by WWE WrestleMania 42 Night Two was an absolute banger! This is a great show only dampened by the countless long ad breaks from ESPN. Other than that, the WWE did their part to make it a great night and look to the future of the company while respecting the past. They also gave TKO who botched night one pretty badly, a lesson in how pro wrestling actually works.
For me it started off right and ended correctly as well. The decision to put Oba Femi over so strongly against Brock Lesnar was a smart idea. The second I found out this match was going to be on “free tv”, I knew that was the finish. The WWE wanted as many eyeballs on that moment as possible along with the post-match Brock retirement. ( maybe )
They followed it up with one of the best multi-man ladder matches you are going to get at a WrestleMania. In this one, Penta may have come out ahead, but Je’Von Evans stole the show. It was a bit of a shock because these matches are typically used to take the belt off the champion without he or she having to take a pin, so having Penta win was a bit of a surprise. But again, Evans stole the match with countless high risk moves. Two matches, and they created two young stars.
Now, I will say this, Trick Williams over Sami Zayn was a bit of a clunker but it got the job done, establishing Trick Williams with a major singles win for the United States title at WrestleMania. However, Williams needs to step up in his in-ring game because he seems to have everything else he needs to succeed.
The fans got what they wanted with Fin “The Demon” Balor and Rhea Ripley winning. They both looked amazing in and out of the ring as well. For her credit Ripley sold 99% of the match as Cargill was once again, all offense and little to no selling. WWE stuck to their strengths with that one and they were smart to do so. Ripley is flat out amazing.
The Main Event was an instant classic as the 33 plus minute tilt played out perfectly. It was nuts they had a 45-minute break between matches, but, Punk and Reigns were not affected and neither was the crowd. Roman going over was the smart move and Punk looked strong even in defeat. It was a great match with plenty of high spots and suspended belief. History will tell if it is one of the Top ever, but despite that, still very good and had the proper payoff.
If Lesnar is truly gone for good, ( I still doubt he is ), then look for a Reigns vs Gunther clash at SummerSlam. Does Ripley move to Smackdown full time now? Where does the Judgment day go from here? So, a few questions to be answered but after TKO tried to ruin Night One, WWE did a masterful job with Night Two.
