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The annual WWE season finale, and the second iteration set firmly in the Paul Levesque era, WrestleMania 41 was held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and broadcast live on Netflix for the very first time.
With a very full card of some seven matches, Night 1 was only okay, all in all. The show featured two great matches, two decent matches, and a remaining handful that ultimately didn’t feel like WrestleMania matches.
World Heavyweight Championship – Jey Uso def. Gunther (c): As we unanimously predicted here at The Beat, Jey Uso finally won big. What none of us could’ve anticipated was the fairly shocking way in which he would manage it. Beating Gunther by submission, with Gunther’s own sleeper hold no less, should make this a definitive win for Uso.
The match itself, however, was solid but never blazing hot. It looked like Uso may have picked up an injury before the opening bell, looking visibly uncomfortable throughout, which may have been a contributing factor. But given the crystal clear story told through the build, this match lacked a coherent in-ring story. Gunther didn’t get too cocky and make a mistake, Jey didn’t overcome Gunther’s brutality, or get super aggro himself as he’d threatened.
The only tangible story element in the proceedings came in the final sequences of the match as Jey delivered Gunther’s moves and won with the sleeper, thus avenging his brother. Nothing else from the build came into play, which likely hampered the response from the IRL crowd (a crowd that was unfortunately fairly timid all night).
World Tag Team Championship – The New Day def. The War Raiders (c): With too little in the way of storyline build, this is one of the matches that just didn’t feel like it belonged on the WrestleMania card. On commentary, Wade Barrett did his best to sell the idea that a win here would pay off Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods’ heel turn, but without an emotional core or driving storyline, I’m not convinced it does. To their credit, the teams did work the neck injury angle with Erik, but this didn’t factor in the match’s finish.
Jade Cargill def. Naomi: This match was solid overall with some great showcase spots peppered throughout. It cemented Jade as a true “feats of strength” attraction for the WWE audience, and also underscored Naomi as a seasoned master of her craft who can lead a match with natural flow and ensure everyone emerges looking great.
This match was also unique in that it was a marquee PLE women’s division match driven solely by story and not organized around a championship. WWE desperately needs to be booking more stories in the women’s division that aren’t “X has the belt and now Y wants it”. Cargill and Naomi brought a story to the table and saw it through. Love to see it.
United States Championship – Jacob Fatu def. LA Knight (c): This was a little unexpected for me – I thought we’d be heating up Fatu awhile longer before a big win like this, but it definitely played well on the night. Outside of the main event, Fatu garnered as much crowd engagement as anyone and delivered a great, lively performance. There really is something captivating about his movement and physical storytelling.
As Ricky and I discussed in our predictions, Knight has not been well served by his two runs with the US title. Where he goes from here is unclear, but let’s hope it’s towards stories that are more heavily focused on character beefs.
El Grande Americano def. Rey Fenix: It’s inexplicable that WWE would choose to book this problematic program in the midst of acquiring cornerstone Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
and then run this specific match on the same day the purchase is announced. Even if Fenix hadn’t been subbing in for the injured Rey Mysterio, this probably didn’t belong on a WrestleMania card, for me.
WWE Women’s Championship – Tiffany Stratton (c) def. Charlotte Flair: After a shaky build, including a few possible off-piste moments from both, Flair and Stratton pulled it together for an excellent marquee match here.
This bout just had energy, with Flair showing us that even post injury, she still has the ability to turn any match into a genuine thriller. And Stratton emerges from this with grit, entering the arena in a Barbie display case and leaving with a bruised forehead and nasty-looking mouth injury.
Tiffany toughing it to outlast Charlotte was a fantastic story, and these two talents gave everything to tell us that story as vividly as possible. Stratton’s body language after the match, slumped over the belt and with no hint of a smile, signified just how much she’s expanded her character through this program and match.
Seth Rollins def. Roman Reigns and CM Punk: What is this, Emmerdale? TRUE SOAP OPERA ALERT. When I talk about stories that aren’t about championships, this is really the pinnacle of it. Four complex personalities with interwoven histories navigating one another and producing fascinating results across both TV segments and in-ring action.
In addition to being a revolutionary wrestling promoter, Paul Heyman is really a generational onscreen performer. His body language and face acting through this bout elevated the drama in the ring and carried the live crowd emotion-by-emotion through the match’s twisty final sequence.
In an interview that went out just a few days before Night 1, Triple H talked about how the audience typically expects WrestleMania to bring stories to a close. He suggested that while that’s generally true, he’s also seeking to use it to really mark the beginning of certain stories – and that’s what we got here with Night 1’s climax delivering something entirely new: Seth Rollins as a Paul Heyman guy. Like Stratton vs. Flair, this triple threat had true “big fight feel” paired with an emphasis on character, and marks a major new direction at the top of the men’s roster.
Curtain Call: Let’s save that for after Night 2!
English (US)