FlurrySports predicts the full WWE WrestleMania 42 match card following the fallout from the 2026 Elimination Chamber.
WWE Elimination Chamber has come and gone, and another major fallout domino transpired on this past week’s episode of SmackDown. It truly is now full-speed ahead to the biggest show on the annual pro wrestling calendar. At present, we are six short weeks away from WrestleMania 42. Rest assured, those six weeks will fly by as the storylines and action ramp up in advance of “The Show of Shows”.
Naturally, the full WrestleMania match card will come into clearer focus, but it’s always fun to make predictions and speculate on what feuds might ultimately develop and be a part of WWE’s biggest event. Read on for one man’s attempt at booking and predicting a full, two-night WrestleMania match card based on the current state of affairs!
WWE WrestleMania 42 Match Card and Booking Predictions
Confirmed WrestleMania 42 Matches
There are currently a total of five matches confirmed for the WrestleMania 42 match card. They are as follows:
- Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
- World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
- Women’s WWE Championship Match: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
- Women’s World Championship Match: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
- Open Challenge: Brock Lesnar vs. ???
It’s quite a list featuring some sexy matchups between big-name superstars. WWE certainly went with two of its biggest household names as the winners of the Elimination Chamber matches in Randy Orton and Rhea Ripley. Thus perhaps the biggest shock of this past week occurred when Cody Rhodes reclaimed the Undisputed WWE Championship with a pinball victory over Drew McIntyre on SmackDown.
That match came about due to the role McIntyre played in Orton’s Elimination Chamber victory. SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis lost his mind on the post-show and his decision for discipline of the champ was to have McIntyre defend the title against Rhodes one week later. Going into Elimination Chamber, Rhodes was the popular pick and odds-on betting favorite to win the chamber match, given that he had already been feuding with McIntyre for months.
With the dust appearing to now be settled, “The American Nightmare” is in fact returning to the main event of WrestleMania as a defending champion. However, there is still uncertainty surrounding Brock Lesnar’s open challenge opponent. Thus, we will include it as part of our WrestleMania match card predictions. My crystal ball is ready, so let’s get to it!
Full WrestleMania 42 Match Card Predictions
Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
Full disclosure, I was expecting Jacob Fatu to interfere in the title match between Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes on SmackDown and thereby light the fuse for a heavy-hitting Fatal 4-Way match for the belt at WrestleMania. Fatu did get involved, but it was merely to prevent McIntyre from using a steel chair on Rhodes when the referee was knocked out for a moment. In other words, not the kind of interference I was looking for.
With Rhodes reclaiming the gold, that solidifies a singles bout between him and Randy Orton that has been teased going back several years. Meanwhile, McIntyre and Fatu now have a full-blown beef here. McIntyre will blame Fatu for losing his title while the latter still blames the former champ for putting him out of action with injuries last year. It will be a fun match, but it’s a letdown from what I was initially hoping for. The same can be said for this “nice guy” Fatu character which isn’t cutting it for me. Oh well.
Open Challenge: Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
In the lead-up to WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar will be making several more appearances on RAW, providing anyone in the locker room the opportunity to step to him and accept the open challenge. For me, the home run answer is Oba Femi. Given that he is set to face Rusev next week, there could even be a delay in when he accepts the match with Lesnar. Hell, he could even wait until ‘Mania itself, with slight teases along the way. Femi is the next big thing as far as WWE heavyweights are concerned, so he has to be on the card in some capacity.
I will say, the only other candidate who makes sense to face Lesnar is Gunther. However, his preoccupation with retiring superstars and the backlash he is getting from members of the locker room for doing so are expected to lead to alternative booking arrangements.
Gunther vs. Rey Mysterio
Ah, yes, speak of the devil! Ever since retiring AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, Gunther has been doing battle with a pissed-off Dragon Lee on RAW. Despite his best efforts, Lee has failed to truly make a statement in the feud. He also lacks the star appeal needed for a singles match at WrestleMania, but WWE Hall of Fame Rey Mysterio doesn’t! Mysterio and Lee have been friends in the booking going back a good while. With Gunther unmasking Lee to win on the RAW immediately following the Elimination Chamber, that could be the dirty move that drags Mysterio into the mix to stand up for his fellow luchador.
It’s also a perfect opponent given Gunther’s developed moniker as the “career killer”. Given his age, there’s a good chance that Mysterio puts his own career on the line as part of our WrestleMania 42 match card predictions.
Seth Rollins and Bad Bunny vs. Logan Paul and Austin Theory
With Seth Rollins making his return at Elimination Chamber to cost Logan Paul, it’s clear that “The Vision” storyline is destined to culminate in Las Vegas. Now, there’s a lot of speculation going on with our official WrestleMania predictions for this one, so bear with me.
One option that could transpire here is Rollins vs. Paul in a singles match. However, recent reports have suggested that Bad Bunny could be back in the fold sooner than later. Oh, and Paul may have teased a feud between himself and Bad Bunny with some comments at the Super Bowl. This may be a long shot to truly come in, but where there’s smoke, there could be fire!
I have also read mixed reports as to whether Bron Breakker might actually recover from his surgery in time for WrestleMania. I’m a match predictor, not a doctor, but I do know for certain that it would be a much quicker recovery from a serious hernia injury than expected if he were to be back in time. Thus, Austin Theory is the safer bet to tag with Paul in this showdown.
United States Championship Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Draganov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tama Tonga vs. Matt Cardona vs. Rey Fenix
Since Carmelo Hayes’ whole shtick as United States Champion has been to host open challenges weekly on SmackDown, it’s tough to envision a prolonged feud suddenly developing to identify a singular WrestleMania 42 opponent. Surely, if he is to defend in a singles match, it would be against Ilja Dragunov, but a six-man ladder match is far more exciting for our WrestleMania match card predictions.
To round out the field, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tama Tonga make sense given that both men have been eyeing the U.S. title in recent weeks. Damian Priest was a candidate, but he is now in the WWE Tag Team Championship picture alongside R-Truth. As a result, I’ll lean towards Matt Cardona and Rey Fenix, two men who have been a part of Hayes’ growing list of open challengers recently, to get the nod. While I’d love to project Je’Von Evans to round out the field, given that he would be electric in a ladder match, I hesitate to include a single RAW superstar in an otherwise all-SmackDown field.
Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams
Despite plenty of verbal exchanges between the two, Sami Zayn and Trick Williams have not yet done battle inside the squared circle. What’s more, none of the previous exchanges have really indicated a fuse being lit for a match on a random episode of SmackDown. Thus, it feels like a strong prediction that the in-ring and backstage verbal sparring could lead to a match at WrestleMania. It goes without saying that both guys deserve a spot on the card at WWE’s biggest event.
I must disclose that I briefly envisioned Zayn’s backstage confrontation with Jacob Fatu from the week prior to Elimination Chamber possibly working him into the WWE Championship plans for ‘Mania. We’ll see where it goes, but there is far more friction built up between Zayn and Williams at the moment.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor
Considering that Dominik Mysterio pinned Finn Balor in a multi-man match to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania a year ago, I would like to think that the Judgment Day brethren-turned foes would do battle for the belt. However, Mysterio inexplicably lost his IC title to Penta on the RAW after Elimination Chamber. Okay, I get it, the Danhausen curse and all of that, fine. The point is, the Mysterio-Balor steam train lost a bit of momentum this past Monday.
Perhaps “Dirty Dom” will recapture the gold before WrestleMania? Admittedly, I can’t fully tell where WWE has this going at present, but it seems crazy for these two not to clash in Las Vegas.
Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: Nia Jax and Lash Legend (c) vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. The Bella Twins vs. Giulia and Kiana James
The women’s tag team division has been chaotic for months now. Nia Jax and Lash Legend are the latest to get their hands on the belts after toppling Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky before Elimination Chamber. With so many teams and only one set of tag titles for the ladies, I struggle to see this being a traditional tag team setup at WrestleMania.
As for the contenders, obviously Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss have to be involved, both for their star power and the ongoing storyline. Meanwhile, The Bella Twins reunited recently and stated that their sole mission is to win the tag team titles. Book it. Lastly, I’m giving the nod to Giulia and Kiana James as the final duo included. James showed out in the Elimination Chamber, and the recent booking surrounding this pair has been their efforts to make Giulia a double (and eventually, triple) champion.
Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
I mean, what other direction does the women’s IC title booking go at this point? AJ Lee defeated Becky Lynch to take the belt at Elimination Chamber. I’m still scratching my head at that decision for so many reasons. At any rate, she followed it up with an awkward segment on RAW two nights later proclaiming that she will be a fighting champion. That said, this feud cannot possibly be dead yet.
While I am very much open to the idea of Maxxine Dupri and Nattie being included here, WWE has had a knack for singles feuds lasting way too long in recent years. Maybe Lee’s presumptive open challenges or similar in the coming weeks open the door for more talent to be included on the WrestleMania 42 match card predictions.
Iyo Sky vs. Asuka
With Rhea Ripley winning the women’s Elimination Chamber, Iyo Sky is now on her own on RAW. A star of her caliber has to find a way onto the WrestleMania match card, but that direction is very unclear at present. What could be a storyline possibility for her involves the ongoing bullying situation with Asuka belittling her Kabuki Warriors partner, Kairi Sane.
Sky has made efforts to console Sane backstage after recent occurrences. While it hasn’t gone far yet, Sky could theoretically stand up for Sane, who is clearly in a victimized position to the heel version of Asuka.
Notable Superstar Omissions
We made our WrestleMania 42 match card predictions above, utilizing the same number of matches (14) that took place across the two-night event last year. It seems unlikely that WWE would add much more in terms of the number of matches. Given some of the notable names in the list below who are left without a spot amongst our predicted matches, there are bound to be some storyline twists and turns over the next six weeks!
- The Usos (World Tag Team Champions)
- LA Knight
- Damien Priest
- Penta (Intercontinental Champion)
- Solo Sikoa and the MFT (WWE Tag Team Champions)
- Je’Von Evans
- El Grande Americano
- Original El Grande Americano
- Tiffany Stratton
- Raquel Rodriguez
- Bayley
- Lyra Valkyria
Yes, there will once again be the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal to feature a multitude of superstars. In recent years, WWE has held other prominent title matches on SmackDown the night before ‘Mania. With very little effort being put into the tag team division on the men’s side recently, I would expect at least one set of the tag team titles to be defended on Friday this year. That said, the names listed above all would be deserving of a match at Allegiant Stadium if they get one.
