WWE 2025 Royal Rumble Predictions & WrestleMania 41 preview plans

Within a week the 2025 Royal Rumble is going to begin which means its the official start of WrestleMania season. If WrestleMania is the Super Bowl of WWE, Royal Rumble is the March Maddness of WWE in that there are so many things to watch, bet on and check out. From surprise entrants, which returning stars are in the Rumble to who will win the whole thing and go to main event WrestleMania.

Its always fun watching a 30 wrestler Royal Rumble match just for the pops alone and to see what’s going on.

So enough of my grandstanding and lets get to what everyone wants which is a preview of the Rumble, what to expect and my predictions.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. DIY in a 2 out of 3 falls match.

You can forgive people if they don’t really care about this match as much as WWE does simply because neither team is really that over. Blame it on creative, the fact that both teams don’t really have over the top personalities or just tag team wrestling is not really a focal point for the WWE.

The days of the Dudley Boyz, Road Warriors, Steiner Brothers, Hardyz, Midnight Express, Rock N’ Roll Express and Demolition are long gone. Even the Usos vs. Zayn & Ownes feels like a lifetime ago when established tag teams were heading a major pay per view.

Now its mostly tag teams that just feel not as important or have been hampered by stop-start-stop feuds and booking. Its not ideal but when you have a roster of over 200 wrestlers for three shows and a glut of main event singles talent, its par for the course.

Back to the match which should be a nice one as both teams have history and can work. Motor City Machine Guns are finally getting their due after years in Ring of Honor and TNA as tag team wrestlers and singles wrestlers.

Meanwhile DIY seems to have found new life as sneaky and devious heels who are playing everyone off each other. They have used Pretty Deadly to do their dirty work and run interference while pitting the Street Profits and.

After DIY constantly finding ways to push MCMG away, we now get the best 2 out of 3 falls to figure this out.

PREDICTION: MCMG wins to regain the Tag Team titles.

The Machine Guns were brought in treated like big stars for a reason and getting them away from AEW was a feather in Leveque’s cap. They beat the Bloodline to win the titles right off the bat but this is their first major feud.

DIY has always been a good team that can run hot or cold with the fans depending on how their presented. But with the Transfer Portal/Draft coming up and alot of uncertainty on RAW for what to do with the Viking Raiders, I could see DIY head over to RAW to feud with them.

UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT LADDER MATCH: CODY RHODES VS. KEVIN OWENS

I can safely say that when all is said and done, Kevin Owens will go down as one of best heel wrestlers in the business. I would put him up there with Ric Flair, Triple H, Hollywood Hogan, Brock Lesnar and even Harley Race in playing the character well.

He has done fantastic work in this feud in portraying the wronged man along the way. Credit to him as his points while debatable, have merit and there is a logic behind his anger.

It was Cody Rhodes who sided with Roman Reigns and helped out the very man who tried to end Kevin Owens.

It was Cody who was the guy that left the WWE when “things got tough” and took the easy way out.

Its been the WWE management who has backed Cody since day one, while he has done everything and anything.

Its been the fans who turned on him in the first place, despite the fact he has faced down the Bloodline for years.

From delivering package piledrives to Cody and Randy Orton, assaulting officials, running down Cody verbally, declaring himself the Undisputed Champion and taking the Winged title belt, Owens has been on fire.

This is the feud that Cody has needed for his title run to kick it to the next level as he hasn’t had that bitter feud until now. AJ Styles was fine but didn’t have any momentum; Logan Paul and Gunther were one offs that provided excellent matches but noting of substance.

And Bloodline 2.0 always felt like a set up to the Bloodline Civil War with Cody as the side card in the whole thing.

This is different as we are finally see a babyface champion who realizes he has to go someplace he doesn’t want but has to go. Its also in many ways an opponent and feud that Cody had a hand in creating in the first place.

The Ladder match is the perfect match for this as it allows both men to get creative, use the ladder as an offensive weapon and defensive weapon, and plot ways to get big sports.

This is the match that could steal the card entirely because the two men understand how to tell a story. Expect a bruising, brutal and at times a methodical match with lots of storytelling.

PREDICTION: Cody Rhodes wins to retain his title.

If Kevin Owens won, I wouldn’t be unhappy with it as he deserved a good title run after everything he has done over the past few years. You can argue he and Drew McIntyre were the MVP’s of WWE during the last four years when Cody and Punk were in AEW and Reigns on hiatus.

That being said, Cody is in line for a big WrestleMania match and still is the hottest draw.

There is still a Randy Orton feud for Kevin Owens who you have to feel is going to want retribution. Plus I have a feeling that the winner of this Royal Rumble is going on to WrestleMania to face Cody.

WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

This feels like the most predictable match of the night simply because there aren’t many candidates to win the whole thing. Nothing against a talented women’s roster but when you look at who is going to be in the rumble, ask who do you see as next for a Mania title match.

You can safely rule out Iyo Sky and Bayley as both women had their WrestleMania moment last year. Liv Morgan just came off a near six month feud with Rhea Ripley and that feud got closure. Nia Jaxx, Naomi, Chelsea Green, Michin, Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai don’t feel that they are ready or big enough to be in a Mania world title match.

And while everyone wants Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley, WWE still has to do the blow off between Jade Cargill vs. Bianca since they invested a lot into those two.

Right now the two women who seemed to be primed for wining this are the two most accomplished women in the division; Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

Lynch coming back is a huge boost for RAW as without her the women’s division felt lacking. Rhea vs. Liv was phenomenal but the rest of the women’s roster lacked that star maker who could elevate them. Too often it felt like a huge gap between Rhea/Liv and everyone else in terms of interest and passion.

Meanwhile Charlotte Flair coming back is perfect for Tiffany Stratton and turning Tiffy Time into babyface time. Despite being presented as a heel, Stratton’s popularity has risen to the point she is getting cheered everywhere.

Flair is best when she is an arrogant, vicious and dastardly heel who can bully and manipulate people. Add to the fact she is arguably one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time and you have the perfect opponent to take Tiffany to the next level.

PREDICTION: Charlotte Flair wins the Rumble.

Masha Slamovich, Jordynne Grace, Michelle McCool and Stephanie Vaquer are surprise entrants.

Get ready for Flair haters to have meltdowns and Flair fans to go crazy. Either way this is about making Flair vs. Stratton at WrestleMania in a match that everybody wants to see.

Expect Jade Cargill to return as well and start the “who dun it” storyline where we find out was it Nia, Naomi, Bianca or someone else who took her out.

MENS ROYAL RUMBLE: WINNER HEADLINES WRESTLEMANIA.

Now that the Rock is not coming back according to multiple reports, the Royal Rumble got incredibly interesting. Unlike the women’s Rumble, the Men’s Royal Rumble feels like there are more contenders than you can shake a stick at.

So far you have Roman Reigns, John Cena, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Jey Uso all declaring for the Royal Rumble. You also have Rey Mysterio, LA Knight, Shinske Nakamura and Sami Zayn but there are right now below the group ahead of us.

First off the Roman Reigns dynamic is huge because for a long time he was airmarked to face The Rock at this WrestleMania. With him off the dance card, does WWE have him win and face Cody Rhodes in the rubber match? Does CM Punk call in that “favor” that he said Paul Heyman owed him for Survivor Series? Does Jey Uso win and we finally get the end of the Bloodline to where it started which was Roman vs. Jey?

Meanwhile Punk could got multiple ways in that he still has the feud with Seth Rollins which is still not settled. The Netflix match was sort of a nice appetizer for things that will get even more heated down the line. Do we get Punk vs. Roman at WrestleMania or is the Punk vs. Rollins feud ended there with Rollins finally turning heel along the way or Punk going over to the darkside.

For Drew McIntyre he has carried the Punk feud throughout the year despite not having Punk available for over 6 months due to the surgery. It feels like after a year where Drew has become the big heel who has been wronged constantly, there has to be a reward for him for great work.

And finally, there is John Cena in his final year as a wrestler in the WWE and this being his last Royal Rumble. After over 20 years of leading the WWE, taking over when the Rock and Austin left and helping them grow to bigger heights, this is the last hurrah for Cena.

He is a 16 time World champion which ties him for the most title reigns with Ric Flair. As much as everyone says that titles are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, you can bet WWE would love to have Cena break the record. To be able to say a guy who always was with the WWE and was a company man is the guy who has the most tile wins is appealing to alot of people.

PREDICTION: John Cena wins the Royal Rumble.

Omos, Joe Hendry, Pat McAfee and Trick Williams are your surprise entrants into the Royal Rumble.

Cena vs. Cody feels inevitable for so many reasons; its the Old Lion vs. The current Lion of the jungle. Cena Nation was the face of the company and the one who had fans cheering in the past. The American Nightmare is now the babyface champion who gets the cheers, represents the company and sells merchandise in record numbers.

Its also a match that is the perfect Box Office sell to casual fans. Can John Cena beat the New King of WWE? Does Cody end the storybook dream of Cena’s last WrestleMania?

Does Cena set the record and beat Cody for the title?

These are all questions that can only be answered if Cena wins the Rumble.

To listen to interviews from fighters, sports reporters and more check out the website at www.LastCallPodcast.com or follow me on www.twitter.com/LastCallwChrisC