Wrestlemania 41 Night 1 takes place this Saturday April 19, 2025 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will stream live in the U.S. on Peacock.
The first night of the two-day Mania, will feature a double main event of “The Ring General” Gunther vs. “Main Event” Jey Uso for the WWE Title and a triple threat match between Seth “Freakin” Rollins, “The OTC” Roman Reigns and CM Punk.
Pop Break’s Editor-in-Chief Bill Bodkin and his co-host on The Socially Distanced Podcast have teamed up to give their predictions on Wrestlemania 41 Night 1. Simply put will it be a Yeet or No Yeet?
WWE World Tag Team Championship: The War Raiders © vs. The New Day
Amanda’s Thoughts: This match will have some good spots as both teams work well together with The War Raiders being one of the strongest technical teams in WWE. Will this be fireworks compared to other matches on the card? No, but it will do what is intended and that is to crown new WWE World Tag Team Champions.
Prediction: The New Day. They have been accumulating wins as a heel team and hopefully will bring something new and fresh to a tag team scene in WWE that needs it badly while also giving them much needed momentum.
Bill’s Thoughts: You have Kofi & Woods do this big heel promo on Big E … for this? This will be a perfectly solid match, but if they had given some creative juice to this feud (like the Raiders coming to Big E’s aid) this could’ve been more emotional resonant.
Prediction: The New Day. The heel turn needs something to justify it. Maybe bring The Hardys or someone from TNA over to challenge them to spice the division up.
El Grande Americano vs. Rey Mysterio
Amanda’s Thoughts: Low key, I have been enjoying this feud because it does play up the entertainment aspect of wrestling in a cheesy, yet fun way. WWE’s newest luchador, with every championship in Mexico under his belt, has set his sights on Rey Mysterio. El Grande Americano debuted and won against Dragon Lee and has a victory over the LWO. I can see this match being entertaining from a technical standpoint with some beautiful spots that will trend on social media, but as we all know, we will see interference from the LWO and from American Made.
Prediction: El Grande Americano via interference from American Made and his loaded mask. Rey can afford to lose via nefarious means and this keeps El Grande Americano’s momentum going. Soon he can move on to other luchadors and possibly clash with Penta or Fenix down the line. The crowd is still into it too and as long as that interest continues, El Grande Americano will keep accumulating wins.
Bill’s Thoughts: It’s the usual WWE hat on a hat type of booking here. I don’t care for the “it’s not Gable under the mask” wink and nod stuff here. However, this could be one of the big sleeper matches of the weekend. Rey doesn’t take big shows off and has great history with people with skills similar to “Americano.”
Prediction: Rey Mysterio gets the W. He pulls the mask off. Angle over.
Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
Amanda’s Thoughts: This is going to be the most emotionally intense match of the night. Although this match has not been getting the attention it deserves and to me is underrated, the stakes are personal and the build up has been solid thanks to a great heel turn by Naomi. I am really enjoying her work and the production value from the video packages/promos has been solid. I think we are going to see some of the best ring work of Naomi’s career given that this is the first non-title women’s match on Mania in almost 20 years. Jade is a powerhouse and working with someone like Naomi gives this match the potential to be the women’s match of the weekend.
Prediction: As much as I want Naomi to win, Jade will win as WWE has invested too much in her to lose. Naomi will become more bitter and not only feud with Jade, but if Bianca wins, possibly start taking her frustrations out on her former tag team partner. Maybe via winning Money in the Bank…
Bill’s Thoughts: Jade has already hit Jaded and beaten up Naomi twice. Why do we need to see a match? The only way Jade loses here is if Naomi brings in a heater or posse to help her beat Jade. Otherwise, Jade gets the easy win here.
Prediction: Jade. Lock it down.
United States Title Match: LA Knight © vs. “The Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu
Amanda’s Thoughts: Jacob Fatu is on the rise, that much is clear. He is a powerhouse in the ring, standout from the rest of The Bloodline, and the crowd loves the devastation he leaves in the ring. I think LA Knight is in for a good beating and Jacob will look like a beast until Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga get involved. We will see Randy Orton make the save and I think we get Randy v. Solo on Night 2 of ‘Mania.
Prediction: Despite the interference, Jacob Fatu will win this match after asserting his dominance over everyone and split off from Solo Sikoa and the rest of the Bloodline for good. His momentum is just too strong and LA Knight can survive the loss.
Bill’s Thoughts: Jacob Fatu should be in line for a world title shot against someone by next year’s Mania. He’s an absolute monster who has the charisma, the promo ability, and the unique skillset to make him a one of a kind attraction. He’s Umaga meets RVD, and that’s something special. He’s going to steamroll LA Knight, who loses nothing here by losing to the big man.
Prediction: Jacob Fatu wins emphatically.
WWE Women’s Title Match: Tiffany Stratton © vs. “The Queen” Charlotte Flair
Amanda’s Thoughts: The build-up to this match has been, well, yikes! Charlotte hasn’t gotten over as a babyface, both lack chemistry with each other, then there was the Smackdown promo that made the headlines for the worst reasons. I still think we see a solid match between these two as both are athletic powerhouses and can go full blast in the ring. The bad build-up has hurt this match’s potential and depending on the outcome, could continue to sour the WWE Universe on one competitor in particular.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair. There I said it. I have nothing against Charlotte as a competitor, but her return has felt so lackluster and WWE has something special with Tiffany but continues to push Charlotte to the moon. I think it may take a returning Becky Lynch to save us.
Bill’s Thoughts: WOOF. This has every possibility of being a trainwreck — awkward, rough and uncooperative. Sadly, on paper six months ago this seemed like a dream match and I think we’re all collectively holding our breathe and hoping for the best. Tiffany has not hit it out of the park in this run, and I could see her going to the back of the line after it. Charlotte needs a good match here because her return as has been blander than blander.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair doesn’t lose at Mania. I see her getting the belt and being showered in boos. The fans won’t love this.
WWE World Title Match: Gunther © vs. “Main Event” Jey Uso
Amanda’s Thoughts: Gunther elevates everyone he has a match with and leaves a trail of bloody chests in his wake with his infamous chops and I will forever be here for it. I am a little bummed that this match is being overshadowed because at any other time, this would have so much more buzz. I think this will be one of Jey’s best solo matches to-date as he will have to bring everything he has to the table to defeat Gunther. The build up for this match suffered along the way, but Gunther’s beat down of Jimmy helped re-energize this feud.
Prediction: Jey Uso wins this match after taking the beating of his life from Gunther and Gunther’s hubris getting the best of him. Jey will keep getting up and take everything Gunther throws at him and with the frustration mounting, on top of a distraction from Jimmy Uso as payback for the beating he took a few weeks back, Gunther’s reign will come to an end.
Bill: I thought having Jey Uso win The Rumble was the right call back in January. However, it seems less and less of a good idea as we get closer to Mania. Outside of Gunther bloodying up Jimmy Uso, nothing’s worked to help “Main Event” out. I think them reuniting The Usos not long ago was a test to see if people will care. They did and I think that’s the fail safe.
Prediction: There’s a chance Gunther retains. Don’t be shocked. However, I think they go with a feel good story and have Jey win. His reign will be short.
Triple Threat Match: “The OTC” Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk w/Paul Heyman vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins
Amanda’s Thoughts: It was going to take a behemoth of a match to steal the spotlight from the WWE World Title and WWE Undisputed Championship matches and that is what we are getting here. The culmination of long-term storytelling over a twelve year timeframe, but not the end. Right now, this is the most anticipated match of Wrestlemania with arguably the best build-up. Of all the on-going storylines happening right now, this is what keeps me tuning in weekly because the promos on-screen and via social media, the marketing, and the ferocity of all competitors involved have made the stakes very real even though no title is on the line.
Prediction: As much as I hate going against my Tribal Chief, I do not see him winning this match but I also don’t see CM Punk winning either. So much emphasis is being placed here on Paul Heyman and I believe it is deliberate to keep the focus off what I believe will actually occur. I think Roman Reigns will take the pin here from Seth Rollins as Paul Heyman most likely will walk away from both Punk and Reigns. I think we see The Final Boss utilizing the third part of his plan in Seth Rollins, giving Rollins a much needed boost and win as he needs the momentum more so than his competitors, and planting more seeds for The Rock versus Roman.
Bill’s Thoughts: Roman vs. Punk or Roman vs. Seth is more interesting than this triple threat, but alas here we are. I think this will be the “cinema” match where everyone kinda goes bananas for the “odes” and “tributes” and there’ll be a lot of mashing and monologuing than actual wrestling. This match is very not for me. Ultimately, I think Amanda has the right call her with Seth Rollins turning and aligning with Team Rock. However, I think he does so at the expense of Roman and Punk still ends up with his win.
Prediction: CM Punk
