WrestleMania 38 - Nights 1 & 2 -- Results & Afterthoughts
WrestleMania 38 - Nights 1 & 2 -- Results & Afterthoughts
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WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling live event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to stream through Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network internationally. It was held as a two-night event, taking place on April 2 and 3, 2022, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex city of Arlington, Texas.
The event was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second in AT&T Stadium after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. It was the third WrestleMania to feature Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in the main event (after 31 and 34). WWE billed the match as "The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time", which saw a Winner Takes All match for the promotion's two world championships, Raw's WWE Championship and SmackDown's Universal Championship, which were held by Lesnar and Reigns, respectively, going into the event.
The card comprised 16 matches between the two nights. In an impromptu match that served as the main event for Night 1, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match, marking Austin's first match since WrestleMania XIX. Other prominent matches saw a returning Cody Rhodes defeat Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship, and Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women's Championship. In the main event for Night 2, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win both titles. In other prominent matches, Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match and Edge defeated AJ Styles. The event also featured WWE chairman Vince McMahon defeating commentator Pat McAfee in an impromptu match after McAfee had defeated Austin Theory, marking McMahon's first match since WrestleMania XXVI.
WrestleMania Saturday
(April 2 - Night 1)
WrestleMania Saturday
(April 2 - Night 1)
Tag Team Match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Tag Team Match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs by pinfall
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs by pinfall
Boogs suffered a legitimate knee injury during this match to derail this match completely. His injury forced Nakamura to take on both Usos solo to a lackluster, yet unfortunate performance. This made for a somber mood to kick off Night 1.
Singles Match
Singles Match
Drew McIntyre defeated Happy Corbin (with Madcap Moss) by pinfall
Drew McIntyre defeated Happy Corbin (with Madcap Moss) by pinfall
This match was complete waste of time and should have been relegated to being booked on Monday Night RAW. The only saving grace was that Drew McIntyre won. Hopefully, this feud is over and all parties involved can move on, especially for Drew McIntyre, who should be climbing his way back into the main event picture sooner more than later.
I can't speak for anyone else but I busted out laughing seeing Drew chop those ring ropes with that obviously fake sword...
Tag Team Match
Tag Team Match
The Miz and Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio by pinfall
The Miz and Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio by pinfall
This was a LOT better than I thought it would be going into this show. It's sad that these part-timers and celebrities will come in for these one-off matches and make wrestling look so goddamn easy. For everything that I don't like about Logan Paul as an annoying celebrity in general, I have to admit that the guy came into this match from the second he walked out for his entrance to the moment that this was all over, he really took this seriously and I have to applaud him for that. WWE should really think about signing some of these celebrities who clearly have a passion for wrestling to do this full-time. WWE is always looking for their wrestlers to have crossover appeal, so why not go the other way in terms of signing celebrities with the ability to crossover into wrestling? They've been doing that to mixed results for years now with pro athletes, so why not take a chance on some of these people? Bad Bunny took it seriously last year and now we have another with Logan Paul. I really think they might be onto something here, especially if you want to bring in more casual viewers to the product.
I have to admit that I popped for Miz turning on Logan Paul during their post-match celebration. I'm guessing that's a setup for a rematch/singles bout at Backlash or SummerSlam in a few more months.
I honestly would rather see Rey and Dominik go down to NXT and feud with Legado del Fantasma for a while than see them continue this feud.
Singles Match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
Singles Match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch (c) by pinfall
Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch (c) by pinfall
This match is tied for the #2 spot in terms of best match of the night. Out of the two women's title matches, this was easily the better of the two Women's Championship matches. I know many people will disagree with me, but I thought this match began to drag towards the end as I felt it was overstaying its welcome at that point. I thought they played up the drama and history from Bianca's quick loss at SummerSlam last year very well to add to the match's narrative to keep everyone guessing.
I should also mention that Bianca got one hell of a shiner (read: black eye) from Becky Lynch coming off the top rope with a modified Molly Go Round (I'm guessing as a homage to Molly Holly, who served as an agent for this match) and mistakenly kicking Bianca in the face.
Singles Match
Singles Match
Cody Rhodes defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins by pinfall
Cody Rhodes defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins by pinfall
Yes, you're reading that right. Cody Rhodes, former EVP of All Elite Wrestling, has returned to WWE and wind up being Rollins' mystery opponent to the surprise of next to no one. So yeah, it's NOT a fucking work, people. Cody's gone from AEW and back with WWE with his full indie gimmick... along that horrid neck tattoo that looks like the Transformers' Autobot emblem. One would think that he would have taken the time off to get that removed, but it just proves to be another example of wrestlers making bad decisions concerning tattoos. For me personally, this was EASILY match of the night for Night 1. Cody and Rollins kept everyone guessing with the series of exciting near-falls. None of this felt like they were dragging this out just to do it either. From bell to bell, this kept me on the edge of my seat as I was anxious to see how they would treat Cody in his first match back. I'm sure that I wasn't alone in that feeling either as the crowd was clearly behind it from start to finish. Ultimately, this wind up being an excellent showing for Cody's first night back, proving to be a complete 180 from how he was received by AEW's crowds before he left.
Singles Match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Singles Match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Ronda Rousey by pinfall
Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Ronda Rousey by pinfall
I can't say that I was a fan of this match, much like the feud that got us here. It sucks too when Charlotte and Ronda had a MUCH better match when it came as a result of Becky Lynch getting injured and having to replace her at Survivor Series 2018. Seriously, go watch that match and come back to this one. It's like day and night in terms of how different it is. Ronda doesn't have that fire and seems like she doesn't even want to be here while Charlotte is barely keeping this match from going off the rails. She wasn't able to prevent a wardrobe malfunction either, causing the live feed to go black for a few seconds. Between that and a lot of sloppy spots/botches, it felt like this match was snake bit. There were a lot of rough patches in this match and there was an overall lack of timing/synchronization. It definitely made for one of Charlotte's not so great performances. In the end, I was glad to see Charlotte retain, but I cringed knowing that this feud wasn't over from how they laid out the finish with Charlotte tapping behind the referee's back without him seeing it, but still managed to pick up the win after the fact.
I've said it probably a few hundred times now over the years, but for all of the natural talent that Charlotte Flair has inherited from her dad, she hasn't inherited absolutely none of his ability to adapt and elevate someone with her. If her opponent can't work a Charlotte Flair style match, then it either falls apart or she gets visibly frustrated.
No Holds Barred Match
No Holds Barred Match
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens by pinfall
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens by pinfall
It's the moment that you're all waiting for... (Laughs) I feel like the announcer from Mobile Fighter G Gundam saying that...
In any case, we all saw this coming with this comical feud between Kevin Owens making fun of Texas for months on end until it struck the ire of Stone Cold Steve Austin as if he's Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob Squarepants to defeat the honor of Texas tonight. The KO Show segment transformed into a match between Austin and KO in which that I thought would turn into a cinematic match. I'm glad it didn't as this crowd ate up everything here from both Austin and KO. This impromptu match that many saw coming a mile away - much like Cody's return to the company earlier to face Rollins - was a lot of fun to watch and a great piece of nostalgia. I was genuinely shocked to see Austin taking flat back bumps on the floor and concrete to deliver Suplexes on KO. They had one hell of a great near-fall with Austin eating a Stunner from KO. In the end, Owens' Stunner sell wasn't too great at all, but Byron Saxton made up for it afterwards. I'm surprised he was willing to take one again after Austin said in an interview that he mistakenly kicked Byron right in the nuts for it during the Performance Center shows during the COVID lockdowns. Austin getting the win here made for a great moment to end Night 1 of WrestleMania in spectacular fashion.
This was going to be a tough act to follow in Night 2.
WrestleMania SUNday
(April 3 - Night 2)
WrestleMania SUNday
(April 3 - Night 2)
Night 2/WrestleMania Sunday would kick off with Triple H coming down to the ring for one last time to leave his boots in the middle of the ring to symbolize the end of his in-ring career as he has announced his formal retirement from in-ring competition after his complications with his heart last year.
I'm sure that was a hard choice to make, especially after seeing one of his best friends, Scott Hall, die within the past month.
Despite my feelings about his in-ring career over the years, I definitely have to thank the guy for the many, many memories and for his contributions to the business behind the scenes too, especially with the creation of NXT.
#ThankYouTripleH
Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) (c) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) by pinfall
RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) (c) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) by pinfall
To me, this felt like your typical Monday Night RAW tag team match. Ford looked like a colossal moron just standing there for Riddle's springboard RKO while Gable dove off the top rope into the second one from Orton.
I honestly yawned at the post-match altercation between Gable and Gable Stevenson. How silly is that to have them on the same roster with same name? Knowing WWE's logic and booking, they will more likely end up as a tag team given their similar backgrounds...
Singles Match
Singles Match
Bobby Lashley defeated Omos by pinfall
Bobby Lashley defeated Omos by pinfall
I found this match to be VERY boring and bland. The only saving grace here was the fact that Lashley got the win. Why was this match even booked was beyond me...
On the post-WrestleMania RAW, it was explained why MVP was oddly absent from being in Lashley's corner at WrestleMania. He has now aligned himself with Omos as his new manager. I guess that should work as Omos needs a mouthpiece more than Lashley does, who honestly doesn't cut bad promos if you've seen his America's Top Team run in IMPACT Wrestling prior to his current run/return to WWE.
I just hate that Lashley is saddled with continuing this feud that nobody cares about.
Anything Goes Match
Anything Goes Match
Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn by pinfall
Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn by pinfall
As expected, this match had a lots of interference and comedy spots from the Jackass crew. The match ends with Sami Zayn being pinned under a giant mouse trap - WTF. They definitely got points from me in terms of creativity. I'm not going to say that I flat out hated this match nor say that it killed all credibility to professional wrestling when there's FAR more offensive examples of other various matches and acts being an insult to professional wrestling out there. I'm not in the camp of saying that I like this either. There were a handful of funny moments, but I was mostly indifferent about this whole thing as I never cared about this feud to begin with when they started it a few months ago at the Royal Rumble.
Clearly this wasn't a match that was meant for me. To each his/her own, I guess...
Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Naomi and Sasha Banks defeated Carmella and Queen Zelina (c), Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley, and Natalya and Shayna Baszler by pinfall
Naomi and Sasha Banks defeated Carmella and Queen Zelina (c), Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley, and Natalya and Shayna Baszler by pinfall
All of the ladies worked hard here, making this easily the best thing on this show up to this point. I thought Liv Morgan's improvement over the past year really shined through here. This match was fun to watch bell-to-bell, even though I'm beyond tired of that corner Tower of Doom spot that seems to be shoehorned into all of these multi-woman matches in WWE lately.
As of this posting (4/7/22), WWE already split up two out of the four teams in this match with Rhea Ripley leaving Liv Morgan high and dry while Carmella and Queen Zelina splitting up as well on Monday Night RAW the following night.
WWE should really consider adding Ronda Rousey to Shayna and Natalya's team and make them a faction of shooters. It would help Ronda in the long run to have more people to play off of since she's awfully uncomfortable doing promos and stuff on her own while having two more women to work with to hide her shortcomings if they are all in a faction together. Just a thought.
Singles Match
Singles Match
Edge defeated AJ Styles by pinfall
Edge defeated AJ Styles by pinfall
It was just like I feared going into this match. This match dragged on for an eternity with Edge and Styles milking the crowd for finisher teases and what not. This was Edge's match with Orton a few years ago all over again, where a lot of people wanted to see the match, but the match itself was overkill. I wasn't surprised in the least at the finish either, especially when Priest was standing there ominously (or at least fooling himself that he was...) at ringside. Styles being scared/startled made him look a complete moron though and set him right up for the pending Spear that caught him midair from the Phenomenal Forearm. I will say that I'm intrigued at the idea of Edge getting his own emo vampire faction though. You could add Rhea and Liv in there while you're at it to be honest.
Tag Team Match
Tag Team Match
Sheamus and Ridge Holland (with Butch) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) by pinfall
Sheamus and Ridge Holland (with Butch) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) by pinfall
I thought it was a nice touch that Kofi and Woods were dressed like Big E to pay respect to their friend and tag team partner who's at home with a broken neck. That kind sentiment was for nothing when they got squashed her in less than two minutes. I went to the bathroom and then the fridge only to see that this match was already over by the time I came back to my bedroom. Just wow.
Thanks for comin', I guess? Can't say that I cared about seeing that match anyway though...
Singles Match
Singles Match
Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory (with Mr. McMahon) by pinfall
Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory (with Mr. McMahon) by pinfall
I thought this match was fine but it wasn't nowhere as good as McAfee's match with Adam Cole on NXT. The live crowd was red hot for this match from the moment he came out with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders for his entrance. Austin Theory is a great worker in his own right, so this was well worth the watch. Why haven't they pulled the trigger on a full-blown in-ring career for McAfee blows my mind to be quite honest, unless he is content being on commentary instead of bumping around for a living. He got to live out one of his dreams to have a match at WrestleMania so that
It should be noted that Vince McMahon was sitting ringside for this match as it will play into what happened afterwards.
Singles Match
Singles Match
Mr. McMahon (with Austin Theory) defeated Pat McAfee by pinfall
Mr. McMahon (with Austin Theory) defeated Pat McAfee by pinfall
Vince would beat McAfee in an impromptu match after his victory over Theory. This got a huge meh reaction from me as I don't need to see an old man who is nearing 80 years old try to convince himself that he can still go. I don't need to see Vince take off his shirt and show the consequences the years of being on the gas but yet still essentially living in the gym still hasn't done much to prevent his arms from looking like any other old man's with sagging skin.
I thought it was the wrong move to take the wind completely out of McAfee's sails with this loss here, despite the fact that Theory was helping Vince from ringside. Sooner more than later, we would find out why this match was added. Stone Cold Steve Austin would come out to McAfee's aid and layout Austin Theory before proceeding to hit the worst Stunner EVER on Vince. God bless Vince on finding a way to sell (or rather not sell it at all) the Stunner worst than his wife, Linda. Big Oof.
Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship
Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (Universal Champion) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion) by pinfall
Roman Reigns (Universal Champion) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion) by pinfall
This match had a big fight feel to it, despite being so late into this show after so many lackluster matches on this card too along with the fact that this is their 3rd/4th WrestleMania encounter. I thought this was a great match, but they definitely rushed the finish with Roman legitimately dislocating his shoulder.
You could clearly hear him telling Heyman at ringside that "It's out!" in the final moments of the match. I didn't find out about the injury until after the fact as I just thought Roman was no selling the Kimura Lock just to hit one more Spear for the win as if they were running out of time. In either case, it gave for a really odd and abrupt ending to this show and for WrestleMania as a whole.
Your NEW Undisputed WWE Champion, Roman Reigns. Now acknowledge him.
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts
Without a shadow of a doubt, Night 1/WrestleMania Saturday was the better show of the two over Night 2/WrestleMania Sunday. There's no argument about that. I think this problem would have been avoided by shuffling some of the stronger matches from Night 1 over to the second night. I didn't understand why did they have to do both Women's Championship matches in the same night when neither one was going to main event either show. I think we can all agree that this show didn't need to be two nights long as it was already an exhausting WrestleMania week between all of the wrestling in the week leading up to this whether you were in attendance in Dallas, Texas or not all of the wrestling going on. Between Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor, IMPACT Wrestling's Multiverse of Matches, WWE Friday Night SmackDown! followed by the Hall of Fame ceremony, AEW Rampage, NXT Stand & Deliver, and not to mention whatever other miscellaneous independent events that were piggy backing off of WrestleMania week, this was a complete chore to watch whether you enjoyed these shows or not. It's Friday morning as I'm wrapping up this write-up and I still haven't watched any other wrestling outside of FTR vs. Briscoes from ROH Supercard of Honor this week since I'm beyond burnt out in more ways than one.
I'm happy to see that Steve Austin and The Undertaker's last in-ring appearances weren't in front of LED screens in an empty Performance Center. Between WrestleMania and the Hall of Fame ceremony, they both got the send-offs that they rightfully deserved if this is truly the last time that we will see them in a WWE ring. The same can be said about Triple H too, even though he didn't have the opportunity to go out how he liked, but he was able to come out and address the fans publicly and take one last final bow. In regards to the rest of the Hall of Fame, I enjoyed everyone's speeches. I didn't feel that there wasn't a low point in that show at all, despite the fact that Taker went pretty darn long for his speech and managed to neglect some key names from his laundry list of thank you's and acknowledgements.
At the end of the day, WrestleMania 38 was another example of a WrestleMania that didn't need to go two-nights for 4-6+ hours (if you're counting the preshows/kick-off panels) each night as Night 1 was more than adequate enough to quench most wrestling palettes. By the time Night 2 rolled around, it felt like overkill. Ultimately, that's the problem with WWE as a whole in the current landscape of professional wrestling. They want to cater to all audiences and not just the niche markets and hardcore fans. As a result, you get this odd mixed bag of stuff that you really want to see, stuff that's definitely not for you, and stuff that's just there to fill time or setup/lure people in to buy tickets to the next show.
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