at WrestleMania 40, she is not going to win this. Her character has cooled off a ton since last year, and nothing about her recent booking indicates she’s a real threat here. I think we can also go ahead and eliminate Naomi. I feel the glow. I’m happy to see her on TV every week involved in a real storyline, but she’s not a believable threat to beat Rhea at WrestleMania. Plus, we still need to figure out what’s going on with Jade, which involves her.

Some NXT fans and people who like big surprises are pushing Roxanne Perez as a possible winner. She had a fantastic run at The Royal Rumble and broke the record for minutes spent in the match, but to be honest, she wasn’t exactly booked like a 1994 Diesel during that lengthy run. She had one total elimination the entire time, and she hasn’t exactly been presented like a main roster main eventer in the last month since then. She’s almost certainly not going to win. Instead, she’ll probably end up getting into a confrontation with Bayley, and that’ll chart their course for ‘Mania.

Now, the match we all want to see is Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. That’s a gift from the fantasy booking gods, and whenever it happens, it should main event at minimum the first night and maybe even the second night of ‘Mania. In my mind, those two are the most talented and best female superstars in the history of WWE, and we need that showcase match at some point for both of their legacies. But I want a full proper build for that match whenever it happens, and this Jade storyline is just dangling around Bianca’s neck. Too much time has been put into it not to get some kind of resolution. If she wins the Chamber, everyone is gonna spend the next month still wondering about Jade and what’s going on there. So, I think she’s out, but I do expect we'll see Jade make an appearance and officially set up their match. I predict she somehow storms her way into the cage and we have a moment wondering if she's gonna take out Naomi and Bianca or Liv.

That leaves Liv Morgan and Alexa Bliss. Liv seemed like the obvious choice to face Rhea nine months ago, but they ran this feud into the ground already. We saw them wrestle at SummerSlam. We saw them wrestle at Bad Blood. We saw them wrestle earlier this year at the Raw premiere on Netflix. We saw mixed tag matches involving the two of them plus Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest. We saw tag matches involving Liv’s henchman Raquel Rodriguez. We’ve seen them together soooooooooo much that it’s hard to get excited about more, even though they’re two of the hottest characters on the entire roster.

But does Alexa Bliss really make sense? I’m a huge Alexa fan. I’ve been screaming about how WWE should use her in more prominent spots for years, and she arguably got the biggest pop at the entire Royal Rumble when she returned. I would love it if she won, but there’s nothing that really indicates to me that Triple H and company see her as someone who could believably beat Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania. There have been strong hints she’s going to be the last member of the Wyatt Sicks, and I’m not really sure how her winning here would play into that, unless she got really spooky and they tried to make her a believable threat to win via supernatural means.

As much as I’d love to pick Alexa Bliss, I just can’t do it. Liv is getting significant screentime each week, and with this Rhea and Iyo Sky title match coming up on Monday, there’s a chance we get some shenanigans there that turn the ‘Mania match into a triple threat, which would be more tolerable. In fact, that's exactly what I think is going to happen. Liv is going to win here and interfere in that match, which will cause Adam Pearce to make it a triple threat.

Predicted Winner: Liv Morgan

The Men’s Elimination Chamber Match Featuring John Cena, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Damian Priest and Logan Paul

Alright, let’s do the same thing we did for the Women’s Elimination Chamber and start eliminating people who are not going to win. Logan Paul is not facing Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41. Neither is Damian Priest. I think Seth Rollins would put on a fantastic match with Cody, given all their shared backstory and the fantastic segment we got on Raw this week, but Rollins is quite clearly going to do something with Roman Reigns. In fact, I think there’s a strong chance Roman could break into the Chamber and beat him half to death at the event. I think he’s out.

We got all kinds of rumors about how WWE saw Drew McIntyre as a top guy in the industry heading into this year, but he’s lost on roll-ups to Jey and Jimmy Uso this year. I get that they’re trying to tell a story about him beating himself, but come’on. You don’t typically have your WrestleMania main eventers lose matches to brothers with dueling catchphrases. Fans are so worked up about the whole thing that there are rumors WWE might amend his 'Mania plans, maybe to LA Knight, but there's been almost no talk about them amending the plans to include a World Championship match. I wouldn’t 100 percent rule him out, just as I wouldn't 100 percent rule out Seth, but their chances are very low. I think it's more likely he gets into it with Damian Priest, and that's the 'Mania plan.

That leaves John Cena and CM Punk. Rumors have swirled for months that WWE wants Cena and Cody in the main event at WrestleMania. On paper, that’s certainly the biggest match from a name recognition standpoint, but Cena has been on television like twice the entire year. He’s also been telling a story about how he hasn’t won a singles match in like a decade on WWE programming. He finished second at the Rumble and lost. I think his best story would be for him to finish second again here. Perhaps he can face someone like Logan Paul at WrestleMania and start building up momentum that way.

By process of elimination, that brings us to CM Punk. Truth be told, I wasn’t super into this as an option until The Rock showed up and gave his confusing promo on SmackDown about wanting Cody Rhodes’ soul. I have no idea if CM Punk would be willing to take The Rock up on his offer when Cody says no, but even if he doesn’t, WWE can use the favor Paul Heyman owes him as a storybeat to get Roman to do something related to The Rock. There are a bunch of options here, and given the run he’s been on, it also feels time to reward CM Punk with a loud victory against A-list opponents in a match like this.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

How do you feel? Who do you think is going to win. Sound off in the comment section below and give us your predictions.

Just when it seemed like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was skipping out on all upcoming WWE events, The Great One is hyping up his return at SmackDown. Not only that, he's made his intentions pretty clear that he's showing up to call someone out, and I think this may finally point to what he's doing at WrestleMania 41.

As he often does, The Rock hopped on Instagram to hype up his upcoming appearance on SmackDown, and he pretty clearly stated this won't just be a standard appearance to rile up the crowd. Check out his comment on the post promoting his appearance below:

That comment makes it sound as though we'll be seeing The Rock on our televisions when streaming WrestleMania 41 with a Peacock Premium subscription. The fans are getting what they want, but who is he going to call out?

Here's who I'm thinking and who The Final Boss is angling to take down.

Cody Rhodes

I know the whole point of Elimination Chamber is to determine Cody Rhodes' opponent, but what's stopping Dwayne Johnson from showing up and asking for his own chance to take on the champion?We established last year that the People's Champion can do whatever he wants (including walking around with a fake title belt and forcing himself into the main event of WrestleMania 41).

It was once heavily rumored that The Rock would take on Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, but then the latter seemed to back off speculation it would happen. My guess is he'll goad Cody into accepting a challenge, and he'll defend his title in a Triple Threat match at Mania with the winner of the Elimination Chamber also in the mix.

It wouldn't be fair, but will anyone complain about that booking? I wouldn't.

Roman Reigns

Some would argue Roman Reigns is the most obvious target for Dwayne Johnson, and I agree. The OTC seems to be feuding with his old rival Seth Rollins ahead of WrestleMania 41, but Reigns vs. Rock has been discussed for years. At 52, Dwayne Johnson has only so many years left to step into a WWE ring and put on a quality match, so one would expect they'll pull the trigger on this soon.

Also, with roughly two months until WrestleMania 41, this feud doesn't need much hype or promos to establish. My only complaint is that this would severely hamper the feud between Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu, which feels like the definitive Bloodline angle the WWE is pursuing. Maybe there's a way to combine all parties for a thrilling tag match?

Drew McIntyre

I know this seems like a wild choice, but hear me out. Drew McIntyre was one of the WWE's top performers last year, and yet, feels kind of directionless headed into WrestleMania 41. Fans want more for Drew than a match with Damien Priest, and if The Rock unexpectedly became available for a match, he's a great fit.

Based on his last few appearances, it also seems like The Rock wants to feud as a face in the match. Showing up to call out Drew McIntyre, who has bullied just about everyone on the main roster over the past year, would put him in that role and also give Drew a match he feels he's worthy of handling.

We'll see who The Final Boss calls out when SmackDown airs on USA on Friday, February 21st at 8:00 p.m. ET. Here's hoping for a must-see moment, and not just some other weird moments like his past couple of appearances in the WWE.

There are rumors a WrestleMania 41 shakeup is in the works, and for the first time in a while, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is not involved. As fewer and fewer upcoming WWE events are scheduled before the big two-night event in Las Vegas, the organization is allegedly considering changing course when it comes to what's ahead for Drew McIntyre.

The Royal Rumble gave a preview of who many superstars could be facing at WrestleMania 41, and while some are thrilled at seeing stars like Alexa Bliss and Liv Morgan go toe to toe, there are others they don't want to see. In fact, fans are so upset with what was seemingly lined up for McIntyre that it's causing the WWE to rethink its plans for him regarding WrestleMania 41

The WWE Is Allegedly Looking Into Altering Drew McIntyre's Plans For WrestleMania 41

It's being alleged online by wrestling insider @chrisprolific that there are talks about altering the alleged current plan for Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 41. While it seemed that Damian Priest and The Scottish Warrior were planning to go toe-to-toe after their big confrontation during the Royal Rumble, apparently, the WWE is looking into changing that:

As always, we should treat the rumors we see online about pro wrestling as speculative at best. In my years of covering pro wrestling, I've found dirt sheets and insiders are at their least reliable during WrestleMania season, though I wouldn't be too surprised if this rumor about Drew McIntyre is true. From being robbed of his title, winning Money In The Bank, and having an iconic match with CM Punk he had a big year, and for some reason, a feud with Damian Priest just doesn't seem to be the reward for all his work.

Fans Have Pushed For WWE To Alter Course With The #WeWantDrew Movement

I'm not alone in my thoughts that Drew isn't getting a proper match for WrestleMania 41. It seems like the fans are taking a page out of the push to get Cody Rhodes a proper Mania push and have started the #WeWantDrew movement. Here are some of the comments making rounds on X at the moment:

• This guy. He's worked so hard and sacrificed so much. He deserves better than to be pushed aside for the underserving "flavour of the month". @DMcIntyreWWE #WeWantDrew - @SpurrellPaul
• Everyone is likely getting their deserving matches at WM 41, but despite his incredible work in 2024, Drew McIntyre is still fighting for the moment he’s earned. With his reinvention and top performances, he deserves a bigger spotlight. #WeWantDrew - @_db_boss_
• since we know Triple H reads social media, #WeWantDrew - @Paivaisms
• Seeing so many people defending @DMcIntyreWWE is heartwarming. He's such a fantastic performer, and has given up so much - he deserves something for all his work. #WeWantDrew - @Whiteboardpoets
• Drew McIntyre Appreciation Post ! #WeWantDrew - @ClaymoreKay22

While I don't think Drew McIntyre fighting Damian Priest is quite as bad as people are making it out to be, I do agree that his direction has been all over the place following his big return after Hell In A Cell. McIntyre deserves a seat at the table in a match the caliber of what is allegedly being planned for guys like CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. If Jey Uso can win the Royal Rumble, surely McIntyre can be angled into a match with some actual stakes rather than just another blood feud.

Amidst all of this, Drew McIntyre has seemingly set his sights on calling out L.A. Knight. The former world champion took a shot at the former United States champion on X, which could be a clue as to how WWE is shifting his plans:

I would personally consider shifting from Damian Priest to L.A. Knight a lateral move for Drew McIntyre, but perhaps there's more to this than just a singles feud. We can only wait and see and hope that he gets a match worthy of the year he's had as one of the brand's top performers.

Be sure to catch Monday Night Raw on Netflix on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. If there are going to be changes to Drew's storyline, I'm sure we'll be seeing a change in direction soon. That said, I'd be curious as to what storyline he could be worked into and who would be a better opponent for him.

It’s been roughly twelve hours since the 2025 Royal Rumble ended, and I’m still in complete shock about what happened. Tag team legend turned breakout upper mid-card/ lower main event star Jey Uso beat one of the most stacked fields in Rumble history to secure maybe the biggest wtf win in the event’s history. On a night when WWE could have chosen at least five safer and more conventional future Hall of Famers in John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, it was instead Uso that emerged victorious, leaving fans bitterly divided over whether it was a good shock or a bad shock.

Now, before I get into the specifics of why some fans are so happy and some are so upset, let me step back real quick and provide a quick explanation for why this matters so much for those of you who might not be obsessive wrestling fans. Each year, WWE holds the Royal Rumble in late January or early February. The winner, on both the men’s and women’s sides, gets to fight for a championship of their choosing at WrestleMania in April, which is the biggest wrestling event of the year. So, in short, whoever wins is guaranteed to be part of one of the biggest matches at WrestleMania, which means Jey Uso is about to be part of one of the biggest matches at WrestleMania.

To some fans, that’s one of the most exciting WWE developments in years and a refreshing change from how things were run under Vince McMahon, who tended to prefer to push the same proven stars over and over again. To other fans, it’s a gigantic overreach and a slap in the face to all of the other proven stars who have a longer and more established track record of delivering good memorable matches in big spots. Let’s break the arguments down and talk about them more in depth.

First, let’s build the case for why Jey Uso makes sense as the Royal Rumble winner. Uso has spent most of his career in a tag team alongside his brother Jimmy Uso. Together, The Usos have won eight tag team championships and main evented the first night of WrestleMania 39. They also both played integral roles in Roman Reigns’ Bloodline story over the past few years, which many fans have called the greatest recurring plot in wrestling history. Over the past few years, Jey has started working more consistently as a singles performer, headlining SummerSlam alongside Roman Reigns in 2023 and wrestling his brother Jimmy at WrestleMania 40 in 2024.

Thanks to his trademark catchphrase, YEET, and his high energy entrances that involve coming through the crowd and doing coordinated arm movements, he’s also gotten really, really over with fans. He’s surpassed most of the company’s biggest stars over the past few months in merchandise sales, and you could make a strong case that he currently gets more crowd participation than anyone else on the entire roster. Sometimes when he’s talking on the microphone, fans will literally shout YEET after every single word or sentence he delivers. It’s the type of fan investment every performer dreams of getting, and it’s why huge celebrities like Travis Scott have started accompanying him on his walkouts. It’s also why many fans were elated to see him win last night.

WWE’s official Instagram post congratulating Uso has almost 200,000 likes already, and X exploded after his win with fans talking about how much he deserved it and what a great shock it was. Other WWE superstars also sent out more than their share of YEETs and positive social posts talking about how thrilled they were. Clearly, there’s an enormous groundswell of support for Uso.

Given all that, it’s easy to see why WWE is showing so much faith in Uso, but there are a lot of wrestling fans, especially hardcore wrestling fans, that don’t see things the same way. In fact, there are many that are downright furious. My colleague here at CinemaBlend Mick Joest was at the Rumble, and he said a healthy percentage of the crowd was very deflated, and you could see that on social, as numerous tweets calling it WWE’s worst ever booking decision and questioning why they would go there attracted many thousands of likes. I get why.

Jey and Jimmy have a long history of delivering fantastic tag team matches in big moments, but unfortunately, many of Jey’s singles matches have not been quite so well reviewed by fans. His match with Jimmy didn't make logical sense from a storyline perspective was very widely considered to be the single worst match at WrestleMania 40, and his match against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2023 is often talked about as one the weakest in Reigns’ 3+ year title run. His match against Drew McIntyre was clearly the low point of in-ring action during the Raw debut on Netflix, and even his matches against Gunther, who is widely considered to be one of the strongest workers on the entire roster, have gotten lukewarm responses.

Those in-ring problems are, to many fans, symptomatic of a larger issue Uso has. He’s extremely popular, but much of that popularity relies on playing to the live crowd in a call-and-response manner, which can be extremely repetitive. If he’s giving a promo, it’s fun to participate and yell YEET in between each of his sentences, but because he’s stopping in between every sentence for the fans to say YEET, it’s a lot harder to build momentum and say anything meaningful. Because a lot of his in-ring moves involve playing to the crowd in an exaggerated manner, he doesn’t look quite as believable and tends to rely on a smaller arsenal of moves he knows are over with fans and will get a positive response.

A few weeks ago, Gunther, who he will likely face again at WrestleMania, called him WWE’s company mascot. The implication was that, while he’s popular with fans, he’s ultimately a sideshow that’s not to be taken seriously. Clearly, he’s going to play into this during the lead-up to WrestleMania and try to make the case that he’s a performer who should be taken seriously. Maybe he’ll be able to make that case, but the polarizing response from fans makes it very clear that there are a lot of people he needs to win over.

I’m not sure how we’re going to remember this booking decision a few years from now. The history of the wrestling business is filled with mid-card performers who got a fun catchphrase over and were super popular for a year or so before everyone got bored and moved on. Then again, it’s also filled with a handful of performers who took a fun catchphrase and used it to propel themselves into main events for the rest of their careers.

I’m on the fence. I like Uso and am happy for him, but he needs to step up and prove why he should have gotten this nod over Cena, Punk, Reigns and everyone else. I think he’s capable, but it’s going to mean he needs to stop playing the hits every single week and start giving us something new. It means he needs to tell a story with less YEET and more layers, and he’s gonna need to pay that off with a good match at WrestleMania. Fingers crossed he can.

This is the most excited I’ve been for a Royal Rumble in a long time. Unlike most recent years in which there were, at best, a small handful of wrestlers with even remote chances of winning, the 2025 version is wide open. Thanks to a surge in fan excitement and better creative than we’ve gotten in a long time, there are a ton of performers really over with the crowd right now. Many of them could pay off that excitement and win. It’s a fantastic time to be a wrestling fan ahead of what many hardcore wrestling fans consider to be the best event of the year.

But that, of course, makes my job as a predictor far more complicated. It was easy to grab the glory back in 2023 when every single wrestling fan with half a brain knew WWE was going to tap Cody Rhodes to return and win the Rumble, but this year is not going to be so easy. There's not an Attitude Era Stone Cold you can easily point to. Instead, there are more than a half dozen performers on both the men’s and women’s sides who I think have better than 10% chances to win. That never happens, and it has my brain trying to do Steiner Math to make sense of it all.

Before I write way too many words trying to talk it out, however, you can check out a quick rundown of my track record. I've picked winners for every single PLE since WrestleMania 38, and while I haven't been perfect, my record is more than good enough to put me in the upper mid-card. Here's a quick look at how I did in last year's Big 4, plus the first Saturday Night's Main Event earlier this year and my overall record.

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs Kevin Owens For The WWE Championship

Look: Kevin Owens has been fantastic during this entire feud. As a diehard wrestling fan who watches every single second of main roster WWE programming every year, I would be beyond hyped if he went into WrestleMania holding the WWE Championship. It would be a great next step for this feud, and it would be a great thank you for almost a decade of main event quality work he’s done. I would be all for it. Just imagine the promo battles between him and Cody if he had a real reason to gloat, and Cody had a real reason to be be furious. If only!

Unfortunately, the harsh truth about being a wrestling fan is that WWE isn’t setting WrestleMania up to please you. Instead, Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the powers that be are setting up WrestleMania to appeal to as many lapsed fans, casual fans and members of the mainstream press as possible. Rightly or wrongly, the goal is to create a pop culture extravaganza, and as much as I love Kevin Owens, he’s not selling as many t-shirts as Cody Rhodes, nor is he selling as many tickets as The Rock, CM Punk, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley or Bianca Belair.

If this was SummerSlam or another post-WrestleMania PPV, I’d spend more time considering Kevin Owens. He’s just been so freakin’ good here, from carrying around the Winged Eagle Championship to accusing everyone else of betraying him and siding with Cody. It’s some of the best work of his career, but the timing is just all wrong. I think WWE is going to want Cody Rhodes walking into ‘Mania with the title, and that means poor Kevin Owens needs to take another L in a big moment.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

DIY Johnny Gargano And Tommaso Ciampa (Champions) Vs The Motor City Machine Guns For The WWE Tag Team Championships

I don’t typically like criticizing Triple H because his creative direction has revitalized WWE in a way I didn’t even realize was possible. The product, as a whole, is significantly better than it was a few years ago under Vince McMahon, but if you had to point to one area that’s struggled under his leadership, it would be the tag team division. There have been a few extended stretches where both belts were used to legitimize factions and further long-term storylines (Bloodline 2.0 and Judgment Day).

Those teams occasionally gave us banger matches, but they also sometimes went multiple episodes of Raw or SmackDown without even interacting with another tag team. That left the division feeling like an afterthought, which is probably how we’ve gotten to the point where this match is the first time either of the men’s tag team championships are being defended on a PLE since the ladder match at WrestleMania 40.

Fortunately, things seem to be turning around. On SmackDown, we’re getting consistent storybuilding every week that includes Pretty Deadly, Los Garza, DIY and Motor City Machine Guns, with the Street Profits lingering in the background, hopefully ready to emerge ahead of WrestleMania season. This match is evidence of that forward progress, and there’s a good chance it’ll be a banger, given we’re getting a rare 2 out of 3 falls match. Shoutout Demolition and Hart Foundation at SummerSlam '90!

I wouldn’t be shocked if Motor City Machine Guns won here, but I’m gonna pick DIY because it seems like they still have more stories to tell with the other tag teams on SmackDown. We’ve gotten a bunch of interactions with Pretty Deadly in particular that haven’t paid off yet, and that pay off seems like it’ll be a bigger deal if they’re still the tag team champions. Plus, there’s a good chance we could get babyface winners everywhere else on the card, and this would be a logical place to give the heels a victory.

Predicted Winner: DIY

The Women’s Royal Rumble

Just like on the men’s side, the women’s division is overflowing with people who could win this year. Let’s just run down some of the names: Bianca Belair, Nia Jax, Iyo Sky, Jade Cargill, Jordynne Grace, Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch all have really solid cases for why they could conceivably have a world championship match at ‘Mania. So, let’s start thinking about it in reverse and start explaining why certain people probably aren’t going to win.

I’ll eliminate Liv Morgan because she just got out of an extended feud with Rhea Ripley, and while it would be fun to see her interact with Tiffany Stratton, I think WWE is going to want a new face up there. Plus, if she finishes second again, it would be a fun story.

I’ll also eliminate Nia Jax, as she just wrestled Rhea at Saturday Night’s Main Event and has been interacting with Tiffy Time for months. I’ll also eliminate Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill because I still think the plan is for them to do something together. The who attacked Jade angle is lingering over all our heads, and unless Jade is legitimately going to be out until after ‘Mania, I think Bianca needs to clear that up before she focuses on a singles title.

So, that leaves four people potentially returning from extended hiatuses (Charlotte, Becky, Asuka and Alexa), one person just joining the company (Jordynne) and one person who is quietly super over in the background (Iyo). I’m a huge Alexa Bliss fan, but I’ll go ahead and eliminate her because I don’t know that WWE would push her this hard, this quickly. She's been hinting she's coming back for months, but when she does, she might get put back with the Wyatts anyway. That's the same idea with Asuka too, as she wasn't at the top of the main event scene when she left and has some easy to tell storylines with Damage CTRL.

Next I'll eliminate Jordynne Grace. I love the idea of her winning the Rumble as basically a newcomer and then calling out Rhea Ripley in a promo after the match. That would be a fantastic shock victory and a great way to turn her into an immediate, overnight main event player with WWE fans. It's (probably) just too big of a risk though, given Triple H and company don’t know for sure how she’s gonna get over with mainstream WWE fans.

You could make a great case for any of the final three. Iyo Sky in particular has been a big favorite amongst fans. Many experts feel like she's gotten over with the crowd, despite taking some dumb losses in semi-big recent spots like the Intercontinental Tournament and the Speed Tournament. They think WWE was just biding their time before pulling the trigger in an unexpected moment, like say the Rumble. I'd love that, but most of the time when people lose, it's not because WWE is planning to bring them back stronger. I mean we've all been saying this about Finn Bálor for years, and where has that gotten us?

I also love Becky and think the crowd is gonna be super hot for her when she returns, but she wrestled Rhea at 'Mania last year and is capable of telling compelling stories outside the title picture. So, that leaves me with Charlotte Flair. WWE is gonna want to immediately insert her back into the main event scene, and she’s perfect for a generation vs generation program with Tiffany Stratton. I don’t know that the crowd will like it, but I think her winning puts the pieces in the best possible position for WrestleMania.

Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair

The Men’s Royal Rumble

Just like with the women’s Rumble, I think the best way to do this is to go down the list of possible winners. I think the major players are Roman Reigns, CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. I also love Jacob Fatu as an unlikely darkhorse pick, given everyone would immediately buy him in the main event scene if he were suddenly catapulted into it. You could also throw Kevin Owens in there as a fun longshot, as well as Sami Zayn if Owens were to somehow beat Cody Rhodes earlier in the night. They’re not going to win, but we should at least say their names out loud, as well as Jey Uso (YEET) and Randy Orton, who you could kinda sorta make a stretch argument for.

Now, I’m going to eliminate Roman Reigns first because, while he’s the biggest star in the company outside The Rock, he’s also wrestled Cody in the main event the last two ‘Manias. We don’t want to see that match for a third time, even though the dynamics would be very different. I’m also going to eliminate The Rock because all evidence seems to point to him not being a part of this WrestleMania season. Maybe. I don't know. I don’t totally buy it. There’s a part of me that still thinks he’s going to unexpectedly come out during the Rumble and win, but I think the odds are too low to pick him.

I’m also going to eliminate Drew McIntyre, which suuuuuuuuuuuuccckkks. Until about a month ago, I was pretty convinced he was going to win the Rumble. WWE was starting to present him like a huge star, and he really seemed to be picking up momentum. Then he lost to Jey Uso on a rollup at the premiere of Raw on Netflix, and I lost hope he was going to get the push he deserves, at least prior to 'Mania.

I’d argue the two odds on favorites are CM Punk and John Cena, but personally, I just don’t see it (as I outlined more extensively here). I think both men tell much more compelling stories if they’re in the Elimination Chamber, desperate to get an opportunity for WrestleMania. Cena’s overall story arc has been about falling just short, and doing so again in the Rumble would really help that. WWE keeps shoving it down our throats that CM Punk is going to get a favor from Paul Heyman, but why would he need that favor if he wins the Rumble?

No, I’m going to with Seth Freakin’ Rollins. I think he wins the Rumble and challenges Gunther, which allows us to get a full month of who is Cody’s opponent going to be, with Cena, Punk and Roman all desperate to grab the spot. He's not the biggest name on this list, but I think he's the right play for Gunther and the right play for everyone else, as losing will only make their stories get more desperate over the next few months.

Predicted Winner: Seth Freakin’ Rollins.

You can check out the Royal Rumble when it streams live on Peacock in the United States on February 1st or on Netflix in most of the rest of the world. Viewing is free with a subscription.

The Royal Rumble is just a few weeks away, and I am fired up. With all due respect to WrestleMania, the Rumble is the most exciting night of the year for me as a wrestling fan, and it’s particularly exciting this year because I have no idea what is going to happen. Both the men’s and women’s Rumbles are wide open, and you could make a compelling case for why a bunch of big names should win. I have some theories about what’s going to happen with the ladies, but the more I think about the gentlemen, the more confused I get. CM Punk, John Cena and Roman Reigns are at the top of many people’s predictions, but there are also really obvious reasons why they each should lose.

Now, to be clear, CM Punk, John Cena and Roman Reigns are all more than deserving of winning this year’s Rumble for various reasons. Each one of them is famous enough and over with the crowd enough to main event WrestleMania, and there’s actually a good chance all three of them could end up main eventing ‘Mania this year. But each one has a glaring red flag that makes it uniquely problematic for them to win the Rumble. So, let’s talk them out.

John Cena is the pick for a lot of people this year, as fans really want to see him win big. He’s already announced it’s going to be his last Rumble, and whatever he does at his final WrestleMania is going to be a huge deal. He also cut a promo during the first Raw on Netflix saying he’s entering the Rumble, and most fans, myself included, are of the opinion that he’ll be in some kind of title match at ‘Mania. All of that points to him winning the Rumble, and that's certainly how the betting market feels. I’m not so sure about that though.

Most of WWE’s advertisements for Elimination Chamber have been very John Cena forward. He’s in the most prominent spot in the main poster, and there’s a variant poster saying it’s his last time in Toronto. That all points to him being in the Elimination Chamber, which he wouldn’t need to do if he wins the Rumble. In addition, while winning the Rumble would be a really fun moment, the better story would be him losing the Rumble and then spending the next month ahead of Elimination Chamber talking about how he has to win Elimination Chamber to get one more shot at a championship. He’s done nothing but take losses each time he’s returned from Hollywood, and many of his promos have been about self-doubt. The better story here is he loses again but gets close enough to start believing in himself.

A lot of other people are all-in on CM Punk winning the Rumble. He’s made no secret about wanting to main event WrestleMania. It’s been brought up numerous times on WWE television, and given he got injured and finished second at the Rumble last year, the story practically writes itself. He can win, challenge Cody Rhodes and finally walk to the main event. Sounds great, right? Well, I’m not so sure about that one either because of a loose end WWE hasn’t tied up yet.

Back when CM Punk joined the OG Bloodline Team at Survivor Series, WWE made several references to the fact that Roman Reigns’ manager Paul Heyman now owes CM Punk a big favor down the road. It wasn’t said off-handedly. It was very clearly a major thing that was hammered into the audience that’s meant to come up later. The thing is, if CM Punk wins the Rumble and challenges Gunther or Cody Rhodes at ‘Mania, there’s no point in Paul Heyman or Roman being involved. I suppose we could get back to that after ‘Mania season, but that’s a really long time to sit on something, even for Triple H. Instead, what I think is more likely is Punk loses the Rumble and then ends up fighting Roman at ‘Mania with this favor thing looming over everyone’s heads.

That brings us to Roman. With all due respect to Cody Rhodes, he’s clearly the biggest attraction in WWE that’s not a returning movie star. He’s already declared for the Rumble, and it seems likely Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company are going to want to stick a belt on him sooner rather than later. Having him win the Rumble would also likely be particularly meaningful to Roman himself, as he was booed loudly and without mercy by disappointed fans unhappy with his Rumble victory in ‘15. He would get a much better reception this time around, as he’s currently getting the loudest babyface pops of his career.

But his manager Paul Heyman has already implied he’ll be challenging Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania if he wins the Rumble, and while the dynamic between the two would feel very different than it did at the last two ‘Manias, I’m not sure people are really clamoring for those two to main event three consecutive WrestleManias. That’s way too much of the same, even if the promos and the story would likely be different this time around. So, as white hot as Roman is right now, I just don’t see a victory here as the outcome fans really want.

All three of these superstars could still win the Rumble. I’m definitely not trying to say they should be eliminated from consideration, but these obvious issues I’ve outlined are why this could potentially be a good year for someone less obvious to step up.

Drew McIntyre is doing the best work of his entire career, and there have been a lot of rumors about WWE wanting to give him a huge push this year. Most people think The Rock isn’t going to work ‘Mania this year, but if he were to enter the Rumble, there’s a very strong chance he could win. He’ll certainly main event ‘Mania if he works it. Seth Rollins has arguably been WWE’s most consistent performer over the last several years, and after taking losses in a bunch of key spots, it might be time for WWE to reward him on a really big stage. Jey Uso has been selling more merchandise than anyone else in the company, and his ring entrances are the hottest in the game. Brock Lesnar is probably going to come back at some point, and when he does, he’ll be an immediate threat to win everything. All of these alternate options are possibilities.

Maybe, despite the red flags, one of the favorites still wins. Maybe WWE surprises us and goes with a less conventional choice. I have no idea what’s going to happen, and it’s why I’m more excited for this Rumble than I’ve been in a long time.

To say that 2024 was a banner year for the sport of professional wrestling would be an understatement of epic proportions. Over the course of the past 12 months, I watched Sting bring an end to an exceptional career (in one of the best retirement matches of all time), witnessed Cody Rhodes finish his story in one of the most ridiculous WrestleMania main event matches, and spent countless hours watching incredible matches on TV and in person.

But what were my 10 most memorable matches? Well, come along as I break down some major WWE title changes, AEW giving Sting a fitting swan song, and so much more. Let’s get started, shall we?

Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 40, Night 2)

Less than 24 hours after The Rock told us to expect the unexpected following the electrifying WrestleMania 40 Night One main event, WWE delivered (and then some) when Cody Rhodes challenged Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns in a Bloordline Rules match. This one had everything you’d want in a WrestleMania headliner – a dramatic one-on-one wrestling match for around 20 minutes, a series of run-ins ranging from Solo Sikoa to John Cena to the Undertaker, and an emotional conclusion to one of WWE’s best storylines in years.

Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay (AEW Dynasty)

Three weeks after Cody Rhodes finished his story at WrestleMania, AEW gave wrestling fans a different instant classic when Bryan Danielson took on Will Ospreay in a highly anticipated singles match at the Dynasty pay-per-view. One of the most recent additions to Ospreay’s list of 44 5-star matches (the most of any wrestler), this was the best wrestling performance I’ve seen all year and perhaps of all time. Being in the room with thousands of hyped-up wrestling fans as these two legends of the ring put on a 32-minute banger is something I won’t soon forget.

The Women's Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble 2024)

Next up is the Women’s Royal Rumble match from the WWE premium live event of the same name. Back in January, Bayley joined a list that includes Ric Flair and Bianca Belair when she became only the third competitor to win the rumble at number three. Setting a record at a little over 63 minutes, Bayley put on a clinic that night, outlasting Jade Cargill in her WWE in-ring debut, Liv Morgan’s return from injury, and 27 other fierce competitors. Plus, it kicked off Bayley’s “Road to WrestleMania” where she’d challenge a former ally in another wonderful match.

CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre (Bad Blood)

When it comes to the feud of the year, few angles come close to the nearly year-long program between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. These two in-ring rivals, who gave off the impression they had legitimate heat, traded wins and losses over the summer before ending things with one of the best Hell in a Cell matches of all time at Bad Blood in October 2024. This one had it all: blood, weapons (a freaking toolbox was used), drama, and a friendship bracelet broken up into a bag of beads. It also resulted in CM Punk’s first five-star match in WWE since the “Summer of Punk” back in 2011.

Sami Zayn vs. Gunther (WrestleMania 40, Night 1)

Going into WrestleMania 40, I thought WWE was going to feed Sami Zayn to Gunther so that the record-holding Intercontinental Champion could get more heat. But boy, was I surprised when Zayn defeated the “Ring General” in one of the best matches of their respective careers. The whole bout is worth its weight in gold, but the final minute or so where Sami pulls off a Brainbuster from the turnbuckle and then two Helluva Kicks to end Gunther’s 666-day title reign is the stuff of legend.

Sting & Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks (AEW Revolution)

Sting has been one of my favorite wrestlers since I was a kid watching him during his surfer days, and so watching him wrestle his final match when he and Darby Allin teamed up to defeat AEW World Tag Champions The Young Bucks at Revolution in March was a bittersweet moment. The match, which had no right being this good, was everything you’d want in a send-off and then some. Callbacks to Sting’s old gimmicks (played by his sons), all of his finishing moves, and some death-defying stunts from Allin made this a match, and a night, that’ll live on forever.

Braun Strowman vs. Bronson Reed (Monday Night Raw)

Billed as a “Last Monster Standing” match, Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed’s destructive contest on the September 30, 2024 episode of Monday Night Raw was honestly one of the best “big men putting the pain on one another” bouts in recent memory. The fact that WWE put this on cable instead of a PLE is both wild and wildly awesome. Watching these two slap meat and tear down everything from the barricade to the ring (yes, that actually happened) was a feast.

Cody Rhodes Vs. AJ Styles (Backlash France)

“Il est vraiment!” is all I have to hear to be taken back to Backlash France, where Cody Rhodes defended his Undisputed WWE Championship against A.J. Styles, who received one of the best fan receptions of the year. The fans were in such a frenzy during the former Bullet Club leader’s introduction that the camera started bouncing up and down... and then the match started and kept the momentum going.

The OG Bloodline vs. The New Bloodline (Survivor Series: WarGames)

Sure, three out of the 10 competitors in the Survivor Series: WarGames main event were injured and taken out of action for an unknown period of time, but The Bloodline’s Civil War was such a treat for wrestling fans. The build, which started many months ago when Solo Sikoa took over the stable in Roman Reigns’ absence, led to a long, hard-hitting and brutal match involving weapons, death-defying spots, and some hilarious interactions between the OTC and CM Punk.

Iyo Sky vs. Bayley (WrestleMania 40, Night 2)

It’s no secret that WWE’s women’s division has improved over the past decade, and that trend continued well into 2024 with some outstanding matches. One of the best, and most memorable, has to be Bayley defeating WWE Women’s Champion and former Damage CTRL stablemate Iyo Sky during the second night of the historic WrestleMania 40. Years after her shocking heel turn, Bayley became a fan favorite once more in the early part of the year, and her babyface status was confirmed in this career-defining co-main event match.

Obviously I’m leaving a lot off this list. Though there have been so many great matches in WWE, AEW, TNA, NJPW, and elsewhere over the past 12 months, I had to cut it off somewhere. That said, I can’t help but be excited about what those upcoming WWE PLEs and those major AEW PPVs have in store for us in 2025.

Saturday Night’s Main Event is back, and I’m so stoked I want to throw on polka dots and dance like an aging Dusty Rhodes or maybe have a snack of turnbuckle stuffing in honor of George The Animal Steele. I love The Golden Age Of Wrestling. There's something about it that makes me want to sprint to the ring Ultimate Warrior style and give a Hacksaw Jim Duggan thumbs up. Fortunately, now is the chance for all of us to relive those glory days alongside Jesse The Body Ventura.

That’s right. The beloved 80s commentator is back in the broadcasting booth (RIP Gorilla Monsoon), and he’s not the only thing about the show reportedly going retro. We’ve already seen throwback graphics, but rumors are swirling that we’ll also get retro entrances, appearances from 80s legends and maybe even a throwback ring. I can’t wait. So, hide your prized bulldog from Bobby Heenan, pull out your loudest Jimmy Hart megaphone and drop the elbow from the top ropes like Macho Man Randy Savage. We're in for some rockin' wrestling!

And what a night of wrestling it should be. WWE is giving fans a card worthy of a major PPV. Four championships are going to be on the line, and the fifth match features former WrestleMania main eventers. I have theories I want to Perfect Plex into your brains, but before I read from my scroll in the middle of the ring like a prime Genius, here’s a quick look at how my predictions have been going…

Not exactly a 15 year undefeated streak like Andre The Giant, but I'll still take it. Hopefully I can use Main Event to put a few more wins onto the board this weekend and emerge as ripped as Ravishing Rick Rude or as glowed up as Miss Elizabeth.

Sami Zayn Vs Drew McIntyre

It’s a good thing I decided to party Ric Flair style this past weekend and put off my predictions til Tuesday because this match was a last second addition to the card. I’m here for it though. McIntyre is ready for his first in-ring action since his match with CM Punk at Hell In A Cell ended that feud, which was so good Rowdy Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan would have been proud. Now he’s ready to take out that anger on poor Sami Zayn, who is stepping up here to defend the honor of his fallen comrade Jey Uso, who McIntyre attacked.

Zayn is obviously super over with the crowd and continues to be involved in huge storylines. It’s a testament to his popularity that he continually gets booked for major shows like this, but he’s almost certainly going to lose here. McIntyre needs to reassert himself as a main event player after his loss to Punk, and by declaring war on The Bloodline, he’s promising a series of interactions and potentially matches against different players. If he loses here, the feud is over. He’s not going to advance to Jey Uso if he already lost to Sami Zayn. So, yeah, I expect Drew to win here in pretty dominating fashion, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll ask for a King Kong Bundy style 5 count.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

Liv Morgan (Champion) Vs Iyo Sky For The Women’s World Championship

I hope WWE is paying attention to these crowd reactions Iyo Sky is getting because she’s one of the most over women on the entire roster. Crowds are erupting like she's a lost member of The Bushwhackers, and it’s easy to see why. She’s fantastic in the ring. Her personality is really vibrant and fun, and she’s got her own pace and style that feel different from what we get from everyone else. I would love to see her win The Women’s World Championship again.

But is this the moment where she gets pushed back to the top? That all depends on what WWE wants to do with Rhea Ripley. Like a mid-to-late-80s Hulk Hogan during the height of Hulkamania, Ripley is by a large margin the most popular woman on WWE’s roster. She is going to win the title back at some point because the biggest star should hold the belt most of the time, but she also has a lot of unfinished business with Morgan, who stole her mustached man candy Dirty Dom Mysterio and now holds her gold.

WWE probably wants Ripley to win her feud with Morgan and get her Women’s World Championship back at the same time, but there’s also a possibility that Triple H and company will want to split her objectives. If Morgan loses the title here, Ripley can finish her business with Morgan over the next month or two and then set her eyes on winning a World Championship back at WrestleMania. My guess is WWE keeps the title on Liv Morgan for now and has her beat Iyo Sky here, but I’m not 100% sure.

Predicted Winner: Liv Morgan

Gunther (Champion) Vs Damian Priest Vs Finn Bálor For The World Heavyweight Championship

The most famous Saturday Night’s Main Event episode is definitely Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant II, but the sneaky truth is, a lot of the time, the Hulkster wasn’t exactly defending his title against people with a compelling shot of winning. A lot of times he was wrestling superstars like Big Boss Man or Harley Race. Now, both of those guys are Hall of Famers, but they were not beating Hogan on network TV. Likewise, Finn Bálor was not beating Gunther in a 1v1 scenario. He hasn’t won a singles match on PPV since he beat Edge at Extreme Rules in October of 2022.

But it’s not just Finn Bálor vs Gunther anymore. Damian Priest was added to the match after some shenanigans on Monday, and now, all possibilities are in play. Gunther could lose his World Heavyweight Championship without even getting pinned, and while both Priest and Bálor would be underdogs in a match with Gunther, each has been a World Champion before and would be a credible World Champion again.

I think the decision here comes down to what WWE wants to do the World Heavyweight Championship. There’s a scenario in which they simply keep it on Gunther all the way to WrestleMania. Perhaps John Cena tries to win another Championship, and the unstoppable Gunther is in his way. That sounds like a possible ‘Mania Main Event to me. Or there’s a chance they want the belt off Gunther and will perhaps give it to CM Punk or Seth Rollins to make their upcoming feud even more exciting. If that’s the case, maybe Finn or Damian will be a transitional champion. Or there’s a chance they just want to go back to Priest as World Champion. He’s getting the best crowd reactions of his career and gave us an all-time WrestleMania moment last year when he cashed in to win the same belt.

There are so many options in play, but there are none I like better than Gunther continuing to look dominant and beating the hell out of both guys like he's Haku in a bar fight. So, I say he gets the win here, and in classic 80s style, he'll do it via Brutus The Barber Beefcake’s finishing move: The Sleeper.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Chelsea Green Vs Michin For The Women's United States Championship

It's Saturday morning, and I'm jumping back into these predictions to give my final take on The Women's United States Championship match. We now know the finalists are Chelsea Green and Michin, and while I was confident Green was going to win before, I'm even more confident now that I know her opponent.

With all due respect to Michin, who is good in the ring and could build into something down the line, she's not very over with the crowd right now. Green, on the other hand, is super over with the crowd in an off-beat midcard kind of way. She's aspirationaly compared herself to The Miz in the past, and while I think that's a great goal for her, since we're talking about 80s wrestling, I'll compare her to The Honky Tonk Man. She's an attraction unto herself, and her goofy presence helps the show hit different emotional notes.

Green has surpassed every expectation fans had for her when she returned at The 2013 Royal Rumble. Her good work has been rewarded with consistent screentime. Now it's time to reward it with a championship.

Predicted Winner: Chelsea Green

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs Kevin Owens For The WWE Championship

Look: Kevin Owens has been fantastic in this program with Cody Rhodes. I went from thinking he was a throwaway opponent to fill some time for Cody to thinking this needs to go on a lot longer because this feud rules. We sometimes take KO for granted and forget how good he is. He’s got a Ted Dibiase-like quality where whatever he’s doing feels relevant, and he’s able to step up to a main event program when needed and feel like he belongs there.

The Internet has been arguing pretty relentlessly that it would be a good move for WWE to let Owens win here. It would add an element of surprise to the card, and it would give Owens a chance to hold The WWE Championship, which he’s never done before. I agree. I’d absolutely love to see Triple H get bold and put the title on Owens, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen because I don’t.

WWE has given us the occasional shock over the last few years (see Shinsuke Nakamura beating LA Knight at Survivor Series), but in general, the bookers have valued stability and common sense over chaos. That’s mostly been a good thing. That allowed Roman Reigns to have an all-time fantastic title run, and it has allowed Gunther to look like a nearly unbeatable menace for years. In general, it’s a good thing to keep the top guys on top, and Cody has been the top pure babyface for awhile. So, as much as I hear all the arguments for Owens and would love to see it myself, I have to predict what I think is most likely to happen and that’s Cody winning.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

Saturday Night’s Main Event will air on NBC on Saturday evening. You can watch it there or on Peacock or via other streaming options. Wind back the clock and check it out. You won’t be disappointed!

With upcoming WWE events right around the corner, it's hard not to be thrilled about the start of WrestleMania season. We're about to head into some big events, and if you loved 2024, you might be wondering when Drew McIntyre is going to show his face again. We now have an insider claiming to have some details on that, but I remain highly skeptical for a couple of reasons.

The Scottish Warrior was last seen in the WWE in a Hell In A Cell match against CM Punk. The match gained acclaim from the wrestling community and left McIntyre bloodied to the point he needed sixteen staples in his head. He's been away from the brand, but I think many expect him to return when we watch Monday Night Raw with a Netflix subscription. So, what's the latest on his return timeline? Here's what's being said.

What The Rumored Status Is For Drew McIntyre's WWE Return

PWInsider inquired about Drew McIntyre's status for an in-ring return, and was told nothing is set in stone about what he'll be doing when he returns. With that said, there have been pitches about what his creative direction will be when he does return. It gives the impression that we won't be seeing the former champion for a while, but I feel the timing of this update is just a bit suspicious.

Why I'm Very Skeptical Of This Update And Think McIntyre Will Return Sooner

In CinemaBlend's Survivor Series predictions, Mack Rawden has The OG Bloodline and CM Punk coming out on top against the new Bloodline and Bronson Reed. I agree with that prediction, but have long questioned the motive of including Punk and Reed in the match. Neither has anything to do with the Bloodline storyline, and I think that's the key to how two other big superstars will get worked in.

I raved not long ago about how Bronson Reed and Seth Rollins have the best feud of 2024 in WWE, and I think it's fair to say CM Punk and Drew McIntyre weren't far behind. What are the odds that half of these people are in a Survivor Series match with very little to do with either of them? If I were a betting man, I'd say some outside interference is on the horizon, and Rollins and McIntyre may be quietly waiting to strike during the big match.

This feels especially true for McIntyre, whose entire feud with Punk has consisted of surprise returns and attacks on the other. If ever there was a time to take the wrestler out, it would be when he's fighting for his life against the stacked Bloodline led by Solo Sikoa.

I can understand if some people think the feud between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre has run its course and don't want to reignite the flame after HIAC was so spectacular. At the same time, this feels like a blood feud that began with Punk's real arm injury that kept him out of competing at WrestleMania 40 and Punk losing his Money In The Bank cash-in. I think there are still legs in this feud that could bleed into WrestleMania season, especially with no clear direction for either wrestler going forward. We'll see what happens, but I have a feeling Drew's return is sooner than later.

Survivor Series kicks off on Peacock on Saturday, November 30, with the stream starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. We'll see if Drew McIntyre shows up, or if he'll make an appearance a little further down the road.

Before I get into the specifics of this card, I just want to take a second to nerd out about the very first Badd Blood, which took place all the way back in 1997. In retrospect, it’s probably one of the most important secondary PPVs in WWE history and not just because it was spelled with Badd Blood for maximum 1990s-ness. It featured the first ever Hell In A Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, which ended after interference from a debuting Kane, who was immediately treated as a monster and beat Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE Championship within a year. 

If that wasn’t enough of a legacy, it’s also widely considered to be the last PPV of The New Generation Era, as it was the last PPV Vince McMahon was the lead commentator on and the PPV immediately before Survivor Series 1997, which was the infamous Montreal Screwjob where the Mr. McMahon character was born. It also featured a few other legends including Bret Hart, The Rock, British Bulldog, Vader, Owen Hart, Legion Of Doom, Faarooq, among others. So, yeah, there’s a lot to live up to here, and while it would be really unfair to expect this card to be as historically important as the original Badd Blood, there’s every reason to be optimistic that it’ll be an absolute banger, given the matches. 

We’ve got CM Punk and Drew McIntyre in a Hell In A Cell match. We’ve got Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes against The Bloodline in a match that’ll (probably) have lingering storyline repercussions for months to come. We’ve got a Women’s World Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan with Dominik Mysterio suspended above the ring in a shark cage. We’ve got Finn Bálor and Damian Priest in a grudge match, and Bayley and Nia Jax for The WWE Women’s Championship with a possible Tiffany Stratton cash-in lingering. There’s something to be excited about in every one of these matches.

Before I get into what I think is going to happen, though, let’s take a look at how I’ve been doing with my predictions lately. 

Nia Jax (Champion) Vs Bayley For The WWE Women’s Championship

During this past week’s episode of SmackDown, WWE production accidentally put up Bayley’s Damage CTRL graphic during her entrance. I’m not trying to run down the people in production as mistakes happen and they’re typically great, but I can’t think of a better way to symbolize how stuck in the mud Bayley is right now than that. 

She was so hot during her split from Damage CTRL storyline, her Royal Rumble win and the WrestleMania payoff, but she just has not been able to find her footing the past several months. Nothing she’s doing is working, which is why she lost the title to Jax. She’ll get another shot here, but she shouldn’t win anything until she figures out her character. She sometimes laughs in an over the top way like she’s still a heel. She sometimes tries to connect emotionally like she’s a babyface, but since she’s not over like an LA Knight style anti-hero, it just sorta seems off-tone. And I say that as a huge Bayley fan who thinks she’s a guaranteed future Hall of Famer.

Because of all that, I don’t really see Bayley as a threat to win here. So, really, it’s all about whether Tiffany Stratton is going to cash-in. We’ve gotten a lot of teases on that so far and our most overt example of drama between the two on SmackDown. The crowd will lose their minds if/ when it finally becomes Tiffy Time, and I think that’ll happen sooner rather than later. I’m going to be cautious and not directly predict it here, but it’s definitely within the realm of possibilities.

Predicted Winner: Nia Jax

Damian Priest Vs Finn Bálor

I’m really of two minds here. On the one hand, Finn Bálor needs a win desperately. He’s had 2 victories in his last 12 PPV appearances, and they both came in tag team matches with Damian Priest. So, if WWE wants this new version of Judgment Day to actually be a faction people take seriously, he needs to start winning some big matches. The occasional victory on Raw, buoyed by outside interference, is not enough. In addition, if WWE wants this feud between New Judgment Day and old Judgment Day to continue, then Finn really needs to win here. Dominik and Liv already lost to Damian and Rhea at the last PPV. If they both lose again here, it’s over. What’s the point of continuing the feud?

On the other hand, Damian Priest is getting the best crowd reactions of his career, and Triple H clearly loves him. Yes, he dropped his belt to Gunther at SummerSlam, but that was only after big PPV wins over the likes of Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins and Jey Uso. Gunther was always going to be the future of that belt, and it’s a testament to Damian Priest that WWE delayed it for as long as it did. He could easily survive a loss here to Finn Bálor, particularly if it’s protected, but if WWE is going to have Rhea beat Liv, they may just want to end this Old Judgement Day vs New Judgement Day feud, which means Damian would need to win. It could go either way, but I think there’s more story left to tell.

Predicted Winner: Finn Bálor

Rhea Ripley Vs Liv Morgan (Champion) For The Women’s World Championship

Liv Morgan has been doing the best work of her entire career over the past few months. She’s leaned into all the heat Dominik Mysterio has had and really found a way to push it even further. I can’t imagine anyone on the roster playing this role better than her, but how long can we keep denying Rhea Ripley for? She’s the most popular female wrestler in the history of the business, and personally, I’m a dude that thinks the most popular person should hold the title in most instances.

But this isn’t Cody Rhodes against some random opponent on a second level PPV. There’s a lot of story being told here, and we can’t count Liv Morgan out. As I said in the Damian Priest/ Finn Bálor paragraph, I’m not sure WWE is done with this Old Judgment Day vs New Judgment Day storyline. I think we’re going to see Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley in a singles match at some point, and I also think there’s been too much crowd response to Rhea and Liv to burn this off with just one singles match. I’m going to go with Rhea, but I don’t feel great about it. There's a strong chance this could be remembered as the PPV where the New Judgment Day stands tall thanks to heelish tactics.

Predicted Winner: Rhea Ripley

Cody Rhodes And Roman Reigns Vs Jacob Fatu And Solo Sikoa

Roman Reigns can’t lose his return match after he was gone for months, right? I don’t know. The hardest matches to predict in wrestling are always the ones where the storyline is very obviously going to continue, and there are so many different directions this storyline could take. Let me throw out a few of them. The Rock could come back and, as heavily rumored, officially side with Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu, setting up a new Bloodline vs Old Bloodline Civil War. Roman’s potential allies, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman could show up to officially signal their support for the Original Tribal Chief. All the drama between Kevin Owens, Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes could finally come to a head, costing Cody’s team the match.

Where does WWE want to go with the storyline? Personally, I think we’re working toward The Rock and Cody Rhodes in one WrestleMania 41 main event (although there's some reason for doubt) and Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns in the other WrestleMania 41 main event. So, what’s the most important thing WWE needs to do in order to make that happen in the best possible way? To me, that means figuring out how to bring The Rock back and it means establishing the new Bloodline, particularly Jacob Fatu as the biggest threat possible. That means they need some high profile wins. That could and probably should start here.

Predicted Winner: Solo Sikoa And Jacob Fatu

CM Punk Vs Drew McIntyre

This’ll go down as one of the greatest and most memorable non-title feuds in WWE history. It’s been an absolute masterclass from both men, but it needs to end so they can both move on to different things. CM Punk likely needs to start a program with Seth Rollins (after Rollins is done with Bronson Reed), and Drew McIntyre likely needs to focus on trying to win The Royal Rumble and possibly getting a shot at Gunther’s World Heavyweight Championship (which could be a great Mania program for him). So, this needs to have a decisive ending, but ideally, an ending that doesn’t bury either one of them.

Personally, I think Drew McIntyre should win this feud. He’s six years younger and is probably on the best run of his entire career. I think CM Punk’s character can better weather a loss, and I’d like to see him put Drew over. I think that’s best for business long-term, but CM Punk is arguably the more popular performer and he’s the babyface in the feud. So, this match could really go either way.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

The WWE is red-hot right now, and while pro wrestlers have always found steady work in Hollywood movies, it seems many are finding their way into larger and larger roles. Drew McIntyre is one of the more recent stars to make his way into movies after Dave Bautista helped cast him for The Killer's Game, and he's already being questioned by the press about other projects. The Scottish Warrior was asked if he'd be up for appearing in Henry Cavill's Highlander movie and gave a pretty definitive answer.

McIntyre spoke to the press ahead of the release of The Killers Game, and was asked by ComicBook.com about his interest in being in the Highlander movie. One probably could've guessed how the superstar would feel about being included in one of the most Scottish sci-fi franchises in existence, but it's great to hear him give his thoughts in his own words:

An encouraging response from Drew McIntyre! I'm not sure there's anyone out there better suited to be in the upcoming Highlander movie, even if Henry Cavill is the star. I think the former Superman actor would be just as impressed by what McIntyre can do with a claymore as he is with his own sword work.

Not only that but at 6'5 and 275 lbs, he'd make a pretty wild immortal to go up against in the movie. Let's not forget the biggest rule of Highlander: "There can be only one." I can only assume McIntyre's hypothetical casting would only be for a small supporting role.

Drew McIntyre thinks he's an obvious choice for the Highlander movie, but there is a legitimate question of whether or not he'd have the time to commit to it. As one of the top stars of the brand, he's expected to be at upcoming WWE events and take part in massive storylines we'll all see play out with our Peacock Premium subscriptions.

It's not surprising McIntyre has ambitions to act in Hollywood, as many WWE superstars have also done in the past. It's a lucrative opportunity, as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was Hollywood's highest-paid actor two years ago. While WWE superstars are all passionate about their jobs and putting on a show for a pro wrestling audience, I don't think any of them would mind trading in working 3-4 shows a week for millions of dollars and potentially less risk of injuries depending on the role.

The Killier's Game is set to release on Friday, September 13th, and wrestling fans will get to see Dave Bautista and Drew McIntyre appear in a feature film together. I know I'm optimistic it'll convince the former to make a big return to the ring, though I'm not sure the WWE can handle having any more major talents than it already has.

The story of Bash In Berlin starts and ends with Gunther. The World Heavyweight Champion has viciously and repeatedly slapped his fellow wrestlers and WWE fans across the chest with his throwback chops since he was called up in 2022, and in just a few short years, he’s already established himself as one of the biggest stars on the roster. Now, he heads into Berlin as a conquering hometown hero, an Austrian performing inside Germany where he’s maintained residency for decades.

WWE hasn’t announced if Gunther and Randy Orton will main event the show, but regardless of where it sits on the card, the crowd is likely to be white hot, even if this feud hasn’t been given that much time to build. I also expect a particularly raucous crowd for at least two other matches, as Drew Mcintyre vs CM Punk and Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley vs Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan are locked in a standoff for hottest storyline in all of professional wrestling right now. Throw in dueling fan favorites Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens squaring up in a rare face vs face WWE Championship Match and Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill trying to win their Tag Team Championships back from The Unholy Union, and it’s a pretty stacked card for a mid-tier PPV.

Before I get into what’s gonna happen, however, let’s run down how I’ve been doing at the prediction game.

CM Punk Vs Drew McIntyre In A Strap Match

CM Punk and Drew McIntyre is one of the hottest feuds in wrestling. Fans will be extremely into this match, maybe more into it than anything else on the card not involving Judgment Day, but a month ago, people were talking about this feud like it was one of the greatest non-title storylines in wrestling history. Go back and watch the introductions and opening bell to their match at SummerSlam. You only get that type of crowd buzz when fans are emotionally invested to a far greater degree than usual. 

But over the last month or so, it just hasn’t had that same spark. There haven’t been moments wrestling fans were jumping on social, desperate to talk about. It’s been good but hasn’t approached great. So, the goal of this match has to be to get the momentum going in the right direction again. This feud needs something more than the stolen bracelet. 

If Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the writers want to keep this going and find that magic again, they need to give CM Punk a clear one-up over Drew McIntyre that represents more than winning a match. We need something that will trigger Drew McIntyre and give him a reason to turn into the vindictive Scottish Warrior again. Maybe that involves doing something to his wife. Maybe that involves embarrassing him in a way he can’t laugh off. I don’t know what it is, but it needs to be great. If not, it’s likely this feud will continue losing momentum and ultimately be remembered very positively as highlights for these two men but not as an all-time masterpiece we’ll be talking about for decades.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

Alba Fyre And Isla Dawn (Champions) Vs Bianca Belair And Jade Cargill For The Women’s Tag Team Championships

I don’t want to pat myself on the back too hard and have to get surgery like Randy Orton, but I’m typically pretty good at knowing where WWE is going. I have a solid record in predicting matches, and the ones I miss tend to be matches I go back and forth on and am very clearly not sure about ahead of time. But I have to admit I have no idea WTF WWE is doing with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. 

Earlier this year, they won the Tag Team Championships, and I assumed they would have about a nine month run where they would dominate everyone before they lost the belts in some kind of scandal and started feuding with each other. I still think the goal is eventually to get them to that feud, but they unceremoniously lost the titles barely a month after winning them and haven’t been successful in winning them back. Even more strangely, we haven’t seen any internal friction either. So, what’s the plan here? Are they going to keep trying and failing at winning the titles before they turn on each other? Are they going to win the championships back and then lose them again, which will create the dissension?

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are a perfectly nice tag team. I’m happy they’re getting a run at the top, and I’m sure they’ll put on a good match here. But the outcome of this match depends entirely on what WWE wants to do with Bianca and Jade, and I just don’t know what they want to do. I can’t see the vision yet in my mind; so, in the absence of that, I’m going to assume, since they’re far and away the bigger money team here, that they’re gonna recapture the titles.

Predicted Winners: Bianca And Jade

Terror Twins Damian Priest And Rhea Ripley Vs The Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio And Liv Morgan

I am very confident this feud will ultimately end with Rhea Ripley winning back her Women’s World Championship from Liv Morgan and Damian Priest getting the upperhand on Finn Bálor in a singles match. Ripley is on pace to be the biggest star in the history of women’s wrestling, and Damian Priest has been steadily winning over the crowd and turning himself into a main eventer since his cash-in at WrestleMania 40. They’re going to ultimately come out on top of the larger storyline, but I’m going back and forth as to whether that success will start here or not.

In a more conventional feud, you’d have to favor Ripley and Priest here. After all, Dominik turned on Rhea at SummerSlam and cost her the match against Liv, and Damian lost his World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther at the same event thanks to Judgment Day interference. The rules of wrestling would say they need to get even, particularly since they’re the white hot babyfaces, but it’s very likely this feud is going to continue for a long time, with the real prizes being singles matches down the road. This mixed tag team match is more of a beat in the story, rather than the destination. That means anything can happen, as the outcome is merely intended to set the table for whatever comes next.

I’m going to cautiously pick Priest and Rhea, as they need a bit of good news, but all options are on the table here.

Predicted Winner: Terror Twins

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs Kevin Owens For The WWE Championship

Cody Rhodes is going to win this match because WWE loves long title reigns and because Cody seems destined to wrestle The Rock at some point in the future for his championship. WWE teased that very heavily prior to The Rock returning to Hollywood, but let the record show I’d love to see Kevin Owens win here. 

That’s no shot at Cody Rhodes. I like Cody and have liked him way more than I ever expected I would when he first returned to WWE, but he needs a little bit of an edge added to his character. He’s felt a little dry since WrestleMania, and having him drop the title to Owens, particularly if it’s via some cheating, underhanded tactics that turns Owens heel, would be a great way to give us an energized and fired up Rhodes. In a perfect world, I’d love to see these two wrestle three times with Owens winning the first and Cody getting the best of him on the next two. 

That would keep Cody hot for whatever is coming next, but it would also add in an element of surprise and build a new layer to his character, who has barely lost at all since returning at WrestleMania 38. Alas, that’s almost certainly not going to happen though.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

Gunther (Champion) Vs Randy Orton For The World Heavyweight Championship

My co-worker Mick Joest is fired up about the possibility of seeing Randy Orton face a returning John Cena for a World Championship. It would give Cena a chance to set a new record and would give fans a match they’re clamoring for. I get it. I can see the vision, but it feels a little too early to pull the trigger on that. Perhaps more importantly, it also feels way too early to pull the title off Gunther.

Gunther is perhaps the wrestler with the highest approval rating of anyone in the entire business. He feels modern enough and is skilled enough that younger fans love him, and he’s got enough of a throwback vibe and larger than life character look that fans of older wrestling love him too. He’s a throwback that also feels cutting edge, and I just can’t see him taking only his second singles, non-DQ loss, less than a month after winning the title and in front of German fans who will no doubt give him a huge ovation.

I believe Randy Orton will rise to the top again. Maybe it’ll be to do something with John Cena, which would be super cool, but I don’t think this is the way WWE gets there. Not at the expense of Gunther.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

You can watch Bash At Berlin free with a Peacock subscription this Saturday at a special afternoon start time.

Nearly thirty years after Cleveland hosted a very weird SummerSlam in 1996, WWE’s second biggest premium live event of the year is finally set to return. This time, instead of Shawn Michaels and Vader, we’ll likely get Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa for The WWE Championship in the hammer slot, which makes a whole lot more sense if Roman Reigns returns than if he doesn’t. In addition, we’re currently scheduled to get another half dozen matches, five of which are for major championships and the other of which is CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, arguably the hottest feud going in all of wrestling.

Despite all the championship matches, however, fans are a bit divided on whether they think the card is worthy of a SummerSlam. A couple of the matches have been set up by lackluster feuds, and the likely main event, Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa, feels more like something that would close a Backlash than a SummerSlam. So, yeah, there’s reason for concern, but there’s also plenty of reason for optimism given CM Punk and Drew McIntyre is one of the hottest non-title feuds ever, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley is all kinds of awesome, and Gunther and Damian Priest has really over-delivered so far. 

Before we get into my specific predictions for the event, however, here’s a look at my how my predictions have been going lately, with some notes on key recent events, as well as an overall score for how I’ve done since I started these educated guesses. I’ve now done every single PLE since WrestleMania 38 and have no plans on stopping.

Damian Priest (Champion) Vs Gunther For The World Heavyweight Championship

I don’t think there’s anyone on WWE’s roster that’s improving at a faster rate than Damian Priest. He was obviously great as the muscle in Judgment Day and had an epic cash-in at WrestleMania 40, but you can really tell how much confidence he’s gained over the past few months, both on the microphone and in how he carries himself. He’s starting to really feel like a world champion. 

Unfortunately for him, Gunther is the best new wrestler WWE has had in years. He’s a throwback that also feels modern, a towering and vicious badass that gets ring psychology perfectly and can also adapt to work with performers of varying styles. With all due respect to The Miz, Mr Perfect and others, he’s the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time, and he deserves a run on top as World Heavyweight Champion sooner rather than later. 

So, yeah, Gunther is going to win this belt. The only real question is whether he wins it at SummerSlam or whether he loses this match in some kind of flukey manner and then wins a rematch at Bash In Berlin at the end of August. My guess is WWE is going to go with the latter. That would give Priest almost another month as World Champion. It would give us an obvious main event for the new PPV, and it would allow Gunther, who is from Austria, to win it a short distance from where he grew up.

Predicted Winner: Damian Priest

Logan Paul (Champion) Vs LA Knight For The United States Championship

Wrestling fans have been waiting for LA Knight to get his big moment for more than a year, and it would be a pretty big surprise if he didn’t finally get it here. He’s still very over with the crowd, but people need to see some forward progress. As charismatic as he is, a performer needs to win some big matches and the occasional title to maintain their buzz, or else people move on to something newer and shinier. Now is the time to take him to the next level and see if he can cook as a midcard champion.

Plus, it’s time to take the belt off Logan Paul. I love Logan. It took me all of 30 seconds to completely change my opinion of him during his WrestleMania 38 tag team match alongside The Miz. He’s great, and his run has generated a ton of mainstream press and positive publicity. But SmackDown is really lagging behind Raw right now creatively. It needs a champion that’s present every week and working a consistent storyline. That’s just not going to be Logan Paul right now. So, while I’m still high on the social megastar and would be very open to another title run in the future, I’m also ready to try someone else.

Predicted Winner: LA Knight

Bayley (Champion) Vs Nia Jax For The WWE Women’s Championship

With all due respect to Bayley, who is an obvious Hall Of Famer, I’m frustrated with her current title run, and I don’t really understand what she’s doing with her character. Leading up to The Royal Rumble and later WrestleMania 40, she did a great job of showing vulnerability. It was easy to root for her against Damage CTRL, as they schemed around her and kicked her out of her own group. The resulting match with Iyo Sky at ‘Mania was one of the weekend’s best, and it seemed to set Bayley up for something special, given how over she was with fans. 

But we haven’t really seen that vulnerability since. Instead, she’s mostly just delivered generic promos and occasionally comes off like she’s still playing a heel character. To be honest, the most memorable part of her run so far has probably been Nia Jax accusing her of having a Brazilian Butt Lift, which set off quite a lively discussion on social media. That’s not to say she can’t quickly turn things around with the right feud, but she might not get that chance.

Bayley is definitely vulnerable. She could lose the belt at SummerSlam, partially because the buzz she had is mostly gone and partially because Triple H may want to reward Nia Jax for how good she’s been since returning. She’s night and day better than she was when she left WWE for the first time, and even her biggest haters are coming around to how valuable she’s been as a monster heel. 

Because of all that, I think it’s likely Nia will pick up the win, but don’t expect it to be clean. The writers have really telegraphed that Tiffany Stratton and her Money In The Bank briefcase will be involved in the finish. She’s mostly been portrayed as Nia’s BFF, but there have been hints she could betray her and cash in herself. So, expect someone to get hit with the briefcase.

Predicted Winner: Nia Jax

Sami Zayn (Champion) Vs Bron Breakker For The Intercontinental Championship

I predicted Bron Breakker would beat Sami Zayn at Money In The Bank. He ultimately lost, and the story we’ve gotten since is that he didn’t take the match seriously enough. Now he’s refocused and ready to win his first main roster title. I remain convinced he’ll get the job done. It just makes too much sense.

First, it’s unlikely Bron would get a third shot at Zayn’s title if he lost again. That wouldn’t make any sense from a fairness standpoint. Second, WWE seems intent on making Bron Breakker look at dominant as possible, and two consecutive losses to Sami Zayn, as over as he might be with the crowd, is going to put a big dent in his reputation. Third, there’s probably going to be a more important story to tell that Zayn is about to be a part of.

Whether Roman Reigns returns at SummerSlam or not, almost everyone agrees a Bloodline Civil War is coming. Zayn obviously has an extensive history with The Bloodline, once getting cheered like a prime Stone Cold, and it would be a shock if he didn’t factor into the story whenever it’s told. In recent weeks, we’ve seen him paired with his longtime frenemy Jey Uso, and it’s likely that’s where his personal plot is going, which would be a lot simpler if he didn’t have the Intercontinental Championship. 

Predicted Winner: Bron Breakker

Liv Morgan (Champion) Vs Rhea Ripley For The Women’s World Championship

You could make a strong case that no woman in the history of professional wrestling has ever been as over as Rhea Ripley. She is going to win this title and get the better of Liv Morgan long-term, but there’s so much heat on this feud, I have a hard time believing WWE isn’t going to play it out a little longer, especially with so much uncertainty around Rhea’s arm candy Dominik Mysterio and whose side he’s really on. He flirted pretty consistently with Morgan while Rhea was away with injury, but throughout, he maintained that he was loyal and would never leave his Mamí. 

Many fans think the real traitor is Finn Bálor, and he’ll be the one to betray Rhea for Liv, leading to a big Judgment Day break-up in which he and JD McDonagh go one way and stay heels, while Rhea Ripley and her Terror Twin Damian Priest turn face and head another way (leaving Dom in limbo). I think something like that is probably going to happen down the road, but I think what’s more likely is we see Dominik interfere, leading to a Liv victory and making everyone wonder whether he did it on purpose. That would provide another month of Raw storylines and leave the question about Finn unanswered at this point.

Predicted Winner: Liv Morgan

CM Punk Vs Drew McIntyre (With Seth Rollins As Ref) 

Can this epic feud once and for all put to rest the stupid notion that matches need to have a championship to matter? This fight is for nothing but bragging rights, and if there was any justice in the world, it would be the main event of SummerSlam. It’s been that good - so good, in fact, that neither man deserves to lose. 

Fortunately for whoever does lose, Seth Rollins will almost certainly play a major part in it, and whatever happens will set up a spinoff feud or a triple threat match between everyone involved, given the alleged real life hostility and how invested fans are. There’s just no way anyone is going down clean with his back on the mat, and there’s just no way WWE will go away from this feud after one match. 

I’ve been going back and forth on who might win, but I keep going back to one thing: CM Punk hasn’t won a televised match since his WWE return. He was injured at Royal Rumble and has mostly just been used for mic work and surprise ref appearances in the time since. He really needs to remind everyone he’s capable of huge wins, and given McIntyre’s entire story lately has been getting screwed out of victories, it probably makes sense for him to take the L here. 

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

Cody Rhodes (Champion) Vs Solo Sikoa For The WWE Championship

Solo Sikoa is not winning the WWE Championship. He’s been playing his role well and starting to come into his own since Roman and The Rock took extended breaks after WrestleMania, but he’s just not at the level of a WWE Champion yet. So, while it’s possible he could win this match by like countout or something that doesn’t result in the title changing hands, it’s almost certain he’s going to lose. 

That being said, how he loses and what happens in this match is a lot more intriguing than the outcome. The new Tribal Chief (at least according to himself) hsa been publicly disrespecting Roman for weeks. He systematically threw his closest family members out of The Bloodline and put his longtime advisor Paul Heyman out of action with a vicious attack. Has he gone rogue and is making decisions himself? Is he operating under orders from The Rock? Is there something larger that we don’t know about going on here?

I don’t know. But my guess is we’ll see Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa (with his new eye patch) attack Rhodes on behalf of Solo Sikoa. Before he wins the match, however, we’ll see Roman Reigns return, probably alongside Heyman, and that’ll result in Solo taking an L. Costing his own family member the title won’t sit well with The Rock, and that’ll likely cause long-term problems between those two that may lead directly to a WrestleMania 41 match. Maybe. I’m not entirely sure about all this, but I am sure Cody is going to walk out still with The WWE Championship.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

John Cena dropped the shocking announcement at Money In The Bank 2024 that he's actually, legitimately retiring and that 2025 will mark his final year in professional wrestling. He also confirmed plans for several upcoming WWE events, which means we will have plenty of opportunities to see him face off against other WWE superstars. I'm sure all fans have a dream list of opponents for Cena to take on before he hangs it up, and I'm no exception to that.

Be it PLE or just an episode of Monday Night Raw or SmackDown, Cena will have plenty of chances to chase that mythical record-breaking title reign he so desperately wants to achieve before leaving the world of WWE. Here are the top athletes I'd most like to see him take on with before leaving his shoes in the ring, and why each would mean more than any bouts against anybody left out of this list.

Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes has a long way to go before he reaches the heights of John Cena, but he's already put in a lot of work to be the best face that the WWE has boasted since The Champ. Rhodes is also similar to Cena in the sense that he was once a midcarder who rose to being the face of the company through hard work and stellar ring performance. I would love to see these two square off for some passing-of-the-torch moment, in which Cena concedes it'll be Cody's time to carry the good-guy flag within the WWE. 

Randy Orton

There was once a time in which hearing about Randy Orton and John Cena squaring off in the ring would make me roll my eyes. Let's be honest, we've seen this match a lot throughout Cena's career, and with good reason. Orton is just as much a legend of the WWE as his greatest rival, and has been around for the entirety of Cena's career. He's like the Sabretooth to Cena's Wolverine, and it wouldn't feel right if these guys didn't go to war at least once in his final run. 

The Rock

I don't know if you can call The Rock the greatest rival John Cena has ever had, but he's definitely in the top three. These two main evented WrestleMania not once, but twice in a lifetime. Their feuds carried the WWE into some interesting territory, at a point in which it became evident that two of the company's biggest stars ever weren't really fond of each other in real life. Fortunately, Cena and Rock squashed the beef years later, and with Rock taking Cena out at WrestleMania 40, we already have the stage set to justify their meeting once again. 

CM Punk

CM Punk is a guy who makes just about every feud special, but his in-ring promos played off of Cena's Boy Scout persona just too well. Punk has always been good at playing a Batman villain who knows the worst that'll happen is a trip to Arkham no matter what he does, so he goes for broke. With Punk back in the WWE and having the program of his career with Drew McIntyre right now, I'd love to see him direct that energy to Cena next. 

The Miz

Real wrestling fans know there's no one as consistent on the WWE roster as The Miz. Main event or mid-carder, he's thrived in the spotlight, and his recent title run with R-Truth showed he's still very viable champion material in the WWE. Plus, Miz and Cena enjoyed a pretty great feud back in his world title run, despite suffering a concussion in the main event of WrestleMania. If we're talking about running through all the best of Cena's greatest enemies in 2025, Miz should absolutely be included. 

R-Truth

Beyond the incredible work he's done over the years with his tag team with Miz, The Awesome Truth, there's a case for R-Truth to be one of the most fun matches John Cena could take on before retiring. While there once was a time when Truth was a legitimate rival to Cena, the character has reshaped his attitude in recent years and now refers to The Champ as his "childhood hero." Seeing the two have a match, complete with R-Truth performing Cena's "Five Moves Of Doom," would be an amazing match for the fans. 

Drew McIntyre

I think there's a case to make that Drew McIntyre is the greatest heel in the WWE right now. His arrogance and violent aggression have led to him rampaging through the roster, and after his failed Money In The Bank cash-in, some thought was a waste; he's madder than ever, however. John Cena has always been one to step up to bullies, and if there's anyone capable of delivering an "Attitude Adjustment" to a villain, it's him. 

Seth Rollins

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Jon Moxley have led the world of pro wrestling for the past decade. Cena has faced Reigns quite a bit in recent years, and since Moxley is over in AEW, that leaves a showdown with Rollins next on the list. While they've worked as allies in the ring, Cena and Rollins haven't squared off since 2018, so we're past due to see them do battle once again. 

Joe Hendry

Joe Hendry isn't even officially in the WWE, but TNA has loaned him over to NXT in order to let audiences sing his Rock-inspired theme song, as well as to see one of the hottest up-and-comers in wrestling perform. His positive attitude and cheeky smile would make for a great match-up with Cena, assuming the WWE would allow it to happen. I'm not too sure how keen they'd be in having a legend take on another company's star, but I'd love to see it all the same. 

The John Cena retirement tour is set to kick off in 2025, though I wouldn't put it past him to make an early appearance before the end of 2024 to get the party started earlier. For now, we know he'll be on Monday Night Raw when it comes to Netflix, so make sure to have that Netflix subscription in order by next year. 

CinemaBlend predicted Money in the Bank would feature Chad Gable winning the men's briefcase match, so I was as surprised as everyone when Drew McIntyre was the superstar hoisting the case above his head. While McIntyre's win was unexpected, it was less shocking to see him get screwed over once again by CM Punk after cashing in. The outcome led many WWE fans to complain that the win felt like a "waste," but I'm ready to push back on that.

Would I have liked to see Jey Uso or L.A. Knight hold the briefcase for a cash-in at an upcoming WWE event? I'll freely admit to wanting either to get that push. The reality, however, is that the WWE is a scripted product, and I think the company has a great reason behind why Drew McIntyre and CM Punk's storyline gained momentum from the PLE rather than any other athletes taking control of the briefcase.

The WWE Has Seemingly Already Decided Its Main Title Contenders For The Year, And Drew Is A Major Part Of It

The WWE currently has clear players in contention for its top titles in my mind. Here are all the realistic options I think for title holders of the Undisputed and Heavyweight Championship titles:

• WWE Undisputed Championship - Cody Rhodes, Solo Sikoa, Roman Reigns, The Rock
• Heavyweight Championship - Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Gunther, Damian Priest

Drew McIntyre is a major player in contention for the World Heavyweight Championship, but I bring up everyone else above for another reason. The main event scene is loaded with superstars and ongoing storylines that all look as though they're going to continue to run into WrestleMania 41. With as many big names vying for that title heading into the back half of the year, what good would it be for another superstar other than Drew to win the briefcase?

It reminds me of when Damian Priest won the 2023 MITB briefcase, but it soon became clear that the WWE had no plans to take the World Heavyweight Championship away from Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns until WrestleMania 40. The company was burdened with constantly explaining why Priest couldn't cash in, and while he did finally get that opportunity at WrestleMania thanks to an assist from CM Punk attacking Drew McIntyre, it was mostly in service to the WWE further advancing this massive feud between those two than Priest.

As it stands now, the WWE is planning for Damian Priest to take on Gunther at SummerSlam. Then, if popular speculation holds, we'll eventually arrive at Punk vs. McIntyre, likely for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41. With neither man currently holding that title, it'll take a lot of storytelling to arrive at that point over the next nine months, and I can't imagine the WWE was willing to derail it for one of the other contenders in the match to get the chance to cash in.

If The World Heavyweight Title And Undisputed Titles Are Off Limits, Did The MITB Briefcase Really Matter This Year?

The fact is that the storylines between WWE's biggest titles are complicated enough. The new Bloodline has more family members on the way, and we still have no idea when the two most likely wrestlers to take Cody Rhodes' title, The Rock or Roman Reigns will show back up.

I'd say CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre is the only story surrounding the World Heavyweight Championship, but as mentioned Damian Priest is the current title holder and we've assumed since the WWE announced Bash In Berlin that Gunther would finally get a shot at the major title. Sure enough, SummerSlam bleeds right into the Bash in Berlin with both events happening in August.

The bottom line is that no one would use that briefcase to get the Undisputed or World Heavyweight championships. Guys like Jey Uso, L.A. Knight, Andrade, and Chad Gable don't need a briefcase to cash in on the Intercontinental and United States titles. For those who suggest otherwise, we can revisit Gable's recent losses against Sami Zayn with a Peacock Premium subscription to confirm he doesn't.

If the briefcase wasn't going to lead to a surprising title run this year, then I'd much sooner see it used to further Punk vs. McIntyre than watch a promising superstar fail a cash in opportunity. Punk vs. Drew storyline is my favorite of the year thus far, and considering all that's going on in WWE currently, that's saying something. All this to say, I think the right decision was made, even if we don't have a cash-in to wait on in the men's division.

More fallout from Money In The Bank is expected on Monday Night Raw, which airs on USA Network at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to see if CM Punk is going to show up, and finally give us an update on that injured arm of his.

I’ve done predictions for every single WWE PPV since WrestleMania 38. That’s more than two years of educated guessing as to where WWE is going with its storylines, and I don’t remember a single event I felt more apprehensive going into. Normally, there’s at least a few near guarantees at every event. Not this one. I could make a legitimate case for either side of every single match, and it could potentially make sense for a long-term story Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company might be trying to tell. As a fan, it’s exhilarating. As a professional prognosticator, it’s terrifying.

But that’s the name of the game. Sometimes I’m wrestling a metaphorical jobber and cruising to an easy victory like I’m Yokozuna on an early 90s episode of WWE Superstars, and sometimes I’m fighting for airtime amidst 87 other people in the nWo like I’m Scott Norton on a late 90s episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Regardless, the PPV card should be highly entertaining. Money In The Bank matches are, as a general rule, more exciting when the outcome is in doubt, and there’s plenty of doubt in both of the title matches. In addition, Damian Priest and Seth Freakin’ Rollins’ match carries huge ramifications for both men, and beyond that, we’ve got Bron Breakker wrestling for his first singles title on the main roster and the next chapter of The Bloodline Saga, which has been cooking.

Before I’m forced to pick a side on all these matches, however, let me pat myself on the back and present my predictions history…

Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton And Kevin Owens Vs 3 Members Of The Bloodline

So, my first instinct here is to say The Bloodline needs to win. Jacob Fatu can’t possibly lose his first match, given all the hype around him, right? The problem is we don’t technically know if Jacob Fatu will even be in this match, and also, we all know Roman Reigns is going to return at some point. Paul Heyman getting powerbombed through a table last Friday would seem to accelerate that timeline. Plus, Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga beat Randy Orton and KO at Backlash France. They can’t just keep winning over and over again, right?

Well, I still think they’re probably going to. Rumors have been swirling for awhile that Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa may be the plan for SummerSlam, and that plan makes a lot more sense if The Bloodline gets another victory here. In addition, as much as WWE tries to push Money In The Bank as being one of the so-called Big 5 PLEs, it’s clearly a step behind SummerSlam. Roman’s return would be a lot more impactful there.

I’m not extremely confident about this match, but it’s certainly the one I’m most confident about. I’m going to somewhat assertively say The Bloodline wins.

Predicted Winner: The Bloodline

Sami Zayn (Champion) Vs Bron Breakker For The Intercontinental Championship

I’m not quite sure what the original plan was here. Sheamus, Ludwig Kaiser and Bron Breakker were all feuding and were building something pretty fun that was loosely connected to Sami Zayn’s Intercontinental Championship. I was thinking we might see a multi-man match here at Money In The Bank for the belt, but Kaiser was recently injured. He still got a taped segment on this week’s Raw, but the MITB match is just Bron Breakker and Sami Zayn. Given how much they have been building Bron and making him look like a terrifying beast, I cannot imagine him losing clean here. So, the options are he either wins the belt, probably in a good match, not a squash, or one of Sheamus or Kaiser interferes and costs him the match. 

My guess is the WWE writers are going to want to reincorporate Zayn into the upcoming Bloodline Civil War storyline, given how well that worked the first time. That doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to lose the title right now. After all, Roman hasn’t even returned yet, but even so, losing to Bron right now would be a great way to build a new star. So, I think they’re going to do that, unless the plan is for Chad Gable to win Money In The Bank and then cash in his briefcase for the IC Title. 

Predicted Winner: Bron Breakker

Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Last year, Iyo Sky was a strong favorite to win Money In The Bank. Given the internal tension with Damage CTRL at the time, the storyline was right there, and while it was satisfying for fans, it wasn’t exactly some huge shock she won. This year, there’s tension again within Damage CTRL, but Sky is not the prohibitive favorite again. WWE can definitely choose to run the tension between her and Bayley back and give her the briefcase, but that’s just one of several viable options in a wide open Money In The Bank field that’s perhaps the most unpredictable in years.

If you’re the type of wrestling fan who is habitually on wrestling Twitter, you likely know the favorite in the minds of many hardcore fans is Chelsea Green. She’s been fantastic in her role since returning at the 2023 Royal Rumble. Despite playing a heel, she’s very over with the crowd, and given her mic skills and general personality, it’s easy to imagine her having the most fun with the briefcase. Unfortunately, she’s done almost nothing but lose matches since she arrived in WWE, however, and it’s hard to imagine her as a World Champion. Maybe that’s the point and she’d be the first woman to fail in her cash-in attempt. Maybe.

Another strong maybe is Tiffany Stratton. She’s arguably the most talented NXT call-up on the women’s side since Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley, and many fans really want to see her have a big moment. Money In The Bank has long been about building new stars, and building her into a star has to be high on WWE’s agenda. Plus, we’ve seen a lot of interplay with her and Nia Jax, and given Nia is facing Bayley for the title at SummerSlam, adding in the briefcase would add another fun dimension to their relationship. Maybe they go there.

Or maybe this is finally the moment they invest in Naomi. She’s been getting consistent TV time since returning, but she’s never felt on the main event level. Maybe this is the moment where they decide to really push her. Or maybe WWE is even more invested in Lyra Valkyria than any of us realize. She got all the way to the finals in the Queen Of The Ring tournament and is currently feuding with Damage CTRL She needs to get a little more charismatic on the mic, but she’s getting there and has been superb in the ring. Maybe. Or maybe we’re in for a real surprise and it’ll be Zoey Stark. That’s unlikely given the lack of a push she’s gotten basically since Trish left, but she’s extremely capable. Maybe.

Predicted Winner: Tiffany Stratton

Men's Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Let’s eliminate the people who have no chance or almost no chance right off the top. I love Carmelo Hayes. I think he’s got a really bright future, but he doesn’t have any real momentum going on, apart from every smart fan realizing his incredible potential. His only goal here should be looking good and having a few fun spots. The same thing could likely be said for Andrade. If WWE ever decides to really get behind him, watch out. He’s one of the best mixes of raw power and athleticism on the entire roster, and he’s extremely charismatic, even if his promos are shorter and delivered with an accent. With all due respect to WWE Speed, we haven’t seen enough storybeats to make this seem believable. I also don’t buy LA Knight. He’s certainly over enough with the crowd, but his character arc seems destined to collide with Logan Paul at SummerSlam. He doesn’t need the belt for that. He had a much better case last year.

So, that leaves us with Jey Uso, Chad Gable and Drew McIntyre (since Finn Bálor shockingly was not added to this match). Instead of thinking about who should win this match, I often find it easier to think about who WWE could tell the best story with if they had the briefcase. That’s where I struggle with Jey Uso. He just wrestled and lost to World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest at Backlash France. He previously wrestled and lost to Gunther earlier this year, who is wrestling for that title at SummerSlam. It doesn’t make any story sense to have him feud with Cody Rhodes. Yes, he’s incredibly over with fans right now, but unless WWE sees him as a good long-term antagonist to Gunther, I don’t really see how him having the briefcase would work.

So, that leaves us with Chad Gable and Drew McIntyre. I think most fans are expecting CM Punk to show up and cost Drew McIntyre the briefcase, meaning it would be a fantastic swerve if he perseveres through that and wins. That would set up some really interesting dynamics around SummerSlam, as it would hover the threat of a cash-in over the Gunther match against either Damian Priest or Seth Freakin’ Rollins, and it brings up the possibility McIntyre could could feature multiple times the same night. That’s for sure the highest upside, most plot relevant way to use Money In The Bank this year.

But WWE could also look at that and say Drew McIntyre doesn’t need it. His story with CM Punk is one of the best non-title feuds we’ve seen in decades. Fans are white hot for these two to finally get in the ring, and when they do, it doesn’t need the title. I’m not even sure if the title amplifies it that much. A blood feud is more about seeking vengenance, not winning a prize. So, that would point toward Chad Gable. I know it’s highly unusual (at least outside of Austin Theory), but WWE may decide to use the briefcase this year as a plot device for the Intercontinental Championship. Gabel has been vigoriously pursuing it for what feels like a year at this point, and the briefcase could be what he needs to finally win it. That would keep Money In The Bank from affecting any world title plots, and it would really add an element of intrigue around The IC title, which has a history of ebbing and flowing in importance.

Predicted Winner: Chad Gable

Damian Priest (Champion) Vs Seth Freakin’ Rollins For The World Heavyweight Championship

I believe in Damian Priest. I know there’s some chatter on the Internet at times about how he’s not quite ready for a world title, and I can see that viewpoint. He’s definitely learning on the job, especially on the microphone, as he’s delivering the longest and most complicated promos of his career. But he will have 30 second stretches where he sounds like one of the biggest stars on the roster. He will have moments where you can see just how high his ceiling is. I want WWE to explore that more, especially since we just got 9 months from Seth as champion. It was nice to see him have another moment on top, but it didn’t leave me immediately wishing to relive the experience. At this point, Priest has only been champion for like 3 months. I want him to have a longer run.

But it’s also easy to see the argument for Seth Freakin’ Rollins. Whoever wins this match is going to face Gunther at SummerSlam. That’ll be one of WWE’s most high profile matches on the entire card, and the biggest moment to date of The Ring General’s career. You already know at this point in the article that I love Damian Priest. He’s my guy, but he’s also not Seth Rollins. He wasn’t in The Shield and doesn’t have multiple World Championships to his name. If WWE is trying to sell the card, especially if Roman Reigns and The Rock, among others, aren’t going to be advertised, then Seth Rollins vs Gunther is likely way more appealing to casual fans.

So, it could go either way. Ultimately, my pick here is going to mostly rely on the other stipulation as part of the match. If Damian Priest wins, Seth can’t challenge for the title again as long as Priest is World Champion. If Seth Rollins wins, Damian Priest needs to leave Judgment Day. Between Liv, Rhea and Dominik drama and Finn and Damian not getting along, it feels like Judgment Day, despite holding multiple titles, is starting to implode. There’s a lot to explore there, and Priest losing would really accelerate all that drama, but to me, that feels like ripping a band-aid off way too quickly. Rhea Ripley isn’t even back from injury yet. Isn’t Triple H going to want her to have a say in whether Priest stays or goes? Plus, Gunther is probably going to win the title at SummerSlam or in a rematch at Bash In Berlin; so, even if Rollins loses, it’s likely he’ll be able to challenge for the belt again within a few months. 

Predicted Winner: Damian Priest

You can catch WWE Money In The Bank on Saturday night. It'll be streaming for free with a Peacock subscription, and there are also other options, depending on where you live in the world.

Have you ever heard the description of a movie character and immediately thought of a real person? That’s apparently the sensation former WWE star turned actor Dave Bautista felt ahead of his upcoming movie The Killer’s Game. The big man was talking to director JJ Perry about a role that needed to be cast. The more he talked about what they were looking for, the more a really specific WWE star came to mind.

The WWE star in question is, of course, former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. He was doing press around the recent Scotland-set PPV Clash At The Castle when he was asked about his upcoming appearance in The Killer’s Game. Here’s how he hilariously told the backstory of his casting in an interview with Irish Wrestling And Entertainment…

To say Drew McIntyre is on a fantastic run right now would be a colossal understatement. The Scottish Warrior returned to WWE and was arguably the company’s most consistent star during the pandemic, but he seemed to be stuck in the mud and was losing momentum quickly for much of 2023. Then the writers pivoted his character from being a good guy to a bad guy (or babyface to a heel in wrestling terms), and he’s been on the rise ever since. He’s now arguably once again the most talked about superstar on the entire roster (at least with Roman Reigns and The Rock on hiatus), and it seems likely he will main event SummerSlam in a few months, which is widely considered to be WWE’s second biggest PPV of the year.

WWE has a long history of turning its superstars into major Hollywood players. Bautista, The Rock and John Cena are huge stars who regularly lead major budget movies, and long before that, guys like Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan became major celebrities. More recently, a host of famous faces deeper on the roster have started appearing regularly in movies and TV shows. Seth Rollins shot scenes for an upcoming Marvel movie (though there may be bad news there). Liv Morgan appeared in Chucky. The Miz was on Dancing With The Stars, and there are countless other examples.

The Killer’s Game is being distributed by Lionsgate and is set to be released this September. It stars Dave Bautista as an assassin who puts out a hit on himself after he’s diagnosed with an incurable health condition. Fortunately or unfortunately, he later discovers the diagnosis was a mistake and is suddenly in the position of having to fight for his life against the assassins he already hired. It looks like a lot of fun, and by all accounts, should contain the perfect role for Drew McIntyre.

The WWE's PLE in Scotland is over, and as CinemaBlend's Mack Rawden correctly predicted for Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre couldn't defeat Damian Priest to gain the World Heavyweight Championship title. It wasn't for lack of effort, of course, but CM Punk's interference screwed him over yet again. Punk's return made it seem like an in-ring confrontation with McIntyre was imminent, and now rumors are starting to point to the upcoming WWE event where fans should be expecting that confrontation to happen.

WrestleVotes has a solid track record of reporting the behind-the-scenes details of WWE happenings, and it looks like they have some kind of read on when CM Punk will return to the ring after he injured his arm at the Royal Rumble. If these details hold up, we could see "The Best in the World" make a return fairly soon, though maybe later than some expected.

Given that this is a rumor, take it with all the "potentially inaccurate" grains of salt it requires. That said, it feels like a reasonable timeline for CM Punk's recovery, and it's not wild to think that the WWE and Punk would exercise more caution than now regarding his recovery.

We know the wrestler has dreamed of maineventing a night of WrestleMania for well over a decade, and as we pointed out in our takeaways from Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre is doing some of the best work of his entire career. These two deserve to headline WrestleMania, but they'll have to get there healthy first.

While Money In The Bank is a big chance for up-and-coming wrestlers to change the trajectory of their careers, it's not nearly as much of a marquee event for main eventers as SummerSlam is. From a booking perspective, it makes sense to make these two's first major showdown there rather than have them play second fiddle to the Money In The Bank matches.

It remains to be seen how much of a priority highlighting Drew McIntyre and CM Punk will be heading into WrestleMania season. The Rock has already made a bold proclamation about WrestleMania 41, making it sound like he's locked into main eventing at least one night of the festivities. With other major players like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns still unaccounted for, will these two star in one of the main event matches we watch next year with a Peacock Premium subscription?

I'm optimistic they have a good shot, provided the injury bug stays away from them, and that might be a big if. It's no secret that CM Punk suffered from injury troubles during his run in AEW and missed some time outside of his other issues within the company.

Monday Night Raw airs on USA Network on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and I'm assuming we'll see a lot of talk between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk there. I can't wait for the battles between these two to finally kick off, but it seems we'll have to wait a while before seeing it.

I just finished watching Clash At The Castle. I wasn’t planning on hopping on and writing something. Normally I just write the predictions ahead of time, but what’s the point of being a wrestling fan if you can’t shout your opinions at everyone? And after this, I have so many opinions. What I thought was going to be a relatively predictable and tame premium live event turned out to be anything but as my brain in spinning in a ton of different directions.

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill lost. I’m not sure I heard anyone other than Santi Zap predict that. The Chad Gable storyline is somehow even hotter after a fantastic finish led to a pissed off gif you’ll see on social media for years. Damian Priest miraculously turned what seemed like an all-time botch into one of the best performances of his career. Drew McIntyre looked like a Roman Reigns level star. There’s just so much to talk about. So, let me rundown my biggest takeaways…

Drew McIntyre Is A Carry The Company Level Star

Clash At The Castle was Drew McIntyre’s PPV. He was always going to main event the show, despite Cody Rhodes being on it, and his presence tonight showed exactly why. Yes, the hometown crowd helped, but whether he’s a hero or a face, wrestling in his home country or somewhere he has no connection to, he's in the midst of an all-time run right now. He has found the character he was born to play.

Everything about it just works. Whether it be stepping in front of Damian Priest during his introduction just to be a jerk… or kicking Priest while he was stuck in the ropes… or the look he gave CM Punk when he screwed him over as a fake referee… or whatever else you can think of he feels like a main event guy. He has the aura to be a legit WrestleMania main eventer in a way I’d argue less than 20 guys in the history of WWE ever have. He might have lost tonight, but that’s only because WWE has more interesting things to do with his character.

Damian Priest Deserves His Flowers

Not long into Priest and Drew McIntyre’s match, the interim Judgment Day leader got his foot stuck in the ropes after a risky aerial maneuver went wrong. I haven’t heard confirmation it was for sure a botch, but it’s hard to imagine WWE planning something that risky. And yet, he adapted and sold the hell out of what looked like a bad ankle injury, whether it was real or not, and delivered one of the best performances of his entire career. There were moments I legitimately thought the ref was going to throw up the X. And yet, by the end of the match, they were getting “This Is Awesome” chants from the crowd. 

I’m still not entirely sure what Damian Priest’s ceiling is. We all know he’s absolutely fantastic as the second lead in Judgment Day behind Rhea Ripley, a stable which, despite all it success, still has a ton of unfulfilled potential. We all know he’s probably not going to be the lead guy like Hulk Hogan or John Cena or Roman Reigns. But he’s really damn good and getting better by the week. His promos are getting way more natural. He’s starting to develop an aura about him and really find his confidence, and he just delivers a really good, dependable performance every time he’s in the ring. I’m sad for Drew that he lost again, but I’m really excited to see Damian continue to grow in his role. 

The Chad Gable/ Alpha Academy Storyline Needs To Be Pushed To The Moon

With all due respect to Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan and a handful of other contenders, the best program not involving Drew McIntyre, CM Punk and Damian Priest right now is Chad Gable and Alpha Academy (and Sami Zayn). Everyone is playing their part so well. Gable was born to play the role of the selfish, overbearing tyrant. Otis has once again tapped into the special connection he has with fans. Maxxine is terrific as the deer in headlights sidekick who needs protecting, especially with her walking boot, and of course, Sami Zayn is one of the greatest character workers in the history of WWE. Everything has gone right here.

Over the last few years, Gable and Alpha Academy have waffled back and forth between being a key B-plot on the show to being relegated to a few minutes here or there. Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the writers need to push now. This group should be getting a minimum of fifteen minutes every Raw to really develop some layers into what’s going on here and assumedly, add in other pieces.  

Bianca And Jade Lost. Now What?

I’m rattled. I knew WWE would break up Bianca and Jade at some point in the future, but I thought they’d be on cruise control with the tag titles for months. I thought maybe they’d start developing some tension around Survivor Series and we’d get a prolonged build to a WrestleMania match between the two of them. Apparently not.

So, what’s the plan here? There’s one scenario in which they turn on each other immediately and build to a match at SummerSlam. There’s another scenario in which we get a few months of them trying to make it work before the inevitable breakup. I’m unsure which path WWE is going to choose. We all knew their tag team would turn into a break-up and a feud at some point, but the fact that it’s all happening so quickly makes me wonder if WWE changed plans and decided they needed two of their biggest stars back in the World Title picture, especially because…

WWE Needs To Give Bayley Something

I want to be very clear that this is not about the fans rooting for Piper Niven. Their match took place in Scotland, and there was always a good chance Piper was going to get cheered because it’s her home country. I also want to be clear this is not because Bayley wasn’t good in the ring here. She was. I thought Piper and Bayley both delivered good performances. This is about a lot more than this match. It’s about the last few months and the lack of momentum Bayley seems to have.

I’m pretty sure an overwhelming majority of WWE fans, myself included, were rooting for Bayley at The Royal Rumble. I was so stoked to see her win after years of selfless performances in which she put over other people. I was also stoked to see her beat former stablemate Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 40 in a fantastic showing. But WWE hasn’t really done anything to develop her character since that moment. She doesn’t have any goals or motivations, and when she has been given a chance to speak, it’s been pretty forgettable, which sucks since she can be fantastic on the mic. 

I love Bayley. She’s one of the most talented women WWE has, but the writers need to give her something to do. She was the sympathetic, grieved party heading into WrestleMania in her battle against Damage CTRL, but now she's... just the champion whose a babyface with a goal. She needs a passionate promo or some interesting layers to her upcoming feud with Nia Jax. Watching Clash At The Castle, it was obvious how much more invested fans are in a bunch of other characters right now.

Let’s Talk About Cody Rhodes’ Future

After Cody Rhodes’ match with AJ Styles, he was attacked by The New Bloodline or The Other Bloodline or Bloodline 2.0 or whatever you want to call them. He was then saved by Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. It seems pretty obvious WWE is setting up a 3 on 3 match of Rhodes, Orton and Owens vs Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Solo Sikoa, probably at Money In The Bank. Initially, I thought we’d see some kind of interference there with The Rock that would likely set up a Summerslam Main Event between The Rock and Cody Rhodes, but now I’m not so sure. The Rock reportedly suffered an injury while he was filming his new movie, and also, Randy Orton seemed to be eyeing Cody’s title.

The last several years have been an extended babyface run for Randy Orton. He was in RKBro, a super over tag team with Matt Riddle. Then he got hurt. Then he returned at Survivor Series and has been getting huge crowd pops ever since, but he’s also The Viper and his career has been filled with plenty of backstabs and heel work. It might be time to give us another one, which could hypothetically lead into a major match at SummerSlam. 

Big Shouts For All The Scottish Wrestlers And The Scottish Crowd

What a blast it’s been to see WWE start spreading the wealth by taking its premium live events around the world. They’ve all delivered fabulous crowds, and Scotland was no exception today. Fans screamed, chanted and rooted on their hometown favorites, who all delivered terrific performances. Drew McIntyre was, of course, the most notable Scottish hero. He proved why he's one of the best in the world in a losing effort that should make his feud with CM Punk hotter than ever. He deserves to be the lead story, but all of the other Scottish performers were fantastic too.

Piper Niven was given a chance to shine against Bayley and had the crowd firmly on her side by the end of the match. She’s so nimble for her size and has great facial expressions. She’s also a perfect pair with the more flamboyant Chelsea Green, who pulled double duty as herself and her luchador sister after she was kicked out of the match. They both need to be on TV every week. Maybe, with the titles off Jade and Bianca, they’ll be given another tag title run, or maybe WWE saw enough here to start pushing Piper as a single. She’d be an ideal first champ if WWE ever decides to introduce a mid-card title for the women.

And of course we can’t forget about Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. I can’t remember the last time I was this shocked by a result at a premium live event, but I don’t hate it at all. I think there’s a lot WWE can do with these characters. They just need consistent TV time and a little bit of street cred, and this performance gave them both in the night’s most touching moment, especially given the personal tragedy Isla Dawn recently suffered. She’s quietly one of the most talented women WWE has on their entire roster, and I’m ready to see her get more time to show it.

A little less than two years after the highly successful and well-regarded Clash At The Castle, WWE is returning to Great Britain for another premium live event. This one will take place in Scotland, and as such, all eyes are on superstar Drew McIntyre. The Scottish Warrior has really found his voice over the last six months or so, and his rabid hometown fans are expected to give him a hero’s welcome as he competes for The World Heavyweight Championship against Damian Priest. It should be a tremendous main event, but that’s far from the only tussle worth getting excited about.

The rest of the card is also really solid, at least for a mid-tier PPV. Bayley will be defending her title against Piper Niven, Chad Gable will look to finally win The Intercontinental Championship in yet another match with Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes will be in action against AJ Styles, and Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will put their tag titles on the line in a triple threat.

And you know what the best part is? There are two matches on the card that legitimately could go either way. Sometimes the mid-tier PPVs can be a little obvious in their outcomes, and certainly, we have a few of those matches here, but there are also two I keep going back and forth on.

Before we get to those, though, let’s take a look at my predictions history. I’ve been on quite a tear lately, going a combined 10-1 between Backlash France and King And Queen Of The Ring, but it’s about to get a whole lot harder. Here’s a quick snapshot…

Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair (Champs) Vs Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark Vs Isla Dawn And Alba Fyre For The Women’s Tag Team Championships

I didn’t say every match on the card was hard to predict. There are several with very obvious results, and this one might be the most obvious of them all. I like Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. I think they could really be an intimidating duo of monster heels if WWE built them properly. I also think Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn deserve some promos and some real TV time to see if they can make their witches gimmick work, but we are nowhere close to the point of WWE even thinking about taking the tag titles off Jade and Bianca. 

At some point, they are almost certainly going to break up amidst tension that will spiral into at least a feud between the two mega-stars and probably a full-on WrestleMania match, but tag team splits rarely come out of nowhere. There’s almost always an extended period of bubbling tension, and right now, Jade and Bianca are still in the honeymoon phase of double team maneuvers, coordinated outfits and fun dance moves. So, yeah, they’re going to win and look good doing it too.

Predicted Winners: Jade Cargill And Bianca Belair

Bayley (Champ) Vs Piper Niven For The WWE Women’s Championship

How are we feeling about Bayley’s title run so far? Yeah… I feel the same way. She needs to find a feud with a little more juice, and despite maybe the strongest promo of Piper Niven’s career last week, this one isn’t it. There just hasn’t been enough time to build it, and with Nia Jax on the horizon, Niven hasn’t been presented as a credible threat. 

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any stakes here though. A good performance from Piper Niven could help WWE see her as a credible upper card player that should, at minimum, be given another big push alongside tag team partner/ mouthpiece Chelsea Green. And a good performance from Bayley could remind everyone why we were all so stoked about her winning The Royal Rumble and her WrestleMania match against Iyo Sky. She can be one of the most emotionally affecting performers in WWE and someone fans really want to root for and get behind in the ring, with the right storyline and dance partner.

Predicted Winner: Bayley

AJ Styles Vs Cody Rhodes (Champ) For The WWE Championship in an I Quit match.

I don’t think the original plan was to run AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes back again a few PPVs later, but after they put on one of WWE’s best matches in years at Backlash, fans started clamoring to see a follow-up. Styles’ Mark Henry-style fake retirement was a nice little touch to build animosity and draw heat to the storyline, but the ending still is no less unclear than it was when they met earlier this year. Cody Rhodes is going to win because WWE already heavily teased a showdown with The Rock for the title whenever he returns.

So, I guess that leaves us two points of interest here. The first is, of course, the quality of the wrestling match itself, which should be a banger. Sometimes wrestling fans, especially WWE fans, struggle to appreciate how special it is to see two legends put on a match at a premium live event, even if the outcome isn’t as uncertain as you’d hope. The second is whether we get any hint as to where AJ Styles might go from here. The future Hall of Famer still has it in the ring, but he’s also quickly approaching 50. Most wrestling fans, myself included, believe he has one more run to the top left in him, but with so much chaos at the top right now, WWE needs to find something else for him to do, preferably involving a feud he can win.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

Sami Zayn (Champ) Vs Chad Gable For The Intercontinental Championship

The first three predictions were easy. These last two are significantly harder. So, let’s talk this out and see where we land. On the one hand, Chad Gable is clearly due for a win. He’s been flirting with The Intercontinental Championship since last year, and it would be great to validate his recent heel turn with a win here. That would convince him being a scumbag was what he was missing for all those years, and it would allow him to believably double down on his new found heelish ways. Plus, it doesn’t feel realistic to give him another title shot anytime soon if he loses again. A man can only take so many Ls.

On the other hand, WWE has been teasing Otis turning on Gable for weeks. Fans are desperate to see the big man finally stand his ground and back the rest of Alpha Academy, who Gable routinely abuses on a weekly basis. Triple H and company are going to want to pay off that moment, which feels like it would be the culmination of this match. Plus, Sami Zayn is still mega-over, and as much as this outcome feels like a referendum on what WWE wants to do with Gable, there’s also the practical question of whether to keep the belt on Sami Zayn, which is never a bad idea given his popularity.

I think Otis is going to cost Chad Gable this match, which is going to convince Gable to fire Alpha Academy and bring The Creed Brothers on board. That’ll finally unlock his true potential and allow him to go on the first big singles win streak of his career. I think. That makes the most sense to me, but a Gable victory is very much in play here.

Predicted Winner Sami Zayn

Damian Priest (Champ) Vs Drew McIntyre For The World Heavyweight Championship

If you would have asked me who was winning this match a month ago, I would have reflexively said Drew McIntyre. It seemed really obvious at that point. The Scottish Warrior is on the best run of his career. This PPV is taking place not far from where he grew up, and the last time there was a Clash At The Castle, he got screwed in the main event by Roman Reigns and a debuting Solo Sikoa. It felt like WWE owed him, especially after his WrestleMania 40 win against Seth Freakin’ Rollins to win The World Heavyweight Championship was marred by CM Punk and a Damian Priest cash-in.

Circumstances have changed though. The winner of this match will be facing Gunther at SummerSlam, and Damian Priest, who initially seemed like an obvious transitional champion, has significantly improved on the microphone. He’s not there yet, but every week, it feels like he’s closer to having that champion aura. Plus, we all know Drew McIntyre’s next big program is going to be against the currently injured CM Punk. Involving Gunther in that seems… complicated and unnecessary. 

After Finn Bálor lost on Monday, Judgment Day’s members are banned from ringside, but you know who isn’t banned? CM Punk. I expect we’ll see him interfere in McIntyre’s match and somehow cost him, adding more heat to that program and allowing Damian Priest to continue as champion.

Predicted Winner: Damian Priest

You can catch Clash At The Castle this weekend. It’s streaming free in The United States with a Peacock subscription, and it’s available via other streaming methods around the world. 

Dave Meltzer might be one of the more controversial and divisive journalists covering professional wrestling today, but the man who has been putting out the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) for more than 40 years knows a thing or two about good matches. Over the years, he’s handed out a couple hundred 5-star ratings (or higher) for matches from promotions like WWE, NJPW, AEW, WCW, and dozens of other companies worldwide.

After Cody Rhodes received a 5-star rating for his main event match against AJ Styles at Backlash France in May 2024, his second since returning to WWE, I started wondering how many other matches were given a stellar rating by Meltzer over the years. Though he often gives a match, like the wild WrestleMania 40 main event, too low of a rating, the legendary wrestling historian has made the right call for some of the company’s most iconic matches.

Below is a breakdown of those matches, split up into decades, and how to watch them with a Peacock subscription, whether you’re revisiting a classic from your childhood or just now getting into wrestling. Let’s take a trip down memory lane…

WWE 5-Star Matches From The 1990s

Dave Meltzer didn’t give any WWE matches a 5-star (or better) rating in the 1980s, though Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and “Macho Man” Randy Savage deserved one for their game-changing WrestleMania III classic. It was a different story in the 1990s, as Meltzer, according to ProFightDB, considered five matches from the decade 5-star affairs, including some of the most iconic matches of all time.

Razor Ramon Vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania X)

Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels both claimed to be the Intercontinental Champion heading in WrestleMania X in March 1994 and so WWE decided to settle this dispute with a ladder match. These two rivals pulled out all the stops to be the undisputed champion, creating a historic contest that ended with “The Bad Guy” standing atop a ladder with two belts held above his head.

Stream WrestleMania X on Peacock.

Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart (SummerSlam '94)

In the highly anticipated rematch to their “Brother vs. Brother” match at WrestleMania X earlier that year, Bret Hart and Owen Hart competed in an even better SummerSlam ‘94 match that has become the stuff of legend. “The Hitman” not only got his win back in the brutal steel cage match, he also received one of the highest ratings of his career.

Stream SummerSlam ‘94 on Peacock.

Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (WrestleMania 13)

A contest that saw one of the greatest heel turns ever in professional wrestling, the no-disqualification submission match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 in March 1997 is one that helped usher in one of biggest boom periods in the sport’s history. These two rivals didn’t main event (they should have), but they did get a 5-star rating from Meltzer and legendary status for their efforts.

Stream WrestleMania 13 on Peacock.

Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker (In Your House 18: Badd Blood)

In Your House 18: Badd Blood saw the first Hell in a Cell match, the debut of Kane, and one of the greatest fights in WWE history when Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker squared off. All these years later, this match is still a banger.

Stream In Your House 18: Badd Blood on Peacock.

WWE 5-Star Matches From The 2010s

Dave Meltzer didn’t give any WWE match a 5-star rating in the 2000s, which is crazy, considering Steve Austin vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X-7 and Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 both took place that decade. Anyway, Meltzer changed his tune in the 2010s, especially in the final few years of the decade when he sang the praises of NXT’s up-and-comers.

CM Punk Vs. John Cena (Money In The Bank '11)

Though the Summer of Punk went out with a whimper, the months-long program did give us one of the best WWE matches of all time: CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship. The main event of 2011’s Money in the Bank PPV took place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, and you can tell by the raucous crowd. Seriously, in terms of atmosphere, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Stream Money in the Bank ‘11 on Peacock.

Andrade "Cien" Almas Vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)

Andrade "Cien" Almas, who lost his last name after WWE went crazy in the mid-to-late 2010s, put on a killer match against Johnny Gargano to defend his NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia in January 2018. A grueling back-and-forth affair with some killer hope spots, this is one of the black-and-gold brand’s best showings.

Stream NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on Peacock.

Adam Cole Vs. EC3 Vs. Killian Dain Vs. Lars Sullivan Vs. Ricochet Vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)

Arguably the peak of the classic version of the brand, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans was the first event in WWE history to have two 5-star match ratings. The ladder match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship is one of the best in the gimmick’s history and one that every wrestling fan should watch.

Stream NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on Peacock.

Johnny Gargano Vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)

Though the WrestleMania 34 main event the following night was nothing to write home about, it’s a different story for the final match at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. Former DIY tag team partners Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa concluded their year-long feud in one of the most emotional and hard-hitting contests in NXT history in this unsanctioned match.

Stream NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on Peacock.

Moustache Mountain Vs. The Undisputed Era (NXT)

NXT tag teams Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) and The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly) proved that you don’t have to wait for a TakeOver event to put on a 5-star match in July 2018. During an episode of NXT’s weekly show, these four wrestlers put on an instant classic in a physical and emotional fight.

Stream the July 11, 2018 episode of NXT on Peacock.

Adam Cole Vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: New York)

Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano, who had history going back to their time in PWG, put on the highest-rated match in WWE history (5.5 stars) with their phenomenal two-out-of-three-falls contest for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York in April 2019.

Stream NXT TakeOver: New York on Peacock.

Johnny Gargano Vs. Adam Cole (NXT TakeOver: XXV)

Gargano and Cole would meet again at NXT TakeOver: XXV in a highly anticipated rematch that was right up there with their previous fight. Though it only received 5.25 stars, it’s still one of the best NXT and WWE matches of all time.

Stream NXT TakeOver: XXV on Peacock.

Walter Vs. Tyler Bate (NXT UK: TakeOver: Cardiff)

Walter, the man who would be renamed Gunther, put on some outstanding fights in NXT UK before being called up to the main roster, including his August 2019 main event match against Tyler Bate. With a 5.25-star rating, it's one of the highest-rated in WWE history.

Stream NXT UK: TakeOver: Cardiff on Peacock.

WWE 5-Star Matches From The 2020s

We are currently living through one of professional wrestling’s boom periods, and it seems like WWE is not only getting more popular but also getting much better from an in-ring standpoint. We’re not even halfway through the decade, and Dave Meltzer has already given out nearly as many 5-star ratings as in the 2010s. Let’s take a look at those decorated matches, even those not involving King of the Ring Gunther.

Walter Vs. Ilja Dragunov (NXT UK)

Who would have thought that a random episode of NXT UK would produce one of the best matches of the past five years, but that’s what happened on October 29, 2020, when Walter and Ilja Dragunov put on an outstanding fight. But this wouldn’t be the only time…

Stream the October 29, 2020 episode of NXT UK on Peacock.

Ilja Dragunov Vs. Walter (NXT TakeOver 36)

NXT TakeOver 36, the final installment in the PLE series, saw Walter earn another 5.25-star rating when he unsuccessfully defended his NXT United Kingdom Championship against Ilja Dragunov. Taking what made their previous bout so damn good and expanding upon it, these two created a legendary match for the ages.

Stream NXT TakeOver 36 on Peacock.

Cody Rhodes Vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins (Hell In A Cell '22)

Cody Rhodes had a series of stellar matches against Seth “Freakin” Rollins upon his April 2022 return to WWE, including the iconic Hell in a Cell match that June. Wrestling with a torn pectoral muscle, which took him out of action for seven months, Rhodes put on a clinic with his rival, and they were rewarded with a 5-star match rating from Meltzer.

Stream Hell in a Cell ‘22 on Peacock.

Gunther Vs. Sheamus (Clash At The Castle '22)

Gunther and Sheamus didn’t main event Clash at the Castle in September 2022, but these two meat-slamming brawlers did put on what could be one of the best WWE matches of the past decade. Slaps, chops, kicks to the head, and old-fashioned ass-kicking were all on full display.

Stream Clash at the Castle ‘22 on Peacock.

Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn Vs. The Usos (WrestleMania 39)

One of the best matches of WrestleMania 39, the Night 1 main event featuring Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn challenging The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship is one of those matches that checks all the boxes. Story, wrestling, emotion, and pure energy make this a 5-star showing we all can agree on.

Stream WrestleMania 39 Night 1 on Peacock.

Gunther Vs. Drew McIntyre Vs. Sheamus (WrestleMania 39)

Gunther, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus weren’t the main attractions at WrestleMania 39 Night 2, but they did tell one hell of a story in the ring that night. This triple-threat match for the Intercontinental Championship was all killer and no filler from start to finish. Everyone came out looking better than they did going in, especially the “Ring General.”

Stream WrestleMania 39 Night 2 on Peacock.

Cody Rhodes Vs. AJ Styles (Backlash France)

Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles, wrestling one another for the first time, put on one hell of a match in front of a lively crowd at Backlash France in May 2024. The former Bullet Club members tore the house down with their Undisputed WWE Championship match that saw both competitors pull out some hellacious offense.

Stream Backlash France on Peacock.

CM Punk Vs. Drew McIntyre (Bad Blood '24)

In October 2024, CM Punk earned his third overall 5-star rating and first since Money in the Bank 2011 when he defeated Drew McIntyre in a brutal and bloody Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood. The match, which saw the HIAC format return to its roots, was everything you'd want in a HIAC match and then some.

Stream Bad Blood 2024 on Peacock.

Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn (Elimination Chamber '25)

Longtime friends-turned-rivals-turned-bitter-enemies Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn gave fans one of the most brutal and personal matches in a very long time at Elimination Chamber 2025. The unsanctioned match (Raw General Manager Adam Pearce didn't want WWE to be held accountable for what happened) started slow, but the pace picked up as the two former WWE Tag Champions wrestled throughout the Rogers Centre and pulled out everything from double-stacked tables to a chair covered in barbed wire.

Stream Elimination Chamber on Peacock.

With so many promising upcoming WWE events on the horizon, there will surely be more 5-star ratings in the coming months. When that happens, we’ll make sure to keep this list updated with all the pertinent information.

Clash at the Castle is the next upcoming WWE event that has the wrestling world abuzz, and it isn't hard to see why. After being screwed out of his chance to beat Roman Reigns at the previous event, Drew McIntyre will main event once again for a chance to win the World Heavyweight title he missed out on at WrestleMania 40. Will McIntyre be able to topple current champion Damian Priest? Well, unfortunately, fans think they might've already gotten the answer, thanks to a recent promotional leak. 

The WWE is famous for keeping fans on their toes but, occasionally, some information can reach the public before the company wants it to. Such is the case for a SmackDown planned after Clash at the Castle, which has some wondering if it spoiled how everything will go down between Priest and McIntyre. Let's dive in and talk out the situation as well as what it means ahead of the event becoming streamable with a Peacock subscription: 

Madison Square Garden Announced A Heavyweight Title Match For A SmackDown After Clash At The Castle

Historically, the WWE has had special plans for the shows it hosts in New York City's Madison Square Garden, even if they aren't quite as big as a PLE. The massive venue has served as the location for many memorable matches over the years and, yes, that will be the case again with SmackDown on June 28th. As fans will see, however, the main event for the big night seems to be a spoiler for what's to come, as Damian Priest is set to go against Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship: 

Assuming this is accurate, Drew McIntyre will once again fail to win a title in front of the UK crowd at Clash at the Castle, and Damian Priest will retain the World Heavyweight Championship. This (theoretically) means another crushing loss for Drew -- and in front of a home crowd at that. I'm sure that's a development that many wouldn't see coming, given the injuries to Judgment Day. But is this really a leak, and should WWE be concerned about the venue ruining a match result of a PLE for fans? 

Does This Mean Clash At The Castle's Main Event Is Spoiled? 

There have been instances in the past where the WWE social media team has mistakenly dropped a poster celebrating a match result before it happened or something else of that nature. Nevertheless, this latest promotion from Madison Square Garden for SmackDown can go either way. Damian Priest may go on to retain at Clash at the Castle, especially if CM Punk is well enough -- after his arm injury at the Royal Rumble -- to interfere again. 

At the same time, the WWE has long contended that all of the match cards it promotes ahead of events are subject to change. While it might've been a smarter idea just to announce that Jey Uso would be challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship, Damian Priest is the current champion. Should that change, Madison Square Garden would merely re-announce the main event, with Drew McIntyre in possession of the title and the new opponent of Uso. 

It also goes without saying that if this was a leak the WWE didn't intend, there could be a pivot of sorts, even if Damian Priest was originally booked to win. As we've pointed out in our list of opponents who can beat Cody Rhodes, the pro-wrestling company never has a shortage of directions it can take stories using its superstars. So perhaps it's wrong to assume the poster proves anything. We'll just have to wait and see!

One thing I will say is those looking for predictions on WWE PLEs would do well to stick with CinemaBlend. Our own Mack Rawden has a solid track record, and those in doubt should check out his King and Queen of the Ring predictions as evidence. 

For quite some time now, I knew that Cody Rhodes finally defeating Roman Reigns and bringing an end to the Tribal Chief’s historic Undisputed WWE Universal Championship run was going to be nothing short of magical. And the WrestleMania 40 main event didn’t disappoint with its perfect combination of great in-ring showmanship and an absurd number of run-ins, which wasn’t that shocking considering the match’s ridiculous build the past couple of months. But what shocked me was how the rest of the two-night card delivered way more than it had to.

The Rock said to “expect the unexpected” with Bloodline Rules WWE Championship match, but Dwayne Johnson’s sentiments could also be used to describe the feeling of the other 12 matches that preceded WWE’s answers to the epic Avengers: Endgame battle. And I know I said this last year, but we very well could have just experienced the best WrestleMania this weekend.

What Shocked Me About The WrestleMania Saturday Card

Though WrestleMania Saturday was essentially booked around the long-awaited return of The Rock when he teamed up with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins to decide the stipulation for Sunday’s main event, there were some stellar and downright shocking moments up and down the card.

Though the Uso vs. Uso match and Jade Cargill’s Mania debut were about what I expected them to be, the rest of the card had me shocked and on the edge of my seat. From Rhea Ripley being the only member of The Judgment Day to leave Mania with their title still around their waist to the Undisputed Tag Team Championship being split up to recently retired Jason Kelce showing up in a luchador mask, there were a lot of big surprises in the preliminary fights. 

But the “Granddaddy of Them All” when it comes to shockers on Night One was Sami Zayn beating Gunther and ending his record 666-day Intercontinental Championship reign after delivering one hell of a brainbuster from the turnbuckle. Wrestling fans lost their ever-loving minds, and for good reason – it was up there with Lesnar ending Undertaker’s streak in terms of being shocking! 

However, nothing could compare me to what would follow not even 24 hours later…

What Shocked Me About The WrestleMania Sunday Card

Weary from the night before (they weren’t kidding with the “Biggest WrestleMania of all Time” gimmick), I was expecting an okay-to-good card before the main event. But instead of getting a series of matches to pass the time, I witnessed what could very well be the best three-and-a-half hours of wrestling WWE has produced in ages.

The night got off to a killer start with the World Heavyweight Championship match that saw Drew McIntyre defeat Seth Rollins in brutal fashion. But before I had time to catch my breath, CM Punk was attacking the newly crowned champ, which was followed by Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest successfully cashing in his contract. And at that moment, a great evening turned into a legendary night.

What followed was a series of outrageously fun and satisfying matches ranging from hellacious street fights to intense one-on-one contests to perhaps one of the best triple-threat matches in years. The WWE Women’s Championship match between former Damage CTRL running mates Iyo Sky and Bayley exceeded my expectations too. 

And while I’m not going to go into the details about the over-the-top and bonkers (in a good way) Night Two main event contest that saw Cody Rhodes being carried around the ring like Bret Hart at WrestleMania 10 after he finally beat Roman Reigns, I was shocked by how well it was pulled off without entering late-stage WCW territory.

All in all, this is a weekend I won’t soon forget. Not just for the conclusion of the Cody Rhodes story or how it got me thinking about the future of The Rock, Roman Reigns, and the Bloodline, but because of all the surprises and incredible wrestling I got to watch over two nights. I’m not sure how next year’s WrestleMania will stack up against what just happened, but there are plenty of great upcoming WWE events on the horizon to get something set up for the next “Showcase of the Immortals.”

Can I admit something crazy? I attended WrestleMania 39 in person, and yet, I’m somehow even more excited to watch WrestleMania 40 on my television. It’s honestly not close. With new and better production techniques, several fantastic main event-level builds and The Rock maybe doing the best work of his entire freakin’ career, this year’s Showcase Of The Immortals has higher upside than any ‘Mania we’ve gotten in a long time.

Let’s run down everything to be excited about. I’ll obviously start with The Rock, who has rediscovered his love for wrestling and is in the middle of writing a key chapter in his already historic legacy. Instead of nostalgia, he gave us something entirely different, and it feels so fresh and modern. Then there’s Drew McIntyre, who is also doing the best work of his entire career. He’s found worthy opponents in CM Punk, who is as sharp on the mic as ever, and Seth Rollins, who has been WWE’s workhorse for the last year. 

If that’s not enough, I’ll just briefly go over some other things to be excited about: Roman Reigns trying to pass Hulk Hogan’s record and prove to The Rock he’s The Tribal Chief, Cody Rhodes trying to finally finish the story and pay off the fandom of the Cody Crybabies, Rhea Ripley continuing the most popular and dominant women’s run ever, Bayley finally getting her moment after years of selfless work, more Dominik vs Rey, R-Truth getting maybe the biggest pop of his entire career alongside The Miz, Gunther continuing his reign of terror, Sami Zayn and Chad Gable working some kind of intriguing mentor storyline, Bianca, Naomi and Jade joining forces, Uso Vs Uso, Becky trying to deliver another ‘Mania banger and so much more. 

So, yeah, there’s a lot to be excited about, but for me, there’s also a lot to be nervous about. There are some matches on the card that seem to have extremely likely outcomes, especially the main events, but there are also a lot of matches where WWE has multiple enticing paths forward. Hopefully I can settle on the right outcomes and improve my pretty solid overall record…

One final note before I begin as people ask me this sometimes, these are not what I think should happen. These are what I think Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company will choose to do based on nothing but deductive reasoning and my personal experiences of watching wrestling since I was a little kid.

Gunther (Champion) Vs Sami Zayn For The Intercontinental Championship

With all due respect to the all-time great Intercontinental Champions, Gunther is, I think by a pretty wide margin, the greatest IC Champ in history. WWE could use that to give Sami Zayn another really memorable ‘Mania moment after his win in the night one main event last year, but I don’t think they’re ready to take the title off Gunther yet. He’ll need to be in a big spot at Bash In Berlin in August, which means he either needs to still be holding this belt or to have freshly lost it. 

Look for Gunther to win but also look to see how Chad Gable may or may not get involved. Many thought this should have been the Alpha Academy leader’s spot at ‘Mania, and WWE has answered by putting him into some kind of coach role alongside Zayn. Maybe they’ll work together. Maybe the relationship will break down, or maybe whatever happens will propel Gable back into a program with Gunther post ‘Mania.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

The Pride (Bobby Lashley And The Street Profits) Vs The Final Testament (Karrion Kross And AOP)

Neither one of these factions has really popped as much as you would have expected. Lashley and The Street Profits were originally rolled out as heels, but the audience didn't want any part of booing them, nor were they ever given a convincing reason to boo them beyond beating a few babyfaces down. AOP was brought in to try and add a little juice to Karrion Kross, who has a great look and a ton of potential, but they haven't really been given anything to do beyond messing with The Pride.

That being said, WrestleMania 40 is an opportunity to turn all of that around. These teams are going to have a Philadelphia Street Fight, which means we'll likely see some big spots and the potential for some memorable moments. A really strong performance here could get both of these groups back on track. I suspect we'll see The Pride come out on top, but to reiterate, what's most important for both teams is a strong, memorable match fans are into.

Predicted Winner: The Pride

Rey Mysterio And Andrade Vs Dominik Mysterio And Santos Escobar

I thought I was done with my WrestleMania 40 predictions, but SmackDown unexpectedly changed things up a bit. Dragon Lee was attacked and replaced with Andrade, who turned face and joined LWO. My original prediction here had Santos and Dominik winning after Carlito turned on the LWO, pissed that Rey picked Dragon Lee as his partner instead of him.

Well, Mysterio has now chosen someone other than Carlito for a second time, which makes me even more confident about what's going to happen. I predict we'll find out later tonight that Carlito beat up Dragon Lee, and we'll see him turn on the LWO and take his rightful spot as a heel who spits in the face of people who aren't cool.

Predicted Winner: Santos Escobar And Dominik Mysterio

Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill And Naomi Vs Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka And Kairi Sane)

Most people agree the original plan for Bianca Belair was to put her in a program with Charlotte Flair, but after The Queen got hurt, WWE pivoted and moved her to this tag match alongside Naomi and Cargill, who WWE is presenting as an absolute star. Images of the three women standing together and looking like rock stars flew around social media and were praised by fans as representation done right.

I suspect we’ll see those three cruise at WrestleMania, both because WWE is gonna want to protect Bianca Belair’s undefeated WrestleMania streak, which they did for years with The Undertaker, and because they’re not going to want either her or Jade Cargill to lose such a high profile match. That being said, there’s a small chance Damage CTRL could win here in some kind cheap fashion, probably to stir tension between Bianca and Jade and put them in a program together. I think it’s way too soon for that, but WWE has certainly jumped the gun plenty of times in the past.

Predicted Winner: Bianca, Jade and Naomi

LA Knight Vs AJ Styles

Opinions varied a bit on social media, but I loved the home invasion angle these two gave us. It finally gave this feud some much needed juice, and it has me looking forward to the rest of the build, as well as the match. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but the match itself has the potential to be one of the best of LA Knight’s career. Even at his age, AJ Styles is one of WWE’s best in-ring workers, and with time to plan it out and enough time to cook, this should be a chance for Knight to show off his move set on the biggest platform of his career.

I think Knight is going to get a clean victory here and a well-deserved moment. Hopefully that’ll add the momentum he needs to move past the lower main event scene. That being said, put me on team AJ Styles needs one more World Title run. I’m not saying it should be tomorrow, but fans love him enough that if WWE did a one more time storyline, the people would loudly get behind him. He’s had a legendary career and deserves one more trip to the top.

Predicted Winner: LA Knight

Jimmy Uso Vs Jey Uso

When The Usos first split up and it became obvious WWE was going to make this a WrestleMania thing, I thought the writers would spend time building up both of the characters to make this seem like an even match. That hasn’t happened. Jey Uso has been fed wins and character-building losses (Yeet), while Jimmy Uso has been turned into comic relief and a stooge for Roman Reigns (No Yeet). 

That might sound like an insult, but I love Jimmy Uso. He makes me smile every time he’s on screen, and I think he’s doing good work. I think he’s going to have the chance to do great work when The Bloodline storyline turns into The Rock vs Roman Reigns. But from a kayfabe standpoint, Jey should dominate this match, which means we’ll probably get some interference. 

Full transparency: when I first published these predictions, I had Jey Uso winning. It felt like he's been on too good of a run for WWE to break that up, but I had to make some changes after WWE swapped out Dragon Lee for Andrade, and I decided to backpeddle and change to Jimmy Uso here. I just think WWE wants The Bloodline to look as strong as possible on night one, and there's no better way to do that than by Jimmy also winning his match.

Predicted Winner: Jimmy Uso

Logan Paul (Champion) Vs Randy Orton Vs Kevin Owens For The United States Championship

Why are Kevin Owens and Randy Orton getting along so well? WWE has teased the possibility of friction a few times, but it’s always been quickly resolved and back to being BFFs. That can’t continue, right? At some point, these two are going to need to turn on each other, and given it hasn’t happened yet, it probably means that’s going to be the story of the match. 

And if that is the story of the match, it’s a story as old as the wrestling business. With emotions hot, these two will focus on beating up each other, lose sight of Logan Paul and eventually lose because of it. I suspect that’s the outcome WWE wants anyway because Logan is in the middle of a nice little publicity-heavy run with The United States Championship, and if they stick with it, they can create a really big moment when he eventually does lose it at some point in the future.

Predicted Winner: Logan Paul

Judgment Day (Champions) Vs Awesome Truth Vs DIY Vs New Catch Republic Vs New Day Vs Austin Theory And Grayson Waller For The Tag Team Championships

Whether or not to split the WWE Tag Team Championships after they were unified by The Usos has been a heated argument amongst fans for more than a year. If WWE wants to do it, now is the time. The belts are being defended in a ladder match, which means, in theory, one team could grab one set of belts and another team could grab the other. I think there’s a distinct chance that’s going to happen, but there’s also a chance that could undermine R-Truth’s big moment.

The biggest story of this match is R-Truth’s resurgence. The longtime WWE comic relief side character returned from injury to do a few fun segments with Judgment Day, and it quickly turned into a favorite side plot among fans. Sensing an opportunity, WWE partnered him with The Miz to reunite Awesome Truth, and a lot of fans really want to see R-Truth to be the one to finally take the belts away from Judgment Day. I think that’s going to happen, and if it does, it’ll be one of the biggest pops of the entire weekend.

Predicted Winner: Awesome Truth

Rhea Ripley (Champion) Vs Becky Lynch For The Women’s World Championship

It feels weird to reflexively pick against Becky Lynch in such a high profile match, but taking the belt off Rhea Ripley right now makes no sense, unless it was the first part of some epic multi-year story the writers have already outlined out and she loves. I don’t see that happening, and once you throw in the fact that Becky’s contract is reportedly nearing its conclusion, it just seems overwhelmingly likely Rhea is going to win.

That being said, I do think Becky will re-sign with WWE either immediately or after taking some well-deserved time off. I do think she’ll be back on top of the division some day, and I do think these two are going to put on one of WrestleMania 40’s best matches. I think both wish their program was given more consideration to main event, and I think both want to remind everyone of how talented and capable they are.

Predicted Winner: Rhea Ripley

Iyo Sky (Champion Vs Bayley For The WWE Women’s Championship

I’ve definitely heard plenty of people making the argument that WWE is better off keeping the title on Iyo and extending the program with Bayley post-’Mania, but to be honest, I just don’t really see the benefit of that. I’d take a rematch and more back-and-forth for sure, but there’s no reason that can’t happen with the belt around Bayley’s waist. She’s been the unsung hero of the women’s division for years, putting other people over and making them look as strong as possible. If WWE has needed a heel, she’s been that. If WWE has needed a face, she’s been that. If they need her to host talk shows to hype other people up, she’s done that. She’s kind of like The Miz, which I say as a massive Miz fan paying a big compliment.

That being said, there’s some nonsense that could happen with Damage CTRL. They’ve taken a lot of high profile losses since the faction started, and the other three members are almost certainly going to lose to Bianca, Naomi and Jade. Having Iyo lose too wouldn’t be the best look, but I still think the highest ceiling outcome here is for Bayley to win to massive fanfare from the crowd. 

Predicted Winner: Bayley

Seth Freakin’ Rollins (Champion) Vs Drew McIntyre For The World Heavyweight Championship

Before I get into Drew McIntyre, I want to give Seth Freakin’ Rollins some praise first. He was the right champion when WWE relaunched The World Heavyweight Championship, and he’s put on a ton of good matches and had several good programs in an almost year long run with the belt. There’s a reason fans are still screaming his song at the top of their lungs, but it’s time to let Drew McIntyre run for awhile.

The Scottish Warrior has found the perfect character in his vindictive social media troll and anything to win badass, and putting the belt on him allows WWE to plan for two exciting programs down the road. First, McIntyre is obviously going to feud with CM Punk who he’s been clowning on a weekly basis for months, and then after that, it gives WWE a chance to potentially set up a WrestleMania program with Punk and Rollins for after that, at least if taking the title from McIntyre ever seems like a good idea.

There’s an outside chance we could see a Damian Priest cash-in during this match, but if that does happen, I think it would be after McIntyre gets at least the initial victory and a brief celebration.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

Roman Reigns And The Rock Vs Cody Rhodes And Seth Rollins

I don’t have the slightest idea what’s actually going to happen in this match. I don’t know how much time The Rock is going to spend in the ring, and I don’t know if other people are going to interfere. There are a thousand ways Triple H and company could go with the booking here, but the finish seems really obvious, right? If Cody and Seth win, The Bloodline are barred from ringside the next night. If Roman and The Rock win, anything goes. We all want the match to be anything goes, right?

What’s more interesting to me here is how The Rock looks in the ring. He’s been out of his mind fantastic on promos, but he wasn’t exactly Mr. Perfect in the ring during his initial run. The more he can show here, the more he can build himself as a believable threat to beat Cody Rhodes and/ or Roman Reigns down the road.

Predicted Winner: The Rock And Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns (Champion) Vs Cody Rhodes For The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

People are predicting this will be the most over-booked match in WrestleMania history, and all I can say is I hope so. Reigns and Rhodes are both top notch characters and pretty solid in the ring, but to be honest, this card is littered with other people who can and will do more interesting things in the ring. For this match to be main event worthy, it needs to be a spectacle that’s fun to watch, and I think that’s exactly what we’re going to get here.

Ultimately, the decision for WWE is whether or not they want to advance the plot in a meaningful way. You can either let Cody Rhodes finish his story and take the belt off Roman Reigns, which he’s held for more than three years, or you can keep riding with Roman Reigns and do permanent harm to Cody’s character. That’s not to be overdramatic, but in what world would we want the same WrestleMania main event three years in a row? This is Cody’s chance, and he either takes it at the expense of Roman, or he doesn't and Roman takes his moment to keep building his legacy.

I think WWE is ready to go all in on Cody Rhodes and start showing a different side to Roman Reigns’ career, but there’s certainly some doubt in play here and a real possibility that The Tribal Chief stays on top.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes

I loved this week’s Monday Night Raw. I watched it alone on my couch without looking at social media once and was glued to the television during the entire runtime. I was so stoked when it was over that I jumped on social media to brag about it and discovered everyone else felt the exact same way I did. Pretty much every wrestling fan and content creator I follow on social called it the best Raw episode of the year, and I saw quite a few who called it one of the best episodes in decades.

Much of the discussion around last night’s episode is related to The Rock and Cody Rhodes’ bloody parking lot fight in the rain. The hyper-real segment closed the show and felt like a throwback from The Attitude Era. It deserves all the praise it’s getting, but it alone is not the reason why Monday Night Raw was so fantastic. A bunch of great performances and other variables all marinated together perfectly to remind all of us how good professional wrestling can be. So, let’s break down the individual elements that worked so well…

The Promo Segment Between Drew McIntyre, CM Punk And Seth Rollins Was An A+

The WrestleMania 40 A plot featuring Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, The Rock and Roman Reigns has been getting the lion’s share of the attention for the last two months and understandably so. It features the most star power and the biggest stakes for the future of WWE as it could attract the most new fans and bring back the most lapsed ones, but Drew McIntyre has been putting in the best work of his career in trying to build the other men’s world title match. He’s turned himself into a great social media troll heel, and last night, we finally got the pushback from the other players we were looking for.

CM Punk reminded everyone why he’s an all-time mic guy in his promo, dropping a bunch of great lines, and McIntyre oozed confidence as he fired back and proved he belongs at that highest level. Whether it’s true or not, these two dudes really feel like they hate each other in real life, and that was all the more obvious when Seth Rollins came out and made it clear he can’t stand the two of them either. 

Some wrestling fans think the best promos are unscripted. I disagree. I think the best promos are loosely scripted. If everyone involved knows where things are headed, it’s much easier to craft a compelling back and forth that makes logical points, but historically, many WWE promos have felt too scripted, which has caused them to lose some realism. This promo found the perfect balance, which allowed for some lines that felt off the cuff and even a reference to Vince McMahon that WWE may not have loved but still told a coherent story and made everyone look strong.

The Crowd Was Really Hot

The success of a show is always going to be measured by what the actual performers do. A hot crowd trying to get themselves over while reacting to mediocrity isn’t good television, but when there’s worthwhile stuff going on in the ring (or in the parking lot), a very vocal and invested audience can really elevate the material. Hulk Hogan vs The Rock at WrestleMania 18 is the classic example of that, but the history of wrestling is filled with thousands of moments that felt bigger and more meaningful because the crowd really cared what was happening, as well as thousands of moments that felt smaller and less impactful because the crowd didn’t. 

We all could have guessed the Chicago crowd would have gotten the most out of Chicago native CM Punk’s segment, but they delivered and helped elevate everything else too. They were white hot for all the Cody and Rock stuff but also were extremely invested in Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch and Dominik Mysterio’s war of words, as well as midcard acts like R-Truth, Ricochet, Andrade and everything else on the show, which brings me to my next point.

There Are A Ton Of People Over Right Now

When people reminisce about The Attitude Era, they often talk about how many great characters there were. The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were, of course, a huge part of that and will be remembered among the biggest stars the business has ever produced, but in my opinion, what really set that era apart were how many other guys were over with the crowd too. The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Mankind, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Big Show, The New Age Outlawz, The Dudleys, The APA, Edge And Christian, The Hardys, Chyna, Eddie Guerrero, Vader, Goldust, The Godfather, Val Venis and so many more.

I’m not saying the current roster is the same as The Attitude Era, but we are trending in that direction. There are a ton of characters fans care about, and last night was great evidence of that. Cody Rhodes, The Rock, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Freakin’ Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch and Gunther are all presented and feel like main event stars. Midcard acts like R-Truth, Dominik Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, The Miz, Liv Morgan, Damian Priest and Finn Bálor all have devoted fans and their own storylines going on. Once you throw in the SmackDown roster, as well as other high potential guys, it's easy to invasion a scenario in which everyone is invested in everything on TV.

It Was A Real Variety Show That Went For Different Tones

I like my wrestling to be a variety of different things. Sometimes I want goofiness. Sometimes I want bitchiness. Sometimes I want ruthless aggression. Wrestling is a lot of things to a lot of different people, and I want to see all of it, just all of it done at least pretty well. And that’s what we got last night. Over the course of three hours, it felt like we got to see so many different appeal elements of wrestling.

We had the aforementioned mic battle between CM Punk, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins that blurred the lines between work and shoot. We got a promo battle between Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch that got very emotional and touched on Becky’s daughter. We got The Rock and Cody Rhodes engaging in a mean-spirited parking lot fight in the rain, filled with non-stop taunting. We got R Truth on commentary hilariously trying to prematurely send the show to commercial break to avoid taking a beating. We got Ricochet and JD McDonagh giving us a fast-paced, hyper-athletic match filled with moves we’d normally see in AEW. We got a Bronson Reed and Sami Zayn match that was way more about developing character than showing off move sets. We got Candace LeRae developing a mid-card story about disappointing her friends. I could go on and on. 

Blood And Swearing Were Incorporated In Impactful Ways

There are few things wrestling fans like arguing about more than swearing and blood. WWE has traditionally shied away from both of those elements, as they’re trying to cater to a family friendly audience. I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t want to see blood every week, nor do I want to see wrestlers swear non-stop. I think it’s important that we keep the show semi-appropriate for younger viewers, and to be honest, I’m not really interested in constantly seeing people blade themselves. Bleeding for the sake of bleeding is kind of gross and barbaric, and sometimes it can go way too far.

That being said, a bit of unexpected blood or a surprise swear can really add something when used right, and WWE used both of those elements right last night. Both The Rock and CM Punk dropped words WWE doesn’t normally say on television, to the shocked reaction of the crowd, and Cody Rhodes got a little bit of color during his parking lot brawl with The Rock, which The People’s Champ then wiped his belt with. 

Maybe this will represent a larger change in philosophy. I hope not. Instead, what I hope it represents is a loosening of the hard and fast rules. I don’t want to hear swearing every episode or see people bleeding in every match. It lessens the impact. Instead, what I want to see are the occasional well-placed moments where it’s used correctly, and that’s exactly what we got last night.

The Parking Lot Brawl Was One Of The Best Produced Segments We’ve Gotten In A Long Time

This is the moment everyone is talking about and with good reason. The Rock interrupted Cody Rhodes’ promo early in the night and whispered something to him. Because of the way it was shot, it wasn’t entirely clear what he said, which WWE made a plot point throughout the episode. They asked The Rock and later Cody Rhodes, neither of whom would comment on what happened. Then, at the end of the episode, The Rock blindsided Cody Rhodes and beat the American Nightmare out of him in the parking lot while it was raining. 

We’ve seen plenty of backstage brawls in wrestling before, but this one just felt different. Maybe it was because of The Rock’s non-stop taunting. Maybe it was because it was raining. Maybe it was because it featured trash can shots to the head and later blood, but it just felt like a vicious grudge match featuring two of the characters fans care about the most. With less than two weeks to go before WrestleMania, it found a way to get fans even more fired up for the big showdown in Philly (even dropping some fun hints), and it showed, with no rules, new camera angles and new ideas, what’s possible in this new version of WWE.

WWE has a Damian Priest problem. It’s weird to say out loud because Damian Priest is a good wrestler with a fantastic look. He’s part of Judgment Day, the best non-Bloodline stable in WWE, is one half of the Tag Team Champions and has arguably gotten more screen time than anyone but a handful of people on the WWE roster over the last year. He’s great and one of my favorite guys on Raw, but flukey circumstances and poor timing have conspired to make his Money In The Bank briefcase a major inconvenience. So now, WWE only has a few months to figure out what to do without harming long-term story plans and without doing long-term damage to Priest’s character.

Let’s back up for a second and talk about how we got here. Last summer, Judgment Day was on a terrific run. They were main eventing most episodes of Raw, and Damian Priest seemed like the next character, after Rhea Ripley, that was ready to break out from the faction. WWE rewarded him with the biggest win of his career at Money In The Bank, which allowed him a shot at any title he wanted at any time. Most fans assumed he’d grab the World Heavyweight Championship off Seth Freakin’ Rollins at some point, but instead, WWE decided to have Finn Bálor feud with Seth and use the briefcase to sew dissension in Judgment Day. Then CM Punk came back, Seth Rollins got hurt, Drew McIntyre went on the best run of his career, and now, it’s almost WrestleMania and Priest is still holding on to his briefcase.

Over the last few months, the general consensus has shifted from Priest will definitely cash in his briefcase successfully on Seth Rollins to Priest is probably going to fail whenever he tries to cash in his briefcase. Failed cash-ins have to happen. It’s important for WWE to leave some doubt about a Money In The Bank win, but it’s also important to acknowledge that failing to cash-in can be a career setback. Poor Austin Theory went from looking like a rising star to being treated like a joke by fans when he blew his cash-in, and the list of the other people who have lost with the briefcase is filled with several who never regained their momentum like Damian Sandow and Baron Corbin. 

I want to see Damian Priest successfully cash in. I think he has more unfulfilled potential and is worthy of at least a transitional championship run, but WWE needs to do it thoughtfully and at the right time. If I was in Triple H and Bruce Prichard and company’s ears, here’s what I’d recommend…

Seth Rollins is recovering from an injury and Drew McIntyre’s story has been that Covid robbed him of his big moment when he won the title without fans. I’d like to see Drew McIntyre get that big moment at WrestleMania 40. I’d like to see him beat Seth Rollins and just as he goes to celebrate it, I’d like to see Damian Priest cash-in and take it away from him. That would give Drew McIntyre the big money WrestleMania win his character really needs, while also putting him immediately in a position to chase the title again.

McIntyre has been positioned as a heel for the last few months, but I think he works best as a tweener. I want to see him fighting everyone, and the fans can decide whether or not to root for him based on who else he’s involved with. When he eventually faces CM Punk down the line, they can boo him and root for Punk. If he were to face Damian Priest at Backlash, the fans can root for McIntyre. It would be the right evolution for his character.

And it would allow Priest to look pretty strong. No one thinks he should be beating Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. He has a long way to go before he’s truly on that level, but having even a short run with The World Heavyweight Championship would really solidify him as a lower main event guy and give WWE so many possibilities down the road. 

The conventional wisdom has been that Damian Priest needs to fail in his cash-in because he’s obviously not beating Roman Reigns and the program between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre is too hot right now to disrupt. I agree. Cashing in on Drew McIntyre after he wins, however, would only give The Scottish Warrior another valid reason to be furious, and it would set up a great main event for Backlash, while protecting Priest's character. To paraphrase Judgment Day, I'd rise for that.

Drew McIntyre is red-hot in the WWE right now! Between his trolling of the injured CM Punk and his preparation to take on Seth Rollins for the Heavyweight championship at the forthcoming WrestleMania 40, it's hard not to love everything he's doing as a heel at the moment. That said, I don't love the rumors I'm reading about his contract situation. With that, they have me wondering what the big plan is for the Scottish Warrior's future. 

The star's contract situation has been ongoing since WrestleMania 39. Per rumors that were floating around the web, the superstar finally signed a new deal with the WWE. That was presumably because he's been advertised for shows following WrestleMania 40. Alex McCarthy of Daily Mail was quick to respond, however, and say that the superstar has not signed a new contract as of yet and that additional months were tacked onto his previous contract to account for time he missed in 2023. The wrestler was gone following WrestleMania 39 but returned at Money In The Bank three months later. 

According to this latest rumor, conversations between Drew McIntyre and WWE on a new deal are ongoing but aren't close to being finalized. If that's the case, then why is he headed to WrestleMania 40 with a title shot against Seth Rollins? 

Without A New Contract, Drew McIntyre's WrestleMania Match Doesn't Make Sense

If negotiations are between both sides have still yet to be finalized, then it's kind of bizarre the company has the star lined up to take on Seth Rollins for the heavyweight championship. Wrestling fans may know by now that Rollins is nursing an injury and is heavily speculated to be losing the title so that he can take some time off to fully address it afterward. If the DM Hunk wins and then doesn't sign a new deal, it puts the company in a position where one of its biggest stars has a major title and is no longer among its ranks. 

Conversely, if Drew McIntyre is booked for WrestleMania and loses, it would kill the surge of momentum he's had over these past few months and probably move him toward leaving again. I think it's fair to speculate that the WWE would rather McIntyre not go over to AEW or any competitors, which may be why he's being booked for this title shot in the first place. Is the idea they're showing good faith he'll re-sign and that he'll have a prominent spot in the company among the other stars?

The WWE Should Prioritize Signing Drew McIntyre 

Considering that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been lining up dates on SmackDown as of late, it may be silly to say The Celtic Colossus is the priority. However, I stand by it. While WWE may have all the star power in the pro wrestling industry, the Scotland native is the full-time top heel that should be the focus of upcoming WWE events. He'll be the one that's there when The Brahma Bull and Head of the Table take time away and, in the process, he'll cause havoc within the company as one of the powerful big men. 

And, with 2024 likely being the year that brings Gunther into the WWE's main event conversation, he will need a rival the size of Drew McIntyre to sell his arrival. I would love the upcoming Bash in Berlin to feature two Europeans as the main event, and they both have plenty of reason to be in that position. Plus, let's not forget CM Punk will need a nemesis for his comeback story, and McIntyre is already killing it so far at being his number-one enemy. The wrestling company can do so much with McIntyre in the future, so I do hope he gets a deal he's happy with and can keep going on this phenomenal run he's had thus far. 

Catch the star on Monday Night Raw on USA on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Hopefully, he'll be on that show for a long time to come and we can really see just how much of a "hater" the Scottish Warrior can be. 

So much can change in such a short amount of time in the wrestling business. Several months ago, it seemed pretty obvious we were heading toward a WrestleMania 40 that featured Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk, Gunther and Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley And Becky Lynch and Iyo Sky and Bayley, among many others. Well, CM Punk and Charlotte Flair both got hurt. Brock Lesnar is off TV after being implicated in the Vince McMahon allegations, and oh yeah, The Rock has returned to WWE and now sits on the board of directors. So, quite a bit of the ‘Mania card is still TBD, and The Elimination Chamber will go a long way to providing some clarity.

It should also be quite entertaining. Continuing the trend we saw at The Royal Rumble, there are only four matches scheduled, which should allow all of them plenty of time to breathe. We have a women’s match that will see the winner face Rhea Ripley (or Nia Jax) at WrestleMania. We have a men’s match that will see the winner face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. We’ll also see Judgment Day defend the tag belts and Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax battle for the Women’s World Championship and a segment involving Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and Grayson Waller. 

To be honest, I don’t remember ever being this confident about my predictions ahead of a premium live event. Last year, I forecasted every single match correctly at The Royal Rumble, Payback and Survivor Series, but there was plenty of doubt in some of those matches. On paper, all four of these matches seem to have pretty obvious outcomes, but the fact that every single one has a likely winner (at least in my mind) scares me a little bit. It doesn’t scare me enough to change my predictions though; so, fingers crossed I can put up some more wins on my career leaderboard seen below…

The Judgment Day (Damian Priest And Finn Bálor) Vs Pete Dunne And Tyler Bate For The Tag Team Championships

Triple H has always been a Pete Dunne fan. He put The Brawling Brutes in some high level spots back when he was playing Butch, and now, he’s gotten a nice little push here after he was repackaged as Pete Dunne. I suspect he, along with new partner Tyler Bate, are going to be given every opportunity to show what they can do in a competitive match, but let’s be realistic for a second. In what world does it make sense for The Judgment Day, in the middle of a super hot program with R-Truth and The Miz, to drop the tag titles at the premium live event before WrestleMania? It doesn’t.

Judgment Day are probably only on this card because none of the other men’s titles are being defended. Roman doesn’t defend on PPVs like this anymore. Seth Rollins is hurt. Gunther allegedly has immigration issues, and Logan Paul is working the elimination chamber match itself to try and win a shot at The World Heavyweight Championship. So, by process of elimination, we have Judgment Day defending the tag belts. That being said, I love Judgment Day, and it also makes sense to have them on the card because of their close connection with Rhea Ripley. So, the booking makes a lot of sense here. There’s just almost no doubt about the outcome. 

Predicted Winner: Judgment Day

Rhea Ripley Vs Nia Jax For The Women's World Championship

Nia Jax is on the best run of her entire career. She’s moving around the ring better than she ever has. Her promo work has gone from poor to average, and she’s right there in the zone with her character. WWE has rewarded all the good work by giving her a strong performance in The Royal Rumble and a some big wins, including one over Becky Lynch. I predict sometime in the next few years, she will get a short, multiple month run with one of the two major women’s championships, and I’ll actually be excited about it. That’s how much better she’s gotten! 

But Rhea Ripley is not losing The Women’s World Championship a month before WrestleMania 40, and she’s certainly not losing it in front of a hot home crowd in Australia. Just like with Judgment Day, that wouldn’t make any sense to the overall story they’re telling. Rhea is going to win because WWE is going to want her going into WrestleMania with the belt looking as strong as possible. Triple H and company are also going to want to keep Nia looking strong, as she’ll probably get a WrestleMania match, but Rhea is going to take the win here, almost certainly after picking up Nia Jax and giving her a Riptide.

Predicted Winner: Rhea Ripley

The Women's Elimination Chamber Match

Let’s run down who we’ve got here. There’s Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Raquel Rodriguez and Naomi. The winner is going to get a shot at Rhea Ripley (or Nia Jax) for The Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania, which will be either the first or second most prominent women’s match at ‘Mania, depending on how you feel about Bayley and Iyo Sky. So, whoever wins needs to be someone WWE wants to showcase at its biggest event of the year. As such, I think there are some people we can eliminate right away.

I love seeing Tiffany Stratton in such a big spot. She’s got a really bright future, but she’s been on the main roster for like two weeks. She is not winning this match. Neither is Raquel Rodriguez. I love Raquel. I’m really glad to see her back after an extended absence. I’m still high on her long-term potential, but she’s not wrestling Rhea at ‘Mania. I also don’t think we’re going to get Naomi either. She belongs in WWE, and I’m so happy she returned after leaving under less than ideal circumstances. She’ll be in plenty of big moments moving forward, but she’s not, in my opinion, on the level where you’d immediately throw her into a world title program without an obvious feud or backstory. 

So, that leaves Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch. WWE clearly wants to push Bianca to the moon. She and husband Montez Ford just launched their reality show on Hulu. She appeared at the WrestleMania press conference, and after Charlotte Flair got hurt, she’s in desperate need of someone to fight at The Showcase Of The Immortals. She’s definitely an outside threat to win this match, but given she’s on SmackDown, not Raw, and there hasn’t really been much build-up on her side ahead of this match, I think WWE will probably go in another direction with her at WrestleMania. Maybe they’ll just feed her Nia Jax or Tiffany Stratton and let her continue her winning streak.

Liv Morgan has the most obvious backstory here with Rhea Ripley, given they were formerly in a tag team together and Rhea previously injured Liv. There are some who would definitely say a ‘Mania match against Rhea Ripley is a bit of an overreach for her position on the card, but the crowd really loves Liv and WWE has put her in some high profile spots before, specifically winning Money In The Bank and cashing in on Ronda Rousey. She could absolutely win here.

But there’s a reason WWE had Becky Lynch staring down Rhea Ripley and calling her a bottom during the WrestleMania 40 press conference. She’s been the most consistent one on WWE programming talking about this match, and her story of needing to see whether she still has it and can beat Rhea is a perfect Mania program. I think she’s going to win here, though there’s more doubt in my mind about this than the other matches.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

The Men's Elimination Chamber Match

If you haven’t been watching WWE programming for the last few months, this match might feel like a toss-up. Randy Orton, LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens and Logan Paul are all either former world champions or guys who have main evented PPVs fighting for a world championship in the last few years. Any could be put into a big spot at WrestleMania and not seem totally out of place, but if you have been watching WWE programming for the last few months, you’re aware of the fact that Drew McIntyre is on the best run of his entire career. He is right there in the zone with his heelish character and is the perfect choice to fight Seth Rollins now that CM Punk is off the table.

I’m not saying it’s not possible Randy Orton in particular could win this match, but it would be a tremendous shock if it wasn’t Drew McIntyre. So, instead of the overall outcome, I’m more focused on what else this match tries to do. For instance, I think we’re likely going to get a continuation of Kevin Owens and Logan Paul’s ongoing feud that will lead to the two hashing out their differences at WrestleMania. Orton and La Knight are also in need of something to do at ‘Mania. Maybe AJ Styles interferes in the match to cost LA Knight, and that sets up a program for them at WrestleMania. Or maybe LA Knight gets involved with Owens and Logan Paul, and we get a triple threat there. Maybe Solo Sikoa gets involved with Randy Orton, and it sets something up for them at WrestleMania. Maybe Karrion Kross shows up and does something to Bobby Lashley. WrestleMania is just six weeks or so after Elimination Chamber. These programs need to start coming together. I predict at least one will start coming together here.

Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

On February 24, 2014, the world of professional wrestling was forever changed with the launch of the WWE Network, a streaming service that would replace WWE’s pay-per-view model while also giving subscribers access to an unprecedented archive of old shows from promotions like WCW, AWA, WCCW, and more. Looking back, a lot is different in 2024 than it was when the network first launched.

The past 10 years have seen all kinds of changes to the way WWE reaches its audience (with more on the way), wrestlers have come, gone, and returned after reinventing themselves, and the women’s division has gone from being an afterthought to main event status at WrestleMania. But, that’s not all…

WWE Sold To Endeavor Group

In April 2023, word began to spread that WWE was in the process of being sold to Endeavour Group, the parent company of UFC and numerous other high-profile sports brands. Those rumors would prove to be true, and several months later, the two massive properties combined under the TKO umbrella, per ESPN. This new entity, which took much of the control out of the hands of Vince McMahon (more on him later), resulted in some major changes for WWE in both its corporate structure and presentation. And, this is just the beginning.

WWE Got In Business With Peacock

A couple of years before the TKO deal, WWE made waves when it was revealed that the wrestling company was moving its network to Peacock. Though the launch was a little buggy and some issues still remain, being able to access pretty much every major wrestling event from the past 50-plus years with a Peacock subscription has been a major win for both fans and the company. The easy access, large subscriber base, and the value outweigh the platform’s problems.

Vince McMahon Is Gone

A day that many thought would never come finally happened in January 2024 when Vince McMahon resigned from WWE and its parent company, TKO, following a string of controversies. The straw that broke the camel’s back was a lawsuit filed by a former employee alleging that McMahon, whose family started the promotion 71 years ago, had subjected her to sex trafficking and a number of other abuses, per The Wall Street Journal. Several days later, the man who revolutionized the sport was gone, per Variety.

Triple H Is Running Creative

After Vince McMahon’s initial retirement in July 2022, Triple H was put in charge of creative, ushering in a new era for the promotion, and the wrestling industry as a whole. Now going by his real name, Paul Levesque, the 14-time world champion and long-time booker for the NXT brand has implemented some major changes to the product, which has resulted in more fans being stoked about WWE and its wrestlers than any other time in the past 20 or so years. He went from playing the authority to being the authority, which is wild.

WWE Is Expanding To Netflix

For the past 31 years, Monday Night Raw, WWE’s flagship show, has been on cable, with the vast majority of that time being spent on the USA Network (it was broadcast on TNN/Spike TV from September 2000 to October 2005). However, that will change in January 2025 when WWE moves Raw to Netflix, a major shift. According to Deadline, this 10-year, $5 billion deal will bring the long running, weekly wrestling show to the massively popular streaming platform, meaning everyone with a Netflix subscription will be able to watch at least three hours of wrestling a week without cable. 

The Rock Is Heavily Involved (On Camera And Behind The Scenes)

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been around sporadically over the years, but his involvement with WWE reached heights not seen since his feud with John Cena when he returned in early 2024. Not only is The Rock part of the hottest storyline heading into WrestleMania 40, but he’s also taken on a major behind-the-scenes role on the TKO board. Love him or hate him, having the “Brahma Bull” in the mix is a major win for everyone connected to WWE, especially the fans.

WWE Has Its Biggest Competitor Since WCW

Don’t get me wrong, WWE has always had competition in the form of TNA, ROH, and international promotions like NJPW (many of the company’s top stars got started in each of them), but none of those came close to what AEW has accomplished since 2019. For the first time since the dissolution of WCW nearly 20 years earlier, WWE had a major competitor, one that not only drew big stars from around the world but also gave WWE superstars another avenue. Sure, this isn’t “Monday Night War” territory, but you can’t say WWE hasn’t felt a need to improve the product because of Tony Khan’s company.

The Shield Have Turned Into The Biggest Stars In The World

The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose) didn’t make it to the halfway point of 2014 before falling apart after Rollins betrayed his brothers-in-arms and sided with the Authority, but all three members have since become the biggest stars in the world. Reigns is now the “Head of the Table” and is in the middle of a historic reign; Rollins has held the World Heavyweight Championship for nearly a year; and Ambrose, now going by Jon Moxley in AEW, has held titles all over the planet the past decade. We knew they were a big deal, but these three wrestlers changed the game.

Superstars Like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, And Drew McIntyre Have Left, Reinvented Themselves, And Returned To WWE

In 2014, Cody Rhodes started his Stardust gimmick, Drew McIntyre was a member of the 3MB stable before being released, and CM Punk walked out on WWE and didn’t wrestle for nearly a decade. In the years that followed, Rhodes left WWE, became a major star in NJPW, and helped get AEW off the ground before returning; McIntyre reinvented himself in the indies and returned to NXT and worked his way back to the top; and CM Punk had a tumultuous journey back to WWE that included a short UFC run and a wild time in AEW. All three are major players in WWE these days and each paid their dues to get back to the top.

The Women's Division Has Become One Of The Biggest Aspects Of The Company

Over the past decade, no aspect of WWE has changed more than the Women’s Division. Long gone are the days of the Diva Searches, bra-and-panty matches, or degrading storylines that used female wrestlers as eye candy or punchlines. In the past six years, iconic female wrestlers like Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, and Sasha Banks have headlined WrestleMania, entire premium live events have been centered around the division, and a women’s Royal Rumble match has been introduced. 

Wrestling is always evolving, which the past decade has proven time and time again. With the long list of upcoming WWE events like the highly-anticipated WrestleMania 40, it’s safe to say it’s just going to get better and better from here on out.

You want to know how much I love The Royal Rumble? Every year when my wife buys her calendar for the new year, which she keeps all our plans in, I immediately have her add the Rumble. It’s too important. I can’t have her mistakenly making plans I’m emotionally obligated to attend. So, yeah, I’m pretty Seth Freakin’ Rollins excited about Saturday, partly because the Rumble is always exciting and partly because there are a lot of possible paths WWE could take in both the men’s and women’s editions.

Last year, I predicted we’d see Cody Rhodes win the men’s Rumble and Rhea Ripley win the women’s Rumble. Ordinarily I’d brag a little harder about calling both winners, but to be honest, those end results were pretty obvious. Cody was the conquering babyface returning from his injury and the obvious choice to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, and everyone who watched the product even occasionally knew Rhea Ripley was a massive star about to break out.

This year, however, there are a lot more question marks in the Rumbles, and even at the time of typing this sentence, I’m not one hundred percent sure who I’m choosing in either. That’s really exciting, at least for the wrestling fan portion of my identity. The predictor portion of my identity is terrified, but thankfully, we have a few matches with seemingly more obvious results to help my batting average. But first, let’s look at how I did in the Big 4 PPVs last year, as well as an overall total for every premium live event since WrestleMania 38…

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to improve those lofty stats here, but I am so excited to try. And the if I end up missing and get surprised, well, that’ll only make The Royal Rumble itself even more exciting. So, without further ado, here are my predictions…

Kevin Owens Vs Logan Paul (Champion) For The United States Championship

This match isn’t about Kevin Owens. He’s great and should always be in contention for holding championships. This match is about whether WWE wants Logan Paul to go into WrestleMania as champion. The upshot of that is obvious. He’s a social media megastar with a huge podcast that is going to encourage his fans to tune into The Showcase Of The Immortals. In addition, he’s a reviled heel who many hardcore fans would like to see lose. So, him holding the belt at WrestleMania gives WWE the chance to give someone (LA Knight) a huge moment by taking it off him at the biggest event of the year.

Now, there’s a case for Kevin Owens here too. He’s a future WWE Hall Of Famer who main evented the last two WrestleManias. He needs something compelling to do in April, and defending the United States Championship would allow him to do that. Unlike Paul, he’s also a weekly performer and assumedly, will be around more often to defend the belt moving forward, which is probably especially appealing given Roman Reigns is a part-time champion and Seth Rollins just blew out his knee.

I’m gonna go with Logan Paul. I think putting him in a big spot at WrestleMania is just too appealing, though I think it’s possible whatever that big spot is may end up involving Kevin Owens too in some kind of triple threat or multi-man title match.

Predicted Winner: Logan Paul

Roman Reigns (Champion) Vs LA Knight Vs Randy Orton Vs AJ Styles For The WWE Universal Championship

We all know Roman Reigns isn’t getting pinned here; so, I appreciate WWE trying to add some intrigue by including so many people in the match. That opens up the remote possibility Roman loses because two of these other dudes pin each other, but let’s be serious for a second. Roman has been the champion for more than three years. In what world would Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company take the title off Roman Reigns a few months before the main event of WrestleMania 40? Outside of an injury or some kind of backstage disagreement, it’s hard to even make a case for why that would make sense.

To me, the real question is whether Roman can win a match here without interference from Solo Sikoa. I’ve watched enough wrestling to know heels winning in a heelish way is part of the game, but sometimes it’s okay to just make the heel look as strong as possible. Roman is the top guy in the company, and none of these dudes are likely to work with him again, given he’ll be paired with Cody Rhodes, The Rock or both at WrestleMania; so, one of them can eat a clean pinfall without doing too much damage to their character. I’m gonna guess that person will be AJ Styles, given he’s not quite as hot right now as the other two, but we’ll see.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns

The Women's Royal Rumble

There are so many good options here. Let’s run them down, starting with Bayley. She makes the most sense from a storyline perspective. WWE has been teasing problems within Damage CTRL for awhile, particularly problems between Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL. It seems likely at some point she is going to be booted out and Dakota Kai is going to become the new mouthpiece. If Bayley were to win The Rumble, she could shift gears and instead of challenging Rhea Ripley, challenge her current stablemate Iyo Sky. There’s a really good, easy to tell story there and an obvious WrestleMania match that I think will happen, regardless of who wins The Rumble.

Then there’s Becky Lynch. WWE gave us a confrontation between her and Rhea Ripley earlier this month, and that’s clearly a match WWE fans want to see. Becky has also been extremely selfless over the last year, spending time in NXT to help grow that program and putting on matches with a lot of female talent who haven’t been given a chance. She also put Nia Jax over on Raw, which really helped elevate her. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see her paid back.

Bianca Belair is also always a threat. She was recently announced as the coverwoman of 2K24 alongside Rhea Ripley. She seemed on a collision course to wrestle Charlotte Flair, but that’s off the table now after The Queen got injured. She needs something to do and is one of the most reliable main eventers the women’s roster has. She’s also won before and would love to be the first woman to win a second time.

There’s also Nia Jax, who has been pushed really hard in recent weeks. There’s a potentially returning Liv Morgan and a potentially returning Naomi. I don’t think any of those three are quite on a win The Royal Rumble level, but they would be fun surprises. You know who is on that level though? Sasha Banks. Rumors have been saying she’s likely headed to AEW, but with Triple H in charge of WWE now, it’s definitely possible that animosity is gone and she could return. Just ask yourself. If you were in charge and she was returning, would you book her to win The Rumble? Probably.

And then there’s Jade Cargill. WWE’s most exciting recent signing not named CM Punk was pushed heavily on television after she first arrived, but she’s been gone for awhile and has been quietly training. WWE could set her up as an immediate main event player if she won here.

The Internet seems to be rallying around Bayley. She would be a great choice and probably the most logical one, but I keep coming back to Becky Lynch. I think her match with Rhea is going to happen at WrestleMania, and I think WWE is going to pay off her selfless work this year with a second Rumble win.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

The Men’s Royal Rumble

Part of the reason why I didn’t publish these predictions yesterday is because I was waiting to see what Seth Rollins was going to do after his recent injury. If he vacated his title, whether or not it was put up at The Rumble, it would have created all kinds of chaos, and it would have dramatically increased the possible winners. 

Think about it this way. There are two world champions in WWE. The winner of The Royal Rumble is going to wrestle one of those two at WrestleMania. If we know the champions are going to be Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, then you’re essentially saying the winner of The Rumble is going to be one of their opponents. If Rollins was off the table, the possibilities would be endless. You’d have to start throwing in guys like Gunther, Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, but if Rollins is locked in, that means, by my estimation, there are only three options to win The Rumble and an unlikely wild card fourth option I'll get to later.

Roman Reigns is going to fight either Cody Rhodes, The Rock or both at WrestleMania. Seth Rollins is almost certainly going to fight CM Punk. That means the winner of The Rumble is going to be Cody, The Rock or CM Punk (probably). I think, of those three, The Rock is the least likely. The Tampa Bay crowd would be stoked to see him show up and enter The Rumble for sure, but I’m not sure people would really want to see him win. That honor should probably go to a more modern guy. So, it’s either Cody winning two years in a row or CM Punk. 

I’m gonna go with CM Punk. I think he’s the most logical choice. His probable match against Seth Rollins is likely his best chance ever to main event a WrestleMania, and I think the crowd would be happy to see him have that level of success. It would also provide another reminder to everyone in AEW that if you want to come over to WWE, there are potential huge opportunities.

If I was forced to come up with a fourth option, I would go with Gunther. He's ready to be in the world title picture. Maybe there's a world in which, if The Rock is going to wrestle Roman Reigns, WWE decides to have Cody Rhodes wrestle CM Punk, which leaves Gunther to deal with Seth Rollins. I think that's unlikely, but I'll throw it out into the universe just in case.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

If you're in The United States, you can stream The Royal Rumble this Saturday night for free with a Peacock subscription. 

Is there anything in wrestling better than The Royal Rumble? The annual WWE premium live event not only offers the best gimmick match of the year, it also tells fans very directly which stars the company is going to push into key spots at WrestleMania. Sometimes the winners are very obvious, like last year when we got Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley. Sometimes the winners aren’t obvious at all, like when we got Shinsuke Nakamura, Alberto Del Rio and Yokozuna. Even if you think you know what WWE is going to do, you can never truly be sure until it happens. Luckily, half the fun of being a wrestling fan is speculating wildly about what might happen at upcoming premium live events; so, let’s talk out the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble. 

WWE is hotter right now than it has been in a long time. There are a ton of dudes over with the crowd and at least a half dozen that feel like they could believably fight in a world title match at WrestleMania 40. There are a few relatively obvious, high upside crossover options like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, a few really intriguing storyline options like Drew McIntyre and Gunther, some fan favorites like LA Knight and of course, there’s always The Rock who has teased possibly fighting his cousin Roman Reigns at ‘Mania. I can’t remember a year with this many possible choices. Here’s my list of the 15 most likely…

15. MJF

I don’t think MJF is going to WWE. Conflicting rumors have been swirling about whether or not he's resigned with AEW. I think he has and it won’t be announced publicly until a key storyline moment. I’d be shocked to see him at The Rumble. That being said, I didn’t think CM Punk was showing up at Survivor Series, and if MJF did show up at The Royal Rumble, would he be a real threat to win? Absolutely.  

14. Damian Priest

Damian Priest would be higher on this list if winning The Royal Rumble made more logical sense for his character, but his Money In The Bank briefcase allows him to have a title shot whenever he wants. He doesn’t need to win The Rumble to get it. That being said, if he were to screw up his cash-in either on Monday Night Raw or at The Rumble, he would become a major threat to enter and win. That seems like a huge rigamarole, but that’s still more likely than a random mid-card guy winning. 

13. Sami Zayn

You might be asking yourself… Sami Zayn? Well, I think there’s a believable case to be made, if a few really unfortunate things happened. Let’s say Cody Rhodes gets, Dusty forbid, hurt and won’t be available for WrestleMania. Then let’s say The Rock is unavailable, despite all his maybes. Roman Reigns needs someone to wrestle. I’d prefer it be Gunther, but Triple H and company will probably want him to defend the Intercontinental Title at ‘Mania. So, in that case, who would be the best person to wrestle Roman? The biggest match he’s had over the last year in terms of fan interest, outside of Cody, has been Sami Zayn. The build for and their match at Elimination Chamber were among the loudest we’ve heard WWE fans in decades, and if need be, I think WWE would trust Zayn to find greatness with Roman one more time.

12. Seth Freakin' Rollins

Seth Rollins is scheduled to wrestle Drew McIntyre at Day 1. The assumption is Rollins will win that match and go into WrestleMania as the World Heavyweight Champion. But given the good work McIntyre has been doing, there is a very real chance he could lose, and if he does lose, Rollins will enter The Royal Rumble and be a major threat to win. I still think the plan is to get to CM Punk and Rollins at 'Mania, but rule out Seth Rollins at your own peril. 

11. Brock Lesnar

Lensar is only one of nine people to win The Royal Rumble twice. He’s also the biggest draw on the entire roster to casual wrestling fans, and he’s done some of the best work of his career over the last few years, especially on the microphone after his split with Paul Heyman. I would never rule him completely out to win The Rumble, especially when he’ll almost certainly be in a key spot at WrestleMania 40. But since we did the Roman Reigns thing at ‘Mania 38 and he’s been off television for awhile, I don’t think a win this time is likely.

10. Finn Bálor

No one has been riding harder for Judgment Day than me. I think they’re a fantastic stable and have everything they need to run Monday Night Raw, except a prominent men’s singles belt. I thought we’d see Finn get there at SummerSlam. Then I thought we’d see Damian Priest get there via a Money In The Bank cash-in at some point. Now I’m not so sure, and the fact that I don’t have any Judgment Day members higher than tenth here is odd considering they consistently open and/ or close Monday Night Raw. Regardless, Finn has another world title run in him. I’m almost positive of that, and while I don’t think that’ll start by winning The Rumble, I don’t hate the idea.

9. Solo Sikoa

We’re still in super longshot territory here, but don’t let that distract from the fact that Solo Sikoa winning The Royal Rumble and challenging his cousin Roman Reigns would be a fantastic story to tell. In fact, I think we’re almost certainly going to see some version of that story in the future when The Bloodline officially breaks up for good. Solo vs Roman Reigns could Main Event any premium live event and have fans buzzing, but we need some more character work in order to get there. So, hold this idea in your back pocket for the 2025 Rumble, particularly if Roman beats Cody and still has the WWE Universal Championship. 

8. Bobby Lashley

Fans are just not going to boo Bobby Lashley. WWE can have him and The Street Profits attack whoever they want, but short of ending Rey Mysterio’s career via some kind of cheapshot, I don’t think there’s much he can do to get the heel reaction he’s going for. So, maybe the play here is to turn him into some kind of anti-hero and give him a big push forward. He still looks fantastic, and the fans clearly love him. After missing last year’s Mania under unfortunate circumstances that later proved tragic, it would be really exciting to see him in a high profile title match this year, which would need to start with a Royal Rumble win.

7. AJ Styles

AJ Styles just returned last week after a few months off television, and in a move most people didn’t see coming, turned heel. I’m very excited for whatever comes next for his character. It would be fantastic if WWE was able to build him back up to the main event level, and if they’re going to, now is the time. He’s forty-six years old and looks to be in fantastic shape. Over the last few years, he sorta got lost in the shuffle and felt like a low main eventer/ higher mid-carder, to the point where almost no one gave him a chance to beat Seth Rollins at Clash Of The Champions. Now is the time for him to prove he can still be at the top of the industry. I don’t see him winning The Rumble, but there is definitely a great story to tell here if WWE wants it.

6. The Rock

If The Rock was going to show up at a Royal Rumble and win, it should have been the 2023 version. He could have entered The Bloodline story when it was at its absolute hottest, and the ensuing few months of build would have been some of the highest rated wrestling episodes in decades. That didn’t happen. But Dwayne Johnson is still one of the biggest movie stars in the entire world. His presence is guaranteed to generate significant casual fan interest, and if he agrees to come back and work WWE for a few months, you almost certainly have to say yes. Given his comments, it’s certainly possible, though I’d put it in the unlikely camp, especially with Hollywood back at work.

5. LA Knight

Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the other writers have clearly listened to the fans and elevated LA Knight over the last several months. He tagged with John Cena at Fastlane, worked a premium live event with Roman Reigns, has a heavy merchandising presence at WWE live events and is almost always featured prominently on SmackDown. Along the way, he’s gotten plenty of small payoffs and nice little moments, but he’s yet to get one that would be anything close to career-defining. Winning The Royal Rumble is the sorta thing that people mention near the top of any wrestler’s accomplishments. I think he’ll probably lose and face Logan Paul at WrestleMania for The United States Championship, but I certainly wouldn’t rule him out as a possible winner here.

4. Drew McIntyre

I love this new heel work from Drew McIntyre. This is exactly what he needed to start getting some momentum again. Contract rumors and other alleged frustrations aside, this current version of the character is an obvious main event star, and I’d love to see him win a world championship sooner rather than later. But he needs to start picking up some wins and doing so quickly. Victories over Sami Zayn and Jey Uso on TV aren’t enough. He hasn’t won a match at a premium live event since he beat Karrion Kross in November of 2022. The Rumble could be the start of his return to glory. 

3. Gunther

Right now, the assumption from pretty much everyone who watches wrestling on the regular is that we’ll get CM Punk and Seth Rollins in one WrestleMania Main Event and Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes in the other. But how fantastic of a swerve would it be if Gunther eliminated Cody to win The Royal Rumble, then called out Roman Reigns in a post-match promo for not respecting the mat enough to show up for work? I love Cody. I’d love to see him win the WWE Championship at some point, but the single story I want to watch most right now is a heel versus heel Gunther vs Roman Reigns program. That’s my WrestleMania Main Event, and I do think it’s within the realm of possibilities.

2. Cody Rhodes

Before CM Punk made his surprise appearance at Survivor Series, I thought there was a good chance we’d see Cody win the Rumble two years in a row, joining Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin as only the fourth person to win in consecutive years. Now, the general consensus seems to be that he’ll probably lose The Rumble and guarantee his rematch with Roman Reigns by winning Elimination Chamber in February. That certainly works, but the fact that so many people are predicting it gives me pause. Imagine Cody winning his second consecutive Rumble, then grabbing the mic and giving a fantastic promo about finishing the story this year. Fans would love it, and it’s way more likely than people are pretending.

1. CM Punk

The overwhelming consensus among WWE fans is that CM Punk and Seth Rollins are going to face each other in the main event of WrestleMania Night 1. Sign me up. I’m here for that too. But exactly how we get there is a much more complicated question. The easiest path would be by CM Punk winning The Royal Rumble and challenging Rollins at WrestleMania. I think that’s probably what’s going to happen, but given there are some very good alternate candidates and WWE may not want to pick the very obvious and logical choice two years in a row, I think there’s still like a fifty percent chance this doesn’t happen. 

Drew McIntyre was the top dog in the WWE during the pandemic, but since losing the title, he has mainly stayed toward the middle of the roster in terms of booking in recent years. Now, as rumors swirl of him being disgruntled by CM Punk's return, and we still have no answers on whether his contract renewal is any closer to happening than it was at WrestleMania 39, the wrestler is upset about the latest Royal Rumble poster. 

The poster image for the upcoming WWE event Royal Rumble is making rounds online, and there's one major face missing from the bunch. Granted, I myself wasn't entirely aware he was missing considering how many faces are on it, but now that Drew McIntyre has spoken out about being excluded, I have to agree that he has a right to be frustrated:

As wrestling fans know, the Royal Rumble has become one of the most important premium live events in the company. In addition to the prestige tied to winning the match, the winner of the Royal Rumble will likely be fast-tracked to the main event WrestleMania 40. Being left off the poster doesn't guarantee Drew McIntyre won't be in the big match, but if he's not being promoted, is it safe to assume his odds of winning are slim to nil?

Many might've assumed that already. CM Punk's return only further complicated who could win the Royal Rumble and which night they'd pick for the main event. Punk, for example, appears to be preparing for a major feud with Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. We know that Cody Rhodes intends to "finish the story" and take on Roman Reigns again for the Undisputed Championship, and rising stars like Gunther could easily pull off a stunning victory. Where does that leave Drew McIntyre? 

It's a great question, considering the WWE hasn't reportedly locked the superstar down for a new contract in 2024 and beyond. As such, it might be why he's not currently on the poster for the Royal Rumble. Granted, the WWE could've put him on there as a show of good faith he'd sign a new offer rather than risk the backlash that was created excluding him. I think McIntyre is completely within his rights to be upset, and he should be as respected as other top stars on the roster given his time in the company. 

There's also a possibility that this is a work and Drew McIntyre is leaning into the public perception that he's displeased with his situation in the WWE. Storylines that feel like they bleed into reality always do well in pro wrestling, and McIntyre, being the consummate showman, knows this. It's even possible the truth is somewhere in between and that McIntyre is both disgruntled and using it to drive interest in his character to get a favorable contract renewal. We'll know for sure when 2024 hits and McIntyre either decides to stick with the company or heads elsewhere to see if The Scottish Warrior can get title opportunities. 

SmackDown airs on Fox on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET on the 2023 TV schedule, and Monday Night Raw is on USA Network on Mondays at the same time. Tune in to see more of McIntyre, assuming he's not on his way out, and if you want to view his previous matches you can do so with a Peacock Premium subscription. 

CM Punk returned to WWE last night in one of the most shocking moments I can remember as a lifelong wrestling fan. As the trademark graphic went up in the corner of the screen and Michael Cole summed up the night, the former WWE Champion’s music hit, and the crowd absolutely lost it. Despite heavy speculation from fans who desperately wanted to see him and what seemed like on-air clues, the general consensus was there was just too much bad blood between Triple H, WWE and CM Punk for a return to happen. And then suddenly he was there. I was excited. CM Punk was excited. The fans were certainly excited. Everyone was excited, except a few prominent wrestlers involved in the main event, most notably Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre.

The first wave reaction on social media was almost exclusively an outpouring of shock and happiness. WWE quickly posted a clip of his return, and it generated more than a hundred thousand likes in the first few hours.  Hundreds of thousands of fans took to social media to express their happiness and start fantasy booking feuds for the leader of the Straight Edge Society. Not long after, however, videos from those in the crowd started to circulate of Drew McIntyre storming out and Seth Rollins throwing up middle fingers, screaming at CM Punk and having to be restrained by announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves. 

So, what’s going on? Are Rollins and McIntyre just setting up future storylines with CM Punk and expressing their disapproval while in character? Is there legitimate bad blood here, and they’re furious to see Pepsi Phil back in WWE? What’s a shoot and what’s a work? Let’s separate Rollins and McIntyre and talk these two out individually.

Is Seth Rollins Mad About CM Punk Returning?

Most of the attention has been on Seth Rollins; so, let’s start there. Rollins and Punk were both in WWE for the end of Punk’s run with the company. They had some interactions in the early days of The Shield, but Rollins hadn’t fully ascended to being one of the top guys in the company yet. Over the years, The Visionary has said some positive things about Punk in interviews (including calling him an inspiration), but more recently, the comments have been a lot more negative. In an interview with Wrestling Inc earlier this year, Rollins was asked if he’d like to see Punk return. He did not hold back, calling him a “cancer” who should stay away from WWE.

Then the return happened and instead of simply watching or looking shocked like most of the wrestlers in the ring, Rollins made his frustration very well known. Videos from ringside show the current World Heavyweight Champion throwing his middle fingers in the air and screaming obscenities. Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Corey Graves and Michael Cole seemed to be trying to calm him down, but it was not working. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported there was an “awkward scene” backstage and Triple H had to escort Rollins away from Punk who was “confused” by what happened.

We don’t know exactly when the participants in the main event, including Seth Rollins, found out CM Punk was debuting, but those in the know are reporting they found out right before they went to the ring. That means the music itself was not a shock, but even if it wasn’t, that doesn’t mean those involved in the main event don’t have some kind of feelings about the popular star returning. He’s said a lot of negative things about WWE and individual wrestlers in the past. He was fired from AEW recently, and there are many who believe he’s a legitimately hard person to work with. There’s no way there isn’t lingering bad blood with many of the more prominent guys who have had interactions with him.

On the other hand, however, he clearly mended fences with Triple H, and there were stories that earlier this year, he hung out with longtime WWE star The Miz and cleared up their long standing issues. After Survivor Series, popular wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said he thinks Rollins’ over the top, vociferous reaction was part of a storyline angle, and there are many others who think Rollins is going to try to capitalize on the negative comments made in the past to create a story that blurs the line between shoot and work. If all goes well, that feels like it could main event night one of WrestleMania 40.

So, the short answer is we don’t know exactly what’s going on. My guess is Rollins isn’t the happiest camper that CM Punk is back, but he’s a tremendous showman and business savvy enough to know there is a huge match here. It feels very in character for him to react in an exaggerated and angry manner about the big return, and I think he’s leaning into some real life feelings to create some drama he knows will play very well as a storyline. But that's an educated guess.

Is Drew McIntyre Mad About CM Punk Returning?

With Drew McIntyre, however, I’m not quite so sure what’s going to happen. The Scottish Warrior didn’t stick around for CM Punk’s return. As soon as the match was over, he bolted to the backstage area, while selling an injury. There’s video going around of him storming out and looking none too pleased. The clips were shared widely but then copyright claimed by WWE and removed. Notably, the ones of Rollins looking mad have not been, at least as of press time, taken down. Fightful reported McIntyre slammed the locker room door and was visibly angry and cursing when he left the arena. He reportedly told those close to him that he wasn’t happy about CM Punk being back.

Reporter Sean Ross Sapp said on Twitter that he’s not sure how Rollins feels but thinks McIntyre is legitimately mad about what happened and how things went down. He’s got his own history with CM Punk, and there also have been a lot of rumors that he’s not been happy with his own creative within WWE. He’s lost so many big matches over the past few years, and with his contract allegedly being up soon, there are many who think whatever is going on with CM Punk might be the final straw that pushes him out the door.

I’m not really sure where the truth lies. I think we’ll know a lot more in the coming days, especially since Punk is allegedly going to be on Raw this Monday, but from my vantage point, it seems much more likely Punk would transition into a feud with Seth Rollins, not Drew McIntyre. There are only two PPVs between now and WrestleMania: The Royal Rumble, which Punk will almost certainly enter, and Elimination Chamber, which is a little more than a month before ‘Mania. If Punk is building toward a huge match at ‘Mania (and why wouldn’t he be?), then I don’t think there’s time for two feuds. And without a title, I don’t think a match with McIntyre is a big enough thing to do at ‘Mania. 

To Sum Up

The great thing about wrestling is even when you think you know, you don’t really know. I wrote a whole ass paragraph in my Survivor Series predictions about how CM Punk was not coming back and we should all shut up about it. Meanwhile, my co-worker, who I’m usually on the same page with, has been convinced this whole time he was coming back. Deep down, neither of us knew for sure, and that’s how I feel about this situation moving forward. Whatever Rollins and McIntyre’s reactions were last night, whether they were legitimate or kayfabe, they could easily be different today, and only Triple H truly knows where he wants any of this to go. 

So, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the show, at least for the rest of the day. Then tomorrow I’ll get back to speculating and pretending I do know because that’s half the fun of being a wrestling fan.

The WWE is a competitive industry, and one that isn't afraid to cut talent either. For various reasons, the company has released major superstars over the years, though that doesn't always mean it's goodbye forever. Some manage to find their way back years later, though not everyone is so lucky. 

Here, we'll detail over thirty wrestlers who were of note in the WWE and were let go for various reasons. Some of which may even be featured at upcoming WWE events, while others have found success elsewhere. Check out these folks, and maybe watch some of their old matches with a Peacock Premium subscription: 

Bray Wyatt

Following a shocking loss to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37, Bray Wyatt stayed off television for a long time. The WWE initially indicated everything was fine but then dropped the bombshell in July 2021 that he was released. Wyatt returned a year later, but health problems that ultimately led to his death kept him from having a substantial run.

Daniel Bryan

The legendary Daniel Bryan almost never reached his full potential after WWE fired him in 2011. Bryan’s in-ring strangling of ring announcer Justin Roberts was considered “not PG,” and the organization dropped him for the violation. Bryan later returned of course, and had a tremendous long run in the WWE before leaving for AEW.

Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks and WWE parted ways after she and Naomi dropped the tag titles and walked out on the company in May of 2022. The WWE publicly announced their departure, and Banks has found success in New Japan Pro Wrestling since. There is no word so far if a reconciliation with the WWE is on the table. 

Naomi

Naomi left WWE alongside tag-team champion partner Sasha Banks in May of 2022, but unlike Banks, her return seemed more likely. Naomi is married to superstar Jimmy Uso, but thus far, has expressed little interest in returning to the brand. She’s since moved on to work in Impact as Trinity Fatu. 

Dolph Ziggler 

The WWE parted ways with Dolph Ziggler in 2023, which ended a nearly twenty-year run with the company. While he may not have been a massive name in the WWE in terms of casual audiences, he held fifteen titles during his tenure and his release came as a great shock to fans. 

Jeff Hardy

Legendary tag-team superstar Jeff Hardy has been released twice by the WWE in his career, both times tied to issues with substance abuse. The latest exit happened in 2021, following a confusing performance he gave at a house show.  Hardy has since moved on to AEW. 

Matt Hardy

Much like his brother Jeff, Matt Hardy was also fired from the WWE twice. The first time came in 2005 after it became public that his real-life girlfriend and superstar Lita cheated on him with Edge. The second time came in 2010, which the wrestler revealed on his podcast The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy he felt was a combination of being physically worn down from wrestling, and his brother leaving a year earlier.  

Melina

Melina was one of the more memorable women's wrestlers of her era, and would likely fit in well with the current roster of women in wrestling. Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well for her in WWE, and she was unceremoniously released in 2011 despite being a five-time world champion. Melina has returned a couple times since her release, with the latest happening at the 2022 Royal Rumble.

Carlito

While Carlito found his way back in the WWE eventually, his original run was derailed in 2010 when he was fired by the company. Carlito was removed for violating the organization's wellness policy. Carlito later returned to the WWE as the LWO's third tag-team partner at Fastlane 2023. 

Mickie James

After returning following her exit in 2010, WWE legend Mickie James found herself part of a mass release by the WWE in 2021. Though she was one of many released, the women's superstar took specific offense when her belongings were sent to her by the organization in a trash bag. The multi-time women's champion later signed with Impact, and went on a run as one of its biggest champions. 

Shelton Benjamin

Following a release in 2010 ending a ten-year run in WWE, Shelton Benjamin returned in 2017 and began working with various new superstars. Benjamin ultimately found himself a part of a mass release by the company in 2023, and was alongside Dolph Ziggler as one of the more shocking releases of the bunch. 

Muhammad Hassan

Muhammad Hassan seemed destined for WWE greatness, but the Arab-American superstar would end up being fired due to events beyond his control. In a scripted segment, Hasan carried out a brutal and torturous attack on The Undertaker, just around the same time as the much-publicized London terrorist attacks in 2005. The WWE gained a lot of criticism for its programming, and ultimately fired Hassan.

Scotty Goldman

Wrestling fans may not remember Scotty Goldman in the WWE, and that's largely because he only wrestled seven matches before being fired. Now, as Colt Cabana, he has a much larger following in the wrestling community and even a roster spot in AEW. 

Umaga

Umaga was a promising star in the WWE with big potential, but trouble led to him exiting the company on two separate occasions. The wrestler was released in 2003, and then again in 2009 after violating the company's wellness policy a second time. Umaga died from a heart attack six months after his release, with toxicity from multiple substances listed as a factor. 

The IIconics

Billy Kay and Peyton Royce, otherwise known as The IIconics, were rising stars in the women's tag division in the WWE. Despite their hilarious segments and charisma, the company ultimately disbanded the team in 2021 and released both wrestlers soon after. 

Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre is one of the WWE's biggest superstars, but his first run in the company wasn't quite as memorable. While he had some early success, he ultimately was a supporting member of the joke faction 3MB (Three Man Band) toward the end of his run. In 2014, the WWE dropped him from his contract, but of course, he later returned with a vengeance in 2017. 

Mr. Kennedy

Many wrestling fans believe Mr. Kennedy had the charisma to be one of the WWE's biggest superstars, but his career never quite hit that level. The superstar was released in 2009 and later said to Wrestlezone that it was a combination of Randy Orton and John Cena complaining that he was an unsafe wrestler that led to his dismissal. 

Curt Hennig

Curt Hennig's firing from WWE in 2002 is part of pro wrestling history, as he played a prominent role in the incident known as the "Plane Ride From Hell." Hennig played a prank on Brock Lesnar, which resulted in a scrap that nearly opened the emergency exit mid-flight. That was the end of Hennig's run, though it did make for the "perfect" story. 

Jeff Jarrett

In one of the more bizarre firings of WWE, Jeff Jarrett was fired on a filmed backstage segment ahead of WrestleMania 17 by Vince McMahan himself. While Jarrett assumed it was part of the show because it was filmed, he soon found out it was not. Jarrett would later return to the WWE in various roles later in his career. 

Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio was one of the WWE's greatest superstars throughout his runs, but was fired in 2014 for unprofessional conduct.  It was alleged that he was fired due to slapping an employee who told a racist joke, but it was never confirmed. Del Rio returned to the WWE years later, but ultimately asked to be let out of his contract in 2015. 

Scott Hall

Scott Hall is another iconic WWE wrestler who found themselves out of the company following the infamous incident "The Plane Ride From Hell." He was released not long after, with reasoning tied to substance abuse issues as well. 

CM Punk

After a frustrating loss at Royal Rumble 2014, CM Punk didn't show up to the following Monday Night Raw. The wrestler would continue to no-show, but the way the WWE treated it made it seem like it was part of a storyline. The WWE made the news official later that year, and Punk stayed away from wrestling for years, until eventually returning to AEW and being fired again. 

Kurt Angle

Even WWE legends with gold medals aren't safe from the chopping block. Kurt Angle ultimately found himself amongst a slew of superstars released in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest names in WWE history, and even he wasn't immune to being fired. The wrestler was ultimately fired from the company after making racist comments in a video that was distributed publicly. Hogan has since been brought back to the company years later. 

Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels is remembered as one of the WWE's biggest superstars, and even he was once fired by the company. This actually came at the beginning of his career in the WWE, along with tag-team partner Marty Janetty. They were fired less than two weeks after starting, but returned a year later and still became wrestling icons. 

Paige

Paige was immediately popular in the WWE, and even was the only superstar to get a feature film about her journey to the company. Unfortunately, she was sidelined for a long time with neck injuries and couldn't get clearance to return to the ring. She was ultimately granted a release in 2022, and went over to AEW. 

Sabu

Sabu was one of the ECW wrestlers retained by WWE when they were acquired, but his run didn't last long. Much is rumored about Sabu's firing but what is known is that since he was fired in 2007 he has not returned to the WWE but continued wrestling almost the entire time since. This includes at AEW where he showed up in 2023. 

Cesaro

Sometimes companies and wrestlers grow apart, and that seems to have happened with Cesaro and the WWE. After an eleven-year stint with the company, and some pretty consistent popularity with the fans, the wrestler was unable to reach a deal with the WWE on his contract extension. The two sides went their separate ways, and Cesaro went on to AEW and Ring of Honor where he's been a top superstar. 

Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger is a case of a wrestler who had a solid run of nearly a decade in the WWE, but decided the time had come to go elsewhere. Via Uproxx, Swagger mentioned on a podcast that he had asked the company for his release, as he wasn't getting opportunities. The WWE initially publicly denied he was granted a release, but then later gave him the opportunity to go elsewhere. Swagger then traveled around, before ultimately settling on a new home in AEW.

Hideo Itami

When Kenta Kobayashi debuted as Hideo Itami in the WWE, many in the wrestling world were thrilled. Itami was a legend in the Japanese circuit of pro wrestling, and seemed prime to be a major player in the brand. Unfortunately, multiple injuries led to a lackluster five-year stint with the company before he was ultimately granted a release. Itami has since found success elsewhere like AEW and in New Japan Pro Wrestling. 

Chyna

Chyna was and still is considered one of the biggest women's superstars in professional wrestling, which made her eventual release from the company all the more tragic. Multiple factors have been noted in her departure. She was ultimately granted her release in 2001, and wrestled sporadically before her death in 2016. 

Goldust

Goldust is a wrestler who has been in and out of the WWE around five or six times, though he was welcomed back even when he was released. He's perhaps proof positive that a firing is never permanent in the company, assuming no bridges are burned on the way out. Hell, even when they are, it's hard to deny there's still a chance of coming back!

WWE programming is as good as it has ever been, so now is the perfect time to get a Peacock subscription and check out some of the recent events that have been happening. Who knows, you might even see someone who was once let go from the company.