WrestleMania 42 season may not officially kick off until next weekend's Royal Rumble, but WWE is giving us all a bit of an appetizer with the first Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2026.
While WrestleMania season won’t officially kick off until next weekend at the Royal Rumble, WWE is giving us all a bit of an appetizer with the first Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2026.
Uncrowned’s Horsemen — Kel Dansby, Robert Jackman, Drake Riggs and Anthony Sulla-Heffinger — have gathered to break down the three-match card, including the Fatal 4-Way between Trick Williams, Damian Priest, Randy Orton and Sami Zayn to determine the challenger for Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in his first title defense.
Let’s ride!
1. Who should win the Fatal 4-Way? Does your pick have a realistic shot at dethroning Drew McIntyre?
Riggs: Trick Williams. As I've stated repeatedly since Williams arrived on the main roster, strap all of the rockets to this man's back.
Few, if any, current WWE wrestlers ooze "superstar" as clearly as the former NXT Champion — and I dare go as far as to say all of wrestling. The guy just has "it" and I don't see why WWE should wait to freshen up the top of its food chain. This roster could desperately use a shake-up — Williams has the talent to do exactly that.
Unfortunately, though, I can't quite see it happening yet. If anyone has a meteoric immediate rise this year, it appears to be reserved for Oba Femi. There's also zero story attachment to McIntyre for Williams, so it really would feel like nothing more than a mega push and out-of-left-field move for WWE, especially on the road to WrestleMania 42.
Saturday's likeliest winners are clearly Randy Orton or Sami Zayn, and regarding the latter, I'm still not convinced WWE isn't keen on going the Royal Rumble route. That just leaves Orton, who's been eyeballing another world title since he brushed shoulders with John Cena (again) last year. If Orton and McIntyre meet for gold at the Rumble, Orton can win, swapping the expected role for his inevitable long-term feud with Cody Rhodes, potentially culminating at WrestleMania — or better yet, Elimination Chamber, with a possible Zayn waiting in the wings.
But the the possibilities are endless now, which is the beauty of McIntyre's title win. I could even see a case where we get a triple threat match between a champion Orton, Rhodes and Zayn, with Zayn winning at 'Mania, purely because WWE loves to recycle history — think, WrestleMania 20 and WrestleMania 30. Also, remember how Orton did a recent promotional tour in Saudi Arabia? I'm just saying.
Sulla-Heffinger: Can I say anyone but Damian Priest? No offense to Priest, who is a strong performer and always a viable main event challenger, but we’ve seen that plenty already. It’s time for something fresh.
I think there’s a really strong case for either Randy Orton or Sami Zayn here, with the winner eventually dethroning Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42 after a somewhat prolonged program where we see McIntyre look simultaneously strong and cowardly as a heel champion. There’s also a long-term booking possibility for either against Cody Rhodes as we look even further toward SummerSlam (more on this later).
I agree whole-heartedly with Drake on Trick Williams — he screams star, but it feels like Oba Femi is better suited for the immediate rocket.
Dansby: The logical answer is Randy Orton.
Orton taking the title off Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes winning the Elimination Chamber to set up a long-awaited WrestleMania match between the two is the easiest layup WWE has on the board.
But let’s think a little outside the box and say Sami Zayn. Fans have been waiting for Zayn to get a real main-roster title run ever since he dethroned Gunther at WrestleMania a few years ago, and that moment never truly got paid off. Rhodes doesn’t need to live in the title picture right now, and letting Zayn finally have his moment in the sun feels overdue rather than risky.
Jackman: I'm going with the obvious option here: Sami Zayn. We've seen throughout the Triple H era how much the man in charge loves his huge crowd reactions, whether it's Jey Uso getting a stadium audience "yeeting" for 20 minutes (not so fun to watch at home, let me tell you) or just those weekly ground-rumbling cheers Rhea Ripley gets every time her theme music hits.
With Zayn, you suddenly have a chance to do that twice. First, you get the massive hometown eruption when he wins in Montreal (followed by the properly knife-edge suspense of having him stare down with Drew McIntyre). And then you get to do it all again one week later, when Zayn makes his big entrance in Saudi Arabia as the official challenger for the world title.
It might sound a bit facetious to point out that Zayn (who has Middle Eastern heritage and speaks fluent Arabic) is massively over in Saudi Arabia, but it's true. Take it from someone who has seen it up close in-person. The Arabic promos, his Umrah pilgrimage he did a few years ago, his philanthropic work in Syria, the not-so-subtle Palestine activism — all of that has made him the perfect babyface in that part of the world. There’s no way WWE will pass up the chance to unleash that in Riyadh.
Should he beat Drew McIntyre? Absolutely not. This is where Triple H needs to do what's best for business and run the same playbook WWE used for Zayn vs. Reigns at Elimination Chamber in 2023. Sami should come close to victory, of course, but ultimately he has to end up at the feet of the heel champion, thus allowing McIntyre to supercharge his bad guy credentials in a way that doesn’t involve Cody Rhodes.
2. Liv Morgan hammered home Rhea Ripley’s history of splitting from tag partners in her “go-home” promo. If you had to split up one of these teams, which one is it?
Sulla-Heffinger: If you remember in our way-too-early WrestleMania predictions, I slated Liv Morgan to have a monster year — winning the Rumble and a women’s championship at WrestleMania. I don’t think that happens with her as a member of Judgment Day, so my answer here is pretty easy. As big of a star as she is, I think Morgan has room to grow on that front as a singles star alongside Dominik Mysterio, assuming his injury truly isn't as bad as initially feared.
There’s so much momentum behind the Women’s Tag Team Division right now and RhIyo is a big part of that. Splitting them up this quickly would be a mistake, especially if it means a heel turn for two of the biggest babyfaces on the roster.
Dansby: Judgment Day should have broken up a year ago, so it’s past time to pull the trigger. Finn Bálor just got a massive babyface reaction in his main-event match with CM Punk, Dominik Mysterio is more than ready to stand on his own, and the women in the group have been teasing tension for what feels like two straight years.
If you really want to freshen things up, pair Liv Morgan and Mysterio as their own chaotic duo and let everyone else move on to greener pastures. The group has run its course, and the pieces are clearly ready to thrive separately.
Jackman: I agree with Kel that it's time to detonate one of the various narrative bombs that have been ticking away underneath the Judgment Day clubhouse for months now, not least as there's the potential for something really interesting here. Between Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan, the stable does feel a bit too crowded for comfort — and I suspect that's not a coincidence. Surely, something has to happen that pits two of them against the other?
There's also another way of looking at this, which is that Morgan has absolutely zero to gain from being in the tag title scene. With RhIyo, you at least have the marquee match with Flair and Bliss WWE has been dangling in front of our eyes for months on end now. That isn't the sort of thing they can just walk back on without a lot of Ripley superfans (i.e., about half of the online fan base these days) being very disgruntled.
Riggs: The Judgment Day is back on a track that works, but it feels too soon to break up RhIyo. I mean, come on now — I'm not a savage.
Clearly there is still-brewing potential dissension between the women of Judgment Day, and Morgan could be foreshadowing herself with her recent comments. Raquel Rodriguez's world title pursuit feels like the perfect vehicle for a Morgan betrayal, as Morgan is the clear star of the group and wants the title for herself. That will become more evident with a loss to the tag-team champs.
There's just more juice to squeeze out of RhIyo before we get to WrestleMania. And hell, even then, I wouldn't be surprised if they're still the champs by then. The pairing is super over and still very fun.
3. Does Cody Rhodes still need the Undisputed WWE Championship to be “QB1?”
Jackman: No. Which is just as well, as 2026 needs to be a genuine separation between Cody Rhodes and the Undisputed Championship. That's the big difference between last year, where John Cena's title run was inevitably going to feel transitory given his retirement tour. From the minute Rhodes lost the belt at WrestleMania 41, he became the smart-money favorite to win it back. That shouldn’t be the case this time around.
Maintaining Rhodes' "QB1" polish won't be easy, but it really shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to maximize his popularity. The lure of the babyface is always in the chase. That means going back to the 2023 iteration of Cody Rhodes: The bruised underdog who had to battle Brock Lesnar in order to restore his status as a champion-in-waiting. This time around, it has to be a longer journey, and one that starts with a defeat this Saturday to Jacob Fatu.
Sorry Cody, but this one's going to hurt a bit.
Riggs: Not at all. Do you want to know how I know? Shawn Michaels. That's your answer.
Look at "HBK's" final stretch of his career, where he refused to hold a world title beyond 2002. He didn't need it either. Sure, he was still in the title picture and challenged for the belt several times, but even without it, he was still one of the faces of the company and one of the best in the world.
I know many equate Rhodes to being the modern-day John Cena. That's fair, but more realistically, he now can be — and arguably should be — the modern-day Shawn Michaels, in this respect. And that's why I expect him to lose this weekend to Jacob Fatu, as he should. Rhodes is now a guy who can give the rub to its fullest — something holding the title hadn't allowed him to do.
Dansby: A good quarterback knows when it’s time to hand the ball off, and that’s exactly where Cody Rhodes is right now. He has several interesting feuds lined up, but none of them actually require the WWE Championship to feel important.
Rhodes vs. a heel Randy Orton is massive on its own, especially with nearly two decades of shared history behind it. There’s no reason to tie that story to the title. Let some fresh faces benefit from being champion while Rhodes continues telling meaningful, high-level stories outside the belt.
Sulla-Heffinger: No, especially considering he’s still a full-time talent.
A lot of the time, when stars become bigger than championships in WWE, it coincides with a shift to becoming a part-time superstar; but with Rhodes, he’s in a unique position to be the face of the company outside of the ring, as well as give the rub to up-and-coming stars in it. His star won’t be any bigger with a title right now and won’t be any smaller without it — evidenced by his time without it last year post-WrestleMania.
As mentioned above, I think there are still many compelling stories to tell surrounding Rhodes and the Undisputed WWE Championship, and he’ll always have the “well, you didn’t beat me” angle to break out in the future. Before all of that happens, I think we get a setup for Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes III at the Royal Rumble. This might close out Night 1 of WrestleMania 42.
4. Has the unpredictable nature of 2026 so far altered your picks or expectations for this show or the implications that come from it?
Sulla-Heffinger: Not necessarily. I’ll admit, I was completely shocked by Rhodes losing to McIntyre, but it does make some sense now as I'm looking toward the Royal Rumble and inevitably WrestleMania.
Saturday Night’s Main Event usually serves as more of a showcase than anything else, and outside of a Trick Williams win, any other outcome throughout the card wouldn’t be wildly surprising this weekend.
Of course, that’s a boring answer, so I will go out on a limb — RhIyo might need an assist to even up the numbers vs. Judgment Day. I know the Rumble is where the big surprises happen, but a headline-grabber this Saturday would be a returning Bianca Belair to help the babyfaces.
Jackman: Not hugely. I mean, I wouldn't have predicted this particular Fatal 4-Way at the turn of the year. But now that WWE has pulled the trigger on the big McIntyre switch, I can see how it makes sense. And I don't hold out much hope of any of the competitors beating "The Scottish Warrior" anytime soon. Incumbency bias will always be one of the fundamental laws of pro wrestling.
On the other hand, this shake-up makes me much more positive about WrestleMania. With the absence of both John Cena (definitely) and The Rock (probably), I feel like WWE is having to think much more seriously about using some of the world-class full-timers they have on the roster, rather than building another main event based on celebrity status. If they get it right, I could see 'Mania 42 being the perfect palate cleanser to make up for the underwhelming main event we were served last year.
Riggs: Not really. It's still been less than 30 days, gentlemen.
Trust me, I'm an incredibly optimistic dude in general, but when it comes to WWE, I'm not that optimistic.
If anything, I'll go back to my Femi shoutout. There's an easy way to have him appear back on this show — where we last saw him — and attack everyone in the Fatal 4-Way. Perhaps not during the match, even though he could with the disqualifications as an afterthought, but that could be a cool and easy tease considering the McIntyre and event tie-in.
Dansby: I’d probably be more excited for this show if the Royal Rumble wasn’t just a week away. That looming shadow makes everything this weekend feel like a setup rather than a destination.
I’m still expecting solid wrestling and a few moments that help push stories forward heading into the Rumble. At this point, I’m mostly hoping for clean finishes and no unnecessary nonsense before WWE hits the reset button on Jan. 31.
Predictions
Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest vs. Randy Orton (Riggs) vs. Sami Zayn (Dansby, Jackman, Sulla-Heffinger)
Women's Tag Team Championship match: RhIyo (Dansby, Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. The Judgment Day
Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu (Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) — DQ finish, Drew McIntyre interferes (Dansby)
Category: General Sports
