WrestleMania 42 Main Events REVEALED After WWE Royal Rumble 2026 (WWE News)

Who is Roman Reigns scheduled to face at WWE WrestleMania 42?

WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Roman Reigns
WWE

With the 2026 Royal Rumble now in WWE's rearview mirror, there's somewhat of an update on a couple of matches expected to take place on WrestleMania 42 later this year.

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the current plan for 'Mania 42 is for Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns to challenge World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, and for WWE Champion Drew McIntyre to defend his title against Cody Rhodes. Where McIntyre vs. Rhodes is concerned, there's also the possibility that Jacob Fatu may be added to that match to make it a triple threat.

There's no word on what lies ahead for the big women's matches of WrestleMania 42, but, purely from your writer's viewpoint, it would seem to make sense for Rumble winner Liv Morgan to go after the Women's World Championship that's currently held by Stephanie Vaquer, and, if she's healthy, a returning Bianca Belair facing WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill makes a lot of sense. Of course, Vaquer first has to defend that prize against Morgan's Judgment Day stablemate Raquel Rodriguez on tonight's Raw, which itself comes on the back of Liv eliminating Raquel from the women's Royal Rumble this past weekend.

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Clearly, things can change before WrestleMania 42 gets here, and there's the small matter of Elimination Chamber taking place from Chicago's United Center on 28 February, which will give a further indicator of what to expect when this year's Showcase of the Immortals gets here over the weekend of 18 and 19 April at Allegiant Stadium.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.