Philadelphia, PA. — WWE hyped WrestleMania 40 as “The Greatest WrestleMania ever,” setting a lofty standard. Yet, with The Rock returning for his first full-length match in over a decade and WWE riding high both financially and creatively, there was a real chance it could live up to the billing and become the best WrestleMania to date.
Just one night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia isn’t enough to definitively declare WrestleMania 40 as the greatest. However, it undeniably delivered a memorable evening of sports entertainment, or as Paul Heyman emphatically said during his WWE Hall of Fame speech, professional wrestling.
Night 1 was packed with excitement, from a main event featuring four future WWE Hall of Famers to the conclusion of several title reigns, as analyzed by our own Rob Wolkenbrod in a special breakdown of WrestleMania’s opening four hours of festivities.
Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch, a match undeniably deserving of a WrestleMania main event slot, opened Night 1 for the Women’s World Championship. If not for The Rock’s return, perhaps this would have claimed the top slot on April 6, but to open a highly anticipated show, they still performed in front of an excited, invested crowd. The match result never seemed in doubt, however, as Ripley retained the title to continue her year-long reign.
Gunther‘s 666-day run as Intercontinental Champion ended in dramatic fashion, taking the rarely-seen-in-WWE brainbuster and a Helluva Kick from Sami Zayn in arguably the match of the night. Though it did not go the distance of other bouts on the card, this had the feel-good story of WWE’s favorite underdog overcoming all the odds to win on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Let’s not forget the main event either. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins faced off against The Rock and Roman Reigns with high stakes involved. If Rock and Reigns emerged victorious, Reigns’ match with Rhodes on Night 2 of WrestleMania 40 for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship would be designated as a Bloodline Rules match. And with the result of the night 1 main event, expect chaos in the closing match of the weekend.
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