Pros and Cons of Three Different WrestleMania Main Events
Opinion Article: Although These Are Not Confirmed - Let's Look at Three Popular Main Event Options
The 2024 Royal Rumble will take place live on Saturday, January 27th from St. Petersburg Florida. It is the official kick-off to the road to WrestleMania, and the card for WrestleMania 40 will start to take shape. WrestleMania 40 is a two-night event spanning April 6th-7th from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Although each night will have a main event, all eyes will be on the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match. The belt currently held by Roman Reigns for over 1,200 days has been historic. With the reign being so historic, there has been talks of who will take the title away from Roman. Let’s look at the pros and cons of three different options that have been popular areas of discussion.
Three Potential WrestleMania 40 Main Events: Pros and Cons
CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns
At Survivor Series 2023, we saw the return of CM Punk to a WWE ring. The controversial competitor walked out of the company in 2014 which led to a very public feud between himself and the company that ended in a courtroom due to comments Punk made on Colt Cabana’s podcast. 10 years after he walked out of WWE, he walked into Survivor Series in his hometown of Chicago Illinois.
It didn’t take long for speculation to start that he would be the one to end the historic run of Reigns at the biggest show of them all. Let’s examine the pros and cons of making this the main event of WrestleMania 40.
Pros
Punk has a lot of buzz due to his departure from All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and return to WWE.
It would be the first true WrestleMania main event for Punk.
Callback to the early days of the Shield.
Cons
Some fans are not happy about his return to the company.
This could be viewed as “taking a spot”.
Punk doesn’t have a lot of recent history with Roman.
Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns
Cody Rhodes sent shockwaves through the wrestling world when he departed AEW, the company he helped start to return to WWE in April of 2021. He immediately entered a feud with Seth Rollins that saw him compete in a Hell in a Cell match with a torn pectoral muscle. He came back from the injury in the 2021 Royal Rumble where he won the match to earn the right to challenge Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
The match main evented the second night of WrestleMania and many considered it a guarantee that Cody would dethrone Roman and take home the grandest prize in all of WWE. When Roman came out victorious, many were stunned as evidenced by the reaction of the live crowd inside So-Fi Stadium. Now a year later, does it make sense for Cody to face Roman once again?
Pros
Cody is red hot with many WWE fans.
The redemption story writes itself.
Cons
It would be a rematch from a year ago.
The storyline could be a little too close to John Cena and The Rock from WrestleMania 28/29
The Rock vs. Roman Reigns
The main event featuring two members of the legendary Anoa’i family. The story writes itself. Is it the right decision though?
Their in-ring history goes back to the 2015 Royal Rumble where The Rock came to the aid of his cousin Roman Reigns to fend off Kane and Big Show in the Royal Rumble match. Reigns went on to win the match and main event WrestleMania 31 where Seth Rollins infamously cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Roman and Brock Lesnar in the main event.
Fast forward to the January 1st, 2024, edition of Monday Night Raw, The Rock made a surprise return to WWE. He cut a promo that ended with him mentioning sitting at “The Head of the Table”. This was seen as a direct shot at his cousin Roman Reigns due to Roman referring to himself as “The Head of the Table”. Although The Rock hasn’t had a match since WrestleMania 29 (not counting the squash match at WrestleMania 32), anything can happen in WWE.
Pros
Fans get to see The Rock have a WrestleMania match.
It is a family feud with a natural storyline.
Cons
The Rock hasn’t wrestled a match in years and could be rusty (although he didn’t look too rusty in past WrestleMania matches after long layoffs).
Would be seen as WWE bringing in a part-timer instead of giving a prime spot to a regular competitor.
It Could Be None of the Above…..
These are three possible scenarios for the main event of WrestleMania. All of that being said, we could see someone else main event against Roman. Come April it could be LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, or someone completely different locking up with Roman in Philadelphia.
How do you feel about the WrestleMania 40 main event? Sound off in the comments.
Great article