Family implosion, historic reigns continue - 5 big decisions WWE made at WrestleMania 39 that may affect WrestleMania 40
With WrestleMania 40 less than a month away, all eyes will be on how the rest of the card shapes up. Fans already know that Roman Reigns will face Cody Rhodes and that Drew McIntyre will challenge Seth Rollins.
Bayley looks for revenge and validation against IYO SKY, while Becky Lynch will try to prove she is still at the top against Rhea Ripley. It also appears that Randy Orton will clash against Logan Paul, and LA Knight will battle AJ Styles.
Those matches were not just booked overnight because the past year has been filled with storytelling and booking decisions. The following five booking decisions that the Stamford-based promotion made at WrestleMania 39 may affect WrestleMania 40.
#5. Gunther retains his Intercontinental Championship
At the time of WrestleMania 39, Gunther was working on a strong reign as the Intercontinental Champion. He defeated both Drew McIntyre and Sheamus last year and has not looked back.
Since last year's event, The Ring General has become the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. He has beaten every challenger, including The Miz, Chad Gable, Bronson Reed, Jey Uso, and McIntyre.
Gunther has impressively improved his standing in WWE, becoming one of its top heels. With a title reign of over 600 days, he could feasibly lose the title at WrestleMania 40 to someone like Sami Zayn. He could then move on to the main event picture.
#4. The Usos lose their titles and The Bloodline trembles
The Usos lost the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 39. This furthered the dissension within The Bloodline. Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns would then unsuccessfully challenge the new champions.
What the loss did, however, was cause Jey Uso's defection from his family. He lost to Reigns in a Tribal Combat Match at SummerSlam 2023 and moved on to RAW to avoid his family drama. Since the summer, Jimmy Uso has cost Jey in his biggest moments on RAW.
Once Jey left, it was only a matter of time before they tangled with each other one-on-one. Costing Jey the Intercontinental Championship and a big match against Drew McIntyre should lead to a match at WrestleMania 40. Jimmy said Jey would not win any titles without him, and Jey would look to avenge his twin brother's actions.
#3. Lengthy title runs start/continue
As mentioned above, Gunther's title reign continued at WrestleMania 39. The same thing happened with Roman Reigns after Solo Sikoa interfered to help his cousin win.
Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair as well, and she has held the title since that day. A good portion of WWE champions have had lengthy reigns since last year's show. One or more may continue past WrestleMania 40.
However, some champions should be dethroned at WrestleMania 40. It helps the rest of the roster move forward and create new angles for the deposed titleholders.
#2. Damage CTRL loses to Becky Lynch, Lita, and Trish Stratus
One staple narrative under Triple H's creative direction has been multiple long-term storytelling angles. The Bloodline saga began before The Game officially assumed total control of creative but has continued to dominate WWE programming.
Creating Damage CTRL and bringing Dakota Kai and IYO SKY to the main roster was a plan by The Game. The trio ran through some of the best in the women's division, but cracks soon emerged. One fracture began after losing to Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus, and Lita at WrestleMania 39.
WrestleMania 40 will host a battle between the former and current leaders of Damage CTRL. While many other cracks emerged over time, losing such a high-profile battle last year could not sit well with SKY and Kai.
#1. Cody Rhodes tries to finish his story at WrestleMania 40
A lot of people were hoping that Cody Rhodes would finally be the person to end the run of Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. However, it did not happen. WWE officials wanted to prolong Roman's title reign, possibly to break Hulk Hogan's record.
Since that big loss, Rhodes has only grown in popularity, battling against Shinsuke Nakamura, The Judgment Day, and Brock Lesnar. He won the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble Match, earning another shot to finish his story.
After some twists and turns following his second Rumble victory, The American Nightmare will again seek to end The Tribal Chief's run as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. With a lot of moving parts, the possibility of another heartbreaking loss exists, but it would be a mistake. The mistake from WrestleMania 39 should not be repeated at WrestleMania 40.