Reacting to My WrestleMania 42 Weekend Predictions

With WrestleMania 42 taking place this weekend, it’s time to look back at the card that I predicted 12 months ago! Now, it is worth mentioning that, unlike in previous years, NXT Stand and Deliver has already happened, but we’re still going to talk about it as it’s a part of WrestleMania Season! Also, when I made these Predictions last year, Mania was supposed to be taking place in New Orleans, not Las Vegas (yikes)!

Credit: WWE

NXT Stand and Deliver

Credit: WWE

NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match: Arianna Grace VS Izzi Dame VS Jazmyn Nyx VS Karmen Petrovic VS Kylie Rae VS Wren Sinclair

Yeah, this is a bad start! Firstly, the NXT Women’s North American Championship was defended in a singles match between Tatum Paxley and Blake Monroe, so no ladders, whilst none of these women appeared on the main show! Both Jazmyn Nyx and Kylie Rae no longer work for the WWE, whilst I haven’t seen Karmen Petrovic on NXT in a while! In fairness, Izzi Dame did win the North American Title earlier this year, whilst both Arianna Grace and Wren Sinclair did at least wrestle on the Countdown Show! Also, both Grace and Sinclair currently hold singles gold, but I’m not sure if that makes this prediction any better!

Hank VS Tank

What on earth is this? You’ll be surprised to hear that Hank and Tank didn’t face each other at this year’s Stand and Deliver, with them both still appearing as a team on the Countdown Show! I honestly have nothing else to say about this prediction; it’s terrible!

NXT North American Championship: Josh Briggs VS Myles Borne

This isn’t bad! Josh Briggs has been massively booed over the past year whenever he appears on NXT, to the point where he’s not been used as much, but Myles Borne is actually a pretty good prediction! See, at the time of writing this article 12 months ago, Myles was a Tag Team guy in the No Quarter Catch Crew; he wasn’t chasing singles gold, and yet, he entered this year’s Stand and Deliver as the NXT North American Champion! So, you know what, I’ll gladly take half a point for that!

NXT Tag Team Championships: DarkState VS Motor City Machine Guns VS Swipe Right

Interesting! Whilst DarkState didn’t appear at Stand and Deliver, they have won the NXT Tag Team Championships twice in the past 12 months, so that’s at least something! Now, the actual NXT Tag Title match this year was between The Vanity Project and Los Americanos, and for those who don’t know, Swipe Right are The Vanity Project! Given that they were in Evolve, that’s one heck of a prediction! Also, whilst I was wrong about the MCMGs, at least I was correct to pick a Main Roster act to add some experience to the show!

Zaria VS Masha Slamovich

My goodness me! Firstly, Zaria did wrestle at Stand and Deliver this year, but against Sol Ruca! As for Masha Slamovich, we haven’t seen her on wrestling television for quite a while now! It made sense that I went for a TNA superstar to appear on this show, but I was a few days out as current TNA World Champion Mike Santana appeared at the go-home show at the Theatre in Madison Square Garden!

NXT Women’s Championship: Jordynne Grace VS Thea Hail VS Kelani Jordan

Well, none of these women appeared at this year’s Stand and Deliver, so this is wonderful! Thea Hail did become the NXT Women’s North American Champion in December, but that wasn’t enough for her to make the show, whilst Kelani Jordan wrestled Jaida Parker on the big show at MSG! As for Jordynne Grace, she moved to the Main Roster before she won the NXT Women’s Title, so that aged poorly!

NXT Championship: Ricky Saints VS Je’Von Evans VS Mustafa Ali

Now this would’ve ruled! I remember thinking that Ricky Saints would enter his home show as the NXT Champion, but that was, of course, before Stand and Deliver was moved from New Orleans to Las Vegas, and eventually to St. Louis! However, Saints was a part of this year’s Main Event, so that’s something at least! As for the other two, Je’Von Evans is already a Main Roster talent who’s set to compete at WrestleMania this weekend, whilst Mustafa Ali’s one and only NXT appearance since being a member of the TNA roster came when he lost to Ethan Page at Showdown!

WrestleMania 42

Night 1

United States Championship: Jacob Fatu VS Bronson Reed VS Oba Femi

Well, this would’ve been fun! Funnily enough, Jacob Fatu is fighting towards the start of WrestleMania Saturday this year, whilst Oba Femi is set to kick off WrestleMania Sunday! The actual United States Championship match is going to happen between Sami Zayn and Trick Williams, so I was also correct with an NXT star fighting for this Title! Unfortunately, an injury has prevented Bronson Reed from appearing at Mania this year, but he’ll get there at some point!

Dominik Mysterio VS Sami Zayn

Speaking of Sami Zayn, I supposedly saw Sami facing Dominik Mysterio in New Orleans! I think I did this match in order to get both guys on the show, and in fairness, they are both set to appear this weekend! As we already know, Sami will put his United States Championship on the line against Trick Williams on Sunday, whilst Dominik is set to face “The Demon”, Finn Balor!

WWE Tag Team Championships: FRAXIOM VS Finn Balor and JD McDonagh VS The Bloodline VS The Lucha Bros

This is bad! Firstly, it’s bad because the WWE Tag Team Championships aren’t even being defended at WrestleMania this year, with R-Truth and Damian Priest taking the night off! Secondly, FRAXIOM haven’t come anywhere near close to winning Tag Team Gold, whilst The Bloodline (now known as MFT) can only make WrestleMania SmackDown! Whilst Finn Balor and JD McDonagh are no longer a team, at least both of them are on the Mania 42 card, whilst Penta will walk in as the Intercontinental Champion (we won’t see Rey Fenix, however)!

Gunther VS Ilja Dragunov

If only! There’s a very valid argument to be made that Ilja Dragunov deserves to be on WrestleMania this year, given his run on SmackDown with the United States Championship, but he’s seemingly disappeared for some reason! The only positive I can take from this prediction is that I predicted that Gunther would have the match of the weekend, something he very much could still have when he faces Seth “Freakin” Rollins in Las Vegas!

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Giulia VS Iyo Sky VS Asuka

I’m actually quite pleased with myself that I saw Giulia going from NXT to become a mid-card Champion on the Main Roster, the only difference being the fact that she currently holds the Women’s United States Championship! Also, it’s crazy to think that WWE teased a potential feud between Giulia and Iyo Sky, whilst Iyo is currently in the middle of a feud with Asuka! Sadly, it looks like none of these women are going to appear at WrestleMania this year, but at least certain stars here could’ve faced each other!

CM Punk VS Logan Paul

Ha! My first and biggest mistake with this prediction is that I said that CM Punk wouldn’t be involved in the Main Event scene this year, and yet he enters the Main Event of WrestleMania Sunday as the World Heavyweight Champion! Logan Paul also enters this show as 1/2 of the World Tag Team Champions, with Logan set to compete in the opening match of the weekend! I still don’t think that this was a terrible idea, but Punk’s better off with what he’s currently doing!

Women’s World Championship: Becky Lynch VS Stephanie Vaquer

Coming out of WrestleMania 41, Becky Lynch was 1/2 of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships (alongside Lyra Valkyria), whilst Stephanie Vaquer was the reigning NXT Women’s Champion! I was super confident about Stephanie becoming a Main Roster star, I just didn’t expect her to become Women’s World Champion all the way back in September! In fairness to Becky Lynch, she’s kept herself in the Women’s IC Title picture, but you know what, I’m happy with this simply because getting Vaquer in the World Title Match is quite a good prediction!

Undisputed WWE Championship: Bron Breakker VS Cody Rhodes

So my Main Event for WrestleMania Saturday would’ve seen Cody Rhodes challenge Bron Breakker for the Undisputed WWE Championship! Now, Cody Rhodes is set to Main Event WrestleMania Saturday, as the Undisputed WWE Champion, so I guess that’s semi correct! At the start of 2026, it was totally feasible for Bron Breakker to Main Event WrestleMania 42, but an unfortunate injury has taken him off the card completely!

Night 2

WWE Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Roxanne Perez VS Tiffany Stratton

I was correct with Rhea Ripley fighting for the WWE Women’s Championship at this year’s WrestleMania, with Rhea set to challenge Jade Cargill for the Title! The crazy thing is that she’s the only woman here who is scheduled to compete at Mania, with both Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton set to miss the show entirely! Kind of crazy if you ask me!

Drew McIntyre VS Jey Uso

Damn it, wrong Bloodline member! For those who don’t know, Drew McIntyre is facing Jacob Fatu this weekend, a feud that’s been strong, but arguably should be being fought over the Undisputed WWE Championship! Jey Uso is also going to appear on the show this weekend, and the funniest thing is that both Uso and McIntyre are wrestling on ESPN2 this Saturday!

Intercontinental Championship: Damian Priest VS Ethan Page VS Trick Williams VS LA Knight

I love a good multi-man match! Funnily enough, WWE does too, with the Intercontinental Championship being put on the line in a 6-Pack Ladder Match! Unfortunately for me, none of these men are in it! Damian Priest is currently a Champion, but that’s not enough for him to make the card, whilst Ethan Page Main Evented Stand and Deliver last weekend! Trick Williams is fighting for the United States Championship, so that’s at least something, whilst LA Knight will be competing in a 6-Man Tag Team match!

Carmelo Hayes VS Randy Orton

Oh no! One of these guys is Main-Eventing WrestleMania Saturday, whilst the other is off the show entirely! Yes, Randy Orton is set to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship, whilst Carmelo Hayes “didn’t do enough” to earn his way onto Mania, despite a very strong run as the United States Champion! Pain!

Women’s United States Championship: Jade Cargill VS Bayley VS Liv Morgan VS Nia Jax

Whilst this prediction may seem mad, the funny thing is that all four of these women are competing in a Title match this weekend! Jade Cargill enters as the WWE Women’s Champion, not the Women’s US Champion, whilst Liv Morgan is challenging Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Championship! Amazingly, both Bayley and Nia Jax will face each other in a Fatal 4-Way this weekend, just for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships!

Charlotte Flair VS Bianca Belair

I feel like I always predict this match in these articles! The chances of a Charlotte Flair-Bianca Belair feud have proven to be about 0%, simply because we haven’t seen Bianca since last year’s WrestleMania! On top of that, Charlotte has very much transitioned into being a Tag Team wrestler over the past 12 months, which should culminate this Saturday when Flair and Alexa Bliss challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships!

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Roman Reigns

Sugar! Over the last two WrestleManias, Seth “Freakin” Rollins has gotten the better of Roman Reigns on multiple occasions, whether him being the reason that Roman’s record-breaking Universal Title reign came to an end, or last year’s Night 1 Main Event where Rollins pinned Reigns after aligning himself with Paul Heyman! For a lot of 2025, this seemed very much like the direction that WWE was planning to go for WrestleMania 42, but an unfortunate injury for Seth during his Crown Jewel match with Cody Rhodes put a pin in all of that! However, at least I was correct in having Roman Reigns Main Event WrestleMania Sunday, challenging for the World Heavyweight Title!