WrestleMania XL – Match card, predictions and start time
Since a storming Royal Rumble, there have been plenty of twists and turns at the WWE on the Road to WrestleMania XL.
Leaving all the unpleasantness to one side for now, in the squared circle itself and at ringside, it's been a hell of a ride these past few months.
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CM Punk finally arrived at the WWE but broke down almost as quickly, leaving a massive hole in the E's plans for WrestleMania 40.
Making up for that loss was the return of The Rock in his guise as a genuine corporate TKO exec with as much stroke as he wanted.
At first it seemed as though he wanted to target Roman Reigns. Rumble winner Cody Rhodes initially seemed too demure before a change of heart: He wants to finish his story.
Related: Who should dethrone Roman Reigns as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion?
The Rock wasn't exactly best pleased about the kerfuffle, and things have trundled on nicely since then, with Seth 'Freakin' Rollins also getting involved.
Beyond that foursome, we've got five other major bits of gold up for grabs, a fraternal singles match for the ages, and so much more
WWE WrestleMania 40 is officially known as WrestleMania XL and takes place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Each night has a start time of 7pm ET/4pm PT in the US which translates to midnight in the UK. We're expecting a one-hour kick-off show each night.
What's the full match card and the predictions for WWE WrestleMania XL?
Night One (April 6)
The Bloodline (The Rock and Roman Reigns) vs Cody Rhodes and Seth 'Freakin' Rollins [Tag Team Match]
This one took a while to come together, with it looking for a moment like we'd be getting The Rock vs Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins.
But the WWE Universe let their feelings be known, and The Rock made a sharp, corporate turn to throw all the pieces up into the air.
And this is where they landed. Night One: A tag match with stakes. Should Cody and Seth win, then The Bloodline will be banned from ringside on Night Two.
If Rocky and Roman do the business, then the title match on Night Two is fought under 'Bloodline Rules', shifting the whole narrative.
Given that it's Bloodline involvement that has protected RR over and over again, it's a risk worth taking.
Neither team has months of working together to help ease those tags and transitions, but we're betting on Cody and Seth to do what they can to make Night Two a fair fight for The American Nightmare.
PREDICTION: Cody Rhodes and Seth 'Freakin' Rollins
Women's World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch will be licking her lips at this one. She's headlined a WrestleMania before, but this 1 on 1 title match in some ways is even more important.
If Rhea Ripley retains, the suggestion will be that Bex is less The Man and more Yesterday's Man.
If Lynch wins, she'll have a fair argument for being one of the best of the 21st century.
No Charlotte Flair or Ronda Rousey edging their way into this one, but Rhea Ripley has proved herself to be utterly formidable since she first won the title.
It won't be topping the bill, but we think this one could end up as the match of the weekend.
And Becky Lynch is gonna do it.
PREDICTION: Becky Lynch
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs Sami Zayn
At over 650 days, Gunther's reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion isn't just the longest in the history of the company, it's also longer than the combined reign of any other wrestler.
And what's maybe most incredible is that in that time, he's rarely looked close to losing his title.
And he's done it with sheer brute strength, skill, and force of will.
There have been times when we've thought Gunther might just hand over the title, having basically "completed" it, but why not hold on to what you've earned, making new history every day?
The risk is that one day, Gunther will be complacent, and someone else will get their chance.
Surely, surely complacency won't set in on The Grandest Stage of Them All? We don't think it will, but then we also think that Sami Zayn isn't just any old challenger.
Sometimes taken for a fool, Sami Zayn is one of the finest wrestlers in the business, and he has an unconventional streak that can cause others to underestimate him.
We think that streak will be what allows him to shock the world and finally dethrone Gunther.
PREDICTION: Sami Zayn
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (c) vs #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) vs The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs vs New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) vs Austin Theory and Grayson Waller [Six-Pack Ladder Match]
The men's tag division in the WWE has a tendency to flit between the ridiculous and the sublime.
There are teams that get together and split up before even getting themselves a name, duos that are clearly there to make up the numbers, and the odd era of two underpowered rosters competing on separate brands.
Since the titles were unified, it's effectively been a single division, which has helped, and when you get enough of the E's best team together, the sheer quality shines through.
That's what we're hoping for with this six-pack ladder match. It'll be a free for all, but for now we're going for sleeping giants The New Day to rise to the top once more.
And if that happens, we're hoping that Big E SAFELY makes an appearance to join his best buddies to celebrate.
PREDICTION: The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)
Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso
It's an unwritten rule in tag team wrestling that relationships always sour eventually, and the more successful and more friendly a team, the bigger and harder the breakup.
But we thought, with fair reason, that the one exception to that rule would be The Usos. There's blood, and then Blood.
And surely identical twins wouldn't end up at odds with each other?
We didn't take into account the machinations of Roman Reigns (and Paul Heyman), who irrevocably split up The Usos, seemingly for good.
The brothers have been separated between Red and Blue for some time, but this has been inevitable since their relationship was so shockingly fractured.
And the die was cast when Jimmy and the remaining Bloodline members trundled over to Raw one time too many to mess in Jey's affairs, prompting his stunning challenge, which was accepted.
As for who's going to win this one... you could really flip a coin. But we're going for Jimmy, as Jey is likely to simply be too emotional to do what needs to be done.
PREDICTION: Jimmy Uso
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane)
There was a moment where it felt as though Damage CTRL were on a path to dominating the entire women's division in the WWE, but the cracks were swiftly visible and the exit of Bayley to challenge IYO SKY has changed things somewhat.
More than that, their opposition here at WrestleMania is something to behold.
There's an always dominant Bianca Belair, a recently-returned Naomi still full of glow, and best of all, a long-in-waiting debut match for Jade Cargill.
And it's the Cargill factor that we can't look past. Sure, she's new to the WWE, but she's not new to this business and she's clearly a force to be reckoned with.
Her gang to win, and her to get the pin, too.
PREDICTION: Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio
The Mysterious have been kept more or less separate in recent months, but circumstances have conspired to put them head to head once more, albeit with a twist.
And while the younger Mysterio has enjoyed much more success of late, we can see his dad having the last laugh here.
We're not quite ready for a turn to the light side and family reconciliation just yet, but we do expect that wheels to start their motion here.
PREDICTION: Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee
Night Two (April 7)
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs Cody Rhodes
First thing's first – regardless of whether or not we're correct about Cody and Seth winning on Night One, The Bloodline will no doubt get involved on Night Two.
The only question is whether such interference will be in the rules or breaking them.
Despite the inevitable shenanigans, we can't see past a Cody Rhodes win. It's not that he "deserves" it, it's simply that in 2024 he's better, hungrier and angrier than Roman Reigns.
The story will be finished, and it will be glorious.
PREDICTION: Cody Rhodes
WWE Women's Championship: Iyo Sky (c) vs Bayley
Damage CTRL probably assumed that, should she win the Royal Rumble, Bayley would have made a beeline for Rhea Ripley and the Women's World Championship.
But the former Hugger had taken too many brickbats from her so-called friends to let them lie by this point.
She severed her ties with her tag partners and decided to go for the WWE Women's Championship.
This one really could go either way, but we're going for Bayley to get one over on her former buddy and (re-)establish herself at the top of the tree.
PREDICTION: Bayley
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth 'Freakin' Rollins (c) vs Drew McIntyre
Despite not being the champ, Drew McIntyre has the advantage here. Seth will surely be nursing a few bumps and lumps from Night One, whereas the Scot will be as fresh as a daisy.
Drew has felt time and again that he should get the chance to regain a top-tier WWE title at WrestleMania after the anticlimactic victory at a no-fans 'Mania.
He has gleefully shoved everyone else out the way and revelled in the injury of CM Punk that has effectively gifted him this opportunity.
But we're still backing Seth to hold on to his crown, for now at least.
PREDICTION: Seth 'Freakin' Rollins
WWE United States Championship: Logan Paul (c) vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens
Of all the matches on a stacked WrestleMania card, it's hard to think of one with such different competitors.
There's the champ, Logan Paul, a YouTuber with minimal wrestling experience who quite upsettingly seems to be one of the most naturally talented wrestlers to ever step into the ring.
Then there's Randy Orton, a third-generation wrestler and WWE lifer who has had more world titles than (almost) anyone in the business.
Then there's Kevin Owens, a cannonballing ex-indie superstar who's now spent a full decade burnishing his legacy at the top of the WWE.
Logan Paul will hope that his raw ability and smarm will allow him to retain. Kevin Owens will be riding a wave of anger and righteous indignation.
But Randy Orton has the veteran skills and the cool, studied calm to let the other two men rip strips off each other before sneaking in out of nowhere to pick up the pieces.
PREDICTION: Randy Orton
LA Knight vs AJ Styles
You'd be forgiven for thinking that LA Knight is a young upstart going up against AJ Styles, with the latter enjoying title after title across multiple promotions and the former seeming to almost come from nowhere to his level of prominence in the past year or so.
But while AJ Styles is surely in the twilight of his career at the age of 46, LA Knight is only five years younger. He will be keenly aware that he's not had the same level of success as the man opposite him to look back on when he finally hangs up his boots.
Both men would rather be fighting for gold at 'Mania rather than filling out the bill, but neither will pass up the opportunity to make a statement that gets them into that frame in the near future.
And we're going for Knight to avenge his Elimination Chamber loss, which he still clearly blames on The Phenomenal One, to help set him on the road to a title match at SummerSlam.
PREDICTION: LA Knight
Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam and Rezar) [Six-Man Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight]
It's great to have Akam and Rezar back in the WWE, and they'll be seeing this as an opportunity to make a real splash on the main roster at what feels like the second time of asking.
They'll fancy their chances against the Street Profits, but we think the difference will be the other man on each side.
For all his strength and scariness, we just can't see Kross getting the better of Bobby Lashley, and for that reason we think the AoP fellas will come up short.
PREDICTION: Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits
What date and start time is WWE WrestleMania XL in the UK?
WWE WrestleMania XL takes place at midnight on Saturday into Sunday on April 6-7 and midnight on Sunday into Monday on April 7-8.
A kick-off show will likely start an hour earlier each night.
What date and start time is WWE WrestleMania XL in the US?
WWE WrestleMania XL takes place at 7pm PT/4pm ET on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7.
A kick-off show will likely start an hour earlier each night.
How do I buy tickets or watch WWE WrestleMania XL?
The venue for WWE WrestleMania XL is the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and tickets are available now via Ticketmaster.
If you're not going in person, you can watch on the WWE Network (direct in the UK, or via Peacock in the US), which we highly recommend. If you don't have a fast and reliable internet connection, you can watch on the more traditional – and expensive – pay-per-view.
How do I live stream WWE WrestleMania XL on the WWE Network?
To watch the premium tier for live PPVs, which includes WWE WrestleMania XL, the WWE Network is priced at £9.99 per month in the UK – first-time subscribers get a month free.
You can access it via the following platforms and devices – click for info on how to access with each app:
To access the WWE Network in the US, you need to subscribe to Peacock – the WWE signed a deal in 2021 to give the NBC service exclusive access. It'll only set you back $4.99, and you get oodles of other content too.
You can sign up for Peacock here.
How do I watch WWE WrestleMania XL on WWE pay-per-view in the UK?
You can buy WWE PPVs in the UK via TNT Sports Box Office. A deal was struck in 2019 that saw UK broadcast rights for WWE move from Sky to BT Sport starting from January 2020 – BT Sport rebranded as TNT Sports in Summer 2023.
How do I watch WWE WrestleMania XL on WWE pay-per-view in the US?
You can only watch WWE PPVs in the US via Peacock.
What are your predictions for WWE WrestleMania XL? Let us know at @digitalspywwe. Catch up on Raw, Smackdown, NXT and all the big WWE action via the WWE Network or BT Sport.
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