The beginning of each new 12 months results in essentially the most thrilling time of the 12 months for wrestling followers: The Street to WrestleMania. With the strategy of WrestleMania 41, minds are racing with the chances of what might come on the greatest occasion of the 12 months.
After all, there are just a few main stops earlier than WrestleMania 41 touches down at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19 and 20. World title challengers can be decided on the Royal Rumble on Feb. 1 and Elimination Chamber on March 1. It is a string of among the greatest occasions on the wrestling calendar.
With all that in thoughts, the CBS Sports activities wrestling consultants sat all the way down to make 5 predictions about what we’ll see main as much as — and at — WrestleMania 41. Learn on to see what we count on over the approaching months.
1. Who’s going to win the Royal Rumble?
I’ll say Cena will get the win right here. It seems like a on condition that he is in a world title match at WrestleMania and, certain, WWE might select to play on the “dropping streak” storyline and have him come up brief in February and have a “final probability” at Elimination Chamber, however I feel having Cena win and hyping up his title match throughout Netflix appearances makes extra sense. After all, a few of that goes to an old-fashioned mentality based mostly round “needing” to construct matches to spice up dwell gate numbers and pay-per-view buys, two issues the WWE machine does not wrestle with (or that are not related within the case of PPV). Nonetheless, Cena’s remaining run together with standing tall as a Royal Rumble winner seems like a visible they wish to lock in and it is also an avenue that presents much less of an damage threat than an look contained in the Elimination Chamber. — Brent Brookhouse
My world title frontrunners for WrestleMania 41 are Gunther vs. John Cena and Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton. If we should omit Cena from competition, there’s just one path I would go. Orton seemingly will not match Cena’s world title reign file however he can tie “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin by profitable his third Royal Rumble. Rhodes vs. Orton can draw numerous supply materials from Orton’s mentorship of Rhodes within the Legacy faction. WWE ought to capitalize on the chance earlier than the damage bug bites Orton once more. — Shakiel Mahjouri
2. Who’s going to win the Elimination Chamber?
Primarily based on the idea that Cena will problem Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE championship, we have to line up a challenger for world heavyweight champion Gunther and that challenger needs to be CM Punk. It has all the time been a sticking level for Punk that he by no means was given the chance to major occasion a WrestleMania. That would change by having Punk win within the Elimination Chamber. Gunther and Punk additionally match up nicely so far as in-ring kinds. Age has slowed Punk considerably and he’s at his greatest in hard-hitting brawls, a mode the place Gunther additionally excels. Seeing a fired up Punk gunning for arguably essentially the most harmful man on the roster forward of the WrestleMania major occasion that has lengthy eluded him is a simple story to inform, and one that will be a pleasure to see. — Brookhouse
Cena claimed on the Jan. 6 episode of WWE Uncooked that profitable a seventeenth world title is “not within the playing cards” for him. Cena acknowledged that he hadn’t received a singles match in 2,466 days — or greater than six-and-a-half years. Failing to win the Royal Rumble additional drives Cena’s self-doubt, making it that a lot sweeter when he defies the chances and turns into No. 1 contender contained in the Elimination Chamber. — Mahjouri
3. How a lot will the brand new girls’s mid-card titles be featured main as much as, and at, WrestleMania 41? As new titles, will they be featured or left to really feel as meaningless and thrown collectively as girls’s tag staff title applications?
My greatest fear is that WWE will not give the correct amount of focus to make these titles really feel really significant. On the SmackDown facet, they’ve an excellent performer with america championship in Chelsea Inexperienced. Talking actually, I do not imagine WWE will characteristic the 2 new titles at WrestleMania past brief matches and presumably giving Inexperienced some kind of comedy section. — Brookhouse
WrestleMania occurring over two nights supplies house to characteristic each the ladies’s intercontinental and United States championships. However I am not satisfied these bouts can be pivotal. Reserving thrilling storylines within the girls’s divisions is not a robust swimsuit for WWE’s present regime. I am not satisfied the ladies’s midcard titles will fare a lot better than the tag division even with Chelsea Inexperienced’s marvelous performances. The one silver lining with Uncooked and SmackDown increasing to a few hours means extra time could be invested in these titles. Nonetheless, I totally count on the brand new girls’s belts will get misplaced within the shuffle. — Mahjouri
4. What’s one main WrestleMania match that is not at present on the radar however will come collectively within the coming months?
Possibly that is stretching the thought of a “main match,” however I will shoot a shot on the concept of Pat McAfee vs. Dominik Mysterio. WWE likes to deliver McAfee round for his or her large occasions and even tossing him within the ring right here and there, although in much less intense matches than in his previous. McAfee runs down Mysterio typically whereas on commentary and it is a protected match that does not must overstay its welcome whereas additionally thrilling the dwell crowd. McAfee can run by means of Mysterio in 5 minutes and it will make for a pleasant second for all concerned. — Brookhouse
Give me Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Aptitude for the WWE girls’s championship. Aptitude has been absent for 13 months after tearing her ACL, MCL and meniscus in a match. The timetable for an ACL restoration — arguably essentially the most extreme of the three knee accidents — normally tops out at 9 months. Stratton’s first major roster title reign presents her with many challengers, similar to Nia Jax and Bianca Belair, however not notably transfer me. SmackDown’s girls’s division might use the jolt of power that 14-time world champion Aptitude brings. — Mahjouri
5. What would be the 4 high title matches at WrestleMania 41?
Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena
World Heavyweight Championship — Gunther (c) vs. CM Punk
WWE Ladies’s Championship — Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Aptitude
Ladies’s World Championship — Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
— Brookhouse
Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship — Gunther (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Ladies’s Championship — Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Aptitude
Ladies’s World Championship — Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch
— Mahjouri