The WWE Universe has had a lot to say about the build to WrestleMania 41. The build-up to the Pinnacle of Sports Entertainment has been a mixed bag to say the least. The hype for some matches has been outright obliterated by some critics, while other matches waited too long to get interesting with mere weeks to go.

It's not all bad, though, as the build toward some matches only intensified matches that the WWE Universe was already eagerly anticipating. Fans have been quick to predict the winners of each Mania match, but not enough conversation has been directed towards which storylines and rivalries won WrestleMania season. In a Mania season that has been as controversial as that seen in 2025, it's worth ranking which storylines stood out as the best and which ones stood out as the worst heading into the Show of Shows.

13 Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyrie - E

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Match

Even though this is a match that technically doesn't begin its build until just over a week before WrestleMania, that's not why the build has been the worst. It's the worst because of how disappointing it is to see Liv Morgan not have a marquee match going into Mania. This is a WWE Superstar who had a breakout year in 2024. Mere weeks after last year's WrestleMania and up until this year's Netflix premiere of Raw, Liv Morgan led the women's division as its World Champion. Even after, she remains consistent, having stellar matches and promos, yet she's put in a thrown-together bout with little fanfare. Liv Morgan deserves better.

Liv and Raquel's opponents, Bayley and Lyra, has sort of just been thrown together to make sure they will have something to do at WrestleMania. This match doesn't advance the already struggling Women Tag division in any way, and it won't do much for any of the superstars involved.

12 LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu - D

WWE United States Championship Match

Similarly to Liv Morgan, it's disappointing to see Jacob Fatu wrestle for the United States Championship after his teased feud with Solo Sikoa, which had been building for months, was suddenly dropped. Love him or hate him, Solo Sikoa was given the ball to become the blue brand's top heel starting the SmackDown after WrestleMania 40, and (to varied results) carried that ball for the remainder of 2024.

Now, Solo is left off the card entirely, despite teasing a rivalry with Fatu. On the plus side, the mini-feud that Fatu had with Braun Strowman leading to a number one contendership after a Last Man Standing match was at least fun.

11 The War Raiders vs. The New Day - D

WWE World Tag Team Championships Match

Some will say that The New Day's run as heels has been underwhelming ever since their late 2024 turn, and honestly, it's hard to argue against the notion. When ousting Big E from the group earned Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston colossal amounts of heat for weeks on end, it seemed like they were being set up for something bigger than another tag title run.

Their storylines since have remained largely uneventful and forgettable, and this is no different as, unsurprisingly, they head toward another tag title run. One bright side at least is that it seems likely that The New Day will finally get their first WrestleMania win from this.

10 Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley - D

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women's World Championship

This storyline has been, by far, the most controversial ahead of WrestleMania 41. While the Genius of the Sky pulling off an upset title win over Ripley made for one of pro wrestling's most shocking moments of 2025, most fans have not responded well to seeing Ripley continually trying to insert herself into the title match through contrived means. Many would have been satisfied with seeing Belair vs. Sky in singles competition. Truthfully, the notion of a Triple Threat could have been salvageable if WWE had gone about alternative means of justifying Ripley's inclusion.

But again, Ripley constantly forcing herself into the title picture and finally getting what she wanted has been met with mostly negative responses simply because of the convoluted measures the story has brought audiences there. There are worse builds to Mania, but this has been the most heavily criticized.

9 AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul - D

Singles Match

The build for AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul hasn't necessarily been bad, but rather uneventful and forgettable. Frankly, the most interesting aspect of the feud has been Karrion Kross. Besides being a devil on AJ's shoulder, nudging him toward the dark side, the latest promo between them added layers to Paul vs. Styles that weren't previously there. Kross' line, "If you lose, we all lose," instantly raises the stakes of this match, turning this from a basic wrestling match to a match with the sanctity of professional wrestling's history on AJ's back.

He represents hard-working wrestlers, and if such a wrestler loses someone perceived as nothing more than a celebrity YouTuber, it makes wrestling look bad in Kross's mind. It's a small nugget of information, but it's just enough to make Styles vs. Paul feel more important than it actually is.

8 Bron Breakker vs. Finn Bálor vs. Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio - C

Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

The bulk of this storyline has mostly centered around Finn Bálor, Dominik Mysterio, and whether the Judgment Day can be salvaged despite their bickering. Bron Breakker and Penta have been consequences, or rather distractions, from their storyline. Penta is Raw's hottest new star, so he needed a marquee match, and Breakker has circulated around the IC Title since the better part of the summer.

Both parties are deserving of matches on the card, but in ing this storyline, they feel like pawns in a bigger storyline brewing for the Judgment Day rather than the title. Still, though, there are few things more fun than to see Bron tear opponents in half, and he's done so for all three of his challengers thus far. Plus, to see how the title could create wrinkles between Dom and Finn will be interesting.

7 Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair - C

WWE Women's Championship Match

Charlotte Flair vs. Tiffany Stratton was once considered a dream feud made for WrestleMania, but the build has been underwhelming to the point that few fans find themselves excited about the match anymore. The feud is largely hurt by Stratton being largely miscast in a babyface role, while Charlotte nearly being miscast as a babyface herself after winning the Royal Rumble began the build on a bad note. Even after maintaining her heel presence, Flair has produced a Hulk Hogan level of go-away heat for many fans.

Go-away heat, in wrestling terminology, is when a wrestler is booed and hated not because the crowd wants to play along by reacting to a heel character, but because they genuinely hate the wrestler and/or character to the point they don't even want to see them wrestle.

One Attitude Era shoot segment helped save face for Tiffany Stratton, who was looking worse for wear in this feud, and even produced some new intrigue as to what the actual match may look like. Still, though, as with other matches on the card, it might be too little too late to save this one.

6 Gunther vs. Jey Uso - C

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match

WrestleMania, typically airing in the latter part of March or early April, is going live much later than usual this year. The consequence has been that some storylines have been forced to stretch their angles further than what they actually have in the tank and, in some cases, save what's in the tank to not do too much too soon. Jey Uso vs. Gunther falls in the latter category, with nearly three months' worth of build-up before Mania.

The majority of this feud was considered by fans to be disappointing and not deserving of a spot at WrestleMania. The narrative took a drastic shift in the past couple of weeks thanks to a bloody attack on Jimmy Uso and a ionate promo from Jey that shifted the tide. WWE saved this feud just in time for Mania. Some will say it's too little too late, but better late than never.

5 Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre - B

Singles Match

Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre is a match that technically has been an entire year in the making, from the moment that the former cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on the latter at WrestleMania 40. The bad blood between them would only escalate as Priest would eliminate McIntyre from the Royal Rumble match and then pin McIntyre inside the Elimination Chamber. Along with The Scotsman venting his frustrations on the mic, he's claiming all the credit for all the success Priest has had as a main eventer.

Seeing the two trade verbal jabs back and forth has made for good TV already, but it's been even better to see both men beat the tar out of each other in the remainder of the build every week. If these two giants pound into each other nearly as aggressively at Mania as they have in the build, then fans should be excited for a hoss fight.

4 Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano - B

Singles Match

WWE has caught lightning in a bottle with this storyline. This so-called mystery of El Grande Americano and whether or not Chad Gable has been under the mask is one of WWE's strangest, yet utterly entertaining stories under its banner right now. Everyone involved has fully committed to the ludicrous lunacy of the angle, while reaction from social media has been more valuable to Chad Gable's career than any championship he could win in the near future.

Now, he's got himself a marquee undercard bout at WrestleMania against a WWE Hall of Famer (assuming that Gable is allegedly under the mask, of course, as has been heavily rumored and speculated). Considered a sleeper pick for best match of Mania weekend, WWE have done justice to getting people invested in this one.