Wrestlemania 40 is officially in the books, and while there was definitely an agenda to put a positive spin on the new era of the company, specifically one that ushered Triple H into the position as the king pin of WWE, the structure and booking of the event sent the same message. One of the more direct ways was, similar to night one when Triple H welcomed the audience to the event, night two saw Stephanie McMahon make her return to the organization to praise a new chapter of the organization. Keep in mind, Stephanie left the promotion after Vince strong-armed his way back onto the WWE board before the lawsuit from earlier this year saw him disgracefully resign. In many ways, Stephanie’s involvement with the company again, even for just a cameo, is a subtle nod that she wouldn’t be back if the TKO corporation didn’t clean house with Vince’s previous structure. Remember, TKO and its parent company, Endeavor are in the conglomerate business, there are literally billions of dollars on the line. Nobody’s individual agenda, even Vince McMahon is going to be allowed to interfere with that type of cash.
As we’ve seen already, the current generation, probably because of the many precautionary tales of the past, mostly avoid many of the pitfalls of the prior era. Hopefully, this will continue to lead to a much healthier business, in terms of the choices talent make outside of the ring. Any form of entertainment will have its bleak stories, but it’s much better that the current stars might spend their time post-show on Instagram than anything that was done after the show in the 80s. It might not be as controversial, but it certainly paints the future of the industry in a better light.
Along the same lines, as mentioned in the column about night one, Triple H is too much of a pro to harm the business with any of McMahon’s depraved behavior. In many ways, Wrestlemania 40 allowed the company the start of a new chapter, and from all indications, including the results of the show, the business will continue to trend in the right direction.
The show opened with Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight championship, and I understand why they want to open and then close with the title matches, but I’m still not sure if the structure of the match really allowed it to be the most that it could’ve been otherwise. In an effort to make it different from the other title match later, this was a 10-minute sprint rather than the dramatic 30-minute presentation that Cody and Roman had, which is completely fine, especially with the conclusion of the segment. The only problem I saw with this match was actually the same thing that I mentioned about the Rhea/Becky opener from the night before, during the first match of a 4-hour broadcast, the competitors kicked out of multiple finishers. Furthermore, Drew had to use 4-5 Claymore kicks to win, and regardless of it’s a world title match, when it’s in the opening spot, it just hinders the credibility for the finisher in the future. Along with that, it almost seemed like the amount of kicks were used as a substitute for a compelling narrative, given that they only had ten minutes to work with. Don’t get me wrong, everything was solid, but I think these two could’ve had a better match under different circumstances. As a side note, as much as Rollins is undoubtedly a great in-ring performer, the goofy character stuff should be scaled back at some point. I understand that the song is over with the crowd, but I’m still not sure that the character is necessarily over, or what exactly the persona is supposed to be. As far as ability, Seth Rollins is top notch, but the silly entrance gear was something beneath a world champion.
Many were wondering if or when Damien Priest would cash-in his MITB contract, and that was answered when he dashed to the ring post-match after CM Punk clobbered Drew McIntyre with his arm brace. I completely understand what they’re setting up here and it makes sense, but I don’t know if it was the right decision unless they are other moving parts within the scenario that made it an easier call for the office. From a character perspective, Drew is doing the best work of his career with the recent heel turn. He’s a heel, but he will make the valid points on television, thus giving depth to the character. He doesn’t bring the cartoonish sword to the ring, and instead has layers to his persona. Again, I understand they want something major with the surprise cash-in and a way to put the foundation in place for a Drew/Punk feud after he heals from the triceps injury, but at the same time, Drew getting a proper run as champion with this heel persona at least seemed like it could’ve led to some good television. That being said, there was some speculation that McIntyre wanted to take some time off to spend time with his family before he signs a new contract so maybe this was a way to write him off the shows until he makes a comeback prior to the event in Scotland later this year.
Of course, this now opens the door for Damien Priest as champion, and he still has a big upside, particularly what he can do as a representative of the Puerto Rican fan base, but as a character, at least right now, he’s not nearly as over as when he won the briefcase. That’s not to say that he was subpar, but rather that Rhea Ripley emerged as one of the most popular stars during that time so it was almost unavoidable that he would seem somewhat secondary in The Judgement Day stable. It will definitely be interesting to see what direction Priest goes as champion, and management will have to book him in an important storyline after this unless he will ultimately be used as a transitional champion.
The Philadelphia Street Fight was fun for what it was, despite being a little sloppy. It only went about 7 or 8 minutes and had some entertaining moments, particularly the finish with the frog splash through the table, but this was a rather secondary feud on Raw so there’s just not much to discuss. The Bubba Ray cameo as the guest referee was neat, and Snoop was entertaining, even though he seemed not to know at least half of the participants in the match. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this segment was the Gin and Juice sponsorship. I’m not being sarcastic, the ability to land those sponsors are major cash, and the office is smart enough to have different sponsors for different matches. A side note, The Final Testament have the potential to be a solid faction, but it just doesn’t seem like its in the cards for them right now with the rest of the current WWE landscape. The baby faces got the victory.
AJ Styles vs. LA Knight was a very solid match, and these two are quality pros. Everything they did was crisp and smooth, particularly AJ’s offense. Sure, he just returned from an injury before this feud and he’s obviously in the latter stages of his career, but he can still go as solid as ever. Much of the same can be said for LA Knight, even if his move set isn’t as dynamic as Styles. If the office needed a main event challenger on short notice, either of these guys could work in the role. That being said, because the feud was booked rather recently, the match still seemed secondary on the card, mostly because of the other extended rivalries that were featured later in the night. The German suplex from the top rope was a highlight, and I thought when they exposed the concrete, it gave this match something that stood out since the spot isn’t seen often in the modern era. It was good to see that LA Knight’s finisher was protected and actually led to the conclusion of the match. Aside from the in-ring action, it’s going to be interesting to see what direction Styles goes after this, particularly because the heel persona could give him more depth as a character and freshen up his presentation. Where that would leave The Club as a stable remains to be seen since they weren’t involved in this storyline.
I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the US title match, which isn’t a criticism, but rather that three way matches aren’t easy, and Logan Paul is still relatively inexperienced. It was very wise to put him in the ring with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens, as both of them could make him look good and keep the match on track. Orton isn’t usually flashy and works a mostly basic style, but everything he does is quality. You’re not going to find many five-star classics from Orton, but you aren’t going to find a list of terrible contests either. He makes sure what he’s involved in is quality stuff and he’s undoubtedly a top level worker. Owens has more highlights and worked a more physical style than Orton, but in a similar way, Kevin Owens can always make his opponents look good. There’s a reason KO was chosen as Stone Cold’s opponent a few years ago.
I still don’t understand why Logan Paul is famous, but I’m not in the demographic. That said, he definitely has a following and his involvement brings with it the Prime drink sponsorship. We’ve already discussed the value of those sponsorships so as much as Paul as US champion reduces the title to a prop, there’s bigger business to be done in the grand scheme of things so it makes sense. As I said, I expected a basic match, but there was a lot of action here, and for the most part, Logan was able to keep pace with the two veterans. There was a scary moment when Logan slipped on the KO suplex off the ropes, but Owens was able to keep it safe and then landed a cool moonsault. I thought the brass knux being used for something that wasn’t the finish jumped the shark, especially because Paul has used them to win matches before, but somehow Orton was not only able to kick out, he also continued the match. I’m not sure who the moron in the Prime outfit was, but he was a total clutzy that clearly shouldn’t have been there. Instead of selling the threat from Orton, the guy tried to square up with him and it was just cringe worthy. Thankfully, Orton dispatched him in a fashion that emphasized the ability of a WWE star. The pop up RKO spot was cool and then the finish was well done. Given the fact that Paul’s company was sponsoring the canvas, it made sense for him to retain the championship.
The Women’s title match was excellent and yet another example of the depth and quality of the female division. The narrative was very well done because Bayley had to rally back, but wasn’t cast as the underdog, and given her accomplished career, she shouldn’t have been. It was an evenly-matched contest and the action reflected that as the narrative tilted back and fourth during the exchange of maneuvers. Iyo Sky is such a tremendous athlete and the way that she blends her character with her stellar in-ring work speaks volumes about her ability. This bout had believable near falls and it was structured to make the most of those moments. Even though Iyo had the championship since her cash-in at Summer Slam, it still would’ve made sense if she retained, but Bayley had the momentum of The Rumble win so the action built well to the conclusion. Bayley got the victory and it adds another chapter to her career with a fresh baby face run as champion, but Iyo Sky will continue to be an asset to the roster.
The main event was tremendous, and it was the high-quality storytelling that so many try to emulate, but fall short of with over exaggerated mannerisms or forced narratives. “Finish the story” began to seem like more of a marketing tagline than an organic narrative before Wrestlemania, but as the match unfolded, they were able to achieve the organic peaks and valleys of a memorable main event. As I wrote about during Roman’s historic title reign, you can only use the cache that was built up from that four-year run once so it was important that when he dropped the championship that it was done in a way that maximized the opportunity. I think it’s fair to say that the main event segment was able to maximize Cody’s victory. One of the reasons I don’t want to see finishers overused is that rare situations like that are when it makes sense for someone to kick out of a finishing move since it adds another level of drama. The four-year title run on the line against Cody’s journey to win the title for Dusty is the scenario that justifies all the pyro and ballyhoo because it sells the drama. The back and fourth of the possible conclusion is what emphasized the drama with the multiple run-ins to impact the direction of the match. The Usos, John Cena, The Rock, and The Undertaker all added to the previously mentioned ballyhoo to build up to the three count when Cody Rhodes concluded the two-year journey to win the championship.
It was very nice to see so many people at ringside, including Cody’s family and even Micheal Cole so happy for Cody that they were moved to tears. Keep in mind, from a business perspective, pro wrestling is about drawing the most money possible, but in the process of doing that, the presentation side of it is ultimately to provide entertainment for the audience. Sure, the villains have to win sometimes because that’s what allows the baby face to eventually get the triumphant victory. A wholesome and happy conclusion often adds to the entertainment value.
The Vince McMahon scandal was a dark cloud over the pro wrestling industry, but the conclusion of Wrestlemania offered a brighter future for the business.
