Predicting the match order at WrestleMania 38

It’s one thing to predict the winners and losers at WrestleMania 38, but how about taking a guess at the match order for the two night event?

WrestleMania 38 takes place tonight (Apr. 2) and tomorrow night (Apr. 3) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the main card beginning at 8 pm ET on Peacock.

WWE has announced eight different segments for the main card of WrestleMania Saturday. Here is my subjective view of how important each of these eight segments rank, ordered from most important to least important.

1. The KO Show w/ Steve Austin
2. Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey
3. Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair
4. Seth Rollins vs. TBA
5. The Mysterios vs. Miz & Logan Paul
6. Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
7. The Usos vs. Boogs & Nakamura
8. New Day vs. Sheamus & Holland

Opening match & Main event

WWE has used the phrase “main event” to describe the segments with Austin, Rousey, and Rollins. But the commentary team has most recently stressed that Steve Austin’s talk show segment will be the main event, and the rumor mill backs up that notion. Considering the Rousey/Flair feud is not hot, and the all-time great Austin is the returning home state hero, I expect Austin will go on last.

The opening match should also feature a top star. Some of the wrestlers who fit that description include Lynch, Belair, Rollins, and McIntyre. Corbin’s presence pretty much rules out Drew’s match for the opener. The Rollins match is needed for later in the night because it’s the top men’s match on the card. Lynch vs. Belair is the best choice for the opening bout, so that’s the one I’m going with.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7:
Segment 8: The KO Show w/ Steve Austin

Segment 2 and Segment 7

Segment 2 is often the least important match of the night. I don’t expect to see any of the above matches or the celebrity Logan Paul match in this spot. The Usos or New Day tag matches are the best candidates here. I’ll go with Boogs and Nakamura so they can do their high energy entrance with Pat McAfee rocking out early in the night.

With a talk show as the real main event of this card, the final match of the night will take place in Segment 7. The only plausible choices here are Rousey or Rollins. I’ll choose Rousey because she is likely winning championship gold and WWE will want to play it up like a huge moment.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair
Segment 2: The Usos vs. Boogs & Nakamura
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7: Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey
Segment 8: The KO Show w/ Steve Austin

Everything else

I expect Rollins to get a bunch of time in the second half of the card. I think it makes the most sense to put him in Segment 5 with a cool down match between him and Rousey. That means New Day goes in Segment 6.

That leaves The Mysterios and McIntyre for Segment 3 and Segment 4, in some order. Considering I have a tag team match in Segment 2, I won’t place another tag match right next to it in Segment 3. So McIntyre goes in Segment 3, with the Mysterios in Segment 4.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order on WrestleMania Saturday, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times:

Segment 1: Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair (16 minutes)
Segment 2: The Usos vs. Boogs & Nakamura (9)
Segment 3: Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin (10)
Segment 4: The Mysterios vs. Miz & Logan Paul (11)
Segment 5: Seth Rollins vs. TBA (19)
Segment 6: New Day vs. Sheamus & Holland (9)
Segment 7: Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey (14)
Segment 8: The KO Show w/ Steve Austin

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WWE has announced seven different segments for the main card of WrestleMania Sunday. Here is my subjective view of how important each of these seven segments rank, ordered from most important to least important.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
2. AJ Styles vs. Edge
3. RK-Bro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
4. Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
5. Sami Zayn vs. Knoxville
6. Women’s tag team Fatal 4-Way
7. Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

RK-Bro, McAfee, and Knoxville can be placed in pretty much any order in those middle spots. McAfee’s feud gets placed higher than Knoxville here due to Vince McMahon’s presence, but it can be argued that both of those matches are more important than the Raw tag team titles.

Opening match & Main event

The main event of this card is obvious. There’s no way anything other than “The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time” between Lesnar and Reigns closes out WrestleMania Sunday.

Lashley and Edge’s matches are not good candidates for the opening match. In Lashley’s case, it’s because Omos is a terrible wrestler, and the opening match should have good work rate. In Edge’s case, it’s because a reliable anchor match with two great wrestlers is best suited for the second half of the show, particularly with two non-wrestlers (McAfee, Knoxville) featured on this card.

If the idea is to have good work rate in the opening match, then Knoxville is also not a good choice, and McAfee can likely be ruled out too.

That means the opening match comes down to either Randy Orton or Sasha Banks as the big star. Considering how WWE has taught the audience to not care about women’s tag team wrestling, RK-Bro’s match is the best choice for the opener.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: RK-Bro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

Segment 2 and Segment 3

The least important match of the night is always a good choice for Segment 2, so I’m putting Lashley and Omos there.

They should probably get the celebrity or McAfee match on the card next. I think Knoxville makes more sense for the earlier part of the card, given Vince McMahon’s potential involvement in McAfee’s fight.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: RK-Bro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
Segment 2: Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
Segment 3: Sami Zayn vs. Knoxville
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

Everything else

A high work rate match should come next following the smoke and mirrors of both Omos and Knoxville. That means it will either be the women’s match or Edge. I think it’s still a bit early for Edge vs. Styles, so I’ll put the women’s tag team match in Segment 4.

I don’t think there’s any need to put Edge and Reigns back-to-back to close the night, so I’ll put Edge in Segment 5 and McAfee in Segment 6.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order for WrestleMania Sunday, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times:

Segment 1: RK-Bro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy (15 minutes)
Segment 2: Bobby Lashley vs. Omos (4)
Segment 3: Sami Zayn vs. Knoxville (11)
Segment 4: Women’s tag team Fatal 4-Way (11)
Segment 5: AJ Styles vs. Edge (23)
Segment 6: Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory (12)
Segment 7: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (13)

That’s my prediction for the match order at WrestleMania 38. What’s yours?