Night One of WrestleMania 41 was a lackluster night at the office, but luckily, we were given one more night of sports entertainment to compensate. WrestleMania 41 Night Two was a much more entertaining event, with a better pace and better booking.
Without wasting any more time, let’s hop back in, review, and wrap up WrestleMania 41!
Night One began with a lackluster and, frankly, disappointing opening scrap between Jey Uso and Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Night Two kicked off with one of modern wrestling’s great Premium Live Event opening matches. From the first bell, everything was chaos at a blistering pace with some insane chemistry. After the disappointment of Night One, it briefly felt as though everything was forgiven, given how epic this fight was.
Women’s World Heavyweight Championship- Iyo Sky Defeated Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair
This match was a pummeling spot fest with fantastic chemistry, a perfect outcome, and truthfully, a legacy-cementing bout for all three women, as if any of them even needed it. This was so great, and I can not recommend giving this match a watch if you want to see some insanity. 4.75/ 5 stars.
Drew McIntyre Defeated Damian Priest
Speaking of spot fests- Drew McIntyre vs Damien Priest was a fun, rough, and action-packed scrap. These fellas have had violent beef since WrestleMania 40 last year, and I am glad we got to see a full match between them with some prop comedy tossed in. Last year at ‘Mania, Drew won the World Heavyweight Championship from an already beaten-down Seth Rollins, which allowed Drew a solid victory.
Moments later, Damien cashed in his Money in the Bank contract for an immediate match against Drew, which Drew would lose in five minutes. A five-minute title reign is valid enough reason for vengeance, and I also do not blame Drew for harboring that rage for an entire year. Fast forward to this year, and I quite enjoyed this dumb little punch-fest.
Drew McIntyre is so good as an Anti-Hero, and Damien Priest is a tough S.O.B. that never quits. I love it when two brutes who never know when to quit beat the life out of each other. Plain and simple- 3.75/ 5 stars.
Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio Defeated Bron Breakker, Penta, and Finn Balor
Fatal Four-Ways seem hard to book. They could either turn into cluttered catastrophes or brutal sluggings between four violent individuals. This match for the Intercontinental Championship was a fast-paced and entertaining matchup between four uber-talented athletes. Dominik Mysterio getting the clean pin and victory was the correct call, and I could not have been happier.
‘Dirty’ Dom Mysterio is a great performer, and this match cemented that, considering his competition was a Luchador version of The Joker (Penta), an actual military tank (Bron Breakker), and Mr. Abs himself (Finn Balor). This match was great. Everyone got their time in the sun, some standout spots for each performer, Beast Mode Bron, and a perfect ending. Yeah, man! 4/ 5 Stars. WrestleMania 41 Night Two is already off to an incredible start! What could come next?
Randy Orton Defeated TNA World Champion Joe Hendry
I do not accept “I have been living under a rock” as an excuse for not knowing who Joe Hendry is. All you have to do is say his name, and then he will appear. Going into this match, the story was that Randy Orton was due to face Kevin Owens, but Owens needed neck surgery, so Randy was without an opponent.
So, who do you get that brings an exciting WrestleMania moment, makes this segment worth not having a star name like KO, and is fun? The TNA Champion himself- Joe Hendry, that is who! There was no story here besides Randy’s lack of an opponent, and this moment was just for WrestleMania, but I loved this segment. The crowd pop, the head turns, the energy, the RKO, and the moment were all so perfect. Say his name, and he appears! I believe in Joe Hendry *Clap, clap*.
A major complaint about this segment was how it seemed like WWE buried TNA by having a quick three-minute match, but when you hear that crowd’s reaction to an outsider going up against one of wrestling’s greatest talents, I don’t think the praise gets any higher than that. You can see Randy’s reaction to the crowd loving him, and you can tell he is down with it. 4/ 5 stars, and I do not care at all.
Logan Paul Defeated AJ Styles
I do not like Logan Paul. I never have, and I never will. The only nice thing I can say about him is that he is good at imitating spots in other wrestlers’ movesets. Seeing the Logan Paul Experiment succeed frustrates me, because at WrestleMania, he pinned one of the greatest performers in all of history ever seen- AJ Styles.
I was not excited for this match, and I was correct not to be, because the final moments of this already irritating match ended with Logan’s friend Jeff helping him. Karrion Kross appeared in AJ Styles’ defense, but it was pointless. My apologies, Mr. Jones, but this was not a good match. You deserve better than Logan Paul, Jeff the Influencer, and a WrestleMania loss. 2/ 5 stars.
Women’s Tag Team Championship: Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria Defeated Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan
This was a quick and easy breather after the irritation of Paul v. Styles. Big Time Becks makes her return to a giant pop, and they pick up an easy win. I have never been the biggest fan of Becky Lynch’s in-ring abilities, but her energy and mic skills are undeniable. I bring that up because, ironically, the actual wrestling parts of the match that Becky was in were the lowlights. The chemistry was there, Lyra working with a fellow Irishman was cool, Lyra becoming a multi-title holder is great, and Liv and Raquel are thoroughly entertaining together.
Although I maintain that negative opinion, I had a good time with this match. Becky’s appearance surprised me, considering she was backstage celebrating Seth’s victory the night before, but it is good to see her back. If only they didn’t drop the titles right back to Liv and Rocky the next night, with Becky turning into an unconvincing heel. 3.5/5 Stars.
Oh, and speaking of unconvincing heels:
Main Event- WWE Championship: John Cena Defeated Cody Rhodes
This was a bad match. There are two silver linings from this match. The first silver lining is that John Cena has finally set the record with his 17th WWE Championship win, and the second is that Cody finally has motivation again to fight for the title. That is everything pleasant I have to say about this match.
On the go-home show before WrestleMania 41, John said to Cody, “I don’t have to wrestle you to beat you,” and that was intriguing. I didn’t think he meant he literally wasn’t going to wrestle him. This whole “Match” was way too long, two guys barely touching each other, Travis Scott intervening on Cena’s behalf, and one of the lamest endings in modern wrestling history.
I understand the point of the whole match was to build up to John goading Cody to hit him with the title, and do a bad-guy thing, since Cody is a good guy. That would have been cool and effective if the match had been an actual match.
John Cena vs Cody Rhodes Continued
Instead of Captain America versus Captain America, we were given pre-Super Soldier Serum Steve Rogers (Captain America) versus a pre-experimented-on John Walker (The U.S. Agent). It was boring and sloppy. The character drama was present, but it was surface-level stuff. Not Travis Scott intervening in the segment- that was something else that was equally bad.
Mix disappointment with bad booking, and this whole ending was a dud. What was all this buildup for? Two generations of THE guy are about to square off, with this being the final year of Cena’s career, and there was so much potential for this to be a moment in history, but again, a dud. I hate ending things on a bad note, but so did WrestleMania 41. 1/ 5 stars, man.
WrestleMania 41 Night 2 by Nolen Kelly
Night Two of WrestleMania 41 may have ended on a sour note, but I had a great time with (most) of the rest of the card! The TNA World Champion appeared at WrestleMania against one of the greatest- Randy Orton. Rhea, Bianca, and Iyo put on an all-time great contest. John Cena became a 17-time World Champion. There was some solid competition in the good matches, and even one of the bad ones, but Night Two was a much better night.
WrestleMania 41 was a tricky event with some good payoffs here and there, but also a bit of disappointment. Night Two of WrestleMania 41, I give 3.75/ 5 stars! WrestleMania 41 gets a 3/ 5 star rating as a whole. Those are my thoughts, and I would love to hear yours! For more reviews, stay here at Respect My Region.
