It took a little while for it to feel like WrestleMania season this year. The build was lackluster and aimless. That is a likely reason, along with high ticket prices, why ticket sales are slow.

Unlike previous years, when we had angles like Cody Rhodes quest to finish his story, angst among the Bloodline, or the John Cena retirement tour, there was no long-term storytelling to be found this year.

We have two inevitable main events, Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk. Yet they were both thrown together following the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber. There was an opportunity to plant seeds for both matches a long time ago, but the WWE leaned on the familiar creative trap of just using the winners of the two PLE’s headed into WrestleMania as the main event participants.

Both storylines are leaning heavily into worked-shoot territory. Reigns and Punk dropped “pipe bombs” on each other, and both Rhodes and Punk took subtle shots at WWE executives and high WrestleMania ticket prices.

This may have spiced things up a tad among the Internet Wrestling Community marks, but don’t fall for any of it. Everything they are saying is heavily scripted. Cody Rhodes didn’t come out on his own and cut a promo on the CEO of TKO. He was following orders. There are two dead giveaways. First, Cody isn’t going to go out and get himself fired for going off script, and second, it’s professional wrestling. Go watch WWE Unreal on Netflix if you don’t believe me.

We were thrown a strange Pat McAfee heel turn, and a return of the recently retired John Cena as WrestleMania host. A handful of outsiders were brought in. Jelly Roll is a major celebrity tie-in, and IShowSpeed is a YouTuber popular (I guess) with kids.

This gives the event a bit of an elevated feeling. But if this WrestleMania is going to deliver it must be exciting from start to finish on both nights and provide unexpected moments. Too bad they already used the Paul Heyman double-heel turn last year. Here are my expert predictions for both nights.

WrestleMania 42 Saturday

The Vision (Logan Paul and Austin Theory) and IShowSpeed (with Paul Heyman) vs. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and LA Knight in a Six-man tag team match.

This is a great choice to kick off WrestleMania 42. It will be broadcast on the basic ESPN tier so expect the WWE to go all out to book this match strongly.

There is an amusing story about the non-wrestler IShowSpeed accidentally becoming a heel and being forced to team with The Vision. Logan Paul and Austin Theory have heat with the fans, and they’re taking on three of the most popular wrestlers on the roster today. Expect athleticism, humor, and high spots throughout the match. After his masterful performance at WrestleMania 41, expect Paul Heyman to attempt to upstage last year’s effort.

Prediction: Winners, The Vision and IShowSpeed

Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre in an Unsanctioned match

This match will also air on the basic ESPN tier. Drew and Jacob are two of the most interesting characters on the WWE roster, and the story behind this match is compelling.

They have been feuding for over six months. Jacob believes that Drew attacked him backstage at Smackdown last year, an accusation which Drew denies. We still don’t know if Drew is telling the truth or not, but they’ve attacked each other so many times since then, this match had an Unsanctioned stipulation attached to it. I would expect these stiff workers to perform some very creative and dangerous looking spots that take place both in and out of the ring.

Prediction: Winner, Jacob Fatu

Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan in a singles match for the Women’s World Championship

Stephanie Vauer and Liv Morgan are two of the bright spots on an otherwise dark women’s WWE roster. Vaquer is a solid in-ring worker and she works the crowd very well. Liv doesn’t have much credibility as a wrestler due to her size, but she makes up for it with strong heel work. They cut some good backstage segments over the past month to build heat for this match. If you are a fan of women’s matches, this is the one to keep an eye on.

Prediction: Winner and new Women’s World Champion, Liv Morgan

AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch in a singles match for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship

For every complement I paid the previous match, I can give twice as many reasons why this one will absolutely suck.

WWE fans have very short memories. AJ Lee was absolutely horrible when she retired ten years ago. Her promos were cringeworthy and she could barely work a three-minute match. Interestingly enough, it’s hard to improve at something by taking ten years off from doing it. She is just as terrible as she always was.

It will be up to Becky to carry everything about this match. She is a veteran of a WrestleMania main event, so maybe she has enough juice to make this a passable match. I wouldn’t count on it.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Becky Lynch

The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend) (c) vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) in a Fatal four-way tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

I’ll present this one in stream of conciseness format. Charlotte Flair is wasted in this mess of a match. Nia Jax is stealthily one of the top five women on the WWE roster. The Bella Twins can’t wrestle or talk, they’re only in the Hall of Fame because they are were hot twins. Lyra Valkyria is an unsafe worker who folds under pressure. Who thought it would be a good idea to have three women’s matches in one night? This match is going to be bowling shoe-ugly.

Prediction: Winners and still WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Irresistible Forces

Seth Rollins vs. Gunther

Hey look at that, a singles match pitting two of the best wrestlers in the business today that doesn’t need a stipulation to make it interesting. Now if only it had an interesting storyline behind it.

I can only theorize that this match was thrown together at the last minute because it was unclear if Seth Rollins would be medically cleared to compete after sustaining a rough shoulder injury at WWE Crown Jewel in 2025. The boilerplate conflict based on the “I need to prove that I’m a better wrestler than you” motivation they have for this match is creatively lazy.

Maybe there’s more to the outcome of this match than meets the eye. Guenther certainly is going to move forward with his demand that Paul Heyman owes him something down the line after Guenther saved Heyman from a near-attack by Rollins. But on Saturday, this has a chance to be the best match of the night, maybe of the whole weekend.

Prediction: Winner, Guenther

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton (with Pat McAfee) in a singles match for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and if Orton loses, McAfee will leave the professional wrestling industry permanently

Got all that? This could have been a much simpler story, but it’s taken some strange turns since Randy Orton was the surprise winner of WWE Elimination Chamber.

It started with Cody Rhodes giving Randy Orton to be himself in their match, absolving The Viper of any responsibility for whatever brutality he may unleash on Rhodes. Right on cue, Orton kicked Rhodes in the clackers and became a heel. Or so we thought.

In the weeks following, the live crowds would boo Cody and cheer Randy, no matter how much of a jerk he behaved like. It looked like the Cody Crybabies from two years ago suddenly decided they were done with their hero. This was probably not the reception anybody expected.

Then WWE inserted Pat McAfee into the feud to take Randy’s side and cut several worked-shoot promos about the state of the business. It really made no sense, and it still doesn’t. This story would have been fine without Pat.

Either way, there is a lot of potential for this to be a classic match. Rhodes and Orton are WrestleMania veterans who will want to cement their legacies with this match. But what I think would work well here is a double turn. If Cody gets his hand raised in that manner, it would be an unforgettable WrestleMania moment.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes

WrestleMania 42 Sunday

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Oba Femi is a rookie sensation. The behemoth connected with the audience immediately and the fans can’t get enough of him. He is strong on the microphone, and he is an imposing physical specimen. He was booked strongly in this story, having gotten the upper hand against Brock in every interaction they’ve had. This will be a banger to lead off night two.

Prediction: Winner, Brock Lesnar

Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rusev vs. Rey Mysterio in a six-pack ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Well, they had to get all these guys on the show somehow. Cue the traditional WrestleMania six-pack ladder match. Five of the six competitors in this match are high-flyers. The other guy is the underachieving Rusev. This will be a forgettable match.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE Intercontinental Champion, Je’Von Evans

Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley in a singles match for the WWE Women’s Championship

Jade Cargill sucks. Rhea Ripley has been saddled with a terrible best friend storyline with Iyo Sky, who was fortunately left off the card. At least this gives Rhea something else to do.
Prediction: Winner and new WWE Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley

Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams (with Lil Yachty) in a singles match for the WWE United States Championship

Much like the Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton situation, the crowd is treating the babyface (Sami Zayn) like a heel and treating the heel (Trick Williams) like the babyface. I’m not sure exactly why, but I think Sami should lean into it. He does his best work as a heel anyway.

Trick isn’t ready for a babyface run yet; he should stick with his current persona for a while. But he’s an exciting young talent and he should be ready for this moment.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE United States Champion, Trick Williams

“The Demon” Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio

Like Saturday night, the semi-main event is a singles match without a stipulation. This one has a much better storyline lead-in. These former Judgement Day stablemates split up and their animosity runs deep.

It remains a mystery to me why they revealed that Finn would return to his Demon character ahead of time, it would have made for a fun surprise. Nonetheless, his opponent Dirty Dom will certainly have some tricks up his sleeve and will probably cheat better than anybody on the card.

Prediction: Winner, Dominik Mysterio

CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns in a singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

When CM Punk returned to the WWE, it was a foregone conclusion he would face Reigns at WrestleMania. It took several years to get here, but we’re finally going to see what these two can do together at a WrestleMania main event.

The days of the CM Punk “pipe bomb” being interesting are long past, but these two traded enough personal barbs over the past few weeks on Raw to build a good amount of animosity ahead of this matchup.

I don’t expect much chicanery or outside interference in this match as there weren’t any additional players attached to the storyline. Unlike Saturday’s main event, the WWE let this one stand with just the two competitors in the match.

Punk has wanted this spot for long enough, and Roman has been in this spot more than anyone in WrestleMania history. If this match isn’t remembered as a classic, they’ll have nobody by themselves to blame.

Prediction: Winner and new World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns

What Else?

Although John Cena is back in the WWE as the WrestleMania 42 host, I wouldn’t expect him to get physically involved in a match. There would be no long-term payoff so it wouldn’t make sense. Maybe he’ll do a comedy bit or land an AA on a superstar who wasn’t booked on the show.

A wildcard could be Danhausen. What if he curses someone and causes them to lose?

Jelly Roll was featured plenty of times on TV in the Rhodes vs. Orton storyline. One would have to imagine he will find his way onto the show on Saturday.

The biggest question I have is why are there seven matches on Saturday, but only six on Sunday. Does this mean they’re going to run Sunday’s main event for a full hour? Or are they planning to add a match or some other encounter that would fill in the missing time?

Anyway, the possibilities are endless. All I really want to do at this point is sit back and enjoy the show.