WWE WrestleMania 41 (Night One) Preview and Predictions

While not a 10/10 affair, last year's WrestleMania in Philadelphia felt like a largely satisfying closing arc for WWE, with a slew of great matches and moments capped off by Cody Rhodes claiming the WWE World Championship over Roman Reigns in an Avengers Endgame-level encounter. The stakes for WrestleMania 41 aren't as high overall, which is far from a knock, but there seems to be an apparent drop-off in interest from last year to this year.

Excluding the covid affected WrestleMania 36 and 37 held at the WWE Performance Center and Raymond James Stadium respectively, things are trending to these two nights of action being the least attended stadium Mania's since the full time switch to stadium venues starting with 2007's WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, with the possibility of both nights becoming the two least attended stadium 'Mania's in company history below 2003's event in Seattle still being on the table. It's worth noting that the setup in Allegiant Stadium is only in the 54,500-seat range, but it is notable that neither night is sold out with 24 hours before night one, given how hot WWE has been since the beginning of 2024.

Poor/Inconsistent booking is a factor, a "heat check" with ticket prices likely being another, but the bottom line is that the World Wrestling Federation isn't exactly blazing into Sin City at this juncture. Sure, a majority of these matches are good on paper and will almost certainly deliver, but they lack that extra feel of WrestleMania feuds of years past, and week-to-week booking has been bad as it's been since Triple H took over, which hasn't helped much. That said, this is a card still worth looking forward to, and here's the run sheet for night one.

Gunther vs. Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship

Jey Uso's Royal Rumble win back in January was the cause of a lot of ire among some fans who would've preferred John Cena win his fourth Rumble match, but my retort would be this: Who would've benefited more from that match win at this stage? To me, it's Jey Uso, and it's not even particularly close. I think there are some valid criticisms of his in-ring ability compared to those on WWE's top rung, but he's a great promo when you take away all of the YEET stuff and get him to be a bit more serious, he was the backbone of a ton of great moments in the Bloodline saga, and live crowds still adore him.

Where they went wrong in Uso's build with Gunther was, first, having him take a pinfall loss to Gunther seven days prior to his Rumble victory, then having him take a side quest feud with A-Town Down Under that felt like filler to a painful degree. Where things picked up was the Jimmy Uso bludgeoning segment a few weeks ago, where Jey, tied to the ropes with zip ties, had to helplessly watch Gunter say to him as he's ragdolling and choking out his brother, saying, and I quote, "Get closer!!! Get closer!!! You P*ssy."

The face-to-face promo with the two a week later and then Gunther's promo on the go-home Raw were also huge highlights that have positioned this as one of the better builds going into the weekend. Gunther is an all-world performer among all-world performers by every metric, and as much as I think he could hold this belt till the sun burns out, I'm perfectly fine not seeing this run overstay its welcome like Roman Reigns did after Mania 39. I expected this to be the opener coming into this week, and it appears that'll be the case, which would make sense to get Jey Uso in front of a hot crowd for his big moment—definitely a make-or-break here, though, for him. I can't imagine another singles match stinker at 'Mania would quiet his critics any, especially with one of WWE's best workers.

Winner: Jey Uso

Rey Mysterio vs. "Definitely Not Chad Gable" El Grande Americano

Rey Mysterio still being an exceptional talent at his age, and after all of the injuries he's accumulated throughout the course of his career, should be the single best argument for the use of stem cells on earth. Seriously, we need to get Hiroshi Tanahashi linked up with Mysterio's guy and extend his career by another 15 years. In any case, the concept of Chad Gable taking a multi week leave of absense to "go" to Mexico at the behest of Dominik Mysteriro to meet up with a shady man behind a convience story (my head cannon is that it was either Hector Guerrero or old Mysterio rival Psicosis), to give him a luchador mask as a way to "learn the dark arts of Lucha Libre" is one of the more interesting angle starters in recent memory.

Now, I will mention that wrestling fans in Mexico are legitimately not thrilled with this angle and do make some fair points. Namely, the "El Grande Americano" name isn't even proper Spanish for starters, in addition to the fact that Gable's new gimmick being billed from "The Gulf of America" hasn't exactly gone over well with many, which WWE gave in and changed that. Also not helping things out was the blatant usage of AI in promo package material for this gimmick, which got called out as it aired live on RAW. You understand the frustration with the idea that WWE is legitimately mocking Lucha Libre and Mexican culture here, especially when WWE has positioned ex-IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and ex-CMLL Welterweight Champion Dragon Lee as nothing more than Rey's lackey ever since he got called up from NXT.

As far as this match goes, you could sell me on Chad Gable wrestling a giant stuffed animal, and I'll never say no to Rey Mysterio at this juncture. My guess is that Gable wins via shenanigans, then ends up getting demasked in a post-match angle.

Winner: Chad Gable

The New Day vs. The War Raiders for the World Tag Team Championships

While the New Day's Heel Turn was one of the best-executed segments WWE has produced in years, and fans have zero issues booing Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods out of the building every week, I can't help but feel like things have been downhill ever since. Sure, some of the town hall segments have been fun, but you can only carry the momentum from that segment for so long, and it's felt like they could've done more to cement Kofi and Woods coming into Mania. In short, this one feels like one of the least important matches on this card, with 100% of that blame going on creative.

I'm also a bit shocked no stipulation has been added here just yet, especially after implying there might be on Monday, but this Saturday's slate could use a plunder match, and this would have been the one I would've burned it on. Let the Raiders go out on their shield in a fun 10-15 demo derby tag match and set up what should be a solid-length New Day title run where they hopefully heat them up even more.

Winners: The New Day

LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu for the United States Championship

WWE's United States Championship hasn't ever really matched up to the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship, and its reigns, like former Champion Shinsuke Nakamura's, which did nothing for anyone involved, and then previously Logan Paul and Austin Theory having entirely forgettable reigns, separate reigns totaling 531 days that solidify that. The current champion, LA Knight, just eclipsed the 40-day mark in his second run with the belt, but I have to think that it ends this weekend.

Jacob Fatu having a Gunther IC-Title-esque reign makes too much business and practical sense, and it would give him the platform to work more meaningful and longer matches and further cement himself as a building block for WWE's future while making the US title more than a prop. A loss here, where he gets dragged into a program with Solo Sikoa, who was massively disappointing last year as a main-event-level act, would be a devastating outcome, but I unfortunately think that's what happens here.

Winners: LA Knight

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi

Before we get into this one, there's a wild but true historical note for this matchup: This is the first WrestleMania non-title Women's singles match without a gimmick that has aged badly and/or regrettably had Val Venis involved as a referee in the event's history. Better yet, this has legitimately been one of the best builds, if not the best, out of any match on either night. A lot of the credit there has to go to Naomi, who has executed a phenomenal heel turn after a slow-burn story of her putting Jade Cargill out of action for months and taking her spot as WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Bianca Belair. That, of course, led to a very good opening stretch in the Women's Elimination Chamber, where Cargill put the boots to Naomi. All the while, Belair was screaming in horror at the realization of what happened to her ex-partner.

It's not a perfect one-for-one comparison here, but the promo where she laid out why she did what she did brought out some comparisons to her father-in-law Rikishi's "I did it for the Rock" promo. However, I will say this promo from Naomi was significantly better done. Some of the best bad guys/girls in wrestling are the ones who have legitimate justification for their actions, and the point she made about being pushed to the side so Jade and Bianca could run with the tag titles carries weight in kayfabe. There were a grand total of two instances of Naomi teaming up with either of them after last year's Mania six-women tag, and she didn't exactly light the world on fire, mostly fending for herself as a singles wrestler.

Naomi's pretape work has also been phenomenal in this build, and this is all to say I'm very optimistic about this one, especially as someone who wants to see more of Jade Cargill as a singles competitor in WWE. They've hit every mark so far with flying colors, and the ex-TBS Champion has a great dance partner to work with here. You could sell me on either outcome here, but I'd imagine a Cargill victory is the likeliest.

Winner: Jade Cargill

Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair for the WWE Women's Championship

I don't say this with any level of hyperbole: This could very well be in consideration for one of the worst World Championship builds in WrestleMania history. I'll likely fail to keep this brief because there's so much wrong that's happened here since late January. For starters, WWE's plan here was to have Charlotte Flair, not exactly a universally beloved performer for starters, win the Royal Rumble as a returning/conquering babyface despite airing return vignettes that did everything short of saying "I AM A HEEL" because nothing screams babyface like a narcissistic sounding monologue to footage of driving a Bentley to a private jet in a hanger. Real Dusty Rhodes behavior, if you will. Then they were shocked that 15,000-plus in Cleveland booed Charlotte Flair out of the building while cutting a heartfelt babyface promo about 2024 being the most challenging year of her life.

Critiques of Flair over the years have certainly crossed lines, especially regarding her appearance, but objectively, she is a very flawed performer. Strictly as a ring worker, she's one of the best women ever to step foot in a ring, but she's effectively cosplaying her father without any of the promo ability or natural charisma that comes with it for the last decade, without a hint of character growth. If you dispute any of those points, let me ask: What's your favorite Charlotte Flair promo? No answer? I don't blame you. Vince padding her title numbers in the 2010s and the incapability of booking her in non-title programs only hurt her as well, which makes the internal reaction to that Raw promo all the more jarring.

As far as the build-up to this match with Tiffany Stratton goes, oh brother, where do you want to start? The segment where Charlotte "chose" Stratton as her Mania opponent, making her look like a geek selling a beatdown for three minutes because Flair took her sweet time going from Gorilla to the ring? The side-by-side interview segment where Charlotte went rogue with someone who's still trying to nail down cutting promos as a fully fledged babyface? How about just the number of times your WOMENS WORLD CHAMPION has been made out to look this bad, intentionally, going into her first WrestleMania in general???

One of Stratton's only definitive "wins" this entire build came in a promo that turned into a shoot after Charlotte legitimately quit mid-promo because Chicago booed her so bad, which, by the way, I've never seen a top talent quit and throw in the towel like that before. Jarring would be an understatement. I don't think it's unfair to say Stratton went over the line poking fun at Flair's three divorces and saying she'll be "alone" both in and out of the ring after this weekend, but creative has given her absolutely nothing good to work with and she stood up for herself with someone who's sandbagged her on the mic twice, and it went viral instantly which I imagine the company was happy about in some regard. Seth Rollins even alluded to saying it saved this match.

Now, we're at a point where no matter how good this match is, and my gut says this will be good, with a chance things go legitamately off the rails, I don't know how much Statton benefits long term, and a Flair win would be the single worst booking decision of the Triple H era. Asuka never recovered after a match she should've never lost to Flair at 'Mania 34. Rhea Ripley took years to get back on track after her loss two years later, but this would be notably worse than either. I don't think it's unfair to say she's doing things in builds that John Cena has done, taking lesser-established talents into the deep end like Austin Theory to see if they can hang, but this is her first program in 14 months with someone who's done fine enough for herself in her first full year on the main roster.

Anything short of a definitive Stratton win here is an unmitigated disaster. Charlotte Flair is the only person in that company who benefits from another Charlotte Flair reign at this juncture. Without knowing when Flair's latest contract extension, signed in late 2023, comes to a close (I don't believe this proposition happens, but it should), it'd be best for her to test the waters elsewhere. There's nothing meaningful left for her to do in the WWE at this point, and it certainly feels like most of WWE's online and in-person fan base are simply unmoved by her in 2025. A run in Japan in front of some fresh faces, on a reduced workload, without having to do a ton of mic work anymore, and strictly focused on what she's great at, performing in the ring, would do her some good.

Winner: Tiffany Stratton (Does not factor in the possibility of Charlotte Flair saying "That Doesn't Work for Me Brother - HH" an hour before they go out)

Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins

The nightcap for Saturday is another match that's good on paper but also has one of the more disappointing buildups coming into the weekend. Based on Seth Rollins' go-home promo, this non-title match between him, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns- three men whose average age is 41, with two of these men already serving as non-full-time wrestlers- is for "the future of this industry." If by that, he means two men fighting over Paul Heyman while he plays professional instigator (tremendously for the record), then sure. Otherwise, that's as disingenuous a sell job on a wrestling match as it gets.

Of course, Rollins and Punk together in any capacity since the latter's return has been superb. However, the insertion of Roman Reigns into this build, which I had initially been excited about, hasn't intrigued me much in practice. His beef with Rollins is self-explanatory after the Royal Rumble. But in a kayfabe context, Reigns being upset that Punk "screwed him" at the Royal Rumble because he, *checks notes*, eliminated him in a battle royale that's every man for himself was about the worst way they could've initally connected the dots here.

Ever since WrestleMania 39, the quality of Roman Reigns' work has nosedived in quality, mainly banking on the highs of his run from late 2020 up until that first Cody matchup, essentially running the same match for an entire year outside of a wildly underwhelming Summer Slam Main Event with Jey Uso, before becoming an afterthought in his own series finale at 'Mania 40. Once again, Reigns feels like the fourth wheel in his own feud, not doing much of the heavy lifting in the leadup, cutting different flavors of the same promo, and not doing the one thing that this build needed: do a direct full-on promo segment with just he and CM Punk in a ring. My only read into that as a viewer is that Reigns refused because why else would that not have happened once over the last month and a half?

It's super frustrating because we've seen the best of what Roman Reigns is capable of (and don't do revisionist history. That run from the Hell in a Cell Match with Jey to that Royal Rumble match with Seth was phenomenal by strictly WWE standards, with few misses. Never mind all the great promos he's cut), and everything after that first Cody match feels as if he's coasting off the Bloodline run and into the final arc of his career. As far as this match goes, I fully expect a Seth Rollins victory. I don't know how it will happen or the future direction of Paul Heyman as an on-screen character, but I don't see how a Reigns win helps him when he's about to disappear for the next four months, and I don't think a loss here hurts Punk whatsoever. Rollins leaving this one as a heel would make a ton of sense as well if we factor in Kevin Owens being on the shelf long term and if WWE gives Gunther some time off. Need someone to fill the void somehow.

Winner: Seth Rollins

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