Early WWE WrestleMania 40 Match Card Predictions After SummerSlam 2023

WWE may not be bringing WrestleMania 40 to Philadelphia until next April, but it's never too early to take a look at the current landscape and forecast which matches will captivate fans at Lincoln Financial Field come April 6-7, 2024.

From championship clashes to grudge matches and the conclusion of two defining storylines, there are a few of the showdowns that could unfold at the most important premium live event in all of professional wrestling.

Solo Sikoa vs. Brock Lesnar

By the time WrestleMania rolls around in April, Solo Sikoa will likely be the latest member of The Bloodline to leave Roman Reigns, embarking on his own journey to the top of WWE and status as The Tribal Chief of the future.

To combat him, Reigns' special counsel, Paul Heyman, will turn to an old friend and business partner in Brock Lesnar.

For those of you worried that we just witnessed The Beast Incarnate turn back to the babyface side because he acknowledged Cody Rhodes following their SummerSlam encounter, worry not: The future WWE Hall of Famer can seamlessly transition from good guy to bad according to booking needs.

Beyond the storyline implications, including a shaky relationship between Lesnar and Heyman, the match is exactly what WWE wants out of its biggest show of the year.

The unstoppable force and the immovable object: The Beast vs. The Enforcer.

It is a mammoth showdown with taglines that write themselves and the added bonus of Heyman to help put over the enormity of the contest.

If WWE really does want Sikoa to be the face of its future and the Samoan dynasty's next world champion, testing him against Lesnar on the biggest stage in wrestling feels like the right play.

LA Knight vs. Logan Paul

LA Knight and Logan Paul are no strangers to one another. Their interactions ahead of July's Money in the Bank provided the namesake ladder match with an intriguing subplot that has yet to be revisited.

That will change entering WrestleMania season, when Knight and Paul come face-to-face once more and reignite a rivalry that will serve as The Megastar's most prominent and significant to date.

Like him or not, Paul is a legitimate mainstream celebrity who manages to find headlines in whatever venture he participates in. As a WWE Superstar, he has proved to be a natural professional wrestler, thanks in large part to his athleticism and willingness to be the villain.

He is the perfect foil for Knight, whose connection with fans is undeniable and who is as hot now as any other competitor on the main roster.

If the creative team can manage to keep The Megastar this hot when January rolls around, do not be surprised to see Paul pop up and cost him a win in the men's Royal Rumble, rekindling a feud that seemingly evaporated months earlier.

Then, it will be up to Knight to prove his worth on the grand stage, against a guy who has yet to have a bad match despite his relative inexperience.

It's a star-making scenario for Knight and another opportunity for Paul to elevate the status of a competitor who is not already a main event attraction.

Finn Bálor vs. Damian Priest vs. Dominik Mysterio

The Judgment Day is nearing its end, thanks to dissension between Finn Bálor and Damian Priest centering on the men's Money in the Bank briefcase.

Dominik Mysterio is the man stuck in the middle, on neither side but an interested observer watching his "family" fall apart.

For Mysterio, Judgment Day represented a (dark) side to turn to after he betrayed his father. He achieved his greatest success alongside Bálor, Priest and Rhea Ripley, and has not needed to stand alongside his Hall of Fame father to make it to the top of the industry.

He is currently a champion, too, something he had not been without Rey.

The idea of that going away, as well as the teased introduction of JD McDonagh and his long history with mentor Bálor, will ultimately force Dom's hand and force him to stand between the two alpha males of the group.

As the faction falls further apart in the coming months, its male members will settle their differences in a Triple Threat match on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

It will be the final chapter for a stable that overcame a bumpy start and rose to prominence on WWE's flagship show as a Raw centerpiece.

Intercontinental Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus

Entering WrestleMania 39, Sheamus took exception to Drew McIntyre interjecting himself into his pursuit of the one title that has eluded him to this point in his Hall of Fame career: the Intercontinental Championship.

Ultimtately, Gunther pinned the Scot to retain his title in a Triple Threat match also involving The Celtic Warrior. The WWE draft then sent The Ring General to Raw, along with McIntyre, leaving Sheamus on the outside looking in at the title picture.

McIntyre received another shot at Gunther at SummerSlam, where he came up just short of defeating the Austrian and ending his historic reign as champion.

The Scottish Warrior will likely rectify that result, beating his rival and taking the title. And when he does, he should keep hold of it ahead of WrestleMania 40, where he will defend against Sheamus in a battle of friends.

The Irishman already has a lengthy resume that places him among the best to grace the squared circle:

• Three-time WWE champion
• World heavyweight champion
• Three-time United States champion
• Five-time tag team champion
• Men's Royal Rumble winner
• Men's Money in the Bank winner
• King of the Ring

Add to those titles an in-ring game that has somehow managed to improve as he has gotten older, and you have a guy in Sheamus who has not only earned the title victory but also the opportunity to accomplish it on the grandest stage.

Women's World Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley

It feels as though WWE has been teasing Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley for years at this point.

There have been brief interactions, tense staredowns and a great exchange of blows inside WarGames, but we have been denied a one-on-one match of any significance so far.

That changes at WrestleMania.

WWE has done a fantastic job of keeping Lynch and Ripley separate, with the exception of the aforementioned instances. They have been left apart, presumably to preserve the magnitude of their eventual contest.

The Man vs. Mami is a WrestleMania-worthy showdown between the two biggest badasses in the women's division.

Lynch broke the mold of what a successful woman in WWE was while Ripley has rebuilt it. They are hugely influential talents with a knack for performing their best when the lights are brightest.

There is no more appropriate stage for them to finally clash than The Showcase of the Immortals, with the Women's World Championship at stake.

For Ripley, victory would be confirmation that she is the most dominant woman in the sport.

A win for Lynch and she would return to the top of the industry, with her status as one of the defining stars of her generation indisputable.

WWE Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair

Bianca Belair has challenged, and defeated, three of the Four Horsewomen of NXT thus far in her WWE career.

Bayley, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks have all fallen to The EST of WWE, leaving just one woman for her to conquer: Charlotte Flair.

Belair and The Queen have competed twice before in singles competition, but never on a major pay-per-view card.

They have shared the ring in promo segments, battled in multi-woman bouts and competed in tag team matches together but that one defining match has yet to occur.

That is, until WrestleMania 40.

The inclusion of Asuka, Iyo Sky and Bayley in the women's division should help keep the competitors separate, preventing overexposure to any prospective matchup.

Come January and the Royal Rumble, though, expect to see tensions between Belair and Flair mount, leading to a showdown at The Show of Shows that will return both women to a stage they have made their own in recent years.

If they can accomplish together what they did in separate Match of the Year candidates in recent years, fans will be in store for a match with the potential to steal the show.

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Gunther

Seth Rollins has earned a main event match on the WrestleMania card after years of delivering on the undercard, including a spectacular match with Logan Paul a year ago.

Currently the World Heavyweight champion as part of that title's relaunch, The Visionary is as popular as ever and consistently delivers the best work of his career.

With no other obvious choice to defeat him, he should hold the gold all the way to the Show of Shows.

Awaiting him? Another critically acclaimed champion with several superb matches to his name: Gunther.

The Ring General may be the intercontinental champion, but that reign should not last much longer than it takes for him to break The Honky Tonk Man's historic 35-year record for longest IC reign.

With that run over and his unbeaten streak as a main roster competitor broken, there will only be one direction for him to go and that is up.

Gunther is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but his jump to the main roster and Triple H's careful booking of him since have created a credible villain who can hang with anyone. Fans believe in him as a force of nature who can chop and powerbomb his way to victory against anyone, including Rollins.

A feud that forces The Visionary to focus on the legitimate threat that stands before him and, perhaps, pack away some of the extravagance and over-the-top wardrobes of his current persona, would give fans something to invest in.

For Gunther, it would be a match on a major stage, against one of the most popular and celebrated competitors in this generation of WWE.

The cherry on top would be a legitimate Match of the Year candidate.

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

"So there you'll be, a man without a family, a Roman with no more Reigns, a Chief without a tribe."

Cody Rhodes predicted the downfall of The Bloodline prior to WrestleMania 39 and, while Roman Reigns narrowly escaped that night with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship intact, everything else foreshadowed by The American Nightmare has come to fruition.

The Usos have left The Bloodline, Solo Sikoa has teased that he may be eyeing the Tribal Chief's role in the family, and Paul Heyman can cut bait whenever he senses things are beyond his control.

From the ashes of the group, Rhodes will finally receive the one-on-one match with the head of an empty table that he was denied previously, this time in Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40.

With no one to protect him, Reigns will battle a Rhodes who has vanquished Brock Lesnar in a three-match series and remained a legitimate a threat to dethrone him as any other Superstar on the roster.

He is over, too, somehow more so than he was entering their monumental first clash at WrestleMania 39 on April 2.

Above all that, his story is unfinished. His quest to hold the title that eluded his father, the legendary "American Dream" Dusty, has not yet reached completion.

That will change in Philly when Rhodes not only challenges but also defeats Reigns in a rare 'Mania main event rematch.