Full WrestleMania 41 Predictions Including John Cena, Cody Rhodes And Roman Reigns

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 Mysterio Vs El Grande Americano

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 Mysterio.

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