How WWE Should Book: WrestleMania 41 Night 1

Opener: World Heavyweight Championship - Jey Uso vs. Gunther (c)

To the dismay of the internet wrestling community, Jey Uso is one of the most over babyfaces in the business. Over the past year, he's consistently been a top-five merch mover, only behind the likes of John Cena, Cody Rhodes, and Roman Reigns. Jey continues to generate monster pops in every arena, and although the "yeet" persona can be a bit shallow at times, simple characters get over all the time.

This entire build has been backward and lacked attention to detail. Let's not forget Uso lost a title match to Gunther just days before winning the Royal Rumble. Most of the promos have been competitive and feel recycled from Gunther's Mania feud last year against Sami Zayn.

The Austrian involving Jey's brother Jimmy and leaving the latter a bloody mess was a great way to spark some intrigue, but that one shining moment can't erase all the prior mediocrity.

The bout should be akin to Rory McIlroy's showing at the Masters—teasing multiple collapses and the doubt of ever "winning the big one" before Jey finally comes out on top with a fluke spear catching the big man off guard. Gunther might be the superior talent and the long-term marquee name, but Jey not going over here would be a complete waste of a supernova push.

Winner: (AND NEW) Jey Uso

El Grande Americano vs. Rey Mysterio

Chad Gable's first WrestleMania singles match will come under a mask in one of the most bizarre storylines of the Triple H era of creative. The hating luchador gimmick was a bit out of left field, but it had plenty of potential. It could've been a funny micro-feud before Gable and the rest of American Made moved on to bigger and better things.

For some reason, this saga is still unfolding, with Gable still riding with the El Grande Americano moniker. Rey Mysterio defending the wrestling genre he helped make mainstream in the States over the last few decades is interesting, but it would've fared better in a more serious tone. Let the two workhorses have a stellar 15-minute exhibition before the eventual reveal of Gable as Americano. Mysterio winning would garner a positive reaction, but at 50, a victory doesn't do much for him going forward.

Winner: El Grande Americano

World Tag Team Championships - The New Day vs. The War Raiders (c)

The New Day heel turn went from gripping to fairly dull in record time. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are still above-average workers and can deliver on the mic when given compelling material.

The Raw tag division is simply too uninspiring for even the best duo in the world to get serious buy-in. The fastest way to change that is to have a compelling act at the top.

Erik and Ivar are impressive in the ring but lack any semblance of personality. Joining a faction or at least adding a mouthpiece could solve their shortage of charisma, but right now, it's too glaring of a problem to overcome. This should be competitive, but New Day shenanigans get the job done.

If Big E is healthy, a post-match shocking return would be money. That might be unlikely, so gloating up the ramp and rubbing the straps in patrons' faces will have to suffice.

Winners: (AND NEW) The New Day

Women's Championship - Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

There should be one goal for these ladies: make this messy. In an era where it's impossible to keep kayfabe, WWE needs to take advantage of moments that blur the lines. Lean into the real-life animosity and the various awkward on-screen interactions, and just go for it.

Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton must be given 25+ minutes to have a slugfest. On both sides, there have to be stiff shots, hair-pulling, and moments that make the crowd visually uncomfortable directly from the level of animosity in the squared circle.

Neither would benefit from a loss, but Charlotte is a veteran with so much prestige she can easily switch to Raw in the upcoming draft and regain her stock. Stratton deserves the rocketship and to further her ascent as a legit draw.

Winner: Tiffany Stratton retains

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi

Perhaps the best-built match heading into the event, there's a believable level of tension between Jade Cargill and Naomi. There's a concise timeline of disdain, leading to clear checkpoints, which have all built up to this showdown.

For a while I thought this could be a squash, with Cargill doing her best Goldberg impression and decimating Naomi in quick fashion. That no longer seems fair to the former women's champion, who has done some of the best work of her career in recent months.

This should still be a fairly quick affair, but Naomi can tease an injury that hampers her mobility, allowing Cargill to pick up the scraps. This rivalry can continue for the next few PLEs or be put on pause until later in the year with a title involved.

Winner: Jade Cargill

United States Championship - Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight (c)

On a three-hour SmackDown, how is the US belt not more meaningful? LA Knight is still widely popular with the audience, but briefly dropping the strap to Shinsuke Nakamura hampered his momentum, and he's struggled to fully get it back. Jacob Fatu is oozing with potential, but he still needs a smidge more time to refine his gimmick. His current presentation is just him beating the snot out of people and weirdly shaking in between moves—it works, but it needs more depth.The best way to add layers to his character is to have Solo Sikoa cost him the match and finally end the Bloodline 2.0 fiasco. That can eventually lead Fatu to align with a debuting Jeff Cobb and start a fresh powerhouse stable.

Winner - LA Knight retains

Main Event - CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

Look in my eyes; what do you see? Three generational megastars fighting over Paul-E.

All sarcasm aside, this build has jumped the shark at times. Paul Heyman is a generational manager, but why does he possess such value nowadays? During matches, he rarely interferes, hardly talks to his representative, and is made to look like a lackey more than a genius corner man. Making him such a feature takes away from the spectacle of this trio going to war and shouldn't play into the finish.

This bout needs four distinct layers. It opens with the three going at it for a while. Then Reigns is swiftly taken out, leaving Punk and Rollins to tango in the second act. When Reigns eventually gets up, he and Rollins give an ode to The Shield and powerbomb Punk through the announce table, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth between the two men left standing. After multiple near falls, Punk returns, tosses Reigns out of the ring, and covers Rollins to "steal" the victory.

It's imperative Punk and Reigns do as little as possible so the two can rekindle this vendetta down the road. This can kick off another "Summer of Punk" and a saga with the winner of the Night 2 main event. Not eating the pin allows Reigns to pivot to literally anything or go back in the shadows for a while. Rollins getting bested by Punk allows him to go home, recharge his batteries, and come back with a slightly tweaked character that is done waving the company flag.