Way-too-early WrestleMania 42 card: Who headlines April's two-night PLE? - ESPN

For the first time in WWE history, the Road to WrestleMania will begin overseas as the 2026 Royal Rumble will take place Saturday (2 p.m. ET on ESPN Unlimited) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For nearly four decades, the Royal Rumble has served as the table setter for WrestleMania as new feuds begin to bloom and the top men and women contending for the WWE's top prize are established.

However, this year, everything is completely up in the air heading into Royal Rumble. There are numerous questions regarding where WWE superstars slot into the pecking order that will be sorted in the coming weeks.

We haven't seen Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar since Survivor Series: WarGames in November, but both must factor prominently into the WWE's plans for WrestleMania 42. Seth Rollins has been out with a shoulder injury and is expected to be involved. Could there also be a surprise return that we aren't aware of yet?

We try to connect the dots on the various ongoing storylines and come up with way-too-early predictions for the two nights of WrestleMania 42. For the sake of continuity, we also keep each night to having six matches, which will obviously leave some prominent names off of WrestleMania's return to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18 and 19.

Things have changed quite a bit since Belair injured her finger at last year's WrestleMania. Naomi is pregnant, so she is out indefinitely, and the woman she set up, Jade Cargill, has tapped into her heel persona as the incumbent Queen of the Ring and current WWE women's champion. This is a rivalry that the fans have wanted since Cargill signed with WWE in 2023 and it began taking its course with Cargill and Belair's successful tag team run. Whether Belair gets to WrestleMania by winning