WWE WrestleMania 41 predictions, preview & odds: Cody’s time is up, Cena’s time is (probably) now
Editor’s Note: This was originally published on Saturday before night one. Scroll down for night two.
The betting odds for both nights of this weekend’s WWE WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas (Saturday/Sunday on Peacock and Netflix) are pretty close.
In contrast to the last two years of Cody Rhodes being a Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm–level betting favorite, this year’s odds are much tighter. Even the main events — traditionally very easy to predict (aside from WM39) — have close odds with the night one main event essentially being a pick ’em.
The biggest story is John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes and while it feels as though Cena has to win for the story to continue for the rest of his final year, I don’t know that he will. He’s only listed as a -270 favorite at the time of this writing, so clearly Vegas does not think him winning is a slam dunk either.
All this is to say that this year’s event could be a little less predictable than previous years. Below are previews, predictions and betting odds for each match on both night one and night two.
WrestleMania 41 night one preview, predictions & odds
Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Seth Rollins
Booking a multi-person match with no titles or title shots on the line as your WrestleMania night one main event was, in my opinion, an odd choice. But the segments leading up to it have been strong enough that I can overlook the general nonsensicalness of the match closing night one.
If this were a sport — and headlining WrestleMania an actual earned achievement — this being in the main event wouldn’t make sense at all. Punk didn’t win the Royal Rumble. He didn’t win the Elimination Chamber. He was just given the match because Paul Heyman put it in his contract. Okay, but the match itself will likely tell a very interesting story.
As for who wins: it’s a triple threat so you’ve got options. Reigns likely doesn’t take the pin as that’s as close to a sure thing as I’ll say here. Punk would be the feel-good winner, so I’ll lean that way. He is currently a -115 favorite, Reigns is -110, and Rollins is at +300.
Prediction: CM Punk
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defends against Jey Uso
I have loved everything to do with this story. To briefly recap, Gunther has defeated Jey Uso on WWE programming three times so we have no reason to believe he has what it takes to beat him. Uso then wins the Royal Rumble to the surprise of almost everyone (but not me, since I predicted it in our Royal Rumble predictions article). He chooses Gunther to face at WrestleMania and then Gunther attacks Jimmy Uso, bloodying him up and sending him to a local medical facility.
Now Jey isn’t just fighting for himself: he’s fighting for Jimmy, he’s fighting for his family, and he’s not afraid of Gunther anymore. That’s Jey’s character arc that takes him to the next level. Now, Gunther sees that something has changed in Us and for the first time since the story started, the champ is worried. Chef’s kiss. Great stuff.
The story clearly leads to the babyface slaying the bad guy, but you never know. Stranger decisions have been made. Uso is listed as a -700 favorite, and that sounds about right to me.
Prediction: Jey Uso wins the title
WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton defends against Charlotte Flair
What an interesting little ride this angle has been. Stratton has come out looking great and is clearly learning quite a few lessons on the fly about live television. However, I think Flair wins. Then, the story is the dastardly Flair holding down younger talent like Stratton and cheating her way into a long title reign. This one is listed as a pick ’em currently with both wrestlers -120 favorites.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair wins the title
WWE United States Champion LA Knight defends against Jacob Fatu
I think the easy move for WWE here is to have Solo Sikoa cost Fatu the match in some way. You don’t have to beat Knight and it leads to an angle with Sikoa and Fatu. Fatu is listed as a -300 favorite, but I’ll go against the grain on this one and predict Knight to retain.
Prediction: LA Knight retains
WWE World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) defend against The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
I think it makes sense for New Day to win the titles here. It’s the most interesting story going on in the Raw tag division right now, and there are already a lot of babyfaces winning matches on these shows. New Day is listed as -1000 favorites (the biggest of night one) and it’s hard to disagree with that.
Prediction: New Day wins the title
Naomi vs. Jade Cargill
Naomi is going all in on this heel turn. It’s really unlike anything I can remember her doing before. She had to cry on live TV — a seriously difficult thing to ask of any performer — but she pulled it off and her promos and vignettes since then have also been great. Naomi isn’t going to win, though. Cargill is the one about to be pushed to the moon. She’s listed as a -500 favorite and I might even give her stronger odds than that.
Prediction: Jade Cargill
Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano
This story feels like Vince wrote it. It’s been awful. Every segment, all I can think about is the Mexicools riding lawn mowers to the ring.
Gable and Rey are both amazing wrestlers and they will have an incredible match that Rey will most likely win. Grande Americano is listed as a -140 favorite, but what are we doing here? Gable beating Mysterio is fine, but not under an awful gimmick like this.
Prediction: Rey Mysterio
WrestleMania 41 night two preview, predictions & odds
WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against John Cena
John Cena winning the title and then threatening to retire with it sounds like an entertaining way to spend the remainder of his in-ring career. From there, all the big names who want one more match with him have a storyline: trying to take the title off him and save it for the entire WWE Universe.
I know him retiring with it wouldn’t actually devalue the title at all, but it’s wrestling — just roll with it.
I feel pretty confident Cena is winning, but stranger things have been booked before. He’s currently listed as a -270 favorite and I won’t bet against that. The odds are definitely closer than I expected them to be.
Prediction: John Cena wins the title
WWE Women’s World Champion IYO SKY defends against Bianca Belair & Rhea Ripley in a triple threat
Without looking at the odds, I’m going to predict IYO Sky wins this match. It’s a triple threat, so you can do anything and the drama is between Belair and Ripley. It would be an easy move to have Sky get the win while the other two are preoccupied with each other.
The oddsmakers do not agree with me. As of this writing, they have Belair as a -120 favorite, Sky at +120, and Ripley at +225. I’m assuming Belair is the favorite because she’s 5-0 at WrestleMania and WWE is hesitant to have her lose but I still feel good about Sky retaining.
Prediction: IYO Sky retains
WWE Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker defends against Penta, Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio in a four-way
This match provides an opportunity to get the belt off Breakker without beating him for it, so consider his title run over. As for who takes it from him, I feel pretty good about Dominik walking out of WrestleMania with the belt. Then the Judgment Day story moving forward is Finn’s brewing jealousy over Dominik’s success.
The title is going on Penta eventually, but I don’t think it will here. He can challenge Dominik for it later.
The oddsmakers agree with me: Dominik is listed as a -250 favorite. Penta is at +250, Breakker at +300, and nobody is giving Balor much of a chance at +900.
Prediction: Dominik Mysterio wins the title
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defend against Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
Liv and Raquel are -2000 favorites to retain and while they probably will, I’m a little surprised at how heavy they are as favorites. It doesn’t seem to be set in stone to me that Bayley and Valkyria don’t win the titles here and maybe drop them back to Judgment Day later. It feels unnecessary, but sometimes very unnecessary things happen in wrestling. Those odds just seem too strong.
I’d put Liv and Raquel at -700 favorites and feel totally fine about it, but not -2000.
Prediction: Judgment Day retains
Sin City street fight: Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest
For two guys who were a big part of WWE storylines throughout the year, this match at WrestleMania isn’t being given much publicity and feels like a bit of an afterthought. Either one of them could have ended up in the Rollins vs. Punk vs. Roman match and it would have made sense, but they are wrestling this instead.
McIntyre is a pretty big favorite at -800. I think he’s going to win, although I’m perhaps not as confident as the oddsmakers are.
Prediction: Drew McIntyre
AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
This could be okay. I’m assuming Styles took a vacation out to Puerto Rico to rehearse the match verbatim so we’ll get a match that goes from spot to spot, and Paul will do something they can put on social media. Think Sol Ruca vs. Kelani Jordan, but without the completely unnecessary online discourse after.
It kind of feels like they are running out of things to do with Paul. All he does is come in, they give him a match, and then he leaves. I mean, I don’t know what else you can do. Anyway, Paul will win because it’s not like they are protecting Styles. Paul is a -150 favorite. I’d give him slightly better odds than that.
Prediction: Logan Paul