WWE WrestleMania 40: Best Booking Options for Rhodes vs. Reigns, Title Matches
The booking of any match in WWE can determine whether a match is successful, a Superstar remains over with audiences, or the fans will even stay invested in the story unfolding before them.
At WrestleMania, it is amplified, with the opportunity to enhance or damage legacies along heightening the significance of quality booking up and down the card.
Ahead of the 40th Showcase of the Immortals this Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia, these are the best booking options for each of the show's announced championship clashes.
Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship
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Logan Paul enters the Triple Threat Match against Kevin Owens and Randy Orton as the United States Championship Sunday and the best booking decision is for him to leave that way.
There are more options for a heel champion on SmackDown, including matches with Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, Bobby Lashley, Bron Breakker, and LA Knight, than a babyface. Add to that the story of Paul being this sneaky villain who relies on interference, brass knuckles, and flukes and you have a simple, yet best, booking option.
Late in the match, Orton and Owens deposit Paul on the floor and turn their attention toward each other. An intense exchange of counters, reversals, and signature offense ensues until one tries for their finisher. The other blocks, then delivers their own.
Paul slides back into the ring undetected and scores a cheap rollup for the win and successful title defense.
It tells the story of a heel who only wins cheaply, winning again via the flukiest rollup imaginable.
From there, the company can book Paul against one of the previously mentioned competitors or even revisit a one-on-one match with either The Viper or Prizefighter.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Sami Zayn vs. Gunther
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Intercontinental champion Gunther and Sami Zayn may very well have the best match of either night at WrestleMania 40 and, coincidentally enough, their match may be the toughest to book.
Gunther has been an unstoppable force since his main roster call-up, defeating any and all opponents and accumulating a historic reign as Intercontinental champion. Saturday night, he faces a challenger in Zayn who has been doubted, counted out, and cast aside before, only to rise to the occasion and score a monumental victory on wrestling's grand stage.
He did it a year ago, teaming with Kevin Owens to defeat The Usos.
If the theme of this year's show is resetting and ending the long reigns of dominant champions, there is no better place to start than by having Zayn once again prove himself as the ultimate underdog by knocking off The Ring General and taking the title.
Overcoming a barrage of chops by Gunther late in the match countering out of a powerbomb and obliterating him with a northern lights suplex would be a good start. A tense staredown, followed by a guttural "I'm a champion!" from Zayn before one last Helluva Kick to a battered, beaten, worn-down Gunther is the best finish for this battle.
Six-Pack Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
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The Judgment Day's Damian Priest and Finn Balor have ruled over the tag team division in WWE for since October 16, beating every team placed in front of them. Saturday at WrestleMania, they have the unenviable task of defeating five other teams in a wild, chaotic tag team match if they wish to retain their gold.
Making matters even more interesting is that Michael Cole specified Monday on Raw that the match is not over until both sets of tag titles have been retrieved.
DIY's Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are two of Triple H's guys from their time in NXT. Ditto New Catch Republic's Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate. New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are perpetually over and can believably win tag team gold at any time, while Grayson Waller and Austin Theory have been immensely entertaining as a heel duo.
Then there is Awesome Truth, consisting of The Miz and R-Truth.
Truth was treated like garbage by The Judgment Day and had his attempts at friendship thwarted. He turned to his longtime friend, The Miz, and together will have the opportunity to score their greatest victory since 2011.
They should pull down one set of titles but at the same time, a team like Theory and Waller or New Catch Republic should grab the other set, essentially splitting the titles once again and ensuring teams on both brands have the opportunity to fight for gold.
WWE Women's Championship Match: Bayley vs. Iyo Sky
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Bayley won the Royal Rumble, a career-defining moment, only for Damage CTRL to betray her. The same women she regarded as friends had acted behind her back, setting her up for failure.
Upon confronting them, they showed their true colors, leaving The Role Model a woman on an island.
She has had her heart broken at numerous stops on the road to WrestleMania but on Sunday, she has the opportunity to turn heartbreak into triumph.
The best booking decision is for her to do just that, pinning Sky following the Bayley-to-Belly suplex and proving she did not need the backup of deceivers and connivers to become champion.
Women's World Championship Match: Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley
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On one hand, Becky Lynch has positioned herself as someone who has to prove to herself that she is as good as Rhea Ripley by beating her and taking the Women's World Championship. She is also revenge-minded after The Eradicator introduced The Man's daughter into the story, resulting in a series of pull-apart brawls.
Traditional booking says Lynch overcomes the heel, wins the match, and stands triumphantly to close out the segment of the show.
Ripley has been so good, though, developing into the star so many expected her to be. She has been extraordinary, most recently thriving as the face of the Elimination Chamber premium live event and performing up to the moment.
She is everything WWE wanted her to be when she first arrived in NXT and now hardly feels like the time to take the title off of her.
The best finish calls for Ripley to outpower Lynch, with a big headbutt and Riptide being the difference.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
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The introduction of CM Punk on commentary changes perceptions of what the outcome of the World Heavyweight Championship match between Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Drew McIntyre may have been before.
Before he was revealed to be involved in the match, McIntyre winning felt like a given. The hottest heel in the company, with a penchant for trolling his opponents, it felt very much like he was destined to win the title and celebrate in front of the fans in Philly, something he did not have the opportunity to do in 2020 due to the worldwide pandemic.
Punk will likely get involved in some form or fashion and while that would seem to bode poorly for the guy who injured him and ruined his dreams of headlining WrestleMania, the money would seemingly be in Punk challenging him for the title upon his return.
For that to happen, McIntyre has to win.
The best booking decision sees Punk accidentally strike Rollins, allowing McIntyre to win and keeping the tension between The Visionary and Straight Edge Superstar alive.
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns
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Cody Rhodes must defeat Roman Reigns and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Whatever credibility he has left with the fans will be gone otherwise.
A year ago, he was screwed out of victory by Solo SIkoa. The love the fans have for him and the desire to see him finish his story carried Rhodes through the rest of the year and brought him back to this stage.
A loss and he will be irreparably damaged.
Triple H and Co. likely realize this.
The best finish is for Rhodes to fend off The Bloodline with a little help from Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, and Seth Rollins, before delivering three consecutive Cross Rhodes to Reigns and pinning him in the center of the ring for the win and title.
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