Predicting WrestleMania 42: Night 1: Could Bad Bunny Return?
While the conclusion of the Royal Rumble is traditionally viewed as the start of the “Road to WrestleMania,” there seems to be precious little certainty about where the card is headed two months out. With rumors circulating that parent company TKO is unhappy with ticket sales, putting anything and everything on the table to boost interest, it seems like a good time to try to guess where WWE is headed.
Before I start, I have a couple of notes for this exercise. First, this is more what I think WWE will do than fantasy booking. Obviously, there’s an element of the latter because we’re so far out from the event and Elimination Chamber has yet to take place, which could change things up. Also, I’m giving injured wrestlers the benefit of the doubt that they’ll return in time.
With those things in mind, let’s book WrestleMania 42: Night 1 for April 18:
Drew McIntyre (C) vs. Jacob Fatu vs. Cody Rhodes: WWE Championship Match
WWE likes to start its two-night extravaganza with a bang. To that end, last year’s event kicked off with Jey Uso winning the World Heavyweight title from Gunther. I could absolutely see WWE switching the title back to Cody Rhodes between now and Mania, perhaps setting up a match with Randy Orton, but I’m going with a Triple Threat Match where Rhodes regains the belt, and Orton becomes his first genuine challenger on SmackDown.
Becky Lynch (C) vs. A.J. Lee: Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match
Lynch and Lee are set to lock up at Elimination Chamber. I’m expecting Lynch to retain via shenanigans, setting up the title switch in Las Vegas in some sort of gimmick match. I like the idea of an “I Quit” Match, and I could see Becky getting a lot of mileage on the mic by denying that she ever said those words.
The Usos (C) vs. Penta and Rey Fenix: World Tag Team Championship Match
What a difference a year makes...sometimes. Twelve months ago, Uso was being pushed to the moon. Now, he’s back with his brother as one-half of the tag champs. Conversely, Penta is almost exactly in the same spot he was, still “taking the WWE by storm” while working with Ludwig Kaiser, Chad Gable, and Pete Dunne. In my first departure from anything seen on TV, I’m saying let’s reunite the Lucha Bros on the grandest stage and put them over Jimmy and Jey.
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
Rumors persist that 2026 will be Lesnar’s last year with his final match coming at SummerSlam in his home state of Minnesota. That means a meeting with Gunther makes little sense here. This is another possible landing spot for Randy Orton, though I don’t know what the basis of the feud would be. Femi and Lesnar faced off in the Rumble. Here they go one-on-one.
Stephanie Vaquer (C) vs. Liv Morgan: Women’s World Championship Match
While I didn’t get the Morgan crying thing from the most recent Raw, it pretty much cemented that Vaquer will be her choice for a title match. I expect Morgan to win the belt, too, and then finally get the Raquel Rodriguez turn on the Raw after Mania as part of a Judgment Day split.
El Grande Americano vs. “The Original” El Grande Americano
Other than CM Punk and Roman Reigns, the battle of the Americanos feels like the most set-in-stone match out there right now. Gable and Kaiser are both great wrestlers, but this is a comedy feud to be used as a buffer between Morgan’s title win and the main event.
Bad Bunny, LA Knight, Damien Priest, and Seth Rollins vs. The Vision
Main eventing with this is undoubtedly my biggest swing, but it’s not without some grounding in reality. You had the Jake Paul tweet about Bad Bunny’s halftime show. Bunny is red-hot right now. TKO is worried about ticket sales. Bunny has wrestled in the past, and putting him opposite Logan Paul is the type of crossover attraction WWE absolutely dreams about. I don’t think you can do a singles match, though. Instead, we plug in LA Knight and a returning Seth Rollins (along with Bunny ally, Damien Priest) to go against all four members of The Vision, including a returning Bron Breakker. This protects both the inexperienced Bunny and Paul, and fresh-from-injury Rollins and Breakker. I could also see a six-person version where Priest and Austin Theory are at ringside, or even a tag match with Bunny/Rollins and Breakker/Paul.
That’s it for WrestleMania 42: Night 1. Be sure to check out my predictions for Night 2, which include a Punk-Reigns main event, a 10-person ladder match, and another retirement.