This weekend, WWE Saturday Night's MainEvent returns, and it's got title implications, RoyalRumble implications, and in some cases both at the same time! And as always, the Wrestling Inc. staff are here to tell you who will win each match! Will best friends forever Rhiyo defend their newly-won women's tag titles against Liv Morgan and her partner from The Judgment Day (no, not that one, the other one)? Will Cody Rhodes build up momentum for his men's Royal Rumble match appearance with a win over Jacob Fatu?And who will come out on top in the four-way to determine Drew McIntyre's WWE title opponent in Riyadh?
Yes, there are only three announced matches as of this writing we're expecting a fourth one to come out of Friday's "WWE SmackDown," but we don't know what that will be and we don't have time to wait! The waiting is all over! Let's get to the picks!
Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY captured the Women's Tag Team Championships just a few weeks ago on the first anniversary of "WWE Raw" on Netflix, and we don't think they're losing the gold anytime soon, at least not on Saturday Night's Main Event. A grand total of 77% of us believe "Rhiyo" are going to retain the titles over Judgment Day's Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez.
The champions are massive fan favorites, and we just don't see a need to take the titles off of them right now. Saturday Night's Main Event is already going to be an exciting show with the number one contendership four-way match, and ahead of the Royal Rumble, we can't say we see WWE doing anything exciting or unpredictable. Crowds love Ripley and SKY together, and their time as a team hasn't run out just yet.
While all of these women are going to go on to have big showings in the Rumble match, Morgan could possibly win the entire thing, after her successful last few years in the bout. Judgment Day as a whole isn't exactly a strong stable right now, due in part to injuries, and it seems like that Morgan and Perez take the loss here to increase tension there, making things all the more interesting if Morgan were to win the Rumble.
It just doesn't seem like the time to take the belts off "Rhiyo," especially in their first defense. The majority of us here at WINC are sticking with Ripley and SKY, who could possibly even hold the Women's Tag Team Championships until WrestleMania with how popular they are together.
Written by Daisy Ruth
When Jacob Fatu returned to "WWE SmackDown" after being sidelined for three months due to dental surgery, his first plan of action was to interfere in the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre in their Three Stages Of Hell match two weeks ago. Although Fatu attacked both men, he specifically targeted Rhodes which allowed McIntyre to escape with the victory, and despite it feeling like "The American Nightmare" will get his revenge at Saturday Night's Main Event, our staff at WrestlingInc. believes the odds are far more evenly split.
SNME will mark Fatu's first televised match since August 15, and losing in his return to the ring could potentially have negative implications on his road to WrestleMania. On the other hand, Rhodes is coming off a massive loss and being defeated for the second straight match in a row could damage his reputation as the one of the company's most dominant competitors. Therefore, most of us were torn on who will emerge victorious on Saturday, but with Rhodes' future being more uncertain than ever, and reports circulating about Fatu being featured in a prominent spot at WrestleMania 42, 54% of our staff has chosen "The Samoan Werewolf" to pickup the win this weekend.
Another possible outcome is the match ending in no contest or via disqualification, as WWE may be looking to protect both Rhodes and Fatu coming out of SNME. Alternatively, fans could also see the continuation of the fight that occurred on "SmackDown" last week, as WWE has never shied away from having two of its stars engage in a brawl to avoid having either competitor pinned.
Written by Julien D'Alessandro
Traditional odds would suggest that each participant in a fatal-four-way has a 25% chance of winning. Given the setting of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, however, one of the participant's chances has greatly skyrocketed, at least in our eyes.
With the upcoming edition of WWE SNME taking place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 92% of Wrestling Inc. staff are sure that the company will want to cash in on the pop that would undoubtedly erupt from a win by the beloved city native, Sami Zayn. After all, Zayn's simple appearance in the city at WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 proved to be a massive hit amongst fans. Now imagine what a victory with world championship implications would create for him there.
Speaking of WWE Elimination Chamber 2023, that event also marks the last time that Zayn (unsuccessfully) challenged for the Undisputed WWE Championship, so a win at SNME would be more than poetic.
Sentiments aside, most of us can't overlook the recent report that WWE had once upon a time planned for Zayn to be inserted into a world title match ahead of WrestleMania 42. And of course, the winner of this four-way will move on to face Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, which is part of the road to WrestleMania.
In surveying the rest of the SNME match field, 8% of WINC staff have put their trust in Randy Orton, a 14-time world champion that has an extended history with McIntyre. Damian Priest also has experience with McIntyre, having battled "The Scottish Warrior" at WrestleMania 41 and the weeks following it. Still, that wasn't enough to sway any of our staff. As for the newly called-up Trick Williams, a win at SNME would set him, a heel, up for a PLE match against another heel in McIntyre, which is a dynamic we don't often see in WWE.
