SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WrestleMania 41 will be spread across two nights on April 19 and April 20, 2025. It will emanate from Las Vegas, Nev. at Allegiant Stadium.
Night 1
Roman Reigns vs. C.M. Punk vs. Seth Rollins – Triple Threat match
Story in a nutshell: Three egos collide as CM Punk seeks to win his first WrestleMania main event, Seth Rollins seeks to put down two “threats” to the future of WWE, and Roman Reigns seeks to remind everyone he is still the “tribal chief”, with Paul Heyman loyalties as a volatile element. Each wrestler in this match is bringing their own baggage into the match.
Starting with Roman Reigns, Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Championship at last year’s WrestleMania and left the WWE, allegedly leaving the Bloodline in Solo Sikoa’s care. Soon it became apparent that it had been a hostile takeover of the faction when Sol brough in his own guys. Reigns returned but was outnumbered by Solo’s group, forcing Reigns to rebuild his version of the Bloodline. However, they were a man short until Paul Heyman appeared with CM Punk in tow. Punk and Heymen had been “best friends” back in the day and Punk agreed to help in exchange for a favor.
Seth Rollins who had turned on Reigns back in the day, had taken issue with Punk returning to the WWE, accusing Punk of trying to take down the company while he was out of it. Only when things were finally good did Punk deign to return. Rollins considers Punk a cancer and a ticking timebomb ready to explode.
Punk, for his part, had a rocky past with the WWE, one of his issues being that he never main-evented WrestleMania even the times he was the champion.
Things finally popped off at the Royal Rumble when Punk simultaneously eliminated Reigns and Rollins. Rollins then proceeded to brutally attack Reigns, taking him out of action for a time. Rollins then set his eyes on Punk and the feud between the two escalated. The two faced off in a cage match when Reigns returned and took out Rollins in revenge. This led to a triple threat match being declared.
Meanwhile, Punk announce that he was calling in his favor. Punk wants Heyman to be in his corner for the match, leaving Reigns with no support for the first time in a long time. Reigns expected Heyman to rebuff Punk but their friendly ties were too strong and Heyman agreed to stand with Punk. Now Reigns feels betrayed. Not to be outdone, Rollins had attacked Punk and had the opportunity to take Heyman out of the picture with a stomp but decided to spare Heyman instead, claiming that Heyman now owed HIM a favor.
Prediction and analysis: Lots of drama to play out in this one. I expect CM Punk to win. He has momentum with the fans, and this can catapult him to a title challenge heading into SummerSlam. Reigns doesn’t need to win and there is plenty of engaging drama still to be mined with the Heyman angle. Then there is Rollins angle, since he is the “WWE corporate guy” I can see him becoming a tool of the Rock if things are going to escalate in that direction so that might be a surprise.
Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso – World Heavyweight Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Jey Uso won the men’s Royal Rumble for the right to main event. I mean, challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship.
In a big surprise, Jey Uso won the Royal Rumble gaining the right to challenge a champion of his choice. While considering his options, the World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther, attacked Jey and reminded him of how their last match turned out (Gunther defeated Jey handily in a previous title defense). In anger, Jey challenged Gunther but was soon beset with doubt. They played into internet discussions about whether or not Jey was worthy of this opportunity. Gunther preyed on this weakness. Things took a turn when Jey’s brother, Jimmy Uso, had a run in with Gunther and a match between the two was set. Gunther beat Jimmy but continued to assault him after the bell. Jey came to make the save but Gunther overpowered him and tied him to the ropes with zip ties. Gunther continued to ravage Jimmy, leaving Jimmy a bloody mess and Gunther bathed in Jimmy’s blood. This cleared any doubt Jey had since now he’s coming for revenge.
Prediction and analysis: Jey wins, or we riot. (This is a joke. Please don’t riot. You can never be too careful these days.)
Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair – WWE Women’s Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Charlotte Flair won the women’s Royal Rumble for the right to main event. I mean, challenge Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship.
Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble and considered who she was going to challenge for the championship. Charlotte settled on Tiffany Straton’s WWE Women’s Championship because, according to her, Charlotte felt sorry for Tiffany. Charlotte was doing Tiffany a favor by letting her wrestle a challenger of Charlotte’s star power. Things kinda went off the rails at that point with ad-libbed promos attacking each other’s personal lives and getting petty.
Prediction and analysis: I’m intrigued by this match as far as the possibility of it turning into a train wreck. Tiffany’s title reign has not set the world on fire (not necessarily her fault, more the dearth of credible opponents). I reckon that losing to Charlotte at this point seems like a vote of no confidence on Tiffany, but I think Flair pulls it off.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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L.A. Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu – WWE United States Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Jacob Fatu defeated Braun Strowman to earn a shot a LA Knight’s WWE United States Championship.
Jacob Fatu and Braun Strowman had been feuding, with both angling to get a shot at LA Knight’s WWE United States Championship. After several derailments due to interference in their matches, it was decided that the winner of a Last Man Standing match would challenge Knight for the title. Fatu was the victorious one.
Prediction and analysis: I would not be surprised if Fatu squashes Knight. The only way I see Knight retaining is if Fatu goes too far and gets disqualified.
Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
Story in a nutshell: Naomi was jealous of Jade Cargill and tried to kill her and now Cargill wants revenge.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill teamed up and won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Naomi began hanging around, helping even up the numbers when Belair and Cargill were threatened by bigger groups. While in a number one contender’s match, a live feed of Jade Cargill’s broken body strewn on a car aired. Belair abandoned the match to check on her partner. Cargill was ruled out of action for the foreseeable future, but Belair and Cargill had a title defense coming up. Naomi offered to take Cargill’s place. Belair came to believe that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were behind the attack and the two teams began to feud leading to Belair and Naomi dropping the titles. At Elimination Chamber, while Morgan and Naomi faced off, Cargill made her return and destroyed Naomi as an unsuspecting Belair watched helplessly from her pod, not understanding the ramifications of what was going on. While Belair won the Chamber match, the victory was bittersweet since instead of celebrating, she was forced to confront Naomi about what happened. Naomi admitted that it was she who attacked Cargill, and that she did it for the Rock, I mean she did it for Belair’s sake, that Cargill was using Belair. As Naomi continued it became apparent that jealousy was the real culprit. Since then. Jade and Naomi have continued their back and forth attacks.
Prediction and analysis: I’m 50-50 on this one. Cargill demolishing Naomi would be fun. Maybe another “went too far” finish. However, this is a fresh heel Naomi so that a reason for her to win with underhanded tactics. I’ll lean towards Naomi, I’d like to see where they could take this.
Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano
Story in a nutshell: Two legend of lucha libre finally meet in the ring as lucha legend Rey Mysterio takes on (lesser known but no less legendary) El Grande Americano.
The real story: Rey Mysterio seeks to expose Chad Gable’s mockery of lucha culture by unmasking him in front of the world.
Chad Gable was having trouble defeating luchador’s so he went on an expedition to become the master of the “lucha arts”. There he claimed to have met the “legendary” El Grande Americano. In reality he got ripped off buying a mask in an alleyway and has created an alter ego to screw with everyone for… reasons?
Prediction and analysis: Don’t think about it too much, it’s a humorous enough sideshow. I expect Rey to win but fail at the unmasking.
Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) vs. New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) – World Tag Team Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston won the match but failed to capture the titles when Erik and Ivar were disqualified for using a chair during the match, leading to this rematch.
Xavier Wood and Kofi Kingston, the New Day, worked their way to a World Tag Team Championship match against Erik and Ivar, The War Raiders. During the match, the New Day attempted to use a chair but the raiders won control of it and used it instead… right in front of the referee. While New Day won, the title only changes hands with a pin or submission, or once, when the respective brand champions switched brands as a result of the draft. However, the victory provided the New Day the leverage to get another shot at WrestleMania.
Prediction and analysis: I had forgotten the titles existed and the Raiders were the champs. Give it to the New Day. See if they could do anything with it.
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