My recent Wrestlemania rewatches have gotten me interested to see what the current product looks like. While I once was a diehard fan who cried multiple times when Shawn Michaels lost, I haven’t watched religiously since the early 2000s. I watched last year mainly to see Stone Cold and stuck around to see how it was doing. That’s the last time I watched any recent pro wrestling, but I’ve still paid some attention. I won’t pretend to know what I’m talking about for this year, or who half these wrestlers are. Instead, this will be a New Generation/Attitude era fan (with a deep love for the golden years) critiquing the current WWE with a review of Wrestlemania XL.
And sticking with my Wrestlemania rewatches, beer will be involved for this one. There’s only one beer I can think of that is perfect for this event: El Segundo Broken Skull IPA. Stone Cold Steve Austin’s beer. Beer made by the man who showed me how awesome drinking beer can be. This isn’t my first time drinking this (or even my 100th time, honestly), so it’s nothing new. For someone who isn’t usually an IPA guy, this one doesn’t taste like your typical one. It’s more creamy than hoppy, and at $16 for a four-pack, it’s reasonably priced.
Wrestlemania Begins
I am a huge proponent of outdoor wrestling events. The overhead shot of the stadium being filled in the daylight makes it look like something I wish I’d made the short drive from New York to be at. I’m sure it’s freezing there; it is early April in Philly. But, the crowd doesn’t appear to mind. The Wrestlemania sets have gotten much more monumental over the years, and this one looks both clean and gigantic.
As we began, I was holding out hope that they’d just have a video of Mean Gene Okerlund singing the national anthem to start, but instead, they went with Coco Jones. The cuts to the active military were good, but this would’ve benefited from a montage like the classic Wrestlemanias. They’re in Philly, they didn’t want to showcase any of that American history during the song? Overall, good rendition, and the flags taking over every video screen possible looked good.
We get Triple H next, who wisely chose not to take the long walk to the ring holding water in his mouth. Maybe he was afraid it’d freeze by the time he got to the ring. He only spoke like 10 words total, including the famous “Welcome to Wrestlemania” before retreating to the back.
Match 1: Women’s World Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley (C)
We start with quotes from Becky Lynch’s book and highlights showing her progression from green-clad Irish step-dancing in the ring to becoming The Man. Her entrance attire is, I think, a tutu with images of passages from her book?
Rhea comes out and I have no idea who this is screaming her entrance music. Michael Cole says their name but I think he just made it up. Pretty sure they’re the guys Robin fought in “Batman Forever”. Or that baseball gang from The Warriors. Rhea has the same eye makeup as Becky, both looking like they opened a bag of stolen money from the bank and a smoke bomb went off in their faces. I don’t know much about Rhea, but this entrance has firmly enhanced my previous notions about her. Which is: she scares the hell out of me.
Samantha Irvin is the ring announcer, who is setting the bar pretty high for passion and dramatic flair as she introduces the two. We’ll see if she keeps that up all night.
The match moves pretty fast. Neither one dominates throughout. Becky does more acrobatic moves in the air while Rhea just showcases her feminine assets. Which for her is mainly superhuman strength. A lot of “close” calls, and I genuinely wasn’t sure who would win since they both kept kicking out. The crowd also seemed 50/50 and wanted whoever was pinning the other at the moment to win. Front-running Philly fans.
Becky apparently was sick with a fever and strep throat. Pat McAfee made sure we knew that multiple times during the match. In the end, even though she was sick, this wasn’t Becky Lynch’s flu game. After, I think, 39 kickouts, she finally had enough and Rhea hit the Riptide for the win.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Break: Sneek Peak and Pretty Deadly
A sneak peek for Rebel Moon Part 2 comes on, and I’m going to use this time to go pee and crack another Stone Cold beer.
They come back with a vignette of Pretty Deadly discussing the upcoming tag match participants. No idea who these guys are either (that’s going to be a running theme), but one of them is unironically wearing the puffy shirt from Seinfeld.
Match 2: Smackdown and Raw Tag-Team Championship Ladder Match: DIY vs. Miz and R Truth vs. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory vs. The New Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Damian Priest and Finn Balor
This is as close as we’ll get to a classic 20-man battle royal that Wrestlemanias of old showcased. Instead, it’s 12 guys, 5 ladders, and 3 tables. So 20 items in total. Almost the same.
As the wrestlers make their entrance, it becomes even more clear to me I’m out of my element here. I’ve never heard of DIY but one of them is trying his hardest Shawn Michaels impression and their clad in DX colors. My personal bias is making me dislike them based strictly on my own HBK fandom.
Miz and R Truth are two I know. I’ve seen them both wrestle many times, but they seem to be copying DIY with the DX cosplay. Not with their attire, but their bargain store New Age Outlaws entrance.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory enter, and I know Theory. Mostly because I watched last year’s event. Solely because I watched last year’s event.
The New Day comes out and they seem familiar. Are these the guys who used to eat pancakes? A quick Google search shows they indeed are. Completely shocked that the gimmick didn’t last. SHOCKED.
New Catch Republic is next and I’m fairly certain they’re name is also a clothing brand. That’s it. That’s all I have to say about them.
Damian Priest and Finn Balor get a scary dark entrance. Not sure if it was the smartest idea to have a graphic showing 4 grim reapers overlooking the stadium from the sky. Between Earthquakes in New York and the upcoming solar eclipse, people may have thought that was another sign of the impending apocalypse.
Due to my lack of recent wrestling knowledge, I have almost no idea who is who as this match begins. Some guys think that immediately climbing the ladder is a good strategy. The ten other guys who chose not to do that let them know it was a bad idea. I do love that R Truth’s character is basically just that he rides the short bus. The first belts are grabbed by Theory and Waller, and nobody seems to care. It happened quickly and unceremoniously. Even the people in the stadium kinda were audibly going “Huh? That’s it?”
After the first belts are grabbed, tables are brought out and the “ECW” chants begin. It takes a while but we eventually get an over-the-top rope DDT into one of the tables, immediately followed by someone being slammed from the top of the ladder to the mat. R Truth looks like he’s going to grab the belts, but someone else I have never heard of interferes. He ends up going over the top into a table. Damian Priest then appeared like he was going to win, but Miz came scurrying up the ladder and stopped him. R Truth ends up alone in the ring again, and the crowd cheers him on. He struggled to get the belts down, which may have been accidental, but it kept in character for him.
Overall a good match with a couple of great bumps. The first table bump with a DDT was great, but the bump from the top of the ladder was the best of the match. I also lost track of where most of the wrestlers were throughout the match, as it seemed there were only like four guys at most in the ring at a time. That leaves eight unaccounted for.
Winner: R Truth and The Miz (Raw) and Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (Smackdown)
Match 3: Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar
Next up is Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs. Reys son Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar. I’m surprised this feud is still going, as I thought Dominik was Rhea Ripley’s bitch or something now. Also, no idea who these other two are. Or any of the entourage who accompanied them to the ring.
Are there any conspiracy theories that Rey Mysterio has been multiple people? This dude hasn’t lost a step from what I remember, even as far back as WCW. It probably also helps that you can’t see his face.
The match is interrupted by two masked men who help Rey Mysterio get the win. While celebrating, we find out their Eagles players Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson. While it might seem random that they’d interfere in this match, let’s not forget that Kelce stole some kid’s luchador mask during the Super Bowl parade. Was that an accident, or just one long kayfabe?
Match 4: Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
Civil war match next, brother vs brother. Jey Uso who is introduced by Lil Wayne, who raps some gibberish, vs. Jimmy Uso. 30 years after Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, we get Uso vs. Uso. Jimmy comes out sans any rapper but does have a grimacing look on his face like he’s holding back a monster dookie.
The match itself was pretty boring, with the two trading punches and kicks for way too long. There’s more drama than fighting. Eventually, we get the obvious backstabbing, as Jimmy played coy and tried to trick his brother. Jey in the end would go on to win. The weakest match of the night.
Winner: Jey Uso
Break: Cody Rhodes is in the building
We get our first glimpse of Cody Rhodes after the match, entering the arena with his gear. It’s about five seconds and seemed like it could’ve been more, but they move on to the next match. Not the best build for one of the main eventers.
Match 5: Triple Tag Team: Damage CTRL vs. Naomi, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
A couple of geishas help introduce Damage CTRL, who surprisingly chose not to come out to Yokozuna’s music. Naomi, Jade Cargill, and Bianca Belair come out, not sure what Jade’s white line down her body symbolizes. Maybe the geishas just had some extra white paint she decided to use. Also, one of the Damage CTRL women looks like she may have been singing backup for Rhea Ripley’s entrance theme band earlier.
The match was spent building up Jade’s entrance, who dominated her opponents once tagged in. She’d go on, to the surprise of nobody, to hit her finisher and make the pin. This was a glorified squash match.
Winner: Jade Cargill, Naomi and Bianca Belair
Match 6: Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn vs. Gunther (C)
Time now for defending Intercontinental champion Ivan Drago vs Rocky Balboa. Or at least that’s how they’re really pushing to build Gunther vs. Sami Zayn. Zayn even was dropping Rocky quotes in the lead-up to this match, and it taking place in Philadelphia was a bit too on the nose.
Also, I know Gunther is this dominant champion who just disposes of opponents, but all I think about when I see him is the WCW wrestler Alex Wright. Just need to get him a leather jacket and have him dance on his way to the ring.
While I mock the Rocky angle of this match, I found myself actually getting behind Zayn and actually cheering when he’d kick out (repeatedly). Especially after the double-power bombs. We got treated to a Rocky 4 finish (we’ll forget Gunther is German, not Russian) as Zayn found the energy for a comeback and got the win. The only thing missing was him calling for his wife to join him in the ring during all the commotion, or at least screaming “Yo, Adrian (not her name), WE DID IT!”
Winner: Sammi Zayn
Break: The GMs
The general managers for Raw and Smackdown come out to let the fans know there are 74,000 of them in attendance tonight. Nothing remarkable here, and it would have been much better if Sgt. Slaughter came out and decided he is going to take over GM duties moving forward. Missed opportunity.
Match 7: Main Event: Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock and Roman Reigns
This is the big event of the night, what the people paid for. The Rock is wrestling for the first time in 8 years and has now main-evented in four different decades. Cody and Seth Rollins got good pops from the crowd, but The Rock got the biggest. He came out with his “Peoples Champion” belt, but that’s really not much more official than any of the thousands of belts fans hold in the stands.
Am I the only one who finds Roman Reigns boring? Reigns gets the start, but it’s clearly just to build anticipation for The Rock. The Rock didn’t seem to have lost a step at all, and the crowd was into it. The four of them eventually wound up outside the ring for a while. The presence of The Rock and this match setting the rules for Sunday’s main event meant it’d be inevitable we see some cheating. I love how they used The Rock threatening to fire the ref to allow him to do whatever he wanted. Also, the interaction between him and Cody’s mom was good.
There’d be more nearfalls again, mostly with Cody. It felt at a few points he and Rollins might actually win this match, but common sense prevailed. I was, like many, sitting anxiously waiting for the music of certain WWE legends to hit throughout. However, with The Rock and Reigns winning, it sets that up to happen on night two. Roman spearing The Rock was a highlight to me, as I’m sure The Rock’s reaction will become a GIF in no time.
Winner: The Rock and Roman Reigns
Final Thoughts
I know this is Cody’s story, so adding another layer of difficulty in having “Bloodine” rules on Sunday makes it better. Also, why aren’t we just saying “No DQ”? Overall, I think it was a good match, especially for lasting 45 minutes. It had close calls and good bumps, and the audience was into it. The Rock is now set up to impact the main event of Night 2. Rollins’s knee being messed up will also most likely play a factor in his match. I hope Cody’s story is finished on Sunday. Bonus points if Goldust somehow shows up. Meanwhile, I’ll be anxiously hoping that glass breaks during the match and my inner child rejoices.
Thanks for reading! For more sports content, visit Belly Up Sports and follow me on X, @RyanCapalbo, and feel free to send beer recommendations!
Featured Image: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
