It’s formally WrestleMania Season, a time of untamed hypothesis and pleasure for wrestling followers. This yr’s annual spectacular takes place April 6 and seven from Lincoln Monetary Subject in Philadelphia.

Now that the Royal Rumble is within the rear-view, with Cody Rhodes and Bayley rising as this yr’s winners, we are able to flip our consideration ahead to what may very well be in retailer for the largest stars of Uncooked and SmackDown at WrestleMania 40. What’s coming for superstars similar to Rhodes, Bayley, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and others?

This an particularly unsure time in comparison with earlier years, with a number of accidents and a intercourse trafficking lawsuit towards now-former TKO government chair and WWE president Vince McMahon rocking WWE’s plans simply months forward of the largest present of the yr.

With all that in thoughts, let us take a look at what we may count on for a lot of of WWE’s greatest stars at WrestleMania. We’ll maintain this text up to date because the WrestleMania image continues to develop within the coming weeks and months.

Cody Rhodes: After successful back-to-back Royal Rumbles, Rhodes has as soon as once more punched his ticket to a world title match of his selecting. Whereas the apparent path can be a rematch with undisputed WWE common champion Roman Reigns, and Rhodes went as far after his Rumble win as to level to Reigns within the crowd to let him know it is coming, Rhodes was thrown a curveball on Uncooked. World heavyweight champion Seth Rollins made a robust pitch for Rhodes to problem him as a substitute. After Rollins’ pitch, Rhodes was conflicted over whether or not to hunt revenge towards Reigns — and “end the story” of successful the title his father by no means may — or go after the “working man’s championship” towards Rollins. Rhodes mentioned he would give it some thought and make his determination at a later date.

Seth Rollins: As talked about above, Rollins has made a pitch to Rhodes for a WrestleMania match. That appears unlikely to occur as it might derail a years-long story for Rhodes. The important thing to Rollins’ state of affairs is that he suffered a significant knee damage, tearing his MCL and meniscus however is selecting to intestine it out via WrestleMania earlier than present process therapy. The truth is, that doubtless means Rollins has to drop the title at WrestleMania. CM Punk was the subsequent logical selection for Rollins, however Punk suffered a torn triceps muscle within the Rumble and has been sidelined as quickly as his WWE comeback started. There are nonetheless loads of males gunning for his belt, from Cash within the Financial institution contract holder Damian Priest, to Drew McIntyre, to … nicely, principally each member of the Uncooked roster. With Rhodes doubtless going through Reigns at WrestleMania, Rollins must be going through the winner of February’s Elimination Chamber match.

Gunther: There have been reviews that the longest-reigning intercontinental champion in historical past was set to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in what would have been Gunther’s greatest match ever. Gunther was additionally one of many favorites to win the Royal Rumble and go on to face Rollins at WrestleMania. That did not occur, clearly, and with Lesnar not returning on the Rumble amid his assumed involvement within the current intercourse trafficking lawsuit towards Vince McMahon, you’ll be able to doubtless strike Gunther vs. Lesnar as a risk for WrestleMania. The opportunity of Gunther vs. Rollins remains to be alive, ought to Gunther win the Elimination Chamber match. Having already defended his intercontinental title towards most worthy challengers, if Gunther is not going through Rollins, he might have a recent challenger for the largest present of the yr. One potential opponent may very well be Bron Breakker, who reportedly took Lesnar’s spot on the Rumble, although it was hinted on Uncooked that Breakker may very well be headed for SmackDown.

Roman Reigns: Reigns’ run as champion has been a curler coaster journey of ups and downs. In its greatest moments, Reigns’ time as champion has carried the complete firm. At its worst, Reigns has been an absentee champion who has held up the highest of the cardboard with repetitive matches the place he cheats to win whereas handled as an all-time dominant champion by the commentary group, an usually distracting disconnect. For the second consecutive yr, it seems Reigns’ WrestleMania match will likely be towards Rhodes. It actually appears like the best time to take the titles off of Reigns, however he is additionally near passing Hulk Hogan’s longest time as champion, which WWE may resolve is a mark price taking down. No matter occurs to Reigns at WrestleMania will set the stage for the subsequent six months — not less than — of WWE programming.

Rhea Ripley: The ladies’s world champion has been a dominant pressure on the Uncooked roster for over a yr whereas additionally serving because the “actual” chief of Judgment Day. Whereas it was hinted Bayley was able to problem Ripley after successful the Royal Rumble, that concept was shortly minimize off within the type of Nia Jax, who could emerge as the highest risk to problem Ripley at WrestleMania. In fact, there is no such thing as a scarcity of different potential challengers, together with Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan, who not too long ago returned to motion.

Bayley: The 2024 ladies’s Royal Rumble winner, Bayley was instantly put right into a tough place when Jax made it clear that Bayley was at risk if she challenged Ripley. The opposite possibility for Bayley can be WWE ladies’s champion Iyo Sky, which is an issue contemplating she is Bayley’s teammate in Injury CTRL. The story of Bayley being on the outs with the group has been within the works for fairly a while, so it is smart that she may parlay the Rumble right into a match with Sky and a return to being a babyface, a job many thought was Bayley’s solely attainable path to success earlier than she proved herself a proficient employee as a heel.

Logan Paul: As a part-time wrestler, the social media famous person has been a smash success. Paul’s athleticism permits him to placed on matches crammed with large spots and he has proven a pure expertise for partaking in large stage matches. The simplest plan for Paul can be a rematch with Kevin Owens. The pair met on the Royal Rumble, with Owens utilizing Paul’s personal brass knuckles towards him solely to be caught and disqualified. That is not a great way to finish a wrestling story and Owens will little doubt be in search of revenge towards Paul, to not point out eager to take Paul’s United States championship.

Jey Uso: It feels just like the time has lastly arrived for Jey Uso to go one-on-one along with his twin brother. Jimmy Uso was the No. 2 entrant to the Royal Rumble, instantly pairing off along with his brother, who entered No. 1. The lengthy story of Jey leaving The Bloodline and Jimmy staying has been constructing to the twins assembly in a match ultimately, at the same time as they had been neatly break up between Uncooked and SmackDown. There’s loads of time to complete the construct to Jimmy vs. Jey, together with how they really set the match up. But when the match is ever going to occur, there is not any selection that is smart aside from WrestleMania 40.