Top WWE Storylines To Watch After WrestleMania 40

What a two-night event that was! WrestleMania 40 saw five new champions, the most notable being Cody Rhodes, who finally finished his story. We saw appearances from The Undertaker, John Cena, Jey Uso, and Seth Rollins in the main event. Heck, even the celebration afterward saw LA Knight, Randy Orton, Triple H, CM Punk, and Mama Rhodes. Yet there are many WWE storylines to watch post-WrestleMania.

The whole event will have time to be put into historical context as we get some distance from it, but in the world of the WWE, the story never stops. With new champions, feuds, and a premium live event just three weeks from now…there is a lot we need to discuss. These are the WWE storylines to watch going into the new WWE year. Let’s get started!

WHAT HAPPENS TO GUNTHER POST-WRESTLEMANIA?

This is an interesting one. First, hats off to the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, Gunther. His reign brought prestige and honor back to a title that had been a lot of filler toward the end of the McMahon era. He made every opponent look credible and elevated people like Chad Gable, Bronson Reed, and Sami Zayn.

Gunther and Zayn put on a hell of a match, and Gunther was a tremendous heel to Zayn and his wife sitting ringside. However, Sami played the role of an underdog like only he could. He mounted a last-second comeback complete with a rarely seen (in WWE anyway) brainbuster off-the-top rope. Oh, how very “generic” of him.

He secured the victory and is now your new IC champion.

What does this mean for Gunther? On one hand, you can have him challenge Zayn for a rematch. After all, he defended that title weekly and has only been beaten once. If anyone is deserving of a rematch, it’s Gunther. However, putting the title back on Gunther immediately would make WrestleMania feel pointless. Having Gunther lose to Sami again in back-to-back matches would make him feel less powerful too.

This is why we put this among the WWE storylines to watch for a while. It is truly uncertain what the best direction will be for the big man.

GUNTHER IS IN A NICE SPOT:

Right now, Gunther is in a great spot. He’s free of the Intercontinental Title but still looks as strong and imposing as ever. How do you keep that momentum going? The obvious answer is to put him in a feud for the World Heavyweight Championship. That feels like the right thing on paper, but with Damien Priest holding the title, the heel-vs-heel matchup doesn’t feel good to us.

One could try to turn one of them into a babyface. Damian Priest would make sense for this but that wouldn’t jive with his Judgment Day affiliation. They could split Priest from Judgment Day, but we’d need time to build his babyface side. WWE could also try to turn Gunther, as fans want to cheer for him due to how impressive he’s been. Yet he does his best work as a heel.

If Gunther doesn’t go for the World Heavyweight Title, nor does he challenge Sami, what’s left?

To be honest, there is no clear answer. If he goes after the World Title, he’s going to need to win it. You cannot make him into the underdog. Could he have some sort of interim rivalry with Chad Gable, who still has something to prove? Maybe. We look forward to seeing how they book Gunter, especially with the upcoming PLE in Germany coming up this summer. We think WWE has big plans for the Ring General for that event.

WHERE DO THEY GO WITH CM PUNK & DREW MCINTYRE?

Of course, the next feud for CM Punk feels pretty obvious. He cost Drew McIntyre the title at WrestleMania (technically), and Drew will certainly be out for blood. It was a great bit of business for them. Plus, it was a nice way to finally have Priest cash in the Money In The Bank briefcase.

You’d have to assume that the decision to let Punk get physical means he’s close to returning sometime soon. However, he did hit Drew with his non-injured arm. How close is Punk? Ideally, he’s pretty close, and this means we’re setting up for Punk vs Drew at the next PLE potentially. That would be Backlash, taking place for the first time in France. This would be the “backlash” to costing Drew the title and for Drew trolling Punk for the last 3 months.

If not, does this mean that Drew challenges Priest for the championship? He certainly has cause to call out Priest. He didn’t take the title from him fairly (yet fair is subjective with the MITB involved). If Punk is not ready to go for another month or two, could you see a three-way dance at Backlash between Priest, Rollins, and Drew?

CM Punk said the WWE has been careful about bringing him back too soon. He’s also had a lot of injuries in the last three years so moving him too fast and too soon could backfire on them. How they use him will be telling and these next couple of weeks should paint a pretty clear picture.

It’ll certainly be one of our favorite WWE storylines to watch.

ARE WE READY FOR JADE CARGILL EVERY WEEK?

WWE fans had been waiting for Jade Cargill’s arrival post-Royal Rumble 2024. We know how impressive she looks, and when she’s squashing her opponents, she’s impressive as well. After her WrestleMania debut, she has cemented herself as a SmackDown superstar. Now what do you do with Jade?

You can’t have her squash the entire roster. We’re not sure she’s capable of 20-minute matches that require a lot of selling and more advanced moves. Ideally, she’ll be on television a lot. Obviously, WWE would also need to continue to evolve her character. Maybe the next move is to pair her with Noami full-time and go after the tag team titles.

Naomi needs a running mate and has a legitimate claim that she never lost those titles that the Kabuki Warriors hold now. She could team with Bianca, but if we’re being totally honest, it feels like Bianca doesn’t need the tag team titles. Belair could run any number of feuds without them. We’d love to see her and Tiffany Stratton go toe-to-toe for several months. That would be fun!

HOLDING THE STORM:

Jade, in a tag team role, could benefit from being the hot tag and a wrecking machine when she gets in there. They can let Naomi eat the pin when it’s finally time for them to be defeated. Also, being on the road with Noami would continue to give Cargill the experience and the mentoring she probably needs. Especially since Naomi is one of the more experienced and talented wrestlers on the women’s roster.

If they decide to let her roll solo, will she become a weekly feature of SmackDown or will we see her sparingly? They could use her sparingly like a Logan Paul or Brock Lesnar, but she did sign a full-time contract. Therefore, using her this way only makes sense for a short period of time.

Along this same line, maybe WWE has Cargill feud with Naomi. She could likely get a good match or two out of Jade. Plus, she is also someone Jade could beat convincingly, and Naomi wouldn’t lose credibility due to the loss. To be honest, there are endless options for her this year. We’re very interested in seeing how this unfolds as Jade is clearly a star. Let’s hope WWE does something big!

WHAT NEXT FOR BRON BREAKKER & CARMELO HAYES?

The two NXT standouts are both one foot inside the main roster. Carmelo Hayes, after his loss to Trick Williams at NXT Stand & Deliver, might be all but on his way out of NXT completely. Bron Breakker, on the other hand, has more business to conduct while still being the NXT tag team champion.

What comes next for these guys? Call-ups after WrestleMania are common, and so is the tradition of botching the transition from NXT to the main roster. However, with a new creative direction under Triple H, we assume they’ll be fine. Both competitors are in better hands these days.

If Bron continues to perform on SmackDown, either Austin Theory or Grayson Waller could be a good first feud to get his feet wet. Both would give him a nice pop from the crowd and allow him to show his power and talent in the ring without taking the shine off his opponent.

For Hayes, is it going to be RAW or SmackDown? Since SmackDown just got Cody (we assume) and RAW might see some time off with Rollins, it might make sense for him to plant himself on Monday nights.

Feuding with Dominik Mysterio and the Judgement Day could be a nice first feud for him. However, he’s been a bad guy as of recently, so might also take on a Chad Gable or a Ricochet as his first stop on the RAW program. These are, of course, just guesses for their potential direction. There are big question marks for these guys outside of this. We still believe they’ll make their mark on the larger stage sooner rather than later.

What takes place with both will be among the big WWE storylines to watch this year.

IS SETH ROLLINS GONE?

Is Seth Rollins gone for a while? Not from the company, of course. However, we do not know his contract status at this time. He swore he’d do everything to help Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns. The man stayed true to his word…and it cost him everything. His body was beaten, and he lost the World Heavyweight Championship.

Seth has been, legitimately, dealing with nagging injuries for months. If anyone is deserving of a little time off, it’s Seth “Freakin” Rollins. However, if this is not in the cards for the multi-time World Champion, then what?

There are two obvious roads.

He could go after the World Heavyweight Title again. After all, Priest did not beat HIM for it. He could claim he should get a title shot, even if Drew McIntyre might disagree there. We could end up getting a triple threat at the Backlash PLE due to this. While it’s doubtful they’ll put the title right back on Rollins… it would make sense to have him in the mix.

He could also go after the new WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes. If Cody owes anyone, anything…it’s Rollins. He has reason to come for this title. They might have patched things up for now, but we’d be ignorant to think their rivalry is done. If anything, this was just a chapter in their saga.

Of course, this could all be for nothing. Rollins could take a much-needed few months off to heal up and spend time with his family. This could give him the time he needs to negotiate his new WWE contract.

What happens with Rollins will most certainly be one of the bigger WWE storylines to watch.

WHAT IS THE FALLOUT FOR THE BLOODLINE?

Even with Roman taking time off, something must be set up for the next few months. The Rock & Roman Reigns can’t go into hiding and leave Solo Sikoa & Jimmy Uso to just hang on SmackDown. That would be weird storytelling.

Rock is the “Final Boss,” who is still a TKO Board member, so he cannot just disappear. If anything, what happened in the main event of WrestleMania should boil his blood. He should do everything in his power to try to get the title back on Reigns’ shoulder.

Does this mean a rematch will happen at Backlash with Roman? Could he set something up for a Rock vs Cody match at SummerSlam? Will he position Solo as “next in line” to challenge Cody? Giving any Bloodline member a title opportunity would have to come with the Tribal Chief’s blessing, right??

We’re sure this entire chapter is being carefully mapped out. WWE already knows what they are building up to next. What does this mean for the viewing audience? In the next week or two, we’ll likely find out.

A NEW ROMAN REIGNS:

The main event of WrestleMania gave us some interesting interesting things to discuss.

Solo actually yelled at Roman to “finish the job.” Is this not very bossy, Mr. Sikoa? One would assume it is not the appropriate way to speak to his Tribal Chief. Roman yelled back at him but did not look like a confident champion. Rather, he looked like a guy on his last legs who was already defeated.

Roman also chose to get revenge on Seth rather than hit Cody with the chair in the ring. He chose revenge over the title his family held in the highest esteem. There is a price for pride, so will Roman find out what that is soon?

It would not surprise us to see Roman attacked, and taken out for the next few weeks to months. Roman could potentially turn babyface upon his return, something that we knew we’d get eventually. WWE was right to play things the way they did. However, there’s no doubt he’d about to get cheered when he returns later this year.

What takes place with Roman will perhaps become the biggest of the WWE storylines to watch this year.