WRESTLEMANIA 41 NIGHT TWO REVIEW: CENA MAKES HISTORY

- Rob Crowther, Editor In Chief

After a solid WrestleMania: Night One showing in Las Vegas, WWE’s Night Two of the marquee event brought some heavy hitters, a few surprises, and even made some major history. 

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Right out the gate, Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, and Bianca Belair set the bar for the night. This was simply the case of three of the BEST in the world going out there and essentially saying, “Follow THAT!” All three women looked incredible from their entrances, to their respective gear, to the in-ring action. Belair showcased not only her incredible agility, but incredible strength, along with a bit more of that edgier attitude we’ve been seeing glimpses of over the past few weeks. Rhea looked like an absolute star delivering multiple Rip Tides, including an avalanche Rip Tide from the top buckle. Iyo impressed with her high flying abilities as always, but got the two-for-one special on most of her incredible diving attacks. Despite feeling like an afterthought throughout this feud, Iyo gets the win to retain HER World Heavyweight Championship. I absolutely love this decision. 

If you watch one WWE match from WrestleMania weekend, this might be the one. Other contenders include the main event triple threat from Night One, and the NXT Tag Team Championship Match from NXT Stand & Deliver.

The Sin City Street Fight between Drew McIntyre and Damien Priest was exactly what you expected. The less than exciting build to this one actually resulted in a solid, hard hitting match between the two. I thought they would lean a bit more into the “Vegas-ness” of it all, but this was your typical WWE style street fight. Drew went the extra mile to troll Priest with a mid-match selfie that definitely popped the fans. McIntyre would get the win after a bigtime corner Claymore into a steel chair, but Priest looked strong in this one. Bonus points for Priest’s entrance with the LIVE guitarist from Slayer. 

Up next, the Intercontinental Championship was on the line in a fatal four way bout between Penta, Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and Bron Breakker. Breakker represented his family with split gear of his uncle and dad. The champ looked like an absolute BEAST throughout this whole match, leaving little doubt in your mind that he would not get pinned. Penta showed out as well at his first ever WrestleMania, with high flying and heavy hitting action. Despite the strong showings, it would be the opportunist Dominik Mysterio who would pin his own faction mate, Finn Balor to get the win and become the NEW Intercontinental Champion. This was a VERY well deserved moment for Dom as the fans showed him their appreciation instead of the usual chorus of “Boos!” This was a really nice moment made better when Dom ran back into the ring to another standing ovation from the capacity crowd. 

One of the most anticipated would be surprises of WrestleMania 41 was the reveal of WHO would be Randy Orton’s mystery opponent in place of the injured Kevin Owens. None other than TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Joe Hendry would make his way to the ring with a MASSIVE POP from the Vegas crowd. You could tell Hendry took the moment in, perhaps even getting a bit emotional going down the ramp. Regardless, Hendry executed everything perfectly, playing the hits and playing to the delighted capacity crowd. In fact, Hendry played to the crowd a bit too much, as he did his signature spin, Randy Orton hit Hendry with an RKO out of nowhere in what will soon be a viral video. Randy hit another one for good measure and gave Hendry the old pat pat, before hitting his pose from a Joe Hendry0esque spin. It’s great to see Randy having fun at his twentieth WrestleMania. 

The Joe Hendry surprise has already become on of the most talked about things on social media, with many fans reaching out to me saying that they’ve already purchased his WWE WrestleMania shirt. Be sure to check out our interview with Mr. Joe Hendry, right here on BCP+!!

Logan Paul and AJ Styles put on a really solid match with Paul spending most of the match in the air. Styles was the perfect opponent for Paul here. What I did not see coming was the lurking Karrion Kross who tried to give Styles brass knuckles, which AJ quickly tossed aside. Inadvertently the interruption may have been the determining factor as Paul hit a right hand and a PAULveriser to get the win. It’s a great finisher and I have to give credit where credit is due here. Great match by both competitors. 

Up next the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships were on the line as Champs Liv Morgan and Raquel defended against Women’s IC Champ Lyra Valkyria and her surprise partner in the returning Becky Lynch. This was a fun surprise for the crowd, but I’m unsure the relevance of having Bailey removed from the equation after they put on a CLINIC in the Smackdown tag gauntlet. This was a great opportunity for a Becky return, but I do feel for Bailey here. The match itself was probably the clunkiest on the card, as you had a returning Superstar AND a new impromptu team all at once. The babyfaces deeated the champs, but I still wonder about the Bailey of it all. Regardless, welcome back Becky Lynch!!

Stone Cold made his presence known drinking beers, riding and ATV to the ring, and announcing the night’s attendance. Great surprise for the Vegas crowd to hear the glass break once again. 

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The main event of the evening saw John Cena make history in defeating the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes to become the first ever 17 Time World Champion. Cena would get an assist and distraction from artist Travis Scott of all people (who would take a Cross Rhodes from the champ) with no sign of The Rock. This match was exactly what you expected. Much more about the story than the moves. 

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In the post-show media scrum, when Cena was asked about the Rock, he would say, “That sounds like a clickbait question…”  In fact, Cena would say this to every journalist before walking off the press conference, telling them to be better next time. It was absolutely awesome. 

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Night Two outperformed Night One by leaps and bounds. You gotta give performers like Rhodes, Breakker, and Drew their flowers for carrying major titles and/or feuds throughout the year. As we know the machine doesn’t stop as we turn the page to the historic reign of the statistically greatest of all time, John Cena. 

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