5 Things That NEED To Happen At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXVIII

It'd be easy to look past WWE's latest Saturday Night's Main Event special towards next weekend's bigger Royal Rumble supercard, but glossing over most shows nowadays can prove to be a terrible mistake. Triple H has become a master at feeding fans enough content per episode to keep things rolling, and SNME XXXVIII will be no different. Yes, thirty eight. They're counting this all the way back to 1985!

Admittedly, a few of the title bouts on hand are more AEW Battle Of The Belts than anyone would like to admit, but match quality will still be high and one talking heads segment in particular sticks out as potentially massive. It could be a one off to put more heat on the best heel doing it right now, or...it could start the conversation about Shawn Michaels having his "final match"; one that'd hopefully be better than Ric Flair's health-threatening effort from 2022 or HBK's own exploits in Saudi Arabia a good few years before that.

Rumble setup can kick into full gear, WrestleMania rematches can be made, and WWE can use the first Saturday Night's Main Event of the new year as an excuse to clarify something everyone's in the dark about and answer some questions. There are two ways to look at this. One, SNME takes away from regular TV like Raw and SmackDown. Two, it's yet another reason to check out what Hunter's selling during a thoroughly exciting time to be a fan.

Here's everything that simply must happen when WWE hits up San Antonio.

5. Bron Breakker Sets Up A ‘Mania Rematch

Not many fans out there would begrudge Sheamus an Intercontinental Title reign. The veteran has been tearing it up as a WWE stalwart since 2009, but he remains a popular worker who's as reliable as they come. Indeed, some of the Irishman's IC battles vs. GUNTHER are stuff of legend. Those men beat the snot out of one another. Expect more of the same from Sheamus and Bron Breakker in Texas.

More super-stiff, rugged in-ring action is coming.

At first, it was tempting to give Sheamus his IC flowers and suggest putting the belt on him here. No, Bron should retain by the skin of his teeth then annihilate his foe post-match to leave Sheamus on the "injured" list for a short while. Then, he can return breathing fire and eventually win the belt on the grand stage at WrestleMania 41. That'd be a nice 'Mania Moment' for him and his fans.

Think back to Sami Zayn besting GUNTHER to become Intercontinental Champ at last year's big weekender. That's the sort of thing Triple H would be going for with Sheamus here. There's really no need to rush into this or book a title change 'just because every major card needs one'. The truth is that fans don't need to see straps change hands on every big show - in fact, it's more interesting if that doesn't happen occasionally.

Keep powder dry for WrestleMania, make Breakker look dominant, then let the tears fall for Sheamus come April. Anticipation is everything with this sort of story.

4. Jacob Fatu Gets A Clean Win

Only one outcome makes sense in this match between two brutes, and that's a Jacob Fatu win. Solo Sikoa's second in command has been protected since showing up on WWE's scene in June 2024. Marquee singles outings have been few and far between though, largely because creative viewed Jacob as someone who was strictly there to add weight to Solo's offshoot version of The Bloodline.

Times have changed. Now, it's the right time for Fatu to go out on his own and hunt down his own successes. A face to face between he and Braun Strowman on the latest episode of SmackDown must've played before smiles and high fives backstage. Fans came up for the confrontation, which had to please management. They'll be hoping for the same sort of atmosphere in San Antonio once the bell rings and these lads are working a proper match.

It's cool if Braun takes the defeat. He'll be absolutely fine, but Jacob really needs to start winning matches like this so his eventual split from Solo hurts the wannabe 'Tribal Chief' more than him. "I HATE you, Solo" is gonna hit hard. That's something WWE can be patient with. For now, letting Fatu prove himself as more than just an ambush machine is definitely the right call.

No interference from Sikoa or Tama Tonga needed. This must be a squeaky clean victory for Jacob that enhances his already-impressive aura in the eyes of the fanbase. Surviving a Strowman powerslam and then debuting a brand new finish (not Tiffany Stratton's moonsault!) would be awesome.

Get it done.

3. WWE Clarifies The Transfer Window

This "Transfer Window" business is in real danger of becoming WWE's next "Superstar Shakeup" or "Wild Card" situation. OK, so it's not as bad as that nonsense quite yet, but the worrying signs are there. There are way more questions than answers currently. For example, what are the rules of this? Will there ever be a defined period where brand GMs get to pick talent, or is it going to continue being scattergun? Also, how long is the window open for? Until WrestleMania?

People need some intelligence in a hurry or this will fizzle out and mean nothing.

It doesn’t help that multiple workers have been crossing over onto other shows for a while anyway. WWE really need to stop that. They're super-guilty of hyping up the latest Draft and using silly words like "ironclad rosters" when they've got no intentions of honouring their own booking. There are only so many times fans can be expected to put up with that before they stop caring. Some are already there with the brand split.

Wrestlers like Bayley (SmackDown to Raw) and The Wyatt Sicks (Raw to SmackDown) have been traded, but there doesn't seem to be any locked in set of rules to get peeps invested. It'd be advisable for Triple H to arrest this as soon as possible by addressing the situation at Saturday Night's Main Event.

A quick 5-10 minute promo from the boss is all it'd take to establish what's what and give fans something to look forward to. Or, at least, they'd be able to count down the days and know when the window slams shut. Surely that's the bare minimum here?!

2. Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins Get Involved

An accidental Helluva Kick to the mush from Sami Zayn to Seth Rollins on the latest Raw suggests that Rollins will want to fight Zayn sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Sami has a lot to think about other than that. Kevin Owens played some mind games with him on Monday, and the 'Honorary Uce' will be keen to see his pal Jey Uso become World Heavyweight Champ by beating GUNTHER.

Say Ludwig Kaiser runs out to wreck Jey's party. That'd give Sami every reason to come out and even the odds. Seeking vengeance for what happened on the flagship, Rollins would then come out too and the ref would consider throwing everything in the bin because he/she can't keep control of the match. Mid-drama, GUNTHER would capitalise and score the pin on Uso to retain his belt and live to fight another day.

Opportunistic heel wins are becoming commonplace with the 'Ring General'.

Being brutally honest, and despite the cool 'you need your family to win out' story WWE has been telling with Jey, this World Title mini-feud is a blatant time killing exercise. Everyone can see that, but the match will still be fun when it happens. Why not use it as a vehicle for more storytelling between Sami and Seth?

Nobody believes Uso has a prayer of taking the belt from GUNTHER as it is, so some bells and whistles come Saturday wouldn't hurt. Then, once he powers past Jey, the champ can start thinking about how he'll take John Cena's best moves at WrestleMania 41. Ahem.

1. KO Piledrives Shawn Michaels

Now wouldn't this be something?

It's entirely HBK’s call to make, but if he’d be happy taking a spike piledriver from Kevin Owens then it’d really help push the heel's recklessness to new heights. It’d also exacerbate issues with staunch company man Cody Rhodes, because there's no way he'd be chuffed with Nick Aldis and/or Triple H for letting KO wreak havoc and injure another legend. 'Randy Orton should've been enough!', he'd bark.

WWE will surely have something big planned for this contract signing between Owens and Rhodes at SNME. Such segments don't go off without a hitch, put it that way. Somebody's going through a table, or Shawn Michaels is taking a bump. It has to happen. Then, it's up to Shawn whether or not he laces up the boots for "one last match" against Kev at WrestleMania or not. The fact that's even being discussed at all shows just how crazy wrestling has been in recent years.

KO is trustworthy enough to make the piledriver look good without legit hurting Michaels anyway. He's a pro's pro, and the more menace WWE can put on Kevin during what's one of his best heel runs the better. Bring on a steaming mad Cody, Aldis and Hunter after Owens goes too far...again.

Realistically, it's Orton who will return to get revenge on Kev at 'Mania. The HBK thing is pie in the sky, but it's a charming thought. After all, Shawn should be mediating this signing for more than just his San Antonio roots. Make his involvement count, please.

What else do you think must happen on WWE's next Saturday Night's Main Event special? For more wrestling, check out 10 Most ANNOYING Wrestlers Ever and 10 WWE Jobbers Who Became World Champion!