And Now for Something Completely Different: WrestleMania 41 Preview
Since I don't have any movies I feel the need to write about right now, let's delve into another obsession of mine...
WrestleMania 41
April 19-20, 2025
Streaming on Peacock
I’ve followed professional wrestling off and on over the years, and after some time away, I started paying closer attention to WWE around a year and a half ago. I picked a good time to get back into it, because the level of quality is currently pretty high, featuring compelling storylines, interesting conflicts, and some pretty great in-ring action on a consistent basis. It certainly helps that soon after I started watching again, WWE purged some of its most odious elements: Vince McMahon and his various enablers, who were not just morally abhorrent but were engaging in (alleged) sex crimes. I suppose that by watching, I’m still lending monetary support to the McMahon family, who are closely associated with the in-progress downfall of the United States, but at least he’s no longer directly involved in making wrestling worse.
But let’s back up and give a brief overview of professional wrestling and why I’m looking forward to its biggest event of the year: WrestleMania. To me, wrestling at its best functions in a way that’s similar to martial arts movies, which is one of my favorite genres. When characters are given clear, understandable reasons to want to beat each other up, and they then get to express their emotions through physical movements and facial expressions in the midst of pulling off incredible feats of athleticism, something magical can happen. Even though I know it’s all scripted and choreographed, I can become fully engaged and invested in the outcome, ready to suspend my disbelief and either celebrate when the good guy wins or be angry at the dastardly actions of the villains.
Not every moment rises to the level of greatness, and there’s always some stupidity mixed in with the sublime. Fortunately, WWE’s current output mostly gets the ratio right, and their roster of stars includes a wide variety of excellent performers who can not only sell the emotions and conflicts they are experiencing, but also regularly come up with unexpected and astonishing moments of acrobatic wonder or jaw-dropping strength. When I tune in to RAW each week or watch what used to be called “pay-per-views” and are now known as “premium live events,” I can pretty much always count on some moments of excellence, whether they involve death-defying physical feats, over-the-top drama, or ridiculous comedy. It’s a great time to be a wrestling fan.
(And yes, I know that the “real” wrestling fanatics still pooh-pooh WWE in favor of the scrappier AEW or the foreign stylings of New Japan, but I only have so much time to spend on guys in tights each week.)
So, let’s look at the lineup for this year’s WrestleMania:
Saturday:
Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
I haven’t been able to watch Friday Night SmackDown for the last several months after it stopped streaming on Hulu (Monday Night RAW is now on Netflix, so I can get my weekly dose of spandex action there), so I haven’t been able to keep up with the storylines in that half of WWE. However, from what I understand, the “faction” of Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi has collapsed after an unknown person attacked Jade backstage and off-camera, beating her up so bad that she was away recovering from her injuries for a few months (this is a common occurrence in wrestling, usually providing an in-story reason for a performer to take a hiatus). While there were some suspicions that some other villainous characters were responsible for the attack, Jade returned recently and revealed that it was actually Naomi who had injured her. And as always, the way to resolve their dispute is through a wrestling match, which in this case is notable because it’s the first one-on-one women’s match at WrestleMania in which there is no championship on the line.
Jade Cargill is still fairly new to WWE, and while she hasn’t really displayed much in the way of acting chops outside of her ability to be angry, she’s usually pretty good in the ring, serving as a muscular powerhouse who often dominates her opponents. Naomi, on the other hand, is an old pro who has been consistently demonstrating exciting physical abilities for years, so she’ll probably be able to carry Jade through a match that is likely to be pretty good. I’m interested to see if Naomi has gained an edge after her heel turn and how well the two of them will be able to sell the vitriol they’re supposed to have toward each other.
Predicted winner: Jade Cargill, since WWE is still trying to build her up as a rising star.
Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano
This one may require a little bit of explaining. Chad Gable has been a reliable performer for WWE, regularly turning in great matches where his small stature belies his surprising strength. For a long time, he was a good guy, but he made a heel turn around a year ago after repeatedly failing to win the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn, and he started a new faction called American Made that’s known for their villainous patriotism. Most recently, he had been on a losing streak against several Mexican luchadors, so he took a break so he could go learn the secrets of luchadors. When he returned, he was accompanied by an unknown new wrestler sporting a star-spangled luchador mask, although he and this “El Grande Americano” never manage to be in the same place at the same time, and they share many of the same moves, including the very un-luchador-like Ankle Lock submission hold.
El Grande Americano, whose true identity is an open secret except for characters who are scripted to be especially stupid, has become involved in a feud with the veteran luchador Rey Mysterio, who is somehow still coming up with cool acrobatic moves even though he’s almost 50 years old. The two of them should be able to have a fun match that will combine fast-moving jumps and flips with Gable’s more traditional wrestling style.
Predicted winner: Rey Mysterio, who will probably unmask Gable in front of everyone.
United States Championship: LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu
This is a SmackDown matchup that I haven’t paid much attention to, so I’m not sure if there’s an ongoing storyline. LA Knight, the current U.S. Champion, is a generally reliable performer, serving as a beefy guy who’s at least somewhat charismatic. Jacob Fatu is one of the stable of Samoan wrestlers who has been associated with the evil faction The Bloodline, although he may currently be operating on his own. He’s a monster of a wrestler, a guy who seems too large to be able to come up with the wild acrobatic moves he’s known for. Unless they’re setting this up as a “squash match” in which Fatu will totally dominate Knight, I expect this will be a pretty good physical battle.
Predicted winner: Jacob Fatu, who may be being built up as a force to be reckoned with.
World Tag Team Championship: War Raiders vs. The New Day
The WWE has two sets of tag team champions, with this one being featured on RAW. There hasn’t been too much action involving tag teams lately, so this match almost seems like an afterthought. However, everyone involved is pretty good at what they do, with the current champions, the Viking-themed War Raiders, being a dominant physical presence and The New Day, who recently made a heel turn after a decade of being fun-loving goofballs, serving as reliable wrestlers who can usually be counted on to provide some entertainment.
Predicted winners: The New Day, who desperately need to show that they can be strong villains.
WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair
As another SmackDown match, I’m not up on the details of this rivalry, but it seems somewhat misbegotten. Charlotte Flair, daughter of the great Ric Flair, is wrestling royalty, and she was an important part of the reinvention of WWE’s women’s division in the 2010s. But while other women wrestlers have continued to develop in both physical skill and performance abilities, she hasn’t really moved beyond being a haughty, self-impressed character who believes she’s better than anyone else. She was recovering from an injury throughout most of 2024, and when she made her return to win the Royal Rumble in January, it seemed like a victory that was given to her rather than one she had earned.
Tiffany Stratton would seem like a good match for Flair on paper, since she’s probably her clearest successor among the current generation of young women wrestlers. She has the arrogant, self-obsessed character down to a T, and in addition to being great on the mic, she uses her skills as a former gymnast to do some amazing stuff in the ring. Unfortunately, since Charlotte is the heel here, Tiffany seems to have been forced into the good guy (“face”) role, which is not nearly as compelling. Hopefully they’ll be able to overcome this awkward dynamic and push each other to greatness during their match.
Predicted winner: I fear it’s going to be Charlotte, but I’m holding out hope that they’ll let Tiffany keep the championship based on the ways audiences have apparently been booing her opponent mercilessly.
World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs. Jey Uso
This is a match that has suffered due to the long gap between the Royal Rumble in January and WrestleMania in April. The winner of the Royal Rumble gets to have a championship match against an opponent of their choice at WrestleMania, and Jey Uso, a former member of a tag team with his brother Jimmy who has developed into a dynamic and exciting solo wrestler, chose to take on the intimidating Austrian strongman Gunther. Over the past few months, their storyline has dragged on, with Jey unconvincingly claiming he’s scared of Gunther but overcoming his fear after the Austrian took his intimidation tactics too far and beat Jey’s brother Jimmy bloody in front of him. But even though I’m ready for this match to happen already, I’m hoping it will be good, since Gunther is a workhorse of a wrestler who has a proven ability to make a match with nearly any opponent exciting and interesting.
Predicted winner: I think they’ve gotta give it to Uso, since Gunther has kind of fizzled as World Heavyweight Champion, and Jey is ready to get a singles championship as a capstone to a long and enjoyable career
Triple Threat Match: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk
This is an interesting “main event” match to close out the first night of WrestleMania, since it’s not for a championship; it’s just three guys who really dislike each other. CM Punk returned to WWE in late 2023 after he walked away from the company 10 years prior, and he’s a fan-favorite who many were ecstatic to see come back (full disclosure: his return was what got me started watching WWE again, since he was one of my favorites back in the early 2010s). Seth Rollins, who had risen to the top of WWE’s ranks in Punk’s absence, was less-than-enthused about his return (including in real life, if rumors are to be believed). And Roman Reigns, who had been a dominant heel champion for several years before finally being defeated by Cody Rhodes at last year’s WrestleMania, has a history with them both. There’s a lot to like about the idea of throwing them all together and having them take their emotions out on each other physically.
However, they’ve tried to build up a bunch of additional storyline reasons for them to fight, some of which are less than convincing. Paul Heyman, who has served as a “manager” character for multiple wrestlers over the years, has been the “Wise Man” of Roman’s faction The Bloodline, always proclaiming his devotion to his “Tribal Chief.” However, one of those wrestlers he managed in the past was CM Punk, and they’re now trying to claim that the two of them are best friends. To rile up Reigns, Punk called in a favor that he was owed, forcing Heyman to be in his corner during the match instead of supporting Roman. As they’ve fought over this issue, Rollins has refused to stand by quietly, and he’s now claiming that this is the most important match ever (which is the usual rhetoric used leading up to big matches at WrestleMania), and the winner will define the future of the company.
All of this seems like much more detail than is necessary. I would prefer if they just stripped things down to the basics: these guys don’t like each other, so they’re going to fight about it. Hopefully that’s what all of this sturm und drang will boil down to once they get into the ring.
Predicted winner: Maybe Punk? He seems to be more popular than ever, and maybe a win here will push him into the Championship scene in the coming months.
Sunday:
AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
As loathsome a person as Logan Paul is, he’s turned out to be a surprisingly good wrestler, possibly because he has leaned in to his status as a guy who everybody hates and turned that into being a heel who luxuriates in his all-around shittiness. It helps that he’s a pretty dynamic performer who can usually be counted on to do something jaw-dropping. While their feud has been kind of perfunctory, he should make a good match with AJ Styles, who has a similar penchant for acrobatic physical movements as well as a sense that he’s old and wise enough to avoid falling for any devious tricks. If they can come up with some cool moves and do their best to sell a basic rivalry, this should be entertaining enough.
Predicted winner: AJ Styles, unless they decide they’re going to give Paul a push in the coming months (but I hope not, since I prefer for acolytes of our current heel-in-chief to have a losing record).
Sin City Street Fight: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
This is another SmackDown feud that I’m not fully up to date on, but I know enough about the guys involved that I can get the gist of it. Damian Priest usually works well as a big, tough guy, although it seems like he may have lost some of his edge after being ousted from the villainous faction The Judgment Day. Drew McIntyre, on the other hand, is one of the most interesting characters in WWE, serving as a guy who has all the tools for success but is constantly stymied by his pathological inability to ever get past his ever-growing list of petty grievances against pretty much everyone. I’m not sure if McIntyre is still upset with Priest for stealing the World Heavyweight Championship from him at last year’s WrestleMania or if he has something new to be upset about, but either way, it’s likely that the two of them will put on a good match, and since it’s a street fight, it has the potential to get pretty violent.
Predicted winner: Drew McIntyre, I guess.
Intercontinental Championship Fatal Four-Way Match: Bron Breakker vs. Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor
This one may be interesting from both a wrestling and storyline perspective. The current Intercontinental Champion, Bron Breakker, doesn’t have much of a character beyond being super intense, in the style of a lunkheaded football player who can purge all rational thought from his brain in order to single-mindedly focus on running into opponents as hard as possible. His main move is the spear, which requires his opponents to stand stupidly in one place while he runs back and forth to build up speed until he can do a flying tackle. He was fine as a heel who wanted to just beat up everybody in sight, but he’s sort of made a face turn after being targeted by The Judgment Day, and this has caused him to become kind of boring.
Breakker’s intensity in the ring is well-matched by Penta, a dynamic luchador who made his WWE debut earlier this year, although he was far from unknown, having been one of the highlights of the short-lived promotion Lucha Underground and also being part of AEW for a while. He’s been tons of fun, turning in one entertaining match after another. Even if this match was just Penta and Breakker, it would likely be very enjoyable.
However, the storyline complications come from the other two people involved, who are both members of The Judgment Day. This would seem to give them an advantage, since they could team up with each other, but their group may be close to breaking down, since Finn Bálor has struggled to attain much success lately and also seems to be tiring of Dominik Mysterio and his other teammates. This match may turn out to be the breaking point.
Predicted winner: Maybe Finn Bálor? He could turn on Dominik during the match in order to achieve victory. On the other hand, Dominik may cause him to lose the match, which could be the reason for The Judgment Day’s breakdown, in which case Bron Breakker will probably retain.
Women’s Tag Team Championship: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria
I expect this will be another good match, based solely on how good Bayley and Lyra Valkyria have been lately. They had a hell of a match a few weeks ago for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, with Lyra only barely prevailing, then they went on to team up and win a gauntlet match, allowing them to challenge the current Women’s Tag Team Champions. They’re both excellent wrestlers, with Bayley being a veteran and Lyra serving as one of the best of the younger generation.
As for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, they make a pretty good team, although they’re often better when Morgan is involved in Judgment Day-related shenanigans and Rodriguez acts as her enforcer. It’s possible that they could lose here, providing another reason for the impending breakdown of The Judgment Day. Or maybe not, since I’m not sure what exactly is being done with Bayley character-wise. She has kind of floundered since making a face turn a year ago, and this match could serve as a reason for her to turn back to the dark side, either due to a loss or at a later date when her relationship with Lyra turns sour.
Predicted winners: I’ll go with Morgan and Rodriguez, since Lyra Valkyria probably doesn’t need to hold two championships at once.
Women’s World Championship Triple Threat Match: Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
This is likely to be one of the highlights of the entire weekend, since these three are the cream of the crop of the women’s division. Iyo Sky provides exciting acrobatics and is a good enough wrestler to stand up to just about anyone. Bianca Belair is one of the most athletic women in WWE, performing feats of strength that are nearly unparalleled and regularly blowing minds with what she’s able to do. Rhea Ripley has been a powerhouse in both her in-ring dominance and her character work; she’s a force to be reckoned with. They’re all amazing, and they all work well together, so seeing them throw each other around the ring is likely to be an incredible experience.
The only thing I’m unsure about here is the face/heel dynamics. Iyo is a part of the faction Damage CTRL, which has been evil in the past but hasn’t really done anything villainous for a while. Lately, she has mostly focused on just being awesome in the ring. Ripley made a sort of face turn after being betrayed by her former group The Judgment Day, but she has been hovering between good and bad, mostly playing the role of someone who is so assured of her excellence that she has become arrogant and allowed that to trip her up. It’s rumored that Bianca is going to make a heel turn, but that hasn’t happened yet. This match might serve to solidify all three women’s standing in terms of good and evil, but whatever happens, I expect it’s going to be awesome.
Predicted winner: Wow, it’s hard to say. I’ll go with Bianca Belair, with the match serving as an opportunity for a heel turn so she can have a reign as a villainous champion.
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena
Earlier this year, WWE did the unthinkable and had John Cena turn heel. This is something that fans had been saying should happen for years, since he spent most of his career serving as a cheeseball good guy who embodied some weird ideas about masculinity and patriotism and almost never lost unless a bad guy found some way to cheat. It wouldn’t be too hard to tweak his persona just a little bit and make him an arrogant asshole who believed he was better than everybody else, but it seemed like it would never happen due to his ongoing popularity as a beloved hero for younger members of the audience.
When Cena announced last year that he would be retiring from wrestling after a year-long farewell tour in 2025, it seemed like we would get more of his usual schtick until he rode off into the sunset. But then he shocked the world by attacking the current champion Cody Rhodes (who seems to be his successor as the upstanding hero beloved by children) at the behest of The Rock, who currently serves as WWE’s corporate villain. Since then, Cena has done some fascinating work, delivering speeches about the reasons for his actions that have had a ring of truth to them. He has complained about his frustrations with the ways fans have always tried to force him to fit their preconceptions of what his character should be but have never been satisfied with what he does. However, in true heel fashion, he took things a few degrees too far, turning his believable grievances into reasons to question the character of every wrestling fan and going so far as to attack the kids who continued to cheer for him despite his recent actions. It’s been pretty interesting to watch, and he’s so good at playing the crowd that he can milk these moments for every single last boo that the people have in them.
Cena has pledged to win the championship, becoming the most-awarded champion in WWE history, and then immediately retire, walking away with the belt and ruining the dreams of every wrestler who wants to follow in his footsteps. Cody Rhodes, who is always a reliable performer and who has done fine work in his year-long run as champion, has pledged to stop him, of course, so all of this will make for some nice drama to close out the biggest event of the year.
Predicted winner: I think Cena has got to win it, creating the conundrum of what to do to coax him back into the ring so that the championship won’t be lost forever.
Whew, I think that’s everything, unless they decide to add another match or two at the last minute (wasn’t Randy Orton supposed to face off against Kevin Owens?). This is looking like it will be a good event, and while I think I know what’s going to happen in certain matches, I’m sure I’ll be surprised several times over. No matter what happens, I’ll be happy as long as they give me some good wrestling action.