The non-fans guide to WWE WrestleMania 41

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  • April 15, 2025
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It’s that time of year again.

WrestleMania 41 has arrived, live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas — or streaming on Peacock for $5.99. Despite some controversy and the recent merger with UFC, WWE is riding a major wave of momentum. With surging popularity, a roster packed with star power, and high-stakes storylines across the card, the “Showcase of the Immortals” feels bigger than ever.

This is a big deal for professional wrestling fans across the world, but even if you’ve never heard of WrestleMania or watched a WWE event, this is a great time to start, as many of the programming’s biggest storylines will culminate this weekend. And during the event itself, new feuds and stories will also begin for the rest of the year ahead.

Whether you’re diving in voluntarily or sitting down to watch this weekend’s proceedings at the behest of a friend or loved one, below is a guide to WrestleMania 41’s 14 matches, explained so you don’t have to watch years’ worth of WWE programming to “get it.”

Yes, we know pro wrestling is “fake,” but if you allow yourself to be immersed in the experience and art, you’ll find that it can be just as entertaining as your favorite season of The White Lotus or Severance.

What is WrestleMania?

WrestleMania is WWE’s biggest, longest-running, and most successful pay-per-view/live-streaming event since its conception by the now-ousted executive chairman Vince McMahon in 1985. As we mentioned, it’s basically the Super Bowl for pro wrestling. It’s March Madness, the Masters, the NBA Championship, and the World Series. As such, WWE puts a lot of investment and spectacle into making each WrestleMania more memorable than the last.

Every year, WrestleMania’s card gets bigger and bigger, and since 2020, the biggest pro wrestling event of the year has become a two-night event.

With 14 matches split between the two nights, there’s plenty to get you emotionally invested. Below, you’ll find our best attempt at giving you a sense of the marquee matchups that will dominate social media in the days to come.

This non-fans’ guide to WrestleMania 41 continues a yearly tradition here at Mashable. Our guides for WrestleMania 39 and 40 are linked for your enjoyment.

The main events…

Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena

Oh boy. This one’s a main event.

John Cena is back in the title picture and is not here to smile for the cameras this time.

After announcing his retirement last year, the 16-time world champion won a brutal Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at Cody Rhodes and the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. But there’s a twist: Cena’s not the hero anymore. He’s turned heel (a bad guy) for the first time in two decades.

Rhodes, WWE’s top babyface (good guy), came out to congratulate Cena and relay a message to The Rock. In real life, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sits on the board of WWE’s parent company, TKO Group. In the scripted world of wrestling — known as “kayfabe” — he plays the role of a corporate puppet master, obsessed with choosing a champion who will bring in the most money for the company. As part of the storyline, he tried to recruit Rhodes, who made a very loud and public refusal.

So, onto plan B: The Rock gave the signal, and Cena kicked Rhodes below the belt and made his villain turn official.

It’s a huge shift. For years, Cena was WWE’s untouchable superhero—a walking T-shirt rack who always overcame the odds. Fans begged for a heel turn back in the day, but the company never pulled the trigger. Now, in his final year, he’s rewriting his legacy.

Cena says the cheers he’s getting now are too late. That the fans who booed him for years don’t get to cheer him into retirement. He’s bitter, he’s angry, and he’s aiming to destroy Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania — not just to win the title, but maybe even take the belt with him into retirement.

Triple Threat: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

This one’s messy — in the best way. Three top stars, years of history, and a whole lot of bad blood.

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk all blame each other for blowing their shot at facing Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania. And now, they’re settling it in a triple-threat match to headline Night One.

If you want to trace the story all the way back, it starts in 2014. That’s when Seth Rollins betrayed Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (now known as Jon Moxley in AEW), turning on their group, The Shield. In wrestling, these groups — called factions — are alliances of wrestlers who fight together and share a common identity or cause. The Shield has become one of the most iconic in WWE lore.

Rollins’ betrayal and decision to side with the villainous Authority has haunted Reigns ever since, especially during his record-breaking 1,300-day reign as champion.

It’s also the same year CM Punk walked out of WWE, kicking off a near-decade-long exile before returning in 2023. In between, he had a polarizing run in All Elite Wrestling that ended in chaos and a real-life termination.

Back in WWE, Punk instantly clashed with Rollins, who’s called him a “cancer” and a “jerk” in actual (probably in-character) interviews. Their tension boiled for months, especially as both pursued the World Heavyweight Championship — and tangled with Drew McIntyre along the way.

Reigns and Punk aren’t exactly friends, but their paths crossed when The Bloodline imploded. After losing his title at WrestleMania 40, Reigns disappeared. His cousin Solo Sikoa took over, adding Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu. This new version of the faction booted longtime advisor Paul Heyman, which drew Reigns back — this time with the original Bloodline crew: Sami Zayn and the Usos.

During WarGames 2024, CM Punk joined Reigns’ team as a one-off favor from Heyman. They won, but it only deepened Rollins’ grudge.

Everything came to a head at the Royal Rumble — a 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal. Punk eliminated both Reigns and Rollins before getting tossed himself. Chaos followed. Rollins hit Reigns with a stomp, sidelining him. At Elimination Chamber, Punk eliminated Rollins — only for Rollins to cost him the match minutes later.

Tensions boiled over. Punk and Rollins brawled on Raw. They fought in a Steel Cage the next week — Rollins won, thanks to a surprise return from Reigns, who yanked him out of the cage for payback. But when Reigns saw Heyman helping Punk post-match, he snapped and took Punk out, too.

So now? No alliances, just three guys with overlapping grudges facing off in the main event of Night 1.

WrestleMania 41 Night 1 (Saturday)

Now that the big storylines of WrestleMania 41 are out of the way, what about the other matches on the card? These matches may not represent the year’s main storyline, but here’s what to expect from Night 1 of Wrestlemania 41.

World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso

This world title match is refreshingly straightforward compared to the chaos elsewhere on the card.

Jey Uso, once known almost exclusively as a tag team guy, is stepping into the biggest singles match of his career. Since breaking away from The Bloodline, he’s carved out his own path — winning the Intercontinental Championship, racking up a few world title shots, and then doing the unthinkable: winning the Royal Rumble. His pick? Gunther.

Gunther, aka “The Ring General,” is as serious as they come. As the dominant World Heavyweight Champion and leader of the villainous Imperium, he’s built his reign on discipline, dominance, and a no-nonsense motto: The mat is sacred.

Jey, by contrast, has leaned all the way into his underdog energy. He’s charismatic, unpredictable, and somehow brought “yeet” back into mainstream wrestling discourse. But despite his success, there’s still a loud corner of the internet that sees him as just a tag team guy — a perception Gunther shares and isn’t shy about voicing.

That’s the heart of the story here: Gunther doesn’t think Jey belongs on this stage. Jey’s out to prove he does.

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Straton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

There’s not a ton of depth to this Women’s Championship match, which is a shame — because, once again, the women’s division feels like it’s getting the short end of the storytelling stick.

Tiffany Stratton, just 25, is in her first reign as Women’s Champion after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on Nia Jax. (Quick refresher: Money in the Bank is a briefcase won in a ladder match that grants the holder a title shot anytime they want within a year. Stratton picked her moment and made it count.)

Stratton’s character is a glammed-up, mean-girl Barbie type, but in this feud, she’s positioned as the babyface — the good guy. She’s brash, flashy, and undeniably athletic, still relatively new to the main roster spotlight.

Her challenger? Charlotte Flair. A 14-time world champion and one of the most decorated women in WWE history, Flair returned from a torn ACL during this year’s Royal Rumble, won the whole thing, and picked Stratton as her target.

The story here is simple: Flair sees Stratton as a knockoff version of herself. Stratton, in turn, accuses Flair of clinging to the spotlight and holding back the next generation.

Naomi vs Jade Cargill

Naomi vs. Jade Cargill is shaping up to be a full-on grudge match that’s been simmering for months.

It all kicked off with a mystery attack on SmackDown, where Cargill was jumped in the parking lot by an unknown assailant. She disappeared with an injury (in kayfabe/just taking some time off) for weeks while her friends, Bianca Belair and Naomi, tried to figure out who was behind it. Fast forward to Elimination Chamber: Cargill made her surprise return and immediately went after Naomi — revealing that she was the attacker all along.

Naomi claimed she did it to protect Belair, accusing Cargill of being fake and trying to latch onto their success. Since then, the two have been trading shots and throwdowns week after week. Now, the stage is set for WrestleMania.

Beyond the personal stakes, this match marks a major moment in WWE history. It’ll be the first non-title singles women’s match at WrestleMania in 19 years — the last being Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle in a “Playboy Pillow Fight” back in 2006. Even more significantly, it’s the first-ever one-on-one women’s match at WrestleMania without a title or stipulation involved.

Other Night 1 Matches:

  • United States Championship: LA Knight (c) vs Jacob Fatu

  • Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano

  • World Tag Team Championship: Viking Raiders (c) vs New Day

WrestleMania Night 2 (Sunday)

The Night 2 main event is set: Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship — a generational clash with everything on the line. But that’s not the only match worth your time. Here are the other can’t-miss showdowns rounding out the WrestleMania 41 card.

Women’s World Heavyweight Championship: Io Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley

This triple threat for the Women’s World Championship brings together WWE’s top three stars in the division — and the road here was messy from the jump.

It started during the Elimination Chamber qualifiers. In a match between Io Sky and Liv Morgan, then-champion Rhea Ripley — who’d been feuding with Liv — interfered, costing Io the match by disqualification. Rhea offered Io a title shot the Monday after Elimination Chamber to make up for it.

Meanwhile, Bianca Belair won the Chamber match, setting up the expected WrestleMania main event: Belair vs. Ripley. But that changed fast. On the following RAW, Io defeated Rhea clean and won the championship, flipping the script to Io Sky vs. Belair at Mania.

Rhea didn’t take the loss well. At the contract signing, she attacked both women and added her own name to the contract — not legally binding, but no one seemed to care. RAW GM Adam Pearce gave Rhea a rematch against Io with Belair as guest referee to smooth things over. That match ended in a double disqualification after more chaos.

So now, the WrestleMania match is officially a triple threat. Belair is furious that her earned one-on-one shot was hijacked. Rhea blames Belair’s reffing for the DQ. And Io, despite being champion and beating Rhea clean, feels like an afterthought in her own title defense.

AJ Styles vs Logan Paul

Controversy or not, Logan Paul is back for another WrestleMania — and somehow, it’s his fourth.

The social media star has been a regular presence in WWE since debuting in 2021, balancing high-profile matches with his usual mix of internet fame and drama. Despite the baggage, Paul has proven himself in the ring and carved out a legitimate spot on the roster.

This year, he’s facing AJ Styles. Styles, known as “The Phenomenal One,” is one of the most respected veterans in modern wrestling. Since returning from injury in February, he’s been at odds with Paul, trading insults and physical confrontations. The feud also included a bizarre cameo from conservative comedian Andrew Schulz, who appeared on Raw to join Styles in mocking Paul before helping take him down.

Paul claims the whole thing is about envy—that Styles wants the spotlight and the payday that comes with facing a star of his stature. These are pretty “meh” motivations, but Styles can wrestle, and Paul has a track record of showing up when the lights are the brightest.

Sin City Street Fight: Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest

There’s no shortage of bad blood between Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest.

Their rivalry began at last year’s WrestleMania when McIntyre won the World Heavyweight Championship from Seth Rollins. However, post-match, McIntyre egged on his rival CM Punk (He was doing commentary for the match), which led to Punk retaliating and McIntyre being left vulnerable — and Priest seized the moment, cashing in his 2023 Money in the Bank contract to steal the championship.

The two stayed locked in a feud. Priest defended the title against McIntyre at Clash at the Castle: Scotland, a premium event held in Drew’s home country. McIntyre won the namesake ladder match at Money in the Bank but failed to cash in on Priest that night. Priest eventually dropped the title to Gunther at SummerSlam.

In January 2025, WWE initiated a “brand transfer window” — a system similar to free agency in sports, where wrestlers are moved between RAW and SmackDown to refresh storylines. Both McIntyre and Priest were moved to the SmackDown roster.

They continued clashing through the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, where Priest eliminated McIntyre in both matches. After the Chamber, McIntyre attacked Priest in retaliation, costing him the win.

Weeks of chaos followed. On April 10, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis made the match official: McIntyre vs. Priest at WrestleMania 41. The next night, it was announced the bout would be a Sin City Street Fight — a no-rules, no-countout match where anything goes, usually featuring weapons, brawling in the crowd, and plenty of chaos.

Other Night 2 Matches:

  • Women’s Tag Team Championship: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriquez (c) vs Bayley & Lyra Valkyria

  • Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs PENTA vs Finn Balor vs Dominik Mysterio

Source : The non-fans guide to WWE WrestleMania 41

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