A lapsed fan’s guide to WrestleMania 42: McAfee in the mix; Lesnar-Femi could steal the weekendGreg WyshynskiApr 16, 2026, 07:48 AM ETClose
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
As a service to fans who have a general interest in WWE but haven’t watched a match since John Cena’s farewell, we’re happy to provide this FAQ as a guide to WrestleMania 42, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton. Two multigenerational stars with close to 20 years of history together, including their time with The Legacy stable that saw Orton mentor Rhodes. The Viper is seeking his 15th world title. Cody is battling to keep the title that defines him. What more could you want from a WrestleMania Night 1 main event?
Pat McAfee has aligned himself with Randy Orton ahead of Orton’s match against Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship. WWEHow about Pat McAfee?And also Jelly Roll.This match was born in the Elimination Chamber, where Orton’s win over a field that included Rhodes earned him a WrestleMania title shot. The undisputed WWE champion, Drew McIntyre, entered the chamber and helped cost Rhodes the win. That set up a title match between Rhodes and McIntyre on “SmackDown” that saw Rhodes recapture the championship he lost to McIntyre in January. So now Orton had his opponent for the WrestleMania title shot: the guy he beat in the match to earn his title shot at WrestleMania.
Anyway, these old friends met for an official contract signing, aka the most dangerous event in wrestling. True to form, Orton beat up and bloodied Rhodes.
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On the “Raw” that followed the contract-signing mess, Orton was seen taking a mysterious phone call (Is there any other kind of call in wrestling?) from someone whom he credited with inspiring the attack on Rhodes. That caller? Former NFL punter and WWE announcer Pat McAfee, whom you may also know from a little “progrum” he hosts every weekday afternoon on ESPN.
McAfee apparently incited Orton to violence because the WWE has “gone in a direction that no one likes,” and he wants to bring back the glory of the Attitude Era. Symbolizing all that’s wrong with the business was Rhodes, the guy who bleeds in every match and famously reported “go f— yourself” to The Rock last year. But he does often wear a tailored suit.
Musician-turned-in-ring performer Jelly Roll got involved in this nonsense by giving Rhodes a pep talk and getting an Orton beatdown for it. And so, we have Cody and Jelly and Randy and Pat all aligned and ready for WrestleMania — and a seemingly inevitable tag team match at Backlash in May.
Is this a better direction than simply having two dynastic wrestlers with a deep personal history battling for the belt? Speaking of the belt, Cody reclaimed the WWE title McAfee “stole” from him on “SmackDown” by showing up at the Thunderdome after-hours on Tuesday night. Thanks to the magic of closed-circuit television, the whole incident was captured and aired on Wednesday’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
WWE fans have been, ahem, passionately debating this question since the McAfee reveal. Rhodes himself told Jimmy Traina on the “SI Media” podcast that it was “the most ill-received thing in the history of wrestling,” and obviously he’s not prone to hyperbole.
But it’s still Cody vs. Randy as the main course, no matter what other condiments have been added.
As for McAfee, fans were stunned when he was called a “buggy-whipped hillbilly” whose mouth was writing checks that his “narrow ass” couldn’t cash … by CM Punk, who has nothing to do with this match, but who will defend his world heavyweight championship against Roman Reigns in the main event of Night 2.
What’s the beef between CM Punk and Roman Reigns?
Roman Reigns, left, will challenge CM Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Night 2 main event at WrestleMania 42 on Sunday. WWEStop me if you’ve heard this one before: Two former partners from more than a decade ago — one believes he mentored the other — have an extreme falling-out ahead of their championship match at WrestleMania. The difference between Orton-Rhodes and Punk-Reigns is the pure, uncut hatred that has fueled the latter feud.Please recall in 2012, when The Shield — Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose — debuted as the hired goons for Punk, who claims he set the example for Reigns to follow. Reigns shot back by saying that Punk taught him “what not to do,” while mocking Punk’s decision to leave WWE for a decade. Reigns also claims the WWE asked for his OK when Punk made his dramatic return in 2023, as if a Tribal Chief doesn’t already have enough on his plate to have to make a human resources decision.Reigns won Royal Rumble in January to earn this title shot and selected Punk as his opponent, saying in a bile-dripping promo, “I’m picking you because I hate you. I’ve always hated you. And WrestleMania’s going to be the day of my life, because in the main event, you will acknowledge me.”That’s the good stuff right there.Also good: Reigns’ and Punk’s last promo battle before ‘Mania at “Raw” on Monday added layers of pathos to their feud. Punk admitted to hating Reigns because he was born into a wrestling dynasty and also being envious of Roman’s elephantine title run and WrestleMania main events. Reigns admitted that he hates Punk because he’s envious of the champ’s connection with the fans. “I hope one day when I leave, they chant for me for 10 years straight,” he reported.Sometimes you just need good old-fashioned vitriol and a title on the line to sell a WrestleMania match. In fact, Punk’s wife, AJ Lee, is involved in one herself.Will Becky Lynch finally overcome AJ Lee?AJ Lee, left, and Becky Lynch, right, continue their feud in a match for Lee’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 42. WWEEver since AJ skipped back into WWE last September on an episode of “SmackDown” in Chicago after a decade-long absence, she has infuriated “The Man.” She made Lynch submit to the Black Widow at Wrestlepalooza, Survivor Series and Elimination Chamber, where she won the Intercontinental title from Becky to the delight of the Chicago fans.
There’s a little Becky as Frank Grimes and AJ as Homer Simpson here, to be honest. Becky spiraled into conspiracy theories and heretofore unseen levels of entitlement, while AJ Lee just does AJ Lee things.
Lynch finally snapped last month on “Raw,” unleashing nearly six months of pent-up embarrassment and frustration in an attack on the IC champ. Key phrase: “six months.” Hopefully, after whatever happens at WrestleMania, they can both move on to other business.
What about the women’s world champions?
Liv Morgan won the Royal Rumble and chose women’s world champion Stephanie Vaquer as her opponent by sucker-punching her in the face with the mic.
That led to several weeks of delightfully nasty back-and-forth sneak attacks that have caused their share of collateral damage — like when Vaquer knocked Morgan into Roxanne Perez before breaking a flat-screen TV with Morgan’s skull, giving her a welt on her head. Or when Morgan knocked Vaquer into interviewer Cathy Kelley before engaging in a classic WWE pull-apart brawl, in which the wrestlers escaped the clutches of like three dozen security personnel to keep pounding each other.
When she wasn’t calling Vaquer’s mother “trash(!),” Morgan was busy becoming an instant meme, looking like if Sydney Sweeney was cast in “The Alexa Bliss Story.”
Who wins the match? We’ll answer that question with a question: Which one of these wrestlers recently had a WWE-produced music video called “Trouble” released with all the sweaty choreography of a 2006 VMAs nominee? Hint: It’s not Stephanie Vaquer.
Meanwhile, WWE women’s champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley, who won the Elimination Chamber to secure the title shot. The buildup for this feud has seen Cargill deliver her finishing move, “Jaded,” to Ripley roughly three dozen times (or so it feels). She has also attacked Ripley’s bud and tag partner, Iyo Sky, with a kendo stick while Ripley was forced to watch. Cargill has backup from B-Fab and Michin. Iyo, at the moment, doesn’t have a match at WrestleMania, freeing her up for a dramatic run-in.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship is also on the line in a Fatal 4-Way match featuring Nia Jax and Lash Legend (champions); Nikki and Brie Bella; Bayley and Lyra Valkyria; and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, who are looking for payback against Jax and Legend for costing them the tag titles last November.
Flair and Bliss are fun because they remain utterly combustible. Flair called Bliss her “ally of convenience” on “SportsCenter” this week. Kudos to these two for making “Can they coexist?” last this long into their partnership.
What about the men’s tag team champions?
Here’s a fun game: Can you name them?
No? Well, that might be why Damian Priest and R-Truth (WWE tag team champions) aren’t on the card and why Logan Paul and Austin Theory (world tag team champions) are involved in a charmingly convoluted six-man tag team match that was set in motion when Danhausen told IShowSpeed that he was cursed.
What do those words mean?
IShowSpeed, middle, finds himself in a six-man tag team match after being cursed by Danhausen on an episode of “Raw.” WWEIShowSpeed, aka Speed, is a 21-year-old influencer and streamer who first appeared at 2024’s WrestleMania XL to support Paul while dressed as a Prime bottle in a nod to Paul’s energy drink company. Orton did the only thing one could do in a situation like that and RKO’d him on the announce table. Speed appeared again at the 2025 Royal Rumble, where Bron Breakker showed his speed before spearing the streamer into the thermosphere.Last month, Speed appeared on “Raw,” where a new addition to the roster, Danhausen, “cursed” him, leading to Speed accidentally hitting LA Knight with brass knuckles during a match that saw LA’s buddies, The Usos, lose their tag titles to Paul and Theory. LA Knight would later invade IShowSpeed’s livestream, hurling him into his own webcam.
OK, so about that Danhausen. He was an indie wrestling darling whose face is painted to look like an “Insidious” demon with a voice inspired by Conan O’Brien. He chastises wrestlers for using profanity and describes himself as “very nice, very evil.” He speaks about himself in third person and adds “hausen” as a suffix to things. Most importantly for this match: He has the supernatural ability to “curse” others, leading to all manner of calamity.
Danhausen emerged from a large wooden crate at Elimination Chamber with a cadre of similarly dressed women to a tepid crowd response. Over the next several weeks, he inexplicably became perhaps the WWE’s most popular performer, based on T-shirt sales? What’s indisputable: Danhausen has injected chaos and comedy into shows that have needed more of it.
Please note that IShowSpeed remains “cursed” as he teams with Paul and Theory against Knight and the Usos at WrestleManiahausen. We expect there might be a demon that pops up during this match. But if not, there’s another match that will allow WWE to hit its demon quota.
Has Finn Bálor resurrected “The Demon” to take on Dominik Mysterio?
Finn Bálor will make his first appearance as “The Demon” since WrestleMania 39 at WrestleMania 42 this weekend. WWEHey, desperate times call for slathering your body in black paint. The implosion of Judgment Day was a storyline more than a year in the making. Friction between Bálor and “Dirty Dom” finally reached its logical end when the rest of the faction assaulted Bálor and ejected him from the group last month. This came after Bálor prevented JD McDonagh from assisting Dom in an Intercontinental title match loss against Penta, ending Mysterio’s second reign.Much like Edge was attacked and kicked out when Bálor joined Judgment Day in 2022, Bálor was eventually attacked and kicked out himself. It’s poetry. It rhymes.We haven’t seen Bálor go full “Demon” since losing a Hell in a Cell match to Edge at WrestleMania 39. Obviously, he’s the fan favorite here because of the cool makeup and a chance for vengeance. And there’s nothing a WWE crowd loves to do more than lustfully boo Mysterio — even as fans secretly respect Dom’s ability to draw heat like few others can.Meanwhile, Dom’s father is going climbing at WrestleMania.What’s the story with the men’s ladder match?Penta looks to retain the men’s Intercontinental Championship in a six-man ladder match at WrestleMania. WWENow this should be fun: Intercontinental champion Penta puts the title on the line against Rey Mysterio. OK, it also features Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh and Rusev, but we’re getting Penta and Rey in a ladder match, and that’s chicken soup for the lucha fan soul.(As an aside: Why would Penta put a title he recently won on the line against five other guys in a ladder match?)The only other singles title on the line features Sami Zayn competing as a reigning champion at WrestleMania for the first time, putting his United States title up for grabs against Trick Williams, with rapper Lil Yachty in his corner. Wait, did we say Sami Zayn? Should that be “Sami Hogan”?What’s up with the crowd reactions for Sami Zayn?Trick Williams challenges Sami Zayn for the WWE United States Championship at WrestleMania 42 on Sunday night. WWEApparently, one can be the underdog only so many times. The fans wanted to see Carmelo Hayes defend the United States Championship against his old NXT frenemy Trick Williams this weekend, and were displeased when Zayn won the title from him. Some fans even started chanting “Sami Hogan,” which could refer to Hulk-esque backstage politicking or Zayn’s constant “underdog overcoming the odds” act.Whatever the case, Zayn cut a promo recently proclaiming that he doesn’t care about the negative fan reaction, which seems antithetical to cutting a promo about it. There has been heavy speculation that we might see a double turn here, with Zayn leaning into the negative crowd reaction and Trick riding a wave of popularity. They’re going to have to do something extraordinary to be mentioned in the same breath as the greatest double turn in WrestleMania history (see No. 3).
What are the other nontitle matches at WrestleMania?
Gunther will take on Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 42 because he finds Rollins’ confidence offensive. WWEThere are three more matches declared for ‘Mania, each with its own unique hook.Unsanctioned match: Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyrePlease recall Fatu taking a steel chair away from McIntyre against Cody Rhodes, a match the Scottish Warrior eventually lost, costing him the title and the main event match at WrestleMania that came with it. This set up a rather nasty build for a ‘Mania grudge match between the two that included Drew going to a prison to cut a promo about how Fatu is a criminal who picked a “life of crime” over his family. (Fatu was arrested for armed robbery as an 18-year-old in California.)
“SmackDown” general manager Nick Aldis had no choice but to book these two in an Unsanctioned Match on Saturday.
We’ve always wondered about Unsanctioned Matches. Do Jacob and Drew have to pay for ring time? Hire their own referee? Does the win or loss count toward their overall records? Who puts up the winner’s share? While you’re watching Fatu and McIntyre pummel each other through a stadium, these are the vital questions we’ll be asking.
Singles match: Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
This is easily the most “we gotta find something for these guys to do” match at WrestleMania. Ostensibly, Gunther set this up by interfering in a Rollins attack on Paul Heyman. Gunther subsequently claimed that he always found it offensive when Seth would strut around claiming he was the best wrestler. (Seth muttering “Are you sure you’re not confusing me with CM Punk?” as he passes out in a sleeper hold …)
Whatever convoluted way we got here, Rollins and Gunther are two of the best workers in WWE and this could be a fantastic match. Maybe a show stealer. Although if we had to predict one match to steal WrestleMania, it’s …
Singles match: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
With apologies to Rhodes and Orton and Punk and Reigns, this might be the most highly anticipated match of the weekend.
Why is Femi-Lesnar potentially the best match of WrestleMania?
Oba Femi will clash with Brock Lesnar on Night 2 of WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. WWEBecause Oba Femi is over with the WWE universe. The fans love the entrance strut and chanting his name during his music and matches. They love that he tosses around people like they’re pillows — including Lesnar, who took a Fall from Grace on “Raw” last month. They love getting behind a burgeoning superstar, and every week it feels more and more like Femi is that guy.
But what clinched it was Oba’s promo this week while signing the match contract, in which he verbally dueled with Heyman before declaring: “I am the one! I have always been the one!” This guy has aura for days.
The Lesnar match could end up being a torch passing, or maybe it will be a speed bump on Femi’s drive to the top. But this match has a protagonist with clear motivations that the fans aren’t sick of seeing. What a concept.
So, are we excited about WrestleMania?
Define “we.”
If you mean the ticket-buying public, the answer is “not as much as last year when Las Vegas hosted this two-day event.” WrestleMania 41, at the same venue, drew over 58,500 fans for Night 1 and over 60,000 for Night 2. The capacity at Allegiant Stadium for this year’s event is set at 45,767 for both days, and the WWE has yet to hit that number in presales.
Could the low sales be due to running the same city twice? Is it the lack of an attraction like John Cena’s final WrestleMania match last year, instead of him simply hosting this year? Or has the price of entry for a WrestleMania event just grown too high?
The WWE has acknowledged the last question in recent weeks. During that CM Punk “pipe bomb” rant, where he referenced McAfee’s comments about WWE attendance, he reported: “You want to talk about ticket sales, do me a favor: Call up that agent that was foolish enough to shoehorn you into this business and tell him to lower the ticket prices.” McAfee later declared that fans could buy Night 1 tickets at a 25% discount for a 72-hour period.
Ticket sales aside, this WrestleMania offers some tantalizing matches. The build for Reigns and Punk got more interesting as it went on. There are a few genuine grudge match feud blowoffs we’re excited to witness. A handful of the title matches that aren’t obvious calls. There may be multiple demons on the card. And Jelly Roll.
It’s WrestleMania. It’s enormous, and its success lies in whether the “Moments” outweigh the misfires, and WrestleMania 42 is primed to deliver on that.
