Updated WWE WrestleMania 42 Card and Predictions for Match Order
For the 42nd time, WWE presents WrestleMania 42, emanating from Allegiant Stadium for the second time in as many years, with a card that will test the company's ability to lay it out in a crowd-pleasing fashion.
From championship clashes to heated rivalries, ladder matches to unsanctioned fights, WWE has provided fans with nearly something for everyone.
And just in case, they threw in a mainstream ESPN personality, Pat McAfee, to boot.
Ahead of the annual extravaganza, find out the final card and match order predictions in this preview of the April 18 and 19 premium live event.
Saturday Card and Match Order Predictions
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1. The Usos and LA Knight vs. Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and IShowSpeed (Confirmed opener by WWE and ESPN)
2. Fatal 4-Way Match for the Women's Tag Team Championship: The Bella Twins vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Lash Legend and Nia Jax
3. Unsanctioned Match: Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre
4. Women's Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch
5. Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
6. Women's World Championship Match: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan
7. Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton (Confirmed main event by WWE)
AJ Lee Completes Unexpected Comeback With WrestleMania Return
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For a decade, fans waited with bated breath for the possibility of an AJ Lee return to WWE programming. A revolutionary in the Divas division at the height of her possibility, she had propeled women's wrestling forward and helped lay the groundwork for what the Women's Revolution in pro wrestling could be.
Then, she left, retiring from professional wrestling after WrestleMania 31 in 2015.
She would pop back up in the industry as part of the WOW: Women of Wrestling promotion, but she never once set foot back on WWE programming and mostly stayed out of the spotlight, embracing other professional opportunities, such as writing comic books and scribing her own autobiography.
Her return to WWE in 2025, where she joined husband, CM Punk, in a battle against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, was nearly as inconceivable as The Best In the World's two years earlier.
That comeback match kicked off a rivalry with Lynch that has spanned three matches: the aforementioned mixed tag match at Wrestlepalooza in September, WarGames in November, and their first one-on-one bout at Elimination Chamber this past February. Now, the rapidly intensifying rivalry will write its conclusion Saturday night, with the Women's Intercontinental Championship at stake.
Lee has scored three consecutive victories over Lynch, a difficult feat for anyone, let alone someone who has not competed in a decade. B/R named Lynch the greatest women's wrestler in WWE history, and with good reason. She has done everything there is to do, headlined every major show, and wo nevery title possible. All while Lee was away.
Now, the defending IC champion has the chance to wrap up her rivalry with Lynch in emphatic fashion, defeating her one last time, this time on a stage Lynch has helped build since her first appearance on it back in 2016.
Their match, if it can avoid the overbooking that plagued their first singles battle two months ago, could very well be one of the weekend's best.
Sunday Card and Match Order Predictions
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1. Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar (Confirmed by WWE and ESPN)
2. United States Championship Match: Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams
3. "Demon" Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
4. Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship: Penta vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Je'Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rusev
5. WWE Women's Championship Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill
6. World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns
Intense Hatred Fuels Sunday's Marquee Bout
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Whereas other matches have been built through overbooked creative, the World Heavyweight Championship Match between Reigns and Punk is one built on good, old-fashioned hatred.
They have told you as much from the beginning, with the emotion being the one cited by Reigns when he chose Punk as his WrestleMania opponent. It was what fueled the world champion when he cut his scathing, "pipebomb" promo on The Tribal Chief on the April 6 episode of Raw.
It was there on Thursday morning when The OTC took to social media to address his WrestleMania opponent one last time.
Once upon a time, Punk made it more difficult for Reigns to be accepted as a top-tier babyface, resentment built, and issues have persisted ever since. But it is not just a few comments made on a podcast that defines this rivalry. The issues between the two are at the center of who they are as Superstars.
Punk is the aged veteran who still shows up every week like his predecessors, understanding his importance to the show as the champion. He values old school professional wrestling over the cinematic turn it took over the last decade.
Reigns is as synonymous with overarching storytelling and cinematic as anyone. He is The Tribal Chief, who led a wrestling renaissance on the back of a soap opera involving his Bloodline.
The emotion is real, the dislike feels genuine, and the build to the world heavyweight title match on wrestling's grand stage arrives with the most some of the most lucid and recognizable build on the card.
The question now is whether Punk and Reigns can deliver a match that reflects that hatred or if it will more closely resemble a traditional match. More importantly, will any teased involvement adversely affect the quality of the bout and the story laid out in the weeks leading into it?
