Special Event: Wrestlemania XL: Night One & Night Two (4/6/24 & 4/7/24)

April 6, 2024 6:44 PM

"The virtue of all-in wrestling is that it is the spectacle of excess. Here we find a grandiloquence which must have been that of ancient theatres. And in fact wrestling is an open-air spectacle, for what makes the circus or the arena what they are is not the sky... it is the drenching and vertical quality of the flood of light. ...[W]restling partakes of the nature of the great solar spectacles, Greek drama and bullfights: in both, a light without shadow generates an emotion without reserve." -- Roland Barthes, "The World Of Wrestling" from Mythologies, 1957

If Sunday night doesn't end with Cody pinning Roman, I SWEAR TO GOD

The card for Night One:

Women's World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match for both the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship and WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (current holders of the Undisputed title) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller), The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth), Team DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa), The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), and New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate)

Rey Mysterio and Andrade (with Carlito, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Zelina Vega) vs. Santos Escobar and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio (with Angel, Berto, and Elektra Lopez)

Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane)

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn

The Bloodline (The Rock and Roman Reigns) vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth "Freakin" Rollins

If Rhodes and Rollins win, all members of The Bloodline will be barred from ringside during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match on Night 2. If Rock and Reigns win, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match will be held under "Bloodline Rules."

The card for Night Two:

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Six-man Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight: The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins, and Montez Ford) (with B-Fab) vs. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar) (with Scarlett and Paul Ellering)

LA Knight vs. AJ Styles

WWE United States Championship Match: Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

WWE Women's Championship Match: Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (7 comments total)

Tuned in a little bit late for Night One but so far the opening matches werea mixed bag:

It's not surprising that Rhea retained even though she and Becky put on a great opening match for the crowd. Pretty funny to see that of all the sponsors WWE lined up, this one was sponsored by "Dude Wipes", because of course Becky is "The Dude"? That's her nickname, right? What a waste of a chance to bring out Mick Foley.

Ladder match was pretty good, except for the part where they had to stop the spot because Priest's ladder was crumbling beneath him. Splitting the titles is a good idea, but putting them on Awesome Truth in 2024 had better lead to some massive comedy until DIY pins them for it.

The Latino World Order tag match was humdrum, and to my surprise the Uso vs. Uso rematch was too. No Solo Sikoa? No Rikishi? Are we just marking time for a rubber match now that Jimmy and Jey are tied 1-and-1?

For the women's trios match, I knew it was over when Team Awesome Black Goddesses (not their actual name but c'mon) made their appearances dressed as the shiniest versions of the X-Men you can imagine. Damage CTRL breaking up on Monday?

Sami Zayn broke Gunther's championship at 666 days? Is this verified? It's apparently his fourth reign, for sure he's keeping it until and through WWE makes their bi-annual trip to Saudi Arabia.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:11 PM on April 6

HAHA They actually needed to make a SLOWER REMIX of The Rock's theme because he's milking his entrance and walk to the ring SO HARD.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:15 PM on April 6

The main event definitely took time to kick into gear -- imagine a world where The Rock isn't the slowest guy in the ring -- but ending this way is what's needed to build drama for tomorrow. Two thoughts: (1) I want the "Bloodline Rules" stipulation to be Roman's downfall, as Cody re-enacts the Portals scene from Endgame and every wrestler that The Bloodline has stepped on for the past three years come out to get their payback, and (2) The Rock and Roman finally come to a disagreement, perhaps because of that errant spear Roman gave him tonight.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:01 PM on April 6

I thought Priest would cash in the briefcase tonight, I did not think it would be in the first match.
posted by vrakatar at 4:46 PM on April 7 [1 favorite]

He held it for only slightly longer than Rollins held his before cashing in on Reigns/Lesnar way back when, and yet people were calling Rollins a strategist while poking fun at Priest.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:26 PM on April 7

Haha we did it folks! Partly the Endgame Portals scene, and part fan service Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny.

I think what really drove it home was Samantha Irvin’s voice breaking on the AND NEW
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:36 PM on April 7 [1 favorite]

Here are the Wrestling Observer running commentaries for Night One and Night Two.

I'm not quoting all the move-by-move commentary, because the real talking point comes out the very end:

"Rhodes won as he should have and they made this feel like a big deal. However, this WrestleMania was really presented as the Triple H show. We should be grateful he’s in charge. They outright told you that you should be thankful he’s in charge. Rhodes attributed his win, in part, to Triple H. Even though we’re supposed to think Rhodes overcame the storyline odds, it was really thanks to Paul Levesque. Levesque was all over both nights. It’s his show now and he wants you to know it."

posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:05 PM on April 7