Every tenth WrestleMania seems to end with a genuine feelgood moment. The one that closed out WrestleMania 40 might have been one of the best ever, and Michael Cole’s commentary, professing to love professional wrestling, was enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the most jaded of fans. It made the event’s second night one of the greatest nights in WWE’s recent history, and since the first night wasn’t too shabby either, I think we can mostly agree that WrestleMania 40 was a pretty keen show.
As is the case with my current wrestling reviews, I won’t go into too much detail. I’ll talk about the best matches though (and key matches). The best match of night one was Gunther vs Sami Zayn. It was laid out like Brock Lesnar vs John Cena from SummerSlam 2014 but with a heroic underdog victory, and while I wouldn’t have minded it being a bit more competitive, Sami’s performance was incredible. As for the match we all came to see, The Bloodline vs Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins was way too long but enough portions of it were captivating enough for me to say they delivered.
Night two’s best match was Io Sky vs Bayley. I thought it might steal the show, with the feud occasionally flying under the radar compared to others. It ended up doing just that, despite a few shaky moments at the start, with Bayley’s pops from the crowd genuinely being some of the loudest of the weekend – I’m very happy for her. Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes delivered in their main event too, though I’ll gladly say that’s mostly down to the crazy overbooking, with appearances from The Bloodline, John Cena and The Undertaker – not to mention Seth Rollins coming out in Shield gear only to get killed instantly.
The only true dud of the weekend was the Uso vs Uso affair, an ill-fated quest for grandiosity. No, WrestleMania 40 was a feelgood show, and if it is opening up a new era for WWE/pro wrestling, then the era has started off nicely.
Night One Ratings:
Ripley vs Lynch ***3/4
Ladder Match ***1/4
Rey/Andrade vs Dominik/Escobar ***
Uso vs Uso *1/4
Six-Woman Tag **1/2
Gunther vs Zayn ****
Rhodes/Rollins vs Rock/Reigns ***1/2
Night Two Ratings:
Rollins vs McIntyre ****
Philadelphia Street Fight ***
Styles vs Knight ***1/2
Paul vs Owens vs Orton ***
Bayley vs Sky ****1/4
Reigns vs Rhodes ****1/4
Overall Rating – 8.5 out of 10
PEANUTBUTTERPOPE 