We are just hours away from WWE WrestleMania 42, and with the two-night show comes an absolutely stacked slate of matches, with 13 total having been announced so far, including eight being contested for championships. That makes this Wrestling Inc.'s biggest single round of predictions so far this year (though AEW Revolution came close), and we're pretty sure we know who's coming out on top at "the Showcase of the Immortals!"Of course, we are coming off AEW Dynasty, in which our predictions column didn't entirely cover itself in glory. What can we say, wrestling bookers are unpredictable! But will that stop us from trying to nail every single WrestleMania match? Don't be silly, of course it won't! Let's get to the picks!
IShowSpeed may have 52 million subscribers and be one of the hottest, most recognizable streamers right now, but there's no getting around the Danhausen curse. He's set to team with buddy Logan Paul and Austin Theory of The Vision to take on The Usos and LA Knight in six-man tag action, and 60% of us believe the good guys are getting the win.The match is set to open night one of WrestleMania, which makes sense, since Speed and Paul are big names in the mainstream, Knight is still getting huge pops every time his music hits, and Jey Uso will seemingly forever be beloved due to his entrance. The Vision have the World Tag Team Championships, so taking a loss here in a six-man match won't hurt them too much. When the Usos and Knight win, it likely earns Jimmy and Jey another shot at the gold, which could take place as soon as the "WWE Raw" after WrestleMania. Sure, Knight doesn't benefit by way of a title match later on, but at least he's on the 'Mania card.The jury is still out on whether or not Speed gets un-cursed before the night is over, and he's certainly taking a beating during this match. He hasn't exactly seemed thrilled that he's involved alongside Paul and Theory, so he may end up on the side of the babyfaces by the end of 'Mania weekend for the good publicity. No matter what happens with the star, however, we still think the Usos and Knight are getting the win on the "Grandest Stage of Them All."Written byDaisyRuth
Jacob Fatu has felt like he's been on the verge of breaking out for the last few years now. As much as the staff vote is likely reflective of Drew McIntyre having post-production and press duties for his upcoming "Highlander" movie, it also comes down to the fact that, if the company doesn't take a real chance on Fatu now, they never will.An overwhelming majority think that Fatu will beat the former WWE Champion, which would likely put him in contention for the world title this summer. He's already been US Champion and Tag Team Champion, and 93% of the staff think it's time to see if the "Samoan Werewolf" has what it takes to carry a brand.The nature of an unsanctioned match will give WWE plenty of ways to give McIntyre a reason to be gone for a nice, long time.Written by Ross Berman
Although his path to WrestleMania wasn't what most would've expected, GUNTHER was booked in a last-minute match against Seth Rollins, set for night one in Las Vegas. Unsurprisingly, a strong majority of the team here is backing "The Ring General," who hasn't lost a televised singles match since facing CM Punk at last year's WWE SummerSlam.GUNTHER and Rollins have done their best to build excitement in a short span of time, and they've succeeded despite there being very little story to help them out. At this point, it seems as though most WWE fans are just happy to have another prominent match on the show that (hopefully) won't feature any celebrity involvement. At the same time, GUNTHER gets to continue facing off against WWE's biggest names as he carves out a place for himself at the top of the card.Among the reasons why this match feels like it's GUNTHER's to win is the fact that he lost at last year's WrestleMania to Jey Uso, and to Sami Zayn the year before that. That means that GUNTHER has thus far won just one WrestleMania match: the Triple Threat against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in 2023.A loss against Rollins here would undoubtedly hurt GUNTHER's ascent at a time when WWE is trying to build up the next wave of big stars. The guy just got done retiring Bill Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles, so what sense would it make to have him lose here on such a grand stage? Instead, we expect WWE to continue building GUNTHER's momentum so he can get back to retiring legends who are being cycled out of the active roster.As for Rollins, there doesn't feel like a whole lot to say about "The Visionary" right now. He just came back from injury, but due to the way things have shaken out ahead of WrestleMania, Rollins will have to serve as a sacrificial lamb before regrouping and addressing some of his more personal grievances.Written byNickMiller
AJ Lee's Women's Intercontinental Championship reign began nearly 50 days ago when she defeated Becky Lynch at the Elimination Chamber, and though WrestleMania will mark just her second title defence, 73% of our staff believes "The Man" is walking out with the gold on Saturday.Since Lee returned to WWE this past September, it's become evident that she is working for the company as a part-time star as she's often been absent from the programming for multiple weeks at a time, including during the build up to WrestleMania. Therefore, with Lynch being a full-time roster member and having already suffered numerous losses to Lee, it's unlikely that her character would take yet another pin against the same opponent. Additionally, the feud between both women has been ongoing for nearly eight months, and if the ending to their story didn't come at theElimination Chamber, it would've been odd not to save Lee's eventual victory until WrestleMania.In reality, WWE likely wanted to give Lee the title win at theElimination Chamber because it took place in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois, where she was able to celebrate with her real-life husband CM Punk, who defeated Finn Balor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship on the same night. Although a victory on Saturday would mark the third time Lynch has won theWomen's Intercontinental Championship, she will at least be around to defend the title following WrestleMania, but a lengthy reign would probably not be ideal as she held the gold for a total of 217 days in the last year.Written by Julien D'Alessandro
The Women's Tag Team Championship will be on the line in a four-way tag match between champions Lash Legend and Nia Jax, former champions Charlotte and Alexa Bliss, and never-been-champions-together Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, as well as never-been-champions-at-all the Bella Twins.Some might and have said it's an odd statistic for the Bellas, best known for "Twin Magic" and working together to win and then keep the singles title they held, never to have been Tag Team Champions. Alas, the timelines never quite matched up and the tag titles were only rebooted as the Bellas started to take a break from wrestling.However, WrestleMania stands to rectify that this weekend and the Bella Twins are favorites to win the Tag titles among the Wrestling Inc. staff with 53% of the poll. The prevailing belief is a new set of champions will emerge, though 33% back Bayley and Valkyria to win, and 7% each favor the reigning and the former champions.It should be noted that at this point we are assuming Nikki Bella will be healthy enough to compete in the match, given the announced lineup has not changed despite her suffering a recent injury.Written byMax Everett
Stephanie Vaquer has reigned as the WWE Women's World Championship for seven months. Yet, during that time, only two women have challenged her in a televised setting.Yes, her lack of opponents can partly be attributed to her brief stint with injury. In the grand scene of things, it's quite alarming. It also suggests that WWE, for some reason, has struggled with putting new faces across from her in the ring.To solve that issue, 67% of Wrestling Inc. staff are banking on Liv Morgan, the Women's Royal Rumble winner, dethroning Vaquer at WrestleMania 42. Should Morgan indeed defeat "La Primera," a rematch for the title will inherently materialize, setting up a dynamic that fans have only seen one other time. Beyond that, the gates for other WWE Women's World Championship challengers would be wide open, with the likes of IYO SKY, Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, Maxxine Dupri, Brie Bella, and Rhea Ripley (assuming she doesn't dethrone Jade Cargill at the same event) being viable challengers. Given the uncertainty of Roxanne Perez's stance onthe recent events surrounding the Judgment Day, it is reasonable to believe that she could side with Finn Balor, the man that originally brought her into the group, and in turn stand in opposition to Morgan as another potential challenger as well.There's no denying that Vaquer, whether she wins or loses at WrestleMania, will remain one of WWE's most popular and gifted stars. Considering the underwhelming nature of Vaquer's reign, though, the majority of us are craving a fresh landscape for the Women's World Championship scene. To do that, we first must obtain a clean canvas in the form of a title change.Written by Ella Jay
Cody Rhodes seems to be more interesting when he's chasing something. Add in the fact that Randy Orton will not have many chances left to be world champion, and you get 87% of the staff voting for Orton to win his 15th world title on Saturday.Orton has spent much of the year watching people fawn over his contemporary, John Cena, during his retirement tour. It would be a very Orton move to one-up Cena and AJ Styles by winning the world title just as many of his fellow stars are hanging up the boots.The Pat McAfee/Jelly Roll of it all also necessitates an Orton victory, or else why are the four of them having a tag match at next month's Backlash? It feels like, once again, Cody's time to lose the belt has come, but considering his history, it won't be long until he's champion again.Written by Ross Berman
One of the most highly-anticipated matches out of both nights of WrestleMania 42 will open night two free on ESPN when "The Ruler" Oba Femi takes on "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. While some of us are apprehensive, justifiably, with the way WWE tends to book things, 73% of us believe that Femi is walking away with the victory.Those of us who are confident "The Ruler" is going over Lesnar believe that for quite a few reasons, though many of us are crossing our fingers WWE isn't just giving us false hope. First, Lesnar has not stood tall over Femi since the beginning of their rivalry, when Lesnar eliminated Femi from the Royal Rumble. In the majority of their face-to-face meetings since, Femi has stood tall after they have brawled. On the go-home edition of "WWE Raw," the men were kept separate during their contract signing, with their segments taking place at different times. The last image fans have of the men brawling was a main event segment the week prior, where they were seemingly evenly matched and separated by Paul "Triple H" Levesque and security.WWE desperately needs new, young stars, something Triple H has even basically admitted in recent days, and Femi has said he is the "one." The line came from an all-time promo from the star on Monday, where he went toe-to-toe with Paul Heyman on the microphone and came out looking like a million bucks. Kayfabe aside, it looks like Lesnar is a fan of Femi, and it would not be surprising if Heyman was as well. While we're all hoping for it, 73% of us are officially predicting Femi comes out on top.Written byDaisyRuth
The results of our WrestleMania 42 predictions poll favor an overwhelming amount of title changes all but one in fact. That one defying our odds is the man with zero fear and the reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion, Penta.At WrestleMania, Penta will defend the IC Title against five other men JD McDonagh, Rusev, Rey Mysterio, Rusev, Dragon Lee and Je'Von Evans in a Ladder Match. In the case of Dragon Lee, his true success on WWE's main roster has come within the tag team division, specifically alongside AJ Styles and the LWO, respectively, so would WWE strap a singles run rocket to him out of nowhere? So far, we aren't convinced. The same feeling applies to JD McDonagh, whose positioning within the Judgment Day has yet to suggest that he has potential as a singles champion on WWE's main roster. Throughout his run with the stable, he's appeared more as a background character to the likes of Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan, who have famously thrived in the spotlight.That leaves us with four possible options: Rey Mysterio, Je'Von Evans, Rusev, and Penta. Rusev, while the glaring powerhouse in this match, spent months away from WWE television, which implies that WWE doesn't/didn't have serious plans for him right now. If booked well, though, he absolutely could be a good IC Champion, which is why he's hooked 7% of us. Considering that creative plans originally called for Mysterio to face "The Ring General" GUNTHER at "The Show of Shows," then changed due to an injury, most of us think it's a safe bet that he will not be walking out with the IC title either. Still, 13% of WINC staff believe that Mysterio has one last title run in him before he presumably retires in the near future.Evans and Penta arguably head into WrestleMania 42 with the most momentum. Evans is a fresh face to WWE's main roster, and with his flashy, bouncy, and exhilarating in-ring performances, it's easy to see why WWE promoted him to "WWE Raw" quicker than most former developmental talents. That's also why 33% of WINC staff have put their faith in Evans on WWE's grandest stage, where his skills would only be enhanced by the presence of ladders.Among all the participants, Penta maintains the highest vote of confidence, with 47% backing him to retain his title. The exciting luchador won the Intercontinental Championshipjust last month, and at this point in time, doesn't show any sign of slowing down anytime soon. So why have Penta drop the title when WWE has barely scratched the surface with him? More importantly, a clean sweep of title changes at WrestleMania would be insane, right?Written by Ella Jay
The Demon will be making his comeback on the second night of WrestleMania 42, and most of the Wrestling Inc. staff believes that means a win for Finn Balor over his former Judgment Day ally Dominik Mysterio.Mysterio and the rest of the group booted Balor from TJD last month, which came after Balor twice failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship from CM Punk. Now, though, Balor is a full-fledged babyface for the first time in years, and it certainly seems like WWE is finally keen on another singles push for the first-ever Universal Champion.Over the last five years, Balor has won just one singles match on a main roster PPV or PLE, and his record before that wasn't much better. While he's remained a presence on TV, it feels like WWE has never really given him the ball back after the ill-timed injury that ended his first world title run before it could begin. I'm sure the majority of pro wrestling fans would agree that Balor is an excellent performer who has more than earned some time in the spotlight, and it's looking like he'll soon get it.It is a bit of a shame if Mysterio loses to Balor right now, since Dominik is one of the most entertaining people on the roster. That means we wouldn't necessarily be upset if our team gets this one wrong. However, most of us voted for Balor because he's the safe bet, and we don't play around when it comes to our behind-the-scenes predictions standings. Sorry Dom!Written by NickMiller
After it seemed like Carmelo Hayes would be walking into WrestleMania with the United States Championship, Sami Zayn shockingly defeated him for the title three weeks ago on "WWE SmackDown," and now Trick Williams, who has been itching for a shot at the title, is theCanadian star's next challenger. Many WWE fans were initially frustrated by the decision for Hayes to lose the title, but 80% of our staff believes Zayn is just a placeholder for Williams come this weekend.Since he was called up to the main roster at the beginning of the year, Trick Williams has been one of the hottest stars on "SmackDown," with fans falling in love with both his persona and entrance music. WrestleMania will mark Williams' first main roster PLE singles match, and not capitalizing on his momentum to give Zayn the win would be a major mistake and could damage the two-time NXT Champion's trajectory. Additionally, the WWE Universe has started to voice their displeasure with Zayn as champion, with the 41-year-old receiving boos from the audience in attendance as of late.Williams has become so popular with fans that many have questioned if WWE will consider turning him babyface following his title win, but he may not be the only star changing roles, with rumors of a Zayn heel turn on the horizon. Despite a rare double-turn being a possibility, we still predict that Williams will become the new United States Champion as a reward for his ability to get over with the audience so quickly.Written byJulien D'Alessandro
Rhea Ripley will challenge Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania having won the Elimination Chamber match to secure her opportunity, and it will be an attempt to stamp another championship onto her resume with another marquee match at the "Show of Shows."Cargill has made just one defense since winning the title in November, defeating Jordynne Grace in just over 10 minutes on "WWE SmackDown" in February.And her feud with Ripley was one that really got going with a social media spat referencing creative and another's ability to work. Since then, she has rebooted her Baddies Section stable with Michin and B-Fab and focused on Iyo Sky, punishing her in full view of Ripley to make a statement on the road to WrestleMania.That added element of vengeance to Ripley's motive is perhaps a leading factor as to why the Wrestling Inc. staff believes she will win the title this weekend 73% believe she will become a four-time Women's Champion and begin her first reign with this iteration of the belt, while 27% back Cargill to continue her reign and complete the second defense of her title on the "Grandest Stage of Them All."Written by Max Everett
There's something about the way CM Punk has been walking and talking that feels like he's been given carte blanche to say what he wants to make the build to WrestleMania 42 more exciting, so that he can properly drop the title to Roman Reigns. It's kind of been the promo equivalent of giving a dog a cheesburger before you put him down. This is Reigns' show after all.Eighty percent of the staff think that Punk's time is coming to an end. Much like last year, he will have to settle for once again losing in the main event of WrestleMania.Reigns has not been World Heavyweight Champion yet, and it feels like the company is going to want as many accolades on his resume as possible. A big win in the main event of WrestleMania will cleanse his past two Mania losses, and put him back on track to being WWE's franchise face.Written byRoss Berman
