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Nine weeks makes for a long road to WrestleMania.
Setting up some matches well in advance allows for an old school, long buildup. Doing so this season will be a nice change of pace for WWE, following the surprisingly rapid and largely forgettable builds to this year‘s SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble.
Wrestlers and writers will have the opportunity to sink their teeth into longer-term storylines and give feuds plenty of time to breathe. If the stories are told well and timed right, anticipation for WrestleMania matchups could be higher than any in recent memory.
Who’s on track to steal the show at WrestleMania and who’s likely to underperform or be relegated to the SmackDown preshow? Let’s take a look.
Rising Star of the Week: Roman Reigns
On paper, Roman has had a lousy year.
The most dominant champion of the modern era in WWE had a losing record in 2025. Since losing in the triple threat match at WrestleMania, the OTC traded winds with Bronson Reid in his only two singles matches before another losing effort at Survivor Series Wargames.
However, when Reigns returned for the first time in months at the Royal Rumble, he was immediately considered a top contender to win. Following his rumble victory, the OTC seems as hot as if 2025 had never happened.
Facing off against the very popular C.M. Punk, himself riding high in a successful reign as WWE champion, Reigns was easily the crowd favorite. Together, the two were successful in framing their upcoming WrestleMania title match as the most important thing on the card.
The OTC’s reputation and star power have a great deal to do with his rapid return to relevance, but we shouldn’t ignore the contribution of his part time schedule. Although Brock Lesnar’s part timer status has been the object of much criticism in the past, frequent long breaks have the benefit of making wrestlers seem fresh upon their return and help viewers forget past failures. This is much of what has allowed Lesnar to remain fresh and important for so long and has helped AJ Lee’s return.
Although fellow part-timer Lesnar made far less of a splash upon his Rumble return, I have no doubt his own WrestleMania build will generate plenty of interest.
Which other aging stars would benefit from lightening their schedule?
Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio, take note.
Runner-up: Cody Rhodes
This is the American Nightmare who we want to see.
Rumor has it Rhodes advocated behind the scenes to drop the title to McIntyre, presumably under the assumption that his character would be more compelling chasing the title than defending it.
All signs point to Rhodes winning the Elimination Chamber and going on to challenge McIntyre at WrestleMania. It will be a challenge to make their feud, so far past it expected shelf life, stay hot and feel special nine weeks from now at WrestleMania. The addition of Jacob Fatu to make a three-way feud, may serve to kill time, but doesn’t do a much on its face to make the feud seem fresh.
Rhodes’ promo on SmackDown was more fired up and exciting than we’ve seen him in nearly a year. Judging by fan response, his enthusiasm was infectious. Losing the title seems to have set a fire under Rhodes: exactly what his character needed to become interesting again.
Rhodes vs. McIntyre may have a steep hill to climb in the road to WrestleMania, but they’re off to an excellent start.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Second Runner up: Liv Morgan
After several years of failed pushes and underachievement, Liv Morgan is a star.
Morgan’s personality practically jumps off the screen. Her rock star swagger reminds me of no one so much as an early-DX heel Shawn Michaels.
Morgan seems to steal any scene she is a part of. Her energy is an excellent counterpoint to Dominic Mysterio‘s laid-back presence.
Not everything is working. Since winning the Rumble, Morgan has repeatedly claimed to be the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. This claim lacks any framing or explanation and has largely fallen flat as a consequence. Still, Morgan has credibility to burn.
In my day job, I’m lucky enough to get to work with kids. Last week, I met an eight-year-old girl in foster care who shared her love of wrestling. Naturally, I asked her who her favorite wrestler is. Although the little girl showed some interest in the heroic Rhea Ripley, she was obsessed with bad-girl Morgan and expressed full confidence that her favorite will win the title soon.
Although she’s had in a number of memorable feuds (most notably against Ripley), Morgan’s mediocre ring skills have prevented her from having memorable matches.
Facing off against technician Stephanie Vaquer might be just what Morgan needs to pull off her first great match and finally earn her WrestleMania moment.
“Watch me?” You bet we will.
Fading Star of the Week: Stephanie Vaquer
A series of forgettable feuds against mid-carders Nikki Bella and Raquel Rodriguez, coupled with a lack of compelling promos, has made Vaquer’s Women’s World Championship title reign seem like an afterthought, particularly when compared to the hotly-contested women’s tag titles.
A Philadelphia street fight against Rodriguez on Raw did nothing to change that perception. Given far too much time, the match was slow and plodding, featuring a number of poorly executed spots. Rodriguez lacks both the personality and the ring skills needed to make a great feud or match with Vaquer.
With La Primera’s title reign nearly on life-support, Vaquer will need every bit of Morgan’s personality and star power to create her first memorable rivalry in WWE.
First Runner-Up: Ilja Dragunov
Dragunov closed 2025 on a career high, having just finished a remarkable 10-week run with the United States Championship featuring a series of amazing open challenge matches in which he defeated a sizable portion the SmackDown men’s roster.
In 2026, The Mad Dragon capitalized on that momentum by moving on to… not much really.
Recent losses to Hayes and Sami Zayn have cooled off Dragunov considerably, and his failure to find a follow-up storyline or feud has moved him to the back burner.
Dragunov’s high-profile success in 2025 might’ve been parlayed into a prominent feud and an important spot on the WrestleMania card. At this point, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Mad Dragon will be involved in an important feud until after WrestleMania season has passed.
Second Runner-Up: El Grande Americano & The Original El Grande Americano (tie)
Nothing says irrelevant like wrestlers fighting over a dead gimmick.
Winning this feud would do little for either competitor. The new heel Americano is played out despite the addition of sidekicks Rayo and Bravo. Having the original Americano take over the gimmick as a babyface hardly seems promising either.
Chad Gable is a remarkable talent both in the ring and on the mic, and deserves far better than wherever this is going.
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