Well, the 1st night of WrestleMania 42 is in the books and the voices and opinions for it are already loud. I will say, I am a bit on the negative side of things here as well, but I do think there was some positive elements to take from the night still overall. I got all my predictions right for Night 1 though so there’s a small brag. The show started off with the first hour, equal to the first 2 matches on the card, being live and free to everyone over on ESPN2 in an attempt I’m sure to entice people to purchase the ESPN Unlimited app to view the rest of the card. They’re doing the same thing tonight on ESPN’s flagship channel with Brock/Oba and the big 6-man ladder match for the IC title. Night 1 was led off with the 6-man tag team match consisting of Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and iShowSpeed versus The Usos and LA Knight. Jey Uso also led off the card at Mania 41 but in a much more high-profile spot as he won the World Heavyweight title against Gunther on that night. Jey was the hot commodity at that point though and for once WWE decided to capitalize while the iron was still hot, but Jey is always enhanced with his brother and as a tag team wrestler. Nothing against the guy, his reign last year just felt short and directionless. This year he picked up another win alongside his brother and LA Knight, with Knight getting the pin after hitting a BFT on Theory. After the match, Logan Paul started bullying and roughing up Speed, clearly blaming him for the loss. They fought to the outside and Logan cleared off an announce table for his big splash, but Speed was saved by Knight and the Usos who beat Logan up and set him up on the cleared announce table making way for Speed to hit a big splash from the ring post and through the announce table onto Logan. That was their big viral social media moment of the match and really the only moment that mattered or will be remembered from it in the long run.
Jacob Fatu took on Drew McIntyre in an Unsanctioned match in the final match free to everyone on ESPN2. Fatu had one of the cooler entrances on the night with Polynesian fire twirlers putting on a performance on the stage during his entrance. This was a pretty hard-hitting affair as it should’ve been, but honestly I wish they would’ve taken it even a bit further. Guess they weren’t allowed to bleed since they were on cable television still or because Cody and Orton would later in the main event, or whatever dumb reason, but this was a match that could’ve used some blood. It almost felt like it called for it from a believability standpoint, especially given the story these 2 told heading into Mania. They had one of the better told stories on a week-to-week basis heading into the show and have been beating the hell out of each other the last number of weeks already, so this was finally their chance to get their hands on each other. No rules, no one stopping them, and I feel like they could’ve just taken it a bit further in that aspect. They still beat and whipped on each other with chairs, belts, kendo sticks, tools from a toolbox, and the actual toolbox itself. The highest spots of the match saw Fatu get shoved by Drew off the top rope where he got flung backwards and smashed through a table sitting in the ringside area. The finish saw Fatu lay McIntyre down for good with a moonsault onto Drew from the top rope and through a table. If nothing else, hopefully this rivalry and this win sets Fatu up for big things heading into the rest of 2026. The dude is a wild man, and I love him for it. I have heard Drew may be heading off to shoot a movie soon as well so this may be a way of writing him off TV for a while, I’m not sure.
Next up, was the Fatal-4-Way tag match for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. The champion Irresistible Forces took on the teams of Bayley & Lyra Valkyria, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, and the Bella Twins. Well, at least it was supposed to be the Bella Twins. There has been a lot of speculation for the last week if Nikki was going to be cleared in time for the match because she messed up her ankle pretty bad a couple weeks back and has kept the Bellas off TV heading into Mania. Well, it was revealed as she came out onto the ramp alongside Brie with a walking boot and a crutch that she would in fact not make it in time for the match, but she called in a favor to an old friend. Out comes the returning Paige who hasn’t been in WWE in years after being forced to retire from in-ring action due to a neck injury and has been wrestling the last handful of years in AEW under the ring name, her actual name, Saraya. This was probably moment of the night for me to be honest, I’ve always loved Paige and have been a huge fan of hers since her debut the night after Mania XXX in 2014. She was my OG favorite woman on the roster when the women were actually starting to get time and given a chance to prove themselves in the ring. Paige and AJ Lee were 2 of the original catalysts in that movement years back so it’s cool seeing both of them back within the world of the WWE now and given a chance to mix it up with an entire new generation of women that they helped pave the way for. The crowd gave a huge pop when Paige was finally tagged into the match and again when her and Charlotte had a stare down in the ring again after all these years. The finish saw the team of Flair and Bliss look like they were on the path to victory, until Nikki made her presence known and whacked Charlotte with her crutch and knocked her off the apron. This momentary distraction caused enough pause for Paige to get her knees up when Alexa went for Twisted Bliss and she planted her with the Ram-Paige for the pin and win. I wouldn’t imagine Paige and Brie Bella are the long term plans for tag champs because that’s one of the most random and thrown together teams ever, but it made for a cool moment on the night and gave Paige a chance to celebrate in front of the fans upon her return.
Next up, the aforementioned AJ Lee put her Intercontinental Championship on the line against her bitter rival, The Man, Becky Lynch. Becky came out with a “live” performance from the band that performs her newer entrance theme. I only put the quotes around live because I’m pretty sure the dude singing was clearly lip syncing his parts, he wasn’t caught up with the words at all and the audio track sounded too crisp to be live. AJ came out with a band of little AJ’s; little girls dressed in AJ attire who skipped with her down to the ring. They put on a pretty solid match, I’ve enjoyed their story and rivalry as well and really enjoyed having AJ back around for a Mania build. Couple high points saw AJ reverse the Manhandle Slam into a Black Widow, but Becky spun her off of her body and into the turnbuckles setting her up for a successful Manhandle Slam and a near fall. AJ also hit Becky with her very own Manhandle Slam after she was distracted arguing with her nemesis referee Jessika Carr and AJ got a near fall from it. The finish saw Becky pull AJ’s hair to escape the Black Widow before exposing the turnbuckle, using Jessika Carr as a shield and distracting her in the process, and sending AJ face first into the exposed buckle before dropping her with another Manhandle Slam for the pin and win. This was cool because Becky got her win over AJ finally, but it was done dirty so there’s still a story to tell with AJ now as she’ll be looking to get her lick back, and the fact that Jessika Carr was the referee when this all went down just thickens the plot between her and Becky even more as well. Match could’ve went a bit longer but I think that could be said for most these matches.
Next up, Gunther took on Seth Rollins in what may have been the wrestled match of the night in my opinion. I will say these are 2 of my very favorite men’s wrestlers on the roster though so there may be a little bias there but they were actually given some time to work with unlike some of the matches on this card and it was never a question on if these 2 could deliver a good match in the ring or not. Gunther went on the attack as Rollins was taking his jacket off during his entrance and the 2 started brawling all over the outside area before the match ever got started. I was honestly worried that the match was going to get thrown out before the bell could even ring, but they eventually got them separated, momentarily cooled off, and back into the squared circle so the bell could officially ring. The 2 worked at a quick and hard-hitting pace from the jump and never really let off the gas for the majority of their runtime. Beating the hell out of each other with chops, powerbombs, buckle bombs, stomps, sleeper holds, and all of their calling cards before the action eventually spilled to the outside of the ring. Rollins dove onto Gunther who was escaping to the outside to catch his breath, but he caught Rollins and slammed him with a powerbomb on the announce table. Rollins eventually got the upper hand back and dropped Gunther with a Pedigree followed up by a Stomp on top of the announce table. As Rollins was waiting on the referee to check on Gunther, a returning Bron Breakker came out of nowhere sprinting down the ramp and leveled Rollins with a Spear through the barricade. A dazed Gunther locked in the sleeper on a near motionless Rollins and caused him to pass out for the win. This match went about entirely how I expected it to go, Gunther picking up the win but shenanigans being involved to help Seth kind of save face as well. I dug it though, sometimes predictable isn’t bad if the match delivers. It went down the way it needed to, and the guys hit all their beats well.
Next up was Stephanie Vaquer defending her Women’s World Championship against the greatest Royal Rumble winner of ALLLLLL time…at least in her mind, Liv Morgan. This is the match on the night that I kind of take issue with. I wanted a bit more out of Fatu/Drew, and I thought Becky/AJ could’ve gone a little longer, but this match is guilty of both of those things. It felt like they were rushed or the match’s time got cut or something when it completely didn’t need to be. I don’t know, maybe this was the plan for the match all along, but in my eyes they still left a lot on the table and a lot to be desired. Hell, Liv’s corny entrance debuting her new pop song with a dance crew and routine to go along with it felt like it went on just about as long as the match itself did. They still hit all their signature offense with Steph hitting her ever-famous Devil’s Kiss and even stealing Liv’s Oblivion at one point for a near fall. Liv went for a Devil’s Kiss herself at one point, but Steph countered out. Liv’s Judgment Day sisters Raquel & Roxanne made their presence known ringside and Roxy distracted the ref as Raquel attacked Vaquer, setting Liv up for an Oblivion and a close 2. Steph hit a Springboard onto Liv & Raquel on the outside, but Liv drove her into the steel steps off a momentary distraction and sent her back into the ring for a 2nd Oblivion for the pin and win. After the match, Liv celebrated in the ring with Dirty Dom and her Judgment Day girls. I just feel like the women involved had potential to do a lot more on the night than just hit their signature offense and call it a day, but alas we got what we got, and the match did what it needed to do. Put the belt back on Liv in time for the Judgment Day implosion. Potentially. I’ve been saying those words for like 2 years now, but it just feels like it’s about time.
Then it was time for the main event! Cody Rhodes defending his WWE Undisputed Championship against his former mentor, the legend, on the hunt for his 15th World Championship, Randy Orton…and Pat McAfee? They got rid of Pat from the equation pretty quickly, which is hilarious to me considering he’s dominated all the storytelling in this rivalry for the last few weeks, but the fan backlash has been enough that they decided they’d mainly write around him, at least as much as they could, for the actual match. He cut a hilarious and ridiculous hype promo for Orton before clocking Cody in the head with the mic and starting a brawl that led to the outside. Cody got the upper hand and set Pat up on an announce table, but Jelly Roll appeared in Cody’s corner and laid a big splash onto Pat through the table which led to Pat being stretchered out and the match began. Cody kind of worked more as the smart and capitalizing wrestler than the typical clean babyface on the night, bringing the fight to Orton from the jump and staying on the attack on him for a majority of the match. Orton seemed to have undisclosed injuries or consistent pains in his back and knees and Cody capitalized on it attacking and targeting those areas and weakening the Viper’s abilities. Orton got sent into the post and busted open good straight across his forehead. He couldn’t even pull off his signature taunt pounding into the mat when he started gaining the upper hand because he was in too much pain. Orton hit a too confident Rhodes with his own signature move, the Cross Rhodes, and Cody followed up shortly after with an RKO of his own as well. Lots of stealing each other’s moves last night it felt like, perhaps that’s the theme of this Mania. Cody was RKO’d for a near fall and eventually he poked Orton in the eye while fighting back causing him to accidentally RKO the referee while blinded. Orton went to low-blow Cody, but Cody blocked it and hit a low-blow himself on Orton only to dive into another RKO. A referee ran down to the ring, which ended up being Pat McAfee in a neck brace, but Cody still kicked out at 2 1/2. Orton hit an RKO on Pat I’m assuming for letting him down? Off this distraction a dazed Cody hit Orton with a Cross Rhodes as the ref crawled over for the 1-2-3. After the match Cody celebrated with the belt held high, but a crazed and upset Orton went on the attack and clocked Cody with the belt before nailing him with his signature Punt, which we haven’t seen in years. Something tells me this story is just beginning, but they delivered well on the night.
Match Ratings: (1-10 scale, .25 applicable)
- 6-Man Tag Team Match: The Vision (Logan Paul & Austin Theory) & iShowSpeed vs The Usos & LA Knight- 6/10
- Unsanctioned Match: Jacob Fatu vs Drew McIntyre- 7/10
- Fatal-4-Way for the Women’s Tag Team Championships: The Irresistible Forces (c) vs Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs Paige & Brie Bella-7/10
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship match: AJ Lee (c) vs Becky Lynch-7.5/10
- Seth Rollins vs Gunther–8/10
- Women’s World Championship match: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs Liv Morgan- 5.5/10
- WWE Undisputed Championship match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs Randy Orton-8/10
That’s it for now folks! Join me for my (hopefully) exciting coverage over Night 2! Make sure to like the page on social media or come back to the website often to keep up with all my latest posts on WWE, horror films (new & classic), newly released movies, NFL, and more! Until next time, be good to one another!
