The Royal Rumble is less than a month away. The road to WrestleMania is quickly approaching and the pieces that lead to the biggest show in pro wrestling start at the annual pay-per-view. WWE has a stacked roster and exploring the potential match-ups that could take place at WrestleMania is exciting.
There’s a strong likelihood that Cody Rhodes is facing The Rock and/or Roman Reigns. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Reigns won The Royal Rumble to set up another match. But WWE can also use this match to elevate a someone challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship.
I chose the five names who would be a perfect candidate for the belt. Nothing is set in stone for the WWE Undisputed title, but that championship picture looks clear for WrestleMania. Of course, I could be wrong. Nevertheless, let’s get started with the first name:
John Cena
I’m not big on John Cena being in a world championship match at this stage of his career. But I would be a fool to not acknowledge the story possibilities of John Cena going after his 17th world title. I know Cody vs. John Cena is the reported match that’s being talked about (so much for Rock returning being set in stone), but I like Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes better, even though Gunther is turning face.
Still, it doesn’t mean this can’t be a Young stud vs. Old Gunslinger type match. Cena has lost plenty of important matches in the past couple of years and Triple H can easily play off that story. Plus, the World Heavyweight Champion can carry Cena to a good match. Cena WILL likely win the title if WWE goes this route and honestly, it’s much deserved.
Gunther doesn’t get much stock out of beating this version of Cena. The veteran has recently lost to Solo Sokia and Austin Theory in big matches, so a win wouldn’t be as impactful as it would’ve been five years ago. But that doesn’t automatically mean that Gunther NEEDS to lose this match. Whatever the result is, there’s no better story to give Cena on his way out other than him chasing the world title for the 17th time.
It’s a shame that dominant Gunther is gone as that would’ve made the match more compelling, but there’s still some time to make him look like a beast heading into WrestleMania.
Bron Breakker
Creative needs to start taking a risk with young guys. Cody Rhodes and Gunther are great champions, but they are pushing 40 years old. Everyone near or around the main title picture has won the belt multiple times (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre) or beyond the age of 40 (CM Punk, Kevin Owens, The Rock).
This is no disrespect to any of those guys because they can still go in the ring, but Triple H must establish the future as well. Bron Breakker is ready. The Intercontinental Champion is the MVP of the rebranded NXT because he’s consistently improved throughout the years.
Breaker has had great matches with a variety of opponents, and he feels unique compared to the rest of the roster. IC Champion vs. World Champion has a nice ring to it. And Breakker would be the perfect guy to beat Gunther. Give him the ball and see if he can run with it.
Even if Breakker loses at WrestleMania then establishing him as one of the top guys in the company will still do wonders for his stock. Bron Breakker WILL be a World Champion someday. It’s just a matter of when.
Rey Mysterio
I’m a sucker for a good David vs. Goliath story. Rey Mysterio has been floundering in the mid-card for years, yet he’s still performing at a high level. It would be great to give him something meaty heading into WrestleMania.
Rey signed a three-year deal with WWE back in 2023, so there’s no telling when he intends to hang up the boots for good. WWE can always play with Rey trying to prove himself with the young guns on the roster. It’s similar to the John Cena story I proposed above, but there’s more mileage you can get out of Mysterio than Cena.
This would also be a great win for Gunther. Though Rey Mysterio hasn’t been getting prominent wins lately, he also hasn’t been beaten like a drum, so it still has some credibility. Personally, I would go with a Gunther retention and continue Rey’s story beyond WrestleMania, but either way, this could make for a classic David vs. Goliath match-up.
Carmelo Hayes
I struggled with whether I should put Carmelo’s name on this list. Why? Because Carmelo has essentially done nothing newsworthy since joining the main roster. If you’ve never seen any of his work down in NXT then you’re probably scratching your head on why he’s on this list as well.
But all isn’t lost with Carmelo. He hasn’t been fully buried (that match with Braun Strowman did him no favors though) and his brief feud with Andrade showcased just how good he can be. Carmelo just needs a story that allows him to show his personality and character.
This guy was an excellent heel in NXT, and it’s pretty much the reason I would be on board with the company strapping a rocket to him and giving him a main-event push. Like Bron, WWE needs to start injecting some young blood into the main event scene. Carmelo should be given the ball to see what he can do with it. He has a great look. He can talk and go in the ring. The fact that he hasn't won the United States title yet is quite strange.
Montez Ford
I’m a firm believer in WWE taking more risks. If you haven’t noticed, this list mainly focused on the younger guys except John Cena and Rey Mysterio. I thought about Trick Williams and Oba Femi, but I don’t think Williams is ready for a main event push. Oba Femi seems destined to become the next NXT Champion, so it’s doubtful that he’s leaving NXT soon.
I don’t know if Montez Ford is ready for the main event scene, but he’s shown flashes of potential as a singles star. I love tag team wrestling, but there’s just not much for him and Dawkins to do in the tag division.
Why not take a risk on someone completely unexpected? Montez Ford checks most of the boxes on what a main eventer should be and giving him a chance to prove himself will determine if he’s ready to be a singles star.
Remember when Jey Uso randomly challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal title in 2020?
Jey stepped up big time and proved he could hang with the big dogs. I feel Ford can as well. Give him the iron man treatment in the Rumble. And if the Montez Ford experiment fails then they can simply send him back into the tag team division with Dawkins. WWE has taken risks with wrestlers before and sometimes they work out. 2025 should be the year of chances and I believe Montez Ford deserves a shot in the main event scene.