The WrestleMania 41 match card remains unpredictable thanks to multiple WWE championship changes.
Three WWE titles have changed hands this month alone as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez captured the tag team titles, IYO SKY defeated Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women’s Championship, and LA Knight took down Shinsuke Nakamura to claim the United States Championship. With championship matches taking place on WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown each week it’s impossible to guarantee anyone will walk into WrestleMania 41 still holding their gold.
Cody Rhodes will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against John Cena at WrestleMania 41. Jey Uso will challenge GUNTHER for his World Heavyweight Championship. These will not change. Every other champion heading into WrestleMania 41 still holding their gold is less than guaranteed. Bron Breakker will defend his title against Finn Balor next week, DIY defend theirs this week, and it seems Rodriguez will get a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental Championship before the Show of Shows. Chelsea Green recently defended hers as well.
Tiffany Stratton will almost definitely defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair. But anything could happen. There’s a very slight chance that something alters this match-up. And truly, that’s made the Road to WrestleMania and its weekly TV feel all the more important knowing that these title matches don’t hold predetermined outcomes. That anything and everything could happen. It’s all must-see TV.
WWE Championship Changes on the Road to WrestleMania
Any Champion Will Do
In addition to the men and women’s world championships, WWE has a WWE Intercontinental Championship, Women’s Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, Women’s United States Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, World Tag Team Championship, and Women’s Tag Team Championship. All these titles will be in consideration for being defended at WrestleMania 41.
But as the recent changes prove, it doesn’t matter who holds these belts when the bell rings in Las Vegas. A few more title changes would help WWE tell some more stories on the road to WrestleMania 41.
A great way to get people to invest in someone winning a title at WrestleMania 41 would be to have them lose their gold just before the event. If, for example, Ripley can find a way into the WrestleMania match for the Women’s World Championship, it would create a massive pop in the Allegiant Stadium on April 19 or 20 if she were to regain the title she just recently lost.
Shock Championship Changes Add Intrigue
IYO SKY defeating Rhea Ripley created a shocking moment that is going to be hard to beat. Bianca Belair will challenge SKY for the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 41, but Ripley could win the title back before then.
Belair was involved in another shock title change when she and Naomi lost the Women’s Tag Team Championship to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. We can expect that title to be defended in Las Vegas but it will probably be defended before then. This means anyone could defend the tag titles at the “Showcase of the Immortals.”
Over on WWE SmackDown, LA Knight won the United States Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura. Does that mean he’ll still hold it come WrestleMania? Yeaaah. Sorry. No. No it doesn’t.
Previously, it would be predictable that Knight would hold the gold for six weeks and have a WrestleMania moment defending it. Not in 2025. There are almost no guarantees on the Road to WrestleMania 41.
European Tour Provides Ample Opportunity for More Title Changes Involving Hometown Stars
Finn Bálor takes on Bron Breakker for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on next week’s WWE Raw. A forgone conclusion in previous years. But the match takes place on WWE’s Road To WrestleMania tour.
WWE will want to give its European viewers something to talk about and another shock title change is a good way to go about things.
Rodriguez is now the number-one contender for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. But with everything that’s going on, she could win the title and lose it by WrestleMania 41. Becky Lynch has long been rumored to return to WWE. An Irish dream match with current Women’s Intercontinental Championship Lyra Valkyria seems too good to avoid. WWE Raw will emanate from the UK for back-to-back episodes. Glasgow hosts the show on March 25, before London gets its chance on March 31. Lynch returning here to either set up a shot at whoever holds the newest women’s title, or winning it would fit in with how things have gone down recently.
Meanwhile, Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green is building a Scottish army. Alba Fyre and Piper Niven make up her Secret Service. Or is that ‘Secret Hervice?’ It would be an electric moment if they got a shot at the Women’s Tag Team Championship during the WWE Raw in Glasgow. It would be even bigger if they won.
On this week’s SmackDown, DIY defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against the Street Profits in Barcelona. Pretty Deadly will face the winners. Sure, they could wait for WrestleMania or Pretty Deadly might challenge for the titles in their hometown London on March 28.
This means come WrestleMania 41 when a suspected multi-team tag team championship match takes place one of three teams could be champions.
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