WWE WrestleMania 40 results (Night 2) and commentary from Danny Damage!
Previously On…
Night 2 of WrestleMania 40 continues Cody Rhodes’ uphill battle for the Undisputed Championship. After his loss in the main event of Night 1, Rhodes must find a way to defeat Roman Reigns AND overcome whatever additional obstacles are thrown at him due to “Bloodline Rules”.
Will Cody finally get his hands on the belt they took from his daddy? Or will he be left sitting in the ring with a disappointed look on his face yet again?
WWE WrestleMania 40 Results (Night 2)
Tonight, it was Stephanie McMahon who opened the show for us. In the absence of her father, Steph added a friendlier face to the remaining McMahon part of the WWE machine.
She was looking well and it’ll be interesting to hear what Stephanie has to say about her old man in the days/weeks/months/years to come.
Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre (Surprised Lion World Title)
Winner: Drew McIntyre (pinfall)
Drew tried to do a Sheamus and beat Seth with his Claymore Kick in the first five seconds of the match. Rollins kicked out at two and the lads got straight into it, using all their biggest moves with no feeling out process.
As announced beforehand, CM Punk was on commentary, which occasionally caught McIntyre’s eye and focus. At one point, Drew went for Punk’s Go To Sleep, but Seth reversed it and nearly pinned him.
Eventually, Rollins stayed down after being hit with a fourth Claymore, causing McIntrye to become the new champion.
However, Drew got a bit too big for his boots and he proceeded to mock CM Punk who was still sitting at ringside. After hearing enough verbal disrespect, Punk tripped McIntyre and clobbered him with his arm brace and knocked him to the floor. This opened the door for Damien Priest to run down, attack the recently crowned champ with his briefcase and then successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Drew finally got what he wanted, but his title run only lasted around five minutes.
For those keeping score (it’s probably just me), the WrestleMania 40 colours/designs were allowed to remain present for this match. The scenery wasn’t shamelessly hijacked by the opportunity to whore oneself out and it helped keep us all in the moment.
Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits vs. Final Testament (Street Fight)
Winners: Lashley & The Street Profits (pinfall)
Since we were in Philidelphia/ECW territory, there had to be some form of hardcore rules/street fight on the card. So, a six-man, no-DQ tornado tag was booked and Alex Jones Bubba Ray Dudley was introduced as a special guest referee.
To make up for the lack of advertising in the previous match, Snoop Dogg, the man who’ll get behind anyone willing to write him a cheque was all over this match; meaning it was a joke before it even got started. Nobody took this seriously, not at the table nor in the ring.
At one point, Karrion Kross got in Bubba’s face, which caused the latter to put on his Dudley Boyz spectacles and side with the faces for the remainder of the conflict. This led to Kross being beaten up by everyone and getting splashed through a table before being pinned.
As well as having some alcoholic beverage deal, which was plastered all over the ring and arena, Snoop had a WWE title in his hands (plugging himself AND the WWE store) at all times. He didn’t add anything to what was already on screen.
Away with thee…and let’s ban fans with belts from live shows while we’re at it, it’s not about them.
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
Winner: LA Knight (pinfall)
This fight didn’t do anything ground-breaking or fancy, but it didn’t need to. Sure, Knight could have been booked against someone like Randy Orton, who would elevate his fame significantly, but he and AJ did just fine with what they had.
With all the new/seasonal additions to the roster, Knight is at risk of the fans forgetting about him, this match was here to ensure that didn’t happen. At least, that’s the intention.
LA beat AJ with his Blunt Force Trauma, much to the delight of the crowd.
In a vacuum, the rockstar-wrestler having his own sponsorship deal and being gifted a fancy sportscar makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, when over half of the rest of the matches over the weekend have random sponsors, that shine wears off a bit.
Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton (US Title)
Winner: Logan Paul (pinfall)
To begin with, Orton and Owens worked together and prevented Logan from hiding while they took chunks out of each other. Eventually, it turned into a three-way battle, with Paul showing off all the new things he’s learned.
Owens kicked out after an RKO, Orton kicked out after getting punched with some brass knuckles, and Orton then kicked out after being hit with a Stunner from Owens.
As is tradition, one of Paul’s pals was dressed up in the mascot costume, but Orton beat the piss out of him and RKO’d him onto the announce table.
Randy returned to the ring, where he turned Owen’s pop-up powerbomb attempt into an RKO, but Logan nudged Orton outside, hit KO with a splash off the top, and retained his title.
What I just said about LA Knight having endorsements pretty much applies to Logan Paul too. The difference is that this product is one of Paul’s own, yet the match was “decorated” rather tastefully…in comparison to other mid-match marketing campaigns.
IYO SKY vs. Bayley (WWE Women’s Title)
Winner: Bayley (pinfall)
Considering the importance of the main event/main title/two-year story coming to an end, the lasses did a grand job making this one feel special. The video hype package beforehand played a big part, but the delivery in the ring was excellent. Despite the live crowd’s boredom/restlessness, probably due to a lack of arse-cheeks and/or constant high spots, I can’t recommend checking this out enough.
IYO worked on Bayley’s knee throughout and smothered the challenger at every opportunity. Bayley fought from underneath, eventually getting the crowd properly behind her, and not just repeatedly singing “Hey, Bayley”.
Bayley kicked out after being hit by IYO’s beautiful moonsault, then she got on top of IYO, hit her elbow off the top and finished her off with the Rose Plant.
In my opinion, this was much better than the women’s title match on the first night. However, due to presentation and publicity/pushes, Rhea vs. Becky contained more star power and will likely be held in higher regard.
Bonus points are given out for keeping the WrestleMania signage up and not pissing on the fourth wall by letting WhoreAMania run wild.
Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed Title)
Winner: Cody Rhodes (pinfall)
As you’d expect from a Roman Reigns match, the good/important stuff didn’t start happening until about 20 minutes in.
They had a bit of a one-on-one no-DQ match involving a kendo stick and brawl in the crowd, but things began to move when Jimmy Uso prevented a pinfall around the 22-minute mark.
This caused Jey Uso to appear and spear his twin brother off the ramp and through some tables, taking them both out of the equation.
Then, the next time Cody looked to have things under control, Slimoa Joe Solo Sikoa ambushed Rhodes. Cody ate a Spear + Samoan Spike combo, but he kicked out at two.
Before Solo could cause any more harm, John Cena (fully dressed) made a surprise appearance and evened the odds, putting Roman on his ass and Solo through an announce table.
This prompted The Rock to show up and lay waste to Cena with a Rock Bottom.
The Shield’s music began to play and Seth Rollins (in Shield attire) spawned behind The Rock with a chair. Sadly for Seth, Reigns saw him and stopped him before he could be of any use.
Just when it looked like The Bloodline had Cody where they wanted him, the lights went out and The Undertaker choke-slammed The Rock and teleported out of there.
Roman regained his composure and cracked Rollins with the chair that was brought in, but Cody grabbed Reigns, hit him with three Cross Rhodes and became the brand-new Undisputed Champion.
Loads of babyfaces came to the ring to celebrate with Rhodes, including his wife, his mum and other family members. Cody grabbed the microphone and thanked Bruce Pritchard and Triple H for the opportunity to return to WWE. He invited them both to the party, shook their hands and then proceeded to thank/hug everyone else he passed on his way to the back.
Overall, this was a nice piece of business, cinema and theatre all rolled into one. As well as highlighting everything that Cody had done to get to this point, Roman/The Bloodline’s deeds came back to haunt him/them and everyone else went home happy.
And Another Thing…
I know my quarrels are probably redundant now, just like wishing Raw be cut back an hour, but two nights of WrestleMania is still a bit much, in my opinion. However, at least there was a continuing story throughout the weekend, which eased some (but not all) of the pain.
I’m also aware that I’ve said this every year since the two-night set-up began, but in all honesty, you could trim down the weekend and book one super card. The matches that retained the WrestleMania look/design/colours would be a good place to start, but I thoroughly enjoyed more than just those.
The fans were initially concerned that the Rock appeared and trampled all over the toes of Cody Rhodes, but Roman Reigns seems to be the one who took a back seat. Now that he’s lost his belt, this is probably going to become a bigger issue.
Let’s see how the story unfolds and how Roman feels about the Rock stealing his spotlight…and his seat at the head of the table.
– OLDER PPV RESULTS –
- WWE WrestleMania 40 (Night 1)
- WWE Elimination Chamber 2024
- WWE Royal Rumble 2024
- WWE Survivor Series 2023
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