Potential WWE WrestleMania 42 Main Event Match

With WrestleMania 42 just a few months away, backstage discussions regarding the card structure are intensifying. While the men’s main event picture is undergoing a chaotic reshuffle involving Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, the women’s division may be poised for a historic spotlight. According to recent reports, WWE officials are seriously considering placing a marquee women’s match in the main event slot for one of the two nights.

Rhea Ripley vs. IYO SKY Discussed For Main Event

On the latest episode of SelfMadePro, it was reported that a showdown between Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY is viewed internally as a main-event caliber bout. While nothing is set in stone, the match has been a topic of high-level meetings regarding the show’s closing moments.

“The only women’s match that would Main Event WrestleMania this year would be that matchup, Rhea vs. IYO. So IYO vs. Rhea would be a match that could main event one of the nights, and that has been mentioned in meetings. I want to say this clearly: they’ve discussed it, and they have mentioned that IYO vs. Rhea is something they view as main-event level, but there are no guarantees that they’re actually going to do it. So that’s still up in the air. As of now, they don’t know what the Women’s World Title match is going to be, for the record.”

A Pivot Back To Independent Talent

Alongside WrestleMania planning, WWE is also evaluating its developmental pipeline. The report highlighted a distinct shift in recruitment philosophy during the current tryouts. After years of focusing heavily on college athletes (NIL program), WWE appears to be pivoting back to independent wrestlers for its male roster, acknowledging a disparity in development success rates between men and women.

“They know the men’s developmental is lacking. It’s been a big point of emphasis… Paul Levesque says this from the very top down—is that they aren’t really producing guys the way they’re producing the women in terms of hit rate. That’s been clearly noted. That’s why they’ve had to rely more on independent signings for NXT, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do again with this tryout.”

The report noted that recent tryouts featured “big, trendy independent names” who were not labeled as “WWE ID” prospects but were instead fast-tracked for potential TV time. This urgent need for “TV-ready” male talent suggests that the company is looking to plug gaps on NXT television immediately, a strategy reminiscent of the black-and-gold era. This philosophy was on full display at the recent New Year’s Evil event, where the sudden call-ups of established NXT stars left a void that these new indie signings will likely be expected to fill in record time.