WrestleMania 43 Title Picture Wide Open As WWE Weighs Options

With WrestleMania 43 still months away, the Undisputed WWE Championship picture remains anything but settled, and the range of plausible directions says a lot about how crowded the men’s main event scene has become. WWE President Nick Khan said earlier this month that the company is already locked into its broad creative plans for the show, barring injuries, but the specific pairing for the top title match is far from obvious.

Unlike the World Heavyweight Championship picture, where a Roman Reigns–Oba Femi showdown looks like the clear frontrunner, the Undisputed WWE Title has several viable paths heading into 2027’s Saudi Arabia-based show. Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes spent much of the first half of 2026 dismantling their real-life friendship on screen, culminating in Zayn dethroning Rhodes for the title in a three-way that also included GUNTHER at Night of Champions. That story never got a true one-on-one blowoff, leaving Zayn-Rhodes as a natural, if unconfirmed, option to revisit by WrestleMania.

Then there’s CM Punk, who ended Zayn’s reign after just nine days before beating Rhodes in his first defense at SummerSlam. Doing Punk-Rhodes again would require a wrinkle — Rhodes has been teasing a heel turn, which could give a rematch fresh stakes. Randy Orton, who cost Rhodes that SummerSlam match, is another wildcard; folding him into a three-way with Punk and Rhodes would put three of the biggest stars of their generation, with Orton chasing a 15th world title, in the same ring.

Punk also has unfinished business with Drew McIntyre, whose 2024 feud is widely regarded as the best run of McIntyre’s career and Punk’s best WWE program since his 2011 ‘Summer of Punk’ run. McIntyre’s return timeline and destination brand are unclear, but if he lands back on SmackDown, running that rivalry back at WrestleMania would carry obvious appeal.

The boldest scenario floated is a torch-passing moment for Trick Williams, who’s been positioned as a future world champion for a while now. With Williams qualified for the 2026 Money in the Bank ladder match, there’s a path where he either cashes in or earns a shot the harder way, setting up a WrestleMania date against Rhodes or Punk — the kind of statement pairing that would echo Cena-Batista at WrestleMania 21.

None of this is locked in, and that’s the point: WWE has built a title scene deep enough that Zayn, Rhodes, Punk, Orton, McIntyre and Williams could all plausibly factor into the WrestleMania 43 main event conversation. Expect the picture to sharpen considerably once the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber play out, particularly for anyone hoping to punch a ticket the traditional way. Until then, the Undisputed WWE Championship remains the most unpredictable piece of next year’s biggest show.