The first night of WrestleMania 41 will set the tone for how the weekend will go and the card unveiled one of the final “Friday Night SmackDown” episodes before the major event.
The biggest spectacle in sports will feature at least seven matches with six champions defending their titles in either singles or tag-team matches. But fans will be interested in the crescendo as Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins battle it out to end one of the biggest feuds on either Raw or SmackDown roster right now.
Night 1 of WrestleMania 41 will take place at Allegiant Stadium at 7 p.m. ET in Las Vegas. It’s the second WrestleMania to take place in the Las Vegas area and the first since WrestleMania IX in 1993.
U.S. fans will be able to watch on Peacock and international fans on Netflix.
Read below for a preview of the first night.
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Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair for WWE Women’s Championship
Tiffany Stratton has had an impressive few months since her call up to the main WWE roster. She won the Money in the Bank ladder match and cashed in on her former partner Nia Jax to win the WWE Women’s Championship.
But the upstart wrestler is poised to run into one of the biggest challenges of her young career – go after a legendary competitor in Charlotte Flair.
Flair came back from a devastating knee injury to win the women’s Royal Rumble. She chose to challenge Stratton in pursuit of a 15th women’s championship. While Flair seemingly had the upper hand over her new rival at the start of the feud, Stratton came back at her with fiery words as the two got personal in one of their more interesting altercations yet.
On the penultimate “Friday Night SmackDown,” Flair attacked Stratton in the parking lot as a revenge measure.
Flair has the experience and the accolades going into the match but Stratton has been known to pick herself up by her bootstraps and overcome the odds.
Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso for WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Jey Uso has emerged as one of the most popular superstars on the WWE roster since defeating his brother, Jimmy, in a grudge match at last year’s WrestleMania. Fans have gotten behind his “yeet movement” to help propel him to become the No. 1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. It all culminated in a surprise Royal Rumble win back in February.
But Uso chose to go the more difficult route – trying to excise some demons and finally defeat Gunther for the title. Uso has not had much luck so far. Gunther defeated Uso at Saturday Night’s Main Event in January and on an episode of “Monday Night Raw” in May of last year.
Gunther upped the ante when he delivered a bloody beatdown of Jimmy Uso in a match in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. But Jey Uso made clear he’s no longer afraid of Gunther and is ready to bring the fight in Las Vegas.
Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
The match between Jade Cargill and Naomi could potentially steal the show.
There is an intensity between the two competitors that may only be matched by the five wrestlers who will be the marquee main events for WrestleMania 41.
The feud started when Cargill was mysteriously attacked and tossed onto a car. For weeks, Naomi and Belair tried to find out who the attacker was. At the time, Belair and Cargill were women’s tag-team champions and Naomi was tapped to fill in for Cargill.
SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis suggested Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez could be the ones to blame for the assault.
As the women’s Elimination Chamber was set to take place, Cargill came out after all the contestants entered the ring. Cargill looked at Morgan and then attacked Naomi in front of her tag-team partner. Naomi has since copped to the assault and the match was made.
War Raiders (c) vs. New Day for World Tag Team Championship
Erik and Ivar have been on a tear since they returned to the ring following their significant injuries. In December, the team claimed tag-team gold when they defeated Finn Balor and JD McDonagh for the tiles. They have successfully defended their titles four times since then.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have talked the talk since their separation from Big E, forming the current New Day tag team fans see now. Kingston and Woods have not earned the respect of fans but could do so by the end of their WrestleMania match.
The New Day will get a second crack at the War Raiders for the titles.
LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu for WWE United States Championship
LA Knight enters WrestleMania 41 as the United States champion but he faces a huge uphill battle with Jacob Fatu. Knight might have the game in his hand as one of the more popular champions on the SmackDown roster.
Fatu has shown to be a different beast. He’s cut down almost every monster he’s come across since he came to WWE. He’s proven that he can go toe-to-toe with anyone who steps in the ring with him and bring a path of destruction.
But between the two wrestlers, Knight is the one with WrestleMania experience. He defeated A.J. Styles in his first WrestleMania match last year. It propelled him on a course for the United States Championship. Fatu has yet to appear at a WrestleMania.
It’ll be the first matchup between the two wrestlers.
Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano
Rey Mysterio is one of the legends on the roster and over the last few months he’s been in feuds with his son, the Judgment Day, Santos Escobar and now El Grande Americano.
El Grande Americano burst onto the scene after Chad Gable took time off in an angle to learn the ways of Lucha Libre. Soon after, El Grande Americano burst onto the scene. He’s been a rival of Dragon Lee in recent weeks but he used his loaded mask to headbutt Mysterio during one of the recent matches between the Latino World Order and American Made.
Mysterio requested a match with El Grande Americano and Raw general manager Adam Pearce.
Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins
Bad blood and a long history between these three rivals will be in the spotlight at WrestleMania 41.
As mentioned before, the three competitors have a history dating back to the days Reigns and Rollins were in The Shield faction. Punk was dropping “pipe bombs” on WWE management at that time. A lot has changed since then.
Punk returned at Survivor Series 2023 – much to the surprise of the pro wrestling world and the entire Chicago crown. Rollins was noticeably irate and he reignited his perceived hatred for Punk right then and there. The two verbally sparred for months as Punk needed to recover from a triceps injury during the 2024 Royal Rumble. Once he recovered, Punk started a feud with Drew McIntyre before returning to focus on Rollins.
What upset Rollins even further was Punk helping Reigns during the WarGames match at the 2024 Survivor Series. Rollins’ anger toward Reigns grew it and it all came to a head at the Royal Rumble in February when the three competitors were eliminated one-by-one. Rollins gave a stomp to Reigns and Punk. Reigns returned in March to interfere in a cage match between Rollins and Punk. It kickstarted where the storyline is now.
There is one added bonus. Reigns’ longtime wiseman, Paul Heyman, owed Punk a favor for helping Reigns defeat the rest of the Bloodline at Survivor Series. In return, Heyman told Reigns he would be in Punk’s corner for the triple threat match.
The final “RAW” before WrestleMania showed a massive confrontation between the competitors. Reigns pushed Heyman to the ground before he speared Punk. Rollins got his revenge with a massive chairshot on Reigns before he stomped Punk.
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