WrestleMania XL - Nights 1 & 2 (april 6-7, 2024) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship

A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) and The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) defeated The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (c), #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa), The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), and New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) by retrieving the SmackDown and Raw championships, respectively

Both sets of titles had to be retrieved for the match to end.

It was a VERY wise choice to have this match follow the women's title match opener. Rhea and Becky had a solid match, but boy it wasn't firing on all cylinders to start. That was a slow burn of a match before it really got going to get people into it before it finished. In comparison, this was all excitement from bell to bell. There was always something going on with all of the teams involved to keep this interesting. I honestly had no hopes for this match giving the sheer number of teams in this match as I was envisioning this match to be a mess on paper in terms of execution. That being said, this was fine for what it was worth. I thought it was a confusing, yet smart choice to split up the two sets of tag belts back to each brand respectively with this match. WWE is making a slow attempt to revitalize their tag team divisions and this is a firm step in the right direction. It's not that they don't have the teams that could make those divisions compelling again; it's the fact that WWE rarely does anything with them to make people care long term outside of their involvement in the Bloodline storyline last year. 

I cringed so hard at that assisted powerbomb over the ropes on Grayson Waller that sent him crashing through that ladder at ringside. Whatever ladders that WWE are using for these matches can't be fun to go through at all, especially to say that they break so easily off these types of bumps. Double cringed for that bump/fall JD took from off the top of the ladder to fall at ringside. He wasn't lined up at all and only went through only one of those two tables. In hindsight, I could tell that Priest wasn't winning this as he was hanging out and taking it easy for the bulk of this match for his own safety since he was cashing in his MITB briefcase the following night. 

I have to feel sorry for the New Catch Republic when they are working so hard to get over, especially when the production truck put the wrong entrance video up when they came out. Pete Dunne has been struggling to get over since being called up under Vince McMahon's previous regime as "Butch" for the past few years only to return to being known as Pete Dunne recently. I'm glad Tyler Bate is finally called up now after feeling like that he was being held hostage in NXT for what felt like an eternity. 

DIY acting like D-Generation X was worth a few laughs with R-Truth being involved, but it's totally cringe after the joke wears off. Gargano and Ciampa can't get over on their own no matter what they are doing on the main roster and it shows that nobody cares. That being said, I hope Triple H doesn't give up on them when we know Vince would have by now. 

I was fine with Awesome Truth winning here as it was the perfect ending for what they have been doing with R-Truth and Judgment Day over the last few months. I know that won't be anything long term but it was a nice gesture for the gift that keeps on giving - R-Truth. 

I know Xavier Woods was rocking Apollo Creed inspired ring gear but I know I wasn't the only one who saw his choice in attire as a callback to his Consequences Creed days from his tenure in TNA/Impact Wrestling.

Tag Team Match

Rey Mysterio and Andrade (with Carlito, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Zelina Vega) defeated Santos Escobar and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio (with Angel, Berto, and Elektra Lopez) by pinfall

This was mostly a television match (i.e. a cooldown match) in comparison to what we've seen up to this point, but that's not a knock for the talents involved. Rey and Andrade got the win while Escobar and Dominik were able to heel it up for majority of the match until Rey and Andrade got some unexpected help, much to the delight to the live crowd that gave them the win. I don't think this is going to do anything to knock Escobar and the rest of this new version of Legado del Fantasma off their pedestal, but it was merely a means to give Rey and Andrade a feel good win for WrestleMania.

Singles Match

Jey Uso defeated Jimmy Uso by pinfall

Out of everything on this match thus far, I think this was the weakest match on Night 1 to date. I felt that this was overshadowed by everything else that was going on in the Bloodline storyline surrounding The Rock, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and Seth Rollins to the point where this felt like an extreme afterthought. Not to mention, I don't care nor do I understand this whole "YEET" and "No YEET" nonsense. 

I appreciate the effort to tell a story in this match with Jimmy "acting" like he was willing to apologize and make amends with his brother, only to stab him in the back when Jey's defenses were down. It ultimately didn't work as Jey pulled the trigger and fired a bullet out of the chamber in the form of a spear that would land him the win here. 

I could see WWE continuing this story down the road, but as of this posting (April 14th), Tama Tonga has debuted on Friday Night SmackDown! as the newest member of the Bloodline and joined Solo Sikoa in laying waste to Jimmy Uso for his failure to get the job done. We could see Jey coming to his brother's aid to reunite against Tama and Solo, as soon as Backlash or even Summerslam if they want to milk this for a few months.

Six-woman Tag Team Match

Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi defeated Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane) by pinfall

This was one of the matches in full that I saw on my phone when I was about to drive home from SC Comic Con Saturday evening. The Peacock app would freeze and crash after this though. 

I thought the entrances for both teams were well done, especially for the "black girl magic" trio of Bianca, Naomi, and Jade. I don't think we should sell Damage CTRL's entrance short either as this was a strong showing for all six women. And for the record, FUCK Mark Henry for his rant about Kairi Sane being "disrespectful to the business" for standing in the ring during Bianca, Naomi, and Jade's entrance. It's like what I said on social media after the fact, she was merely heeling it up with Asuka and I seriously doubt they were trying to be disrespectful to their co-workers in that regard when she was only lingering there for mere 3-4 seconds. 

That being said, Jade still comes across a tad rough around the edges but I would like to credit that to nerves being on a WrestleMania stage for her second match with this company. I know that backdrop to Dakota Kai had to hurt as I cringed watching that live in action. 

Everything else about this match gave me about the same feeling as the Rey and Andrade vs. Escobar and Dominik match from earlier - a television match that just gave the babyfaces a feel-good moment for the WrestleMania stage. There's nothing wrong with that when you got that many solid workers in this match to protect and guide Jade without having to worry about her making any mistakes to look bad here. This was the right group of dancing partners to showcase what she's capable of.

Singles Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Sami Zayn defeated Gunther (c) by pinfall

Since I didn't see this show live Saturday night, this was one of MANY matches that was spoiled to me on social media and by word of mouth from friends on Sunday. That being said, I have to say that it was a little telling by the pre-match segment (Sami meeting with his wife and kid followed by best wishes from his best friend Kevin Owens) that they were setting Sami up for either a big moment or a similar bang of disappointment like Chad Gable a few months ago. When Sami won the #1 contender spot, I was among the opinion of a lot of people that WWE made the wrong call as this should have been Chad Gable's moment to win at WrestleMania. WWE's decision here is still puzzling to me when they had the perfect narrative for Gable to scratch and claw his way back to WALTER for another shot when victory was within his grasp a few months ago. Sami Zayn's momentum and buzz/popularity is NOWHERE as explosive as it was this time last year to the point it's not even funny, so it was even more puzzling that WWE decided to go with him here - even more so when he was chosen to be the one who would dethrone WALTER in the end. My only guess in that regard is this is going to result in a heel turn in Chad Gable as he has completely distanced himself from the rest of his Alpha Academy cohorts. I don't mind this as long as he doesn't go back to doing that stupid SHOOOOSH! shit. 

As for this match, it's a WALTER match. What do you expect? He beats the tar out of his challenger only for them to fire up with the babyface comeback only to get chopped back down to size. The major difference here is how many times Zayn got back up when anyone else would have stayed down. Even I was hella impressed at Zayn busting out that Brainbuster (shoutout to El Generico) from his bag of tricks, dropping WALTER onto the top turnbuckle and hitting him with two more Helluva Kicks to seal the deal. My only knock on this match was that it felt like WALTER was reeling it in a bit in terms of his strikes as Zayn's chest didn't look nowhere like the hamburger meat that most other guys' chests look by the end of one of these matches against him. 

Singles Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Drew McIntyre defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) by pinfall

The tale of the tape going into this match was that Rollins is a wounded animal following his and Cody's loss at the hands of the Bloodline in the main event of Night 1. Drew McIntyre was like a shark tasting blood in the water and aimed to end this quick with a Claymore as soon as the in-ring introductions were made. Rollins would kick out, but he would make a valiant effort to endure the beating from Drew throughout this match.

I should note that CM Punk was on commentary for this match - someone who has been the source of Drew McIntyre's trolling on and off social media following his unfortunate injury at Royal Rumble 2023. This match wasn't a bad match in the least, and I definitely didn't expect it to run as long as it did after that marathon Rollins was apart of in Night 1's main event. I sure as hell didn't expect them to kick-off Night 2. 

Rollins put up a valiant effort, but it was ultimately futile as Drew McIntyre was able to put him down and capture the World Heavyweight Championship - in front of fans this time around at WrestleMania. That wasn't enough though for McIntyre, despite leaving Seth Rollins in tears at the loss of his beloved title. 

I should say that I thought Rollins looked like a fucking geek tearing up like that when he lost. I get it - it meant the world to him to be the workhorse champion who built up the prestige for this new title, but as long as he was the first titular champion it was still going to be second fiddle to Roman Reigns' Undisputed Universal Championship with its established legacy and history behind it. 

Ever since that EPIC three-way promo segment on Monday Night RAW about 2-3 weeks ago involving CM Punk, McIntyre, and Rollins, I have said that the perfect ending for this storyline was that Drew beats Rollins, only for Punk to somehow screw him out of the title afterwards with Priest cashing in his MITB briefcase. Well, look who won the pony?

Drew McIntyre just had to rub the title win in Punk's face by taunting him and sitting on top of the commentary table as part of his post-match celebration. When Drew let his guard down, Punk ripped off the support/protective brace off of his arm and knocked out Drew with it. Punk looked as shocked (and better yet, excited) as everyone else when Priest came running out to cash in the briefcase. 

Singles Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

This was Priest's Money in the Bank cash-in match.

Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre (c) by pinfall

It didn't take much to lay out Drew with Priest's sitout chokeslam that always seems to look impressive as fuck and pick up the win. I actually stood up and applauded this decision. I know some people will see this as pulling out the rug from underneath Drew McIntyre, but I don't see it as such. For one thing, Drew would be a colossal moron to leave WWE if he hasn't signed a new contract at this stage just to headline AEW's next Wembley arena show later this year. He's already got a high profile match lined up with CM Punk in the making whether he has legitimate beef with the guy or not, plus there's unfinished business with Rollins too along with another one with Priest if he wants to reclaim his title. This time last year we've been all regarding Drew as bland and boring outside of his feuds with Sheamus and WALTER. This feud with Punk has been a career resurgence for him as who knew this man was this entertaining all of this time?

As for CM Punk, my only concern is whether or not he's rushing back from his recovery a little too soon, but then again, WWE doctors would more likely be a tad more cautious in terms of clearing him for full-time in-ring competition again. If I were a betting man, I would place my bets on Punk being ready to go for that next UK show that WWE plans to have a PLE on or at the latest, Summerslam this summer. He easily has ready made feuds waiting on him for both McIntyre and Rollins if they stick around. And if they don't renew their contracts, CM Punk still have plenty of worthy, noteworthy opponents lined up, starting from The Rock, Cody Rhodes, and Roman Reigns to the others he has never faced in his previous WWE run nor in AEW either. 

My only concern for Damian Priest is that he might be merely a transitional champion as his stock value hasn't been much over the past year, despite hanging onto his MITB briefcase for so long along with the Undisputed Tag Team titles with Finn Balor. The latter isn't much to sneeze at when WWE's tag team divisions have been a far cry from their former glory for years now. Plus once Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn beat The Usos for those belts last year at WrestleMania, those belts were a complete afterthought when they weren't props as part of the ongoing Bloodline storyline. Priest and Balor were merely keeping those belts warm for the past year when they weren't participating in R-Truth's antics or playing second fiddle to Rhea Ripley in the Judgment Day. 

Philadelphia Street Fight

The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins, and Montez Ford) (with B-Fab) defeated The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar) (with Scarlett and Paul Ellering) by pinfall

Bubba Ray Dudley was the special guest referee.

I found this to be ultimately a bathroom break of a match. 

Cool that Scarlett and B-Fab were able to have a WrestleMania moment in terms of taking a table bump, but even that made B-Fab look like she should be still down at the Performance Center honing her craft. I find that strange that people are quick to call out Maxine Dupri's lack of in-ring skill but no one bats an eye at how equally rotten B-Fab is. If you're going to call that out and point fingers, then include her in that conversation too. She's another girl who has no business working matches on the main roster with her lack of in-ring experience when there's plenty of girls down in NXT who could be in this spot or just keep those ladies as strictly managers. And while we are at it, let's rip the band-aid off another topic - NOT EVERY WOMAN SHOULD BE AN IN-RING TALENT. There's nothing wrong with just being a valet or merely eye candy. Not everyone is cut out for this sport; that goes for men AND women. 

The best thing about this match was that it didn't overstay its welcome and was over pretty darn fast for we could keep this show moving. 

Singles Match

LA Knight defeated AJ Styles by pinfall

If I'm perfectly honest, this match didn't leave any lasting impression on me one week later. I honestly don't even remember the vast majority of it. I just remember having deja vu while watching it that it was one of those matches that we never got while they were in their respective runs as TNA/IMPACT Wrestling World Champion. The only difference here being that neither man is currently holding any championship gold and this match itself wasn't for anything. It was merely a grudge match of sorts. 

The most important thing about this match is that the right man went over

 here. AJ Styles is in the best shape of his life physically if you look at how shredded he is right now during this current run, but as he's winding down his career as a whole, I feel that he's happy to be able to put people over who are climbing the ladder too. Styles doesn't lose anything from this match since he hasn't been in the main event picture or any title picture for a while now, but he's established in WWE long enough that fans recognize that he's a big deal and that alone legitimizes LA Knight with another marquee win under his belt. If Knight isn't going for one of the two belts during WrestleMania season during the build for WrestleMania XLI then something's wrong. 

Triple Threat Match for the WWE United States Championship

Logan Paul (c) (with IShowSpeed) defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton by pinfall

Going into this match I honestly had no high expectations for this match, but I'm happy that this was a much more entertaining match than I was expecting going in. The early portion of the match saw Owens and Orton working together against Logan Paul, much to his ire before the match turned into a contest involving all three men. There were a lot of great spots in this match, especially when Orton involved IShowSpeed in the action for trying to lend Logan Paul a helping hand. Sucks that Orton didn't do an RKO on him while he was still in the complete sports drink bottle or that would have been a legendary meme to go with so many other unforgettable Orton moments that fans have immortalized in gifs and clips scattered across social media. 

I was fine with Logan Paul retaining in a multi-man match like this as it keeps the title on Logan Paul, in which I could easily see WWE keeping that title on him at least as far as Summerslam or on the upcoming Saudi Arabia show. On top of that, I wouldn't mind seeing Orton against Logan Paul in a singles match after their encounters both here and at the Elimination Chamber a month or two ago. 

Singles Match for the WWE Women's Championship

Bayley defeated Iyo Sky (c) by pinfall

Out of all of the Horsewomen, Bayley was always the bridesmaid but never a bride. Tonight she finally got her flowers. Call it selfish, but much like with Night 1, I wanted at least one of these joshi/Asian women to go over. After Rhea Ripley retained to start this show, I knew that wasn't happening realistically in any case so I didn't get my hopes up. 

In defense of this match, it was a solid performance from both women. The only thing that I found odd about this match was that it was this far into the card and the fact that while Asuka, Dakota Kai, and Kairi Sane all joined Iyo for her ring entrance, not a single one of them stuck around for the match itself. After all of their collective gang warfare antics for weeks and months on end leading up to this match, you'd think that the makeshift team of Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi would have been out in full force to back Bayley up here, but I guess they thought it would have been redundant after Damage CTRL already lost the night prior. I could see it going with Iyo Sky saying that she's going to show them that she could get the job done on her own, so I gave that omission a pass in that regard. 

In terms of where they go next with this, I hope that Bayley's reign ends with Dakota Kai being the one who beats her for the title after a babyface turn. As much as I love Kai heel, I wouldn't mind seeing how her babyface gimmick which was similar to Bayley's own on NXT when she was in the Mae Young Classic when she first debuted would fare on the main roster.

The Rock Congratulates Cody Rhodes on Monday Night RAW

Cody kicked off the night after WrestleMania XL RAW by standing in the ring to address the WWE Universe as it's new Undisputed Universal Champion. The Rock came out to give credit where its due for Cody overcoming the odds, but laid out one simple fact: he was the one who pinned Cody Rhodes on Night 1, so their "story" is far from over. Sadly, The Rock has to take time away (as expected) to film the many projects that he has in the pipeline but when he comes back, he has his eyes on that title. Cody's rebuttal was simple too as he wants that "People's Championship" on The Rock's shoulder. 

Cool to see WWE planting the seeds to continue this feud and rightfully so after The Rock essentially took over the WrestleMania build this year. 

CM Punk Costs Drew McIntyre #1 Contender Spot to World Heavyweight Championship; Jey Uso is First Challenger for Damian Priest

Drew McIntyre was one of four Superstars who were ready to stake their claim at being the first man to challenge Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. To Drew's credit, he had victory within his grasp, but CM Punk tripped him up, costing Drew the match once again. 

I don't know what Punk's return ETA is looking like, but he definitely has a money-made feud with Drew McIntyre waiting on him whenever he's medically cleared to come back to the ring in full-time competition.

Rhea Ripley Injured; Relinquishes and Vacates World Women's Championship

On the RAW after WrestleMania XL, Liv Morgan continued her "revenge tour" by attacking Rhea backstage. Rhea Ripley suffered a shoulder injury that proved to serious enough to force her to vacate the World Women's Championship on the following week's RAW. As unfortunate that timing was for Rhea's injury (who was working and wearing a cast for her ailing wrist already for the last few months), I think it's a blessing in the disguise that WWE were able to get that belt off of her without having to beat her. That being said, Triple H has shat the bed in terms of grooming any suitable replacements in terms of positioning them to be ready to step up to replace Rhea Ripley in terms of star power and who could carry that RAW women's division. Let's not forget that Charlotte Flair is still injured and Becky Lynch (along with Seth Rollins) is on her vacation following WrestleMania XL as she nears her pending contract renewal. I honestly couldn't tell you who was on that RAW women's division roster out of their possible options. 

Rhea's injury (shoot or not) pretty much adds more gasoline to the fire that is Liv Morgan's "revenge tour" and could potentially make Liv into the biggest heel in the company if WWE wants to go that route. She kept her promise of taking everything that Rhea holds dear, that's for damn sure. The story is right there for the taking.

Chad Gable Turns Heel

After losing the #1 contender match that would have seen him challenge WALTER at WrestleMania XL instead of Sami Zayn, I was wondering how long was Chad Gable was going to endure being second fiddle to Zayn, who seemed miscast in this spot from day one, even more so after he was the one who dethroned WALTER for the Intercontinental Championship. Gable took Zayn under his wing and actually trained him for the match at WrestleMania XL, increasing his odds of doing what he was unable to do. I can't blame the man at all for turning heel, especially when you are forced to see someone else live your dream and receive the flowers that you strove for in front of your wife and children. That professional envy (or rather jealous would probably be a better description) consumes you like an inferno of rage wondering why couldn't it been you instead. 

I'm all for a Gable heel turn as long as it doesn't lead to him doing that SHOOOOOSH shit all over again and keep him FAR away from the rest of Alpha Academy. Those three going back to NXT would do them a wealth of good honestly. If booked properly, I could see Gable and Zayn getting a few quality bouts out of this throughout the summer. 

Tama Tonga Debuts on Friday Night SmackDown! & Joins The Bloodline; Jimmy Uso Kicked Out

Last but not least, the former New Japan star and son of Haku, Tama Tonga (formerly one half of the Guerillas of Destiny and former long-time member of the Bullet Club faction) joined the Bloodline by joining Solo Sikoa in laying out Jimmy Uso for his multiple failures at WrestleMania to get the job done. What was more telling and intriguing here was seeing Solo calling the shots as he snatched the phone out of Paul Heyman's hands and trashed it before he could call Roman Reigns to approve of this course of action. I'm all for them doing more with Solo instead of him just being a silent enforcer. That worked for the start of this Bloodline storyline, but now that the Tribal Chief has been knocked off of his pedestal, it makes sense that Solo sees an opportunity to step up in Roman's wake, especially since Roman's reportedly taking an extended amount of time off. 

My only concern with Tama Tonga in this storyline is that they don't use this as an excuse to pair him up with Solo Sikoa in a tag team just to reunite The Usos after barely a year. I think that would back pedal on everything they have done over the past year or two to establish Jey Uso as a singles competitor. I'm fine with The Usos reuniting in a one-off match at Summerslam or something but nothing that reunites them again for an extended period. That would be as lame as all of those times that the Hardy Boys split up and reunited over the last few decades. 

As for the bigger Bloodline storyline, let's not forget that former MLW star Jacob Fatu (whose name was shown prominently in that Bloodline family tree that The Rock loves to show off) is going around telling people that he already signed a WWE contract, so he could be right around the corner of debuting too at another big show, so that's something to look forward to as well.