Night two of WrestleMania 42 was once again inside Allegiant Stadium, home of the LV Raiders, running it back with Roman Reigns and CM Punk as the headliners for the heavyweight title. With several surprises last night, including the return of Paige and the announcement of Bianca Belair’s baby bump debut, tonight’s pressure was to over-deliver on tonight’s card.
John Cena came down to give the number for tonight’s attendance, 55,255—making it 106,072 in attendance across both nights in Vegas. Like last night, Cena opened the show (and Oba-Brock) only to return later in the night just before the main feature.
He worked a segment with The Miz and Kit Wilson before Dan Housen and a gang of little people cosplaying as Dan Housen. The Housen squad carried off The Miz after Housen got his work in, including a 5-knuckle shuffle in front of the ‘GOAT’ himself. Still, there was no Dan Housen plane/blimp, but that does give us something to look forward to next year.
MAIN EVENT: WWE Men’s Heavyweight Title-CM Punk(c) vs. Roman Reigns
The anticipation for the match felt like it was running short on steam and had maybe peaked, but that was until fight week, when Roman took the ‘go-home’ nature of the promotion and furthered the program with natural, real-world promos. He shot an in-car promo on Friday, WrestleMania Eve, and dropped a few F-bombs for good measure. The promo felt real and visceral, and it meant Punk was no longer in control, despite his final few spots on WWE TV.
This had a big match feel, but the online intrigue moments before heading into Roman’s entrance was still focused on ‘who,’ if anyone, would interfere in this match (still waiting on ‘The Rock’). As if these two were keeping score all night, they came out and delivered a quality first two acts in the matchup.
Midway through, with Punk bleeding from the head, the crowd chanted ‘this is awesome’ in a moment that seemed to spark a second wind for both men as they got to their feet and exchanged closed-handed rights. Punk had his GTS used against him, but he managed to reverse only to attempt a Roman-esc spear.
The spear Punk attempted was ultimately blocked; Roman simply took the shot to the gut, and Punk fell to the mat as he ran into a wall. It did not make Punk look great, though Roman looked as sturdy as a canvas bag filled with a million dollars.
Punk managed to redeem himself after delivering an elbow drop from the top turnbuckle onto Roman through the commentator’s desk. It was a huge moment that seemed to even up the match, but when Punk tried to capitalize on his offense, he fell to his knees.
A few moments later, Punk was seen on his knees, attempting to take a swing at Roman, but he failed to connect, flailing his right hand in a whiff. Roman delivered another spear, and that was it; he picked up the 3-count for the sudden win.
The crowd took a beat to react. The match was over, and the story made sense for the match, but it did not feel like a WM finish—it did not retain a single memorable moment. The drama this match had in both the buildup and the opening two-thirds failed to turn the corner in the ending.
Roman posed with the title, holding it up in the air as the fans cheered him on, and WrestleMania faded to black. It was a terrific match, and both of these men lived up to the level they set, but it almost felt like the rest of the two-night affair falling short put them in too deep a hole to pull out of Mania overall.
WWE Women’s World Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Rhea Ripley
Both women held a bright spotlight from the moment their program was launched to the moment that the bell sounded. Amazing entrances for both women, but from the very beginning, it felt like they were building towards a Rhea moment.
That is exactly what happened when Rhea won the match and regained the women’s world title. They exchanged interference as Michin and B-Fab came out to cost Rhea the match, but then her best friend, Iyo Sky, came down to even the odds.
Her help was timely, and it made all the difference in the world as Rhea hit the Riptide for the win after Jade nearly reversed it for the second time. It was a solid showing from both women, but the booking was straight out of a Monday Night RAW or SmackDown finish.
Street Fight: “Dirty” Dom Mysterio vs. “The Deamon” Finn Balor
If this year’s WrestleMania was all about the entrances, then Finn’s Demon character, the one with the most provocative walkouts in all of wrestling, was a bit of a letdown despite looking incredible in full makeup. The match was booked as a ‘Street Fight’ without any other sort of stakes.
It was unfortunate to see one of the most anticipated feuds built up with a proper backstory get shoved to the back of the line for the sake of ‘long-term booking.’ The Deamon character would get worked over before he would regain his composure in a ‘no-sell’ kind of way.
WrestleMania single matches have been inconsistent for Dom, and though he had a fire entrance with a dozen or more wrestlers wearing black-and-white lucha masks to match his. However, he just felt a bit flat at times, though both guys are familiar enough with one another just to go.
Balor won the match and hopefully put to rest a program that had 2 years of build behind it.
U.S. Title: Sami Zayn(c) vs. Trick Williams
The match that felt like it had already happened did not go down as they drew it up, we can be sure of, but it was a successful coming-out party for Trick. The new U.S. champion, Trick Williams, defeated Sami, who worked heel in the match.
There was no major turn because it had already happened slowly over the past few months. While it might not have been the Bret Hart-Stone Cold Steve Austin double switch they hoped for, creative can overlook the fact that Trick is poised for the next level.
FIRST HOUR ON ESPN
Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
This match carried the best of what WrestleMania 42 had to offer throughout the ‘road to,’ and all week long, the debate was whether Lesnar would knock Oba off his monumental momentum. The famous walk that Oba Femi has spread hard throughout the WWE Universe(c) immediately captured the hearts and attention of fans in attendance.
Lesnar looked ready with Heyman by his side, and the two men got right down to business. It was debated whether this match would get time to work, and they did—to make Oba look like a monster. Lesnar tried clotheslining Oba Femi three times in a row, and none of them were even close to putting the monster on his back, but when Oba got his turn, he put Lesnar on his back after one shot.
Even when Brock found success, the younger, fresher, stronger up-and-coming former NXT champion was able to absorb it and respond immediately. The finish saw Oba Femi beat Brock with a pop-up powerbomb for the 3-count as fans popped hard.
In the match’s aftermath, Brock sat in the middle of the ring by himself before he began taking off his gloves. The move seemed to signal a potential retirement, but when he took off his boots, you could see he was emotional, and fans were getting exactly what they thought they were—his retirement.
Brock hugged an emotional Heyman as the crowd chanted “thank you, Brock,” and he showed love to the thankful fans. With Gunther earning himself one of those famous Heyman favors, it is worth monitoring whether the ‘Legend Killer’ can get Brock back in the ring for a proper retirement match.
Men’s Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Penta(c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev vs. Rey Mysterio vs. JD McDonaugh
This match was everything when it came to the lead-in from ESPN proper and the ‘unlimited plan’ on the ESPN App that gets you all WWE PLEs. It wasted no time as all 6 men started working a fast-paced spot-fest, and even though Rusev was the non-high-flier of the group, his power style helped to elevate the other risk-takers.
Penta retained the IC title, but Je’Von Evans showed out well enough to make his Mania moment count in his first major match in the ‘show of shows’ history. JD also was an unsung hero in this one, taking huge bumps off the ladder and onto other ladders—Mexican Destroyer was hit on JD before he hit a Spanish Fly of his own.
The match successfully gave fans a reason to tune into the main broadcast, and they now have a blueprint for next year’s lead-in matches.
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