WrestleMania 42 is two weeks out and the card is stacked — at least on paper. Two nights, Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium. Some of these storylines have been absolutely cooking. Others? I'm going to be real with you. Let's run through the whole card, Night 1 to Night 2, no filter.
Night 1
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
Let me start with what's been working: Randy Orton's heel turn has been everything. Watching him tap back into that savage, unpredictable version of himself — the Legend Killer energy, the cold eyes, the calculated destruction — that's the Randy Orton we've been waiting on for a while. Cody gave him the green light to be the Viper again, and The Viper showed up in full. That part of the story? Ten out of ten.
Now here's where I have issues.
Stephanie McMahon showing up — okay, I can work with that. She's been part of the WWE fabric for the majority of Randy's career. Her coming in and getting personal with Cody, slapping him in the face, saying his father knew what kind of man he really was — that adds layers. That makes sense.
Pat McAfee though? Nah. That reveal fell flat. He's not important enough to move the needle in a championship story at WrestleMania. When they pulled back the curtain and it was McAfee on the phone this whole time, my first reaction wasn't "oh wow" — it was "that's it?" His promo in St. Louis had some fire — the Attitude Era rant, the shots at ticket prices, the AEW jab — but at the end of the day he's a commentator playing wrestler-adjacent and it feels like a distraction more than a threat.
I'm genuinely hoping this is a setup. I want McAfee to be a decoy so WWE can hit us with something we're not expecting before the bell rings in Vegas. If not, I think it takes something away from what could've been a cleaner, more vicious story between two elite wrestlers. The match itself is going to go hard — no doubt. But the outside noise around it isn't doing it any favors.
Women's World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
This one has genuinely been cooking. These two have been on sight — attacking each other backstage, getting personal in promos, Liv getting into Vaquer's background, where she comes from, what she represents. It's gotten real in a way that the women's division doesn't always get to. This match has heat behind it and I'm here for it.
But I think this one gets bigger than just the two of them. With the Judgment Day implosion building on the men's side, I fully expect the women's side to follow. Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez getting involved in this match feels inevitable to me — and if that happens, it accelerates the full blown collapse of Judgment Day across both divisions. The faction has been cracking for a while. WrestleMania might be where it finally shatters completely.
Unsanctioned Match: Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre
I'll say it clearly: this should be the main event of Night 1.
Not just that — Jacob Fatu should be the WWE Champion right now, and this match should be for the title. Drew was the champ, and this feud has been the most intense, most physical, most emotionally invested story on either show for months. These two have been cooking harder than anybody else on the entire card. And yet here they are in an unsanctioned match that isn't even the main event.
Jacob Fatu is on a different level right now. His in-ring work, his presence, the way he carries himself — he's a five-star match waiting to happen against anybody they put in front of him. Line them up. CM Punk. Roman Reigns. Cody Rhodes. Brock Lesnar. Randy Orton. Doesn't matter. Fatu is demolishing all of them. He should be the face of this company right now and WWE needs to stop sleeping on that.
The match is going to be a war. Unsanctioned means no rules, and both of these guys have been building toward something violent and personal. I just wish it came with a title on the line to give it the weight it deserves.
Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
Rollins came back after six months, went straight at Paul Heyman with a steel chair, and then Gunther dragged him out and put him to sleep with the sleeper hold on the announce table at MSG. That moment was cold. And on Monday, Gunther telling Heyman "you owe me" — the idea of Gunther entering some kind of arrangement with The Vision is actually a scary thought for the long game.
But here's the thing: this match at WrestleMania still feels random to me. They don't have deep personal history. There's no long-burning rivalry here. It's more "we needed a program for these two" than "this is the match that had to happen." The execution of the buildup has been solid, but the foundation was shaky from the start. Still going to be a great match in the ring. Gunther vs. Jacob Fatu down the road though? That would absolutely cook.
Women's Intercontinental Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch has been carrying this story on her back. Her promos have been sharp, personal, layered — she's been phenomenal since the moment she inserted herself into this. No surprise there, that's just who Becky is.
AJ Lee on the other hand? I respect the legacy. I understand what her return means to a certain generation of fans. But her promos have been flat and she's been riding off nostalgia more than anything she's actually doing right now. She's not holding up her end of this story in the ways that matter, and it shows. The match has a ceiling because of that.
IC Title Ladder Match: Penta (c) vs. Dragon Lee vs. Je'Von Evans vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rusev vs. Rey Mysterio
This match has almost no story behind it. Penta is a relatively new champion without a real rivalry built up, so instead of building one they just threw a bunch of high flyers into a ladder match and called it a day. Here's the thing though — I'm okay with that. A ladder match with that group of athletes is going to be a highlight reel. Sometimes the match itself is enough and this is one of those cases. Low on substance, high on potential for chaos. I'll take it.
Women's Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way
I'm going to keep it a buck — I'm not looking forward to this one. The story has been boring, the matches building up to it have been on snooze, and throwing four teams together in a Fatal 4-Way doesn't fix the problem it just hides it. I hope they surprise me. But I'm going in with low expectations and bracing myself for botches. Sorry, but these girls just aren't cooking right now.
Night 2
Women's US Championship: Giulia (c) vs. IYO SKY
Nothing is cooking here for me. Giulia hasn't grown on me yet — I haven't seen her put on a match that's made me a believer, and the story between these two hasn't given me a reason to invest. This one feels like a placeholder on the card. We'll see.
6-Man Tag: Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed vs. LA Knight, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso
Here's the thing — the match itself isn't what I'm tuning in for. I'm watching for whatever happens with Danhausen's curse on IShowSpeed. That referee getting a cramp mid-three-count after being cursed? That image is living rent free in my head. I replay it and laugh every single time.
Danhausen has been one of the most unexpectedly entertaining things going on right now. I wasn't impressed when he first showed up in WWE but he's grown on me and I want to see him actually wrestle. Whatever chaos he brings into this match is going to be must-see TV. Get him in a ring already.
US Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams — Hopefully a Triple Threat
I want this to become a triple threat. I'm still mad Hayes lost the belt — he's a better fit for that championship than Sami right now and he had more story to tell with it. Trick Williams is entertaining, his aura and his promos are there, but in the ring he hasn't wowed me yet. He's giving me new Booker T energy — and I was never really impressed by Booker T in the ring. The vibe was always there but the matches didn't always match it.
Hayes is the best of the three and should be the one holding that title. Put him in, make it a triple threat, and let him walk out of Vegas as champion.
Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio
This should cook. The Judgment Day implosion has been building for a while and Finn vs. Dom is the most personal chapter of it — teacher versus student, former stablemates, unfinished business. And the return of Demon Finn adds an entire other layer to it.
I also expect JD McDonagh to show up and make things complicated — maybe he costs Dom the match, maybe he turns on somebody. Either way the Judgment Day story isn't done and this match is going to be one of the moments that pushes it toward its end. I also think Raquel and Roxanne are going to insert themselves somewhere in this picture before it's all said and done. The whole faction is about to implode and come to an end.
WWE Women's Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
This is pretty straightforward — Rhea chose Jade, Jade accepted. The match should be physical and good.
My issue is with what happened to Jade's character along the way. She was absolutely cooking on her own. The "I'm that b****" energy, making enemies everywhere, carrying herself like she didn't need anybody — that was working. That had momentum. Then they gave her Michin and B-Fab as a faction and it went sideways. These are girls who were beefing with her not that long ago. The chemistry isn't there and it hurt her momentum more than it helped. Jade didn't need a crew. She was the threat by herself. I hope after WrestleMania they course correct that because the solo version of Jade Cargill was far more compelling.
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
This has been great television. From the moment Oba answered Brock's open challenge on March 16 — right in the middle of the chaos with Seth Rollins — to the face-offs, to Monday's contract signing turning into an absolute brawl with furniture flying and tables breaking everywhere. This has had energy every single week.
Oba has been dominant. He's been embarrassing Brock in every encounter. This is the match where Brock might have finally met his match — and I think Brock knows it too, which is why the energy has been so unhinged every time they share space. I fully expect Brock to put Oba over. But I want to see Oba take an F5 and kick out. Give me that moment. Let the crowd lose their mind. Then let Oba finish it. That's the match.
World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
This is obviously the main event and it's going to deliver. The history between these two, the way they carry themselves on the mic, the storytelling — it's all there.
But I'm going to say what I think a lot of people are thinking: they've been on the mic every single week and it's getting to be a lot. How many times are we going to hear the same themes rehashed? Do something different. Give us an unexpected wrinkle.
What did catch my attention though was Punk's promo calling out the ticket prices and demanding Allegiant Stadium be filled. That was wild. Whether that was a legitimate pipe bomb, Triple H working the audience through Punk, or talent actually pushing back on the company behind the scenes — I don't know. But it was different and it had me leaning forward. More of that energy, less of the same promo every Monday, and this feud closes WrestleMania the right way.
Final Word
Despite my gripes — and I've got plenty — WrestleMania 42 is shaping up to be a fire weekend. Some of these matches have no business being on this card based on the story leading into them. But the matches themselves have the talent to deliver regardless.
Fatu vs. McIntyre, Brock vs. Oba, Punk vs. Reigns, Rhea vs. Jade, Finn vs. Dom — that's a lot of potential on one card. Some of these storylines are thin, some of the outside interference is unnecessary, and yes, I still think Jacob Fatu should be walking in as champion. But I'll be watching every single second of it.
Get your snacks ready. It's WrestleMania season.
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