Night 1 of ‘WrestleMania 38’ is in the books. Catch up with all the biggest moments.
UPDATE: WWE’s two-night WrestleMania 38 is in the books. While the company’s monthly pay-per-views can be a drag, WrestleMania lived up to the hype. It had a little bit of everything: excellent pro wrestling matches, entertaining celebrity appearances and the spectacle of a gargantuan world title match to close out the second night of festivities.
Below you will find our live analysis of the show, as it unfolded.
The second night of WWE’s WrestleMania 38 in Texas will end with a bang.
The show is headlined by a title unification match between WWE champion Brock Lesnar and universal champion Roman Reigns. While it seems logical that Reigns, the company’s undisputed top star for the past two years, should prevail over Lesnar, who works only a part-time schedule, WWE fans know to expect the unexpected.
And the match has plenty of implications beyond simple wins and losses. Unifying WWE’s top two men’s championships is an interesting wrinkle to this match. Because the company’s two main television shows are broadcast by different networks, it stands to reason that neither of WWE’s broadcast partners would tolerate the absence of a men’s champion on their show. Does that mean whoever the new champ is will begin appearing on both Raw and SmackDown? Or could WWE eventually introduce a new championship to fill that void?
No matter what the future holds, the Reigns-Lesnar showdown promises to be an exciting match. Yes, it’s the third time they’re facing each other at WrestleMania, but Reigns working heel for the first time adds a fascinating wrinkle to the match.
WWE delivered a strong first night of WrestleMania on Saturday, headlined by Steve Austin’s captivating return to the ring, a surprisingly impressive in-ring performance from Logan Paul and the return of Cody Rhodes after six years away from the company.
While both women’s titles matches took place last night (and were highly entertaining), the card for Night 2 is still compelling. It may be just a hair behind Saturday night’s lineup in terms of top-to-bottom quality, but it should still be a great night of wrestling.
Follow along below for updates, highlights and results as the show unfolds.
Full WrestleMania 38 Night 2 match card:
- Title unification match: WWE champion Brock Lesnar vs. universal champion Roman Reigns
- AJ Styles vs. Edge
- Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
- Anything goes match: Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville
- Queen Zelina and Carmella vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan vs. Natalya and Shayna Baszler for the women’s tag team titles
- Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
- RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) for the Raw tag team titles
Show open
Singer Jessie James Decker got things started with “America the Beautiful” and Mark Wahlberg returned for the introductory hype video.
Then Triple H’s music hit. It’s great to see Paul Levesque, a week after detailing his life-threatening health scare and announcing that he has been forced to retire from in-ring competition, back on the grand stage.
Levesque thanked the fans for their support and delivered the “Welcome to WrestleMania” line.
Raw tag team title match
Randy Orton and Riddle were first out of the curtain to begin the first match of the evening. These are three entertaining teams and each of them got to play their greatest hits. If you had to pick one star of the match, it’s hard to argue against Montez Ford. He had two incredible high spots that had the crowd roaring.
Riddle and Orton won after they each hit an RKO and Orton pinned Chad Gable for the win.
After the match, Ford and Angelo Dawkins offered a toast to the winners and called new WWE signee Gable Steveson into the ring to join them. After Chad Gable knocked Steveson’s cup out of his hand, Steveson suplexed him across the ring before resuming the celebration with the Street Profits and RK-Bro.
Randy Orton and Riddle retain.
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
The transition from Steveson to Omos makes a certain amount of sense. WWE clearly sees both men as future stars. Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA wrestling champion. Omos (real name Jordan Omogbehin) played Division-I college basketball and is a legitimate 7'3".
Watching Omos in the ring with Lashley, it’s easy to recognize what WWE sees in the 27-year-old Nigerian. He dwarfs the hulking Lashley and plays the role of the monster heel well. His stature is imposing enough, but Omos also knows how to make himself look even more intimidating.
But Lashley is a former WWE champion, so it would have been a tough look if he lost to someone as green as Omos. Lashley turned the tide on Omos with an impressive suplex and then hit a spear before pinning Omos for the three-count.
Bobby Lashley wins.
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville
This match was everything we expected it to be. With the “anything goes” stipulation, you knew these guys were going to get up to all sorts of shenanigans. A fire extinguisher, a trash can, a crutch, a bowling ball and a baking sheet were all used as weapons. There was even a table covered in mouse traps. Knoxville’s Jackass co-stars Chris Pontius and Wee Man. Even the famous giant hand from Jackass made a cameo.
The match ended with Zayn caught in a giant mousetrap, allowing Knoxville to pin him.
It was just the right amount of goofy, and it had the crowd fully engaged. It easily succeeded expectations.
Johnny Knoxville wins.
Women’s tag team championship match
This was a good, fast-paced match. While it’s a tad disappointing that WWE has devoted so little attention to the women’s tag team championships, perhaps this will mark the beginning of a new era for the titles. The talent of the women’s division was on full display. All eight women had a chance to shine but it was Sasha Banks and Naomi who emerged victorious
If WWE does want to make these titles meaningful again, Banks and Naomi are the perfect team to do it. It’s all about giving them the opportunity to prove themselves.
Sasha Banks and Naomi win.
Edge vs. AJ Styles
Edge’s entrance before the match was amazing. He emerged seated on a throne surrounded by flames, looking ready to dish out pain.
Styles’s entrance, on the other hand, didn’t go as well. He walked down the ramp mysteriously bleeding from his cheek. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said it was the result of a pyro accident during his introduction, while Fox’s Ryan Satin said a “reliable source” told him Styles simply “clipped the set by accident while walking out.”
The match itself was a fantastic, back-and-forth affair. Neither man seemed able to gain the upper hand. It was hard-hitting and intense, the sort of technically sound match that you expect to see from two of the best in the business.
Edge got the victory thanks to a distraction by Damian Priest. After the match, Edge and Priest celebrated in the ring together, signaling that they’ll be teaming up going forward.
Edge wins.
New Day vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland
This match was supposed to be on the card last night but was cut for time. While I’m sure both teams were grateful to be able to appear at WrestleMania this year but the match ended in the blink of an eye.
New Day winning would have been a feel-good story after the injury to Big E, but—even though Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston wore ring gear paying tribute to Big E—Sheamus and Holland walked away victorious. Holland pinned Woods to end a match that seemed to be mostly about putting over Butch as an unstable wild card. If any fans in the stadium went to use the bathroom, they didn’t miss anything of note.
Sheamus and Ridge Holland win.
Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
Using this match as the lead-in to the main event tells you everything you need to know about how WWE views McAfee. And the reaction to McAfee’s entrance made it clear that he’s already over with the crowd. He entered to “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes and even punted a football into the crowd. WWE no doubt had to pay a pretty penny for the right to use that catchy tune but the way McAfee had the entire crowd chanting the melody throughout the match showed that it was a wise investment.
The fans had plenty of reason to get behind McAfee, too. His natural charisma is evident every week as a commentator on SmackDown but this match was an opportunity for him to show that he has the in-ring moves to back up his loud mouth.
McAfee was so popular with the fans that it would have been absurd if he lost the match. He rolled up Theory for the three-count and celebrated to deafening cheers.
Pat McAfee wins.
Pat McAfee vs. Vince McMahon
But wait! McAfee’s night isn’t over. The Chairman himself, who had been ringside watching his protégé, Theory, took off his suit jacket and shirt and entered the ring to confront McAfee. The referee signaled for the bell to be rung and all of a sudden we had another match underway.
Theory got his revenge on McAfee by interfering in the match, allowing McMahon to pin McAfee as the crowd booed.
The audience’s mood immediately changed, though, when Steve Austin’s music hit.
“Stone Cold” had everybody on their feet when he delivered Stunners to Theory, McMahon and, eventually, McAfee. Theory gave it his all selling the move—truly one of the best sells of the Stunner ever.
McMahon’s sell was truly one of the worst ever—worse even than Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23.
Vince McMahon wins.
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
It all comes down to this. A title unification bout is the perfect way to end this two-night spectacle. WWE calling this “the biggest WrestleMania match of all time” is peak WWE hyperbole, but there’s no denying that this is a titanic matchup between two of biggest stars in the business with enormous stakes.
Lesnar matches follow a pattern. He hits the F-5 several times in a row. He delivers a series of German and/or belly-to-belly suplexes to his opponent. This match was no exception.
Lesnar withstood a low blow after the referee was knocked out and a shot to the head with the title belt. He countered Reigns’s spear into a Kimura lock but Reigns was able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold. Reigns then hit another spear on Lesnar and pinned him for the win. He is your new undisputed champion.