The biggest show of the year, WrestleMania XL has started. There had been a lot of excitement about the show just like every year. Most of the prestigious championships are on the line including both of the World Championships. There had been a lot of speculations about the event as well and the fans are also expecting a lot of shockers and upset.
A total of seven matches were booked for night 1. Fans expected some five star matches from tonight’s show. Gunther, the man who is famous for producing back to back 5 star matches was also in action. Fans were expecting another 5 star match from him tonight. But what exactly happened tonight? Who stole the show and which matches made the fans upset? Let us discuss in brief;
WWE WrestleMania XL Night 1 – Complete Results and Analysis
Match 1 – Women’s World Championship – Rhea Ripley defeated Becky Lynch to retain
It was one of the most anticipated matches of the night and it definitely was one of the biggest challenges for the Australian professional wrestler. WWE protected this big match for the biggest stage of them all and these two athletes rightfully produced one of the best matches of the event. It surely deserved to be the opener of the show.
Match 2 – Six Pack Challenge for the WWE SmackDown and RAW Tag Team Championship – A Town Down Under and The Awesome Truth won the WWE SmackDown and RAW Tag Team Championships respectively
This was arguably the best match of tonight’s show. There were rumors that the Tag Team titles would split during the show or instantly after the show. Thankfully the Tag Team championships have now split and both RAW and Smackdown have their fair shares of the Tag Team titles. About the match, it was the show stealer. All the performers involved in the match were excellent. There are no complaints about it.
Match 3 – Andrade and Rey Mysterio defeated Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio
The match became totally predictable after Andrade became a part of it. If Dragon Lee was still involved in this match, it could have been a little unpredictable. The match was good, it was a high flying showcase which made it more exciting. But as we have already said, it was totally predictable. The match lived up to its expectations so there is no complaints about it. Rey Mysterio pinned Santos Escobar to earn the victory for his side.
Match 4 – Jey Uso defeated Jimmy Uso
Honestly, we had a lot of expectations from this match since it was booked at a stage like WrestleMania XL. We expected this match could be a 5 Star match and it might even give competition to the match of Gunther. But it totally failed to live up to its expectations. The match was bad. We are calling it bad because these two athletes had the potential to put up a five star competitions.
But ultimately, it was a fairy tale storyline, something that Triple H loves to tell. Jimmy Uso was booked so badly in this match that all these years of hard work became totally pointless. WWE proved today that the Usos got all the success they had was only because of Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso was nothing but a sidekick of his brother. Absolutely terrible booking we must say.
Match 5 – Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi defeated Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane)
There were not enough expectations from this match but there were definitely matters to be excited about. Jade Cargill was involved in this match and the fan favourite Bianca Belair was also a part of it. About the match, it was average. Jade Cargill received a very strong booking in this match. She had been booked more like an Unstoppable force who pinned Dakota Kai to earn the victory for her side at WrestleMania XL.
Match 6 – WWE Intercontinental Championship – Sami Zayn defeated Gunther to retain
Most of the fans expected this could be the best match of the night. Gunther always presented 5 star matches on big stages. But in this case, they failed to live up to the expectations. The match was definitely very good, but it was not as good as everybody expected it could be. Gunther on the other hand is finally dethroned after an iconic 666 days’ reign of Championship.
This is not only the longest reign for the Intercontinental Championship but this will always be remembered as the best ever reign for the mentioned Championship. But was Sami Zayn the right person? This will always be a matter of question. A lot of fans might argue that it should have been some upcoming new star whom Gunther would pass the torch to. But Sami has done excellently since he joined the Bloodline storyline. So we can definitely say that he deserved it.
Match 7 – The Bloodline (The Rock and Roman Reigns) defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins
This was the rightful main event of the match and it was also the longest match of the night. We cannot call it the best match of the night but it was really entertaining. The match started at a very slow pace but ultimately it picked up speed and we can definitely call it a WrestleMania classic. All the performers in the match were excellent. The Rock did a very good job in this match even at this age.
They did their best to keep the unpredictability for tomorrow’s main event. The Rock pinning Cody Rhodes might not be the best idea in the world but this helped the build up for tomorrow’s big match. Seth Rollins’ involvement in this match still remained in question. Why did the World Heavyweight Champion have to be the sidekick of the Challenger for the universal championship? It was a big time burial for the World Heavyweight Championship. But protecting Seth was a good decision indeed since he is scheduled to defend his championship tomorrow.
Overall, Night 1 of WrestleMania XL was a pretty average show. We cannot call it one of the best WrestleMania nights ever but it is not one of the worst either. We had more expectations from Gunther vs. Sami Zayn and Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso. Both matches failed to live up to their expectations, especially The Usos’ match, it was really disappointing. We hope they produce a better show tomorrow which has more potential.