WrestleMania 42 Saturday – Night 2 – PPV Preview & Predictions: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi, Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley, Ladder Match, Sami vs. Trick

WrestleMania 42 will be spread across two nights on April 18 and April 19, 2025. It will emanate from Las Vegas, Nev. in Allegiant Stadium… again.

Night 2

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Oba Femi debuted for the WWE and had essentially an open challenge so he can establish his dominance. He easily dispatched anyone who crossed his path.

Paul Heyman said that there was speculation about who Brock Lesnar would face at WrestleMania and that no one had the courage to challenge him. Heyman revealed when Lesnar would make his next appearances and welcomed anyone to challenge Lesnar.
Oba Femi took on the challenge and got the better of Lesnar. Since then, the story has been whether or not Lesnar has met his match in Oba Femi.

Prediction and analysis: Billed by Paul Heyman as the “true” main event of WrestleMania, this is the most hyped match of WrestleMania. Heyman did drop his “spoiler” line, but this can be the time his streak breaks. If the plan is to push Oba straight into the main event scene, a route I’d welcome, then he should beat, if not dominate Lesnar. If the plan is a slower boil for Oba, then Lesnar can win by the skin of his teeth.

C.M. Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns – World Heavyweight Championship match

Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble match to earn the right to challenge for the championship of his choice at WrestleMania. World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk, cut a promo, urging Reigns to choose the other champion which would be an easier path. Punk took credit for Reigns’s career success since Punk is the one that brought him into the main roster as a member of the Shield (which is Punk at his gaslighting best as he wanted Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero for that spot, but management overruled him). Reigns, who had interrupted Punk’s promo, countered that when Punk was looking for a job after ruining things at his previous employer, WWE asked Reigns if it was okay to bring Punk in. While Reigns said that he had been respectful to Punk, he still hated him. Reigns went over how Punk caused Paul Heyman to betray him. Then it was a series of petty back and forth with Punk claiming that Reigns was a part timer while Reigns called Punk old. Ultimately, they both admitted that their animosity was based of self-centered jealousy. Punk was jealous of Reigns having been lucky to have been born into the business which opened a lot of doors Punk had to fight especially hard to get through, and how easy it seemed for Reigns, and how frustrated it made Punk when Reigns finally made it click. Reigns, for his part, was jealous of the connection Punk had with the fans who still chanted Punk’s name years after he quit wrestling. Coming to an understanding, Reigns declared that nostalgia time is over and that he’s back as the Tribal Chief.

Prediction and analysis: I omitted some talk where this feud crossed over with the Rhodes/Orton feud via Pat McAfee, where there was talk of tickets not being sold as it wasn’t focused on in this feud. However, if the WWE wants to move more tickets, more Roman Reigns dates would help so I’ve got Reigns winning.

Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley, WWE Women’s Championship match

Rhea Ripley won the women’s Elimination Chamber match for the right to challenge WWE Women’s Champion, Jade Cargill at WrestleMania. Similar to many backstories to the matches at WrestleMania, part of their backgrounds was used as story fodder to explain why these two women don’t like each other. It was a dream for Rhea Ripley to become a wrestler, and she worked hard at it, while Jade Cargill came into wrestling as one of several career paths available to her and she only cares about the money and prestige. Also, Jade recruited two rivals in Michin and B-Fab which caused Rhea’s friend Iyo Sky to also get involved.

Prediction and analysis: So, they’ve pushed the friendship between Iyo and Rhea so hard that it is pretty obvious that, in wrestling speak, one is turning on the other. When, who knows. Jade is another who seems to not have received the push you’d think is commensurate with her title (although there are likely many reasons for that). If you have faith in Jade, and since the tag team situation is likely to be settled soon freeing up some faces to feud with Jade, I say keep the title on Jade. Otherwise, it’s a cut bait situation. Personally, I’d stick with Jade. While she hasn’t lit the world on fire, her reign has not been as counterproductive as Tiffany’s.

Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams, WWE United States Championship match

While there have been a lot of individual story beats in this feud, the gist of this feud is simple. Ever since Trick Williams debuted, there has been a disrespectful air about him which was called out by Sami Zayn. Trick disrespected Sami and said he doesn’t want the advice of someone who has been floundering in his career, unable to win big matches. The disrespect, and the fact that Trick’s word rang true has led Sami to take some uncharacteristically selfish actions, leading to him winning the WWE United State Championship so he had a chance to wrestle at WrestleMania. His opponent… Trick Williams.

Prediction and analysis: The crowd seems unhappy with Sami’s selfish turn. The setting is ripe for a double turn with Sami going full on face and Trick face. I think Sami wins in a disreputable way.

The Demon vs. Dominik Mysterio

Ever since God said “let there be light” the Judgment Day has teased dissention in their ranks. That may be an extreme hyperbole, but it has been going on for years now. Ultimately, things came to a head after Finn Balor challenged CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship during their European tour. Punk awakened in Balor his “fighting spirit”. He has been pushing for more “fair play” in his and Judgment Day matches, especially Dominik Mysterios’s matches. Judgment Day wasn’t playing ball and turned on Balor, excommunicating him from the group (somewhere Edge smiled). Being outnumbered, Balor announced he would bring back his Demon persona when he faced Dominik at WrestleMania.

Prediction and analysis: The Demon should make short work of Dom.

Penta (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Je’Von Evans vs. JD McDonagh vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev, WWE Intercontinental Championship Six-pack Ladder match

And we come to the “let’s get as many people on the card as possible match in a, hopefully, entertaining match. Basically, Penta wanted to defend his title against as many people as possible in a ladder match because he’s crazy.

Prediction and analysis: Some people are going to do some crazy high-flying stunts with Rusev there to break the monotony, and Penta will win.