Predictions for WrestleMania 42 Sunday: Will CM Punk or Roman Reigns Leave Vegas With the World Title?

As WrestleMania 42 is set to get underway from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, there are some major questions that still need to be answered ahead of night two on Sunday.

CM Punk and Roman Reigns will meet in the main event with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line, the culmination of a rivalry that was everything Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton should have been. But who walks away with the gold?

Will Jade Cargill rise to the occasion when she defends her WWE Women's Championship against Rhea Ripley, and which man is going to walk away from the highly anticipated ladder match as the Intercontinental Champion?

Rick Ucchino, Zack Heydorn and Matt Black are back to dive into all six matches on the card Sunday night and give their final predictions. Including whether the WWE creative team will hit one of the easiest layups they'll ever have by putting Oba Femi over Brock Lesnar.

Check our WrestleMania Sunday predictions video above for more in-depth analysis on our selections, and please subscribe to The Takedown on SI YouTube channel for exclusive interviews and so much more. You check out our WrestleMania Saturday predictions here on The Takedown on SI.

Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi

It's been said numerous times already here on The Takedown on SI, but the WWE creative team has to hit the easy buckets. They have the next big thing, pun intended, in Oba Femi, and they have done a spectacular job of booking him ahead of his first-ever WrestleMania match. He's had Brock Lesnar rattled at every turn, and The Beast deserves a ton of credit for making the two-time NXT Champion look as strong as possible over the past few weeks.

The only thing left to do is stick the landing. The Ruler absolutely has to go over on Sunday. The last time the ESPN audience saw Brock in a singles match was when he dominated John Cena at Wrestlepalooza. You only book Cena to lose that badly on his retirement tour if you plan on giving someone else the rub down the line.

A loss for Lesnar on Sunday does nothing to tarnish his legacy. A loss for Femi could be detrimental to his momentum. WWE needs to be bold and pass the torch.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: Oba Femi
Zack Heydorn: Oba Femi
Matt Black: Oba Femi

"Demon" Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

The Demon version of Finn Balor is back at WrestleMania for the first time in years, and once again, he'll be squaring off against a former Judgment Day cohort. One of his few losses ever came at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, when Edge defeated him inside of Hell in a Cell. This time around, Balor will be seeking some revenge against "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio following his ostracization from the group a few weeks ago on WWE Raw.

Dom scored the biggest win of his career one year ago, at the expense of Balor. Mysterio pinned Finn to win his first-ever Men's Intercontinental Championship, and he'll be returning the favor this Sunday night. There's major money in the Demon gimmick, and there's next to zero chance that the WWE creative team decided to bring it back just to disappoint fans with another loss at the 'Showcase of the Immortals'.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: "Demon" Finn Balor
Zack Heydorn: "Demon" Finn Balor
Matt Black: "Demon" Finn Balor

Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams for the Men's United States Championship

It's simply baffling that Carmelo Hayes is not a part of this match after his Men's United States Championship run helped carry SmackDown over the last few months. Given the way Sami won the title and his history with Trick dating back to their NXT days, booking a triple threat would have been logical. It's something the fans clearly wanted, but there's also no denying that they are all on board the Trick Williams train.

He's a heavy betting favorite to be leaving Las Vegas with the Men's U.S. Title around his waist, but you may want to put your money on the underdog from the underground. There are rumors that WWE creative will execute a double turn with Trick and Sami this weekend, which means there's a very good chance that the new babyface is going to get screwed over in his WrestleMania debut.

Our panel is split on this one, with Zack being the only one to predict a title change.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: Sami Zayn
Zack Heydorn: AND NEW!... Trick Williams
Matt Black: Sami Zayn

Men's Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match

This match had arguably the worst build of the entire WrestleMania card. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce agreed to book Penta in this ladder match minutes before he defended the title against Kofi Kingston, and then the original four challengers were announced after winning qualifying matches that hadn't yet aired on WWE programming.

Then Rey Mysterio was added at the last minute, simply because he's Rey Mysterio. And none of this is going to matter once the bell rings.

On the ten-year anniversary of Matt Cardona, aka Zack Ryder, coming out of nowhere to win the Men's Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match, Rick likes Rusev to pull off a similar feat. The Lion of Bulgaria is long overdue for a more prominent role on Monday Night Raw, but Matt likes Je'Von Evans to win the first singles title of his WWE career. Zack, however, is convinced that Penta will be walking out of Allegiant Stadium with the title still around his waist.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: AND NEW!... Rusev
Zack Heydorn: Penta
Matt Black: AND NEW!... Je'Von Evans

Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women's Championship

Perhaps no superstar is under as much pressure to deliver this weekend as WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill. Due to a lack of defenses over the course of her 167-day run as champion, her inaugural reign is largely going to be defined by the quality of this match against Rhea Ripley. The Nightmare has one of the best track records at the 'Showcase of the Immortals', but will likely be handing over her typical base wrestling role to the champion in this one.

Expect shenanigans abound once the bell rings with Michin, B-Fab and IYO SKY all getting involved. The question is whether they end up being the only ones. Bianca Belair has been out of action for over a year now due to her finger injury, but she's been undergoing rehab in recent weeks. It would be very poetic if The E-S-T was able to help even the odds for Rhea against her old tag team partner, and the closing shot of this match was Ripley, Belair and SKY standing tall with the WWE Women's Title.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: AND NEW!... Rhea Ripley
Zack Heydorn: Jade Cargill
Matt Black: AND NEW!... Rhea Ripley

CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship

Welcome to the most unpredictable match of the entire weekend. At least it might have been until Roman Reigns declared that he may no longer belong in WWE if he were to lose to CM Punk on Saturday night. We obviously were not able to discuss this bombshell during our predictions show when we recorded on Wednesday, but there's no way The OTC fails to win the gold now... right? Well, maybe not.

Reigns' contract is reportedly set to expire next month. It's very possible that he decides to take an extended break from the company before agreeing to terms on his next, and potentially, final deal.

CM Punk has done very well during his reign as World Heavyweight Champion, and a win in the main event of WrestleMania could solidify this run as one of his best. A victory could also set the stage for Punk to pass the belt on to someone like Oba Femi (if he were to beat Brock) in the coming months.

Predictions:

Rick Ucchino: CM Punk
Zack Heydorn: CM Punk
Matt Black: AND NEW!... Roman Reigns

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