11 WrestleMania 42 Card Predictions After WWE Royal Rumble 2026
Predicting all the major WWE matches to come across BOTH nights at WrestleMania 42.
Even those sour on the recent Royal Rumble 2026 PLE will be eating nachos out of a Las Vegas Raiders helmet come April when the pyro pops off and WrestleMania 42 goes on the air. The drawing power of WWE's biggest annual powerhouse shouldn't be overlooked, but...what kind of matches can fans expect to see as the company hits Allegiant Stadium for a second year running?
Rumble winners like Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan drop major clues, but there's still a lot to thrash out before 'Mania. Elimination Chamber will throw in some curveballs come late February, and injures could happen at anytime. Speaking of that, someone who's been on the bench during The Vision's dominating sprint on Raw could be on the comeback trail just in time for Vegas.
That'd be handy, and it'd give the undercard on either night some more oomph.
Stars as wide ranging as Reigns, Morgan, Drew McIntyre, Bianca Belair (hopefully), Becky Lynch, Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, CM Punk, AJ Lee, Brock Lesnar and career killer Gunther should all be involved when the brightest of bright lights go on and everyone gets swept up in WrestleMania fever.
Enjoy these predictions for huge title showdowns, grudge matches, star-making bouts and more heading into a crucial period for Triple H's WWE. Not all of them will come true, probably, but the real fun comes in playing God like this is WWE 2K26 and Universe Mode has come to life.
We've got 11 matches and no less than 8 different titles on tap to pick through.
11. RHIYO vs. The Bella Twins
Brie Bella's comeback during the women's Royal Rumble suggests that she and twin sister Nikki are about to launch their own personal assault on the tag-team ranks. By the time WrestleMania 42 goes live, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY (collectively known as RHIYO) should've battled with everyone from Judgment Day, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, and the team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend.
If the Rumble is anything to go by, then Rhea vs. Lash in a singles bout is a real must at some point too.
The Bellas have the legacy star power to match up well against the reigning champs in Vegas though. Both could talk about how April is an opportunity to rubber-stamp Hall Of Fame careers on the grandest stage. Respect should also play a part in the story, at least initially - that'd change once both Nikki and Brie questioned whether or not IYO is the weak link of the opposite team.
Obviously, there's no truth to that, because Ripley and SKY complement one another incredibly well between the ropes, but WWE has to get at least a little bit of saltiness in there. That's a tag-team feud trope creative lean on regularly, so it'd be a surprise if they passed up the chance to do it here.
Predicted Winner: Rhea and IYO. It makes the most sense to keep the belts on that pairing for as long as possible, not least because neither has much else going on individually as singles stars right now; there have been rumours of a split and feud, but nah. They could easily dominate the division until summer at the earliest, and The Bellas don't exactly need a title run.