WRESTLEMANIA XLI - 4/19 & 4/20/2025

[Cristobal]

At some point someone gave Travis Scott the advice a lot of young wrestlers get and that's to slow down in big moments, and unfortunately that was NOT the advice Scott needed to be given.

[_MJ_]

That might have been the lowest pop I've heard for Stone Cold Steve in decades.  Meanwhile, I think Dirty Dom's win got the biggest reaction of the night.  2025.

Priest/McIntyre and Bianca/Iyo/Rhea delivered.  I think they are going to have to make this year, Drew's year.  He keeps delivering for them so it's going to be tough to keep putting him on the backburner on every big PPV.

Expect vague Meltzer Rock gossip after this event.  

Edited April 21 by _MJ_

[Niners Fan in CT]

I had a pretty good feeling after the first three matches.  Hot start.  Bianca/Iyo/Rhea stole the show.  

But after the third match..... wow.  Lmaoooo that main event sucked and still no Rock 

[The Natural]

Better than Night 1 but wasn't feeling this either. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair the MOTN of this show and WrestleMania as a whole. Didn't expect Logan Paul vs. AJ Styles to go on as long as it did. Bad main event in Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena which shows how important it is to go out on a high. Worst two night WrestleMania for sure.

[Cobra Commander]

the run-in fest last year turned out to be hard to top this year

[hammerva]

So Cody gets pinned on a belt shot to the head while Jey Uso takes a belt show to the head while flying in the air and then beaten up for a minute and completely shrugged it off.

[just drew]

So, I watched this on a buccaneer stream, so WWE doesn't benefit from it at all. This was better than night 1. It still wasn't good. The women held up their end of the deal, even though it was FUCKING HORSESHIT that Bayley got pulled for no reason. Stick Becky in the title match, or, if you want to make Lyra a star, have Becky answer an open challenge for the women's IC title. Shit, I dunno. I just hate it for Bayley. She's yet another one who signed an extension and immediately got asked to do all manner of stupid shit, like Chad Gable and Natalya. That 4 way for the IC title was good. Carlito should take a month off after that spear. Holy shit. Happy for Dirty Dom. He's the most entertaining guy in the company right now. Just an absolute unrepentant scumbag and I love it. 

It makes me mad how good Logan Paul is at this. AJ Styles is fantastic. That was a really fun match.

I can't decide if that Orton match buried Joe Hendry or not. It's not a good look for the TNA World Champ to get beaten in 4 minutes by Randy Orton. That was not ideal. He had that fun moment, though, and he got a better reaction than I thought.

That main event was BAD. Plodding, overacted, and the wrong kind of deliberate. You know it's bad when the Rock can't be arsed to show up. Congrats to John Cena, though. The King stands alone.

[hammerva]

The first 75% of Cena vs Cody was very good I thought.  It fit Cena trying to be more heelish perfectly.   but after that ref bump it completely fell apart.  We thought there was going to be a ton of bells and whistles in order for Cena to beat someone like cody.  Instead it was just one really slow bell.  

[_MJ_]

Yeah, I noticed they ended the 4-way intercontinental match the same way they ended the women's 3 way match too.   It would have been neat if they had Dom watching the match in the back in one of their many breaks, and/or have the commentary team make an offhand remark about Dom taking notes on it.

Speaking of the commentary team, Wade came off the best imo, which is hilarious considering how long Cole has done this and even Pat. To be fair, that might be because I have less experience with Wade's verbal ticks and calls.

[Curt McGirt]

18 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Not after it hit the fucking wall  

What, the fucking thing BROKE he hit it so hard?! Jeeeeezus.

[Cobra Commander]

7 minutes ago, hammerva said:

So Cody gets pinned on a belt shot to the head while Jey Uso takes a belt show to the head while flying in the air and then beaten up for a minute and completely shrugged it off.

you see, Samoan heads ar---CARRIER LOST

[Curt McGirt]

^^^ the board wouldn't let me post the laugh emoji to that at first 

[hammerva]

I am going to assume that the reason why McAfee was a lot worse today than yesterday was because he was partying a bit too much 

[Cobra Commander]

I was also amused that they mentioned tickets still being available to the Hinchliffe roast during the show... yeah, that Wrestlemania-adjacent show sounds real popular

[hammerva]

Yeah this is the nightmare scenario for the people who were hoping that there would be enough talk about Cena vs cody that we wouldn't have to deal with that roast.  Think we have pretty much exhausted all the things said about that match which is a terrible sign

Cena press conference is kind of funny in that it sounds like he prepared for it by watching Trump press conferences and he acts like an ass

[Phantom Lord]

I thought tonight's show was way better than last night's. If you took most of the match from tonight and put them on night one, you would have had a decent show. Cena/Rhodes was so damn underwhelming with no Rock. Rock couldn't even satellite in a promo or something?

Dirty Dom getting that huge reaction in the match and than actually winning was awesome.

Glad to see Becky back. Lyra needs to lay off the feathered hair though. It never says in and just makes a mess in the ring.

[Cobra Commander]

it would make sense if pre-press conference era superstars just found some sort of kayfabe way to not care about doing post-show press conferences

sorta like how the Night 1 result does kinda make sense if you remember how Heyman conned wrestlers back in ECW

[Ramo2653]

55 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

I guess enough of the audience is new that the Cena threat to take the title away has salience since they weren't around for Brock being the champion and disappearing for months at a time

Eh, the second half of Roman's title run had him not being around that much with Heyman, the Usos and Solo being his proxies. The problem is that Cena doesn't have a proxy to keep a story going. 

I didn't catch night 1 since I had bowling (put up a 695 series and my second game was a 165) and it was our last night of the every other Saturday league. I did watch Jey/Gunther before night 2 started and I thought it was an ok match but wasn't their best. But those opening matches can be weird since they're usually pretty gogogo to keep the crowed involved early. I've been beating the drum that Jey needs to pad out his moveset a bit more and that's still the case. He's got the ball now though. I'll have to catch the rest of night 1 tomorrow since I'm off work.

Night 2 was good. The 2 multi person matches were chaos and perfect IMO. Tag match was whatever to me but I'm not big on Lyra or Lynch. I imagine Hendry wanted to do the match so it's whatever. I dug the main event until the Travis Scott run-in everything seemed a bit off after that, also I missed Cena calling spots so visibly  The last 2 Maina main events were so over produced that I was expecting more nonsense but it should be fun to see Cena and how Cody reacts after.

[Casey]

Travis Scott for World Champion, let’s fuckin’ go.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I'm not glad to see Becky back,  it was at the expense of Bayley who works hard all year long and isn't rewarded for it.   Bayley probably doesn't say anything and just continues on waiting things to open up for her but it's complete nonsense.  She deserves to be on that show every year while she's an active performer. 

[mystman]

My favorite part of the show was them completely outdoing AEW in killing kayfabe.

"You guys have some actress on your PPV kinda imply wrestling is fake. Well, we're starting a Netflix show where not only are we going to kill kayfabe, but show the complete autopsy of it. And we're going to advertise it right in the middle of WrestleMania! Ha, losers! Tony fumbles again!"

[TheVileOne]

My general thoughts:

* Both nights could've shaved off some time from the main events and spread that time around elsewhere, especially Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight and the IC title Fatal 4-way give me more of that.

* Good set overall. Much better than WrestleMania 40's underwhelming, garbage set. Not as good as WrestleMania 39. That said, I did enjoy those video blocks they hung from the ceiling that slid down for the entrances for the triple threat. That was a cool touch.

* The crowd was relatively better on Night 2. On Night 1 they were garbage, anemic and low energy. The fans got up for Jey Uso vs. Gunther and they did everything right to feed into Jey Uos's win. The rest of the night they were awful, though Jacob Fatu and LA Knight seemed to do a good job of waking the fans back up.

* Jey Uso vs. Gunther was as good as can be expected. Jey Uso isn't a transcendent wrestler, but he's a good overall "worker." The fans wanted to see him win the big one finally, and he did. I liked that he started throwing some of Gunther's offense back at him and won with a sleeper hold. I think the good thing is that Jey Uso looks like a very vulnerable and beatable champion. Jey Uso shouldn't hold the title for 9 months or a year. He should hold it, maybe six months max. It wouldn't surprise me if Logan Paul beats him to win the title. Either way, I expect a short reign for Jey Uso.

* The crowd was dead for War Raiders vs. New Day. I feel bad for the War Raiders. They finally got a WrestleMania title match, and it was such an underwhelming situation. I remember seeing them at NJPW in the USA, and fans were rabid for them to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles. They had built this grassroots fanbase, and fans were into it. Their gear last night looked cheap as hell. Didn't look like they had their A-team working on their extra-special entrance gear.

* Jade Cargill vs. Naomi proves that Jade Cargill isn't built for WWE. Jade Cargill looks like she jumped out of a comic book. She's got a billion-dollar body, but she can't put it together in WWE. AEW was a much better place for her because they protected her and knew how to book matches to her strengths. In WWE, she's absolutely exposed. That finish was so awkward. 

* Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight was solid. Fatu is freaking money. It's insane how fast he moves for his size. His moonsaults look insane. It really looks like he worked hard to prep his body for WWE, and it paid off big time for him. This was mainly about elevating Jacob Fatu and his overall ascension, and they pulled it off beautifully. This is sure to be the first of many title reigns for Fatu. If they play their cards right with Fatu, he can be a title contender and world champion in the next two years. He should undoubtedly be in that mix. Finish played out perfectly here. Knight put over Fatu and made him look strong. Fatu has already far surpassed Solo Sikoa in the Bloodline, it's not even funny. I feel bad for Solo. He's not terrible, but putting him in a group with Jacob Fatu only emphasizes how much better Fatu is than him.

* Stratton vs. Charlotte turned out better than I expected all things considered. The fans were veering toward Stratton, and they played off that well. I liked Tiffany's Barbie entrance. I don't know what's going on with Charlotte, but it looks like she possibly lost a lot of muscle mass after her torn ACL. Clearly she's had a lot of wear and tear and been at this for a while now, so her slowing down isn't all that surprising. But considering she put over Stratton here, I think that was the right call. I do think fans are just getting tired that Charlotte takes lots of time off and only shows up for Rumble and Mania season, where she's always back in the main events. I think that's why fans are frustrated with her.

* Like many main events these days, the Triple Threat was too long. It did not need to take 32 minutes. 20-25 minutes would've been fine for all of that. I mostly like the finish angle. I'm willing to see where they go with it. I did like that Roman didn't want to play along with Rollins' schtick of targeting CM Punk, and that Roman was upset with Heyman for seemingly siding with Punk. I do see heel Rollins as someone who possibly could be the guy to unseat Jey Uso, and we'll go from there.

* Women's triple threat was fast-paced and fun for the most part. The fans were into it and popping for Iyo. That said, it didn't really feel like a WrestleMania match and feud. I still think it should've been Bianca and Rhea Ripley, which was the real money match and feud. At least they seem to be trying to give Iyo some effort now, which I feel like they didn't in her last title reign.

* Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest was fun. McIntyre's athleticism at 39 years old considering his size astounding. I popped huge for that somersault plancha. You rarely saw Undertaker pull one off that good. Glad both guys got to have a fun, tough singles match at WrestleMania that paid off. Also enjoyed McIntyre's selfie gag replay. Nice play off the gag last year. McIntyre is an underrated heel and worker. I would also not mind if he beats Jey Uso to win the title, but it will probably go to Logan Paul.

* Men's IC Title Fatal 4-Way. More of this, please. Dominik Mysterio got to a point where he became so hated and so reviled that fans are now loving him. The rizz always rises to the top. I never imagined Dominik becoming this good, but the kid is good. He knows how to work. He understands the little things. When he turned heel, he absolutely embraced and did all sorts of things to make the fans hate him, and he looks like an oily bastard. And all those heelish things are now why fans love him. In the post-fight show, he was talking about getting some chicken tendies and fans were cheering him. He's like the Gen Z champion. Finish was freaking perfect with Finn almost getting the pin, then Dominik breaking it up with a Frog Splash and stealing it. I figured something like that was going to happen. Felt like an appropriate Eddie move, something Dominik is also very conscious of and subtly plays into for his character. I think everyone came out of this looking good. Penta loses nothing here, really.

Bron had the belt for a good six months this time, but I feel like they are only now starting to understand what works with Bron. He's got the best-looking spear in this business, so now he can just spear Carlito every week. And hey, good on Carlito for bumping like a fiend for Bron and making him look like a badass with those filthy, gnarly-looking spears. I popped huge for Bron's Frankensteiner. Bron's athleticism is insane. Dude looks like a thick chunky slab of meat, but he moves like a junior heavyweight. It's insanely fun to watch. I think once Bron figures out the right character thing, which he's still finding, he will be on his way and get to that world title level. He's not quite there yet. He's got all the tools, and I think he proved here that he's a great worker and he can put everything together. He's just got to figure out the character mode that really clicks and works other than being Steiner Jr. But his athleticism and in-ring charisma are so smooth, crisp, and crazy, once/if he does figure it out, it's going to be insane. Seriously, did you see that Frankensteiner? He does it just as good, if not better than his uncle, the way he snaps it off. My only complaint about this match is that I wish it had five more minutes.

* I'm kind of meh on forcing this Orton match but I guess it was a good breather sort of thing, and Joe Hendry got to have a WrestleMania moment so good for him. He pretty much got squashed, but I mean what else was going to happen wrestling Orton at Mania? I didn't really love it, but  it was fine I suppose. It is WrestleMania after all.

* Logan Paul vs. AJ Styles. I'm surprised this got close to 18 minutes. I don't think it needed that much time. Styles is clearly nearing the end. I think Styles packing on all that extra muscle during his time off was a bad idea because, between that and his wear and tear, it's slowing him down. Paul didn't really have that one viral spot to put this match over the top. I did like that even though Kross wasn't working a match at Mania, they seemed to be advancing his storyline with AJ and played into it. I like Kross, and I hope this means they are finally doing something with him. I'd hate to see him get released in the next year since he's one of the more interesting characters in WWE right now.

* Yeah, Bayley got treated like garbage here. They put together a big return and moment for Becky at the expense of Bayley, which I think was unfair. I thought this was kind of a random match to book at WrestleMania in the first place. No match for Chelsea Green, the incredibly over Women's United States Champion either. Lyra Valkyria is good. She's very cute. She's the women's IC champ, but she hasn't really found her character yet. The good news is that she's young and has time to develop. That said, the match was nothing special. It felt like a waste to me, and also very disrespectful of Bayley to just toss her aside like that. Should've had Bayley feuding with Chelsea Green instead of this bait and switch trash.

* Everyone seems to be sour on John Cena vs. Cody, but I didn't mind it really. I don't really think it needed to go over 20 minutes, but it did what it needed to do. Frankly, I'm surprised it took fans this long to finally start souring on Cody's schtick. It happened in AEW, too in a shorter amount of time. Cody is very obnoxious, so it's not surprising. But fans surprisingly bought into the whole finish the storyline and truly believed it, which is fine. But Cody finished the story and didn't really have any compelling feuds or storylines after that. He was stuck in a rut of "matches" and/or underwhelming matches with The New Bloodline and Solo Sikoa, which were mostly trash. But this match accomplished what it needed to accomplish. It gave Cena the title. So Meltzer did end up being right about The Rock not working WrestleMania after all that. People give Meltzer a lot of garbage, some of it is deserved, but he was right on here. And here I thought The Rock posting that Hawaii video was a trick. I do wish parts of Cena's heel turn played out better, but I did enjoy how, at the press conference, he refused to answer any questions and called all the reporters out for doing clickbait. Truthfully, I didn't hate the match. It's far from the worst WrestleMania main event. 

Now I'm curious if fans booing Cody is just a Vegas thing or if this is going to be what we have to look forward to in the summer, and if fans continue to grow tired of Cody, how WWE will deal with it. I think it was also a problem that Cena and The Rock weren't on TV more to build up this matchup. Also, I do think it's a problem that Cena isn't wrestling very much right now and his feud with Cody wasn't very physical. But Cena winning the title for right now is fine. It's not like he needs to hold it a long time. He could lose it by SummerSlam if not earlier. Heck, if fans continue disliking Cody, that just might turn him babyface again. All criticisms aside, I'm fine with the result though, and I think people were being a bit too hard on this match.

 

Edited April 21 by TheVileOne

[BobbyWhioux]

29 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I'm not glad to see Becky back,  it was at the expense of Bayley who works hard all year long and isn't rewarded for it.   Bayley probably doesn't say anything and just continues on waiting things to open up for her but it's complete nonsense.  She deserves to be on that show every year while she's an active performer. 

there is such a thing as being too unselfish, after all...

[peterien]

The women’s triple threat was one of the best matches I’ve seen in a while. Everything was so crisp and timed perfectly. 
 

Joe Hendry must have been walking on air after that reaction he got. 

[ExcellenceofAirPollution]

8 hours ago, Peck said:

A Wrestlemania III cart would have changed everyone's perception.

a wrestlemania III vape cart????  no wonder everyone was so fucked up

I largely fast forwarded through both shows, watched the opener and main in full here.  The commentary is brutal and I really don't like WWE/TKO.

Women's 3 way was the one match I cared to see and it was pretty great.  Loved how it was continually the 3 of them playing off of each other with constant motion and not much down time.  Really well laid out and executed, and really complicated stuff flowed naturally and didn't feel contrived.  I thought there was no way Iyo was retaining so it made the finish even better for me.   Arguably the 3 best women on the planet right now....the women's division is the one area WWE has a clear advantage over AEW IMO

I can't believe Cena greenlit that Travis Scott stuff.  You're supposed to be looking at WM with a historical lense, where you create a moment that is timeless.  50/50 Travis Scott will need to be erased from WWE history at some point.  From the outside looking at the Cena heel turn it feels like they've dropped the ball on everything story/character wise....but it's still working/over in spite of it?  Cody definitely looked stupid....and Cena looked stupid because why the fuck is this skinny rapper his secret weapon??  Are we supposed to know about how the Astroworld blood sacrifice gave him satanic black magic powers???  I know that but do all the fans????

that woman saw her life flash before her eyes when Austin came flying at her on that ATV.  Holy shit that was scary, and lucky it wasn't worse.  You could see it coming on the turn too.  As soon as she got over the shock she was up in his face, and I'm sure visions of lawsuits were running thru Austin's head the whole rest of that segment, he looked spooked.  Good chance he was lit too.  Probably not the best idea to go check on her afterwards while absolutely soaked in beer.  This whole thing made me really angry for some reason, just blatant drunken irresponsibility.  This felt like the perfect encapsulation of this country right now.  Fuck safety, fuck your life, nothing matters, we got the money and the lawyers fuck you.  Humans are disposable.  Meat Deathsec.  WWE is soul sucking.  Fuck this company, fuck HHH, fuck Stephanie McMahon and her stupid mother.  If I had a time machine I'd kill baby Vince McMahon