Early WWE WrestleMania 41 Match Card Predictions After SummerSlam 2024
August 5, 2024Early WWE WrestleMania 41 Match Card Predictions After SummerSlam 2024
SummerSlam is not only WWE's premier live event of the summer and the second-most-important produced by the company each year, but it's also the show that allows fans to begin connecting the dots to matches and feuds for the following April's WrestleMania.
Triple H and the creative regime at WWE have exhibited a tendency to book in the long term, with SummerSlam and WrestleMania being jumping-off points for the programs that will carry the company through the ensuing months.
On the heels of this year's summertime spectacular, which saw championships change hands, betrayals change the course of factions, and the return of Roman Reigns, find out which matches one might expect to see on the biggest card of the year this coming April.
Bloodline Rules
The original plan for WrestleMania XL was for The Rock and Roman Reigns to finally clash in a match 10 years in the making.
As we know, that did not happen.
Now, a year later, there is a stronger setup than ever for it to take place.
The Rock manipulated the Bloodline situation after returning as The Final Boss in the build to this year's 'Mania.
Since then, he has confronted Cody Rhodes and claimed their story is not over, and he most likely encouraged Solo Sikoa to assume leadership of the group while bringing in the likes of Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Jacob Fatu.
All in the absence of Reigns.
Now that the original Tribal Chief is back and ready to reclaim his spot as the Head of the Table, it is time for him to trace Sikoa's rise back to The Great One and for the two of them to settle their differences on The Grandest Stage of Them All: WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.
Revenge for Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley
The Judgment Day, as we knew it, changed forever Saturday night in Cleveland.
First, Dominik Mysterio betrayed Rhea Ripley and revealed his allegiance to women's world champion Liv Morgan. Then, Finn Bálor turned on Damian Priest, essentially ending The Archer of Infamy's time with the group.
There is reason to believe the Irishman has been the architect of the entire ordeal.
He was repeatedly spotted with Morgan in the weeks leading to SummerSlam, took the hotel key card off the table when it had been offered to Mysterio and had openly questioned Priest's decisions ahead of the summertime event.
If he was the master manipulator, and the endgame is Priest vs. Balor, there is plenty of time between now and April for The Archer of Infamy to run the gauntlet of Judgment Day competitors before getting his hands on the man he once considered a friend.
That one-on-one contest would give each man a high-profile clash at the biggest show on the calendar, one year after Priest successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become champion.
CM Punk, Seth Rollins Eye Gunther's World Heavyweight Championship
Considering the escalation of their rivalry Saturday at SummerSlam, CM Punk and Seth Rollins appear poised to compete one-on-one long before WWE rolls into Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41.
Of course, Triple H loves his long-term booking and could find a way to drag the match out until then, but given what we have already seen to this point, that would be a big ask.
Assuming they do meet in a singles match some time before April 19-20, a Triple Threat match pitting the two of them against world heavyweight champion Gunther for the top prize on Raw feels like an appropriate course.
Both men have repeatedly expressed their desire to win that title and such a match would likely be worthy of main-eventing one of the two nights in Las Vegas.
That Gunther, the new titleholder following his victory over Priest at SummerSlam, would be a central heel figure allows both Punk and Rollins to remain babyfaces.
Given the talent involved, a potential Match of the Year candidate would, and should be expected.
With so much talent across the board, it allows three top stars on Raw to compete for its top prize and prevents one of them from either working a lackluster match further down the card or missing out on a spot all together.