The lights are bright, the seats are sold, and the matches and their stories are set: It’s time for Wrestlemania 41.
This will be the final Wrestlemania for John Cena, who retires at the end of this year, as he looks to capture a record-breaking 17th world championship when he faces Cody Rhodes in the main event of night two.
At first, the match was looking like it would be a face-against-face, but Cena shockingly turned heel at Elimination Chamber, hitting Rhodes with a low blow. A few weeks later, in Belgium, Cena delivered a great heel promo, turning his back on the fans and verbally attacking everyone, including a child.
Cody now looks to put Cena out to pasture and get revenge on behalf of himself and the WWE Universe.
The main event of night one might be the only match that can rival the night two main event in terms of star power and fan investment.
The triple-threat match featuring Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk has been over a decade in the making. Rollins and Reigns debuted as members of The Shield, hired guns for Punk. When Punk left the WWE, Rollins felt betrayed, and later betrayed his Shield brothers.
Reign’s manager, Paul Heyman, is Punk’s best friend and mentor, so when Heyman owed him a favor, Punk cashed in by having Heyman in his corner instead of Reign’s.
The road to Wrestlemania has been a bumpy ride this year, since many fans have been divided over the world championship matches for Royal Rumble winners.
Many people were shocked by Jey Uso’s victory at the rumble, and even more were disappointed when he chose Gunther, the world heavyweight champion, as his Wrestlemania opponent.
The story between Jey and Gunther started slow, every week resulting in a brawl after one of them would have a random throw-away match. After a botched dive over the top rope by Jey, it looked like the story was all but dead – until Jimmy Uso, Jey’s brother, stepped in.
He tried showing Jey that Gunther wasn’t unbeatable and that Jey needed to get out of his head. Jimmy took the fight to Gunther, but Gunther ended up beating him soundly, forcing Jey to watch by tying him to the rope.
Charlotte Flair’s return at the rumble was expected, but her win wasn’t. She chose women’s champion Tiffany Stratton for her opponent, making what was expected to be a highly anticipated match. The rivalry boiled over when a segment became a shoot promo between the two.
Overall, this feud hasn’t panned out, with it falling flat and the competitors seemingly having real-life heat with each other. Hopefully the match can make up for the lackluster build-up.
This just scratches the surface, though, as there are many more matches for the two-night event.
Wrestlemania takes place on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 7 p.m. on both nights on Peacock.
