Editor’s Note: The following article was written before Night 2 of WrestleMania XL. Some thoughts are reflective of Night 1 only.

WWE is in something of a boom era after the unceremonious passing of the guard from McMahon to Levesque, as an eventful 2023 saw TKO oversee both the company and UFC in a monumental purchase. With Paul “Triple H” Levesque serving as CCO, essentially running the show, the showcase of the immortals would need to be the biggest event to date, not only to bolster Triple H’s figurehead status, but to impress the new bosses at TKO. Now that WrestleMania is a two-night affair, both nights needed to be equally important, and retention between nights would be solidified with a strong Saturday showing. So, how did Night 1 turn out?

Across both nights of WrestleMania XL, there are thirteen matches spread between eight hours of shows. It’s nigh inevitable that a crowd will get gassed or exasperated, so the card has to not only end strong but start strong, too. That was the case with Rhea Ripley squaring off against Becky Lynch.

Despite Rhea’s heel status, the crowd can’t get enough of “Mami,” but Lynch being a previous fan-favorite meant she didn’t get straight-up booed in a match that had plenty of safe spots and an expected title retention. Having Motionless in White play Ripley onto the stage was an outstanding, full-circle moment, and it was delightful seeing her sing all the words down the ramp.

Any ladder match at Mania is guaranteed to have tons of awesome spots – and at XL, this was no exception. With a great showing for DIY and New Catch Republic to bolster the mid-card. R-Truth earned the biggest pop of the night hot-tagging during the ladder match and securing a 3-count on Finn Bálor, made sweeter by him conquering his agoraphobia and securing the Raw Tag Team Titles to a fever pitch.

Bringing in iconic Philadelphia Eagles players, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, to give the LWO the win was peak fan-service, as well. My favorite moments at WrestleManias are always buried in between the matches with the biggest implications.

The sibling rivalry should bring some real element to a wrestling match, but Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso felt like the dud of the night. This was largely in part due to the nonsensical Bloodline storytelling in previous years seeing the brothers flip-flop their allegiances, as well as their copycat move-set not being able to get the Philly crowd invested.

This was followed up by the Kabuki Warriors facing the team of Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill delivering a short but sweet exhibition of skills, with Cargill getting over at the best opportunity to do so. While Gunther’s 666-day Intercontinental reign had to end at some point, and the pre-match video of Sami Zayn, paired with his signature resilience and a rare brainbuster, made up for the WWE Universe wanting this dethroning to go to Chad Gable.

Then with a main event that everyone knew the outcome of, it’s no secret that The Rock and Roman Reigns gamed The Game’s booking and got the win on WrestleMania XL Night 1. What I didn’t expect was to see Dwayne throw his weight around and straight-up tell referee Chad Patton, “If you count, you’re fired.” In a surprisingly-valid powerplay as the duo spilled into the crowd against Cody Rhodes and Seth Freakin’ Rollins.

Why Damian Priest didn’t cash in on an uber-injured Seth is baffling, but that storytelling aspect will without a doubt pour into a tough-fought title defense against Drew McIntyre, and Cody facing Bloodline Rules in the biggest match ever on Night 2 will welcome all kinds of interference – on both sides. All in all, the anticipation for WrestleMania XL Night 2 was successfully generated, and I expect it to be on the same, high level of entertainment.

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WrestleMania XL Night 1

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Massive Spots
• Excellent Booking Choices
• Low on Filler

Cons

• Longterm Storytelling Missed
• Partisan Crowd