For 40 years WWE’s flagship show, Wrestlemania, has entertained millions across the country. Many of professional wrestling’s greatest moments have happened at this event and icons have been made. For the first time since 1999, this year’s Wrestlemania was hosted at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. This was also the first Wrestlemania with WWE under ownership of TKO and the first without the company’s embattled former CEO, Vince McMahon.
The event was held on both April 6th and 7th and the first night was headlined by The Bloodline (The Rock and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns) against Cody Rhodes and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. The second night saw Rhodes and Reigns battle for the second year in a row for Reigns’ long held championship, which Cody has sought in order to “finish his story.”
The event opened with Rhea Ripley successfully defending the Womens World Heavyweight Championship against Becky Lynch. Ripley, who came to the ring with her theme song performed by metalcore band Motionless in White, has enjoyed immense popularity in recent years. With the victory over the legendary Becky Lynch, she has expanded her clout.
The next bout saw WWE’s Raw and Smackdown Tag Team Championships simultaneously defended in a six team ladder match. The Smackdown titles were won by A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) and the Raw titles were won by Awesome Truth (Miz and R-Truth). Rey Mysterio and Andrade gained a win over Santos Escobar and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio with interference from NFL offensive lineman Lane Johnson and recently retired Jason Kelce. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso clashed in a brother vs brother match that saw Jey come out on top. Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi gained a big win over Damage CTRL (Asuka, Dakota Kai and Kairi Sane).
In a big upset, Sami Zayn defeated Gunther for the WWE Intercontinental title, ending Gunther’s historic 666 day reign. This was the longest reign in the belt’s history and ended in a hard hitting bout. The main event was a 44 minute spectacle that saw the Rock, returning to the ring at 51 years old for his first match in over 11 years, continue his sadistic streak against Rhodes and Rollins. The Bloodline and Rollins and Rhodes beat each other down but the Bloodline ultimately came out on top to close out night 1.
On night 2, Drew McIntyre defeated Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, this moment was short lived as Damien Priest, holder of the Money in the Bank contract that allows a championship match anywhere and anytime, cashed in and won the championship. The Pride (Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins and Bobby Lashley) defeated the Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam and Rezar) in a street fight. The feud between LA Knight and AJ Styles hit its peak with Knight getting the win over Styles. Logan Paul successfully defended his United States Championship against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Bayley defeated her former teammate Iyo Sky to win the WWE Women’s Championship.
The long awaited clash between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns had the thousands at home and in Philly on their feet. The match saw the two batter each other for over half an hour. When members of Reigns’ Bloodline faction interfered to help their leader, allies of Rhodes as well as legends like John Cena and the Undertaker fought them off. The match ended when Rhodes hit three Cross Rhodes on Reigns, getting the pinfall, becoming champion and ending Reigns’ 1,316 day reign. The victory saw the culmination of the two year storyline of Cody “finishing the story” and the high point of his career with his first world title in WWE. This marked a true storybook ending for the new face of the WWE.
