TJR: WWE WrestleMania 42 Preview
It’s WWE WrestleMania 42, featuring CM Punk facing Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar battling Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley against Jade Cargill, Cody Rhodes taking on Randy Orton, and more.
The 42nd WrestleMania is upon us with a whopping 13 matches officially over the two nights at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. There are 8 title matches over the two nights, which seems like a lot, but they also don’t feature some titles that deserve more of a spotlight.
I think WrestleMania 42 has had a very average build. There’s this myth by online wrestling fans that every year has some amazing build to WrestleMania, but this year’s somehow is way worse. Is it really? No. The big matches have been built up for a long time. You can only do so many pull-apart brawls and trash talking segments. It gets very repetitive. What I am frustrated about is that many talented performers are left off the card. Some of those names would be Iyo Sky, Carmelo Hayes, Ilja Dragunov, Rey Fenix, Tiffany Stratton, Giulia, most of the men’s tag teams (where are The Street Profits?), Bianca Belair (injured), Bron Breakker (was injured), and so on. It’s a deep roster, and you can’t feature everybody, but I just feel like they are missing too many good people. In other words, I think the creative team could have done A LOT BETTER in terms of the build to this show, and including more people.
John Cena is the host of WrestleMania for both nights. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see him hit an Attitude Adjustment or two on some heel interrupting him. Perhaps a Kit Wilson or The Miz. Maybe Danhausen is involved with Cena as well to make the fans laugh. R-Truth could also have a role. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of comedy.
Do I think The Rock will appear? No. I do not. The guy hasn’t even mentioned WWE on social media for the past year. It’s weird for someone on the Board of Directors to have such a broad reach and barely ever mention WWE. If he did show up, that would be cool, I guess, but only if there’s a storyline reason.
This preview is going to be long, and I’m going to try to go in-depth with some of my thoughts on the matches, so let’s get to it.
You can watch WrestleMania 42 streaming live on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on ESPN in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.
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Saturday, April 18 Matches
LA Knight and The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The Vision – Logan Paul & Austin Theory and IShowSpeed
(Opening Match on April 18. Match Will Also Air On ESPN 2 In First Hour)
This match will open WrestleMania Saturday. I think it’s a good choice for an opener since it should be an exciting, fast-paced kind of match with some strong personalities involved. We know the fans are going to hate Logan Paul and Austin Theory, while IShowSpeed should get a reaction because it’s his first WWE match. On the other side, The Usos’ entrance will get the crowd fired up, while LA Knight is so popular with the fans, too. That’s why I like it as an opener because the fans are going to be sitting there for an hour or two waiting for the show to start, and they are going to have a lot of energy for this match.
I’m certainly intrigued by how Speed does in the match. I don’t know much about Speed as a streamer or why he’s famous in the first place, but I admire him for being so successful in his early 20s. More power to him for finding a way to make a living. I respect it. Regarding his past WWE appearances, Speed seems like a good fit in terms of his personality. I think we’ll see Speed hit some moves and look like a threat at a few points, but I see The Usos and Knight getting the win here. Perhaps Speed will take The Usos finish, but if it’s Paul or Theory getting beat, then that’s fine too. If The Vision and Speed win, it might be because of Bron Breakker showing up with a Spear since he’s apparently ready to return.
Winners: LA Knight and The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso
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Unsanctioned Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
(Match Will Also Air On ESPN 2 In First Hour)
An Unsanctioned Match essentially means that anything goes, so you could call it a Street Fight instead, and those have to end in the ring. Since there aren’t a lot of stipulation matches on the show, it will allow Drew and Jacob to stand out more by having a wild, chaotic brawl that I’m sure they’ll do well. I’m also looking forward to Drew’s annual “Bored at work” tweet.
They have built up this rivalry well, with each man costing the other big matches in recent months to build up their hatred for one another. I feel like Drew McIntyre is arguably the best overall performer in WWE, and I wish he were in a championship match, but it didn’t happen for him this year. Jacob Fatu has done well as a babyface, although I think he’s lost a bit of steam in terms of his reactions from the crowd. I expect a match where they brawl outside the ring, use a lot of weapons and probably do some big table bump or two. I’m going with Drew getting the win. I expect it to be a very good match that could be one of the better matches on the show because it will be different from the rest.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
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Women’s Tag Team Championships: Irresistible Forces – Nia Jax & Lash Legend (c) vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. The Bella Twins – Nikki & Brie Bella vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
There are questions about whether Nikki Bella can work the match, as she has a sprained ankle from a match a few weeks back. Nikki was seen in Vegas wearing a boot on her foot, which raises some doubt about her ability to compete.
My initial thought was that The Bella Twins would win the gold because they’ve never been Women’s Tag Team Champions before, so it makes sense to do it for the first time ever at WrestleMania. However, I’m not so sure about that prediction now. I’m leaning towards Bayley and Lyra getting the win because I think a title change is likely in the match with four teams involved. Bliss and Flair have been champions before, so they don’t really need the win. I think Bayley and Lyra make a lot of sense, and then the Bellas can probably win the titles later in the year. They should get plenty of time and have an entertaining match.
Winners AND NEW Women’s Tag Team Champions: Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
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Women’s Intercontinental Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
This rivalry has been going on since last September, with a break in between. At Elimination Chamber, I thought Lynch would retain the title by cheating and then Lee would win the title here. Instead, Lee won the title in a controversial manner, which led to Lynch whining a lot and getting a rematch. I’d be very surprised if Lee lost the title back to Lynch because I think the whole point of the feud was for Lee to win the title and then go on to wrestle other women, so I think Lee retaining is the right call here.
I enjoyed their Elimination Chamber match, and I expect them to have another very good one at WrestleMania. Lee has shown that, even with a ten-year layoff from WWE, she can still compete at a high level and hang with current stars like Lynch. I think Lynch is the best women’s wrestler in WWE in terms of being an all-around performer who makes everybody better. Lynch has been in the Women’s IC Championship picture for nearly a year, and she has elevated the title for sure. I think she’ll move on to being in the Women’s World Title picture sooner rather than later.
Winner: AJ Lee
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Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
Here is my pick for what I think the best match will be on WrestleMania Saturday. That may be an optimistic view from me since Rollins hasn’t had a televised match since last October, but I think Rollins will be ready to go and perform at a high level. My feeling is that Rollins and Gunther are among the best in WWE in terms of in-ring ability, so I see them getting 15-20 minutes at least, and if that happens, then it’s going to be an outstanding match.
I think the finish might see Bron Breakker make his return while Rollins is on the floor (maybe after Seth hits a suicide dive and puts Gunther back into the ring) and Breakker hits Rollins with a Spear. The referee won’t see it due to looking at Gunther. That leads Gunther to put a Sleeper on Rollins for the cheap win. That will allow WWE to continue the Rollins/Breakker story while giving Gunther more momentum with another big win, like his recent victories over John Cena and AJ Styles. If there’s no appearance from Bron Breakker, I still think Gunther should win. It clearly puts Gunther in the World Title picture in the coming months.
Winner: Gunther
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WWE Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
I think Vaquer and Morgan have done a great job of building this matchup. There wasn’t much of a story going on other than Morgan earning a title shot because she won the Women’s Royal Rumble. Since then, they have gotten into some wild brawls, traded insults about family members, and Vaquer even attacked Morgan backstage in a way that left Morgan with a giant bruise on her head. Morgan knows how to bring intensity to a rivalry, while Vaquer has shown she can match Morgan in that regard.
It’s been a long title reign for Vaquer, but she hasn’t had many title defenses this year. I think it’s time for a title change, with Morgan getting the taste of gold again, just like she had in the past. Morgan has performed well since coming back from a shoulder injury last November, and this is going to be her reward – a win at WrestleMania 42 to become the new Women’s World Champion. It’s nothing against Vaquer, who I like a lot, and I’m happy she’s in this spot. I just think Morgan winning makes a lot of sense.
Winner AND NEW Women’s World Champion: Liv Morgan
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Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton (w/Pat McAfee)
The inclusion of Pat McAfee in this feud over the last two weeks hasn’t been a good thing. There’s obviously a long history between Rhodes and Orton going back 20 years, and then their time together in Legacy as well. It’s an easy story to tell with Orton as Rhodes’ professional mentor and Orton wanting to prove that he can beat him. They could even touch on Rhodes beating Orton in the King of the Ring Finals last year, but it’s notable that WWE hasn’t even mentioned that, probably because they want to ignore the fact that Orton lost to Rhodes in the past.
When McAfee was a babyface wrestler/announcer, he was in the role because I think he has a genuine enthusiasm for pro wrestling as a guy who was a fan for a lot of his life. The problem with his heel act is that it feels so forced, and it’s almost like the attention has been taken off Orton and put on McAfee way too much. The fact that TKO bosses like Ari Emanuel made the call to insert McAfee into the story makes me feel sorry for WWE’s creative team led by Triple H since they have to deal with a meddling boss.
I know Uncle Dave Meltzer reported that Randy Orton is banged up with some injury, but I don’t think it’s a big deal, and I also question the validity of that kind of report. Wrestlers today are only wrestling one match per month in some cases, so I think Orton will manage it just fine and perform at a high level in this match. McAfee has said he will never appear again if Orton loses, so that pretty much guarantees Orton wins. Plus, it’s been reported that McAfee and Orton will team up against Rhodes and Jelly Roll at Backlash on May 9th, so that’s another thing to groan about in the future.
My pick is Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship, which would be his 15th WWE World Championship, and it’s probably going to be due in part to McAfee’s involvement. I think we can all see a ref bump coming and some nearfalls without a referee present. The finish will probably be something where Cody hits Cross Rhodes on McAfee, and then Cody will turn around right into an RKO by Orton, who will get the pinfall win to win the WWE Title again. I like Orton as WWE Champion because I think he’s an awesome performer, and I don’t think Cody needs another long title reign like he’s had in the past. If Cody wins, I would be surprised. I think Orton winning is almost a lock. I hope it’s a great match like their King of the Ring Finals match was, but with the ref bumps and McAfee involved, it could hurt the match.
Winner AND NEW Undisputed WWE Champion: Randy Orton
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Sunday, April 19 Matches
Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
(Opening Match on April 19th. Match Will Also Air On ESPN In First Hour)
This is the most highly anticipated match on either night for many fans. I can see why people feel that way since Femi has been so impressive in NXT and in his first four months on the main roster. Femi hasn’t even wrestled that much on the main roster, but they have booked him strong against Lesnar to the point where people believe in Femi being able to kick Lesnar’s ass. If you think about the build to the match, they haven’t done that much in terms of physicality other than one good brawl. There was one week on Raw when they were out in front of the crowd for about five minutes and didn’t even touch, but the reception was great because of the anticipation of what was to come. It’s the perfect example of less is more.
My pick for this match is Oba Femi to win in about 10 minutes max. If Femi doesn’t, it would surprise me. I don’t really get angry about wrestling booking decisions at this point in my life because there are so many wrestlers on so many shows that I write about every damn day. However, I think it would be a mistake to have Lesnar beat Femi. There’s no reason to do it, unless the plan is for Brock Lesnar to be WWE Champion or World Heavyweight Champion one more time before he calls it a career. I don’t think that’s happening. Femi is 20 years younger, he’s a guy who can be counted on for many years to come and the fans already (rightfully so) see him as a huge star.
Winner: Oba Femi
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Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rey Mysterio
(Match Will Also Air On ESPN In First Hour)
There isn’t much of a story here. WWE announced on Raw that there would be a 5-man Ladder Match with Penta defending the IC Title while saying that Evans Lee, Rusev, and McDonagh earned their shot by winning matches on Main Event, which has a very small audience. Rey Mysterio was added because he was cleared to compete recently, and he’s near the end of his career, so WWE wants him to get another WrestleMania match, which is cool. This past Monday on Raw, Rusev beat up everybody else in the match and stood tall to end the segment to show that perhaps Rusev could dominate the Ladder Match and win. I agree with criticisms on the lack of a build, but will it hurt the match? No. I think WWE realized that out of everything on this show, a 6-man Ladder Match would be just fine without a proper build.
The match is full of highfliers with Penta, Evans, Lee, Mysterio, and McDonagh, who can do it all. Rusev is the power guy that looks like he may not fit in, but I’m sure there will be creative spots for him too. While I would love to see Evans win the IC Title, I think it would be better for him to do it in a singles match. I’ll go with Penta retaining the title in this match. Give them 15-20 minutes, and it will be awesome to watch.
Winner: Penta
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“Demon” Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
The most predictable match on either night is this one. The “Demon” Finn Balor returning at WrestleMania should be a lock to beat Dominik Mysterio. I thought that Dominik would keep the Intercontinental Title going into WrestleMania for this match, but instead, the loss of the IC Title was used to set up Dominik’s turn on Finn, and that set them up for this match. When you think about the fact that they were allies for over three years, this one actually has the most long-term story of anything on the show. Balor mentored Dominik, who turned on him because he felt he was better than Balor, and now they have a match.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen “Demon” Balor, so it should be something that elicits a big reaction from the crowd. I also expect one of the cooler entrances on either night of WrestleMania. Dominik will put up a fight and probably get a couple of good nearfalls, but this should be a decisive win for Balor. I think this should be a lot of fun to watch.
Winner: “Demon” Finn Balor
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United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams
I think this should be a triple threat match with Sami Zayn against Trick Williams and the former US Champion, Carmelo Hayes. When they did the surprising title change on SmackDown with Zayn winning back the US Title, I thought it was done to get Melo into the match to make it a triple threat. Instead, Zayn beat Melo again.
The reason I think it isn’t a triple threat is that it’s being done to further Zayn’s heel turn, while Trick will be turning into more of a babyface. I think WWE likely wants the spotlight to remain on Zayn and Trick, and if you involve Melo too, then it becomes a bit complicated. They are likely going to do some kind of finish where Zayn tries to cheat his way to multiple wins because he feels he can’t beat Trick, which will build up the crowd support for Trick and lead to Trick winning the US Title. I think of all the title matches on the show, this is one that seems likely to have a title change. I think the fans are going to love it too. The end of Trick is here, and he’ll be a babyface after this.
Winner AND NEW United States Champion: Trick Williams
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WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
There have been nearly two months of build for this match since Ripley won the Women’s Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at Jade’s title. Their promos early on were about respect for eachother, respect for their hard work to get where they are in their careers, and they didn’t get into physical altercations. That changed when Jade got Michin and B-Fab as allies, which led to Jade getting the advantage on Ripley a few times. Jade also beat Ripley’s best friend, Iyo Sky, so Jade has a lot of momentum going into this match.
The thing with Ripley is that she spent the last year without a singles title and was even a tag team wrestler for a lot of the last year, so I think it’s time for her to hold singles gold again. I’m a bit worried about the quality of matches because Jade is a different kind of worker from other women. When Jade had her match with Sky, it was just an average match, even though Sky is arguably the best women’s wrestler in terms of match quality in WWE. I hope this is a better match, and I think it will be because they’ve had so much time to prepare for it, but Jade’s match quality isn’t on the level of other women in WWE. Sometimes it’s better to just go 10 minutes or less in a match like this instead of running long, and then it becomes a below-average match. Anyway, I’m going with Ripley getting the win since she’s always going to be pushed, and it’s been a while since she had a singles title, so she’ll get one here.
Winner AND NEW WWE Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley
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WWE World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
The main event of WrestleMania Sunday is for the newer World Heavyweight Title for the first time, and it’s justified. Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble and picked CM Punk, so they’ve spent the last two months talking s**t about eachother. Do I think there is some legitimacy to what both guys have said in their promos in the build up to this match? Absolutely. Do I think they legitimately don’t like eachother? No. I think they are both smart pro wrestlers who know that they can talk smack to eachother, and they know it’s not going to piss off the other guy enough to where there is legit heat. They are very talented professionals who know what they are doing. I think it’s the same thing Punk has done with his rivalries with McIntyre and Rollins. If there are some fans out there who think that Punk legitimately hates Reigns, then that’s a good thing for WWE.
My initial feeling for this match is that Roman Reigns should win and will win. It’s been two years since Roman Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania 40, and I think it’s time for Reigns to have another title reign. The question with Reigns becomes how often he is going to appear and defend the title? We know Reigns is a busy man at home with a wife and five kids, and he’s only wrestled one match in 2025 so far, which was the Royal Rumble that he won. This will be Roman’s second match. Will he have 10 matches this year? I don’t know if he’ll do that much. I think even if Reigns only wrestles six or seven matches, then WWE will still put the World Title on him because they have a deep roster and so many other titles that will deliver good matches on PLE shows without him. I’d like to see Reigns wrestle more than he has in the last two or three years, but I don’t know how likely that is. If you can get 10 matches out of Reigns this year, then I’m all for another title reign. If it’s only five or six matches, then that will get frustrating.
CM Punk has done a great job in this feud in terms of delivering promos, whether on his own without Reigns around or in the presence of Reigns. I also think Reigns has fired back very well when needed. As I alluded to earlier, it feels like two Alpha Males who don’t like eachother and will finally have a singles match for the WWE World Title. It’s better than being in a triple threat match with Seth Rollins last year for the love of Paul Heyman. Punk certainly could retain, but he’s held the title since November, and it just feels like that was a title reign that was long enough.
I think this should be an outstanding match with a WrestleMania main-event feel. There will be long entrances, a lot of staredowns, and they’ll probably get 30 minutes for the match. I certainly hope Pat McAfee isn’t involved in this one the way he will be in the other, but McAfee’s trash-talking towards Punk makes me wonder.
It will be time to acknowledge the Tribal Chief again. I’m going with Roman Reigns to be the new World Heavyweight Champion in what should be one of the best matches on the show.
Winner AND NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns
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BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE WRESTLEMANIA 42!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Saturday: Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, Sunday: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar. Overall: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar.
The Match I Think Will Be The Best
Saturday: Seth Rollins vs. Gunther, Sunday: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns. Overall: Seth Rollins vs. Gunther.
Longest Match
CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns about 27 minutes.
Shortest Match
Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar about 10 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m at 7.75 out of 10 for this show. I like the card, and I think WrestleMania sells itself to a lot of fans. I think in terms of match quality, I’m probably going to rate at least 8 matches over 3.5* and probably have 5 matches over 4* as well, which tells me that it’s going to be an outstanding show in terms of match quality. Where it is hurting a bit is I don’t know if there will be any cool moments or surprises that we’ll talk about forever. That’s partly because of the build. I still think the match quality is going to be strong, and if you’re a fan of great wrestling matches, then it should be satisfying in that regard. However, I don’t think it’s that strong of a show overall because of the mediocre build for some of the matches.
I’ll be back with a review of WrestleMania 42 on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.