Cody vs Rock is the only logical choice for WrestleMania 41 Sunday

The Messy Brilliance of the Road to Vegas

WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas is looming, and the top of the card is a chaotic, beautiful disaster. We have Cody Rhodes holding the WWE Championship, Roman Reigns lurking in the shadows without his Tribal Chief necklace, and The Rock promising to return. Add CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and a red-hot Drew McIntyre into the mix, and Triple H has the best kind of booking headache. The question isn't whether the matches will be good. The real debate is who gets the coveted closing spots on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday Belongs to the Bloodline

Let's start with Saturday, Night 1. There is a vocal segment of the fanbase clamoring for CM Punk and Seth Rollins to finally get their one-on-one WrestleMania main event. Rollins has been the workhorse, the guy who carried Monday Night Raw on his broken back with a crumbling knee for two years. Punk returned at Survivor Series to a hero's welcome, tore his right triceps at the Royal Rumble in January, and spent the better part of 2024 cutting promos that felt more like spoken-word poetry while feuding with McIntyre.

Putting Rollins vs. Punk on last for Night 1 makes sense on paper. It pays off a real-life grudge that dates back over a decade.

Paper doesn't sell out Allegiant Stadium. Punk vs. Rollins is a great blood feud, but it lacks the monumental, earth-shattering stakes required to close a WrestleMania in 2025.

That spot belongs strictly to the Bloodline implosion. Roman Reigns against Solo Sikoa is the match that absolutely needs to headline Night 1. Sikoa has been parading around with the Ula Fala, acting like a discount mob boss while flanked by the terrifying Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa.

The visual of Roman Reigns returning, not as the unstoppable Head of the Table, but as a desperate, isolated babyface fighting for his family's legacy, is too potent to stick in the middle of the card. When Roman finally hits Sikoa with a Spear and reclaims his spot as the true Tribal Chief, the pop in Vegas will register on the Richter scale.

Why Cody Rhodes Must Close Sunday

Now, let's talk about Sunday. The sheer audacity of anyone suggesting Cody Rhodes shouldn't be in the main event of Night 2 is baffling. Rhodes finished his story at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, capping off a two-year emotional rollercoaster that brought lapsed fans back to the product. But finishing the story is the easy part. Defending the crown and drawing money as the top guy is where the real pressure lies.

The Rock made his intentions perfectly clear on the Raw after WrestleMania 40. He held something mysterious in his hand, stared a hole straight through Cody, and promised he would be back for the new champion. We don't need a convoluted triple threat match. We don't need Roman Reigns awkwardly inserted into a rematch that already had a perfect, definitive conclusion. We need Cody Rhodes vs. The Final Boss in a one-on-one singles match.

The Overbooking Problem

There is a glaring issue with WWE's current creative direction under Triple H, though. The insistence on protecting everyone means we rarely get clean, definitive finishes in these top-tier feuds. There is a terrible tendency to rely on outside interference to save face for the loser.

If they book Rock vs. Cody for Sunday, it absolutely cannot be another overbooked mess featuring ten run-ins, a John Cena cameo, and The Undertaker magically appearing in the dark. WrestleMania 40 got away with that circus because it was the culmination of a four-year saga against the Bloodline. Doing it again would be lazy, repetitive booking. It would show a lack of faith in Cody's ability to carry a main event without smoke and mirrors.

Cody needs to beat The Rock clean in the middle of the ring. No asterisk. No Jacob Fatu superkicks from the floor. Just a Bionic Elbow into a Cross Rhodes — or three — for the 1-2-3. That is how you solidify Cody Rhodes as the unquestioned face of the company for the next decade. Beating a 52-year-old Dwayne Johnson doesn't mean anything if it takes four other legends to help him do it.

The Risk of Repeating History

Let's look at the alternative. If you put Roman Reigns vs. The Rock on Sunday, you completely neuter the WWE Championship. You turn Cody into an afterthought, exactly like CM Punk felt during his historic 434-day title reign.

Remember when John Cena was main eventing pay-per-views against John Laurinaitis while Punk wrestled Daniel Bryan in the middle of the show? WWE cannot afford to repeat that mistake and make their biggest merchandise mover look second-rate.

• Cody vs. Rock elevates the WWE Championship.
• Roman vs. Solo resolves the Bloodline saga without needing a title.
• Punk vs. Rollins easily co-headlines without needing the final bell.

What About the Women's Division?

The glaring omission in this entire conversation is Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair. If the Bloodline and Cody take the Saturday and Sunday main events, you are telling the women's roster that the ceiling is firmly capped. Ripley is the biggest female star they have had since Becky Lynch's legendary 2019 run. Belair is an athletic freak who has never put on a bad WrestleMania match.

If they clash for the Women's World Championship, they deserve more than the cool-down spot before the main event. Unfortunately, the reality of the current WWE hierarchy is that the Bloodline and Cody Rhodes are moving the needle in a way we haven't seen since the Attitude Era. Ripley and Belair might steal the show from an in-ring perspective, but they won't close it.

The smart money is on Triple H keeping it simple. Give us the visceral, familial violence of Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa to close out Saturday. Let the fans witness the destruction of the rogue Bloodline. Then, let Cody Rhodes and The Rock tear the house down on Sunday in a clash of generations. It's clean, it's logical, and it guarantees that WrestleMania 41 will be remembered for the right reasons. Anything else is just overthinking the obvious.