The return to regular TV of the Great One has proven to be a massive boost for WWE’s product in recent weeks. The Rock has generated a buzz that has never been seen before for WWE’s grandest stage of them all. With WrestleMania just three weeks away, all people are talking about is the biggest show of the year. The presence of one of the world’s biggest stars brings new eyes to a product that has been operating on all cylinders for some time now and only furthers the extravaganza that WrestleMania truly is. Will Rock’s pending performance at the biggest WrestleMania of all time help facilitate WWE’s most successful event of its name? Smart money says yes.
We all know that WrestleMania is WWE’s version of the Super Bowl. It draws the eyes of wrestling fans from all over the world, especially the eyes of casual viewers who might not tune in week in and week out. More people are watching this show than any WWE show year-round, so why not try and make the show the best one the company has ever done? Having the Rock in one of the main events is a huge start. Having 3 of your biggest week-in and week-out stars from throughout the year all pull double duty and compete on both nights only makes it better. Then, peppering in some of the most anticipated matches of the year around them is just the icing on an already delicious cake! This card is truly shaping up to be the strongest from top to bottom in WrestleMania history. Let’s take a look at why.
It all starts with the undercard, which in it itself is already shaping up to be one of the strongest of all time. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles and Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso are two highly personal, long-time coming matches that more than deserve the big Mania payoff. LA and AJ have been intertwined since last Fall, and this is a chance for AJ to finally have a signature Mania match and for Knight to get his big WrestleMania moment that can propel him to championship gold later this year. Meanwhile, Jimmy vs. Jey becomes just the 3rd matchup of blood brothers in WrestleMania history, joining Owen and Bret Hart along with Matt and Jeff Hardy. The amount of history between the twins, who collectively main-evented WrestleMania last year as the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, is setting the stage for one highly emotional drama. This undercard may be set as it stands, but it could go even further if they add some sort of Final Prayer vs. The Pride or LWO vs. Legado Del Fantasma Match, both of which seem highly possible.
After those, the title matches of this year’s show will take center stage. There’s the 6-Pack Challenge Ladder Match where it seems the tag team titles may get split up, while also amplifying a stipulation that already lives in WrestleMania lore. All 6 of those teams have a chance to make moments that will be replayed for decades while also revitalizing the tag team division to new heights. There’s Bayley vs. Iyo Sky and Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley for the women’s titles, the former of which features a former mentor and her protégé going to battle, where the veteran looks to have her signature WrestleMania moment. Ripley vs. Lynch pits two of WWE’s top two women’s stars of all time against one another in a match that has been heavily anticipated for years now. On the men’s side, GUNTHER puts his 600-plus-day reign as Intercontinental Champion at stake against Sami Zayn, who bested Chad Gable on Raw recently to earn that shot. A sentimental favorite, this match has the potential to be one of the best of GUNTHER’s long reign as champion. Logan Paul must contend with both Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, two men who genuinely cannot stand the Maverick and who could also elevate Paul to new heights in his game. It will be a match where Paul will learn from two ring-savvy veterans both hungry to regain a title they once held. All of these could still be bolstered with some sort of a women’s tag title match as well, creating a captivating title scene that will have people seeing who will usher in the new year for WWE as their champions.
Finally, we get to the 3 main event matches. All in their own ways intertwined, and all with the makings of turning WrestleMania 40 into one of the most talked about shows WWE has ever done. First, on Night 1, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns and The Rock in the biggest tag team match in WWE history. In it itself, it gives Rollins his first true WrestleMania main event, Roman Reigns his record-tying 8th, Rock his 5th, and Cody his 2nd straight. The stipulations in play make Night 2’s main event drastically different one way or another and also will mark Rock’s first legitimate WWE match since 2013. There are so many different things that could happen here, and no matter what goes down, it will be as memorable as anything in recent memory. Then, moving to the double main event of Night 2 first will see Rollins pull double duty as he defends his World Heavyweight Title against another longtime rival Drew McIntyre. Drew wants to have his crowning moment in front of a live crowd, while Seth is preoccupied with the Bloodline and says he doesn’t worry about McIntyre. It’s deeply personal, and Drew wants to get his hands on gold once again.
Finally, to end it all off, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns run it back from last year. Cody gets his 3rd consecutive WrestleMania main event, while Roman Reigns breaks Hulk Hogan’s record with his 9th overall. There are so many players involved here: Roman, Cody, Heyman, Rock, Solo, Jimmy, Seth, and potentially all of the men whom the Bloodline have wronged over the last 3-4 years. We could see Jey, Sami, KO, Randy, Styles, Knight, even McIntyre, the list goes on. No matter what happens, this will be more than fitting as WWE’s cornerstone main event for a milestone WrestleMania in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and it will be exactly what fans need injected into them. This much is able to be guaranteed from now, but fasten those seatbelts, because the Road to WrestleMania is almost at its end, but the destination may be the craziest one we’ve ever seen!
