Now that the dust has settled from the craziest main event of all time and WWE’s year has essentially started over, a lot of winners and losers from WrestleMania 40 find themselves looking toward the future and the next Showcase of the Immortals. Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns, and others who appeared on the shockingly great wrestling show all find themselves in different stages in their respective stories and careers, and now it’s time to figure out what comes next…
So, with Wrestlemania 41 (which doesn’t have a location at the time of this writing) less than a year away, now seems like the perfect time to take a look at a dozen or so high-profile WWE stars and see what the future holds for them in the Triple H era.
Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes finally finished the story at WrestleMania 40 when he defeated Roman Reigns to claim the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a match none of us will soon forget. But what’s next for the American Nightmare?
Though it seems like his business with The Rock is finished (for now), we’re not sure about the rest of the Bloodline, especially the Tribal Chief. Surely there will be some kind of rematch at the upcoming WWE Backlash before Rhodes starts the next stage of his title run.
Rhea Ripley
With Roman Reigns and Gunther (more on both later) losing their respective titles at WrestleMania 40, Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is the longest-reigning current champ in WWE. With the Judgment Day looking better than ever, the company should build around Ripley for the foreseeable future and continue her title run for at least the next 12 months.
I don’t see anyone coming close to taking the belt off of Ripley until Jade Cargill is ready for an opportunity. That should be the WrestleMania 41 main event.
Roman Reigns
If Roman Reigns wanted to take the next six months off, no one would hold it against him. But the former Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, who had the company’s longest title reign in nearly 40 years, doesn’t look like he’s going to be slowing down anytime soon.
Two days after losing his belt to Cody Rhodes, Reigns took to Twitter to share a short clip of himself back in the gym along with a caption reading: “Yesterday I mourned. Today is Day 1.”
Bayley
WWE’s women’s division has improved exponentially over the last decade and one of the main reasons for that is Bayley. Well, now can call her WWE Women’s Champion Bayley, as the beloved star finally got revenge against Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 40.
It’s all but guaranteed that these two will have some kind of rematch at Backlash in early May, but after that, I could see Bayley going on one hell of a run as a babyface champion once again.
Jade Cargill
Ever since making her incredible WWE debut at the 2024 Royal Rumble, Jade Cargill has been one of the biggest stars in WWE, and she’s barely even wrestled. Well, the former AEW star got to show off her skills on the grandest stage of them all in a dominant showing at WrestleMania 40, and this is just the beginning.
Cargill should main event WrestleMania 41 with Rhea Ripley in what could be an iconic Women’s World Championship match. However, that’s a year from now. I expect Cargill will go on a massive run throughout the summer, gaining victories over everyone who crosses her path.
Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair has had some of the best matches in recent WrestleMania history, and there’s no doubt the “EST of WWE” will once again find herself in the main event of the Showcase of the Immortals at some point soon. Her six-woman match at WrestleMania 40 could set a path for the former WWE Women’s Champion moving forward.
I would love for Belair to continue working with Jade Cargill and Naomi, as the trio of electric stars looked amazing at Mania and during its build. Ideally, this would continue for a few months and then lead to a match with Cargill later this summer or fall.
The Rock
After enjoying his run as the Final Boss throughout much of 2024, The Rock put on a killer match during the first night of WrestleMania 40, and made another appearance in the Avengers: Endgame finale the next night. But as Dwayne Johnson told Cody Rhodes on Raw after ‘Mania, he’s going away for a bit.
When The Rock does eventually return, it’s all but guaranteed that he will have some kind of match with the American Nightmare to settle their beef once and for all.
Seth 'Freakin' Rollins
Seth “Freakin” Rollins spent much of the last year as the fighting World Heavyweight Champion. Now that his reign is over and he saved Cody Rhodes from the Bloodline, Sollins appears to be taking some time off, per Fightful.
Rollins is more than deserving of a break, even if he didn’t have a legitimate knee injury, and so it’ll probably be a few months before we see him again. I could see him coming for Rhodes and the Undisputed title but I could also see him feuding with Roman Reigns to continue that story.
Damian Priest
Damian Priest became Senor World Heavyweight Champion after cashing in his contract at WrestleMania 40. And while I don’t know if WWE needs another long reign for its newest world title, we’ll probably get a great run from the Judgment Day member.
It looks like Priest will defend his WHC belt against Jey Uso as his first title defense, but it wouldn’t be surprising if this leads to Drew McIntyre entering the picture for some revenge.
Gunther
Gunther’s historic Intercontinental Championship reign came to a shocking end when Sami Zayn pulled off the impossible at WrestleMania. Now, for the first time in nearly two years, the Ring General is without the IC strap around his waist.
As much as I would love to see Gunther take back the IC title, he is clearly going to move on to bigger and better things like the World Heavyweight Championship. With Bash at Berlin coming in August, the Austrian phenom could become the champ soon.
Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn captured the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time at WrestleMania 40, and this could very well be his most memorable run yet.
Zayn’s first order of business will more than likely be a program with Chad Gable, who I have a sneaking suspicion will turn on his friend after not being chosen to take on Gunther at ‘Mania. These two wrestlers, with their dynamic styles, could make for a great program this summer.
Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre held the World Heavyweight Championship for all of five minutes before Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Though he’s not the number one contender for the title, I don’t think that’s going to stop the Scottish warrior from coming at the champ.
However, expect to see McIntyre pick up his feud with CM Punk, who cost him his title at ‘Mania and with whom he has had beef since the Royal Rumble. This has SummerSlam co-main event written all over it.
CM Punk
CM Punk, who, despite being injured since the Royal Rumble, has remained a fixture of WWE TV in recent months. I’m still not sure how long he’ll be out of action, but his post-match beatdown on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40 has me thinking sooner rather than later.
Perhaps he will have another Summer of Punk once the brace comes off for good.
It’s an exciting time for these wrestlers and everyone else involved with WWE, and fans have never had it better. Now it’s time to watch it all unfold at the various upcoming WWE events streaming for anyone with a Peacock subscription.
