WWE Saturday Night's Main Event 12/13/2025 Predictions: Wrestling Inc. Picks The Winners

We've been doing predictions columns here at Wrestling Inc. for a while now, but it's safe to say we've never picked a card quite like the one coming up this weekend at Saturday Night's Main Event. With nothing but pride on the line throughout the four matches — not titles, not stipulations, nothing — we don't have as much information to go on as usual. We just have to try and get into the heads of WWE's creative team and figure out just how "look at our future" this show is going to be.

Which members of the "WWE NXT" roster, if any will emerge victorious against their main roster counterparts? Will it be Sol Ruca, taking on Bayley, or maybe NXT Champion Oba Femi will pull off the upset against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes? Is it inconceivable that WWE could slap a main roster victory on rising young star Je'Von Evans and his partner, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater? And perhaps most importantly, will John Cena's last match celebrate the past by putting him over one last time, or will WWE choose to make GUNTHER a modern-day "legend killer" after his previous retirement of Goldberg?

That's a lot of questions, and the WINC staff have the answers — let's get to the picks!

Just a few months ago, if we told you that Dragon Lee and AJ Styles would be a tag team, and then we told you than NXT's Je'Von Evans and TNA's Leon Slater would pair up as well, and then we followed that up by telling you that the former would be WWE World Tag Team Champions and the latter would be facing Lee and Styles at Saturday Night's Main Event, on the same card as John Cena's retirement match, you'd have said something like, "Wrestling Inc. Prediction Punditry Panel People, you're insane." And yet, insane or not, here we indeed are. With no titles on the line, and under the umbrella of Cena's apparent desire to pit stars of today against the future of the industry, these four will square off in what could very well steal the show, perhaps right out of the gate.

It would make a lot of sense for this match to open the card, in an obvious set-the-house-afire effort, and with the combatants involved, that result would be the expectation. The face of TNA for so long against its current X-Division champion. Perhaps WWE's greatest high flyer at the moment against a "Young OG" so bouncy he just might find himself bounced right to the top of the main roster before too long at just 21 years old. The innovation that Evans and Slater (also 21) bring to the table already against an established veteran and an absolute legend who have made their respective presences known the world over for nearly 40 years combined—who, by the way, have managed to find enough chemistry this early in their pairing to pull off a double stomp off the ropes into a Styles Clash as a tandem finisher. This match has all the potential in the world, just as the youngsters competing in it do themselves.

As for a winner, we're quite heavily favoring the old guard here, with the sentiment being that this is a showcase match for one and all, we'll see some phenomenally crazy stuff, but the vets will pull it off in the end, giving it the "go over without getting over" treatment for Evans and Slater, and undoubtedly ending in a pair of handshakes, legitimate respect, and likely a standing ovation from those in attendance.

Written by Jon Jordan

Sol Ruca may not have been victorious in the women's Iron Survivor match at Deadline, but she has a huge opportunity when she takes on Bayley on Saturday. We believe, 86% of us who cast our predictions, in fact, that Ruca, who has appeared on the main roster before, is going to emerge from Saturday Night's Main Event the winner of the exhibition bout.

We believe that, not only because of Ruca's impressive in-ring ability, and the fact she's a former Women's North American and Women's Speed Champion, but also because of Bayley's generosity when it comes to putting others over and her commitment to the betterment of the business. Bayley just recently held a massive seminar for up-and-coming female wrestlers, known as Lodestone, and we don't think, if given the opportunity to chose, or at least offer her input, she'd want to defeat another up-and-comer. 

With Ruca being one of the "NXT" stars destined for "WWE Raw" or "WWE SmackDown" likely sooner rather than later, we just don't see why she wouldn't get a big victory here to further prove herself in front of a much, much larger audience. Main roster WWE fans already know how good and how much of a pro Bayley is, so Ruca getting the win here, especially in what John Cena has called "non-canon" matches, wouldn't be detrimental to Bayley's character. It's obvious Ruca has WWE's support behind her, so giving her the win here just makes sense. The majority of us, at 86%, believe Bayley is going to get her Sol Snatched, and the match is going to be must-see.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Saturday Night's Main Event will be playing host to an exhibition of the present against the future as WWE Champion Cody Rhodes takes on NXT Champion Oba Femi in a non-title bout. Rhodes put down the challenge ahead of "WWE NXT" Deadline while Ricky Saints was still the champion, declaring that whomever walked out of Saints vs. Femi at Deadline would have to prepare him on the following weekend.

Femi walked out of Deadline with his second reign as NXT Champion and confirmed he would be facing Rhodes, marking a first time clash for the pair and potentially the biggest scalp of his three-year career. Rhodes on paper has nothing to lose, although Femi winning would surely yield a claim to the WWE Championship and a rematch down the line. 

However, according to the majority of those within Wrestling Inc., that's not a circumstance one should be too concerned with; 79% predicted that it would be the WWE Champion walking out with his hand raised. Femi has been on a tear during his time with "NXT" without a shadow of doubt, winning the Break-Out Tournament, the North American Championship, the Iron Survivor Challenge, and then two NXT Championships. But Rhodes is not only the two-time WWE Champion, he's a man boasting wins over Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Gunther, John Cena, Seth Rollins, and a further back-to-back winning run in the Royal Rumble. There's a case to be made that he's the resident giant-slayer in the company, and while there are some who feel Femi could be in for the upset, the prevailing belief lies with "QB1" carrying it all the way.

Written by Max Everett

Originally, WWE executives wished to build an entire tribute show surrounding John Cena's final match. Cena, however, pitched the idea of featuring WWE's up-and-coming stars on the undercard instead, specifically as a way to introduce fans to WWE's next chapter as the one on him officially closes. In Cena's exact words, "show the future of your business."

We expect this mentality to also be at the forefront in the main event of SNME, which will pit GUNTHER against Cena in the latter's retirement match. With two reigns as WWE World Heavyweight Champion as well as record-breaking ones as NXT UK and Intercontinental Champions, there's no doubt that WWE already holds GUNTHER in high regard, and more importantly, trusts him to be a face of the company. That's why 86% of us believe "The Ring General" will emerge victorious over Cena, further showing that he is the present and future of the wrestling business.

In recent months, Cena has not been shy about giving back to today's generation of wrestlers, as exemplified by his eight-hour outing at a recent women's wrestling seminar run by fellow WWE star Bayley. With this in mind, we imagine that Cena will want to "give back" more by giving in to the theme of veterans putting over someone on their way out of in-ring competition. After all, what bigger way can GUNTHER go over than by defeating both Cena and WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg in the same year?

From an even simpler standpoint, SNME is littered with babyfaces across the its card, with GUNTHER being the only pure heel in the lineup (NXT Champion Oba Femi, who is facing Cody Rhodes, is considered a tweener). As such, the majority of WINC staff believe that GUNTHER will also win in order to avoid a babyface sweep of wins.

Written by Ella Jay