WrestleMania 41 vs WrestleMania XL: Which Had the best road to WrestleMania?

WrestleMania 41 weekend is officially a few hours away from its massive kickstart. It will start with Friday Night SmackDown and the WWE Hall of Fame event. NXT's PLE Stand and Deliver will occur before the two nights of WrestleMania. WWE Raw and NXT weekly shows will happen to end the Mania weekend. One can expect a great few days of wrestling action from WWE.

Every year, WrestleMania weekend is the highlight of WWE. In the past year, there was a lot of tension in the lead-up to WrestleMania. To its credit, WrestleMania XL turned out to be one of the greatest shows of all time. The buildup and execution were both brilliant, as both the top card and the mid-card matches delivered the goods. It will be worth seeing how WrestleMania 41 pans out.

Also Read: WWE ranks 10 best WrestleMania matches of all time

WrestleMania XL vs WrestleMania 41 comparison

Main Event build-up

At WrestleMania XL, the main event for Night 1 was the tag team match between The Rock and Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. The special stipulation was that the result of the match had a direct impact on Night 2. If Cody and Seth had beaten the Bloodline duo, the American Nightmare would've gotten a shot at Roman without any interference from the Bloodline members on Night 2.

As it didn't happen, Cody faced Roman for the Undisputed World Championship under the Bloodline rules in the main event of Night 2. It turned out to be arguably the greatest main event in WWE's history. Biggest WWE Superstars like Roman, John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker, and many others were in the same arena at the same time.

The buildup for the event was crazy. Right from the Royal Rumble, there were tensions. The Rock announced his match against Roman, which led to the 'We Want Cody' moment. At the WrestleMania XL kickoff event, The Rock officially turned heel and became the Final Boss by slapping Rhodes. In the weeks leading to Mania, The Rock nearly single-handedly carried the feud on the back of his shoulders.

The Final Boss brought his concert, made Cody bleed, smashed him with a belt, and brought his family into the story. The entire Mania was hyped up around the two main events, which isn't much different in 2025. The entire WrestleMania 41 is hyped around John Cena, his heel turn, and his last match at Mania against Rhodes. Of course, the role of the final boss would be interesting yet again.

It is easily the most anticipated match of the show. However, except for Cena's heel turn, there hasn't been anything as good that has happened as the previous year, where The Rock went crazy against Cody. The main event of Night 1 is interesting in itself, as Roman, Seth, and CM Punk have an interesting dynamic with Paul Heyman, around whom the entire feud revolves.

In comparison, the main events for WrestleMania XL had way better buildup than for WrestleMania 41.

World Title Matches build-up 

Apart from the main event matches, all major world titles were on the line at WrestleMania XL, which isn't any different in Las Vegas. In Philadelphia, Seth defended his world title against Drew McIntyre, and the focus on this match was underwhelming, as the former Architect's attention was entirely on helping Cody to end Roman. McIntyre repeatedly tried to convince Seth to be serious about their feud.

The interesting aspect about their feud was CM Punk and Damian Priest's involvement, which came during the execution. In the women's division, Bayley won the Royal Rumble, turned against Damage Control, and chose Iyo Sky as her Mania opponent. Their feud had a decent buildup, and the match delivered big time. Their match probably did not get as much recognition as it should have.

Apart from that, Becky Lynch won the Elimination Chamber and chose Rhea Ripley as her opponent. Their feud was all about proving themselves as the better of the two, which was an underwhelming buildup. Compared to these matches, WrestleMania 41 has world title matches, which probably have a slightly better buildup. The only match that lacks proper build-up could be the one between Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton.

The Women's World Championship will be on the line in a triple-threat match between Iyo, Rhea, and Bianca Belair, which is one of the exciting matches of the card. Gunther will defend his world title against Jey Uso, which has been spiced up after the Ring General's brutal bloodbath on Jimmy Uso's helpless body. If Mania 41 can execute these world title matches well, it can save the show in a great way.

Mid-Card Title Matches build-up

In 2024, there were mid-card titles in only the men's division. The match for the Intercontinental Championship was between Gunther and Sami Zayn. The latter won a Gauntlet match on WWE Raw and earned a shot at Gunther's title. The build-up to the match was decent, as it was all about Sami doubting himself about beating Gunther. Their match at Mania was brilliant.

The United States Championship was defended in a triple-threat match between Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton. While the build-up wasn't that good, the execution was brilliant. In 2025, the build-up to the IC title match has been good, as a Fatal 4-Way match will take place between Bron Breakker, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Penta.

The US Title match will have its dynamics, as Jacob Fatu will go after LA Knight and could potentially be screwed by Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa. Unfortunately, the women's mid-card titles will not be on the line at Mania yet. Chelsea Green does not have a match in Las Vegas, while the Women's IC Champion Lyra Valkyria will team up with Bayley to face Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women's Tag Team Championship.

The mid-card title matches in 2025 might have a slightly better buildup than in 2024.

One-on-One matches and other feuds

In 2024, there were other feuds like the one between Bianca, Jade Cargill, and Naomi against Damage Control; the Final Testament against the Street Profits; a 6-pack ladder match for the tag team championship; a brother vs brother match between Jey and Jimmy Uso; a tag team match between Rey Mysterio and Andrade against Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar; and the match between LA Knight and AJ Styles. 

In 2025, Randy Orton will issue an open challenge to anyone on the roster, as Kevin Owens has been ruled out of the event of all events. The match between Naomi and Jade Cargill has great hype due to their story. Logan will face Styles in a one-on-one match. Drew and Damian will be up against each other in a street fight. Comparatively, 2025 has a slightly better build-up for other feuds.