With Night 1 in the bag and the biggest fight of The American Nightmare’s life ahead of him, Night 2 of WrestleMania XL had some of the biggest implications in WWE to date. Aside from the most pertinent main event in recent memory, the card was beyond stacked, with six big matches that would need to deliver to cement XL as the de facto Wrestlemania even if some of the outcomes were more predictable than not. Was Wrestlemania XL Night 2 as great as WrestleMania XL Night 1?

The decision to kick off WrestleMania XL Night 2 with the World Heavyweight Championship match was a bold one, but also one that made sense to further sell the damage done to Seth Rollins in Night 1. Drew’s win was inevitable – but CM Punk’s intervention into a long-awaited cash-in from Damian Priest absolutely lit the Philadelphia crowd ablaze and set the bar high for the rest of the night.

This ensures that Judgement Day really are the kings (and Mami) of Monday Night Raw from here on out; even if Finn and Damian lost the tag titles the night before, Rhea is still Women’s Heavyweight champ and Damian has the top prize on RAW.

The Pride vs. The Final Testament should have been the throwaway match in the card, but it turned out to be a strong moment having Bubba Ray Dudley guest referee and hit his beloved spots.

LA Knight was always going to need a star-making performance at his first WrestleMania, and the fight against a best-shape-of-his-life AJ Styles proved that two dudes in their 40s can still go. The entire crowd saying “Yeah!” at the right moments proved that Knight is still generating as much hype as he was a year ago when he initially blew up; this could be just the start for this ring veteran.

The banter in the United States Championship match was stellar – Kevin Owens created most of the entertainment in this Triple Threat between Owens, Randy Orton, and Logan Paul. It was compelling to see WWE aim to appeal to the social media demographic by including IShowSpeed as the devious Prime bottle, accompanying Paul; I saw Twitter bend over backward in shock at his appearance, and I’d be curious to see just how many impressions his small cameo created.

You could tell the crowd was starting to get tired by the time Bayley and Iyo Sky faced off, but getting the belt back to Bailey in yet another feel-good moment devoid of Damage Ctrl interference was the right move.

Bloodline Rules in the biggest main event in WrestleMania history meant anyone and everyone could interfere – and that’s exactly what happened. It was downright bonkers seeing the likes of John Cena, The Rock, and The Undertaker exchange blows. The long-term storytelling of Rollins costing Reigns the title thanks to a chair to the back is hearkening to the end of The Shield and was the cherry on top of a well-deserved story-finisher for Cody Rhodes.

Ending on the highest of notes and sending the fans home happy worldwide reminds me of why I love watching wrestling, and we may never see a moment like this again. The first WrestleMania helmed by Paul “Triple H” Levesque is in the books, and with great booking, gargantuan spots, and the perfect ending makes it a strong watch. It is also an indication that there are many great stories left to experience in WWE.

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WrestleMania XL Night 2

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Best Main Event Ever
• Better Crowd This Night
• Smart Booking Decisions

Cons

• The US Title Match Ending