Dylan jackson
The biggest wrestling event of the year is here. WWE has landed in Philadelphia for its annual celebration and it’s a big party. WrestleMania is here and for the 40th anniversary event, the promotion has loaded the two-night spectacle with entertainment value. It all starts on Saturday night, with seven matches scheduled.
No match is bigger on Night 1 of WrestleMania than The Rock and Roman Reigns taking on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. If Rock and Reigns can get the win in the main event, then Reigns’ defense of his undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Rhodes in the main event of Night 2 will be contested under “Bloodline Rules”, which would mean no disqualifications, no matter how many Reigns’ family members come to his aid.
CBS Sports experts have come together to provide predictions for each match on the card. Let’s take a look at how they think all the Night 1 action will play out. Predictions for Night 2 will be published on Friday.
WrestleMania 40 Night 1 Predictions
Women’s World Championship – Rhea Ripley (c) x Becky Lynch
Ripley is a dominant champion, but her reign hasn’t been very memorable. That might be reason enough to favor Lynch. This is a mistake. Professional wrestling is a business that creates stars. Ripley, 27, is the long-term investment and Lynch is bulletproof. Ripley had an incredible match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39. Scratching another member of the Four Horsewomen in a fantastic WrestleMania match would do wonders for the champion. Pick: Rhea Ripley retains title – Shakiel Mahjouri (also Brent Brookhouse and Connor Casey)
WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship – The Judgment Day (c) vs.
It looks like WWE will split the tag team titles. A new stipulation for the six-pack ladder match states that the match will continue until both sets of titles are regained. This creates the opportunity for two different teams to walk away with the gold. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are having a great run on SmackDown. #DIY are longtime favorites of Triple H who could use a pro reign to elevate them. Damian Priest’s time with the Money in the Bank briefcase is running out, so he should focus on that in the future. There’s always the possibility of a surprise tag team being added to the mix as well. Choice: #DIY and New Catch Republic win -Majouri
The stipulation surrounding the ladder match all but confirms that WWE is finally splitting the Raw and SmackDown tag team championships again, meaning we’re getting two sets of winners. I see The Awesome Truth winning the Raw titles; not only for nostalgic pop, but to set up a comedy space where Truth comes out with the red belt and thinks the fight is over. There’s no obvious choice for the other set of titles, so let’s give New Day one more chance. Pick: Awesome Truth and The New Day win – Casey (also Brookhouse)
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi vs.
There may not be a professional wrestler with a more natural star presence than Cargill. She’s a hit with the crowd, but needs to be managed carefully in the ring. It was wise of WWE to make room for her at WrestleMania and pair her with a lot of experienced wrestlers. Damage CTRL is late for punishment and all heroes benefit from a victory. This is one of the easiest matches to call all weekend. Pick: Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi win – Mahjouri (also Brookhouse and Casey)
Andrade and Rey Mysterio x Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio
This match was originally to see Rey team up with Dragon Lee in a spot where many believed the father would put his son in his place. But an interesting pivot on SmackDown’s homecoming show saw Lee injuring his back and being deemed medically unfit to compete and Andrade turning to Dominik and Escobar to team up with the legendary luchador. The winner of this match is anyone’s guess right now, but we’ll stick with our original pick for the heels. Pick: Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio – Casey (also Brookhouse and Mahjouri)
Intercontinental Championship – Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
Yes, Gunther’s journey as champion will have to end at some point. It just doesn’t seem like Zayn is the man to do it tonight. It still feels like the story of Chad Gable trying to get one more shot at Gunther is the dominant one in the Intercontinental Title picture. Yes, Gable could get revenge by training Zayn enough for Zayn to defeat the champion. But months and months of talk from Gable about how much he needs that chance would be meaningless if Zayn won. That said, I think Gunther wins a tremendous match. Pick: Gunther retains title – Brookhouse (also Mahjouri)
At first, having Zayn paired with Gunther seemed like a step backwards given everything that’s happened in 2023. But to WWE’s credit, the segments between Zayn and Chad Gable on Raw over the past few weeks have really sold me. The match would be solid no matter what – I’m pretty sure Gunther is incapable of having a bad match – but Zayn being the underdog who finally ends Gunther’s long record finally felt realistic when they started paying tributes to ” Rocky III.” I also can’t shake the feeling that Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther will be the main event of SummerSlam, and for that to happen they need to take the title away from him first. Pick: Sami Zayn wins the title -Casey
Jey Uso x Jimmy Uso
Having Jey beat his brother and finally get revenge for what happened at SummerSlam makes all the sense in the world. But I want The Bloodline to have all the momentum going into the main event of Night 2, so that means Jimmy gets the win here. Pick: Jimmy Uso wins -Casey
I love the idea of The Bloodline winning all of their matches on Night 1, but I can’t shake the idea of Jey winning here, either by disqualification when Solo Sikoa interferes or by getting a narrow victory before Sikoa and Jimmy tap out. Either way, the idea is that Jey will be attacked and eliminated so he can’t support Rhodes and Rollins in the main fight. Pick: Jey Uso wins – Brookhouse (also Mahjouri)
The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins
My prediction changed as we got closer to the big night. The stipulation felt like a way for The Rock to spoil Reigns intentionally or unintentionally. This gave Rhodes a level playing field on Night 2 and Rollins a much-deserved victory before losing the world title. But rumors of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and John Cena engaging in an “Avengers”-style rescue mission on Night 2 made me reconsider. I’ll side with The Bloodline on Night 1 to add more drama to Rhodes’ rise the following night. Pick: The Bloodline wins – Mahjouri (Brookhouse)
You don’t provoke a stipulation like “Bloodline Rules” and don’t follow through. Roman Reigns and The Rock will get the victory here to further stack the deck against Rhodes. Expect all kinds of interference from Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman, making it look like Rhodes is headed for a massacre on Night 2. Pick: The Bloodline wins -Casey
