Every year, the journey to the biggest event in professional wrestling begins the moment the calendar flips to January. Next month will see the 42nd consecutive WrestleMania in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) business. It will take place on April 18 and 19.
The road starts with the Rumble
The Royal Rumble is the first premium live event (PLE) of the year, and it is one of the biggest. It involves a women’s and a men’s match, with 30 wrestlers in each, fighting for a title shot. The winner of each match gets to pick a current title holder to fight at WrestleMania.
One contestant enters the ring at a time, with another being added every two minutes until all 30 have entered. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope.
This year, Roman Reigns won the men’s rumble and Liv Morgan won the women’s rumble. They both went on to challenge for the World Heavyweight and Women’s World titles.
The World Heavyweight title is currently being held by C.M. Punk. He and Reigns have a long, bitter history which has been used to build their feud and upcoming match at WrestleMania.
Morgan took her time with her decision, teasing both the Women’s World champion, Stephanie Vaquer, and the WWE Women’s champion, Jade Cargill.
Morgan and Vaquer had lots of opinions on each other, which were exchanged before punches started being thrown. Their feud had become very personal, and the two women will battle for the Women’s World title at WrestleMania.
Next stop: the Chamber
The next major PLE of the year, and the last before WrestleMania, is the Elimination Chamber. This gives another man and woman the opportunity to earn title shots, fighting for the WWE championships.
This match is set up by having six men or women in the ring, two of them starting the match while the rest are locked in pods. They will randomly open during the match, adding more opponents to the ring. The match ends when everyone has been pinned except the winner.
The women’s match started the PLE, with the contestants being Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez, Kiana James and Tiffany Stratton.
Ripley picked up the win, pinning Stratton and securing her ticket to WrestleMania. She will face Jade Cargill, the current WWE Women’s champion.
The men’s match was more chaotic. The six contestants were Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, L.A. Knight, Trick Williams, Je'Von Evans and Logan Paul.
Paul took control of the match, much against the audience’s enthusiasm, pinning and eliminating Evans, Knight and Williams. This was before the return of Seth Rollins as the masked man, who entered the chamber and caused Paul to be eliminated, before disappearing again.
This was not the only interference, as Drew McIntyre, the former WWE Undisputed Champion, was feuding with Rhodes at the time, and interfered to cost him the match and help Orton get the pin, ultimately winning the match.
The fallout
Since the PLEs, there has been a significant title change ahead of WrestleMania. Because of McIntyre’s involvement in the chamber, he was set for a title match against Rhodes on Friday Night Smackdown.
The match ended with Rhodes winning and becoming the new WWE Undisputed Champion. He will face Orton for the title at WrestleMania.
Ripley and Cargill took to social media after their match was confirmed, creating buzz with their feuding tweets, leaving the audience unsure if the feud is real or in character.
The two women spoke face to face on Friday Night Smackdown, offering handshakes and respect to each other, but making it clear they both have their eye on the prize.
Other matches will take place at WrestleMania with many other mid-card titles being defended, other storylines being developed and open challenges being offered. The card will become official the closer it gets to showtime.
