WWE is firmly on the road to WrestleMania and excitement among fans is reaching a fever pitch. The big story heading into the April 6th and 7th showdown at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia has been Cody Rhodes and his attempt to finally finish the story. The American Nightmare won his second straight Royal Rumble match back in January to punch his ticket to the main event at the Showcase of the Immortals, but it wasn’t without drama.
Websites such as Fanatics Sportbook provide bonus bets on combat sports, such as their “bet $50, get an official jersey” campaign, and last year they made the challenger for Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship the favorite to walk out of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles with the gold. That ultimately didn’t come to pass, but the American Nightmare’s second straight Rumble match victory gives him another opportunity. Or so we thought.
Just six days removed from his triumphant victory, out came a certain Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who looked set to steal Rhodes’ spot against reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. However, fans immediately turned on the new main event, instead insisting that they wanted Cody, and WWE brass listened. Now, Reigns vs Rhodes II is on, but The Rock will be in the reigning champ’s corner, stacking the deck even further against Rhodes.
So, with the epic confrontation just around the corner, here are two things to look out for at WrestleMania XL.
The Rock Turns On Roman Reigns
While The Rock is currently in the corner of his real-life cousin Reigns, we can’t imagine that he will be playing second fiddle for long. The Great One is backed up to no one and he considers himself the biggest star to ever come out of the professional wrestling industry. It’s hard to see him remaining Reigns’ henchman for long.
Plus, one of The Rock’s many nicknames is “The People’s Champion.” With Reigns being the top bad guy in the company, will The Rock remain on the dark side, where he has positioned himself at present? Or will he come back to the light and halt Reigns’ attempt to successfully defend his title for the fourth straight year? We imagine it will be the latter.
Reigns has managed to cling on to his title by any means necessary, regularly using outside interference from cousins Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. When they inevitably attempt to get involved once more, The Rock could halt them in their tracks, despite initially appearing on their side. When he does, Rhodes will get the victory at the second time of asking and finally finish the story once and for all.
Sami Zayn’s Crowning Moment
Heading into WrestleMania 39 last year, Sami Zayn was the talk of the show. He had been the star of WWE programming throughout 2022 and the early part of 2023. However, his title shot against Reigns came at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view rather than ‘Mania, and he came up short in his effort to usurp the Tribal Chief. Instead, Zayn had to settle for main eventing night one of the two-night extravaganza, where he won the unified tag team championships alongside long-time friend Kevin Owens.
One year on from that and Zayn is currently in no man’s land. He doesn’t have an opponent lined up at present, but many are speculating that WWE will go one of two ways. The first is inserting him into the match between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre for the former’s World Heavyweight Championship. The second is challenging the longest-reigning Intercontinental champion of all time, Gunther.
Whichever path the company takes, expect Zayn to walk out with gold around his waist. He has been one of WWE’s stalwarts over the last decade, regularly featuring on TV every week without truly getting his due. Minus last year’s tag team triumph alongside Owens, he has never truly had his crowning moment. Expect that to come and close the show on night one.