With more than 60,000 fans packed into Raiders stadium in Las Vegas, allowing for a truly impressive visual, Wrestlemania Saturday kicked off the 41st edition of the biggest event on the sports entertainment calendar. With this being a two-night event, it seemed like there was definitely a specific effort to make Saturday newsworthy in an attempt to refute the possible notion that this was the “B-side” of the weekend. In these circumstances, I’m not sure that being the B-side to the John Cena retirement tour is necessarily a negative. However, I think it’s fair to say that some of the results were designed to get fans talking as pieces of the puzzle were shifted around that will play a role in the direction of the product going forward.
As a disclaimer, I must say that while I completely understand why the WWE runs two nights of Wrestlemania since it essentially doubles the gate, and the brand of the event is strong enough that it can sell tickets on two consecutive nights, I’m just not a fan of the two-night format. Maybe I’m too much of a traditionalist, but similar to anything else, the addition of a second night dilutes the original concept. Instead of just getting a spot on the card carrying a level of cache, the product is designed to shoehorn as many performers as possible onto the line-up. As coveted as the main event spot was for a Wrestlemania event, now you have to ask “what night was it the main event?” I just don’t think an event can have the same type of importance when it’s expanded beyond the notion that only the top stars land a spot on the card.
But, as we know, within the modern era, there’s exponentially more money to be made from that decision so that’s the reality of the situation, especially when cities bid to secure the rights for the show.
As expected, the World Heavyweight title match opened the pay-per-view, and truth be told, I originally thought that management decided to put this on first with the concept that the heel would retain the belt. It should be noted that Jey Uso’s entrance in the stadium was incredible. The downside to that was that it was probably the peak of the entire segment, including the finish. Maybe Jey was a little jittery because of the magnitude of the moment, but his in-ring work was rather sloppy throughout the first half of this bout and it wasn’t until the match progressed that everything started to click so that the contest could get into second gear. I understand what they were going for with Jey trying to laugh off some of Gunther’s strikes, but it just didn’t translate, leading to a few flat points during the segment. That being said, it built well to the conclusion, and I was surprised that they decided to switch the belt, considering that the lead-up to the WM match was lukewarm, which had more to do with the star power elsewhere on the program than anything else.
I’m just guessing, but I think the decision to change the championship was made to make sure that there was something “must see” on the Saturday card. That’s not to say that Jey isn’t immensely popular, the fan reaction and the merchandise sales prove that. At the same time, I’m going to reiterate what I’ve written previously, there’s an argument to be made that Jey’s entrance is still the most popular part of his act, and this is probably a scenario where the draw was based on the chase for the title, not the championship reign. I doubt that they are going to pull the rug out from under Jey with a short title run, as that would be counterproductive to their efforts to propel him into a position as a credible champion, but I don’t think he’s automatically going to translate into a money-drawing main eventer either. So, it will be interesting to see how he evolves in the role, and more specifically how the office positions him in the future to try to solidify him as a legitimate main eventer.
In a similar fashion, the tag titles switched with New Day winning the belts. As much as the tag division is still secondary within the WWE landscape, it made sense to give Kofi and Woods a run with the belts to really establish their heel turn from several months ago. The match itself was entertaining with a lot of action that kept a good pace throughout the segment. This match was only about ten minutes and accomplished its goal, which should be a lesson to Tony Khan, not everything has to be an epic 30-minute Tokyo Dome classic to be successful.
The same could be said for the Jade Cargill/Naomi contest, it was less than ten minutes, but it achieved what it set out to do, give Jade a measure of revenge against Naomi after the attack backstage a few months ago. The downside was that after two title changes in a row, including the world title, the crowd was almost silent for the majority of this segment. Furthermore, this probably had to be kept shorter because while she’s improving, Jade still had a few clunky moments in the ring. Just another guess, but I’d say that one of the reasons that Jade wasn’t propelled into a title picture as one of the anchors of the women’s division is her lack of polished skills. Sure, the office paired her with Bianca initially to camouflage that, which makes sense, but at the same time, there’s going to be a point where Jade is either going to evolve as an in-ring performer or plateau, which could limit her success within the company. Right now, I’d say that it remains to be seen if she could make the leap to the next level as an in-ring worker. The other aspect of this segment is that despite the definitive victory, it still seems like there’s more to the story that will unfold in the future.
The US title match was really solid stuff, and it emphasized how good both of the performers are in more or less every aspect of the genre. LA Knight managed to make himself a star, despite Vince McMahon’s attempts to repackage him as a manger for a team that eventually got released, and Knight wouldn’t have been far behind if he didn’t get a chance to rejuvenate his career as a wrestler. He’s not Lou Thez, but he can go in the ring, and this bout proved it. Jacob Fatu is a unique commodity, and if injuries don’t derail him, it’s not a stretch to slot him as a main event star in the future. Similar to Gunther, the Samoan Werewolf has a authenticity and believably that’s very rare in the modern era. Along with that, the way he can move in the ring, including the series of moonsaults he landed in this match, is incredible. This match was fast-paced and all action. I’d say that Fatu winning the US championship is an important part of the building process for him, and there’s no need to rush it so he will probably have an extensive run with the belt. As far as LA Knight, this is not to discount his star power, but rather to point out how over he is with the audience, I don’t think he really needs a title to stay over and he’s probably at a point where he can maintain his popularity just being a regular part of Smackdown.
With Rey Mysterio injured, it was Rey Fenix that took his place in a bout against El Grande Americano. The orange villain in the Oval Office was probably grinning ear-to-ear with a diet coke in his hand, not realizing that the entire heel gimmick is supposed to be a parody. As silly as it might seem on the surface, this sets up for a solid payoff down the road with Chad Gable being unmasked, and most importantly, it gives him something of substance to do on Raw. It’s really disappointing that for several years, specifically under the direction of Vince, that Gable was completely underutilized. The guy is simply too talented to not be featured on the show so it’s good that he’s getting a chance to work with the luchadors. Of course, given Gable’s previously mentioned stellar skills, he can work with Fenix to make him look good in the ring since he’s not too familiar to the WWE style yet. This was a really entertaining bout, as it was an eight-minute fireworks show with a lot of action before the quick conclusion. Gable getting the win makes sense because of the build toward the unmasking mentioned earlier.
The women’s title match had a level of anticipation for it after the personal comments made between Charlotte and Tiffany Stratton on an episode of Smackdown were edited out of the replay, suggesting that it caused some real-life tension. You have to take the rumor mill with a grain of salt, but the reports that Charlotte wasn’t well received backstage after her return to the organization from the knee injury that put her on the shelf for almost a year might have some merit, as it seemed like in the lead up to this bout, she didn’t sound like she was going out of her way to make it sound like Stratton was a legitimate champion or contender. The bout started a little choppy, but that might’ve been by design to spotlight the hostility between the two, and the segment built well after that with a lot of back and fourth action that had the crowd invested in the narrative of the match. Regardless of if there’s truly any backstage heat, and they might’ve been since Charlotte waltzed back into the fold in a top spot, which has happened often in her career, she put Stratton over, making her opponent look like a star in the process. I’m still not sold on Stratton as truly solidified as a money-drawing star in the future, and her gimmick is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard, but she’s only 25 so she has more than enough time to evolve as a performer. This was a positive in terms of an established veteran putting the spotlight on a younger competitor, but there seems to be a lot more left to do in this feud.
The main event was rightfully a segment built on the storyline, not the in-ring work. That being said, these three worked the triple threat stipulation about as well as anyone is going to do it in the modern era. They structured this contest well and it built the drama toward the conclusion. The only problem is, and it was completely unavoidable given the scenario, the audience knew that none of the near falls mattered because the match wasn’t going to end without some type of involvement from Paul Heyman. That’s not a criticism, just the reality of how the main event had to build to get to the point of the compelling drama before the finish. All things considered, Heyman aligning with Seth Rollins wasn’t all that surprising, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t the right call or that it wasn’t very well done. The betrayal of both Roman Reigns and CM Punk was great television. Heyman joining Rollins was more or less the only option because Heyman already had a run with Punk and Roman, both turning heel on them and then eventually rejoining them so there was no need for a retread, especially when there’s new ground to cover with Rollins.
In many ways, Rollins is not only the one in the match that can benefit from a stint with Heyman, but also a guy that needs an edge brought to his character. I’ve written it for years, Rollins is a tremendous performer that more often than not was booked into scenarios that hindered, not helped his status as a top star in the company. When he was a baby face champion, he was scripted to cut whiny promos, that’s not what a top baby face does, not to mentioned being saddled with the title match against The Fiend in Saudi Arabia that was unanimously panned for its goofy gimmicks in 2019. I don’t care if the crowd enjoys signing the song, the vast majority of his tenure as “the visionary” character made him look like a dork and the entire presentation was lame. I think it’s fair to say that an alliance with Heyman might allow Seth Rollins to do the best work of his career.
Overall, night one of Wrestlemania 41 was a very solid event and there wasn’t a subpar match on the card. Of course, it will be interesting to see what happens tonight and how it compares to the Saturday show. More than anything, the Saturday portion emphasized how solid the product is because outside of the nauseating amount of commercials and videos packages, there were very few negatives of what was considered the B-side of the event.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
