Way-Too-Early WWE WrestleMania 39 Match Card Predictions

SummerSlam 2022 is barely in the rearview, but since that often acts as the midpoint in the season that culminates at The Grandest Stage of Them All, it shouldn't stop fans from already looking ahead to WrestleMania 39.

Many things can change in the coming months. Injuries can come out of nowhere. Triple H's new creative direction will unfold in untold ways over time. Clash at the Castle and all the premium live events can greatly influence the roster. Even every episode of Raw and SmackDown comes with the potential to alter the narrative at the snap of a finger.

But in the past, a few anchor feuds have been ironed out in advance, and some of the major matches are at least hinted at post-SummerSlam, which may give fans clues about what we will see at WrestleMania in 2023.

With some educated guesswork and some blind optimism, let's gaze into our crystal balls and try to predict some of the matches that will happen when WrestleMania goes Hollywood in April.

There have been years when major matches on the card have changed just the week prior to WrestleMania. Roman Reigns was set to fight Goldberg until the eleventh hour two years back, but the Tribal Chief was eventually swapped out for Braun Strowman. Nothing is guaranteed.

However, only two people make sense to fight Reigns at WrestleMania 39: Cody Rhodes and The Rock.

Given how Rhodes is injured and may not be back in time—and how much more anticipation and buzz has been built up over the years about the seemingly inevitable clash of cousins—The Rock is the safer bet. It is WrestleMania Hollywood, after all.

Like last year, when both belts were on the line to make Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar "The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All Time", it is doubtful the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship will be split up in the coming months.

Reigns will walk into WrestleMania with both straps in his possession and will most likely beat The Rock to firmly establish himself as the definitive Head of the Table.

Once Ronda Rousey returned to WWE, it seemed she was being set up for two WrestleMania matches against her previous opponents. Charlotte Flair came first at WrestleMania 38. Becky Lynch was likely the plan for WrestleMania 39.

While that may still be what Triple H decides to do, it doesn't have to be—nor does that indicate which title would be up for grabs now that neither is champion.

Rousey seems to be a heel now, while Lynch is freshly babyface. When Big Time Becks is ready to return, and if The Rowdy One has dethroned Liv Morgan to win back the SmackDown Women's Championship, we could see Lynch win the title shot to fight Rousey once again.

Flair is almost always in the title hunt. You can never count her out. If Rousey vs. Lynch is one match, The Queen might be Bianca Belair's opponent, assuming The EST of WWE is still holding that Raw Women's Championship.

What makes this interesting is that this new regime could spice things up in all sorts of different ways.

Flair could beat Morgan and face the rising star of Raquel Rodriguez. Belair could lose the title to Rhea Ripley, Bayley, Dakota Kai or Iyo Sky.

Asuka is back in play, as she was always treated better in NXT by Triple H than on the main roster. The same goes for Shayna Baszler—and The Queen of Spades against Rousey, in particular, certainly sounds intriguing.

The bracket for the Women's Tag Team Championship tournament hasn't even been announced, nor do we know if Sasha Banks and Naomi will return. Those are two more huge names to work into the WrestleMania picture, and the title situation could feature any of these women or others.

Tag team wrestling has never been a priority for McMahon. Triple H seems to have a higher affinity for the division, as the NXT TakeOver shows frequently had match-of-the-year candidates for those tag team titles.

Realistically, The Usos will still be holding both sets of belts. There's a chance Raw and SmackDown are split once more, but The Bloodline carrying gold until WrestleMania seems like a bigger narrative than even the brand split at the moment.

The real question is who will be worthy of fighting Jimmy and Jey.

The Street Profits are off the table. Alpha Academy and plenty other teams would need to be built up again. The New Day's been done a million times, so as great as it would be, it wouldn't seem special on paper.

As a total shot in the dark, what if this story of Sami Zayn trying to get in good with The Bloodline manifests a reteaming with Kevin Owens that leads to those two finally winning gold together?

That would be a great way to utilize their big names on the card, check that off their bucket list to become tag team champions and give The Usos challengers who feel like they have a brotherly bond and can actually beat them.

Whether it is just to perpetually give Fox a title match on television, rather than Peacock, or some other unknown reason, WWE hasn't had the Intercontinental Championship on a pay-per-view since WrestleMania 37.

Something is afoot. Over a year-and-a-half doesn't go by with that title coincidentally only being defended on SmackDown.

That means there is a chance this belt isn't defended yet again at WrestleMania 39, as baffling as that sounds, and WWE tries once more to put it on the SmackDown prior to make that feel like "WrestleMania SmackDown" is a thing.

Assuming cooler heads prevail and the title does have a presence at WrestleMania, watch out for Gunther to still be champion and to defend against Drew McIntyre.

Gunther held the United Kingdom Championship for a record 870 days. Triple H likes long runs if the belt's on the right person, and he's already fit that bill. He could easily keep it until WrestleMania, if not longer.

The top challenger would have to be The Scottish Warrior. The European connection, their size standing next to each other, McIntyre's spot as a top babyface who would need a prominent match on the card and the title actually being in jeopardy would sell well.

McIntyre also spoke on WrestleRant about looking forward to facing Gunther at some point, and there's no bigger show to do it than WrestleMania.

Arguably the most difficult title to guess where it will land is the United States Championship, which is held by Bobby Lashley.

If he retains the title for the coming months, it wouldn't be unheard of. He has every tool necessary to carry that championship with prestige for a long time, and it would allow him to play a rather big part on the show but not get swallowed up in the main event scene.

However, there is a laundry list of Superstars who could just as easily obtain that belt before WrestleMania and/or challenge for it.

Ciampa may even win it on this next episode of Raw. The Judgment Day's Damian Priest and Finn Balor have held it before and may win it back. This could even be an alternate direction for Cody Rhodes to keep him away from Reigns while the story with The Rock plays out, if The American Nightmare is back in action by then.

Don't overlook Madcap Moss, Karrion Kross, Ricochet or even someone like Rick Boogs.

Barely any time has passed to see where Triple H's priorities lay, and there's no telling which brand will even have this title come April.

If Lashley is still holding it, let's assume he faces a fresh face like Kross. If not, all bets are off.

The draft will undoubtedly change things. There could be major shifts in who is on Raw or SmackDown. Call-ups from NXT could be a big deal by April even if they aren't in the picture right now, pushing others to the side and taking priority.

A few other feuds that could carve a niche for themselves, though, would be as follows:

• Riddle vs. Randy Orton is a must. Whenever The Viper returns, there is no better story for WrestleMania than the split of RK-Bro and fighting his former best friend.
• Edge, Logan Paul and Pat McAfee can all be assumed to have matches. It is doubtful any of them will face each other, though. Maybe McAfee will even fight Corey Graves. Edge could handpick his opponent. Paul could be in a tag team match or having a fight night with Sheamus for all we know.
  
• Theory may still hold the Money in the Bank briefcase and be in a random side feud to keep him busy and excuse why he doesn't cash in during The Rock vs. Reigns, which will be far bigger than his involvement.
• Assuming Rhodes is back in time and not in the title picture, his most obvious opponent is one more match against Seth Rollins.

The two nights of WrestleMania 39 will undoubtedly be packed, so it will be interesting to see how the card shapes up in the coming months!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.