It’s another episode of We’re Live, Pal which is also available for free on YouTube by clicking above.
Andrew Zarian and I opened up the show talking to Cameron Hawkins (aka @CeeHawk) about being in Philadelphia for WrestleMania 40 weekend.
We discussed:
How Cameron ranked this WrestleMania with others he’s been to live
If the ending ranked up there with the best endings of all-time
Why Cody Rhodes is special
WaleMania
Andrew and I then talked about his news about this year’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door as well as what to expect from the All In footage on this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Finally, we wondered what The Rock handed to Cody Rhodes on Monday’s Raw.
WrestleMania weekend preview, the matches, the plans for the matches, favorites in every match, where things can go next and how we got there
How plans changed throughout the period
Dwayne Johnson’s preparation to get into ring shape
How Johnson’s return came about
Stand & Deliver preview
Business notes on all the shows including the insane scalper market setting a new all-time pro wrestling record
The lawyers grapple in Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
What we’ve learned new and the strategy McMahon’s side is taking
AEW cuts and the current realities of AEW business
CM Punk’s interview on the Ariel Helwani show in detail and each subject covered
The most heated pro wrestling show in decades from last week at Arena Mexico featuring top AAA talent, and how the crowd makeup was different, and exactly what happened at WrestleMania 30 that led to this show taking place
The most detailed look at the the ratings from the past week, weekly rankings, competition, segment-by-segment, analysis, how it compares with one year ago
Notes from three Stardom PPV shows this past week
Preview of two major New Japan events
Lots of Mania week shows talked about
Main event for RevPro’s biggest show of the year
Bloodsport coverage
How Kingston vs. Briscoe came about
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers and international TV ratings
AEW PPV updates
McGregor sets record
Dana White talks about blowing off a sponsor
PFL signs boxing champion
Nick Khan talks Vince McMahon, Netflix deal and bringing in Dwayne Johnson
Details behind Vince McMahon’s most recent stock sale
Jade Cargill commented on her Raw match: “Wait so…you guys thought that was going to be a long match??? I told you all I’m coming for the women’s division. One head at a time. I get paid per match. So let’s make it quick. 2-0”
TMZ Sports has a story on WWE expressing interest in using Jason Kelce more in the future.
NJPW announced that El Desperado will hold a Despe Invitational event on June 10 at Korakuen Hall. The card and talent involved won’t be announced until the show starts.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that ‘Heels’, the Starz drama starring Stephen Amell that was canceled last year after two seasons, has been licensed to Netflix.
As expected, WWE WrestleMania 40 was a massive financial success for TKO in their first such one under the new ownership regime.
The company sent out a release Tuesday pointing to several key highlights in what they are saying is the “most successful and highest-grossing event in company history.”
In the release, TKO stated this year’s WrestleMania broke last year’s gate record by 78% but did not provide the actual gate revenue. The company reported last year’s two-night event brought in more than $21.6 million in gate revenue which would mean this year’s two-night event generated nearly $38.5 million in gate revenue.
They did not provide a per-night breakdown of the gate number, but Paul “Triple” Levesque said Saturday that night one broke the company’s single-night gate record in WWE history which was previously held by WrestleMania 32’s $17.3 million.
They announced 145,298 in total attendance at Lincoln Financial Field which has yet to be independently corroborated.
Other reported highlights:
Viewership was up 41%. A breakout of Peacock vs. international WWE Network viewers was not provided, nor a definition of what “viewership” means to TKO.
Merchandise sales hit a new record, up more than 20% over last year’s WrestleMania 39. No financial specifics were provided.
In its first year, the company’s WWE World fan event, in partnership with Fanatics Events, was the highest-grossing and most-attended fan event in company history.
They reiterated the strength of the go-home SmackDown (largest gate in SD history), Raw after WrestleMania (largest gate in Raw history) and Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver which was the most attended NXT ever with an announced 16,545. However, they did not announce that the NXT gate was the largest ever.
WWE’s Samantha Irvin is getting deserved praise from a legendary ring announcer.
Irvin was the ring announcer for every match at WrestleMania 40 this past weekend. She’s received plaudits from both fans and those in the wrestling industry for her performance, which included an emotional announcement of Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship victory.
The 79-year-old Michael Buffer, perhaps the most famous ring announcer of all time, added himself to the chorus of praise on Monday. He tweeted that Irvin’s timing, pace, drama, and energy were all perfect:
Ring announcer Samantha Irvin ruled @WrestleMania last night & her emotional final announcement was awesome! She was featured on camera-ring center-that was a smart production move & she was just brilliant! Her timing, pace, drama, energy was perfect!
Paul “Triple H” Levesque responded to Buffer’s tweet by saying that Irvin is “WWE’s Michael Buffer.”
Best known for his work in boxing and his “Let’s get ready to rumble!” catchphrase, Buffer was also a pro wrestling ring announcer for WCW. He appeared for WWE on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2007 and at the Royal Rumble in 2008.
Irvin (real name Samantha Johnson) joined WWE in 2021 and is currently the ring announcer for Raw. She previously appeared as a singer on “America’s Got Talent.”
During a Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, John Cena revealed what he told Cody Rhodes after his WrestleMania 40 victory.
Cena, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins, and Jey Uso all got involved in Sunday’s main event, helping Rhodes fend off interference by The Bloodline. The night ended with Rhodes finishing his story by defeating Roman Reigns to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
This ended Reigns’ 1,316-day run as champion. On The Pat McAfee Show, Cena said he believes Reigns is the greatest of all time — but Rhodes now gets the chance to make his case for being the best.
Cena shared that, in the ring after Sunday’s match, he spoke to Rhodes about the burden you carry as World Champion:
[Rhodes’] story starts today. I told him in the ring last night – and I’m sure he’ll be able to relay this same message – when I got to embrace him, he had the championship in his right hand. And I said, ‘Do you feel that? He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Do you feel how heavy it is?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘It will get heavier every day.’ Because that is the burden you bear of trying to craft the path to being the greatest of all time. I hope – and this should be the goal for the business, every performer should pass the torch up – so I hope a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, we can all sit here and be an advocate that Cody Rhodes is the greatest of all time. Because that’s the way it should work.
Bloodline Rules was the stipulation for Reigns vs. Rhodes. While speaking in-character, Cena explained to Pat McAfee that he chose to get involved in the match so that it would be a fair fight.
Cena laid out the interfering Solo Sikoa during the match and then had a face-off with his old rival The Rock.
Cena said he was able to appear at WrestleMania because Honda “bumped” a commitment he had with them. He’s going right to that commitment following his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Through “just about Christmas,” Cena has Hollywood commitments that he needs to fulfill. He’s hoping that he’ll be able to come back to WWE for one last run after that.
Cody Rhodes finishing his story at WWE WrestleMania 40 on Sunday was the most predictable finish WWE could do. That’s why it worked so well.
In a match under Bloodline rules, Rhodes finally won the undisputed WWE Universal Championship, defeating Roman Reigns to end his 1316-day reign as champion. It was a tremendous match that finally capped off two years of storytelling, something that would probably never happen in Vince McMahon’s WWE but did under Triple H’s reign.
The first twenty minutes of the match was good back-and-forth WWE action. But then, of course, Jimmy Uso came out. He was taken out by brother Jey, but then, it was time for Solo Sikoa. But unlike last year where Sikoa’s interference cost Cody the match, John Cena, who was totaled by Sikoa last year, came out for revenge. The Rock then came out to lay out Cena, but then of all people, The Undertaker chokeslammed The Rock. Cody then hit three Crossroads and pinned Reigns to a tremendous reaction.
After Cody won, a wonderful celebration took place with his family, Triple H, Bruce Prichard and all of the other babyfaces that were taken out by Reigns over the last three years. It was one of the most satisfying finishes to a show I have seen from WWE in years. Many matches this year on a technical level will probably be better than this main event. But in terms of presentation, build, and story, it was one of the best matches in WWE in quite some time.
Pro wrestling isn’t hard to book. You sign talent that people want to see succeed and win, you book them against effective heels you want to see lose, and you go from there. Under Vince McMahon’s watch, especially in the last decade of his run, he could not book a babyface to save his life. Everything was about heat. He booked horrible, terrible wrestling with disappointing finishes to the point where he couldn’t even book happy things during the pandemic, one of the worst things to happen in the world in decades.
All weekend long, I kept hearing the phrase “it’s a new era in WWE,” probably because the company crammed that phrase down everyone’s throats. But you know what? Unlike all the other times WWE promised change, this time it does feel like a new era: an era where storylines pay off,. one where no one is trying to book against the crowd, and the storylines actually kind of make sense. Things pay off. Triple H had the easiest job in the world to convince people things have changed, and by the end of Sunday, he accomplished that goal.
Since I talked about the major story everyone is invested in, I’ll run down the rest of both cards quickly. Here we go!
The rest of Saturday’s night one:
The main event of night one was tremendously boring as The Rock and Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in one of the most plodding main event matches I have seen in quite some time. They just kept wrestling. They just kept DOING THINGS until finally, The Rock pinned Cody Rhodes, a sign that perhaps a singles match between the two is down the line. Rock looked fine, you got to see him wrestle for a VERY LONG TIME, and didn’t seem out of step. This would have been a fine match if it were maybe 20 minutes shorter. Instead, it was a dull 40-minute bore.
Sami Zayn and Gunther was an excellent presentation from start to finish and absolutely the highlight of the first night. From Zayn hugging his family before walking to the ring to Gunther harassing Zayn’s wife at ringside, everyone told their story so well and the match itself was a perfect David vs. Goliath battle. Zayn executing the turnbuckle brainbuster for the first time in years was also a sight to see.
Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch was good, but I think both have had better WrestleMania matches. This was a very prototypical big WWE match where everyone hits their finishers and scores big nearfalls. I expected Ripley to win and she did as there just isn’t anyone on the Raw roster right now that comes close to her aura.
The ladder match separated the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team titles with Awesome Truth winning the Raw titles and Grayson Waller & Austin Theory claiming the SmackDown titles. The match itself was good and was a lot of atypical ladder spots and some brutal-looking ones as well. Toward the end, it just felt like a lot of the same thing with one team climbing the ladder, another team taking them out, rinse and repeat. It was the right finish as it was probably time for Judgment Day to move on from the tag title scene. The situation the next day proved that.
I don’t have much to say about the Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar match or Damage CTRL vs. Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi. Both were just kinda there and didn’t feel like big-time matches. The matches did do their jobs, however, with Philadelphia Eagles stars Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson helping Mysterio’s team and Cargill looking strong in her WrestleMania debut.
I wasn’t feeling the Uso vs. Uso match going into WrestleMania. I kept thinking that for a brother vs. brother match, there should be more heat here. I was astonished by how flat the match ended up being. Jey and Jimmy just had a nothing match in front of a crowd that didn’t seem to care. Then, Jey just won. There isn’t more to say and for a feud that has lasted for months, that’s quite sad.
The rest of night two:
The opener between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre was a very good match with McIntyre winning the World Heavyweight title…for a while. After mocking CM Punk at ringside, Punk attacked him. That allowed Damian Priest to cash in and win the World Heavyweight Championship. This makes things interesting as now I want to see McIntyre’s reaction to the loss and who will first challenge the new champion.
Lashley and the Street Profits defeated The Final Testament in a Philadelphia street fight. Bubba Ray Dudley was the referee. I don’t have much to say it was a weapons match. It was fine. The Final Testament does not feel over at all. Next!
LA Knight defeated AJ Styles in a match I thought was better than expected. I’m so-so on Styles these days, but both looked good and had a good match.
Logan Paul kept the United States title over Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. I expected that finish as one would assume that Paul will be wrestling in Saudi Arabia next month. A good match, though I am old enough to say I did not know who “iShowSpeed” is. He was in the Prime bottle this year and was taken out by Orton.
Bayley defeated IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s title in a very good match. The final few minutes were excellent and I think it was better than the Women’s World title match from the previous night. Good chemistry and good heat.
And that is it for WrestleMania! New stories will start on Raw Monday and we’ll see where WWE goes from here. All I can say is that the Raw after WrestleMania cannot be as bad as last year’s show. I think.
Bryan Alvarez’s report on WWE WrestleMania 40 night two is up on the site now for subscribers.
“This was absolutely great, probably the singlest greatest WrestleMania night I have ever seen top-to-bottom, and it goes without saying that I think we can all hope that this is, in fact, a new era for WWE,” Alvarez wrote.
Over WrestleMania 40 weekend, Stephanie McMahon returned to WWE for the first time since her January 2023 resignation.
Stephanie appeared at night two of WrestleMania on Sunday and was also shown at Friday’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Though she attended a couple of shows after her resignation, this was Stephanie’s first on-camera appearance since then.
At the post-WrestleMania press conference, Paul “Triple H” Levesque said it was great to have his wife “back home” in WWE. He hopes Stephanie knows that she belongs in WWE as much as anybody on the planet does.
“God damn, my wife looked good, right? She hadn’t lost a step,” Levesque said. “So great to have her back home. I get her home all the time, but to have her back here, to see the doubt leave her by being here for the last few days, to see her confidence come back, and to know that this is her home. All of you, all of us, all this business – it’s her home. And as much as anybody on the planet, she belongs here. And hopefully she knows that now. So, happy to have her back.”
WWE hasn’t announced if Stephanie has re-joined the company in any official capacity.
Stephanie’s resignation from WWE in January 2023 came after her father Vince McMahon forced himself back into power in the company. Stephanie had served as WWE’s chairwoman and co-CEO following Vince’s retirement in July 2022.
Vince resigned from WWE and its parent company TKO Group Holdings this January following the sexual abuse allegations made against him in former WWE employee Janel Grant’s lawsuit.
This year was the first time in history that Vince had no involvement in WrestleMania. Stephanie opened the night on Sunday, calling it the first WrestleMania of the “Paul Levesque Era.”
At the post-show press conference, Levesque rejected the “Paul Levesque Era” term.
“It’s not my era, it’s our era,” Levesque said. “When I say our, I mean everybody in WWE. The people that endured. The people that hung in there. The people that trusted. The people that, over the last year [or] whatever it’s been, gave their sweat and tears to get where we are.”
Rhodes revealed at the post-WrestleMania night two press conference that Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Nick Khan, and Bruce Prichard gifted him a gold Rolex following Sunday’s event. Cody said it’s the “same watch” that his late father Dusty Rhodes once pawned so Cody could attend acting school.
Cody said:
Something that I wanted to share – I came to the back, and Bruce Prichard and Triple H and Nick Khan handed me this, which is the same watch that my dad had that he pawned so that I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands, I hope I can pay it back, pay it forward a hundred times over.
Levesque said at the press conference that it was Khan’s idea to get Cody the watch. Prichard went and tracked down the right watch.
“We just wanted to give him, I don’t know, something that in some way commemorated his dad being here when this happened, because he was,” Levesque said.
In a eulogy following Dusty’s death in 2015, Cody said his father told him that he could have the watch if he ever won the World title. Cody didn’t find out about the watch being sold until 2015.
Cody won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Roman Reigns in Sunday’s main event. It put an end to Reigns’ 1,316-day run as champion.
While speaking to the crowd after defeating Reigns, Cody said he would not have gotten here without Levesque and Prichard.
John Cena and The Undertaker both made appearances during the Roman Reigns vs. Rhodes main event at WrestleMania 40 night two. With Cena, Undertaker, Seth Rollins, and Jey Uso helping him fend off interference by The Bloodline, Rhodes defeated Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Reigns vs. Rhodes was a Bloodline Rules match, a stipulation that was added when Reigns & The Rock defeated Rhodes & Rollins on night one. The stipulation meant that there were no disqualifications.
The story going into night two was that Rhodes had the deck stacked against him with The Bloodline able to interfere. Jimmy Uso was the first to get involved, but Jey took his twin brother out with a spear off the stage and through a pair of tables.
Cena took out Sikoa with an Attitude Adjustment through the announce table. That set the stage for a face-to-face between old rivals Cena and The Rock.
After laying Cena out with a Rock Bottom, The Rock was about to whip Rhodes with his weight belt. Rollins entered in his old Shield gear and was going to attack Rock with a steel chair, but Reigns blindsided Rollins with a Superman punch.
The Rock turned his attention back to Rhodes, but the lights went out. When they came back on, Undertaker was standing behind The Rock. He took Rock out of the equation with a chokeslam.
This all set the stage for Rhodes to end Reigns’ historic run as champion. After Reigns gave Rollins a chair shot, Rhodes hit a series of Cross Rhodes and pinned Reigns to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
On a cold Sunday in Philadelphia, Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 40 to win the undisputed Universal title, completing the end goal of a multi-year run that began with his return two years ago at this very event.
The match went roughly 33 minutes and featured a slew of run-ins like The Undertaker, The Rock, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso, and was followed by an outpouring of emotions unlike anything seen in wrestling in quite some time.
It was a coronation for the 38-year-old Rhodes who returned to WWE at 2022’s WrestleMania 38 after six years away which was powered by a revitalization on the indies, NJPW, Ring of Honor, and then the co-founding of AEW.
History made, history ends
The win ends the historic run of Reigns at 1316 days that began at August 2020’s Payback and saw 31 successful title defenses, and a unification of the Universal and WWE titles against Brock Lesnar at the aforementioned WrestleMania 38.
It was a reign that saw defenses over Lesnar, Goldberg, Sami Zayn, John Cena, Bryan Danielson, Kevin Owens, and others, and a record amount of WrestleMania main events that he set this weekend.
But it was his defense over Rhodes at last year’s WrestleMania that surprised many and galvanized more as they thought the time was right for Rhodes to hold the title.
What followed was Rhodes besting Lesnar in an impromptu best-of-three series, wins over members of The Judgment Day, a union with Jey Uso that saw them win the undisputed WWE Tag Team titles, a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, and eventually this year’s Royal Rumble.
Rhodes won the men’s Rumble and continued to feud with The Bloodline and then, just as he was going to call his shot, Rock entered the scene for his own opportunity at Reigns and it looked like the story was going to be put on pause. What followed was a dizzying two months that eventually saw Rock turn heel and saw Rhodes team with Seth Rollins against Rock and Reigns on WrestleMania’s first night.
It was quite the unexpected road to WrestleMania, indeed.
The match
The match was under Bloodline rules due to the result from the aforementioned match where Rhodes and Rollins lost to Reigns and Rock. Sunday’s match also had another lesser pushed stipulation that if Rhodes lost, he would never get a title shot against Reigns again.
After throwing Reigns into a ring post, Rhodes introduced a table but got nailed with a Drive-By and Reigns then put the table back to plenty of boos. He later introduced the first weapon — a kendo stick — to batter Rhodes’ arms and back.
At the 19-minute mark, Rhodes was put through the announcers table and then nailed with a Superman punch for a close nearfall. As Reigns was about spear him, Rhodes countered with a Cody Cutter for a nearfall and then later hit his own spear for another nearfall.
Then, the interference began.
As Rhodes was about to hit a second Cross Rhodes, Jimmy Uso ran through the stands and threw a superkick. Reigns hit a Superman punch but got distracted by Jey Uso’s music. The two brothers fought it out on the ramp before Jey put both of them through tables that were conveniently placed on the side of the ramp, taking them both out.
Rhodes speared Reigns through the barricade in front of the timekeeper’s area. He pulled Reigns back into the ring and tried his sequence of Cross Rhodes again, only to be taken out by Solo Sikoa. Sikoa pulled Reigns onto Rhodes, but the challenger got his shoulder up at two.
Sikoa started laying in shots and then they hit a combo spear/Samoan spike for another close nearfall. That brought out John Cena who knocked Sikoa over the top rope and delivered an AA to Reigns. He then delivered an AA to Sikoa through the Spanish announce table — a measure of revenge for the one-sided loss Cena took to Sikoa last year.
Then, it was time for Rock — Cena’s twice WrestleMania rival — to appear. They did a staredown in the ring and Rock connected with a Rock Bottom, taking off his white “Mama Rhodes” belt to prepare to whip Rhodes. Then, The Shield’s music hit and Seth Rollins entered the fray only to get hit immediately by a Reigns Superman punch.
Then, the Undertaker’s music hit and the lights went out. When they came back on, Undertaker appeared and chokeslammed Rock. The lights went out again and both men disappeared.
Reigns and Rhodes were left in the ring along with Rollins. Reigns hit Rollins with a chair to take him out, but Rhodes blocked a Reigns spear attempt with a knee and finally hit his three Cross Rhodes sequence as Paul Heyman shrieked at ringside. Rhodes got the pin in the middle of the ring to win the Universal title and to finish the story.
Afterward, Brandi Rhodes, who had joined Cody on the stage during his intro, briefly got into the ring to celebrate before giving way to her husband to soak in the accolades from the 72,000+ in attendance.
The ring then filled with stars like Cena, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, LA Knight, CM Punk, and Sami Zayn to hoist Rhodes up on his shoulders. His mother, Brandi, other family members and Rollins eventually got in the ring as well as the tears were flowing.
Rhodes then took the microphone and both thanked and called out Bruce Prichard and Paul “Triple H” Levesque to join in the celebration. After a long embrace and some words to each other, Levesque raised Rhodes’ arm and the hugs continued in the ring and outside where he embraced an emotional Michael Cole.
WWE’s first-ever women’s Grand Slam Champion added another accolade on Sunday in Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40, defeating IYO SKY in the show’s semi-main event to win the Women’s Championship.
In a bout where SKY kicked out of a Bayley-to-Belly, and Bayley kicked out of SKY’s trademark moonsault, Bayley scored the win by pinfall after a flying elbow and a Rose Plant.
The title match ends a nearly two-year storyline following Bayley forming the Damage CTRL group with SKY and Dakota Kai at SummerSlam 2022, Asuka & Kairi Sane eventually joining the group, then ultimately Damage CTRL turning on Bayley after her Royal Rumble win this year.
NFL star George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers was ringside for Bayley’s win, as Bayley is a San Francisco Bay Area native and a Niners fan. Kittle’s appearance was highlighted on the WrestleMania broadcast.
While she had pushed for a live appearance by Paramore for WrestleMania, the band’s touring schedule would not allow for it according to Bayley’s social media. Instead the Hayley Williams-fronted group provided music for the pre-match video package for Bayley on Sunday.
Bayley’s best friend and former tag team partner Mercedes Mone posted the following message to Bayley on social media on Sunday:
Be so good they can’t ignore you because yoU we’re born to do this @itsBayleyWWE
Bayley becomes the fourth wrestler to hold the Women’s title since it was rebranded from the Raw Women’s Championship last year.
WWE Hall of Famers Bubba Ray Dudley and Snoop Dogg made surprise appearances at WrestleMania 40.
Dudley was announced as the guest referee for the Philadelphia Street Fight match between Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits and The Final Testament on the show. Snoop Dogg was on commentary for the match.
Kross and AOP were in control of the match until Kross got in Dudley’s face after a near fall and Bubba responded by putting his old Dudley Boy glasses on. Lashley and the Street Profits then recreated several Dudley Boy spots before Montez Ford hit a frog splash on Kross through a table for the win.
Snoop, Dudley, Lashley, B-Fab, and The Street Profits celebrated in the ring to end the segment.
Dudley is a co-host of Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM Radio. He last appeared for TNA Wrestling in October at Bound for Glory and the TV tapings the night after.
Damian Priest is the new World Heavyweight Champion after robbing Drew McIntyre of his WrestleMania moment.
The World Heavyweight title changed hands twice at WrestleMania 40 night two. In the opening match of the show, McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins to win the championship. But McIntyre’s reign ended almost immediately after it started. Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on McIntyre to leave WrestleMania as champion.
This is the first World Championship that the 41-year-old Priest has held in his entire career. Paul “Triple H” Levesque posted a tweet congratulating Priest on the moment:
In storyline, Rollins was at a disadvantage against McIntyre after competing in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday. It took four Claymores for McIntyre to put Rollins away in their match.
McIntyre then taunted CM Punk, who was on commentary for the World Heavyweight title bout. Punk responded by attacking McIntyre. The injured Punk took off his arm brace and used it as a weapon to beat McIntyre down with.
Priest took advantage of the situation and cashed in. He quickly defeated McIntyre after hitting a South of Heaven chokeslam. Priest then celebrated on the stage with his Judgment Day stablemates.
Before this, there had only been one Money in the Bank cash-in at WrestleMania. Rollins cashed in during Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Date: April 7, 2024 Location: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA
**********
Show Recap —
KICK-OFF SHOW —
Michael Cole welcomed us to the pre-show. Bayley, Damage CTRL, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins were shown arriving at the arena. They aired highlights from last night. Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Logan Paul were also shown arriving. Orton is participating in his 19th WrestleMania.
Cole, Pat McAfee, Big E and CM Punk are the panellists once again. Punk held both of his newly won Slammy Awards — shades of Owen Hart. Punk thanked the fans.
(South Carolina just wrapped up their NCAA National Championship win over Iowa.)
They showed clips from Roman Reigns’ cringy press conference last night. He had “reporters” acknowledge him and kicked out one person who booed him for some reason.
********
Interview with Triple H
They aired part two of Megan Morant’s interview with Paul Levesque. She asked about CM Punk. He said they had zero conversations a few weeks before he actually returned. Punk spoke to Nick Khan and Khan asked if Hunter would speak to Punk. Triple H had no issue with it but he just wanted to know how Punk would fit. It still felt like a long shot when Leveque checked with the music department on the availability of ‘Cult of Personality.’
Levesque made it sound like they were still working on finalizing everything when Survivor Series started. They snuck Punk into the building once it was final. Levesque and Punk briefly said hello before Punk went out to the stage. Since that day, Hunter has had private conversations with people who wanted to air out their differences regarding Punk and it was all amicable. It’s been refreshing working with Punk.
Triple H spoke about how excited he was about the company and the future. He wanted to continue to re-invent the business. It wasn’t broken but he wanted it to be so much more.
********
Byron Saxton interviewed Iyo Sky. He wondered if Bayley would know exactly how to beat her. Sky called that a stupid question and said they kicked her out of Damage CTRL for a reason.
They aired the final few minutes of Rey Mysterio & Andrade defeating Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar last night.
There was a WrestleMania numbers video.
Saxton said he spoke to Cody Rhodes who said he was good to go tonight.
They aired the closing moments of Sami Zayn’s win over Gunther.
Jackie Redmond and Wade Barrett replaced Cole and McAfee on the panel. Kayla Braxton flat-out told us there would be plenty of interference and run-ins by the Bloodline tonight.
(As they did last night, fans outside are consistently chanting for Punk at the desk.)
Peter Rosenberg found Drew McIntyre in the back. He said Chelsea Green stole his Slammy and wanted her arrested. McIntyre wanted people to really remember what the world was like four years ago (during Covid) and everything he did. He looked forward to lifting the title belt in front of Punk’s stupid face. (Punk had already left the desk so he couldn’t comment.)
They aired the final few minutes of Rhea Ripley’s win over Becky Lynch.
Saxton interviewed Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins and B-Fab. They were all business and they were ready for tonight. Ford said they’ve chosen violence.
Cathy Kelley interviewed the Final Testament. Karrison Kross mocked their promo and said they were ready to take it to the extreme (he wore an ECW t-shirt).
Rosenberg interviewed Gabriel Iglesias. AJ Styles was shown arriving.
They aired the final moments of last night’s main event. (I’m a little surprised they’re showing so much from last night.)
There was a video of fans in Philly rallying behind Cody Rhodes.
CM Punk was shown entering for commentary.
********
WRESTLEMANIA XL NIGHT TWO —
Cole said nobody had seen Cody Rhodes all day because he’s been locked away in his bus. (On the pre-show, Saxton said he spoke to Rhodes and Rhodes was visited by medical staff.)
There was an intro video once again with Meek Mill. It seems a bit warmer and sunnier than yesterday.
Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins were shown getting ready in the back.
The War and Treaty performed God Bless America.
Stephanie McMahon entered (to a remixed theme). She was at WrestleMania 1 when she was 8 years old and felt privileged to be at every Mania since. She said this one was special because it was the first one in the Paul Levesque era. She asked the crowd if they were ready and they cheered.
********
CM Punk is on commentary for the upcoming match. McIntyre entered to his music but was first brought out by the Ulster Scottish Pipe Band. Punk was unimpressed.
Seth Rollins was brought out to the stage by the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association. Punk called him a goof. The very colourful band marched down to the ring with Rollins as the crowd sang along. Rollins did look like a goof but this was a fun visual.
Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins to win the World Heavyweight Championship (10:33)
McIntyre immediately hit a Claymore Kick and got a nearfall 10 seconds into the match. McIntyre chop-blocked him and launched on the outside with an overhead suplex. He grabbed his wife’s cell phone and took a selfie (she sat in the front row).
McIntyre taunted Punk and set up Rollins for the same DDT that injured Punk but Rollins countered with a Pedigree. Rollins hit a curb stomp in the ring for two.
They traded blows until McIntyre hit a neckbreaker. McIntyre went for Claymore but Rollins caught him and hit a powerbomb and Pedigree. Rollins hit another stomp for a nearfall. Rollins went for a stomp off the top but McIntyre dodged it. They traded counters until McIntyre hit a Future Shock DDT for two. Punk admitted to wincing at that.
McIntyre did the “go to sleep” taunt and Punk said he was putting the crowd to sleep. McIntyre went for GTS but Rollins rolled him up for two. McIntyre hit another Claymore Kick for a nearfall.
McIntyre cleared the announce table but Rollins fought him off. Rollins cleared the other table and hit a running stomp, bouncing McIntyre’s head off the table. Rollins kept selling his knee every time he landed. Rollins tried to follow up in the ring but McIntyre once again hit a Claymore for a nearfall.
McIntyre hit one more Claymore Kick for the pinfall win.
This was really good. It was paced pretty much exactly like a Brock Lesnar main event.
McIntyre acted emotional upon winning. (His reaction felt a bit subdued for reasons we’re about to find out.) McIntyre and Rollins gave each other a knowing look. Rollins was crying as he mouthed something encouraging to McIntyre.
McIntyre let his wife (in the front row) hold the belt and he kissed her.
McIntyre taunted Punk on commentary. McIntyre was being a huge dick and did the crotch chop in Punk’s face. Punk swept out McIntyre’s leg and dropped him on the announce table. Punk ripped off his brace and attacked McIntyre with it.
— Damian Priest sprinted out to his music and the crowd exploded. Priest decked McIntyre with the briefcase and announced he was cashing in.
Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre to win the World Heavyweight Championship (0:09)
Priest immediately hit a South of Heaven chokeslam for the pinfall win. The crowd popped big and Priest was pumped. Priest celebrated with his Judgment Day teammates on the stage. Punk was very pleased with himself.
(I said earlier that McIntyre took a selfie during the match. Apparently, he actually posted on Twitter/X that he was bored at work.)
********
Snoop Dogg joined commentary for the next match. Bubba Ray Dudley was the special referee.
Six-man Philadelphia Street Fight: Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (w/B-Fab) defeated The Final Testament (w/Scarlett & Paul Ellering) (8:33)
Karrion Kross and AOP attacked Lashley with kendo sticks which got a Sandman reference on commentary. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins tried to help but they were overwhelmed by kendo sticks too.
Kross tried a cover but B-Fab hit him with a kendo stick. Scarlett hit B-Fab with a trash can. Lashley gave Kross a flatliner while the Street Profits took AOP out of the ring. Ford hit a big-ass flip dive to take out AOP.
Lashley gave Kross a spinebuster on a chair. Lashley applied the Hurt Lock but Scarlett hit him with a kendo stick. B-Fab knocked her down with a pump kick and put her through a table with a Russian leg sweep.
Kross hit Lashley with a Saito Suplex for two. Kross wasn’t happy with referee Bubba Ray and shoved him. Bubba put on his thick-rimmed glasses and Kross turned around into a Lashley spear.
Lashley and Ford held down Kross so Dawkins could hit a D-Von Dudley headbutt to the nuts. Bubba called for them to get the tables. They did but it broke too early so they grabbed another.
Ford put Kross through the table with a frog splash and Lashley made the cover for the pinfall win.
This felt like an Attitude Era hardcore match meant to kill time between the important matches. Of course, they kill enough time on these shows now with packages and commercials. Speaking of which…
********
There was a Bloodline/Rhodes video package.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Paul Heyman. She asked what Bloodline rules entailed. He mocked her and said it meant whatever they wanted it to mean. The match would only end when one man walked out the winner and the other man went home to his wife Brandi.
There were commercials for WWE 2K24 and Slim Jam. LA Knight arrived in the Slim Jim car. There was an LA Knight/AJ Styles video package.
********
AJ Styles has new music.
LA Knight defeated AJ Styles (12:28)
We didn’t get to hear much of Styles’ music because he raced to the ring to go after Knight but Knight easily got the better of him. Styles went after Knight’s leg but Knight came back with a Russian leg sweep, stomps, running knee in the corner and tornado DDT for two. Styles dropped him face-first onto the turnbuckle. He followed with a German suplex and facebuster for two. Styles went to the top but took too long and Knight tripped him.
Knight bit Styles’ face so Styles returned the favour by raking Knight’s eyes. Knight leaped back up and hit a super release German suplex, which looked awesome. (McAfee asked them to confirm the name of the move and Cole admitted he learned a lot of move names by calling the video game.) Styles applied a calf crusher but Knight got a rope break.
Styles dropped Knight’s knee pad and kicked his leg into the ring post. He seemed to set up for a figure four in the ring post but Knight pulled him into the post.
Knight removed the black floor mats but it wasn’t concrete underneath. Instead, it was the boards they put over ice or grass when they convert a venue to basketball or a concert. Anyway, Knight tried a powerbomb but Styles countered with a backbody drop onto the boards.
Knight beat a ten count and Styles went for a springboard 450 but Knight got his knees up. Styles hit a Pelé Kick but Knight blocked a Styles Clash. Knight knocked Styles off the top and hit a BFT for the pinfall win.
This match was fine, maybe even good, but the crowd seemed bored other than being able to yell “Yeah.”
********
They aired clips from the Hall of Fame and introduced this year’s class onto the stage. Paul Heyman got a separate entrance and he entered to the ECW theme.
A bunch of videos aired including a video package for the next match. It’s been about 15 minutes since the LA Knight segment ended.
********
Logan Paul entered first, in part because he entered on a pickup truck with a Prime bottle “cannon” attached. He entered with someone in a Prime bottle suit. The announcers speculated that it could be KSI.
As Owens entered Gorilla position, he was met by Sami Zayn. Zayn told him it was his turn tonight. Owens drove down in a golf cart.
Orton’s music hit before Owens hit the ring, so Owens backed up the cart and invited Orton to join. Orton stood on the back of the cart as Owens drove down. Orton motioned to Owens to slow down but he didn’t. They both made it safely to the ring.
(I forgot to mention it earlier but Punk blew a kiss to McIntyre’s wife earlier. I thought of it here after Owens waved at someone in the crowd.)
Triple Threat Match: Logan Paul defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to retain the United States Championship (17:39)
Paul tried pitting Owens and Orton against each other but it didn’t work. They teamed up on Paul and beat him up for a good three minutes until they both went for a cover simultaneously. Owens seemingly reasoned with Orton but Orton went for an RKO. Owens blocked it and was annoyed. Orton tried reasoning with Owens. They agreed to start fighting so they traded fists until Paul knocked them down with a double Buckshot lariat.
The crowd chanted “Gatorade” at Paul, which was funny. Owens tried a diving senton but Paul got his knees up. Paul hit a diving senton and transitioned perfectly into a splash on Orton for two. That was cool. Paul and Orton traded uppercuts and the announcers put over Paul who got the better of it. The crowd booed. Orton poked him in the eyes. Orton clotheslined Owens and hit a powerslam. Paul tried a springboard move but Orton grabbed him and hit a powerslam.
Orton hit Paul and Owens with a double draping DDT. Owens superkicked both guys. Owens hit Orton with a Codebreaker while falling on Paul with a senton. (Cole mentioned that Owens beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 33.) Owens gave Paul a package powerslam and moonsault for two. (Paul slipped as Owens set up his first move but Owens managed to adjust in time.)
Orton blocked a pop-up powerbomb and hit an RKO for a nearfall. Paul punched Orton with the brass knux but Orton kicked out. Paul knocked out Owens with the knux too. Paul tried another punch with the knux but Orton countered into an RKO.
Orton grabbed the knux but gave them to the referee. Orton went for a punt but the Prime bottle mascot saved Paul. The Prime bottle revealed himself to be IShowSpeed. (He’s a Youtuber. I had to frantically Google this.) He barked at Orton so Orton booted him. Orton barked at him (which was hilarious) and gave him an RKO onto the announce desk.
Owens gave Paul a pop-up powerbomb and stunned Orton for a nearfall. Owens tried a pop-up powerbomb but Orton countered into an RKO. Paul chucked Orton from the ring and gave Owens a frog splash for the pinfall win. Paul retains.
This was really fun.
********
Bayley had an Egyptian-themed entrance and was carried out by four dudes. Graves noted there was Rosicrucian Park (an Egyptian museum) in the Bay Area where Bayley grew up.
Bayley defeated Iyo Sky to win the WWE Women’s Championship (14:23)
Bayley hit a suicide dive early in the match but sold her leg upon landing. Sky targetted the leg and smashed it against the ring post. Sky applied a leg lock on the apron as Cole spoke about Bayley’s past leg injury. Sky worked her over but Bayley chucked Sky into the timekeeper’s area. Sky tried a dive off the barricade but Bayley countered into a spinebuster. (They noted George Kittle was on his feet watching, presumably cheering on Bayley.)
Sky fought back and hit a moonsault outside the ring. Bayley came back with a sunset flip powerbomb into the bottom turnbuckle for two. (Parts of the crowd sang the Bayley song throughout much of the match.)
Sky hit a German suplex, rolled through and hit another German for two. Bayley got her knees up on a moonsault attempt but that just hurt Bayley’s knee. Bayley fought through it and went for a flying elbow drop but Sky dodged it and applied a crossface.
Bayley escaped and hit a back elbow but Sky caught her in the crossface again. Bayley tried to get a rope break so Sky caught her in an STF. Bayley fought out and hit Bayley-to-belly for a nearfall.
They traded strikes until Sky hit a backbreaker and moonsault for a nearfall. Sky hit consecutive moonsaults but Bayley dodged a third one. Bayley tried a Roseplant but Sky countered. Bayley came back and hit a clothesline, flying elbow drop and Roseplant for the pinfall win.
I thought this was very good.
********
Michael Che, War and Treaty, T-Pain, George Kittle (who was booed again), Vanessa Hudgens and Lilly Singh were shown at ringside.
The Eagles cheerleaders were in the ring with Snoop Dogg who announced an attendance of 72,755.
The main event is up next.
*******
Rhodes entered first, wearing a weird-looking mask. He handed it off to Brandi who entered on the stage. She stayed back as Rhodes entered. Rhodes seemed pretty emotional upon entering.
An orchestra of young people sang Roman Reigns to the ring.
Bloodline Rules Match: Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman) to win the Universal Championship (33:26)
The crowd was on its feet as the match began. There were some boos for Rhodes during his entrance but there were loud chants for him as it started. They stood face-to-face with Reigns looking very confident.
Rhodes hit the Goldust uppercut early on. Rhodes dodged a charge and Reigns went shoulder-first into the ring post. Rhodes grabbed a table but Reigns cut him off with a drive-by dropkick. Reigns neatly placed the table back under the ring. Rhodes chucked him into the steel steps.
Reigns was the first to use a weapon, attacking Rhodes with a kendo stick. Reigns tried a David Ortiz swing with the kendo stick but Rhodes ducked and hit a bulldog. Rhodes applied a figure four but Reigns raked his eyes. Reigns worked over Rhodes and said, “I’m gonna miss whoopin’ your ass.”
They fought into the crowd and fought on top of a table. Reigns tried to suplex Rhodes off the table but Rhodes suplexed him on the table. Back in the ring, Rhodes went for Disaster Kick but Reigns countered with a powerbomb. Reigns hit a vertical suplex but Rhodes kicked out at one. Reigns told Rhodes, “This is my company, you little bitch.”
Reigns hit a fisherman’s suplex for two. Reigns hit repeated clotheslines in the corner but Rhodes came back with superkicks. They knocked each other down with clotheslines. They traded right hands and Rhodes got the better of it. Rhodes hit a powerslam and Disaster Kick for two.
Rhodes went for a Cody Cutter but Reigns caught him and hit a Cody Cutter for two. Reigns laughed and said, “That move sucks.” Rhodes dodged a Superman punch, hit jabs and a Bionic elbow.
Rhodes cleared the announce desk but Reigns hit a low blow and powerbombed Rhodes through the table. Reigns followed with a Superman punch in the ring for a nearfall. Rhodes blocked a spear and hit a Cody Cutter for two.
Reigns tried a Rock Bottom but Rhodes blocked it and hit a spear for two. (It’s been 21 minutes with no outside interference.)
— Rhodes hit a Cross Rhodes but Jimmy Uso entered and superkicked Rhodes. Reigns hit a Superman punch.
Jey Uso entered to his music and attacked Jimmy. He speared him off the stage through some tables. Rhodes used the distraction and applied a schoolboy for two and Reigns hit a spear for a nearfall. Rhodes speared Reigns through the barricade.
Rhodes hit Reigns with consecutive Cross Rhodes but Solo Sikoa caught him with a Samoan Spike. Sikoa placed Reigns into a cover but Rhodes kicked out. Sikoa hammered away at Rhodes and demanded that Reigns finish it. He held up Rhodes and Reigns hit a spear for two.
John Cena entered. Cena took out Sikoa and gave Reigns an AA. The crowd went crazy. Cena put Sikoa through the announce table with an AA.
The Rock entered to his music and Cena knew what was coming. Cena entered the ring as Rock walked down. Rock and Cena faced off as the crowd chanted “holy sh*t.” Cena took a swing but Rock ducked and dropped him with a Rock Bottom.
The Shield’s music hit. Rollins tried to enter in his Shield gear but Reigns saw him and easily laid him out with a Superman punch.
The Undertaker’s dong went off and he appeared in the ring behind the Rock. Undertaker chokeslammed Rock. The lights went out and Taker disappeared.
When the lights came back, only Rhodes and Reigns (and Rollins) were visible. Reigns hit Rollins with a chair (the way Rollins hit him with a chair when he turned on the Shield). That distraction allowed Rhodes to hit Reigns with consecutive Cross Rhodes.
Rhodes hit one more Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win. Rhodes is the champion.
Brandi Rhodes entered to celebrate with her husband.
After some replays, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, John Cena, LA Knight, Randy Orton and Brandi Rhodes celebrated with Cody. Jey and Sami hoisted Rhodes on their shoulders. CM Punk and Michelle entered too and celebrated. Rhodes hugged his mom. More members of the Rhodes family entered as Rhodes gave the title belt to his mom.
Rhodes grabbed a microphone. The crowd chanted for him. Rhodes said he was surrounded by greatest in the ring and greatness in the stadium. Rhodes called out Bruce Prichard and Triple H because this couldn’t happen without them. Prichard and Triple H entered.
Triple H, the booker of the show, embraced Rhodes. They had a moment before Zayn and Orton held Rhodes up on their shoulders.
Rhodes hugged Cole and embraced the other announcers.
Rhodes shook hands with Rollins. Triple H embraced him one more time.
Everyone left allowing Rhodes to celebrate alone in the ring as fireworks went off.
Cole spoke emotionally about how much this business can get you.
Rhodes embraced Nick Khan in the front row.
*******
[Rhodes won as he should have and they made this feel like a big deal. However, this WrestleMania was really presented as the Triple H show. We should be grateful he’s in charge. They outright told you that you should be thankful he’s in charge. Rhodes attributed his win, in part, to Triple H. Even though we’re supposed to think Rhodes overcame the storyline odds, it was really thanks to Paul Levesque. Levesque’s was all over both nights. It’s his show now and he wants you to know it.]
