WrestleMania 42: A Night of Highs and Lows
WrestleMania 42 on Saturday was a mixed bag. The matches were notably short, with an overabundance of advertisements interrupting the action. Some celebrities in the crowd received more attention than the actual pro wrestlers. However, Sunday brought a different story. Although there were still ads, the show managed to turn around what could have been a forgettable event with an all-time opening and closing.
Here are the full grades for night two:
Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar by pinfall. This was a perfect start to the show. It was clear that any other result on this weekend’s WrestleMania card could be retconned, except for Femi’s debut on the grand stage with millions watching on ESPN. The WWE did the right thing by putting over “The Ruler” huge, as the Nigerian generational talent shook off a Lesnar F5 and powerbombed the former UFC heavyweight champion like he was a sack of potatoes.
Sometimes, matches don’t need to be in-ring classics to be etched in history. When we look back at Femi’s career in a decade or two with numerous world titles and WrestleMania main events under his belt, this is where it will have all started.
Grade: A+
Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh, Rusev, and Rey Mysterio
Penta defeated Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh, Rusev, and Rey Mysterio in a ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. WWE followed up the short, adrenaline rush of the Femi win with another exciting, fast-paced match that gave everyone in the match the time they needed to look good.
Evans, like Femi, is a future face of the company, and though he lost, he will be the high flyer of his generation. Penta deserves a longer title run, and every participant involved got to show why they were included in the match. Special shoutout to McDonagh for being arguably the best bump man right now in the business.
Grade: A-
Trick Williams (with Lil Yachty) vs. Sami Zayn
Trick Williams (with Lil Yachty) defeated Sami Zayn by pinfall for the WWE United States Championship. The first misstep of the night, but the correct result. Williams had the grand entrance and got the star-making win, but these two could have really delivered something special with five or six more minutes to this eight-minute match.
No one will remember the match itself, but Williams will use this as a springboard moving forward.
Grade: C
“The Demon” Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio
“The Demon” Finn Bálor defeated Dominik Mysterio by pinfall in a street fight. The first true dud of the night. Love seeing Bálor get a big win on WrestleMania following years of playing a side character on television, but this match never got out of first gear.
I miss when street fights meant actual fighting around the arena. It’s also hurt by the fact that Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre had the same match yesterday with the same limitations and did it better.
Grade: D+
Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill (c)
Rhea Ripley defeated Jade Cargill (c) by pinfall for the WWE Women’s Championship. This will probably go down as one of the worst Ripley WrestleMania matches she’s had, yet that doesn’t mean it was bad.
The two had surprisingly good chemistry, and this is the best Cargill has looked during her reign. Iyo Sky, one of the best wrestlers on the planet, being used as a scrappy sidekick for Ripley is a waste, but hopefully, we can now move on to better things.
Grade: C
Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk (c)
Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk (c) by pinfall for the World Heavyweight Championship. Wow. Coming into the final match of the weekend, this WrestleMania didn’t have an all-timer match. Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar was the most memorable, but no one was ever going to say that was an in-ring classic.
Then Reigns and Punk decided to go 30-plus minutes and tear down Allegiant Stadium in one of the best WrestleMania main events that the show has ever produced. The two men left it all out there in a marathon of a match that never felt slow. From the counters to the big-time spots, everything landed, a beautiful balance of violence and technique.
On top of it all, there was no screwy finish. No random wrestlers running down to the ring with their music playing. No celebrity needing to get their viral clip in. Just two guys who hate each other, hurting one another, with the older Punk running out of gas in the final moments to allow Reigns the opening to win the world title.
A five-star classic. In today’s WWE, where almost every marquee main event ends with multiple entrance run-ins or overly planned twists, this match ending clean as a whistle made the finish even more exciting. “The Tribal Chief” is back on his throne and has proved that he is the best in the game without the need for the Bloodline.
Grade: A+
Overall Grade
WWE now has the opportunity to run “The Ruler” Oba Femi and “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns for the world title at SummerSlam or next year’s WrestleMania 43 as a monster box office draw. On a weekend with maybe more downs than positives, the first match and climax to WrestleMania 42 on Sunday will be what sticks with fans years from now.
Even through all the ads and Hulk Hogan documentary commercials, WWE, somehow, prevailed on a night that could have been a disaster. As we saw last year in Las Vegas, Sunday’s main event can turn a good WrestleMania into a negative one. And this year, it turned a somewhat forgettable WrestleMania into something special.
Overall Grade: A
