WWE WrestleMania 40 has found its place in the history of the company as one of the biggest WrestleManias of all time, as WWE CCO Triple H said, by every business metric. Ushering into the first day of his era on the RAW after WrestleMania 40, fans witnessed one of the most exciting editions of the show with major surprises and spectacular bouts.
With RAW after Mania proving to be a massive spectacle, the WWE Universe is eagerly awaiting what the first SmackDown of the new Renaissance era could bring to the table. Here are 3 possible surprises that we could witness on the blue brand this week:
1. Paul Heyman announces Roman reigns departure for unknown time period
The WWE Universe witnessed the end of Roman Reigns’ historic championship reign at the hands of Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 40 Night 2. Days before the show, Reigns mentioned in his WWE Legends episode that he would quit WWE should his reign come to an end.
Following the events that transpired at the Show of Shows, The Bloodline’s Wiseman and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman could open the show to address the situation. Heyman could declare that his Tribal Chief has left him and WWE without saying a word and even he was not sure if Roman would ever return to the company, leaving the story on a major cliffhanger.
2. Cody Rhodes’ next challenger revealed
With the end of Roman Reigns’ title reign, a new era has dawned upon the landscape of WWE with Cody Rhodes as the man to lead the charge for the locker room. Much like a Fatal-4 way match determined the No.1 contender for the new World Heavyweight Champion, Damian Priest, a similar match could be scheduled for Cody’s very first challenger on SmackDown after WrestleMania with the title bout taking place at WWE’s next PLE show in France, WWE Backlash.
3. NXT superstars emerge on the Blue brand
As we saw on the RAW after WrestleMania 40, NXT champions Ilja Dragunov and Roxanne Perez made their one-on-one singles match debut, much to the surprise of the WWE universe. The momentum could continue on the Friday edition of SmackDown with the influx of more NXT stars making their debut.
The stars could include top-tier NXT attractions like Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams or maybe Lyra Valkyria added to the mix, while also being declared eligible for the WWE Draft coming up later this month.
