WrestleMania 40 was one of the highly anticipated pro-wrestling events in recent memory. Ever since WWE decided to host two-night Manias, the quality of the show has improved vastly as all the wrestlers get more time inside the ring and the shows don’t drag on for hours and hours. The night 1 of WrestleMania 40 was also a very compact show. Although some matches disappointed, the night was still filled with highlights.
Some of the notable matches on the card featured Sami Zayn, Gunther, The Judgement Day, and more. However. the most anticipated match of the night was obviously the main event where Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins took on Dwayne Johnson and Roman Reigns’ ‘Bloodline’. The match also had implications on the night 2 main event between Rhodes and Reigns. So what happened on the first night of the ‘Show of Shows’? Let’s find out.
WrestleMania 40 Night 1: results
Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch: WrestleMania 40 Night 1 kicked off in style with the WWE Women’s World Championship! After an underwhelming build-up for their showdown, their rivalry heated up when Rhea Ripley brought up Lynch’s child during a promo on Monday Night Raw. Although it was a scripted moment, it helped legitimize the bad blood between the two.
Ripley walked out with the band “Motionless In White” playing her theme music. The match itself did not have much to write home about. It had some decent back-and-forth action between the two established wrestlers and Ripley won the match after hitting her finishing move, ‘Riptide.’ While the match was lackluster, the outcome was the perfect one.
DIY vs. A-Town Down Under vs. Awesome Truth vs. Judgement Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. New Day: Six team tag matches often bring chaos and mixing the ladders into it was a great decision from the company. Not only did it allow the company to give some shine to all the amazing wrestlers involved, but the match also helped dazzle 72,543 fans present inside the arena.
Which one is Rhea Ripley?? 🤔@RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/cJhDS9Whax
— Sportsmanor WWE (@Sportsmanor_WWE) April 6, 2024
Needless to say, the match delivered more than what was promised. With broken ladders, high-flying spots, and close calls, the match had it all! After some exhilarating action, it was Awesome Truth that won the RAW tag titles. During the match, R-Truth once again executed some amazing comedic spots and delivered a highlight as he hit John Cena’s trademark ‘Five Knuckle Shuffle.’
At the age of 52, Truth is having the best run of his career and it will be interesting to see where WWE goes with The Miz and R-Truth as the tag champs. In terms of the SmackDown belts, it was A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) who won the titles. With a young team heading the blue brand and a veteran team heading the red brand, the company has a nice balance in the tag division which was missing for a long time.
Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar vs. Andrade el Idolo and Rey Mysterio: Many wondered what Andrade would do at WrestleMania after returning to the company following an AEW run. An injury to Dragon Lee allowed him to wrestle at Mania alongside Rey Mysterio to take on Dominik and Escobar. The feud hasn’t had much fanfare and it reflected in the crowd reactions.
Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson helped Rey Mysterio win the match at WrestleMania 40#JasonKelce #LaneJohnson #ReyMysterio #WrestleManiaXL pic.twitter.com/9ZyRNAUrF5
— Sportsmanor WWE (@Sportsmanor_WWE) April 7, 2024
The wrestlers involved in the match did a fine job with the action. Although all of them did their jobs perfectly, the Philadelphia crowd was not into the match. However, it seemed like the company anticipated the reaction and hence they spiced things up by adding Eagles superstars and local legends Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson to mix. They interfered in the match and allowed the babyfaces Andrade and Rey to get the win at WrestleMania 40.
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso: This was perhaps the most disappointing match of the night. This was only the third time the two brothers faced off at WrestleMania. They had a lot of history together from their time with the Bloodline and the match did not live upto it. While Jey got a great entrance with Lil Wayne walking him out, the match did not have enough time to really get going. Jey ultimately picked up the win.
Gunther vs. Sami Zayn: Gunther had a historic intercontinental title reign. The Ring General held the title for 666 days. And, all signs pointed to him continuing the momentum. However, WWE threw a curveball at the fans, and with his wife Khadijah present in the front row, the Canadian wrestler put on one of his best performances to date. It was a classic David vs, Goliath story as Sami overcame a heavy favorite to create a WrestleMania moment.
“It’s over for you!”@SamiZayn‘s Wife wants all the smoke 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VZH7p1061v
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 7, 2024
Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock: The main event was the primary attraction of night 1. It was Dwayne Johnson’s return to the ring for the first time since his 6-second match against Eric Rowan. While age has slowed him down significantly, The Rock still hasn’t the art of selling. At one point in the match, Roman “accidentally” hit him with a spear and The Rock sold it amazingly!
🤣🤣🤣 #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/0aiJpCuzrF
— Sportsmanor (@sports_manor) April 7, 2024
As for the match itself, it had a slow start and it should not have come as a surprise. The action took place outside of the ring for the majority of the first half. It was a nice way of hiding some of DJ’s shortcomings inside the ring. However, by the time the match ended, fans were left thrilled as there were many near-falls and finishers. The Rock pinned Cody Rhodes after hitting ‘The People’s Elbow’ and it set up a ‘Bloodline Rules’ match between Roman and Cody at Night 2 of WrestleMania 40.
The Rock and Roman Reigns survive countless near falls to reign supreme at WrestleMania 40, Day 1. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jzW8FhYSW5
— Sportsmanor WWE (@Sportsmanor_WWE) April 7, 2024
What are your thoughts on the show after months of buildup to the main event? Did it live upto your expectations? Let us know in the comments below.
