We have arrived!
The biggest weekend of the year for pro wrestling fans is here.
WWE kicks off their two-night premium live event on “The Grandest Stage of Them All” tonight inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA., as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood: Night 1 takes place tonight.
On tap for tonight’s show, which gets started with the Kickoff Show at 6/5c, is Austin Theory (C) vs. John Cena for the U.S. Title, Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. Logan Paul, Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL, Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio, Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Rhea Ripley for the SmackDown Women’s Title, The Usos (C) vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Titles, as well as Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders.
Featured below are complete WWE WrestleMania Goes Hollywood results from Saturday, April 1, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 6-12a.m. EST. on the WWE Network on Peacock.
WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39: NIGHT 1 RESULTS (4/1/2023)
Kayla Braxton introduces us to the Kickoff Show after the “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature narrated by John Cena airs. We shoot to the pre-show panel where she introduces her All-Star Panel for the official WrestleMania 39: Night 1 pre-show.
First up, Wade Barrett. The fans pop as he introduces himself. Next is Booker T. The fans pop even louder as he talks about being up since 6am working due to the NXT Stand & Deliver show earlier today. Peter Rosenberg then introduces himself and they begin running down the lineup for tonight’s show.
After they run down the lineup for night one, we see a live shot of fans filtering into SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. Braxton sends things over to Byron Saxton in the Cricket Wireless Fan Zone. He talks over a ton of crowd noise and asks some of the fans about some of the matches.
Things wrap up with Saxton in the Cricket Wireless Fan Zone and then we shoot to our first “Road to WrestleMania” video package. First up, an in-depth look at the road leading up to tonight’s SmackDown Women’s Championship showdown between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley.
From there, we return to the panelists where they weigh-in with their thoughts on the Charlotte-Ripley bout. Barrett picks Ripley. Booker picks Flair. Rosenberg goes with Ripley. The panelists go 2-1 in favor of Ripley winning the title. After the predictions, we head to a quick commercial break.
Following the break, we shoot to a history of WrestleMania video package, looking at the growth of the annual spectacle since its’ inception back in 1985. The video, much like the Royal Rumble statistics video packages, looks at some of the interesting records and notable numbers throughout the years.
Once the video package on WrestleMania history wraps up, we return to the panelists who shift gears and begin talking about the last time WrestleMania was in Hollywood. Those who have competed at WrestleMania, such as Barrett and Booker T, talk about their memories performing on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.”
We shoot to the “Road to WrestleMania” video package for the U.S. title showdown between Austin Theory and John Cena. After it wraps up, we shoot to the panelists again, who are joined by actor/comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias.
After a commercial break, we return to the panelists where they send us into a video package for the 2023 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Once the package wraps up, we head back to the panelists, who are now joined by Maria Menounos.
Menounos shows her old school chops by once again doing the Dusty Rhodes hard-times promo — verbatim. She talks about her experience at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony and she also gives her thoughts on some of the matches.
Now we see a video package highlighting Rey Mysterio’s big weekend and his “Road to WrestleMania” video for his showdown against his son, Dominik Mysterio. When we return, Rafael Amaya appears and is hyped up. He turns to talk to the crowd so long that Rosenberg goes and turns him around so we don’t have to stare at his back for several minutes.
The crowd tries instigating some fights between Amaya and Booker T and then Amaya and Wade Barrett because of how hyped up Amaya is. They wrap up and then send us into the “All Rhodes leads to Roman” video package showing the build to the main event of WrestleMania 39: Night 2.
Stephen A. Smith joins the pre-show panelists as the fans chant his name in the background. Booker T names this his Shucky Ducky Quack Quack moment of the evening. Stephen A. Smith talks about this being his first WrestleMania. The fans are with him until he says he was a Bill Goldberg guy. The fans boo and then chant “Booker T! Booker T!”
Rosenberg talks about how Stephen A. Smith is only at big boxing events, big UFC events, the NBA finals, etc. He uses that to illustrate just how big of an event WrestleMania is this weekend and this year. Stephen A. Smith jokingly says he doesn’t go to scrub events.
After they joke with him some more and he talks about possibly wanting to be a bad guy manager in WWE, they wrap things up and we head to another quick commercial time out. When we return, the panelists give their thoughts on the Men’s Showcase match.
From there, things are sent over to Cathy Kelley, who is standing by with Johnny Knoxville. Knoxville hasn’t buried the hatchet with Sami Zayn after their battle last year. He talks about how Sami Zayn can’t be trusted. He feels Kevin Owens is a good guy but Zayn will squeeze the life out of him. He predicts The Usos will beat on Zayn like the bottom of a Heinz 57 ketchup bottle.
Byron Saxton takes over from there inside the Cricket Wireless Fan Zone gallery, which shows some ring gear and other items featured at past WrestleMania events. Saxton sees a picture of The Miz and tries to do the same pose in an odd moment. From there, we head into another commercial break.
The panelists take over when we return and Kayla Braxton sends us into the “Road to WrestleMania” video package for the six-woman showdown pitting WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions Becky Lynch, Lita and WWE Hall of Fame legend Trish Stratus against Damage CTRL.
We head into a commercial break after the panelists give their picks for the six-woman match. We move into a Bobby Lashley video package after that. We then shoot to the panelists who set up the “Road to WrestleMania” package for Logan Paul vs. Seth “Freakin'” Rollins.
When that package wraps up, we return to the panelists who are now joined by boxing mega-star Ryan Garcia. He talks about his friend Logan Paul going up against Rollins and vows to beat Gervonta “Tank” Davis when they meet.
Now we head to another commercial break. When we return, Byron Saxton is with three non-profit organization leaders who are rewarded for their dedication to the city of Los Angeles. WWE and C4 are providing grants to re-build and refurbish their community centers.
We see a video package for the Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos match for the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships and then we return to the panelists who give their thoughts and predictions for the match, while also goofing on the Corey Graves-tied bow-tie of Peter Rosenberg coming apart without anyone telling him until the pre-show is over. That wraps up the Kickoff Show. It’s time for night one of WrestleMania Goes Hollywood!
Becky G. is introduced and she sings “America the Beautiful” as the initial cold open to night one of WrestleMania 39 here at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. She kills it and the fans show her a ton of love. From there, we shoot to the Kevin Hart cold open video package for WrestleMania Goes Hollywood: Night 1.
The Miz & Snoop Dogg Kick Off WrestleMania 39
We shoot inside SoFi Stadium after the funny cold open package wraps up. Michael Cole welcomes us to the show and then the WrestleMania host The Miz’s theme hits. The Miz is in the ring with Snoop Dogg.
The two do a take off of the Snoop Dogg and Andy Samberg Corona commercial, as Miz tries explaining why he and Snoop are the same. The Miz and Snoop banter a bit more and play to the crowd and tease some of the matches and Superstars performing tonight.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (C) vs. John Cena
Now the two introduce the reigning and defending WWE United States Champion Austin Theory. He makes his way out and the two make their way down to the ring as the camera pans to Michael Cole and Corey Graves for the first time.
Graves congratulates Cole on calling his 22nd WrestleMania, the most of any commentator in WWE history. They send things over to the Spanish commentary team, who get their on-camera appearance.
Theory settles in the ring and his music dies down. Cole talks about how John Cena has granted more Make-A-Wishes than anyone in Make-A-Wish Foundation history with over 600. This leads to a video package for Cena and WWE’s connection with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
We return inside the stadium where the ring announcer directs our attention to a ton of fans at the top of the entrance stage whose dream it was to go to WrestleMania. They are all at the top of the stage for John Cena’s ring entrance, and his theme hits and the crowd goes nuts as he emerges.
Cena settles in the ring and throws his baseball cap into the fans, exposing his increasingly balding dome. It’s getting bad, folks. The bell sounds and the crowd goes absolutely ballistic as we’re off-and-running with our first match of the evening here at WrestleMania.
The two lock up and Cena throws Theory down with authority. The two separate and lock up again and now Cena takes Theory down with a side-head lock. The loud “Let’s go Cena!” and “Cena sucks!” dueling chants break out as the two continue to go at it. Cena throws Theory down and taunts him.
Now the two lock up again and Cena muscles Theory into a corner. He backs up and smirks at him with a confident look. Theory backs Cena into a corner after they back up this time. Theory tries biting at Cena’s ear. He does and then attacks Cena from behind as he was complaining to the referee about the bite.
Theory flips and hits a jumping blockbuster on Cena for a close near fall. Moments later, Theory tries flipping through the ropes and leaping for a high spot but Cena shucks him away and then drops down and slaps the STFU on him. He cranks back but Theory bites his way free. He sneak attacks Cena from behind once again as he complains to the referee.
Austin Theory does the “You Can’t See Me” gesture and taunts Cena and the fans, who loudly boo him. Theory gets cocky and tries covering Cena with a boot on the chest, but the future WWE Hall of Fame legend kicks out. Theory taunts the crowd again as he stalks Cena.
Cena blocks a Theory stomp and muscles his way to his feet. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but Theory avoids it and plants Cena for another close near fall attempt. The fans loudly boo again as Theory taunts them and then hits a running clothesline on Cena in the corner.
We see Super Cena emerge now as he turns the offensive tables on Theory. He knocks Theory down and sets him up for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He tells Theory “You Can’t See Me” and connects with it. The ref gets bumped and Cena gets the STF on Theory. Theory taps out. Cena lets go and celebrates like he won but the ref didn’t see it.
Theory blasts Cena with a low blow and hits his A-Town Down finisher and covers Cena. 1-2-3. Theory wins and retains the U.S. title.
Winner and STILL WWE United States Champion: Austin Theory
Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders
It’s Men Showcase time!
Titus O’Neil makes his way out to join Michael Cole and Corey Graves on special guest commentary for our Men’s Showcase tag-team bout. Out first comes The Viking Raiders — Erik and Ivar. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.
“SHUSH! SHUSH PLEASE!” plays and out comes Alpha Academy. Otis and Chad Gable make their way to the squared circle for this four-way tag-team showdown.
The team of Ricochet and Braun Strowman emerge and head to the ring to join the other three teams in what will be our second match of the evening. Now the duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins — The Street Profits — emerge to another one of the loudest pops of the night thus far.
They settle into the ring and their entrance tunes fades down. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Gable and Ricochet kick things off as this match is now underway.
“Big sweaty Otis, sweaty for no reason!” says Titus on commentary as the other Alpha Academy member tags in and hits some spots. Gable takes back over and turns to yell “SHUSH!” in Strowman’s face. Ricochet then tags him in and now Strowman doesn’t have to shush.
All of the guys in this match end up in the ring. They all stare each other down in a giant circle and then they all start swinging. We see fists and elbows flying all over the place as the crowd pops.
The Viking Raiders end up cleaning house but then Gable takes over and is left alone in the ring with Strowman. He connects with a rolling German suplex that gets a sustained ovation from the crowd. He lets out a loud “Thank You!” and misses a splash off the top-rope.
One of The Viking Raiders goes for a top rope moonsault but nobody is home when he lands. We see a giant stacked spot in the corner. Two men with two others on their shoulders hoist Gable up for a four-men chicken-style suplex. Ricochet leaps off the top and hits a splash as they all go crashing down.
Fans break out in a super loud “Holy sh*t!” chant. Even Titus says he wants to say it but won’t cuss on air. Crazy stuff. Two WrestleMania moments in this match alone already with Gable’s suplex and that. Three if you count The Viking Raider going for a top-rope moonsault.
Strowman Express is jumping on the tracks now as he sprints around the ring and takes out any-and-everyone on his path. He goes around a second tie but eventually runs into a huge spear from Dawkins. Ricochet hits a springboard shooting star press for a fourth WrestleMania moment.
Ricochet climbs to the top rope as the sustained pop still roars. He goes for another one but lands on the knees of Dawkins. Ford leaps off the top rope and hits the finisher and The Street Profits pick up the win in a very, very entertaining match.
Winners: The Street Profits
Logan Paul vs. Seth “Freakin'” Rollins
We shoot to Xavier Woods, Liv Morgan, Butch and others backstage and in an UpUpDownDown segment we see a video game simulation of our next match, Logan Paul versus Seth “Freakin'” Rollins.
They inform us that 58% of the time, Rollins beats Paul in the simulation. We now shoot to the “Road to WrestleMania” video package for the Paul-Rollins bout.
After the video package wraps up, we see Logan Paul with a microphone headset on re-creating the iconic zip-line ring entrance that Shawn Michaels did in his past WrestleMania appearance. He talks the whole time and is lowered down to the stage. He yells “Let’s go!” and continues his walk to the ring as giant Prime mascots.
Logan Paul and the Prime mascot dance around and finally make their way down to the ring. The crowd boos as he settles inside. Jasper Randle, a conductor, leads a choir in singing “BURN IT DOWN!” (the whoa-oh-oh part) to set up Seth “Freakin'” Rollins’ entrance.
The whoa-oh-oh’s stop and then he leads the fans in it as they come back on the house speakers in different singing keys than usual. He stops it again and then gets it going again straight into the scratchy “BURN IT DOWN!” vocals.
Now the music hits the loud speakers and out in an enormous, enormous poofy red fur coat / robe, Seth “Freakin'” Rollins emerges. He helps the conductor lead the fans in singing the whoa-oh-oh’s and he begins making his walk to the ring in the craziest ring entrance gear you’ve ever seen.
Think Missy Elliot in the Supa Dupa Fly / I Can’t Stand The Rain music video — if it was bright ass red. He takes the coat / robe off and has a male stripper outfit crossed with Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett’s old ring gear. He takes that off as well and leads the fans in the whoa-oh-oh’s as he finishes his walk to the ring, complete with the pyro treatment, etc. Cool stuff.
Logan Paul is in the camera shot behind Rollins leaning in the corner and doing a giant yawn. Rollins’ music cuts off but the fans keep loudly doing the whoa-oh-oh’s as Rollins shuts his eyes and soaks it all in. Big fight feel here for this one.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Rollins handling Paul early on. Rollins goes for a Stomp but Paul avoids it and the two stop and stare at each other with intensity. Paul blatantly throws Rollins out to the floor, which prompts Michael Cole to remind us that is what started this when Paul eliminated Rollins from the Royal Rumble.
Paul mocks Rollins by doing his “whoa-oh-oh” routine. Rollins heads back in the ring and the two start to fiercely go at it. Paul stuns Rollins throat-first over the top-rope and then hits a Maverick lariat after hitting a flip-springboard over the ropes.
Logan Paul hits a big cross body and a moonsault for a pin fall attempt, but Rollins kicks out. We see Paul show off his submission skills after bombarding Rollins with some vicious body shots. He locks in an Antonio Inoki-influenced submission on the mat and Rollins struggles to free himself.
Paul does a crazy spot where he does one single leap and lands with both feet on the top-rope in a box-jump fashion. He then leaps off the top for a moonsault attempt but Rollins moves. After Paul crashes and burns, Rollins recovers and goes to work on Paul with body work in the corner.
The crowd noise amps up as Rollins takes over and starts taunting Paul. He yells, “You wanna play with the big boys? Bye-bye b*tch!” He then throws Paul over the top-rope, where he crashes out to the floor. The fans fire up with the “whoa oh-oh” chants and then he hits a suicide dive on Paul. He rolls back in the ring and runs and dives a second time. He hits the ring and does it a third time.
We see the two slugging it out at ringside near the Prime mascot, who has been at ringside the entire time. Gotta assume someone is under that costume and will be involved later in the match. Jake Paul, perhaps? Meanwhile, Logan hits his knockout shot on Rollins and takes a bit to recover before going for the pin attempt. Rollins kicks out.
From there, we see Paul set Rollins up for a Stomp, but Rollins avoids it and counters with a sit-out power bomb into a pin attempt. Paul kicks out to keep this one alive. Now Rollins stalks Logan and looks for a Stomp of his own. The Prime mascot pulls him out to save him from it. He takes his mask off while still in the costume to reveal that he is Logan Paul’s Prime partner and former two-time boxing opponent, KSI.
Rollins hits the floor to try and attack KSI but Paul hits him from behind. Paul rams Rollins into the steel ring post and then he clears off the commentary table. KSI grabs a phone and is going to record what Corey Graves predicts will be a viral moment.
Paul leaps off the top-rope as KSI provides commentary in a unique point of view spot. Rollins recovers, however, and yanks KSI in his place. Paul leaps and splashes on KSI, putting him through the table. Rollins brings Paul in the ring and hits a Pedigree. He goes for the cover but somehow Paul gets a shoulder up. The fans totally bought on that as the finish. Good stuff.
Rollins looks for a Stomp but Paul counters with a GTS. He heads to the top-rope and hits a huge, dramatic frog splash for a super close near fall of his own that the fans bit into. Paul goes for a Coast 2 Coast spot but leaps off the top half-way across the ring and falls down into a super kick from Rollins, who follows up with a Stomp for the pin fall victory. Great match.
Winner: Seth “Freakin'” Rollins
Damage CTRL vs. Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus
Once the match wraps up, we head into another commercial break. When we return, Damage CTRL’s theme hits and out comes Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky for our next match of the evening.
A video package hyping up the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions Becky Lynch and Lita, as well as WWE Hall of Fame legend Trish Stratus, airs. We return and Lita’s iconic theme hits. Out comes Lita as the screen goes black-and-white. It looks like she’s done up like Jeff Hardy with face paint, but it’s hard to tell.
The camera stays black and white as out comes Trish Stratus. She joins Lita on the top of the entrance stage. She stops and her music dies down. Now the familiar sounds of Becky Lynch’s theme hits and out comes “The Man.”
We see the three stand together and pose as smoke billows out of the entrance area behind them. They make their way to the ring to a nice pop and get ready for this featured six-woman tag-team showdown.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. All six women brawl at the onset. Damage CTRL heads out to the floor. Lynch hits a baseball slide and then brings Dakota into the ring. Those two kicks things off for their respective teams.
Lynch looks for the Man-Handle Slam straight out of the gate, but Sky avoids it and backs Lynch into the heel corner. Bayley tags in and fires away with shots. She tags in Iyo Sky and they keep the frequent tags coming to keep a fresh person on Lynch at all times.
After this continues for a few moments, we see the baby face trio start to shift the offensive momentum into their favor. They enjoy some time in the offensive driver’s seats and then Damage CTRL starts to take over again.
We see all six women hit the ring and duke it out. Things spill out to the floor where we see one high spot after the other. All the ladies end up getting taken out by a crazy top-rope splash from “The Genius of the Sky” Iyo Sky. They all roll into the ring at the same time to break the ref’s count.
A Twist of Fate from Lita, a Chick Kick from Trish, a Lita-Sault from Lita sets up a potential finish for the babyface team. Bayley looks for a Bayley-to-belly super-plex but Lynch counters with a Super Man-Handle Slam off the top-rope for the pin fall victory.
Winners: Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
Following another quick commercial break, we shoot to the “Road to WrestleMania” video package for the second-ever father versus son match in WrestleMania history.
After the package, the most streamed music artist three years in a row, Bad Bunny, is introduced. He joins the gang on Spanish commentary for our next match of the evening.
Now another video package airs showing the hardened criminal Dom doing hard time in prison. He is released from his cell in hand cuffs and led by police guards out of the jail building and into a police van.
The police siren blares and then we shoot inside SoFi Stadium where the police van backs into the arena led by some police motorcycle motorcade people. Cool entrance. Dom pops out of the van in cuffs still, with a hoodie up. He takes the hoodie off to reveal he is wearing a Rey Mysterio-style mask.
Cops lead the hardened criminal to the ring in an entrance that would be super bad ass on anyone else, but is actually super cool in a funny way for Dom. Either way, entertaining stuff. The fans boo the crap out of him as he makes his way to the ring.
Corey Graves is off to the races with his hilarious commentary talking super serious about how dangerous a criminal Dom is and how illegal it is for him to even be competing in L.A. The penal code blah blah. That type stuff. Gotta love it. The stuff Dom went through would make a man never smile again. You have to love it.
The camera shot shows Angie and Aliyah, Dom’s mom and sister, sitting at ringside. The same two women he scolded to finally convince pops to accept the fight tonight. Dom’s music dies down and now he awaits the arrival of his opponent.
Gin N Juice by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre plays and out comes Rey Mysterio in a low-rider, the same way he would with Eddie Guerrero. Snoop Dogg is driving the car and “Da Game is to be sold, not to be told” is shown in lit-up letters on the open trunk.
“Viva la raza! I lie, I cheat, I steal!” plays as Rey emerges and rides to the ring with Snoop Dogg to the same music he came to the ring with Eddie Guerrero to in the old days. He hops out of the car and his Booya-kah 6-1-9 regular theme plays. Snoop bobs his head as Rey heads to the top of the entrance stage and does his normal ring entrance routine as the crowd goes wild.
The bell sounds and we see Dom and Rey go face-to-face. Dom flashes the double biceps pose and then he and Rey lock up. Dom shucks Rey down to the canvas and hits the middle rope to celebrate like he won the lottery. The two re-engage and Rey shucks Dom all the way out to the floor. Dom looks surprised.
Dom re-enters the ring and shoves his dad, who shoves him right back. Dom grabs a side head lock and whips Rey into the ropes. He shoulder blasts him down to the mat and then Rey counters off the ropes with a hurricanrana that pops the crowd.
We see Dom shift the offensive momentum in his favor after pulling some dastardly deeds that includes his sister and mother at ringside. Back in the ring, Dom hits a Michinoku Driver for a close near fall. Dom beats Rey down at ringside. He gets in his mom’s face and again yells, “Shut your mouth!” Mom’s slaps him and then Rey knocks him in the ring post and kisses his wife.
Rey rolls Dom back in the ring and comes off the top-rope with a seated senton. He hits the ropes and splashes Dom with a cross-body for a near fall. The Judgment Day guys come to the ringside area and the distraction allows Dom to take over. Rey fights back and hits a 6-1-9 but Balor hits the ring apron and distracts Rey, allowing Dom to take over again.
As The Judgment Day continue to get involved, finally the guys from Legado Del Fantasma have had enough. Out they come in their Latino World Order t-shirts to even up the numbers game. We see everybody down and out except Dom and Rey. The two re-enter the ring and Dom nearly be-heads his pops with a big clothesline.
Dom has Rey set up for the 6-1-9 and the fans boo like crazy. He connects with it and then heads to the top-rope. He leaps off with a big frog splash that connects. He goes for the cover but Rey kicks out. The crowd goes wild thinking that might’ve been it.
Now we see Dom take a play out of Uncle Eddie’s playbook as he tears the top turnbuckle off. The ref sees this and tries fixing it. While he does, Dom reaches out of a sack and pulls out a chain. Bad Bunny leaves his spot at Spanish commentary and takes the chain from Dom, allowing Rey to hit a 6-1-9 and a top-rope splash for the pin fall victory. Excellent match that the crowd really seemed to be into from start-to-finish.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Rhea Ripley
We take a commercial break and return to Michael Cole apologizing for getting worked up at the end of the Mysterio-Mysterio bout. They plug the WWE Backlash 2023 premium live event in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then we shoot to another commercial break.
After that we see the “Road to WrestleMania” video package telling the story leading up to our co-main event of the evening at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood: Night 1. With that said, we return inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. where the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble Rhea Ripley makes her way out and heads to the ring.
Ripley yells “This is Mami-Time!” after doing her big pyro-provoking stomp at the top of the entrance stage. Michael Cole does an ad-read for the WrestleMania presenting sponsor, Snickers as she heads to the ring. Ripley settles inside and is ready for her title opportunity against “The Queen.”
The familiar sounds of Charlotte Flair’s theme hits after Ripley’s entrance tune dies down. “Bow down, all hail ‘The Queen'” comes out of the house speakers and then the reigning and defending SmackDown Women’s Champion emerges in a bad ass robe that I’m sure makes “The Nature Boy” proud.
Charlotte gets the dramatic fireworks and pyro treatment as she takes a spin and heads to the ring, walking that aisle like her legendary father for another appearance on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.” Michael Cole points out no woman has more wins at WrestleMania than Charlotte.
Now the ring announcer handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for the champion and the challenger. Jessika Carr is the referee for the match, the ring announcer is a female and the two competitors in this co-main event are both females. Michael Cole points out that this is another first in WrestleMania history.
Ripley seems to be the crowd favorite based on the pops during the ring introductions. The bell sounds and we’re now officially off-and-running with our second-to-last scheduled match of the evening here at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood: Night 1.
We see some great action straight out of the gate from these two. Ripley shows good strength in muscle-woman spots that pops the crowd early on, as she dominates the action in the beginning stages of this one.
Flair starts to return to form and set the crowd on fire with her athletic display being put on front street, as she takes it to “Mami” and nearly finishes her off on a few occasions. We see Flair start to look unsure of herself as she can’t seem to find a way to finish Ripley off.
Each lady goes for a big boot to the grill of the other and in a Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed moment from the end of Rocky II, they connect at the same time and both go down. The crowd rallies behind their favorite as the two slug their way back to their feet.
We see the classic Charlotte kip-up now as she plays to the crowd and then heads to the top-rope backwards as Ripley is laid out. Ripley recovers and heads up after Charlotte. Charlotte back-elbows her way free but Ripley comes right back up and connects with a belly-to-back super-plex that looked close to being a dangerous landing for a super close near fall.
Charlotte recovers and connects with her Natural Selection for a close near fall of her own. Ripley kicks out and immediately rolls out to the floor at ringside to re-group. Charlotte heads out after her and charges at her for a spear, but Ripley side-steps her and sends her shoulder first into the steel steps.
Back in the ring, Ripley hits a modified Rip-Tide for a close near fall. We see replays of Charlotte’s vicious impact into the steel steps moments ago as Charlotte recovers. Ripley is shown looking unsure of her ability to finish “The Queen” off now.
Ripley taunts Charlotte and then looks for her actual Rip-Tide finisher this time, but Charlotte counters with a German suplex. Ripley stumbles back to her feet and Charlotte grabs her for another one, which she connects with. She maintains the waist lock and stands up with Ripley looking for a third.
Ripley hits a standing switch and flips Charlotte over-head. Charlotte nearly landed on her forehead and broke her neck. We almost had a paralyzed legend right there. That looked super close to being bad. Brock Lesnar Shooting Star Press from WrestleMania past-style scary.
We see Flair recover and she has mat-burn on her nose from that spot. Ouch. Could’ve been way worse, so not bad all things considered. Flair hits a big boot for a near fall. We see Charlotte knock Ripley out to the floor and she climbs to the top-rope for a moonsault.
She heads back in the ring but Ripley takes over and stuns her with a Rip-Tide for a super close near fall. Ripley and the fans couldn’t believe it when Charlotte kicked out. Ripley utilizes her Prison Squeeze submission, a modified Clover-leaf. Charlotte screams in pain but crawls to the corner.
She crawls up the ropes and with her legs, yanks Ripley into the ref in the corner. The ref hangs in there and Charlotte blasts Ripley with a big spear and goes for the cover but again we see Ripley kick out. Again Charlotte looks on in disbelief.
After failing to lock it in the entire match, Charlotte finally locks in her figure-four leg lock on Ripley. She goes for the figure-8 but Ripley pulls herself to the corner and gets a hold of the ropes, forcing the referee to break up the hold.
Now we see a frustrated Charlotte blatantly ram Ripley face-first into the steel ring post. She heads to the top-rope with Ripley. Ripley drops down and yanks Charlotte face-first into the top of the ring post. Charlotte looks lifeless now as Ripley climbs up after her.
She screams in Charlotte’s face, “It’s my time!” She hits a super-Rip Tide off the top-rope and covers her for the pin fall victory. The crowd goes nuts as Rhea Ripley wins the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Amazing match. Big WrestleMania moment feel for Ripley’s victory.
Winner and NEW SmackDown Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley
Pat McAfee vs. The Miz
It’s time for the Michael Cole mark-out session of the evening, as we see The Miz and Snoop Dogg in the ring after a quick Austin Theory backstage promo where the U.S. Champion gloats about beating John Cena earlier tonight.
Back to that Michael Cole mark-out session moment. Miz is asked why he doesn’t have a match by Snoop, which leads to Miz saying he wanted one, and even put a notice on social media for an open challenge tonight that he claims no one answered.
Pat McAfee’s theme hits and Michael Cole gets as happy as a human can get over another man as his former on-air commentary partner makes his way down to the ring. McAfee taunts Miz and says he didn’t see any open challenge from Miz, but luckily for him,. he’s wearing his WrestleMania tank-top.
Snoop Dogg ends up making the match official and McAfee starts drilling Miz to get this one officially off-and-running. The bell sounds and McAfee blasts Miz with a big spine-buster.
George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers gets shoved by Miz and he hops the guard rail and takes out Miz. McAfee goes to the top-rope per Kittle’s request. He leaps off and hits a flipping splash on Miz that looked painful. He pops right back up and bounces back-to-back with Kittle and then rolls Miz into the ring and gets the win. Corey Graves is livid.
Winner: Pat McAfee
Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships
The Usos (C) vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
The “Road to WrestleMania” video package airs to tell the story leading up to tonight’s WrestleMania Goes Hollywood: Night 1 main event, which will feature the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships on-the-line.
When we return inside SoFi Stadium, Lil Uzi Vert is introduced to perform “Just Wanna Rock.” He does briefly and then stops half-way down the entrance ramp. The Usos theme then hits and out comes the record-reigning Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions.
Lil Uzi Vert shows them some love and then the two head to the ring for our final match of the evening. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.
Now the familiar sounds of Kevin Owens’ theme hits and out comes “The Prize Fighter” to a big pop. He stops and his music fades out. The equally familiar sounds of Sami Zayn’s super upbeat entrance tune plays and out he comes to an enormous reaction.
The two make their way to the ring and have a stare-down, face-to-face, with The Usos, who are sporting some cool “We The Ones” white shirts for their ring gear. Jey Uso and Sami Zayn kick things off for their respective teams as the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running.
Jey and Jimmy take turns beating the piss out of Sami in the early goings. They try and lure Owens into getting disqualified by doing sneaky heel tactics behind the referee’s back to draw him over. Zayn can’t get any offense going but he finally makes the tag.
Owens takes the hot tag and goes wild, taking out Jimmy and Jey. He hits a big frog splash to one on the floor and then leaps off the top-rope with another frog splash for a near fall in the ring. Jimmy and Jey take over with double-team action after that.
We see Owens on the top-rope but he recovers and knocks Uso down. He goes for a flipping senton onto Uso but he lands on the knees of Uso. The other Uso follows up with an Uso splash for a close near fall. Owens fires up again and hits a cannonball splash on Uso in the corner.
Zayn hits a brainbuster on the hard part of the ring apron to one Uso while Owens hits a big swanton splash for a close near fall in the ring on the other. Sami heads to the top-rope and leaps off with an Uso splash for a close near fall of his own.
The Usos take Owens out of the picture and then they proceed to take turns blasting Zayn with seemed to be about 132 super kicks over and over and over and over again. Zayn is completely and totally lifeless as Jey Uso taunts him verbally and the two continue to beat him down.
Zayn comes to life out of the blue and rolls up Jey for a close near fall attempt. Meanwhile on the floor, Owens bounces Jimmy’s dome off the commentary table over and over again. He looks for the power bomb but Jey comes out to stop him.
Owens is hit with a super kick and then both of The Usos hit a double chokeslam to put Owens through the commentary table. The Usos go back in the ring and hit The 1 and Done to finish this one up, but somehow Zayn becomes the first person ever to kick out of the move. The crowd goes wild. Michael Cole goes even more wild.
In selling reminiscent of Shawn Michaels in his babyface prime, we see a lifeless Zayn getting taunted and pounded by Jey Uso in the corner, mumbling that he’s had enough but Jey keeps it going. Jey hits Zayn with his own running kick in the corner finisher and then grabs a lifeless Zayn, who comes to life out of the blue and hits an exploder on Jey into the corner.
Zayn slowly crawls to the corner and tags in Owens. “The Prize Fighter” takes the hot tag and hits a Pop-Up Powerbomb. Zayn follows up with his kick in the corner finisher. Owens follows that up with a Stunner. They go for the immediate follow-up pin attempt yet still it’s not enough as The Usos keep this one alive.
We see Jimmy helping his lifeless brother Jey up while Owens helps his lifeless brother Zayn up. Owens yells, “Let’s end it!” and all four men collide and start wildly brawling. Owens blasts Jimmy with a super kick and then hits Jey with one. Owens goes for the Pop Up Power bomb but Jey avoids it and both Usos blast Owens with super kicks.
They knock Zayn off the apron with super kicks as well. They head to the top-rope on opposing sides of the ring and connect with a stereo Uso splash on a lifeless Owens. They go for the immediate follow-up pin attempt, but somehow Owens kicks out.
The Usos call for a big one now and we see Jey take Owens to the top-rope. Zayn yanks Jimmy out to the floor and decks him. Owens hits a crazy suplex off the top on Uso and then makes the tag to a fired up Sami, who hits the ring and connects with his kick in the corner finisher.
Zayn grabs Jey and says something to him closely before sending him in the corner and hitting him with another kick in the corner finisher. Jimmy comes over to spoil the party but Owens hits a Stunner to clear him out of the way. Zayn backs up and smiles. He charges at Jey and connects with his kick in the corner finisher for a third time. He makes the cover and gets the pin fall victory. The crowd goes absolutely insane.
What a great match. What a great night one. WrestleMania Goes Hollywood is delivering thus far. Good luck to those on the card at WrestleMania Night 2. You’ve got big shoes to fill, ladies and gentlemen! This has WrestleMania moment, ala Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, etc. written all over it. Great feel-good stuff. Owens and Zayn pose with the titles as we fade into a recap package of the entire night to end the show. Thanks for joining us!
Winners and NEW Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
