WrestleMania 42 returns to Las Vegas for the second consecutive year, with night one taking place on Saturday night at Allegiant Arena. The opening night of WrestleMania was an all-encompassing mix of standout celebrity moments, the long-awaited return of scene-stealer Page between Gunther and Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and Pat McAfee, and more.
As we wrap up the first night of our two-night extravaganza, here are our eight biggest takeaways from a busy night in Sin City.
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1. Did we just get a double turn?
After Pat McAfee’s unwelcome entry into the main event of WrestleMania 42, Cody Rhodes immediately removed him from the match, which focused the attention on the champion and Randy Orton.
The escalation of Saturday’s headliner was reminiscent of Bret Hart’s WrestleMania 13 match with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, right down to the point where the vulnerable opponent (Orton) was bleeding and the babyface (Rhodes) was rattled, with both men’s rankings among the crowd faltering. Roode’s heel tactics, such as poking Orton in the eye, felt like deliberate pandering to the crowd’s reaction.
At the end of the match, with McAfee returning as the backup referee, Orton attacked him and Rhodes took advantage of the opening to perform a supposed heel turn for the win.
Cody Rhodes is still the undisputed WWE Champion.
(Ethan Miller via Getty Images)
But the post-match celebrations, which included Orton kicking Rhodes and holding up the belt, felt like a real turning point that set the course for both men as we head into the summer.
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It will be interesting to see where WWE goes with this. The Las Vegas crowd on Saturday knew exactly who they were rooting for — and it wasn’t the babyface — and that’s likely to remain true come Monday night. But outside of Vegas, will the wider audience continue to view Orton and Roode in a negative light? If WWE chooses to bridge the gap on night two, and Roode shows some clear intent after his brief confrontation with CM Punk on Friday night, we could be in for quite a summer.
2. What a wonderful time Liv had.
Despite the intense build-up to WrestleMania, Liv Morgan and Stephanie Wacker picked up right where they left off.
In her first match on the big stage, “La Primera” continues to make the case for her meteoric rise alongside one of WWE’s most consistent in-ring talents. After several distractions at Judgment Day, Morgan took advantage of Wacker – throwing her into the steps and landing the Oblivion – for a surprise fall to regain the WWE Women’s World Championship.
With Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez successfully helping Morgan win, it looks like the Rodriguez vs. Morgan rivalry will continue to be kicked off the likes of Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio until recently.
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For Vaquer, adding a faction to support her in this numbers game seems like the logical next step in a women’s world title fight that appears to be just getting started.
3. Gunther rolls, Destroyer runs
Gunther and Seth Rollins are two of the best ring technicians in WWE today, so it’s no surprise that they put on a match worthy of WrestleMania.
Both men understand tempo, allowing time to breathe, and how to crank up the intensity to a level rarely seen among WWE’s top contenders. They balanced brutality with precision on Saturday night, with Gunther choking Rollins for the victory after a spear from the returning Braun Breaker.
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Although the build to WrestleMania 42 was very chaotic, the duo made up for it in the ring.
While Blake and Rollins are clearly on a collision course now, I’m most curious to see what happens with Gunther. Maybe saving Paul Heyman opens the door for a huge showdown with Brock Lesnar in the not-too-distant future?
Gunther defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 42 Night 1 at Allegiant Arena in Las Vegas.
(WWE via Getty Images)
4. Becky joins the Board of Directors
Becky Lynch becomes Intercontinental Champion again.
After losing to AJ Lee consecutively, she finally raised her hand at the most critical moment and regained the belt on the biggest stage of the year. Lynch relied on the typical heel tactics she’d used since last year’s match against Lyra Valkyrie, exposing the steel behind the turnbuckle, throwing Lee in, and then hitting a Man Handle Slam to finish the match.
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I would have expected a cleaner ending, with Lynch and Lee going their separate directions after bickering for much of the past seven months. But this appears to be just the next step in their ongoing Intercontinental Championship run. Referee Jessika Carr’s more prominent performance on Saturday night – getting physical with Lynch after the new champion tested her multiple times – could be an interesting wrinkle for WWE in this match.
5. Turn Peggy
For the second year in a row, WWE replaced a competitor with a returning star in the final moments of the WrestleMania Women’s Tag Team Championship match. It was reported just a day before WrestleMania 42-1 that Paige had re-signed with the promotion and was scheduled to take over for Nikki Bella, who was injured at WrestleMania – and it turns out those reports were true.
Paige’s unexpected return was met with cheers, and the match was clearly structured to highlight the former Divas Champion’s return to a WWE ring. Once she gets the hot tag, it’s only a matter of time before Paige becomes the tag team champion.
Between WWE’s rising stars and returning legends, the women’s division is suddenly more crowded than it has been in a long time. There seems to be a backlog of talent and available airtime ahead of Saturday night, and with another big name returning, that’s only going to get more challenging.
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6. Fatu continues to climb
After WWE pushed Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu out of the WrestleMania Championship and put them on their own show, the two did not disappoint, delivering incredible performances once again.
Recent former champion McIntyre and rising hungry challenger Fatu played their parts perfectly in an unsanctioned match, doing everything needed. McIntyre had his moments, Fatu had his brutality, and ultimately WWE used McIntyre’s status to promote Fatu.
My only criticism of this match has less to do with the actual match itself and more to do with calling it “unsanctioned.” Unfortunately, Triple H and Shawn Michaels set an unsanctioned standard for the style and structure of the 2002 SummerSlam match. Saturday’s match was announced as unsanctioned, but after the general manager’s announcement, both men showed up in ring gear and then the referee called it a no-disqualification match, which felt like a lapse in attention to detail.
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7. IShowSpeed steals the show
Saturday night’s opener went largely as expected, with most of the load falling between the Los Angeles Cavaliers, The Uso Brothers and The Vision. IShowSpeed showed the true potential of his athleticism, though, holding his own in key moments of the game before Austin Theory and Logan Paul attacked him.
Knight pinned Theory after the BFT, and Paul defeated Speed after the match. But WWE’s relentless search for a viral moment came over the weekend, and the Usos came to the rescue for Speed, allowing him to deliver a spectacular performance over Paul and at the announce table.
If he wants to — and based on Saturday’s reports, it seems likely he will — Speed has all the makings to be a consistent WWE star. His celebrity following makes him a perfect partner for the direction WWE is taking.
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As the WrestleMania season fades into the background, it’s a good time to reset the vision. Injuries to Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker derailed the team’s original vision (pardon the pun) of Paul being a potential workhorse, and the theory was that it would go in a similar direction, eventually living up to the tremendous potential he’d shown. Instead, they played simpler supporting roles at WrestleMania, facing off against the Usos, Knight, and social media star Speed.
If Theory and Paul want to move up, they need a strong leader to guide them into the next phase of their development. With Breakker returning, that seems unlikely since he doesn’t That There’s a big gap between his current status in WWE and other faction members.
8. Dear mother
During John Cena’s standard attendance announcement, Bianca Belair’s surprise return caught the crowd a little off guard.
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Belair, who has been out since last April’s award-winning WrestleMania 41 match with Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley, returned with a WrestleMania-sized announcement that she and her husband, WWE star Montez Ford, are expecting a baby.
This is excellent news for one of WWE’s top stars, and welcomes the return (albeit brief) of one of wrestling’s top talents before moving on to the next phase of his personal life.
