Wrestlemania 41 – live: Updates and match card for night one in Las Vegas ahead of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk fight – UK Times

The specifics of WWE contracts have long been hard to ascertain.

However, WWE star-turned-executive Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) told The Athletic in 2022 that $250,000 is the minimum base salary for wrestlers in the company.

That figure might have risen since, of course, and it reportedly only applied to members of the Smackdown and Raw rosters – not wrestlers on NXT, which is WWE’s developmental show.

However, wrestlers’ wages are boosted by merchandise sales and, it is believed, by cuts of pay-per-view sales as well. Of course, merchandise sales are likely to be significant on a WrestleMania weekend, as well as pay-per-view sales, so 19 and 20 April could be the most lucrative days of the year for most WWE wrestlers.

In 2023, The Mirror reported some of the highest WWE wages as these: Roman Reigns $5m per year; Randy Orton $5m per year; Seth Rollins $3.5m per year; Cody Rhodes $3m per year; Logan Paul $2m per year. These figures reportedly don’t include bonuses

No titles on the line in the night one main event; this is simply a grudge match between former partners Reigns and Rollins – and Punk, who has issues with both men.

A key part of the build-up has seen Punk call in a favour from Paul Heyman (his old friend and Reigns’s manager), who will be in Punk’s corner for this one.

We think there may be a swerve that sees Heyman betray Punk and Reigns, joining Rollins and helping him get the win.

That said, WWE has telegraphed that move a bit in recent weeks, so maybe it won’t be much of a swerve if it does happen!

The last match to be announced for ‘Mania. The dastardly New Day may claim the World Tag-Team Titles here…

But will their betrayed teammate Big E try to thwart them?

Or could we see a swerve where he HELPS them, against the odds?

Another one that seems quite easy to call… After Naomi betrayed her friend and brutally attacked her last year, the returning Cargill should exact revenge – potentially in quick, emphatic fashion.

On the topic of Mysterios!

We spoke to Dominik Mysterio this week in Vegas, and asked him to blind rank five iconic WrestleMania moments…

An all-luchador match here, as the iconic Mysterio takes on recent debutant El Grande Americano (who is definitely not Chad Gable in disguise…). Surely the dastardly Americano picks up the victory? Mysterio can afford to lose, especially after some likely trickery and comedy in this bout.

Knight is a fan favourite, and those same fans were glad to see him regain the US Championship recently. So, it would feel strange for his second reign to end quite quickly, but Fatu has been made to look unstoppable.

WWE could use some creative booking to allow Knight to escape as champion, while protecting Fatu’s image, but we think they’ll give Fatu the win and the gold.

Yes, yes, “pro wrestling isn’t real”, except there is genuine bad blood between these Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte.

Charlotte (daughter of Ric) seeks a record-extending 15th world title as she challenges WWE Champion Stratton, and the pair have both gone off-script in recent verbal exchanges – with mentions of real-life divorces and boyfriends.

This is actually a tricky one to call; Charlotte has had more than enough titles in her career, but after her big return and win at the Rumble, WWE may follow a familiar formula when it comes to the “Queen”: putting the belt on her.

On the topic of Jey vs Gunther…

Tonight’s men’s world-title fight pits villainous champion Gunther against fan favourite Jey Uso.

This one feels fairly predictable; Uso has twice failed to beat Gunther in big matches, so surely he has to win at the third time of asking.

Doing so would be the biggest moment of his singles career, after the tag-team specialist won the Royal Rumble to earn this match in January.

Cue 70,000-odd fans “yeeting” along with their new champion.