There’s a logjam at the top of the men’s division in WWE.
I’m not calling this a problem; there are far worse issues to have other than too many people you can market and make money with. I remember Armageddon 2000’s “Hell in a Cell” match and how absurd I thought it was that one match could have so many top stars in it, all competing for the WWE Championship. Outside of Rikishi, who’d recently come out as the man behind Steve Austin’s run in with a black sedan, everyone in the match had been solidified as one of THE GUYS.
Kurt Angle, the least experienced of the sextet, had held the Intercontinental and European Championships going into that year’s WrestleMania, and was WWE Champion going into the Cell. Steve Austin, back from injury, was competing with The Rock for pole position in WWE, while Triple H had established himself as the promotion’s top heel, and the Undertaker found second life with his more grounded “American Badass” persona. While it was likely the peak of Rikishi’s singles run, all the other participants would win more world titles, main event more WrestleMania events, and continue to establish themselves as the top acts of their time.
Around Wrestlemania 40, you could see a similar embarrassment of riches forming for WWE. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns found a way to stretch out their money feud a year, and worked in other top acts like Seth Rollins, while the returning CM Punk had Drew McIntyre in his crosshairs. Damien Priest was elevated to World Title status, and Jey Uso’s popularity was swelling. Main event mainstays like AJ Styles and Randy Orton were still holding strong and newcomers like Logan Paul were parlaying their fame into top positions.
Fast forward to 2026, and it’s not “Who is the guy?”, but just “What do we do with all these guys?”. There are only so many matches, so many belts, and so much time to make it all work. Instead of doing someone else’s job, I just want to do a status check of sorts on some of the men either at the top or the cusp of being there.
Yes … it’s a list.
Damnit.
The Wrestlemania Main Eventers
CM Punk
He’s found it again. Maybe my favorite CM Punk run was his initial AEW tenure, watching the old gunslinger try to figure it out again after so many years out of the game. His title match with Finn Balor showed he can still have main event quality matches, and his unique brand of fire and explosive offense can overcome what time may have taken away. He’s as good as he was at the end of his AEW run and the crowd treats him like a huge deal. With his contemporaries really starting to step away, who knows how long he’ll be around, but while he’s here, he’s doing his damndest to put an exclamation point on the paragraph of Punk.
Roman Reigns
He’s been THE GUY for the better part of the decade and he’s synonymous with the WrestleMania top spot. There’s not much else for Roman Reigns to do; he’s made himself and his family the backbone of WWE. I’m not really invested in how he or Punk feel about one another, but they both know what a strong main event will do for a show lacking hype and a card still being worked out. It’ll be interesting if he loses two Manias in a row and chooses to pivot on a persona that’s held steadfast for the last 6 years.
Randy Orton
After pulling off a shocker at Elimination Chamber, Randy Orton is once again in a championship match at the year’s biggest event. He’s been doing this longer than some of the roster’s been alive, he’s still as crisp and smooth as ever, and now he’s the size of a Buick LeSabre. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s got another title run in him, but he’s been grandfathered in as a big deal and will be exactly that until he decides to hang it up. He’s one of the safest bets going and him winning the WWE Title might not change the world, but it certainly won’t ruin it either.
The WrestleMania Hopefuls
Drew McIntyre
He’s FINALLY the WWE Champion again and it’s come at the strangest time. I can’t complain about TV title changes, but it feels like they gave the ultra talented, ultra focused, and ultra entertaining McIntyre an ultra uncomfortable spot where he’s around to further someone else’s story. He’s probably the biggest “What If?” in the world of The Bloodline and “The Story,” but what he hasn’t done is take any plays off. Maybe we’ll get a true Drew run, but as of right now, it’s tough to tell.
Cody Rhodes
He’s had an amazing three-year run as the babyface of babyfaces, winning two Royal Rumbles and going 2-2 at WrestleMania. He slayed the dragon that is Roman Reigns and held the fort down against the likes of Kevin Owens and AJ Styles over the summer of 2025. He also did his part to fix the broken John Cena retirement tour. It’s hard to imagine Cody doing anything outside of competing for the world championship, as he’s done so much to help maintain it’s prestige. If he’s not in the main event of night one, I’m curious to see who he can be outside of the brightest spotlight.
The Go-To Guys
Seth Rollins
We seemed to be headed towards a Rollins title defense prior to injury. Now, he seems to be locked in with taking down what’s left of The Vision, namely Logan Paul. The injury bug seems to hit Seth at the worst moments over the last few years and it’s unfortunate, as he’s got real history and real fire when he’s across from the likes of Reigns, Punk, and Rhodes. Hopefully, he can rev it up again in 2026 and find his way to the main event next year.
Gunther
The man had the win of all wins in 2025, effectively putting “Never Give Up” out of business. Adding AJ Styles to that list, they’ve found effective things for the man to do outside of world title pursuits. Now that he’s put the old guard out, 2026 needs to see Gunther in the mix with the top Smackdown contenders sooner than later. He’s one of the few guys that can move to the US or IC title ranks and it would feel like a fresh, new challenge rather than a demotion, but he can hit the right notes with the top guys with no title in play at all.
MORE TO COME! Cam will continue this with the best of the rest sooner than you think!
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