WWE WrestleMania 38: 5 superstars who must win

Night one of WWE WrestleMania 38 is nine days away – it is almost time for the company’s biggest premium live event of the year.

As of writing – 11 bouts have been are confirmed. Last year’s event had 14 matches – chances are this card is not complete.

WWE Superstars work their entire lives to have their moment on this stage – nobody wants to leave the “Grandest Stage of Them All” with a loss.

A victory inside the AT&T Stadium could do wonders for the career of someone like Austin Theory – who is making his singles debut at WrestleMania – and cement the legacy of Roman Reigns, who is making his ninth appearance at the event.

“The Most Stupendous Two-Night Event In WrestleMania History” could make or break a career. With that said – here are five superstars who need to have their hands raised in Texas.

5. Austin Theory

Austin Theory against Pat McAfee is a match that seemed to come from left field.

When he was a guest on the latter’s podcast, Vince McMahon announced McAfee would compete at WrestleMania 38. Reports indicated the two would face each other, thankfully, that was not the case.

On the March 4th episode of WWE Smackdown – Theory made his way to ringside and announced himself as McAfee’s opponent for WrestleMania Sunday. He slapped the blue brand commentator – vowing to “beat him to a pulp” in front of a global audience.

The feud has heated up recently. The two had a brawl a fortnight ago on Smackdown, and McAfee cost Theory his match with Finn Balor on the latest edition of WWE Raw.

Theory is in the spotlight like never before. Sharing the screen with McMahon is a good sign – the chairman is a big fan of the 24-year-old. Theory has come a long way since WrestleMania 36 – where he teamed up with Angel Garza to lose to The Street Profits.

McAfee is no slouch. His match with Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX was great – he also held his own inside WarGames four months later – but this is a pivotal moment for Theory. He should not be losing to a non-wrestler at this stage of his career.

4. Naomi and Sasha Banks

No offense to Queen Zelina and Carmella, but the WWE women’s tag team division has grown stale while they have been champions. That is not solely down to them – the company released the likes of Toni Storm, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, and Ember Moon in the last year – all four could have added depth to the roster.

The women’s ranks need refreshing – there’s no better way of doing that – than putting the titles on two of the most popular females in WWE, Naomi and Sasha Banks.

The duo has great chemistry together – dating back to 2015 – when they were in Team B.A.D., with Tamina. Neither are in the title picture at the moment – they are too good to be stuck in mid-card limbo – a run with the belts would benefit both.

WWE needs to give them fresh opponents for their run to be a success. The newly formed duo of Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley is a good start. 2022 Women’s Dusty Classic winners – Kay Lee Ray and Io Shiri would be an exciting option. The latter has outgrown NXT. Sonya Deville and Shotzi would make a dangerous duo – the authority figure has issues with Naomi and would love to take gold from her.

WrestleMania is about feel-good moments. Banks and Naomi having their hands raised would fit into that category.

3. Bianca Belair 

“WWE doesn’t create new stars” is an accusation thrown at Vince McMahon, however, Bianca Belair is evidence they do get it right on occasions.

Since making her main roster debut on the post WrestleMania 36 episode of Raw – “The Est of WWE” has been the sole survivor at Survivor Series, won the WWE Women’s Royal Rumble, and became the SmackDown Women’s Champion in the historic main event of WrestleMania Saturday last year.

She held the title until WWE SummerSlam – where Becky Lynch made a shocking return to WWE – and beat her in 26 seconds.

Belair needs to avenge that loss. WrestleMania is the perfect stage for her to win the red brand’s top women’s title for the first time in her career. “Big Time Becks” has not been pinned for a belt since May 2019 – if the Knoxville native could end that run – it would be another fine achievement to add to her already impressive career.

2. Edge

When Edge Speared AJ Styles in the 2020 Royal Rumble – fans were desperate to see a match between the two legends – 27 months later, they will clash for the first time on WrestleMania Saturday.

When “The Rated R-Superstar” made an open challenge for someone to face him on the “Show of Shows” – the WWE Universe was delighted when AJ Styles’ music hit. That delight turned to shock – when Edge turned heel – and hit Styles with a low blow followed by two devastating ConChairTo’s. That attack was on the 28th February episode of Raw – Styles missed three weeks of television selling the beatdown – he returned this week, only to be blindsided with a chair by “The Rated-R Superstar” during his bout with Seth Rollins.

Turning heel has rejuvenated Edge – he plays the role of an unhinged individual very well. Losing on WrestleMania Sunday will not damage Edge, but cheating to beat “The Phenomenal One” will draw 11 the former world champion more heat.

A three-match series between the two would be ideal. Edge using underhanded tactics to win the first collision means Styles has something to prove against one of the greatest of all time – the rivalry could end inside WWE Hell in a Cell in June.

1. Roman Reigns 

Since aligning with Paul Heyman in August 2020 – nobody in WWE has come close to Roman Reigns. He has beaten the likes of John Cena, Edge, Daniel Bryan, Drew McIntyre, and Goldberg in that time.

“The Tribal Chief” has held the Universal Championship for 571 days – breaking the record of the man he faces in a title unification match in the main event of WrestleMania Sunday – Brock Lesnar.

These two have been going at it since Lesnar confronted Reigns at SummerSlam last year. Reigns bloodied the WWE Champion during a live event at Madison Square Garden – “The Beast Incarnate” almost decapitated The Bloodline with a forklift on the March 18th episode of SmackDown.

Reigns is having the best run of his career – it does not make sense for him to drop his title to a part-timer – despite the master of the F-5 enjoying a new lease of life as a face.

Vince McMahon sees Reigns as the biggest star in his company – him leaving “The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time” with the WWE and Universal titles will only reinforce his standpoint.