WWE WrestleMania 40 predictions for Saturday: Roman Reigns and The Rock dominate

If we were to judge which night of WrestleMania 40 is more stacked, this is the one.

WWE gets things started in Philadelphia in a big way as we get The Rock’s true in-ring return after 11 years and the long undefeated streaks of women’s World champion Rhea Ripley and Intercontinental champion Gunther in jeopardy to credible challengers.

Jimmy and Jey Uso fulfill their dream of facing each other at WrestleMania, the cracks in the foundation of The Judgment Day could only get bigger and Jade Cargill has her first non-Royal Rumble match in WWE.

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What happens in the main event will be the story as it has a direct effect on how Cody Rhodes’ quest to finish his story plays out on Sunday. A win for Rhodes and Rollins over Roman Reigns and The Rock means The Bloodline is banned from ringside. A loss and it’s Bloodline Rules where anything goes.

With plenty at stake, The Post’s pro wrestling columnist Joseph Staszewski does his best to predict what will happen on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40 from Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday (7 p.m., Peacock).

Roman Reigns and The Rock over Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins

There is really only one way this can go. The Rock — The Final Boss — needs to pin Cody Rhodes to ensure it’s Bloodline Rules between the American Nightmare and cousin Roman Reigns on Sunday for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The questions are whether it will be done cleanly and if new Bloodline members are revealed.

I do think we will get at least one more member to make Rhodes’ task look even more daunting and require extra help. The Rock’s and Rhodes’ feud is hotter than anything between challenger and champion. So this could set up the Hollywood star as a potential Rhodes opponent down the line and adds to the help Rock has given Reigns.

This is Rock’s first real match since he lost to John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 29, in which he was injured. We will find out just how much ring rust — if any — is on the future Hall of Famer.

Rhea Ripley (c.) over Becky Lynch to retain the women’s World Championship

Becky Lynch is someone who doesn’t need a championship to be relevant and doesn’t need the shine of being the one to finally beat Rhea Ripley. She also is someone who reasonably could, even though her character has spent the past month softening herself up with matches against Nia Jax and Liv Morgan. Still, taking a loss in their first-ever meeting wouldn’t launch a larger story that ends well for Lynch. 

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Considering Ripley was last pinned in May 2022 by Liv Morgan, WWE needs to protect the next time that happens at all costs. The Man clawing back to overcome this defeat later in the year might work, so if Lynch is the one to finally beat Mami, it won’t be at WrestleMania. Still, I’d rather see that moment make someone else or ignite a rivalry for years to come instead.

Gunther (c) over Sami Zayn to retain the Intercontinental Championship

Yes, Sami Zayn is training with Chad Gable now and that should add a little hope that the challenger could beat Gunther and end the longest Intercontinental championship reign in history. Gable could help fight off Imperium. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s hard to see Zayn winning.

Neither world championship picture is ready for Gunther to step into it and fans were lukewarm on Zayn getting this shot anyway. The person who finally defeats Gunther should be made by pinning his shoulders to the mat or give Gunther someone to eventually get redemption against as a babyface. Zayn checks none of those boxes, so the Ring General’s run continues.

Jimmy Uso over Jey Uso

Yes, Jimmy has cost his twin brother Jey both the Undisputed WWE Universal championship and the Intercontinental championship and deserves payback. But that wouldn’t help accomplish the greater goal of The Bloodline story to elevate everyone in the family as much as possible. Further elevating Jimmy from being just Roman Reigns’ muscle to close to the level Jey is already at would requore him beating his “Main Event” brother at least once — even if it included interference.

Maybe Jey triumphs in the end down the road, but Jimmy needs a moment all to himself. There is also a good chance the two brothers will remain on the opposite sides of The Bloodline for a bit, and this will give WWE a reason to run things back at a later date.

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Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) over The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest (c), DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa), The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate), A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in a ladder match

It feels pretty certain that The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and Damian Priest aren’t leaving with the Undisputed Tag Team championships. It’s just a matter of who WWE wants to have get the win. The Awesome Truth feels the most likely considering R-Truth has been intertwined in The Judgment Day’s stories for a month and was a hilariously loose member of the group for some time before Priest kicked him out. The crowd would pop big for that and WWE will likely script them winning through some Truth accident.

If not them, a DIY win could happen considering it’s Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s first WrestleMania. Ultimately, the story and moment with Awesome Truth could be too good to pass up in a match that could steal the show early in the night.

Jade Cargill, Naomi and Bianca Belair over Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane and Asuka)

Jade Cargill isn’t losing in her first true WWE match and especially at WrestleMania. It is, however, a perfect setup for her as she is in there with some of the best WWE has to offer and won’t have to be overexposed. The question is who gets and takes the pin because plenty can be set up from this match.

Cargill can put herself in the WWE women’s championship picture should Iyo Sky defeat Bayley, and Belair and Naomi can quickly become No. 1 contenders for Asuka’s and Sane’s women’s tag team championships. With the latter of the two options more likely, Belair will be part of the finish. I’d love to see her and Jade or all three of them earn the fall at the same time to leave no doubt.

Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar  over Rey Mysterio and Andrade 

Dominik Mysterio has had a spell of bad luck lately as he’s just 1-5, including four straight losses in his televised matches this year, and it feels like Dom’s story needs to hit rock bottom for him to go somewhere. Maybe this is it.

But then everything changed Friday on SmackDown when Mysterio’s original partner, Dragon Lee was attacked backstage by an unknown assailant. Andrade then turned on Legado del Fantasma and reunited with Zelina Vega and the LWO. We still don’t know who attacked Lee. So a double cross will decide this match. My gut says it’s Carlito backstabbing Mysterio and the LWO.