Well, another WrestleMania is in the books, and it was a rather up and down affair, all in all. There were some bangers on the card, I’m talking potential match of the year contenders, and then there were some forgettable matches, and some let downs as well. I heard someone online say something like ‘Night 1 was a forgettable card that was saved by the main event, and Night 2 was an epic card, but the main event was a letdown’ and while I don’t maybe entirely agree with that, I can certainly see that outlook.
Night 1
Night 1 opened with Gunther defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso. This was one of the matches I was looking forward to the most coming into the weekend and it was one of the biggest let downs of the weekend for me as well. That’s 2 years in a row now with me just being let down by a Jey Mania match, and I know it’s not Gunther because he’s had one of my favorite Mania matches 2 years in a row leading up to this and consistently delivers bangers throughout the year. I’m not trying to just bash Jey here either, I think he’s a hell of an entertainer and he’s busted his ass for years and years leading up to this, so he certainly deserves it. I was just let down with how this match played out really from start to finish, especially the finish. I’m sure Gunther will be fine, but really this match made him look weak and that’s not at all the way I was hoping or expecting this to go, especially given the buildup to the match and the story being told. We all expected Jey to win this match sure, but like this? I expect Jey will likely have a shorter title reign than a lot of the recent World Title holders, perhaps my guy Seth Rollins takes it off him rather soon, but we will get to him.
The 2nd match of Night 1 was the War Raiders defending the Raw Tag Titles against The New Day. The first match of the night was a letdown and this one was forgettable. Not to bash either of these teams, I’m actually really happy to see the War Raiders get on a WrestleMania card, I think they’re a great tag team, and the New Day are legends. They were one of the best acts in the business for a couple years running a while back and are one of the most notable tag teams in WWE history. It was more so the lack of care or build given to this match as a whole and the fact that it was basically used as a cheap excuse to promote Clash of Clans. The evil New Day won the tag belts back though in a pretty entertaining and competent tag team bout. Hopefully this doesn’t mean the War Raiders just disappear off the card now entirely and they use this to actually elevate the Raw tag division. Next up on Night 1 we saw Jade Cargill and Naomi face off in the culmination to their heated, blood feud. This was one of the best stories being told leading into Mania really, but I’ll admit I was honestly worried about how it would deliver once the action got in the ring. That’s not on Naomi either, I think she’s a great wrestler and I knew she’d be doing most the heavy lifting here, but I’ve been an open critic of Jade’s early WWE work as well. Well, they exceeded my expectations here. This isn’t a ‘match of the year’ quality match by any means, but this was a fun and well-done match and most importantly it looked pretty crisp, nothing was notably sloppy. Jade came out the victor as expected, but I’m excited to see the future of both these ladies moving forward. Jade has the look of a superhero; she fits the pro wrestler bill so well! The in-ring work has just always been what’s held her back for me and I’m hoping that this is the start to that continually getting better. Naomi has always been good in the ring, but she needed something fresh for a while and this heel character she’s found is perfect. Please WWE, actually utilize this with her and don’t let it go to waste.
Next up, LA Knight defended his United States Championship against the Samoan Werewolf, Jacob Fatu. This was probably, all in all, the 2nd best match of the night. I thought these 2 worked well together and really delivered a bit of a banger. This was the one match on Night 1 that I predicted wrong as well, as Jacob Fatu picked up the strap! I love Fatu and definitely think it’ll be interesting to see his run with the title, I just thought they’d maybe keep the title on Knight for a bit longer because I’m not sure what their plan for him is. Or that there would perhaps be some Solo shenanigans that would cost Jacob, but there wasn’t. Overall though, this was a very entertaining and well wrestled match so no complaints on my end. El Grande Americano went head-to-head against Rey Fenix in a war of the luchadores up next. I was kind of bummed about this one because initially Rey Mysterio was supposed to be Americano’s opponent, but he got unfortunately got injured. I like Fenix a lot, but this felt just tossed together in all honesty. It was a well wrestled match though so whatever, both of these guys are good at their job so that isn’t an issue. I maybe wouldn’t have had El Grande Americano go over the actual luchador, but I’m not personally angry at it, I guess they’re just planning on continuing this character with Gable longer than I’d hope. Fenix needs his comeuppance on him now though so perhaps that’ll be the rivalry. Then, in the semi-main event, Tiffany Stratton defended her Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair. I was honestly, really looking forward to this match, and on paper I think it looks like it should absolutely deliver. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t really for me I don’t think. I’ve heard some people defend the sloppy moments and everything as well, saying that it was supposed to have that “shoot fight feel” because all the drama between these 2 leading up to the match and that it enhanced the storytelling of the match. I just wanted it to look cleaner because I’ve seen both of these ladies work very neatly in the ring in the past. I like Charlotte a lot, I always have. I think she’s just great in the ring and I think Tiffany has a whole lot of promise as well. I’m not saying that the match was even terrible because it really wasn’t, it was a decent match and it was really physical, there were just some sloppy and awkward moments throughout. Tiffany won though in a bit of a shocker. I really could’ve seen that one going either way, but I’m not upset by the result at all. Both of them had some pretty awesome entrances to start the match though, so kudos on that.
Then, the potential saving grace of Night 1! The main event Triple Threat matchup between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk. Or, the battle for Paul Heyman’s love and care match. All jokes aside, I freaking loved this contest. One of my 2 favorite matches of this year’s Mania easily. I can’t decide what’s 1 and what’s 2 right now, but regardless this was a *chef’s kiss*. I’m a Seth Rollins fanboy though, I always have been and have always gone to bat for him, so this felt like one of my happiest and most justified moments of Rollins fandom, only competing with the heist of the century. What made this one extra fun and memorable was having one of my best friends (who’s one of the biggest die-hard CM Punk fans in existence) there with me, so we were able to experience this together, talk all that smack leading up to it, and I was able to rub it in a little bit at the end. Not too much though, WrestleMania losses are hard enough so you don’t wanna go overboard with it, but when one of my favorites beats your favorite ever in the main event…you can bet I’m gonna talk a little bit of smack. Paul Heyman told the story here, leaving his best friend CM Punk and his Tribal Chief Roman Reigns ripe for the picking for Seth after laying them both out in the middle of the ring with a pair of low blow shots. I knew Paul was going to play an aspect in the outcome of this match, I just wasn’t sure to what degree, but I’m sure not upset at it. This is intriguing moving forward because the bad blood between these 3 is far from over. It just feels like a giant ‘To Be Continued’ at the end of one in a series of novels. Roman Reigns is all alone now for the first time in years and Seth has a manager/lackey for the first time since his Authority days. CM Punk certainly isn’t going to let Paul live this down easily though, so I say again, kudos. This was the best storytelling of the weekend, and it was entertaining. Night 1 was at times a bit lackluster admittedly, but the main event hit it out of the park for me.
Rating Night 1: 1-10 scale (.5 eligible)
World Heavyweight Championship match: Gunther (c) vs Jey Uso- 5/10
Raw Tag Team Championship match: The War Raiders (c) vs The New Day- 5.5/10
Jade Cargill vs Naomi- 6.5/10
United States Championship match: LA Knight (c) vs Jacob Fatu- 8/10
El Grande Americano vs Rey Fenix- 6/10
Women’s Championship match- Tiffany Stratton (c) vs Charlotte Flair- 6/10
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs CM Punk- 9/10
Night 2
Night 2 opened up with an absolute banger as Iyo Sky defended her Women’s World Championship in a triple threat match against Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. These 3 can obviously deliver in the ring, they’ve all proven that time and time again. Look, I like all 3 of these women a lot, but I have really been behind Iyo Sky the last couple years and have been waiting and hoping with bated breath to see her finally have that true cementing moment. Well, she finally got it here as she successfully defended her title against 2 of the very best currently going in the women’s division on the grandest stage of them all. The build to this match was at times a bit awkward and clunky for sure, but I had no doubt that regardless of the road to getting them there that once these 3 stepped into the ring it would deliver, but they even exceeded my expectations. It was like 15 minutes of non-stop action in such a fun and thought-out way, as a wrestling fan I just don’t know how you can’t enjoy that. This was an absolutely amazing opener and for me and, in many ways stole WrestleMania from an in-ring perspective. Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest followed it up with their Sin City Street Fight in the 2nd match and that one overall delivered for me as well. Both men had really cool entrances to the ring, with Drew donning a cloak and spiked shoulder pads with a shield and Damian donned vampire-esque wings and was played out by Slayer’s legendary guitarist. These 2 delivered a pretty good and hard-hitting affair, the weapons were used effectively but not a whole lot was honestly used. I feel like the match itself was really competent and well done, but not overly memorable. Being the 1 bout on the card with a true stipulation helped this match stand out, but the most memorable part of it ended up being the entrances. I like both these guys, but Drew needed the win, and he got it definitively. I think Damian will continue to be a prominent part on Smackdown and I hope he is, but I feel like 2025 will be a big year for Drew McIntyre.
The Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4 Way between defending Bron Breakker, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Penta came on 3rd, and this quickly became a fan favorite of the weekend. This was a really well-done and quick paced match, and the ending was very well executed. Dirty Dom got his early Mania moment and picked up the title after capitalizing on a downed Breakker and screwing over his fellow Judgment Day running brother, Finn Balor, in the process. I feel like Dom was the wild card pick to win this title, he’s who I had to win, but I wasn’t necessarily sure they would pull the trigger on it. I feel like Dom was the most exciting option to take if you weren’t going to just give Bron the well fought title defense, so I’m not upset by it and all 4 of these men played their part very well and executed a well-done match here. The Intercontinental Title picture is beginning to look fun again and I think Dom will help elevate it in the mid card for however long they’re willing to keep it on him. Randy Orton had his call out up next and the 1 man to answer the call was none other than Joe Hendry. I suppose say his name and he appears, right? I’m not a huge Joe Hendry guy, I obviously know about him because you can’t be a pro wrestling fan in 2025 and have not heard of this guy at this point, but I’m not like losing my mind over him like people on the internet seem to. Not bashing y’all, pro wrestling delivers a wide spectrum of content and we all like and are entertained by different things, that said I just haven’t really bought into the hype of this guy. It was pretty mind blowing to see a man who’s grinded on the Indies forever and is the current Impact Champion randomly pop up at a WrestleMania though so I will give props for that. The match itself was what it was, Randy made pretty quick work of the guy in the ring, but the main appeal to this segment anyways was the pop of the reveal. Cool moment, but one that I couldn’t fully relish in myself.
Logan Paul and AJ Styles had their clash next and this is a match that I’ve seen a lot of people online complaining about, but I actually quite enjoyed it. I think people were expecting more Mania shenanigans from Logan because that’s what he’s delivered the past couple years, but this match (while having some interference near the end), was really about the in-ring wrestling. Aside from the main event, this was the longest match of Night 2 and most of that match’s story was told in the ring through pro wrestling. Not what a lot of people want from a Logan Paul match I guess, but he said at the beginning of the year that he’s taking this seriously and it’s not just a hobby for him, so maybe he just wants to put on real good matches and minimize the shenanigans. No better dance partner to try that out with at WrestleMania than one of the cleanest performers there is, AJ Styles. I enjoyed this match more than most I think, Karrion Kross seems like he may finally be elevated and utilized with AJ coming out of this and Logan picked up another solid Mania win. I know some people wanted to see AJ win this one, but I feel like he’s at the point in his career now where he will be putting over a lot of young talent. I wasn’t disappointed by it though; I like Logan in the ring more than most. In the second to last match of the night, the Women’s Tag Team Championships were on the line as the champs, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez put the belts on the line against Lyra Valkyria and a mystery opponent. This was a bit upsetting for me as well, similar to the Rey Mysterio situation, because Bayley was initially meant to be Lyra’s tag partner, but she was attacked and taken out of the match a day beforehand. Honestly, I like both Lyra and Bayley, but they were already a thrown together team in the first place, I just kind of felt like it was BS that a veteran like Bayley should miss WrestleMania if she doesn’t really have to. I’m sure it’s going to be a storyline thing, but regardless, it feels like a cheap shot to Bayley in a way. Anyways, a returning Becky Lynch was the tag partner and these 2 shockingly picked up the belts in a pretty well fought/back and forth tag match. Most of this match hung on the pop when Becky returned and the anticipation to see her tagged into the match, but it was still alright. I wish Liv and Raquel would’ve just held onto the belts though, but I see why they didn’t because of what happened on Raw.
Then, oh boy. The much talked about and highly controversial main event of the evening. The ‘American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against 16x World Champion, John Cena. I really enjoyed both Cena and Cody’s entrances, they were polar opposites from one another, and it told a story before the match even started in itself. Cody Rhodes had the loud, flashy, Champion’s entrance complete with the mask and pyro and guys on dirt bikes and Cena was the exact opposite. Completely black titantron and entranceway with the plain white lettering of ‘John Cena’ imprinted across it is all he wanted or needed. The match itself was what it was. I was never expecting Cody and Cena to go out there and put on an absolute classic from an in-ring standpoint. They can both wrestle, but where both really succeed is storytelling. It feels like Cena’s story right now is that he’s so bitter towards the fans that he’s trying to ruin wrestling on his way out the door. It felt like he was purposely wrestling at a slow and annoying pace and using as few actual wrestling moves as possible just to piss off the people that piss him off. I’m not saying that this match was purposely terrible or that it was really even terrible in general, but it felt like it could’ve been deliberate just judging by what he’s saying. I think where a lot of the disappointment comes in is The Rock if we’re being honest. This dude comes around every Mania season (or really whenever he wants) now that he’s on the board and always wants to insert himself into the biggest things happening to create all the buzz just because he can. If you’re not going to step back in the ring and give us one last match against Roman or actually be there to pay off the stories that you (in a lot of ways) started, then just don’t bother. Then you got Travis Scott (no actual problem with him as a personality, I like some of his music) who had absolutely no business being involved in the main event in any capacity insert himself into the finish of the match. I love John Cena, huge fanboy, so I’m obviously happy he won #17, but it did feel a bit weird the way we got there. I’m willing to let the story play out though, just not how I would’ve ended WrestleMania, but the match itself didn’t bother me as much as the ending of it did.
Rating Night 2: 1-10 scale (.5 eligible)
Triple Threat Women’s World Championship match: Iyo Sky (c) vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair- 9.5/10
Sin City Street Fight: Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest- 7/10
Fatal 4-Way for Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs Finn Balor vs Dominik Mysterio vs Penta- 8/10
Randy Orton vs Joe Hendy- 5/10
Logan Paul vs AJ Styles- 7.5/10
Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Liv Morgan (c) & Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs Lyra Valkyria & Becky Lynch- 6/10
Undisputed WWE Championship match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs John Cena- 6.5/10
I enjoyed this WrestleMania all in all for what it’s worth, but the triple threat matches on the weekend were the true standouts for me. What did you all think about WrestleMania 41? What’s some of your highs and lows? Let me know! Thanks for sticking with me in this incredibly long review, until next time!
