WWE is calling Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns the biggest WrestleMania match of all time. Can it live up to the hype? Probably not, but it’s a big deal anyway. At stake in this winner take all match, which has been built up since SummerSlam, are both the WWE and Universal Championship titles.
Lesnar and Roman are the main attraction for WrestleMania 38’s second night, but not the only attraction. WWE doesn’t let celebrities fail at WrestleMania, as evidenced by Logan Paul’s strong showing on Night 1, so I’m hopeful Sami Zayn versus Johnny Knoxville will be fun. There’s also Edge versus AJ Styles which, despite a weak buildup, could be a classic bout.
It follows a very good Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, which featured among other things Stone Cold Steve Austin returning for a No Holds Barred match against Kevin Owens. It was one of two returns, alongside Cody Rhodes jumping ship from AEW to face Seth Rollins in an outstanding match. The big surprise result was Ronda Rousey losing her match with Charlotte Flair, though in a way that sets up a return match. And a cause for celebration: Bianca Belair is once again women’s champion after defeating Becky Lynch.
Check back to this page when WrestleMania 38 Night 2 begins, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, as I’ll be updating with results and analysis.
AJ Styles vs. Edge
Hoping this is as good as it could be.
Sasha Banks and Naomi win Tag Team Titles
Sasha Banks and Naomi are the new Women Tag Team Champions, defeating the teams of Queen Zelina and Carmella, Shayna Bazler and Natalya, and Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.
This was the ultimate example of performers going out there, taking chicken s*** and turning it into chicken salad. Not only was this match thrown together, all of the teams were too. None of them even have team names! Yet despite a makeshift build, all eight women worked super hard and put together a great match.
It’d be useless for me to describe the action here, since this match was in essence a steady flow of big moves. I would normally use that as a criticism, but when you have eight performers, and only one big star among them in Sasha Banks, that’s the best way to go. It also worked because the less developed performers like Carmella and Zelina weren’t in long enough to have their weaknesses shine through, so everyone looked good and everything looked tight. Lots of creative tandem offense that was fun to watch (and would be impossible to describe).
The best compliment I can give is the simple observation that the crowd wasn’t into this match at all to begin with, I’d imagine due to the weak build I mentioned above, but by the end they were on their feet.
Rating: 3.75 stars. A pleasant surprise.
Johnny Knoxville beat Sami Zayn
This was so stupid and I loved every minute. I hate the fact that a professional wrestler got beaten by a comedy celebrity, but this was too fun to be mad about. Or rather, if you have a soft spot for Jackass this was fun. If you dislike Jackass, this would be torture, since it was in essence half match half Jackass sketch.
It began with Sami Helluva Kicking Knoxville square in the face, at least establishing Sami as someone tougher than Knoxville in a one-on-one bout. But it quickly became more than one-on-one, with weapons and interference aplenty. Once Zayn started heckling the Jackass guys on the outside, Knoxville sprayed him with a fire extinguisher for a distraction.
Back in the ring, Zayn beat down Knoxville with all sorts of weapons. Chris Pontius then hit the ring as Party Boy Chris Pontius, a throw back to the old Jackass character. After rubbing himself on Zayn, he got knocked out and thrown out. Zayn stuffed him under the ring, but then Wee Man crawled out and barraged him with kicks and punches. In the ring, Wee Man hit a body slam on Zayn and Knoxville flew off the top rope, hitting a splash for a two count.
It was all stunts and props from there. The highlight was Zayn kicking Wee Man in the face, which got incredible heat from the crowd. They booed Sami and called him an asshole. When Zayn scaled the ropes, Knoxville set off pyro and he fell down. Knoxville then bowled a bowling ball into Zayn’s groin.
The finish came when Knoxville electrified Sami with a taser and then trapped his shoulders to the ground using a giant mousetrap. Incredible stuff.
Rating: If you like Jackass, this was 4 stars of fun. If you don’t, this would be minus stars for sure.
Bobby Lashley pins Omos
This clash of the titans was, as JR would say, bowling shoe ugly. Thankfully, it was over fairly quickly.
Bobby Lashley pinned Omos after a suplex and two spears. The whole match centered around Lashley repeatedly going for a suplex but Omos using his size and strength to bat him away. Omos remains unimpressive. He’s large but lumbering, and his offense is unconvincing despite his heft. Much of the match was him doing generic big man offense — clubbing blows, a bear hug, that kind of thing.
Lashley got a suplex on his third try, then speared him from behind. Then he was able to set up a proper spear, land it and get the win.
Rating: 1 star. Omos has been built up as a giant that would one day be slayed. Now that he’s slayed, what value does he have? Despite an unimpressive match, it was a big win for Lashley, setting him up nicely for a post-WrestleMania title chase.
RK-Bro retains Raw Tag Team Championships
WrestleMania 38’s first match was the Triple Threat Tag Team Championship bout pitting Orton and Riddle against the Alpha Academy and Street Profits teams. After a super fun match, Orton and Riddle retained when Orton pinned Gable.
After the match, the Street Profits congratulated RK-Bro on their win, and invited Gable Stevenson, 2x NCAA Champion and WWE signee, into the ring to celebrate. Chad Gable confronted Gable Stevenson and ate a suplex. WWE obviously has high hopes for Stevenson, highlighting him on both nights of WrestleMania.
The rules of the match were quizzical: There’s three men in the ring at all times, one from each team, but no disqualifications. What’s keeping the other tag team wrestlers from jumping in at any time? Nothing. But alas, the format allows for fast-paced action. It started explosive, with Riddle blitzing Chad Gable with a high kick. Big dives followed, with Montez Ford flipping over the turnbuckle to take out the field, and Gable following that up with a big moonsault off the turnbuckle.
From there both teams got heat on Riddle, building to a Randy Orton hot tag. And what a hot tag it was, the crowd went wild for Orton’s tag as he took out everyone, including Ford and Gable on the outside. Riddle and Orton hit stereo second-rope DDTs in the ring and setup for stereo RKOs, but Otis interrupted.
From there it was all teams hitting huge tandem offense on each other, including a crazy Blockbuster from the Street Profits. Orton tried to RKO Dawkins, but Dawkins pushed him off into the ropes and then planted Orton with a spinebuster. As Ford was setting up for a top-rope splash, Riddle caught him with an awesome springboard RKO. Gable then tried a top-rope cross body but Orton RKO’d him in midair for the win.
Rating: 4 stars. Great opening match.
A Surprise Triple H appears
WrestleMania Sunday is being kicked off by none other than Triple H, who’s making an unannounced appearance following his recent retirement announcement.
After making his entrance, Triple H laid his boots in the center of the ring as the crowd chanted “Thank you Hunter!” and “Too sweet!” Grabbing a microphone, he said he wanted to thank the crowd and welcomed them to WrestleMania.
