WWE WrestleMania 41 Match Card Predictions After Royal Rumble Results

Although WWE took the predictable path at various points throughout the night, WWE Royal Rumble 2025 was still an eventful evening on the whole that successfully set the stage for what is shaping up to be a star-studded WrestleMania 41.

WWE’s men’s and women’s world champions have officially been put on notice with Charlotte Flair and Jey Uso winning their respective Rumble matches, giving fans a much cleared card for WrestleMania compared to prior to the pay-per-view.

DIY walked away with their WWE Tag Team Championship reign intact following a fun-while-it-lasted bout against The Motor City Machine Guns. The Street Profits’ interference seems to suggest a Triple Threat tag team matchup is in the works for WrestleMania.

Cody Rhodes barely emerged from his Ladder war with Kevin Owens unscathed, still the Undisputed WWE champion. If Uso resumes his rivalry with Gunther as many expect him to, Rhodes’ WrestleMania opponent is entirely up in the air, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a fair amount of credible challengers waiting in the wings.

Per the results of the Royal Rumble, these are the most likely matchups for ‘Mania in Las Vegas.

Charlotte Flair was always expected to be back in the title picture immediately upon returning from injury and her Royal Rumble win on Saturday night merely made it official.

The second-generation star entered the women’s Rumble late and ultimately outlasted her competition to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 41, where she should challenge Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship.

A WrestleMania rematch with Women’s World champion Rhea Ripley is possible, but there’s no need to rekindle that rivalry so soon as neither of them would benefit much from beating the other.

Stratton vs. Flair is a fresh match that has the potential to be a show-stealer if given an ample amount of time. Stratton has shined in her rookie year on the main roster and deserves a high-profile opponent of Flair’s caliber at ‘Mania.

The outcome is almost irrelevant as Stratton would gain a ton simply from sharing the ring from Flair on such a stage, provided she be made to look credible in defeat and that their storyline doesn’t end there.

It’d also be ideal for WWE to reverse the roles in the coming months as Flair’s new “Top Girl” persona will work better with her in heel mode.

Although Bianca Belair and Naomi are still in the midst of their reign as WWE Women’s Tag Team champions, it shouldn’t be much longer before they’re dethroned by Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.

Morgan and Rodriguez’s non-title win over the champs on the Jan. 27 edition of Raw should earn them an imminent title shot. Belair and Naomi are ready to branch back off into singles competition and progress whatever story they’re going to have with the currently-sidelined Jade Cargill.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Rodriguez will be a perfect fit for the women’s tag team division during WrestleMania season. Morgan doesn’t have any obvious direction coming off her loss of the Women’s World Championship and has history in the tag team ranks, specifically with Rodriguez.

As seen in the women’s Rumble, Alexa Bliss is back and has made an enemy out of Morgan, who eliminated her from the bout. There was no indication that Bliss will be linking up with The Wyatt Sicks, but it’d be only logical given her previous connection to Uncle Howdy.

Bliss reuniting with Wyatt Sicks’ Nikki Cross to challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles would be the most effective use of all four competitors.

DIY and The Motor City Machine Guns were embroiled in a personal war over the WWE Tag Team Championship in the months preceding the Royal Rumble, culminating in a two-out-of-three falls match at the event.

Before the Machine Guns could put their adversaries away and regain the gold, they were attacked by the returning Street Profits, who haven’t appeared on WWE TV since shortly following their backstage ambush in early December.

The Profits targeting DIY afterward as well all but confirmed that the three talented teams are on a collision course for a massive Triple Threat tag team match at WrestleMania 41 with the titles up for grabs.

It remains to be seen whether WWE will be able to stretch out the storyline until then, but pitting those tandems against each other at the event would be the best use of them on The Grandest Stage of Them All, especially if the belts were hung high above the ring in a Ladder match.

A number of Ladder matches have happened at ‘Mania over the years and it’d be a suitable stipulation for the big blow-off to this long-running rivalry.

Kevin Owens taking Randy Orton out of action with a piledriver back in November planted the seeds for a future feud between the two that should finally come to fruition at WrestleMania 41.

Now that Owens’ rivalry with Cody Rhodes has run its course and he’s failed to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship on three consecutive occasions, he should be indefinitely done in the title picture. Sami Zayn should be next on his hit list after his “best friend” didn’t help him defeat Rhodes as he hoped he would at the Royal Rumble.

Even without anything on the line, Owens vs. Zayn is a WrestleMania-worthy encounter. That could easily be saved for The Show of Shows, but that would leave Orton without an opponent unless The Viper sets his sights on Rhodes instead.

Elimination Chamber on March 1 emanating from Toronto makes it the perfect place for Canada’s own Zayn and Owens to clash. That would allow Owens to pick up a much-needed pay-per-view win before facing a returning Orton at WrestleMania.

Orton can’t resurface until Owens settles his score with Zayn first.

John Cena has made it known that he intends to win what would be his record-setting 17th WWE world title before he calls it quits at the end of the year. He came up short in the men’s Royal Rumble but has already declared entry for one of the upcoming Elimination Chamber matches.

He established during the Royal Rumble post-show press conference that his plan is to win the Chamber and headline WrestleMania 41 for a world championship, but he should be unsuccessful at that event, too.

The money with Cena during his farewell tour should be the case, not to mention that his first major pay-per-view win in seven wins shouldn’t come inside the Elimination Chamber but rather at ‘Mania itself.

There are a handful of opponents he can work with, but Logan Paul would make the most sense after Cena eliminated him from the men’s Rumble. In seeking revenge, Paul could cost Cena the Chamber, much like he did to Seth Rollins two years ago.

The social media sensation is a notable name and an easy opponent for Cena to defeat ahead of embarking on a winning streak en route to world championship contention. It’d be the type of attraction WWE tends to crave for their annual April extravaganza.

The Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins rivalry is one that never seems to end as their decorated careers have been intertwined in the best way possible over the past decade-plus.

It reignited with a bang on Saturday night when they essentially eliminated each other from the men’s Rumble. Rollins unleashed his frustration on Reigns afterward by laying him out with two emphatic Curb Stomps, including one on the steel steps.

Amazingly, they have never gone one-on-one at WrestleMania before and 2025 must be the year it happens.

Their bad blood stemming all the way back to when Rollins betrayed Reigns in The Shield has yet to be definitively resolved. Being free of The Bloodline for the first time in five years allows Reigns to have any number of matches at ‘Mania and a war with Rollins is the most appropriate route to take.

It would mark Reigns’ first non-title affair at WrestleMania in six years. Rollins belongs in that upper-echelon at the event and perhaps their program will result in them burying the hatchet once and for all.

The heated exchange Cody Rhodes had with CM Punk on the go-home edition of Raw before the Royal Rumble was exhilarating enough to leave fans anxiously clamoring for that match at WrestleMania 41.

Despite Punk’s loss in the men’s Rumble, there’s still a significant possibility the match could end up happening at the event if Punk enters the Elimination Chamber and reigns supreme to become number one contender to the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Punk could also just as well cash in his “favor” from Paul Heyman for teaming with The O.G. Bloodline at Survivor Series: WarGames. Either way, Rhodes vs. Punk is a money match for WWE, if only for the promos they could provide en route to WrestleMania.

Punk belongs in a main-event at ‘Mania and this could be his only way of getting it this year. A Triple Threat with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins would be equally exciting, but a non-title affair between those three likely wouldn’t close out the night.

Punk vs. Rhodes may not have months of buildup behind it, but their chemistry is off the charts and would give every one of their segments a must-see vibe.

If there’s any one match set in stone for WrestleMania 41 as of now, it’s Gunther vs. Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship. All signs point to that being a certainty following Uso’s shocking victory in the men’s Royal Rumble and his last loss to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Aside from a brief stint as Intercontinental champion, Uso has being unsuccessful whenever it has mattered most since starting his solo run. His countless shortcomings needed to result in him winning the big one eventually and there’s no grander stage for him to get that monumental moment than at WrestleMania.

Gunther has been positioned as a bit of a background player on Raw as of late and thus his Road to WrestleMania was unknown heading into the Rumble. Uos having yet to conquer him is a stellar story to tell going forward, though it’s up to WWE to ensure the audience remains invested until then.

Uso will need to make his WrestleMania decision official soon, but the announcement could come as early as Raw if everyone already expects it to be Gunther. The payoff could be brilliant if executed accordingly.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.