Boy oh boy, do I have a lot to say and cover, let’s start with the following statement. Over the last 2-3 years, WWE has done an excellent job of reminding pro wrestling fans that it is a pro wrestling company and NOT a sports and entertainment brand obsessed with celebrity appearance and viral crossover. Wrestlemania 41, for better or worse, was both. Let’s not fuck about and get straight into a break down.

Night 1

Jey Uso vs Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship

There is a lot of debate here…should the big title match ever open a show? If you aren’t in the main event are you better off in the first match? Should the big title match always close the show?

I’m definitely in the camp that says, if you aren’t in the main event, open the show and make sure you steal the show. Did that happen? Not really, but let’s be honest, Jey Uso is SUPER over and his entrance really brought the hype for the show of shows! 

There was some great story telling, Gunther used Jay’s moves and vice versa, did this feel a touch awkward at times? Yeah…Gunther doesn’t belong on the top rope and Jey has never been someone you watch for his submission game. 

However, overall, it was a decent outing and Jey’s rise to the title has been incredibly organic and the win being celebrated with Jimmy was a nice touch. We spent most of this touching moment wondering if this was going to be a swerve. We all know a hug can so easily turn into a super kick…but it didn’t and it was a nice ending for the opener.

The War Raiders vs The New Day for the World Tag Team Championship

I don’t think this match had anywhere near the build it deserved. It felt like the New Day’s challenge came a bit out of nowhere and as such the whole match didn’t have the weight that it could have. Their story is wrapped up with Big E and the heel turn of Woods and Kingston. This match felt more like a stepping stone in a wider story, not a big win in a feud that resulted in a title change.

The War Raiders are a great team to watch, they are physical, athletic and capable of really special matches. There wasn’t a big enough reason for them to be in this match or to lose for that matter. 

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi

I want to say this before I even start…for me, the Jade Cargill experiment is a total bust. From the start of her run in AEW, she hasn’t converted her in-ring physical presence to her ability to have a decent match.

Niaomi’s heel turn and repackaging was an incredibly well told story which carried into her look, entrance and ring work. Jade winning this match on the freshly turned Naomi was a miss, this should have been a stolen/cheated win for Naomi to cement her turn.

On the plus side, this was probably the best match Jade has had…ever.

LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu for the US Title

Knight is another absolute organic success story over the last few years and his title reign was vastly deserved. A similar story can be said of Fatu and as such his win was 100% justified and should build to him standing further up the card, where he truly belongs. Fatu is a true star in the making and I look forward to the next 5 years of his career! 

This was one of those matches, on a full card that you wouldn’t say was the best of the night, but deserves to be in the debate of the top 3. I would happily watch this pair locked in a feud until Summerslam.

Rey Fenix vs. El Grande Americano

This match was probably the most entertaining/fun of the evening, from the build, to the match itself. Chad Gable is an enormously underappreciated talent in the ring and clearly outside it as well. On paper, this story should be awful, but Gable’s commitment to this bit is incredible. His change in ring style, the metal plate in his mask…I just couldn’t help but smile throughout this match!

I think the only problem I have is, these two don’t need a ridiculous story. They need 25 minutes, a ring and a chance to have the match of the night. I know Fenix was a substitute for an injured Rey Mysterio, but this only reinforces my point, screw the silliness, just let these 2 go and steal the show. I’m still waiting for Fenix and Penta to do what they do best and what they are known for, show stealing matches.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair for the WWE Women’s Championship

This was truly Tiffy‘s time to shine! She brought everything she had to the table and proved that, whilst she may look and act the character of a classic Diva, she more than has the skills to back it up. Her Barbie inspired entrance was amazing.

Whilst there was a little bit of awkwardness between the two and things weren’t completely perfect, they told a strong story and had the kind of match that reminded me the dark days of Women’s wrestling in the attitude era are FAR behind us!

Having followed the four horsewomen for NXT all the way to the present, I can’t shake the feeling that Charlotte is actually the weakest member of the group. She has a strong look and a family legacy, but when I think back on her best matches, they are always with a stronger opponent and she ends up looking great in the process. I’m not saying she is terrible or anything that severe, but I can’t shake the feeling she doesn’t bring people up like Becky, Bayley and Sasha/Mercedes are known for.

Regardless, top 3 matches of the night. It’s Tiffy Time and she deserves it.

CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

Match of the night. 

Spectacular build with different stories being told in several directions. Rollins is spectacularly over. Reigns’ twisting story with Paul Heyman and CM Punk was incredible during the build, with his well documented back story and his desire to headline Wrestlemania…

Punk’s pre-match video package, the high spots, Shield call backs, kick outs from finishers, Seth’s pedigree from Roman’s spear can sit on his highlight reel with that RKO, twists, turns…Let’s be honest this is what WWE does best.

And let’s not escape the finish and the master manipulator, Paul Heyman…

This finish could have gone any way, we probably all have a smart ass friend saying it “was obvious and predictable”, but it could have gone anyway and made total sense. However the double-double cross and Heyman leaving with Rollins was the route to a fresh story that I’m really looking forward to. No one felt sacrificed, and everyone came out of this match in a stronger place than they went in. Let’s see this match again at Summerslam.

Conclusion

I feel like night one was very much a WWE style show, the matches had some variety, a little more high flying, a little more story…but didn’t deviate from what they do best and as such a complete success. Had this event been the only night of the show, I’d have been thoroughly satisfied. If this was a non “big four” event, it would have exceeded expectations.

Night 2

Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky for the Women’s World Championship

This match took everything that works about a triple threat and milked it to absolute perfection. I’ve already said that going out in the first match needs to be a high point or a show stealer and in this case, each wrestler brought their A game and set the bar for the night.

Slow build, high spots, near falls, story telling, character development…what this match lacked in build it more than made up for with storytelling in the ring. This will be a lot of people’s match of the weekend! Can we just run this one back at Backlash in the main event please? I know it doesn’t make the most sense, but we all want to see these three raise the bar again. This wasn’t a fantastic women’s match, this was a show stealer, end of.

Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre in a Sin City Street Fight

This was another strong outing! Personally, I think a street fight should happen outside the ring, not in it…but that didn’t take away from this match delivering everything you would expect from these two in a no DQ environment. Spots on the ring steps, chairs, tables…it was all the pieces you wanted. 

The story of this match was of real hatred between the two, and they physically let everyone know that! For a show on a mainstream wrestling broadcast, this is about as violent as I want things to be. Let’s leave the deathmatch stuff to GCW.

Kudos to Drew for continuing his excellent social media trolling by stopping mid match to take a selfie on his way to coming out on top.

Dominik Mysterio vs Bron Breakker vs Finn Bálor vs Penta for the Intercontinental Title

If I described this match as a train wreck, you might think I was being insulting, I’m not. This was a non stop spot fest and a lot of fun to watch. Everyone played their part perfectly and with 4 bodies in the ring, everyone took it in turns to have their moments to shine.

I didn’t have Dominik winning the title down as the outcome, but the young lad has worked hard to become a strong heel over the last few years and he stealing the victory from Bálor was a really strong point of development in the Judgement Day story line, whilst protecting Breakker and Penta, who both had moments to shine in this match.

Personally, I want to see Bålor and Penta tear the house down.

Another strong outing that felt different to the other two matches.

Randy Orton vs Joe Hendry

I mean…what the hell do you say about this? It was a fun spot that solved a problem…it didn’t really benefit wrestling current TNA Champ and meme king, Joe Hendy, other than getting his face on a big stage. This was a pop to squash and a little fluff. If this was the Royal Rumble, zero problem, but I think we all wanted more.

I know Kevin Owen’s injury couldn’t be helped, but this was also an opportunity for something more special for Orton’s 20th Wrestlemania appearance. If Owen’s is out indefinitely, then this could have been an opportunity for a new start with someone else. Think back to John Cena’s now iconic Ruthless Aggression moment, this was wide open for something similar.

This felt like a turning point in the show for me…and not the good kind.

AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul

If I’m over the Jade Cargill experiment, I was over Logan Paul’s involvement in wrestling after one novelty appearance. I want to try and see the positive in every situation, but as a long standing WRESTLING fan, I can’t get behind Paul in any way shape or form. I know his character is that of a self absorbed, fame hungry heel trying to rush to the top, but I can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t a work and is the absolute truth.

If this match was with The Miz, I’d have totally accepted it, because there would be dialogue about fame/reality TV etc but it was AJ Styles. The Phenomenal AJ Styles.

I just don’t want to see WWE using its most talented wrestlers being used to drag decent matches out of an ongoing celebrity pop. If Paul had an injury similar to Owen’s, he would leave wrestling and we’d never hear from him again.

This match seemed to exist to give Paul a victory and further a story between Styles and Karrion Kross. Honestly, I’d rather have watched Styles vs Kross.

Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

I want to be excited about this match, I want to be happy that The Man is back, but I’m almost at a loss for the decision making on this one. Valkyria is a rising star that was vastly outshone by Becky. Liv and Raquel are a working tag team that were beaten by a team in their first match together.

I know this is a pet hate of mine, but two singles wrestlers thrown together should struggle to  beat an established tag team and they certainly shouldn’t beat the champs.

Becky is an absolute success story in wrestling, her rise to the main event of Wrestlemania 35 felt completely justified without a single shred of tokenism. That wasn’t a media pop to say “the first time women have main evented Wrestlemania”, that was deserved. However, this year, The Man was given the spotlight at the expense of everyone else.

I hope this tag title reign exists to ease her back into wrestling comfortably, but I can’t shake the feeling this would have been way better on Raw after Mania.

Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Title

Oh me, oh my. If this card had started to slip down the slide after Randy Orton’s win, this match didn’t just slip over the edge, it dropped a bomb on the hill.

Where the hell do you start?

Cena’s entrance was powerful, just his name in bold capitals, black & white, no graphics, spoke volumes of how much he had turned his back on his baby face days. This was excellent. Cody makes his big entrance, a fun skeleton mask, big time feel.  However it did finally dawn on me the big problem with the entrances at this year’s event…by having audience members sat on the stage setting, as cool a visual as that was, the seats were in the pyro spot. 

The camera would have to pull WAAAY back to a super wide shot, to catch the pyro at the top of the stage set. Rather than having an iconic shot of Cody (and any other performer) with the pyro going off behind him, you saw a dot in the distance with pyro at the top of the stage.

The match was slow and lumbering. In story terms this made complete sense. Cena isn’t meant to put on a show for the people who hate him, the problem was, the audience, not the whole audience, but certainly the always vocal “Smarks”. 

A year ago, everyone was celebrating Cody’s triumphant win as he finished The Story. On this night, after being the butt of Cena’s venom in the building promos, the Smarks cheered his every move he made and booed Cody. This is the second time in Cody’s career where an element of the audience has defied everything that has happened on screen and in character and turned on Cody. It happened in AEW and it happened at Wrestlemania. Here’s the thing, Cena wants you to boo him, I know he is being completely on point, but rather than cheer him because of it, boo him, because that’s what he wants. 

Then we get to the elephant in the room…or should that be the bull shaped hole in the room? Where was the Rock? Why was Travis Scott sent to play a part in this match? More to the point, who the fuck even is Travis Scott? Just to be clear, I know who Travis Scott is, I just don’t think of a 5”10 bag of bones as a threat in that situation.

Throughout the show, the production team were ready show a random enormous American Football player, at least 6 MMA fighters, some of which are current or ex-champs…so again, I ask the question…Why did Travis Scott get the heroes entrance and be one of the main reasons John Cena won his 17th and record breaking title reign?

I honestly don’t know the answer.

I’ve read accounts of the air being sucked out of the room when the audience realised that the Rock wasn’t coming and it was just Scott. This was a moment that turned a slow and awkward main event into a complete mess for me.

John Cena’s historic title win was because of a rapper, who is clearly just there because he is friends with the Rock? This was the lowest point of the show.

Conclusion

This was a show that started so well and just degenerated into a disappointment. The matches had more variety than night one, big plus. But the card order felt weighted towards pops and viral moments, not wrestling.

Why was AJ Styles, on what is going to be one of his final Wrestlemania matches putting over Logan Paul, not Karrion Kross? Did Randy Orton really have to squash Joe Hendry? Did Becky Lynch need to outshine EVERYONE else in her match?

I don’t mind a show ending on a downer, but let it be a meaningful one. If the Rock wasn’t going to be at this show, why bother inserting him into the Cena story? It would have been earth shattering if Cena had come back for “one last run”, built an old dog vs young lion story and then ultimately cheated to win and turned heel in the process. Just imagine a face vs face main event ended with a Cena low blow…We would have been shocked, stunned and sent home on an enormous, but well told downer. A downer…not a disappointment.

I’ve spoken to a whole load of my friends about this year’s Wrestlemania and we’ve all arrived at similar conclusions. Night one felt like the show that has brought many of us back to the WWE for pushing PRO WRESTLING! Night two started so well, then descended into the crossover, celeb appearance fueled, viral clout chasing sports and entertainment company that tried to alienate its core audience for a large part of the last 10 years.

Are there new faces out there tuning in because they like Logan Paul? Yes. Are there people who don’t normally watch wrestling tuning in because they heard Travis Scott got involved? Yes. Are these people wrestling fans? No. Will they be the people tuning in week in and week out, probably not.

I now viewer growth is the main goal of any TV product, but I can’t escape the fact that chasing short term gain is the wrong goal. Making a solid and engaging wrestling product that draws people in should always be the goal. Make a great product and let people watch it because it is great, not because you have a celebrity guest appearance that will pop viewers for a week or two and then drop off. The best periods of wrestling are built on strong, well told story lines, not stop/start patchy booking.

Roman Reigns held the title for 1,316 days. In the modern era, that length of time is going to be untouchable for another generation. That reign is the equivalent of Bruno Samartino, Ric Flair…and its conclusion was an epic 18 month long story that was spectacularly told. As wrestling fans, this is what we want. Not celebrity pops.

WWE has done an incredible job of long term storytelling, character building and valuing talent on the card, top to bottom over the last few years. Wrestlemania didn’t completely undo all the good work, but it certainly left a foul taste in my mouth. I guess we will see how the next few weeks play out.

Personally, prior to Wrestlemania, I was quite looking forward to the idea of a summer weekend trip to Paris for a chance to watch John Cena one last time. After Wrestlemania, I’m not going to rush to pick up those tickets and see how the next two events play out. Michael Partridge

Photos courtesy of WWE

If you like what we do and want to help us keep the lights on and the podcasting mics warm, we’d appreciate it if you bought us a cup of coffee