With the card finalised and almost all the build and hype in the rearview mirror, the road to WrestleMania 40 is nearing its destination. In what is guaranteed to be a weekend full of mouths being left agape at the action unfolding before them at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, wrestling fans are understandably expecting a litany of those much coveted ‘WrestleMania moments’ to occur at the Grandaddy of ’em all’s fortieth spectacular.
But where are those moments going to happen across the evenings of Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th April?
Well, given the very straightforward and predictable nature of sports entertainment (stares dead eyed into the camera for 30 seconds) I thought it would be a good idea/embarrassing series of failures to predict where these new moments, that will be ingrained into the legacy of WWE’s history books forever more, will emanate from in the City of Brotherly Love.
From heartbreaking betrayals to epic title changes to uproarious reunions and jaw dropping debuts, here are the five predictions for new WrestleMania moments that WILL 100% DEFINITELY HAPPEN* this weekend.
DREW MCINTYRE FINALLY GETS HIS MOMENT. IMMEDIATELY HAS MOMENT RUINED BY CM PUNK AND DAMIAN PRIEST
Drew McIntyre has waited a long time for his moment. He had A moment back in 2020, when he pinned Brock Lesnar in the main event of night two of WrestleMania 36 to become WWE Champion for the first time. In an empty gym in Orlando. Not REALLY the moment Drew had imagined when he dreamt about coronated as world champion. McIntyre is yet to perform in front of an actual crowd as WWE Champion. His two reigns atop the mountain occurred when the world was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And since crowds were allowed back into arenas and stadiums, the one-time Chosen One has found main event opportunities hard to come by.
Image: WWE
But now the Scotsman has his opportunity. On night two of WrestleMania 40 he will once again square off against Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. McIntyre has reiterated time and again that he will have his moment and, after months of unsuccessfully chasing Rollins, now feels like an appropriate time to temporarily dislodge the former Shield member from atop the Monday Night Raw mountain and place Glasgow’s favourite grappling son in his place. For a few minutes at least. Then an overconfident McIntyre can goad special guest commentator and sworn enemy CM Punk into congratulating him on his momentous victory, which Punk will do with an impromptu low blow, summoning an opportunistic Senor Money In The Bank Damian Priest down the aisle to finally cash in the contract that has remained inside his briefcase for over nine months. One night, two new World Heavyweight Champions, one unforgettable WrestleMania moment.
JADE CARGILL SHARES THE SPOTLIGHT WITH NO ONE
Image: WWE
Although Jade Cargill may have blown a storm clean through Damage CTRL recently, aligning herself with Bianca Belair and Naomi in the process, we should probably not attach ourselves to the idea of the trio enjoying any sort of prolonged permanence from ‘Mania onwards. Instead, we should in fact accept the reality that Jade Cargill’s all consuming storm is going to twist up and spit out her two partners, this weekend.
The former AEW TBS Champion has been positioned as a standalone superstar since arriving in WWE. The aura she exudes not exactly one of a faction member or tag team partner. Jade Cargill is the sort of character who yearns to make an impact in as bombastic and impressive a manner as possible, LL Cool J references and all. So when the time comes to make an impact at WrestleMania 40, it won’t be enough for Cargill to simply reign supreme with Naomi and Belair over Damage CTRL. She will want to show the world why she was known as ‘That Bitch’ in AEW. And the superstars in this particular storm’s path of destruction will be her WrestleMania partners. Namely Belair, who Cargill has already showdowned with at this year’s Royal Rumble.
After scoring the 1,2,3 over Damage CTRL at Lincoln Financial Field, expect Cargill to leave her partners laying, paying special attention to the former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Belair. ‘Big Money’ Cargill knows a big money match when she sees it, and immediately putting one of WWE’s biggest current crossover stars on notice on the grandest stage of all is the ideal place to do it.
THE USOS REUNITE IN THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
There may be WWE and Intercontinental Title wins that-never-were driving a wedge of hatred between one of WWE’s most influential ever tag teams, but make no mistake, The Usos’ brotherly beef is not long for this world.
Jimmy and Jey are both on record confirming that their dream match is a WrestleMania bout against each other. They have since been rewarded for their efforts as two of WWE’s most reliably outstanding performers over the last decade with said dream match. In the eight months they have been apart, ‘Main Event’ Jey has thrived, winning tag team gold with Cody Rhodes and solidifying himself as a bona-fide solo star. Jimmy, meanwhile, has embraced comic book villainy in a desperate attempt to remain vital to his Tribal Chief and, more recently, the Final Boss. Jimmy doing whatever it takes to make his brother’s life miserable are not the acts of someone who genuinely believes in what they are doing. They are actions borne out of a misplaced delusion of grandeur. As if being within constant breathing distance of Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Title somehow makes him more important.
Image: WWE
While Jimmy has inflicted much misery on Jey in the last few months, when his brother defeats him in what could very well be a show-stealing match on night one of WrestleMania, the dark clouds will likely part and Jimmy will see the light. His brother has been able to grow and succeed without him. In spite of him. Whereas Jimmy is the least appreciated lackey cousin of The Bloodline. Traditionally, throughout history, warring brothers have gotten past their shared grievances, no matter how trivial or explosive, by eventually fighting things out. It is a release of testosterone often necessary when living in each other’s pockets, day in, day out. But when the brawling has drawn to a close and cooler heads are beginning to prevail, there is a realisation that no matter what your older or younger sibling has done to offend, hurt or disgust you, they are still your brother. It is a bond that is, for the most part, unbreakable. Even if your particular fight does take place in front of 60,000 people at WrestleMania.
With Jimmy suffering the indignity of losing to his little brother (those nine whole minutes mean everything) and Jey finally laying eight months of heartache to rest, the brother Uso will come to a common understanding that this sibling rivalry can go no further and we will be treated to an overdue reunion that will likely enrage Tribal Chiefs, Final Bosses and Wise Men everywhere. Likely with an assist from a certain stinkface-shaking father figure along the way. Little brother Solo, meanwhile, may take a bit longer to convince.
CHAD GABLE’S BROKEN DREAM BECOMES SAMI ZAYN’S NIGHTMARE
Come on. Does anyone honestly believe Chad Gable’s insistence on training Sami Zayn to overcome GUNTHER and his record breaking Intercontinental Title reign is a legitimate olive branch? This may be Philadelphia and GUNTHER may possess all the destructive energy of prime Clubber Lang, but this is not Rocky III. Gable’s devastation over being unable to unseat the mighty Austrian is ultimately going to prove too much to bear. The Olympian is no friend of the Underdog From The Underground, but for appearance’s sake has allowed Sami to believe he has his best interests at heart. Defeating GUNTHER has gone beyond obsession for Gable, as we have all witnessed in his promos surrounding his failed journey to WrestleMania.
The leader of Alpha Academy still has that final GUNTHER defeat fresh in his mind. The vicious beatdown in front of his crying daughter. Having his chance at revenge ripped away from him by Sami’s flash pin gauntlet match victory isn’t a devastation the former Tag Team Champion will take lying down. Instead, the man who slashed the tires on Gable’s road to WrestleMania will actually fall to the former Shorty G, with GUNTHER in fact profiting from one of his fiercest rival’s actions, continuing his record breaking reign in the process. This may not even be a bona fide heel turn, just an obsession gone very, very wrong, where Gable loses sight of what is really important to him, and that is stopping GUNTHER in the first place. With an eventual victory over GUNTHER still a likely destination, and a TON of very entertaining work waiting in the wings with Alpha Academy, super heel Chad Gable isn’t something we deserve right now. But for one night, maybe it’s what we’re going to need.
THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE STORY IS WRITTEN
Night one of WrestleMania. The main event. The majority of the viewing audience are expecting a Rock and Roman Reigns victory in order to stack the deck against Cody Rhodes in the main event of night two. Instead, The Tribal Chief and The Final Boss, for all their macho bluster and beatdowns, conspire to lose. Their egos not allowing them to put The American Nightmare and his partner Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins to bed. No Bloodline rules for night two. Roman defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Cody, one-on-one.
Image: WWE
And that is how night two’s main event plays out. For 20 minutes or so. The pair engage in a WrestleMania rematch for the ages, trading near falls back-and-forth. Until that most inevitable of ref bumps. And then here comes Cross Rhodes. And another. Roman is down for the count, but neither the designated match official nor a replacement is able to count the fall. Rhodes looks to the entrance way, wondering when another black and white shirt is going to materialise. Instead, the cameras pan to backstage. To a desperate Rock, flanked by Solo Sikoa, laying waste to officials left, right and centre, and threatening others away from attempting to count the fall which could bring the Bloodline crumbling down. Then, not content with that, the pair make their way to the ring to finish off one last piece of business.
But as Solo readies his taped thumb, who’s that hopping over the guardrail and into the ring? It’s not the same guy Solo Samoan Spiked into oblivion in Saudi Arabia late last year, is it? Yes viewers, it is indeed John Cena and the Doctor of Thuganomics is neutralising the Bloodline’s enforcer by running him through the crowd, exchanging blows and firing six months worth of vengeance his way.
Which leaves The Rock. The Final Boss. Poised and ready to strike. Despite his best, belt lashing efforts over the last couple of weeks, Cody Rhodes is still here, still in the hunt, still desperate to finish the story. Just as The Rock is about to write his own ending however, a familiar GLASS SHATTERS and all of Rock’s nightmares, all of his worst WrestleMania memories come flooding back to him. There he is, ATV and all. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Two of the greatest rivals in WrestleMania history once again locking eyes on each other in the middle of the squared circle. Before The Rock can even utter a single word in disbelief here comes a barrage of right hands, a ducked clothesline and a Stone Cold Stunner sending The Great One packing. The Rock bumps in typical over enthusiastic manner clean out of the ring. And there’s a stunner for Roman for good measure.
Image: WWE
But Austin’s not done. He continues to pursue a fleeing Rock up the entrance ramp. The Rock doing all he can to crawl away from the man who so often served as his Final Boss. Only to be greeted by his other great rival and another boss. There stands Triple H, holding out his hand as if waiting for someone to deliver unto him the hammer of justice. The Rock, no stranger to sledgehammer shots from The Game over the years, pleads with his arch nemesis not to. But this time, a referee’s shirt is placed in the Cerebral Assassin’s hand. Off comes the suit jacket and shirt, and on goes the black and white stripes. In the ring Cody and Roman are coming around from their respective interference-ridden beatdowns and BAM! one Cross Rhodes. Another. And the third one that eluded him in such heartbreaking fashion 12 months ago in Los Angeles. Triple H makes the championship count. One….two….three. Cue tears, cue Paul Heyman’s priceless facial expressions, cue every babyface on the roster emptying the locker room to hoist their new champion aloft, ala Bret Hart at WrestleMania 10. Ala NWA World Champion Dusty Rhodes back in the day. Cue fireworks. Cue a new era. Cue a new story to be written.
WrestleMania 40 will emanate from Philadelphia, PA on 6th and 7th April, 2024, available only on Peacock, WWE Network and PPV.
Featured Image Credit: WWE
