WrestleMania 40 begins Saturday night in Philadelphia and is expected to be the biggest WWE premium live event in the company’s history.
WrestleMania will be held at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. After persistent rain in the Northeast for much of this week, the weather is expected to improve.
WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque announced the WrestleMania Night 1 card earlier this week. One game will be related to the second night and three games will be related to the championship.
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Here’s what fans can expect:
Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns & The Rock
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Cody Rhodes face off on stage at WWE WrestleMania XL Kickoff on February 8, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Louis Glass/PXimages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The road to the biggest tag team match in WWE history was filled with jagged stones.
Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble match for the second year in a row, likely setting up a rematch with Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40. That plan fell apart when The Rock returned to WWE and challenged Reigns for the title to set up what could become a major event.
Seth Rollins insisted that Rhodes fight for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Rhodes rose to the top of RAW with a victory earlier this year. However, even when it looked like Rose was going to pass the torch to The Rock, increased fan support forced “American Nightmare” to face Reigns for the title.
At the kickoff of WrestleMania 40 in Las Vegas, the four men faced each other, setting the stage for a tag team match. Rock slapped Rose in the face and the two had to break up.
A few days later, The Rock recognized Reigns as tribal leader, defeated Rhodes twice, and set the terms for a match. If he and Reigns win, the championship match on night two will be a Bloodlines rules match.
Three of the four contestants will compete on night two, and if The Rock and Reigns win, all four could have to pull double duty in Philadelphia.
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley compete on stage at WWE WrestleMania XL Kickoff on February 8, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Louis Glass/PXimages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Rhea Ripley competed in the main event of WrestleMania 39, winning the Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair. After over a year as her champion, she will defend the RAW Women’s Title against Becky Lynch.
Ripley and Lynch are at the top of their game. Ripley annihilated nearly every female contestant in her path, including her native Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber in February. Lynch still had to get over Jax after winning the Elimination Chamber match, as Jax was dissatisfied with the outcome days after the premium live event.
Weeks of trash talk culminated in Lynch confronting Ripley on “The MMA Hour” and a brawl on “Monday Night Raw,” the last episode before “Mania.” It is no exaggeration to say that things were very heated between the top stars.
It could just be the first chapter of a long-running feud.
Nick Khan usher in WWE’s ‘Renaissance Era’ with support from Cody Rhodes
Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn speaks to the audience after winning a match at WWE Monday Night RAW at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on March 11, 2024. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Gunther has held the Intercontinental Championship for more than 400 days, but his reign could come to an end against the determined Sami Zayn. Both men had moments of victory at WrestleMania 39, with Gunter defending his titles against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre, and Zayn and Kevin Owens winning the Undisputed Tag Team Championship from The Usos.
Gunther has been a dominant force since WrestleMania 39, consistently defending his title against the likes of The Miz, Kofi Kingston and Chad Gable. But Zayn seems hungry to get his hands on the money.
It’s been a long time since Zayn left The Bloodlines and out of Reigns’ crosshairs. He held off Gable, Bronson Reed, Shinsuke Nakamura, Ricochet and J.D. McDonagh for Gunter’s title shot. He also has single wins over Ivar and Nakamura last month.
It will all come to a head on Saturday night.
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
Jey Uso speaks to the audience during WWE Monday Night RAW at Toyota Center in Houston on March 11, 2024. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
The fight between Jey and Jimmy Uso has been going on for a long time. It’s been a long few months for the brothers, as Jey left The Bloodline and Jimmy entrenched himself behind Reigns and Solo Chicore. Both brothers defended Reigns and Xicore in a tag team match at Money in the Bank at Bloodline: Civil War.
However, Jimmy’s face run at SummerSlam would come to an end when Jimmy pulled Jey from the ring as he tried to nail Reigns to win the Tribal Combat match. Jey competed on the next episode of SmackDown, scoring a superkick on Bloodline and leaving the brand. He then joined RAW and revealed that he was trying to make amends with those who wronged him during his time there.
Jimmy remained a thorn in the SmackDown roster, while Jey briefly became tag team champions with Rose.
When Rose turned his attention to Bloodline, Jey Uso joined him. Jimmy enters Jay’s match against Gunther himself, depriving him of a spot in the Intercontinental Championship.
Naturally, only a match can decide the outcome between the two sides.
6-Pack Ladder Match for Tag Team Titles
Damian Priest (right) wrestles R-Truth on WWE Monday Night RAW on March 11, 2024 at Toyota Center in Houston. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Tag teams and ladder matches are always a great combination. But with two tag team titles on the line and six different teams vying for the championship, anything can actually happen.
“Monday Night Raw” announcer Michael Cole said the match would end when both belts were lowered from the top of the ring. That could mean Judgment Day, led by Finn Balor and Damian Priest, may not be the undisputed champions by the end of the night.
Tag team opponents for this match are The Miz & R-Truth, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, Austin Theory & Grayson Waller, Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate, and Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa.
Jade Cargill, Naomi, Bianca Belair vs. Damage CTRL
Kairi Sane and Asuka enter the ring during WWE Monday Night RAW at Toyota Center in Houston on March 11, 2024. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Damage CTRL appears to be at a crossroads heading into WrestleMania weekend. Iyo Sky will defend the Women’s Championship against Bayley on night two after Sky, Dakota Cutty, Kairi Sane, and Asuka kick Bayley out of the Damage CTRL camp.
But while Sky focuses on Bayley, the rest of the group will have to face off against Bianca Belair, Naomi and Jade Cargill. Belair has been dealing with members of Damage CTRL for about two years and will have some backup.
Naomi last appeared at WrestleMania 38, Night 2, against Sasha Banks, winning a fatal four-way tag team match. This will be Cargill’s first WrestleMania appearance.
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Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs. Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio will face Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood on April 1, 2023 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Rey and Dominik Mysterio had an epic match at WrestleMania 39, with the veteran WWE legend defeating the member of The Judgment Day. Their feud appeared to be shelved as Rey was recovering from a torn meniscus and Dominic was trying to finish Judgment Day.
However, in recent weeks Dominic has been linking up with Santos Escobar and the rest of the Legado del Fantasma squad. Rey has returned to the LWO team. Last week on “Friday Night SmackDown,” he called for a tag team match against his son and Escobar. He recruited Dragon Lee as his partner.
On Friday Night Smackdown, before Zelina Vega’s match against Electra Lopez, Lee was attacked by an unknown assailant. Rey walks Vega and Escobar, and Dominick and Andrade accompany Lopez to the ring. After Lopez won the match, Escobar and Dominick defeated Rey. Andrade refused and attacked Escobar and Dominic.
Andrade indicated he was ready to team up with Rey and was replaced by Lee.
