WWE WrestleMania Night 2 Review


WWE Women's World Heavyweight Championship - Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair

Now this is how good the Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair match should have been. Everybody getting equal opportunity to shine here, with a compelling story told without. Nobody looked bad here. In fact, this corrects a sin committed by Charlotte seven years ago by ending Asuka's winning streak, as Iyo Sky is now the first Japanese woman to win a match at WrestleMania. I know it doesn't really undo the damage done to Asuka by that match, but this seems like an apology from Triple H for the idiocy of the previous regime.

★★★★½

Sin City Street Fight - Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre

As a Doom fan, Drew McIntyre making his entrance in a Doom Slayer cosplay was incredible. While not as brutal as some of their fights recently or some other matches recently (seriously, when you see Sami Callihan vs Mace Warner or Swerve Strickland vs Adam Page, a lot of other hardcore matches pale in comparison), but this match told an excellent story between the two. The kill shot delivered by McIntyre, though, was incredibly innovative, and was actually a perfect way to end the match.

★★★★

WWE Intercontinental Championship - Bron Breakker vs Penta vs "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio vs Finn Bálor

This match delivered and then some. Back and forth offense from everyone here, everyone getting time to shine. Carlito once again getting killed by Bron Breakker, which is seriously becoming a running gag at this point, it just cracks me up every damn time. Dominik Mysterio winning the title was such an unexpected outcome, but an interesting one that's bound to cause some turmoil in The Judgement Day. Can't wait to see this play out on Raw.

★★★★½

Randy Orton Open Challenge

This was originally going to be Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens, but Owens got sidelined with neck surgery 2 weeks ago, so Randy decided to issue an open challenge for WrestleMania. And what an unexpected opponent it was. I was expecting a recent confirmed return signing in Rusev, but TNA World Champion Joe Hendry was the opponent. The pop he got from the WrestleMania crowd was thunderous. The match itself was quick and fun, but the exposure it got for TNA was a smart move.

★★★

AJ Styles vs Logan Paul

Yeah, I'm sorry, but this match did nothing for me. Unlike most of Logan Paul's matches which are high octane and fast paced, for some bizarre reason this was slow and plodding. There was a cool moment with Karrion Kross saving the match-up, basically being the devil on AJ Styles shoulder, but it was not enough to save this thing. Why the hell would you book Logan Paul to go over clean against AJ Styles, especially since this might potentially be his last year wrestling?

★★½

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship - Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs ??? and Lyra Valkyria

Bayley was taken out on the previous night's pre-show, so Lyra had a full day to find a replacement partner, and what a replacement partner it was. Becky Lynch finally returns to take revenge on Liv for defeating her in that steel cage match. I feel bad for Bayley, but this is definitely the better story to go with. Becky Lynch didnt lose a step, she looked incredible tonight. Don't know if Liv and Raquel attacked Bayley, but if they didn't, that would be an interesting story to follow.

★★★½

Undisputed WWE Championship - Cody Rhodes vs John Cena

The main event that's been the focus of almost every Raw and Smackdown leading up to these shows, and the match is just... fine. It did what it needed to do, and ended. The show even wrapped up earlier than the previous night (which means we had time for that WWE Tag Team Title TLC match in the first place). I could complain about the match being slow and plodding, but John Cena did say that we get nothing, so it fits into his character. What I will say, though, is The Rock shouldn't have been involved in this storyline if he wasn't planning on showing up to WrestleMania. 

★★★½

Night 2 Grade:

Match Quality: 72/100
Show Structure: 75/100
Atmosphere: 85/100
Story: 75/100
Production: 90/100

Overall: B- (79/100)

While the match quality overall was improved from the previous night, it's just baffling booking decisions that leave me scratching my head on this night. Yet again this wasn't a god-awful WrestleMania by any means, but a couple of moments just left me scratching my head. The main event especially, it should not of been on last at all if they couldn't get all the major players involved.

PPV Overall: B- (80/100)

With one disappointing main event relatively and one amazing one, this show just felt weird. While the majority of the matched were good to great, this just felt like a step down from last year's WrestleMania. Again, not the worst WrestleMania ever but certainly not the best either.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WWE Royal Rumble 38 Review

Image
30-Women Royal Rumble Match A genuinely good Rumble for a majority of the runtime, with plenty of stories weaved throughout that can play out on not only Raw and SmackDown, but NXT as well, that is until we got into the last 5 entrants. The final 4 was absolutely terrible. Charlotte Flair not only returning, but winning was just bad. It felt like booking that would've happened in a Vince McMahon era show. The Royal Rumble should be an opportunity for new stars to shine, not for old ones to hog the spotlight. This took the winds out of the sails for a highly anticipated show. Luckily the show recovered from this low. ★★★½ 2 out of 3 Falls Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships -#DIY vs Motor City Machine Guns A really entertaining match between these two, with both teams getting to showcase why they are so special in the ring. The interference laden finish in a Big 4 PPV match was kind of ridiculous, but it made sense in the context of the story...
Read more

Previously In the DCU

Image
  An Estimated Timeline of the DCU By John Williams Given that I've been hearing a lot of confusion over the timeline specifics with James Gunn's new DCU, I thought it would be fun to put together a quick guide as to what's canon and what's not. Based on interviews and on-screen evidence, let's take a journey through this new expansive DC Universe. Do you wanna taste it? Source: The Suicide Squad (2021)/Warner Brothers Pictures 1. The Suicide Squad (2021) While not 100% canon, since according to Superman (2025), that movie was the first time Superman lost. So it's impossible for Bloodsport to be in prison because he shot Superman with a kryptonite bullet. But, other projects frequently reference this movie, like Creature Commandos name dropping "Project Starfish" and Peacemaker constantly referencing Rick Flag's death. I think its safe to say that a version of the events of this movie took place in this new DCU. Source: Peacemaker (2022)/Warner Bro...
Read more

WWE Elimination Chamber Toronto 2025 Review

Image
Women's Elimination Chamber - Liv Morgan vs Alexa Bliss vs Roxanne Perez vs Bayley vs Naomi vs Bianca Belair I guess we know why Jade Cargill didn't return at the Rumble now, her taking out Naomi and trash talking Bianca. That insanity aside, this match was an okay chamber. Good action from everyone, but nothing too mind-blowing, which is kind of a shame. Wish anyone other than Bianca won (because she always wins), but her versus Rhea or Iyo at WrestleMania is bound to be a great match. ★★★½ Tiffany Straton and Trish Stratus vs Nia Jax and Candice LaRae A fine match, but one that felt like it was going on for way too long, with a lot of meandering. The women really got the short end of the stick for this PPV. I did like that Tiffany got the pin on Nia to close the book on them before her WrestleMania match with Charlotte, but this match was just OK. ★★★ Unsanctioned Match - Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens  Match of the night, in my opini...
Read more