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WWE

It is officially WrestleMania Season, a time of wild speculation and excitement for wrestling fans. This year's annual spectacular takes place April 6 and 7 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Now that the Royal Rumble is in the rear-view, with Cody Rhodes and Bayley emerging as this year's winners, we can turn our attention forward to what could be in store for the biggest stars of Raw and SmackDown at WrestleMania 40. What is coming for superstars such as Rhodes, Bayley, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and others?

This an especially uncertain time compared to previous years, with multiple injuries and a sex trafficking lawsuit against now-former TKO executive chair and WWE president Vince McMahon rocking WWE's plans just months ahead of the biggest show of the year. But after the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber events have the four world title matches for WrestleMania set, there are still plenty more matches to be made.

With all that in mind, let's look at what we could expect from many of WWE's biggest stars at WrestleMania. We will keep this article updated as the WrestleMania picture continues to develop in the coming weeks and months.

Cody Rhodes: After winning back-to-back Royal Rumbles, Rhodes has once again punched his ticket to a world title match of his choosing. While the obvious path would be a rematch with undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns, and Rhodes went as far after his Rumble win as to point to Reigns in the crowd to let him know it's coming, Rhodes was thrown a curveball on Raw. World heavyweight champion Seth Rollins made a strong pitch for Rhodes to challenge him instead. After Rollins' pitch, Rhodes was conflicted over whether to seek revenge against Reigns -- and "finish the story" of winning the title his father never could -- or go after the "working man's championship" against Rollins. Rhodes said he would think about it and make his decision at a later date. From there, things got weird. Rhodes appeared on SmackDown and appeared to have given up his shot at Reigns so Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could face Reigns instead. This was met with massive fan backlash as it appeared Rhodes was being bumped from his "story finishing" spot to a match with Rollins. In the end, Rhodes reversed course -- possibly because of WWE seeing an unexpected vitriolic reaction to Rock vs. Reigns, which was thought to be a can't-miss match -- and announced that he would be facing Reigns during the WrestleMania Kickoff event in Las Vegas.

Seth Rollins: As mentioned above, Rollins made a pitch to Rhodes for a WrestleMania match, only for Rhodes to ultimately settle on a match with Reigns. The key to Rollins' situation is that he suffered a major knee injury, tearing his MCL and meniscus but is choosing to gut it out through WrestleMania before undergoing treatment. The reality is that the injury likely means Rollins has to drop the title at WrestleMania. CM Punk was the next logical choice for Rollins, but Punk suffered a torn triceps muscle in the Rumble and was sidelined as soon as his WWE comeback began. Drew McIntyre emerged as the favorite to face Rollins, and that has come to fruition after McIntyre won the Elimination Chamber match to secure his shot at the belt. Rollins also used the Elimination Chamber event to announce that he was nearly "medically cleared" for action.

Gunther: There were reports that the longest-reigning intercontinental champion in history was set to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in what would have been Gunther's biggest match ever. Gunther was also one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble and go on to face Rollins at WrestleMania. That didn't happen, obviously, and with Lesnar not returning at the Rumble amid his assumed involvement in the recent sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon, you can likely strike Gunther vs. Lesnar as a possibility for WrestleMania. Having already defended his intercontinental title against most worthy challengers, he may need a fresh challenger for the biggest show of the year. One potential opponent could be Bron Breakker, who reportedly took Lesnar's spot at the Rumble, though Breakker has signed on with SmackDown.

Roman Reigns: Reigns' run as champion has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. In its best moments, Reigns' time as champion has carried the entire company. At its worst, Reigns has been an absentee champion who has held up the top of the card with repetitive matches where he cheats to win while treated as an all-time dominant champion by the commentary team, an often distracting disconnect. For the second consecutive year, Reigns' WrestleMania match will be against Rhodes. It certainly feels like the right time to take the titles off of Reigns, but he's also close to passing Hulk Hogan's longest reign as champion, which WWE could decide is a mark worth taking down. Whatever happens to Reigns at WrestleMania will set the stage for the next six months -- at least -- of WWE programming.

Rhea Ripley: The women's world champion has been a dominant force on the Raw roster for over a year while also serving as the "real" leader of Judgment Day. While it was hinted Bayley was ready to challenge Ripley after winning the Royal Rumble, that idea was quickly cut off in the form of Nia Jax, who lost to Ripley in a title match at the Elimination Chamber event. At that same event, Becky Lynch won the women's Elimination Chamber to earn a shot at Ripley in what will be a huge match on the WrestleMania card.

Bayley: The 2024 women's Royal Rumble winner, Bayley was immediately put into a difficult position when Jax made it clear that Bayley was in danger if she challenged Ripley. The other option for Bayley would be WWE women's champion Iyo Sky, which is a problem considering she is Bayley's teammate in Damage CTRL. The story of Bayley being on the outs with the group has been in the works for quite some time, so it only made sense when Bayley did, in fact, announce her intention to face Sky at WrestleMania. Bayley said she was aware of how the group talked about her behind her back before taking out the other members of Damage CTRL before a staredown with the champ.

Logan Paul: As a part-time wrestler, the social media superstar has been a smash success. Paul's athleticism allows him to put on matches filled with big spots and he has shown a natural talent for engaging in big stage matches. The easiest plan for Paul would be a rematch with Kevin Owens. The pair met at the Royal Rumble, with Owens using Paul's own brass knuckles against him only to be caught and disqualified. That's not a good way to end a wrestling story and Owens will no doubt be seeking revenge against Paul, not to mention wanting to take Paul's United States championship. Of course, Paul also cost Randy Orton the Elimination Chamber match by hitting him with brass knuckles, so options remain open for Paul going forward.

Jey Uso: It feels like the time has finally arrived for Jey Uso to go one-on-one with his twin brother. Jimmy Uso was the No. 2 entrant to the Royal Rumble, immediately pairing off with his brother, who entered No. 1. The long story of Jey leaving The Bloodline and Jimmy staying has been building to the twins meeting in a match eventually, even as they were smartly split between Raw and SmackDown. There's plenty of time to finish the build to Jimmy vs. Jey, including how they actually set the match up. But if the match is ever going to happen, there's no choice that makes sense other than WrestleMania 40.