WWE WrestleMania 39: Predicting Most Likely Swerves | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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Wrestling fans love a good swerve, and there is no greater stage for such unexpected moments to make most impact than at WrestleMania.

WWE rolls into Los Angeles this weekend for WrestleMania 39, headlined by Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes, and there are a few swerves fans should look out for on the card.

From upset title wins to industry-shaking moments, these are the swerves that could define The Showcase of the Immortals in 2023.

In no universe should John Cena winning ever be out of the question. The internet even created the “Cena wins LOL” tagline for that reason. It’s kinda his shtick.

When you factor in the idea that he is challenging Austin Theory in the opening match of this year’s WrestleMania, there is even more reason to consider the idea of the veteran knocking off the young star and winning a title he first captured at WrestleMania 20.

After all, how likely is it that Triple H wants to set the tone at his first Showcase of the Immortals as WWE chief content officer by having a hated heel defeat a beloved icon in the very first match at SoFi Stadium?

Cena winning would also dispel concerns about predictability and create a major social media moment at the top of the show, fueling engagement and impressions.

The positives of such a move, and the fact that WWE could undo it two days later by way of one of Cena’s special Open Challenges on Monday’s Raw, make the franchise star beating Theory the most likely of all potential swerves.

Charlotte Flair has a rich history of winning WrestleMania matches that she probably shouldn’t have, none more obvious than her 2018 victory over Asuka that ended The Empress of Tomorrow’s 914-day unbeaten streak in WWE.

There was also her victory over Ronda Rousey at last year’s show, and who can forget her win against Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship in 2020?

That last match is most topical because The Queen will again battle the Australian this weekend, with the SmackDown women’s title up for grabs.

Ripley is expected to avenge that loss, but one can never really count out a Flair win, even if it flies in the face of logic. That is through no fault of the competitor herself but more the creative team’s incessant need to lean on her star power to prop up the women’s division.

It has grown too reliant on The Queen, in much the same way as WWE did with Cena over the course of his run with the company, and the result is typically a handful of wins that she did not really need at the expense of women who could have used them.

The other factor is whether the creative team wants to drag the feud out to Backlash on May 6. If so, Flair winning to set up Ripley’s win at that show should not be counted out, though The Eradicator would benefit much more from a victory at WrestleMania than a B-level PPV.

The mere existence of this rematch suggests Triple H has learned from the mistakes of his predecessor and is invested in crowning Ripley, but counting out Flair inexplicably winning would be an error.

There is not much of a story that has been told in the rivalry between Raw women’s champion Bianca Belair and challenger Asuka.

The Empress of Tomorrow won an Elimination Chamber match in February to earn the title shot, and she turned on the champion on the March 20 episode of Raw. But one betrayal doesn’t make a rivalry.

That there has been such little storyline here, and that Belair will celebrate one year as champion come Sunday night, is all the reason one needs to believe The EST of WWE has a shot at retaining her gold.

Of all the contests that could have a followup at Backlash in Puerto Rico, Belair vs. Asuka feels the most likely. Not only would it give Triple H and Co. the opportunity to fill in the story that it didn’t tell on this road to WrestleMania, but it would also allow The Empress to sink deeper into her darker persona in pursuit of the title.

For Belair, the win would make her three-for-three on The Grandest Stage of Them All, all in championship encounters. She knocked off Sasha Banks to win her first title in 2021 and followed up with a victory over Becky Lynch a year ago. Both of those matches were show-stealing Match of the Year candidates and established The EST as the first real Miss WrestleMania.

WWE loves milestones and streaks it can tout when all other story options fail. Don’t underestimate its willingness to put Belair over in order to preserve them.

WrestleVotes reported on March 21 that plans for Roman Reigns to lose the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship were “not certain.”

While some time has passed since that tweet was published, the fact that the show was just two weeks out and those in power were not absolutely sure Reigns would drop the titles is telling.

Reigns’ run atop WWE has been a critical and financial success. He has been extraordinary as the manipulative, gaslighting bad guy around whom entire shows and storylines are built. It is a tough sell for Triple H to make the decision to move on from him and put all of his eggs in the basket marked “Cody Rhodes.”

The American Nightmare is great and the fans are behind him unlike any other babyface this side of Sami Zayn, but “Greatness on a Different Level” is not just a tagline for Reigns.

The second-generation star has reigned as The Head of the Table for nearly 1,000 days, which is another thing that has to factor into WWE’s decision-making.

As mentioned, the company loves milestones and 1,000 days is rarefied air. It is territory approached by Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund.

That’s it. That’s the list.

It would make sense that WWE wants a guy who has meant so much to its product over the last two years to reach that milestone.

Rhodes probably still wins, but as far as “likely swerves” go, Reigns standing tall to close out his third consecutive WrestleMania is as strong a possibility as any.

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