A weekend of two halves, wasn’t it? Night One of WrestleMania 42 underwhelmed as much as it confused, but come Roman Reigns’ final spear of CM Punk on Sunday, the feelings couldn’t have been any different. And that’s ultimately what a main event at WrestleMania should be aiming to achieve — a satisfying, cleanly delivered ending to a story. Where Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s clash came across as a largely muddled series of spots trying to untie an overly complicated knot that had taken weeks to tie itself tighter, Night Two’s headline attraction was exactly what it needed to be — a fantastic wrestling match between two of the best to ever do it.
But of course, WrestleMania isn’t only about the main events, and with 13 matches (plus one highly enjoyable Danhausen interlude) to sift through, let’s get stuck right in. Starting with the positives, let’s head straight to Night Two, in which every one of the matchups was great at the very least. Oba Femi’s WrestleMania debut was everything we hoped it to be, and his march down the Allegiant Stadium ramp produced a louder noise from the crowd than was heard at any point during the night before. Watching two powerhouses go toe-to-toe was always going to be a treat, and The Ruler’s swift dispatching of Brock Lesnar with his already signature Fall from Grace felt like a true changing of the guard moment. On a stage where Lesnar had brutalised many opponents, Oba confirmed what we already knew — he’s the fastest rising star in WWE and well on his way to being its biggest attraction.
What we didn’t see coming was Brock’s instant reaction to such a convincing defeat, as he lay flat on the Las Vegas mat before slowly taking off his equipment. It felt more like a farewell to WrestleMania for The Beast than to WWE as a whole, with a retirement surely far more likely to be sealed via a Gunther submission, but it was certainly an uncharacteristic show of emotion from Lesnar. Whether you think he should be in the spotlight, given the details alleged in the ongoing Vince McMahon court case, is a valid concern. I’d be lying if I said I was at all fully comfortable enjoying him returning to the ring under such a cloud, but it would appear you’d have a hard time telling the WrestleMania 42 crowd that. There was an outpouring that swelled upon his embrace with long-time advocate Paul Heyman that secured both an expected and unexpected opening to a stacked Night Two card. If this is the last time we ever see Brock Lesnar, you certainly won’t find me crying, though.
What followed was pure fun, and the perfect palette cleanser as the six-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship provided awesome acrobatics and painful landings in equal measure. Entrance highlights included Penta’s Shao Kahn mask from Mortal Kombat and fellow luchador Dragon Lee’s expansive, reptilian wings — not that you would’ve seen that on TV, thanks to one of many frequently ill-timed ad breaks. Everyone involved had a fun spot to take home with them, with JD McDonagh and Rusev taking the lion’s share of the punishment. Rusev, in particular, ended up on the wrong end of a Je’Von Evans OG Cutter, launched from the ring post before catching the bulky Bulgarian from the top rung of the ladder – perhaps providing the match’s biggest “wow” moment. In truth, it was a match full of big spots fuelled by impressive athleticism, timing, and choreography, even if Penta’s eventual retention of the belt didn’t carry much tension in its final moments.
The crowd-pleasing didn’t stop there, either. The sheer volume of the “Whoop that Trick” chants would place most wrestlers on the back foot, and in truth, Sami Zayn had no real chance of ever winning them over as he slid further into heel territory, which was all but confirmed as Sad Sami returned and he sat slumped against the announcement table following Trick’s capture of the US Championship belt. The win-sealing Trick shot and subsequent celebrations felt like another of 42’s baton-passing moments, as Williams followed up Oba and Je’Von’s impressive showings as the next generation of WWE stars made their mark on the biggest stage.
While new talent is exciting, sometimes returning heroes are just as fun. Whether you’d class the Demon as a hero is certainly up to you, but I, for one, couldn’t have been happier to see Finn Balor’s twisted creation snarl and crawl his way onto the mat to face a terrified-looking Dominik Mysterio. As with the previous match, the in-ring action wasn’t the peak of the night’s offerings, but a good ol’ fashioned dose of revenge was dealt out in an impromptu street fight, sealed with a Demon Coup de Grace through both Dirty Dom and a Slim Jim table. Balor still very much has the technical ability, but Mysterio still has a little to learn in this regard, and one gets the feeling he will need to continue to improve if he ever harbours genuine main event aspirations. But, he’s still young and certainly has the character side of the business nailed already. The Demon was always going to be the main draw here, and he played his role perfectly. I can’t wait to see where both of them go next as the Judgment Day continues to be a concept of yesteryear.
Speaking of which, you’ll struggle to find a superstar carrying as much aura as Rhea Ripley. Her tussle with Jade Cargill continued Night Two’s hot streak to great effect, as the two powerhouses seemed well matched for each other —- something both have historically struggled with due to their imposing physiques in the women’s division. Cargill had her moments, namely the unveiling of a new Kenny Omega-inspired slam, but, again, you always felt this one was destined to end with the belt in Ripley’s hands. Rhea holding it aloft as she celebrated with her teammate and best friend, Iyo Sky, will go down as one of the enduring images of WrestleMania 42, and even slightly softens the blow of the Genius of the Sky not getting her own match in Vegas. A crime if you ask me.
And so the stage was set for hatred to fill the ring. Roman Reigns began ceremonies with a stoic tribute to his bloodline, soundtracked by the return of his old Head of the Table theme music. CM Punk replied in suit, as his old theme, AFI’s Miseria Cantare, played behind clips of his entire WWE career, before launching into his current Cult of Personality entrance that the crowd echoed in chorus. It takes a lot for a WrestleMania crowd to be split entirely down the middle, but that’s what the loud Las Vegas audience pretty much sounded like. The action fit the occasion, too. There were some fun move-stealing shenanigans and announcer table-breaking splashes peppered among the highlights of the 30-minute brawl, all before Roman claimed an exhausting win. Could it be that his barb targeting Punk’s age a couple of weeks back proved true as the future hall of famer appeared to run out of gas after many near falls?
It was a fantastic main event, carrying all the ingredients that you’d want: history, drama, and a clean finish to a story. It’s exactly what Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes should have been, who have more history between them than most active wrestlers. And that’s ultimately what made Saturday’s main event so frustrating. That’s not to say there weren’t great moments. In fact, much of the action was enjoyable, with, again, a fair share of move-stealing going on throughout. But by the time what felt like the 28th RKO had been delivered, my main feeling was confusion.
Why did Pat McAfee have to come back only to deliver a fair count as a heel ref? Why did Orton turn on him after saying he wanted him there so badly just 24 hours earlier? Why did he also RKO poor Charles Robinson? Why was Rhodes also playing the heel only for Orton to upstage him? Why did Orton punt Cody after he had lost instead of doing it in the match? Why did Orton, once again, hold up a belt he didn’t win?
So many questions without logical answers, which pretty much summed up this storyline ever since Randy first picked up that phone. What could have been a simple but effective story about a mentor and an apprentice lost its way rapidly to the point where I’m not even sure the WWE creative team knew the tale they wanted to tell. You can’t blame the performers. Randy was vicious, and Cody responded to the crowd’s boos without turning fully heel. Even Jelly Roll hit a pretty good splash into McAfee, which everyone enjoyed. But if you’ve left me feeling unclear in my emotions following the end of the match, then you’ve failed in your storytelling.
At least I did feel something, because much of Night One left me cold. Well, as much as you can be in the Mojave Desert. The card was rattled through with matches rarely passing 10 minutes in length and, I’m told, packed full of commercials (I didn’t get a sense of this from inside the stadium, I’m afraid). IShowSpeed flipping onto Logan Paul was enjoyable, as was Jacob taking the entire contents of a toolbox to Drew McIntyre. But these fights barely had time for more than one semi-memorable moment apiece. I’ll always enjoy Becky Lynch’s work, but her win over AJ Lee won’t live long in the memory. Paige’s return was certainly exciting, but we all know that she and Brie Bella won’t be holding those tag titles for long, so I ended up just feeling sorry for Bayley, who has been denied a WrestleMania moment once again. Then there’s Liv Morgan’s match with Stephanie Vaquer, which felt like it was over before it began.
The one saving grace was Seth Rollins’ battle with Gunther. There was never a doubt in my mind that such fantastic in-ring workers would deliver — and they did. The giant Austrian managed to further assert his dominance, but time was still given to create legitimate jeopardy for him. Rollins’ superplex into a Falcon Arrow was perhaps the most impressive move of the whole evening, and if it wasn’t for a returning Bron Breakker, he very well could have taken it. The ramp-long sprint into the spear from the member of The Vision was the real cherry on top of this one, as the crowd barked loudly in response.
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