What Happens After WrestleMania and NXT Stand & Deliver? Thoughts, Ideas, and Predictions

Credit to WWE.com

WWE Championship

Cody Rhodes is presumably finishing his story at WrestleMania this year, but what challengers lay ahead for him?  We have seen Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins go at it since Rhodes’ return, but we have never seen it with a championship on the line.  It only makes sense for there to be an eventual collision between the two again.  If Rollins is losing his World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, he has motive to turn to the dark side once again. 

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes is without a doubt a necessary feud.  We are seemingly lightyears away from the days of Legacy with Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr.  With that being said, though we still know Randy Orton as the Legend Killer, Cody Rhodes has had a drastic transformation into the American Nightmare.  Orton has never come across this version of Rhodes and their time together in the ring again is imminent. 

Cody Rhodes versus Roman Reigns III?  With Cody now holding the title that Reigns held for over 1000+ days, Reigns is sure to be furious and accuse Rhodes of having a fluke of a win.  There is only one Tribal Chief and Roman Reigns will put in overtime to make sure Cody Rhodes knows that the WWE Championship doesn’t belong to him.  Rhodes will solidify his reign by beating Reigns a second time, and earn the respect of those around him for finally putting Reigns in his place and becoming a more present WWE Champion.   

World Heavyweight Championship

Let’s say Drew McIntyre beats Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, they would have an obvious reason for a rematch.  Drew McIntyre is going to leap at the opportunity to gloat in Rollins face.   Of course, Rollins isn’t going to take to kindly to losing his World Heavyweight Championship AND the boasting, leading to their rematch. 

As we have seen in recent months, there is no love lost between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk.  It only makes sense for them to collide after McIntyre said he prayed for Punk to be injured.  Once Punk returns, if McIntyre is the champion, he has every reason to target the man who prayed for his downfall. 

3MB is no more, however two of the three did become WWE Champion.  Mahal challenges McIntrye to determine who is the better band member.  Another route is to have the two win the Tag Team Championship, or at least compete for them in a match that leads to complete mayhem.  This could be used to set up the World Heavyweight Championship match. 

Gunther seems like a no-brainer.  We got a hell of a match between Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship which saw Gunther walk in and out as the champion.  This time the roles are reversed and McIntyre walks in the champion.  Gunther is an excellent choice to take the title off McIntyre as well.  After Drew has demonstrated his dominance over the roster, Gunther can plummet the same guys on his way to take down Drew. 

Intercontinental Championship

If Sami Zayn is taking the title from Gunther, Chad Gable is likely the next opponent.  If Zayn loses, Gable should be the one to take the title from Gunther to avenge the loss in front of his daughter.  From there, as Gunther moves on to the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, Zayn can come back around to his unfinished business with Chad Gable for telling him he “can’t beat Gunther,” telling Gable “I bet I can beat you.”  Either works as the heel, but if Gable is avenging his daughter and Zayn is upset over his loss to Gunther and Gables disrespect, then it makes the most sense for Sami Zayn to turn heel and be the opposition/antagonist in Gables story.  Gables story seems simple because he’s someone people want to cheer for, and because of his size as compared to others on the roster there’s a chance to make Gable the “David” to take down all the Goliaths on the roster.  The other route is to leave both Zayn and Gable as babyfaces’s or tweeners since the audience will root for whoever their interested in anyways. 

United States Championship

This would be a good chance to run back the NXT feud between Carmelo Hayes, Santos Escobar, and Tony D’Angelo.  Hayes and D’Angelo have been in NXT for a while and all would be great prospects to carry the United States Championship and get some light on all of their characters.  Either Logan Paul or Kevin Owens would be perfect Champions to drive forth the story.  Santos is still chasing the United States Championship after Rey Mysterio “stole” his opportunity, while Hayes and D’Angelo are the new boys on the block looking to cement their debuts with a Championship win over Logan Paul or Kevin Owens. 

WWE Tag Team Championships

If R-Truth and The Miz take the titles at WrestleMania, Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker would be ideal to take the titles off them.  With Breakker being newer to the main roster, showing some dominance alongside the equally powerful Baron Corbin would quickly establish him as someone to be afraid of.  Whenever the two lose the championships, which should go to DIY, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, Bron Breakker would be prime for the United States or Intercontinental Championship.  With DIY holding the tag team championships, an entire new element is added to the division.

WWE Women’s Championship

Assuming Bayley walks out of WrestleMania winning the WWE Women’s Championship from Io Sky, she has history with all members of Damage CTRL to have a story with each one.  Of course, Bayley brough Io Sky and Dakota Kai back to WWE before they eventually turned on her, they likely want the title to return back to Damage CTRL.  Kairi Sane probably has not forgotten that Bayley put her out of action a few years back, and Asuka hasn’t forgotten that she was left out in the cold while her partner was taken out.  Turning on Bayley may have been the start of the battle, but whoever gets the WWE Women’s Championship whether Bayley or back into Damage CTRL, wins the war.  Bianca Belair will also likely want to get some revenge on Bayley, and cause hell in her like the way Bayley has done for the past few years. 

Women’s World Championship

If Becky Lynch loses, Rhea unfinished business with Liv Morgan who has been itching for the opportunity to get revenge on Rhea for turning on her, injuring her, and being the one to beat her in the Royal Rumble and go to WrestleMania to become champion. 

Whenever Charlotte Flair returns, she has room to ask for a Championship match considering the Smackdown Women’s Championship was retired and Rhea beat her for it last year, and also for the fact that she has never held the Women’s World Championship. 

If Asuka is going to be in more solo competition at the time, it would be good to revisit her rivalry with Rhea, keeping in mind Rhea beat her for the now retired Raw Women’s Championship.  Asuka has motive to return the favor and take Rhea’s title this time. 

Because Rhea has history with Charlotte, Asuka, Becky Lynch, and Liv Morgan, this could make for a Fatal 4 Way or Fatal 5 Way.  Rhea, Asuka, Charlotte, and Becky, have all had issues with each other at one time or another.  Liv is the wild card because she has finished her business with Becky already, she has yet to have any true issues with Asuka, and she has yet to revisit a feud with Charlotte that started but never concluded. 

Women’s Tag Team Championships

Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair would be a golden opportunity for the women’s division, and WWE as a whole.  Arguably two of the strongest women in WWE history teaming up to terrorize the entire women’s division?  Sounds like money.  The story of Belair and Cargill begins with two powerful women dominating a division.  Other tag teams struggle trying to catch the two off-guard and ultimately end up failing for months.  The story can turn to betrayal when Bianca notices that Cargill is garnering the same amount of attention if not more than she is.  Maybe Cargill is offered opportunities outside of WWE or because of WWE or within WWE and the messenger makes it apparent that Jade Cargill is needed, and not Bianca Belair.  Some pieces that can strike the chord with Bianca is if Cargill says that Belair is exactly like Sasha, if/when they lose the Tag Team Championship, and if they end up costing each other the #1 contendership for the WWE or Women’s World Championships.  Their eventual match sells itself.  No David, all Goliath.  Championship or not, people will pay to see it.  The Unholy Union of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn can take the Tag Team Championships from them and begin a new reign of terror over the women’s tag team division. 

NXT Championship

If Oba Femi is sticking around NXT after Stand & Deliver, he needs to take the NXT Championship from Ilija Dragunov.  Ilija took the NXT UK Championship after Gunther’s historic 870-day reign and it should take someone just as big and powerful or more so than Gunther to take it from Dragunov.  Femi and Dijak for the NXT Championship is a good opportunity to switch the tide to having more heavyweights dominate the NXT Championship division.  Of course, not everyone needs to meet their height or size, but it would be a refreshing switch-up to see the larger athletes dominating the Championship scene again. 

NXT Women’s Championship

After a few babyface champions, a dominant heel would benefit the NXT Women’s division.  Blair Davenport or Lola Vice are impactful in-ring workers that would do well in the heel role with babyface counterparts.  Davenport is a veteran in the ring, and proves to be an intimidating and hellacious opponent when the stakes are high.  While Vice is newer, a spontaneous Championship win on someone with her talent and ability could add something fresh.  She’s already turned on a former partner, Elektra Lopez, and she has shown that she doesn’t play nice with anyone in the division.  Either way, a champion with wicked intentions would be good for the division. 

NXT North American Championship

Oba Femi.  With Femi being a great suitor for NXT Champion, one option is to have him carry the North American Championship while he pursues and wins the NXT Championship, eventually having to surrender one or the other.  The other option is to have Dijak win the Triple Threat at Stand and Deliver with Josh Briggs and let him have a go with the NXT North American Championship.  Dijak can easily captivate the audience with his size and agility and his clever offense will create some great matches with a lot of the newer and smaller on-screen talent. 

NXT Tag Team Championships

If R-Truth and Miz win the WWE Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania, have Bron Breaker and Baron Corbin make an even bigger impact to win the Undisputed Tag Team Championships from them, dropping the NXT Tag Team Championships to begin a tournament to crown new NXT Tag Team Champions.  Either the Meta4 or the No Quarter Catch Crew would be good teams to lead the tag division.  Meta4 has been equally entertaining both in and out of the ring, and the No Quarter Catch Crew are full of guys with chips on their shoulders who would love to add the NXT Tag Team Championships to Charlie Dempsey’s Heritage Cup win.