Professional wrestling is cool again and we are in the eve of WrestleMania 40 (aka WrestleMania XL). So it felt only right to gather up the FRO Horsemen and argue about if stories will get finish, who will turn on who, and how fine Jade Cargill will look in her match.
We got two full nights to talk about, so check out the FRO Horsemen’s WWE WrestleMania 40 Thoughts & Predictions below.
1. Who will win the main event of WrestleMania XL Night 1: The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth “Freakin” Rollins?
B-Easy: Of course The Rock & Roman Reigns will beat Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins and of course the “Bloodlines Rules” stipulation will be in effect on Night 2. This is like making 2 out of 3 falls match and only having 2 falls. I am curious to see how Rock wrestlers (and I sure it will big busier style which is kinda interesting)
Saule Wright: It feels like this is chaos. Night 1, we gotta assume Bloodline wins to set up Bloodline Rules for Night 2. I expect it to be hella extra and to take about an hour by itself. I’m not sure that it SHOULD take that long, but I feel like it will take that long.
GQ-Blu: Rock and Roman win here to stack the odds against the baby face. That’s booking 101. I also looked it up. Rock is 51. I didn’t realize he had passed fifty. Like Easy said it’ll be interesting to see his conditioning and how much he has to be protected in this match, if at all.
2. Well, does Cody finish his story on Night 2? – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
B-Easy: We have argued about this in the FRO Horsemen group chat a lot, but I think Cody Rhodes will finally beat Roman Reigns and “Finish His Story”. Because what the fuck do you do with Cody Rhodes after he loses twice to Roman at Mania?
Saule: Zero chance. I’ve said this consistently, Roman has to replace Hogan on that list. Cody will be fine and I’ve of course already written his successful story finish lol. (Also, Seth is costing Cody the title.)
GQ-Blu: I was once adamant that WWE owed it to Cody to finish the story. Not so much because he deserved it (although there’s an argument there), but more-so it would be bad booking for him to win the Rumble two years in a row just to lose twice at Mania. That’s doing a wrestler dirty due to bad writing.
But recently I’ve been going to the Church of Saule Wright who preaches every Sunday and twice on Wednesday night that Roman needs to break Hogan’s title reign record. Which would take us to Summerslam. We know Trips loves long title reigns while He Who Must Not Be Named didn’t give a damn, but I doubt we ever see a title reign as long as this again. So in honor of his daddy, I think we get a Dusty finish and have Cody win at Mania, but get the decision reversed on the following Raw.
3. What about the other world title match? World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
B-Easy: Besides Rock constantly saying that he is gonna make sure Seth loses his title, Drew McIntyre deserves this. Besides getting a world title run that’s not in a pandemic, Drew has been doing some of the best character work in his career and standing out in a time when a lot of wrestling can’t with bigger stars currently around.
Saule: I feel like Drew wins, Seth needs some time off, and Priest is dying to cash in. We have PLEs coming in Drew’s home country and in Sami’s home country so I expect this title to change hands like two more times after Sunday.
GQ-Blu: I think I said before how stale I thought The Rock was and how I felt like his shtick came off like a living South Park character. However he has absolutely killed it as a heel since he’s come back.
And even that makes him the second best character in WWE because no one has been more entertaining than Drew McIntyre. I thought The Scottish Pyschopath gimmick was the best version of Drew. Who knew he just needed to be an internet troll to unlock his potential? Drew deserves to get the win here. Seth doesn’t need the belt and hasn’t been all that interesting with the championship.
4. Let’s look at the women’s title matches:
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
B-Easy: I know this feud kinda started with Becky saying Rhea was better than her. Guess what? She is. Another win for Mami.
Saule: Becks is great and even though Rhea’s reign has been hella boring, I don’t see that shit changing right now.
GQ-Blu: The fellas know my two biggest crushes in WWE are Jade Cargill and Rhea, so while it’s hard for me to be objective, I still think Mami should win this. However, Becky’s on full star mode, promoting a new book, and standing up for the memory of her late father. This feels like one of those made for WrestleMania feel good moments. Becky wins in what I think will be an overall bad weekend for my favorite crew, The Judgment Day.
WWE Women’s Championship: Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley
B-Easy: Somehow this match kinda got forgotten about even though Bayley won the women’s Royal Rumble. Everybody loves Bayley but I can see Iyo Sky (and Damage CTRL) feuding with other women after this (all with the world titles). Iyo Sky wins.
Saule: Iyo, not her fault, is probably the most boring women’s champion in recent memory. I feel like they have some more juice in this feud so we may see them drag this out to another PLE and add a stipulation to the match. They’ve kinda pushed Bayley to the back burner but I think we see them make the main event match at the next PLE. Iyo retains, for now.
GQ-Blu: it feels like this story was more about getting Bayley make over as a face as opposed to Iyo being champ, so Bayley getting redemption from being a mean girl seems to be the logical step. Bayley gets the win here and gives someone a hug.
5. Let’s look at the other title matches:
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
B-Easy: Props for WWE doing those Rocky-inspired vignettes with Chad Gable training Sami Zayn, but they’re doing all that for Gunther to still beat the shit out of Sami.
Saule: Sorry Sami, not yet. We have an event in Canada coming. This will do you good to keep you in the big dog tier for a few more months where you’ll be leaving with a title. I think Sami gets beat until the ref has to stop it, we may see the X get tossed up. Gable tries to avenge him but eventually Sami returns and wins in a last man standing match in Canada. However, this time, Philly belongs to the Ring General.
GQ-Blu: Another long title reign. Gunther is already the longest reigning IC champ in WWE history. However I think we all agree Gunther has outgrown the mid card and needs to be in the main event. If the main event wasn’t already super crowded I ‘d say give Sami the belt here and get Gunther a number one contender spot ASAP. But I feel like we could be in a holding pattern for both top belts through the end of Summer. So keep the belt on Gunther until they’re ready to pull the trigger on him being the top guy.
WWE United States Championship: Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
B-Easy: This should be an okay match. But unless WWE is gonna give Logan Paul another world title program, he is leaving Mania with the U.S. title. (Plus Orton and Owens winning this title is kinda beneath them at this point)
Saule: I want to care. I really do. I hate the idea of Logan as the champ for various reasons. The main reason is I think he’s made the US Title worthless and that’s not even a rub at his ability, it’s the visibility of a belt that once carried the shows. Cena’s weekly open challenge, Cesaro’s run, etc. We’ve seen some great things done with this belt. Now, it’s a title I legit forget they even have. I’m also not a fan of the fake ass tension they keep trying to push between Orton and KO. Orton is a top 4 heel in wrestling, we all need that guy back. Just make it happen and stop having main event guys act like they want this midcard belt. Logan wins, who cares.
GQ-Blu: Randy Orton looks like he’s legit having the time of his life since he’s come back from injury. I feel like he would enjoy working the mid card and propping up the US title like Cena and (to a lesser extent) AJ Styles did. Orton wins.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match
[The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor & Damian Priest) (c) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate)]
B-Easy: This one might be the show stealer. And since reports are saying that both the Raw and SmackDown tag titles can be retrieved separately, two teams can (and will) walk out champions. Okay. I’m intrigued.
Saule: Best match of the weekend vibes. Best possible outcomes too. I feel like we will see a title split and this is a great time to treat the fans. I don’t know how they’ll do it but I think your winners will either be one or both, Awesome Truth / Waller and Theory. Both teams are solid transitional options and will provide interest for fans.
GQ-Blu: Sadly, I think we start seeing the cracks in The Judgment Day at this mania. None of them win their matches and the blame game continues. Damian and Finn are losing both titles.
6. And the rest of the card:
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
B-Easy: I’m happy the Uso brothers finally got their 1 vs 1 Mania match. Don’t be surprised if they hug it out after. (Maybe even with Rikishi there)
Saule: …I want to care… But I don’t. I think Jimmy and Jey are both doing great work but this match itself feels rushed and somehow like it should have happened already. Jimmy done fucked with Jey several times before and they should have been had this match. Then they announced it and Jimmy cut his best solo promo since he’s been there. However, I’m yeeted and no yeeted out and I know Solo is gonna cost Jey this match.
GQ-Blu: TBH, I dont really care about this feud. I‘d actually be ready for the whole Bloodline story to be done if it wasn’t for The Rock coming back and over delivering. Jey wins because WWE loves getting everything they can out of old Black catchphrases. YEET!
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane)
B-Easy: Jade made the WrestleMania card! The real Big 3 (Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, & Naomi) should win this.
Saule: Black. Girl. Magic. The end.
GQ-Blu: this has SQUASH written all over it. Hiiiiiiii Jade.
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar & “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio
B-Easy: This probably should be on the pre-show. And Dominik seemed to come out of nowhere (I do think Dom will eventually leave Judgement Day to lead LWO but I’ll talk about that another time…)
Saule: The bathroom break match. I don’t know where this falls but let’s stop dragging Santos into some shit he shouldn’t be involved in. That man is epic and his squad and this match are boring. I said in our chat, Santos needs some muscle behind him. I hate when the faction boss is flanked by smaller guys. Plus he REALLY don’t need a crew unless the crew can help him dominate. This ain’t it, nor is this match. Don’t be shocked if we start to see Dom get some face love here. As much as the crowd loves to boo him, he’s working with his dad. You can always pivot on that and get the crowd back on his side.
GQ-Blu: I’m way higher on Dirty Dom than my FRO Horsemen compadres. But Dom has been booked more like a liability than a threat. I honestly don’t see a judgment day win on this show. Rey Mysterio’s wins for all the deadbeat dads out there.
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
B-Easy: WWE tried to make this bigger with LA Knight showing up at AJ’s house but the buzz here is pretty low. LA Knight probably should be wrestling for the US title but I am happy they both got a spot on the card
Saule: I blame y’all for this. LA Knight is fish grease and it’s y’alls fault. The Universe is a sucka for a catch phrase so you musty bastards have “Yeah’d” this man into more opportunities than he deserves. Styles deserves this and we need to see how this ends up with The Good Brothers as well. That whole faction got musty for no reason.
Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins, & Montez Ford vs. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, & Rezar)
B-Easy: Another feud that has been going on for a while but not with a lot of buzz (I’m looking at you Karrion Kross) but this will either be boring or okay.
Saule: If the Job Business don’t win this disband them. I’m tired. The Final Testament may be the least interesting returning faction I’ve seen. They brought them all back and I said why both times. I have received no answers. Kross looks like he left his job at the car dealership and came to wrestle. I hate it all.
GQ-Blu: Remember when Freddy Prinze Jr. was about to start his own wrestling fed and wanted Karrion Kross to be his top star and world champ. But then Karrion said he got a call Trips wanted him back in WWE and Freddy was like you gotta take that offer?
Well, Pepperidge Farm remembers. Also that probably would’ve been a terrible promotion. This feud also seems to be beneath The Almighty. I’m sure I speak for Black people of all races when I say I miss The Hurt Business. I think Karrion’s team wins though but that this feud does nothing for either faction and is probably a designated bathroom break on a loaded card.
