WWE WrestleMania 39 Predictions for Saturday Night's Updated Match Card

WWE takes WrestleMania to Hollywood Saturday night in SoFi Stadium.

The blockbuster Night 1 card features industry icons such as John Cena, Trish Stratus and Lita, current stars like Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, and competitors who will lead the charge into the future, like Austin Theory and Rhea Ripley.

Exactly what matches can fans expect from the first night of action in suburban Los Angeles, and who should emerge victoriously from each?

Find out with this look at Saturday night's match card, predictions for each and top stories to keep an eye on.

Saturday Match Card and Predictions

Announced for Saturday's Night 1 match card:

• United States Championship Match: John Cena vs. Austin Theory (Prediction: Theory)
  
• SmackDown Women's Championship Match: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (Prediction: Ripley)
  
• WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Usos (Prediction: Owens and Zayn)
  
• Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Logan Paul (Prediction: Rollins)
  
• Trish Stratus, Lita and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky) (Prediction: Lynch, Lita and Stratus)
  
• Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio (Prediction: Dominik)
  

Austin Theory's Defining Match

Saturday night will not be the first time that reigning United States champion Austin Theory has competed at WrestleMania. He was a part of the 2020 show unexpectedly, then he battled commentator and sports media megastar Pat McAfee last year.

No match, though, has meant more to his future and status as one of the brightest stars in professional wrestling than his title defense against John Cena at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

Theory has dreamed of and campaigned for this match his entire career, dating back to his days in Evolve, where he cut promos on Cena. He has eyed the franchise star and future Hall of Famer since day one and will have the opportunity to not only wrestle him on the biggest card of the year but also beat the industry icon in what would be the most significant victory for the 25-year-old Atlanta native.

WWE has made it clear through its creative efforts over the last two years that Theory is one of the faces of its future. The question, then, is if they are confident in him enough to book him to beat the biggest star it has produced in the last two decades.

If the answer is "yes," then Theory absolutely must defeat Cena and retain the United States Championship.

To suggest it would be any other answer would be ignorance. WWE is not putting that guy in that spot unless he is absolutely ready to shine on the WrestleMania stage. Anything else would be setting him up for failure and the company up for embarrassment.

Who knows what time Cena has left between the ropes. Wasting one match of this magnitude simply does not make sense. Expect Theory to show up and show out, meeting the expectations of his employers and those who believe in him.

In the process, he will retain his title and usher in the All Day era of WWE, even if it does not begin right away.

A Rematch Three Years in the Making

WrestleMania 36 is a mostly forgettable show because of the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the last-minute circumstances that went into it. For Rhea Ripley, though, it was an event that began her journey back to the top of the women's division in WWE.

On Night 2 of the extravaganza, she entered as the defending NXT Women's champion. Her opponent? 2020 Royal Rumble winner, and women's division measuring stick, Charlotte Flair.

Most expected Flair to put up a fight but, ultimately, Ripley would go over and be a made woman via the most significant victory of her young career.

Except, that did not happen.

Flair forced Ripley to tap out, ending her title reign and earning another victory on the grand stage. The Nightmare would come back a year later and defeat Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship, but that moment lacked the impact it probably should have had, and Ripley would still struggle to find herself as a competitor in the year or so after.

A heel turn in 2022 and entry in The Judgment Day allowed Ripley to show a new side of herself. She was darker and more dominant than ever. She was also more focused than before, allowing her to not only establish herself as a favorite in January's Royal Rumble but also win the whole thing.

She did, and she quickly chose Flair as the champion to challenge on wrestling's most prestigious night.

At stake is not just the SmackDown Women's Championship, which the Aussie will happily add to her impressive resume, but the opportunity to right the wrong that was Flair's victory three years ago.

Along the way, she hopes to inflict fear in the heart of The Queen, something Flair has suggested is not possible. "The only thing I fear is my own potential," she said in a March 24 SmackDown promo.

Is it possible Flair leaves Los Angeles with her title reign intact? Absolutely. She has a long history of winning on the grand stage, even when it does not make sense or probably should not have happened.

Even with that history, though, this feels like Ripley's coronation.

The Eradicator has waited long enough to earn that stamp of approval from management; an honest-too-goodness shot of leading the women's revolution moving forward, not a three-month run with the title that ends before it ever got started, as was the case in 2021.

The competitor who ended that last reign?

Ironically enough, Charlotte Flair.

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