WWE’sWrestleMania 41card is finally starting to take shape.Jey Uso used his Royal Rumble victoryto challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Charlotte Flair vs. Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship is locked in. But as for Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes,the future is unclear.
Six men - John Cena, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Damian Priest and Seth Rollins -will battle inside the Elimination Chamberat theElimination Chamberpay-per-view on March 1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Each man has history with “The American Nightmare” and would bring a unique dynamic to a WrestleMania main event. Butsome are more likely to walk out of the chamber as the No. 1 contenderfor the company’s top prize than others. So let’s rank them, from most to least-likely to win!
6John Cena
The 16-Time World Champion Is Gunning for 17
Cena feels like WWE’s Schrödinger’s Cat. His year-long retirement tour (andquest for that elusive 17th world championship reign) is somehow both one of WWE’s biggest storylines of the year and also one thatplays no active role on weekly WWE televisionthanks to his busy Hollywood schedule.
And yet,Rhodes vs. Cena makes the most sense. It’s a passing of the torch moment between generations. Having to defeat his idol could further play into Rhodes’ battle with the pressure of being WWE’s top star. And a loss would force Cena to recalculate how he’s going to approach his final year as a competitor, launching him into whatever storylines he’ll have over the summer. IfWrestleMania 41is going to come and go without the involvement of “The Final Boss,” this is the biggest main event WWE can book right now.
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Having announced 2025 would be his final year as an in-ring competitor, Cena appeared on the first episode ofWWE Rawon Netflix and declared himself for the Men’s Royal Rumble match. He came within inches of winning the 30-man match, only for Uso to knock him off the apron and secure a world championship bout atWrestleMania 41.Cena, looking rather despondent at the post-show press conference, wasted no time in declaring himself a competitor in the No. 1 contender’s Elimination Chamber match,arguing that it was the right business decision for WWE.
Cena has competed inside the Elimination Chamber seven times throughout his career, but is 0-3 inside the steel structure since 2014.
This sudden tonal shift and underlying layer of desperation left fans wondering if this was hinting at the creative direction for Cena’s final run. But outside his Rumble appearance, Cena has been absent due to the various film projects he’s working on.
5CM Punk
The Voice Of The Voiceless
With the Drew McIntyre feud behind him, Punk has made it his mission to finally compete in the main event of WrestleMania. He still has that “favor” from Paul Heyman he earned atSurvivor Seriesin his back pocket and his interaction with Rhodes on the final episode ofWWE Rawbefore theRoyal Rumbleis an early candidate for Promo of the Year.
There’s always a chance he gets pulled into the Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns situation (as teased during the Men’s Royal Rumble), but Punk vs. Rhodes feels like somethingWWE has been waiting to pull the trigger onever since Punk returned to the company. Punk qualified for the match by defeating Sami Zayn on an episode ofWWE Raw, much to the frustration of Seth Rollins. Speaking of which…
4Seth Rollins
The Visionary Is Looking for a Vision for WrestleMania
And now we’ve reached the “we have too many main eventers and not enough spots” hurdle WWE is facing heading intoWrestleMania 41.Running back the Rhodes vs. Rollins rivalry from 2022 could be intriguing (Rhodes famously went 3-0 in that series even while suffering from a torn pectoral), but Rollins has lately seemed obsessed withpicking fights with his old rivals in CM Punkand Roman Reigns. Whatever WWE winds up doing, settling for Rhodes vs. Rollins doesn’t feel like it’s high on the priority list.
Rollins was the last entrant to qualify for the chamber, defeating Finn Balor on the Feb. 17 episode ofWWE Raw. As for Reigns, he’s been off WWE TV ever since Rollins nailed him with a pair of Curb Stomps after both men were eliminated from the Men’s Royal Rumble. A grudge match to end the story that began in 2014 with Seth betraying his Shield comrades seems a lot more likely for this year’sWrestleMania.
3Drew McIntyre
The Scottish Warrior’s Move to SmackDown Speaks Loudly
McIntyre’s recent move toWWE SmackDown’s roster screams “I’m working with Cody once WrestleMania season is over.” In the meantime, the rumor is he’s wrestling Damian Priest atWrestleMania 41. If that is indeed the case,expect Priest to either eliminate or cost McIntyre the win inside the chamber.
McIntyre qualified for the six-man match by defeating Jimmy Uso and LA Knight in a triple threat match on the Feb. 7 episode ofWWE SmackDown. “The Scottish Warrior’s” last title reign came atWrestleMania XL, where he defeated a badly injured Seth Rollins to become World Heavyweight Champion. But his taunting after the match prompted an attack from CM Punk, giving Priest the opening to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the gold.
One historical note that could work in McIntyre’s favor - the three-time world champion remains the last person to beat Rhodes in a one-on-one televised match, pinning him on the Jun 03, 2025, episode ofWWE Raw.
2Damian Priest
The Archer of Infamy Wants to Climb Back to the Top
Why does Priest walking out ofWrestleMania XLas a world champion feel like it happened five years ago instead of just last year? Turning the big man babyface last summer was certainly the right call, but his seemingly endless feud with Finn Balor and the remnants of The Judgement Day factioneffectively halted his momentum. Moving toWWE SmackDownis a nice change of scenery, but pairing him up with Rhodes at WrestleMania feels like too much too soon.
Priest claimed his spot by winning a triple threat bout onWWE SmackDownagainst Braun Strowman and Jacob Fatu. While not directly involved with the group, Priest’s win intersected with what appears to be an implosion within The Bloodline between Fatu and Solo Sikoa.
1Logan Paul
The Maverick
Like it or not,WWE will have something for Paul to doatWrestleMania. But the odds of it being a world championship match feel slim. He hasn’t really interacted with Rhodes since their title bout atKing and Queen of the Ringlast May. WWE has much better options for Rhodes, while Paul will likely get paired up with another veteran who can guide him through a match.
Paul beat Rey Mysterio to qualify, which means March 1 will mark the second time the influencer will compete inside the infamous steel structure. He entered last year’s chamber match as the reigning United States Champion, setting the stage for a triple threat title defense atWrestleMania XLagainst Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.
