WrestleMania 40 is just a few weeks away! The biggest event of the year, and one of the most highly anticipated WrestleManias of all time, WrestleMania 40 is going to be an absolute spectacle!
Below are my predictions for the event.
Pre-Show
Pre-Show – Men’s Battle Royal
In the yearly “cram everyone onto the Wrestlemania card” battle royal there will be a lot of talent to showcase. Participants will likely include Bronson Reed, Nakamura, Solo Sikoa, the LWO and Legado del Fantasma, as well as my prediction for the winner, the Nigerian Giant, Omos.
If reports are true Omos is being held off of TV as a kind of special attraction. A bit of a strange choice since his main gimmick right now is just being really big, which is not really something new to wrestling fans. If Omos is to become a special attraction he’ll need some tangible achievements under his belt and being one of the few giants to actually win a battle royal will be a good start.
Winner – Omos
Pre-Show – Women’s Battle Royal
The women aren’t getting much love this year, with Bayley’s Royal Rumble win overshadowed and Ripley vs Lynch getting a pretty lacklustre build. Most of the female superstars will unfortunately end up in this battle royal, which is disappointing for the card but could mean a great showing for the battle royal.
Damage CTRL, Michin, Naomi, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, Piper Niven and Chelsea Green will all likely be participants. It’s crazy to predict, but I also think this is where Bianca Belair will end up and if she’s going to be in it, she better win it. After another foreshadowing showdown with Jade Cargill, Belair throws Cargill out to take the win.
Winner – Bianca Belair
WrestleMania 40 Night One
IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley – WWE Women’s Championship (Night TBD)
It’s unfortunate that Bayley’s Royal Rumble win has been so massively overshadowed by The Bloodline / Cody Rhodes story. Bayley’s a fantastic worker who deserves her flowers (as Shelton Benjamin put it). If it were up to me I’d have Bayley get her shining moment, but I just don’t see it happening. WrestleMania, like all good PPVs (sorry, Premium Live Events), is always a combination of feel-good moments and heartbreak, and unfortunately I think Bayley vs Iyo Sky will fall into the latter.
Damage CTRL have only just entered their new phase and need a dominant win to cement this new version of the group as THE women’s faction in WWE as well as Iyo Sky as the dominant new leader. With Mercedes Mone now all elite, there’s little chance of a headline-grabbing rescue so, after some expected interference, I predict we will see Iyo retain the championship.
Winner and still WWE Women’s Champion – Iyo Sky
The Final Testament vs The Pride – Six Man Tag Team Match (Not yet announced)
This match has yet to be officially announced but seems to be the direction that they are heading. The Pride have gone nowhere since they came together, based primarily on a complete lack of direction or consistency. Lashley really deserves better.
Karrion Kross, on the other hand, is in the midst of a resurgence and finally seems threatening again with this new pairing with Paul Ellering and the Authors of Pain. The Final Testament really need the win here if they’re to continue to be a threat and more importantly avoid the trap of being all talk (something that previously plagued Kross, as well as Bray Wyatt before him).
My prediction is that The Final Testament take the win, which leads the Street Prophets to turn on Lashley.
Winner – The Final Testament
Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens – Triple threat match – WWE United States Title (Night TBD)
With Logan Paul’s drinks brand Prime recently becoming the first in-ring sponsor for WWE, the big money lies in keeping the title on Paul for the foreseeable future. Now that WWE is part of the TKO mega-corporation with the UFC, mainstream attention is going to become more and more important for the company. Logan Paul, whatever people may think of him, can provide mainstream attention by the bucketload. Plus, unlike most celebrity crossover stars, Paul can actually go pretty well in the ring!
As long as he continues to develop as he has been, we’ll see Paul being a big featured start for years to come. At some point the time will come for him to drop the title but it has to be to the right person and that’s not veterans like Kevin Owens or Randy Orton. For now, the big money decision, and the decision that’ll keep the spotlight on the US Championship, is to keep it on the WWE’s newest sponsor.
Winner and Still United States Champion – Logan Paul (Owens takes the pin)
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles (Night TBD)
Some people might be disappointed that LA Knight isn’t in a higher profile match, or even a title match, but I think a 1-on-1 match with the Phenomenal One is a fantastic WrestleMania achievement. AJ Styles is up there with the best wrestlers of all time and this match is sure to be a show stealer.
Knight has cooled off a bit since his match with Reigns but still gets one of the best reactions on the roster. After Mania I think he’ll be a solidified main-eventer, but I do think we may have missed the boat on a WWE Championship reign.
Ultimately, in this match I think Knight needs the win more and he’ll go over AJ.
Winner – LA Knight
The Bloodline (The Rock and Roman Reigns) vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins (Night One)
The build-up to this match has been phenomenal and although it has completely stolen spotlights from Bayley and Drew McIntyre, there’s no arguing that this feud is shaping up to be one of the biggest WrestleMania main events of all time. The two year build, the repeated main event from last year, the inclusion of The Rock and the the story taking place across both nights of WrestleMania have all been great moves to make this match huge! Yes, WWE creative team’s hands were arguably forced by the WWE Universe, but they’ve really rolled with the punches and created something special.
There are so many elements to this match to unpick. Firstly, the elephant in the room, will The Rock turn on Reigns? One of the biggest icks from the initial press conference was how The Rock’s inclusion almost instantly made Reigns (you know, the “Head of the Table”) look like a side-kick, like a little brother. Reigns has positioned himself as the final boss for the past 3 years and in just a few weeks The Rock has claimed that moniker. I don’t believe that it was intentional, but more a result of The Rock’s mainstream star power positioned next to Reign’s pro-wrestling star power. Ultimately I think it’ll all be part of the bigger story of Roman Reigns vs The Rock. We’ve already seen hints of the turn, with The Rock’s L-shaped Bloodline salute and Reign’s forcing the people’s champion to “Acknowledge me”.
I think if The Rock is going to turn on Reign’s it’ll happen in the Night Two main event, so I don’t think that’ll be a factor here.
The second question mark over this match belongs to the other added participant, Seth Rollins, who has fought alongside Rhodes since the WrestleMania press conference. Once bitter enemies, the Visionary and The American Nightmare now seem to be the best of friends. Some people think Rollins might turn heel and blindside Rhodes, but that would add yet another layer to an already overcomplicated storyline. Instead, in think it’ll be Seth who gets blindsided.
I don’t see Reigns or Rhodes taking the pin the night before their showdown. With The Rock vs Reigns looming, I also don’t see The Great One coming back to the WWE just to lay down for Rhodes or Rollins. So that just leaves one person – one person who’s been phoning in their own title feud for weeks!
While Rollins is so focused on Rhodes’ story he seems to be forgetting about his own. And his own story includes a huge, Scottish roadblock by the name of Drew McIntyre. McIntyre put the company on his back during the pandemic era, but he’s never got to have his moment in front of a crowd. And now that he is finally fighting for the championship in front of the crowd at WrestleMania, his opponent doesn’t really seem that bothered. And this, I think will be pivotal in the finish of the match.
After a long fought battle, that includes The Bloodline being kicked out of ringside, Drew McIntyre comes out of the crowd with a Claymore on Seth Rollins, allowing Reigns or The Rock to get the pin. During the celebration we also see a bit of a jealous side-eyeing from whoever wasn’t the one to get the pin.
Winner – The Bloodline (Rollins takes the pin)
WrestleMania 40 Night Two
Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre – World Heavyweight Championship (Night Two)
After costing Seth and Cody their tag team match on Night One, Drew McIntyre faces a tired (and possibly injured) Seth Rollins on Night Two. The only right outcome here is that McIntyre walks away as World Heavyweight Champion. Rollins has been a great workhorse champion but it’s time for a change now. He has been working injured and McIntyre really needs the win to cement his heel turn.
I think this match will be a story of McIntyre punishing a wounded Seth Rollins and Rollins desperately trying to keep hold of the title. Ultimately Rollins’ injuries and McIntyre’s brutality will prove the final nail in the coffin for the Visionary’s reign as McIntyre finishes him off with a Claymore for the 1-2-3.
McIntyre gets his moment in front of a live crowd and Rollins gets a break to heal his injuries before a massive comeback in a few months time.
Winner and New World Heavyweight Champion – Drew McIntyre
Bron Breakker lays out John Cena (Prediction)
Bron Breakker is a future star of the WWE and the company are definitely going to want him on at the year’s biggest show. John Cena is a legend who now rightfully comes back for short segments to pop the crowd.
Much like The Undertaker’s appearance on NXT, John Cena’s appearance at this year’s WrestleMania could be used to put Breakker over, although I think this time around Breakker should be the one standing tall.
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso (Night TBD)
Keeping the tradition of real-life brother vs brother every 15 years, at WrestleMania 40 it’s Uso vs Uso. This match is a great example of long-term booking. I don’t think WWE even realised they were booking it when it all started with Jimmy’s injury and Jey becoming Roman’s right hand man. While Jimmy’s booking has been nonsensical at times (being the one to kick Reigns in the face, only to rejoin the Bloodline weeks later) he has showcased his jealousy to perfection.
This match is a tough one to call. Jey is the obvious favourite, having now struck out on his own on Raw, but Jimmy arguably needs the win more. It’ll also be interesting to see how this feud plays into the Cody vs Bloodline story arch.
If I had to call it I’d say Jey goes over in a close finish. Maybe a roll-up that allows the feud to continue for a few more Premium Live Events.
If they do reconcile after the match I just hope it doesn’t lead to the Usos getting back together as a tag team. I think they’ve both got too much left to do in their singles careers for that.
Winner – Jey Uso
Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn [vs Chad Gable] – Intercontinental Championship (Night TBD)
A bit of a curve ball, my predicted winner for this match isn’t even in the match! After the reaction that Chad Gable vs Sami Zayn got on RAW, we could see Gable added to the match a la Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30. In a happy coincidence, the positioning of Gable’s shoulders during the final pin means that this change also makes total sense in kayfabe.
Gable has his own story to finish, being the only person to defeat Gunther in recent memory and the natural heir apparent to the Intercontinental Championship.
I predict that Gable pins Zayn to become the new Intercontinental Champion. This would allow Gunther to move into the main event scene without taking a pinfall loss, give Zayn his next feud and Gable the big crowning achievement he’s been striving for. Everyone’s a winner!
Winner and New Intercontinental Champion – Chad Gable (Zayn takes the pin)
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch – Women’s World Championship (Night TBD)
Rhea Ripley has been absolutely fantastic since joining the Judgement Day. From her dominating performances to her weird relationship with Dominic Mysterio, everything Rhea Ripley does is great TV. It begs the question – who can actually beat Rhea “bloody” Ripley? Well if anyone can, it’s Becky Lynch.
Much like Ripley, Lynch took the ball that WWE gave her and ran with it. And she ran far, becoming one of the biggest WWE stars of this generation. Lynch, with a little help from Nia Jax’s right hook, took herself from the least popular of the Four Horsewomen to arguably the most popular. If anyone now has the star power to dethrone Ripley, it’s Lynch! But I don’t think that’s what’s happening.
Ripley’s dominant reign has brought prestige to the newly introduced Women’s World Championship and there are still lots of dream feuds to be had before that reign is over. My prediction? After a great match, Ripley hits the Riptide for the win.
Winner and Still Women’s World Champion – Rhea Ripley
The Judgment Day (c) vs. DIY vs Awesome Truth vs New Day vs [2x TBD] – Six-Pack Ladder Match – Undisputed Tag Team Titles (Night TBD)
When Nick Aldis and Adam Pierce said they had an announcement about the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles, we all thought they were separating the championships and replacing those god-awful penny belts. The belts have needed changing for a long time! They were awful in bronze, they’re awful in silver and they’re the only belts in WWE that still don’t have changeable side plates.
But obviously that wasn’t the announcement. Instead they announced a six pack ladder match for the titles. These sorts of matches are a staple of WrestleMania, making sure as many superstars as possible make it onto the card and the event has as much match variation as possible.
As of now we don’t know all of the participants in the match, but I still have a prediction for the ending. Ultimately I think the belts need to be split, but doing so in the lead-up to WrestleMania would have been too complicated. It would’ve thrown up too many questions, maybe lead to simultaneous tournaments and just be a bit of a mess leading into the biggest event of the year. So WWE are going a different direction.
The choice of a ladder match is interesting, as it means the winner has to pull down the belts to win. They will likely have one blue belt and one red belt hanging above the ring and I think that will play an important role in the finish. We all know the titles are separating so why not do it in the ladder match at WrestleMania?
The Judgement Day pull down one set of titles while R-Truth (competing alongside The Miz) pulls down the other. This’ll continue Truth’s harassment of The Judgement Day and achieve the separation of the titles. They can then say both teams won their respective titles and introduce new belts in the next week to cement the new era for the division.
Winners – Judgement Day retain the Raw Tag Team Titles (renamed the World Tag Team Titles later on Raw), Awesome Truth win take the Smackdown Tag Team Titles (renamed the WWE Tag Team Titles later on Smackdown)
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (Night Two)
I would say that the outcome of this match is obvious, but we all thought that last year! And if there’s one thing that’s for sure about WWE it’s that nothing is for sure.
Given the booking and the level of promotion that this match has received, I think it’ll be a long one with a lot of twists and turns. My prediction of a Bloodline win on Night One means this match will be an anything goes, “Bloodline rules” match, which will mean lots of interference from Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. I could see some extended members of the Bloodline being brought in for cameos. Maybe a good spot for a Jacob Fatu debut!
With the Bloodline rules allowing all levels of interference, Cody is going to need some backup from everyone who’s been wronged by The Bloodline. I could see Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, maybe even Goldust (if Tony Khan will allow it) all coming to Cody’s aid to deal with the outside interference.
What role will The Rock play? Flat out helping Cody could taint his victory, so I think it’s more likely that The Great One hits a Rock Bottom on Cody, then turns on and Rock Bottoms Reigns, leaving them both lying in the middle of the ring. Cody gets back to his feet first and hits the CrossRhodes for the 1-2-3.
Cody becomes the new Undisputed WWE Champion (“Universal” is dropped from this point on, followed by “Undisputed” over the next few months).
Winner and New WWE Champion – Cody Rhodes
So there you have it, my humble predictions for the results of WrestleMania 40. How many do you think will be right? What do you think the results will be? Let me know in the comments section.