The beginning of each new yr results in essentially the most thrilling time of the yr for wrestling followers: The Highway to WrestleMania. With the strategy of WrestleMania 41, minds are racing with the probabilities of what might come on the greatest occasion of the yr.

In fact, there are a number of main stops earlier than WrestleMania 41 touches down at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19 and 20. World title challengers will probably be decided on the Royal Rumble on Feb. 1 and Elimination Chamber on March 1. This can be a string of a number of the greatest occasions on the wrestling calendar.

With all that in thoughts, the CBS Sports activities wrestling consultants sat all the way down to make 5 predictions about what we are going to see main as much as — and at — WrestleMania 41. Learn on to see what we count on over the approaching months.

1. Who’s going to win the Royal Rumble?

I’ll say Cena will get the win right here. It seems like a provided that he is in a world title match at WrestleMania and, certain, WWE might select to play on the “dropping streak” storyline and have him come up brief in February and have a “final likelihood” at Elimination Chamber, however I believe having Cena win and hyping up his title match throughout Netflix appearances makes extra sense. In fact, a few of that goes to an old-fashioned mentality primarily based round “needing” to construct matches to spice up dwell gate numbers and pay-per-view buys, two issues the WWE machine would not battle with (or that are not related within the case of PPV). Nonetheless, Cena’s remaining run together with standing tall as a Royal Rumble winner seems like a visible they wish to lock in and it is also an avenue that presents much less of an damage threat than an look contained in the Elimination Chamber. — Brent Brookhouse

My world title frontrunners for WrestleMania 41 are Gunther vs. John Cena and Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton. If we should omit Cena from competition, there’s just one route I might go. Orton probably will not match Cena’s world title reign document however he can tie “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin by successful his third Royal Rumble. Rhodes vs. Orton can draw a variety of supply materials from Orton’s mentorship of Rhodes within the Legacy faction. WWE ought to capitalize on the chance earlier than the damage bug bites Orton once more. — Shakiel Mahjouri

2. Who’s going to win the Elimination Chamber?

Primarily based on the belief that Cena will problem Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE championship, we have to line up a challenger for world heavyweight champion Gunther and that challenger needs to be CM Punk. It has at all times been a sticking level for Punk that he by no means was given the chance to important occasion a WrestleMania. That would change by having Punk win within the Elimination Chamber. Gunther and Punk additionally match up properly so far as in-ring kinds. Age has slowed Punk considerably and he’s at his greatest in hard-hitting brawls, a mode the place Gunther additionally excels. Seeing a fired up Punk gunning for arguably essentially the most harmful man on the roster forward of the WrestleMania important occasion that has lengthy eluded him is a simple story to inform, and one that might be a pleasure to see. — Brookhouse

Cena claimed on the Jan. 6 episode of WWE Uncooked that successful a seventeenth world title is “not within the playing cards” for him. Cena acknowledged that he hadn’t received a singles match in 2,466 days — or greater than six-and-a-half years. Failing to win the Royal Rumble additional drives Cena’s self-doubt, making it that a lot sweeter when he defies the chances and turns into No. 1 contender contained in the Elimination Chamber. — Mahjouri

3. How a lot will the brand new girls’s mid-card titles be featured main as much as, and at, WrestleMania 41? As new titles, will they be featured or left to really feel as meaningless and thrown collectively as girls’s tag group title applications?

My greatest fear is that WWE will not give the correct quantity of focus to make these titles really feel actually significant. On the SmackDown aspect, they’ve an important performer with the USA championship in Chelsea Inexperienced. Talking actually, I do not imagine WWE will function the 2 new titles at WrestleMania past brief matches and presumably giving Inexperienced some form of comedy section. — Brookhouse

WrestleMania occurring over two nights offers area to function each the ladies’s intercontinental and United States championships. However I am not satisfied these bouts will probably be pivotal. Reserving thrilling storylines within the girls’s divisions is not a powerful go well with for WWE’s present regime. I am not satisfied the ladies’s midcard titles will fare significantly better than the tag division even with Chelsea Inexperienced’s marvelous performances. The one silver lining with Uncooked and SmackDown increasing to a few hours means extra time could be invested in these titles. Nonetheless, I totally count on the brand new girls’s belts will get misplaced within the shuffle. — Mahjouri

4. What’s one main WrestleMania match that is not at present on the radar however will come collectively within the coming months?

Possibly that is stretching the concept of a “main match,” however I will shoot a shot on the concept of Pat McAfee vs. Dominik Mysterio. WWE likes to convey McAfee round for his or her massive occasions and even tossing him within the ring right here and there, although in much less intense matches than in his previous. McAfee runs down Mysterio usually whereas on commentary and it is a protected match that does not have to overstay its welcome whereas additionally thrilling the dwell crowd. McAfee can run via Mysterio in 5 minutes and it will make for a pleasant second for all concerned. — Brookhouse

Give me Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Aptitude for the WWE girls’s championship. Aptitude has been absent for 13 months after tearing her ACL, MCL and meniscus in a match. The timetable for an ACL restoration — arguably essentially the most extreme of the three knee accidents — often tops out at 9 months. Stratton’s first important roster title reign presents her with many challengers, reminiscent of Nia Jax and Bianca Belair, however not notably transfer me. SmackDown’s girls’s division might use the jolt of power that 14-time world champion Aptitude brings. — Mahjouri

5. What would be the 4 high title matches at WrestleMania 41?

Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena
World Heavyweight Championship — Gunther (c) vs. CM Punk
WWE Ladies’s Championship — Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Aptitude
Ladies’s World Championship — Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
— Brookhouse

Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship — Gunther (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Ladies’s Championship — Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Aptitude
Ladies’s World Championship — Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch
— Mahjouri