WrestleMania 41 goes down this weekend in Las Vegas. As always, the card is stacked with intriguing and meaningful matches, though none have grabbed headlines as much as John Cena challenging Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE championship.
Cena turned on Rhodes at Elimination Chamber and is now spending his “retirement tour” bashing fans for their treatment of him for more than two decades. Not only is Cena looking for a win, he’s looking to break the record for all-time world championship reigns when he competes in the Night 2 main event on Sunday.
Night 1 is headlined by a triple threat between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk, three of the biggest stars on the WWE roster.
In total, there are eight championship matches across the two-night event, along with a handful of grudge matches.
2025 WWE WrestleMania 41 schedule: Where to watch WWE Hall of Fame, special events in Las Vegas Shakiel Mahjouri
With so much going on, we took a look at the five biggest storylines to follow heading into WrestleMania 41. Let’s take a look.
1. Can John Cena set a new record for number of world title reigns?
Cena and Ric Flair are tied for the most world title reigns in wrestling history with 16 apiece, as far as the WWE record books are concerned (the truth is more complicated and confusing). Cena has the opportunity to win world title number 17 when he takes on undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes in the Night 2 main event. While this year is the final of Cena’s career as an in-ring wrestler, it’s not quite a now-or-never situation because he could go on to win the title at a later event, but this feels like the best moment for Cena to topple Rhodes and grab the record.
Cena turning heel after winning Elimination Chamber was a great moment to boost interest in WrestleMania overall. It also freshened Cena up and out of the staleness that has surrounded every one of his brief returns over the past several years. There will no doubt be a redemption arc for Cena before he rides off into the sunset, but for now, he’s chasing the record with a nasty edge that has provided a jolt of excitement for the biggest match of the two-night event.
2. How does The Rock factor into the main event?
It’s clear The Rock comes and goes as he pleases, but when he does show up, he shakes things up. Rock tried to convince Rhodes to “sell his soul” and become Rock’s personal champion. When Rhodes wasn’t having it, Rock signaled to Cena, and Cena’s heel turn was on.
While it seems certain Rock will make his presence known plenty of times across the weekend, there’s no bigger question than how he will play into the Night 2 main event between Rhodes and Cena. Will Rock actively attempt to help Cena win? Will that come in the form of physical intervention or finding some other way to use his executive position to tip the scales against Rhodes? Whatever Rock does, it’s sure to have a huge impact on the rest of WWE’s year.
3. Will the Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk winner be decided by Paul Heyman?
The Night 1 main event has seen Heyman in as large of a role as the wrestlers themselves. When Punk teamed with Reigns’ OG Bloodline to help them win WarGames, he did so as a favor to Heyman, and with the stipulation that Heyman would owe him a favor in return. Punk called in that favor for WrestleMania, requesting Heyman be in his corner rather than Reigns’. Reigns laughed it off and demanded Heyman tell Punk he wouldn’t do it, but Heyman held up his end of the favor. Punk and Heyman have a long history but it’s clear Punk’s main intention was to get in Reigns’ head.
Rollins has taken a more aggressive approach with Heyman, threatening the former ECW owner and using his decision to pass on stomping Heyman’s head into the canvas to say Heyman now owes him a favor. Heyman is a pawn for everyone in the match in one way or another and it seems clear that he has the ability to take actions on Saturday night that determine the outcome of the match.
4. Can Jey Uso finally beat Gunther and become a world champion?
Uso’s Royal Rumble win was a fantastic moment that few saw coming. Uso emerged as a viable singles star during the ThunderDome era of the COVID-19 pandemic and has only continued to build an organic momentum as his connection with the audience intensified. Initially, the storyline with Gunther felt a bit flat with a weekly attack by Gunther becoming a predictable part of every episode of Raw. That took a big turn when Gunther ziptied Uso to the ropes and violently attacked his twin brother, leaving Jimmy Uso a bloody mess.
Uso, who is 0-3 in televised singles matches with Gunther, has claimed that was the moment everything changed and he was no longer afraid of the champion. The attack on Jimmy and Jey’s reaction in the aftermath has injected some new life into the story, but it isn’t a guarantee that Uso can finally get the victory and the world title along with it. If Uso manages to win, it would be a classic “WrestleMania Moment.”
5. Will one of the women’s matches steal the show?
While there’s no doubt that the biggest men’s matches have gotten the bulk of the attention heading into WrestleMania, there are four compelling bouts featuring WWE’s top women. Tiffany Stratton will defend the WWE women’s championship against Charlotte Flair in a match that recently grabbed headlines when the two women seemingly went off-script during a SmackDown segment that saw Stratton take shots at Flair’s three divorces and Flair claiming Stratton’s boyfriend (Ludwig Kaiser) was “in her DMs.” That intensity could spill over into the match in a way that makes it better — or that makes everything awkward.
On the Raw side, Iyo Sky will put the women’s world championship on the line against Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. There’s no personal drama here, just solid storyline beats and Sky being an overlooked champion. Meanwhile, Jade Cargill will be looking for revenge on Naomi after an attack sidelined Cargill for months, and Bayley will team with Lyra Valkyria to challenge Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the women’s tag team titles.
If any match feels like it has the chance to steal the show, it’s Sky vs. Belair vs. Ripley. Sky has been arguably the best women’s wrestler in the world for the past year while Ripley is extremely popular and Belair has every superstar quality you could want in a wrestler.