Night 1 of Wrestlemania was pretty good, as I thoroughly enjoyed the main event. It set up what should be a classic for Night 2, and I’ve been looking forward to my Wrestlemania XL Night 2 review.
For beer, I’m sticking with my Stone Cold beers from the night before. Not only because I love them, but also out of hope that he makes an appearance. I’m also making sure to keep champagne cold, in hopes that Cody finishes his story.
Wrestlemania XL Begins (again)
Meek Mill kicks things off with a pretaped entrance video. Meek is actually a huge wrestling fan, as he and Diddy used to “wrestle” all the time, apparently.
War and Treaty start with God Bless America. There was not much patriotic imagery during this, unlike last night (which was even lacking). More just focus on the two singing, which wasn’t bad. A flag or two would’ve helped get the red, white, and blue blood flowing, but not a huge deal.
Stephanie McMahon then comes out in place of her husband, Triple H, from night 1. Stephanie starts by talking about the weather being a little warmer, with a sly smile on her face like you’d see when a woman says “gracias” to the waiter at a Mexican restaurant.
Match 1: World Heavyweight Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins (C)
As the music hits, I’m suddenly transformed back to my wedding night as bagpipes play. Drew McIntyre comes out missing only a horse and sword, billed the Scottish Warrior. Slap some William Wallace facepaint on at least. (Side note: I have no doubt that’s probably happened at some point in the past.)
I’m suddenly back at my wedding again, the afterparty when I took LSD, as Seth Rollins has an odd assortment of colorful characters playing his entrance theme. It looks like when Dewey Cox tried to make a record of an album before running through the streets in his underwear. As per Michael Cole, they’re a Philly thing, which is weird since none of them were dressed as Rocky or cheesesteaks. At least not that I saw.
Seth and Drew look like they could be brothers. Drew is the older, more mature one who sticks to the straight and narrow. And Seth the one who had to see multiple doctors as a kid, who continually tinkered with his medications. Drew comes in hot when the bell rings, and for a moment it looked like it actually may be a 10-second upset, but Seth kicked out last second. First move of the night and we’re already starting with the late kickouts.
It’s a good match, signified by the crowd chanting ‘This is awesome!”, which already is 100x more life than the fans had the night before. They wisely played up the impending McIntrye-CM Punk feud during the match. McIntyre ends up hitting Rollins with the claymore and getting a clean pin. Punk and McIntyre stare each other down before exchanging words, which Punk tries to let him know he can’t hear. Since that doesn’t work, Punk trips McIntyre and gives him a beatdown outside the ring.
While McIntyre is still reeling from that, Damian Priest’s music hits and he cashes in on his Money in the Bank. Ten seconds later we have another new World Heavyweight Champion. We then get another McIntyre-Punk stare-down, just this time sans a title belt.
Winner: Drew McIntyre; Then Damien Priest
Match 2: Philadelphia Street Fight: The Final Testament vs. Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits
Special Guest Commentator: Snoop Dog
Special Guest Referee: Bubba Ray Dudley
We get some award-bait cinematography as The Final Testament comes out in black and white. No idea who any of these people are except Paul Ellering. Perhaps the girl in Final Testament is wearing spikes as an homage to Legion of Doom, but most likely not.
Bobby Lashley looks like he could punch a hole in a cement wall, his partners… not so much. The opponents probably knew this, which is why they started the match off with the three of them just simultaneously bashing Lashley with kendo sticks. That’s a hate crime in most places, but Philly ain’t most places.
A table spot was botched, which added to the overall feeling of the match, as it was just a fun one to watch. It wasn’t too serious, but it could have used a little more weapon usage or Bubba Ray participation. One dude did fly at one point though, over the entire turnbuckle from his feet, which was awesome.
Winner: Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits
Break: LA Knight and AJ Styles recap
Glad to see they’re keeping both the relationship with Slim Jim alive, as well as the memory of Macho Man. La Knight also comes through a kid’s computer at one point and calls him out for having a sticky keyboard, I’m sure many wrestling fans felt personally attacked.
Match 3: LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
LA Knight enters and gives away a Slim Jim car, which is kinda cool. It’d be a lot cooler if the car was shaped like the Oscar Mayer wiener mobile but as a Slim Jim. Completely shit the bed with that miss.
The match is great for anyone who loves actual pro wrestling. The two cooked up a great fight and they clearly have an awesome chemistry. It had no major frills but was rather just two awesome pro wrestlers going one-on-one. In the end, Knight got the pin.
Winner: LA Knight
Break: Hall of Fame recap
A quick recap of the HOF ceremony a few days ago, with all the recipients (or their reps) introduced on stage. Paul Heymans speech was the highlight, but the phone lights in memory of Bray Wyatt stood out to me more.
Match 4: United States Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul (C)
The amount of hatred I have for Logan Paul (and his brother) is infinite. Why we continue to give them any attention is beyond me. For all sakes and purposes though, I will (try to) hold back my contempt for him and focus on the match.
Bitchface McGee, sorry, Logan Paul enters on a Prime Drink pick-up and shoots a fake cannon, while prime mascots dance. Pretty underwhelming entrance for a champion. Kevin Owens is greeted by Sami Zayn on his way out, a nice call back to the night before. Owens then gets a golf cart from the back and drives that down, instantly better than some lame Prime truck. He also uses it to pick up Randy Orton from the entrance. Classy move, Kev.
This match would have been better suited to be the Philadelphia Street Fight, mainly so Owens and Orton could beat him senselessly with kendo sticks. The match does start with them teaming up against him, though they eventually turn on one another. Some dude named Speed (?) who is also a YouTuber is wearing the Prime outfit and gets RKO’d on a table. No idea who this guy is, but lost me at “he’s a YouTuber.”
The match was pretty good overall, and all three contributed well. It just had an unfortunate ending with Paul getting the win. He’s not a bad wrestler, but being a good wrestler doesn’t make you less of a trash human being. Hopefully, he avoided IYO Sky in the back after his win.
Winner: Logan Paul and myself, as my disdain for him is my excuse for another beer.
Match 5: Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. IYO Sky (C)
There’s a long montage recapping how this match came to be, which is basically just because IYO Sky didn’t want to be Bayley’s friend anymore. I’m not really familiar with either of these two, I’ve seen them both but never followed them really. It’s another good match though, as all of the ones on night 2 have been. Just the two of them going back and forth, showcasing their talent. They did use the last-second kickouts again, but this time when Bayley kicked out after a moonsault, it felt like the crowd really was expecting her to lose. That moment brought life back into the crowd, cheering for Bayley, and she didn’t disappoint.
Winner: Bayley
Break: Snoop Dog and Eagles Cheerleaders
Snoop Dog comes out with the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders and starts dancing, along with their mascot. It’s basically another callback to LSD memories, pretty much nothing more.
Match 6: Main Event: Undisputed Universal Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (C)
This is the big one, the match two years in the making. Cody enters wearing a skull mask that looks like a prop from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Also, pretty sure he couldn’t see out of it. This is ignored though as the focus is on who is by his side, his wife Brandi.
A school orchestra sings Reigns’ theme as he enters. It’d have been a lot cooler if the bagpipers from earlier could’ve learned his song. Oh well. Hulk Hogan is also punching air somewhere as the announcers discuss Roman breaking his title streak. Also, why is that a huge thing now? For every champion, it seems they feel the need to mention how many days they’ve held their titles. Do the fans who buy their own titles keep track of how many days they’ve owned them for?
The match starts and “Cody” chants fill the stadium. This crowd has really been much more involved for this night. The match is bloodline rules, AKA no DQs. This match, while it is Codys’ story, still never felt like you knew who was going to win. From start to finish, it was a classic.
The two of them went back and forth for a while, including in the stands. They both controlled the match at separate times, and there was never a clear idea of how it would end. Bloodline interference was inevitable, as Jimmy Uso hit Cody to start the waterfall of interference. Jey Uso eventually comes out and the two have an awesome spot resulting in them taking a huge bump off the ramp. John Cena came out to take care of Solo Sikoa, putting him through a table. The Rock was the obvious next one to come out, surprisingly quickly taking care of Cena. It was what followed that which got the absolute monster pop of the night. The Undertaker. Lights went out, Taker appeared in the ring, chokeslams The Rock. Final Boss defeated.
Finishing the Story
Cody would then go on to finish his story, and the crowd absolutely erupted when he did. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was getting seriously invested during this match. When that 1-2-3 hit even I had to wipe a tear from my eye. Cody would take in his moment, fully enjoying it in the ring and understanding the severity of it. His wife came out, his mother got in the ring, and wrestlers from the back came out to celebrate. He called Triple H out, and the two embraced. It seemed like this is the moment that fully put the new era of WWE into effect. Cody Rhodes is the one who will steer the ship. Just an all-around great match, finish, and celebration.
Of course, I had my champagne waiting for this moment. Sorta. Miller High Life, the champagne of beers. It counts, dammit!
Final Thoughts
It seems wrestling really is making an epic comeback. Even with all the headlines regarding Vince McMahon lately, it’s persevering. Triple H seems to understand what fans want and is fully running the show. The size of the crowd, the energy, the athleticism and the storytelling that Wrestlemania showed was enough to get this old fan interested again. While I’m upset that the glass never broke, The Undertaker showing up was still a “Holy Shit.” moment. I’m excited to see where the stories go from here, as it’s been a perfect blend of nostalgia and the current roster creating an epic show.
Thanks for reading! For more sports content, visit Belly Up Sports and follow me on X, @RyanCapalbo, and feel free to send beer recommendations!
