WrestleMania is the main event of professional wrestling. This year was the 41st consecutive year, with the two-night event hosted in Las Vegas. It took place on April 19 and 20 with a total of 14 matches, several being for championship titles. There have been many events and shows over the past few months leading up to the Super Bowl of wrestling.
Night one
WrestleMania began with Jey Uso fighting Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. These two had been feuding for months, even getting personal when Gunther attacked Uso’s brother weeks before their match at WrestleMania. Uso won, claiming the title.
The next match was for the World Tag Team Championship, with the New Day defending against the War Raiders. This event was not as highly anticipated as the New Day is not very popular among the fans. However, the New Day won, retaining their title.
After that was a match that relied on a storyline rather than a title. Naomi and Jade Cargill fought after they had been feuding for months. This fight was taken outside the ring when Cargill was attacked by Naomi and was out of wrestling for months. She made her return at the Elimination Chamber in February by attacking Naomi, and the match at Wrestle Mania was set.
Cargill won, getting her revenge and pleasing the fans.
The following match featured Jacob Fatu versus L.A. Knight for the United States Championship. Fatu pinned Knight and won the title.
Although wrestlers are following a script, fans hate the word “fake” when talking about wrestling. Conner Townsend, a former wrestler and MMA fighter, shared his thoughts on the difference when it comes to wrestling.
“There are wrestlers who have died in the ring, wrestlers who have been paralyzed, people whose lives have changed from injuries they’ve sustained in the ring. The reason why no wrestling fan likes the word fake, is because every pro wrestler gets hurt. You can’t fake things like being slammed through a table onto concrete,” Townsend said.
Rey Mysterio, who was supposed to fight El Grande Americano, was injured the night before WrestleMania and was replaced last minute by Rey Fenix, who ended up losing to Americano.
Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair, a Diva from the early WWE days, entered the ring next, fighting for the WWE Women’s Championship. Stratton is very young in her wrestling career, and she quickly gained popularity with the fans. This led to her victory and retention of her title against Flair.
The night ended with the main event, the most anticipated match of the night. Seth Rollins, C.M. Punk and Roman Reigns have been feuding with one another for over a decade. These fights have been for many different reasons, but in the months leading up to WrestleMania, they were fighting for a famous WWE manager, Paul Heyman.
Heyman’s allegiance was unknown leading up to the event, but was pledged to Punk when they walked out to the ring together. However, things are not always what they seem. The three men fought a no-disqualification match for over half an hour before the shocking end. Heyman not only turned his back on Punk but also Reigns, whom he had worked alongside for years, to help Rollins get the ultimate victory, ending night one of WrestleMania.
Night two
The second night opened with one of the most highly anticipated matches, the triple threat between Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky for the Women’s World Championship. This was also built up outside the ring. Sky and Ripley were friends until a helping hand gone wrong turned the two against one another. Belair inserted herself into one of their matches, earning Ripley's blame for her title loss.
Sky held the title going into the match, but all women stepped in with something to prove. The match lasted almost 30 minutes, with no tricks or gimmicks, just wrestling. In the end, Sky won and retained her title.
“The women’s triple threat was hands down the best actual wrestling match. From a wrestling standpoint, they should’ve been the main event. Everyone looked strong, there was a great story [and] the match didn’t overstay its welcome, it was just a great match,” Townsend said.
They were followed up by a Sin City Street fight between Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre. During the match, McIntyre stopped to take a fan’s phone and take a selfie with it before getting Priest back in the ring and pinning him for the win.
The next match was a four-way between Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, Penta and Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Championship. All four men put up a good fight, but the match ended with Mysterio pinning Balor, one of his allies, to win the title, making it Mysterio’s first solo title win in WWE.
Randy Orton, a long-time champion in the WWE, offered an open invitation to fight him at Wrestle Mania, and Joe Henry, a wrestler for NXT, accepted, revealing himself as the opponent the day of. He was easily beaten by the WWE veteran.
Following this was a match between Logan Paul and A.J. Styles. Again, we see the entertainment side feeding into the matches. The writers know Paul will gain a reaction from fans, positive or negative, so they continue to put him in big matches against very experienced, talented wrestlers. Paul won the match.
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez looked to retain their titles as the Women’s Tag Team Champions against Lyra Valkyria and a surprise opponent, who turned out to be Becky Lynch, another WWE veteran, making her return to the ring. The new duo vanquished the current title holders, becoming the next Women’s Tag Team Champions.
WrestleMania concluded with the main event of the whole weekend, Cody Rhodes defending his title as Undisputed WWE Champion against John Cena.
This match was following the events at the Elimination Chamber, when, after 23 years of playing the good guy, he finally turned heel, or became the bad, and attacked Rhodes. Since then, the two have gone back and forth on who the real champion is.
The match was the most highly anticipated, as Cena’s heel turn was the most shocking moment in WWE history, according to the Wrightway Sports Network.
"Cena’s shocking heel turn marks a new path forward in the company’s history and for a company that prides itself on shocking moments, this could be the most shocking yet," the website reads.
Travis Scott made an appearance during the match, as he has partnered with Cena and Dwayne Johnson since the heel turn, and ended up helping Cena secure the victory over Rhodes, winning his 17th World Title and breaking the record previously held by Rick Flair. This concluded WrestleMania 41.
The journalistic side of wrestling
Although wrestling is a sport, when looking at the WWE, acting, writing and journalism play a huge part in the outcome of shows and matches. Chris Syeh, the creator of a sports journalism website, talked about the influences on pro wrestling.
“On one hand, you have the WWE creative team, they’re responsible, like any other news outlet, for crafting storylines, long or short, that you see on TV each week. They also play a role in shaping fan perspectives and opinions of certain wrestlers. It’s a huge cycle, the writers influence the fans, and the fans influence the writers,” Syeh said.
Fan reactions, both in person at shows and online on social media, have an impact on the decisions of the writers.
Since there are so many wrestlers, not all of them can be on TV all the time. Some choose to take to social media or news outlets to get stories out about them. The more the fans care about their characters outside of the ring, the more the writers will put them in the ring.
The after effects of WrestleMania 41 are still rolling in, with even more action and surprises taking place on the Monday Night Raw the day after. The creative team at the WWE is already working on new storylines to make the next Wrestle Mania just as successful as this year, if not more.
