
Down The Middle
Wrestlemania XL Predictions
This year’s Wrestlemania is full of huge matches whose outcomes can completely change the landscape of WWE and wrestling in general. WWE has been doing a fantastic job with creative over the past few years, but it’s still fun to make our own predictions, so without further ado, here are the predictions from the Down The Middle hosts for Wrestlemania 40!
Night 1:
- Rhea Ripley (C) vs Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s World Championship
All the hosts unanimously predict that Rhea Ripley will retain her championship this Wrestlemania. Rhea is simply too hot right now to take the title off her. Becky is in a position in WWE where she doesn’t need a title, but if she had one, she would instantly elevate it. However, thanks to Rhea’s meteoric rise and dominance, her title is in no need of elevation. This match will be a very good one as both Rhea and Becky have an excellent track record for stellar matches, so while we don’t think the title will change hands, this will be a very enjoyable match to watch.
- Finn Balor & Damian Priest (The Judgement Day) vs Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa (#DIY) vs The Miz & R-Truth (Awesome Truth) vs Kofi Kingson & Xavier Woods (The New Day) vs Austin Theory & Grayson Waller (A-Town Down Under) vs Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate (New Catch Republic) in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
This one will be pure chaos. Both Hakime and Bryon believe The Judgement Day will retain (most likely with interference of some kind) and Jake honestly doesn’t care. He thinks these kinds of tornado-style tag team matches aren’t even really tag team matches and it’s just going to be spot fest. So he agrees with the other two hosts based solely on how The Judgement Day has been booked.
- Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio
Originally Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee were set to represent the LWO in this match between Santos Escobar and Dominik, but on the latest episode of Smackdown, Dragon Lee suffered a backstage attack and later Andrade refused to help in the beatdown of Rey Mysterio, attacking Escobar and his crew instead. Therefore, Andrade replaced Dragon Lee for this match. Even though he participants changed, our predictions have not. All the hosts think Santos and Dominik will win via interference and cheating. It will be a very enjoyable spectacle to behold though, and many fans are excited to see Andrade back in a WWE ring.
- Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso
This match has been a long tome coming. With the story arc of The Bloodline, these two brothers have had many twists and turns, eventually splitting up when Jey could no longer bring himself to follow the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. This match was also teased at the Royal Rumble when Jey and Jimmy entered at number 1 and number 2 respectively. This match is probably going to be the match of the night, and we all unanimously predict that Jimmy will ultimately win, but Jey will have a decisive victory yet not be able to bring himself to finish off his brother. In this delay, it will likely be Solo Sikoa delivering a Samoan Spike that will enable Jimmy to get the pin.
- Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi vs Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane (Damage CTRL)
We’ve speculated whether or not and how Jade Cargill may be involved in this year’s Wrestlemania. Basically, the looming question was would WWE see Jade Cargill as ring ready in time for the show. Jake in particular called this one saying that if Jade could perform her finisher safely and consistently, WWE would have her on the card. Jade did just that in a segment where she saved Belair and Naomi from an attack from Damage CTRL. Jade not only delivered her finishing move (better than we’ve ever seen it before) Jaded, but also her patented push kick (which looks absolutely devastating). Jake further speculated that this is probably a direct middle finger to AEW since Tony Khan had Jade on his roster for years and still didn’t have her fully prepared to wrestle on TV. WWE, by contrast, has had Jade under contract for only a few months and she is having her first Wrestlemania match, after a Royal Rumble appearance, in such a short time. It seems obvious to all the hosts that Jade and her team will get the win for this very reason.
- Gunther (C) vs Sami Zayn for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Originally, WWE teased, and we were hoping to see Gunther defend his title against Dominik Mysterio. Sadly, it looks like plans changed. Not to take anything away from Sami Zayn, but this match doesn’t really seem built up at all. For that reason, we predict that Gunther will retain his championship.
- MAINT EVENT: The Rock & Roman Reigns (The Bloodline) vs Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins – the winner of this tag team match sets the stipulation for the main event of night 2.
We’re not gonna lie, this one is giving off major New Japan vibes and we’re here for it. This is an ingenious way to give the audiences for both nights a chance to see their main event stars and have an impact and help set up the story for night 2. Once again, all the hosts unanimously believe The Bloodline will triumph (likely due to interference) and set up the main event for night 2 to be contested under Bloodline Rules. We also have a bold prediction that this match, and Seth’s title match on night 2 will have major repercussions for the Universal Title match.
Why Roman Reigns has to retain his title at Wrestlemania
Night 2:
- Seth Rollins (C) vs Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship
CM Punk all but confirmed the original plan was to be Punk vs Seth at Wrestlemania for this title, but we think Seth was destined to lose it anyway. The way things ended up may honestly turn out to be better. We predict Drew will win the title and that he will do an excellent job elevating this new title until it comes time for Punk and him to have a proper feud and elevate it even further. We also predict that Seth’s defeat will lead to resentment that he got involved with Cody in the first place, and will likely still pledge his loyalty, but Cody would to well to watch his back from all sides…
- Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (The Pride) vs Karrion Kross and The Authors of Pain (The Final Testament) in a Six-man Philadelphia Street Fight
Firstly, this match is listed as a Six-man tag team Philadelphia Street Fight. Since there are no disqualifications in a Street Fight, calling it a tag team match just seems silly. If anyone in this match abides by tagging in and out it gets an automatic F. That being said, this match seems very inconsequential. All the hosts are lightly leaning towards Karrion Kross and his team winning.
- LA Knight vs AJ Styles
Once again, this match doesn’t seem to mean much, but it will be a crowd pleaser. LA Knight (YEAH!) is white hot and AJ always delivers so the crowd will love it. All the hosts agree that Knight will win this match simply because of how they’re booking him on television.
- Logan Paul (C) vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship
Just like the previous match, this one doesn’t mean much but will certainly be a spectacle. Jake predicts that Logan Paul will lose his championship (likely to Kevin Owens) to give Logan time to prepare for Jake Paul’s fight against Mike Tyson in July. Hakime and Bryon both think Orton will win the title. Jake is also predicting a spot where Logan Paul jumps into an RKO for bonus points lol.
- Iyo Sky (C) vs Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship
THIS storyline has been brewing for a very, very long time. And it’s been glorious. This is a perfect example of a story that is simultaneously predictable, but so good that it doesn’t matter. We all unanimously agree that Bayley will beat Iyo for the title, and Jake believes that Dakota Kai will end up siding with Bayley by the end.
- MAIN EVENT: Roman Reigns (C) vs Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship
Much like Trump vs Biden, we’ve been here before. Also, much like Trump vs Biden some people are changing their opinions. Down the Middle is included. Roman Reigns needs to retain his title and beat Hulk Hogan’s championship reign for the sake of a legacy in WWE and we’re pretty sure we know how it’s going to happen. Not only do we predict Roman Reigns will retain his championship, but we predict full interference from The Bloodline and Cody getting help from a wide variety of players, including Seth Rollins. However, once Cody delivers a few Cross Rhodes in succession he will be laid out by The Rock. Then when all hope seems lost, Seth will reappear and dispatch the Great One and allow Cody to deliver the final blow. But in the last moment, Seth will deliver a curb stomp to Cody and allow Roman to pin him to retain the championship.
Seth will open the following episode of Monday Night Raw explaining that he blames Cody and Cody not listening to him in the first place for him losing his World Heavyweight Championship.
Watch our Wrestlemania Predictions Podcast Episode Here: