Wrestlemania 40, held over the weekend, represented four decades of wrestling, honoring legends of the business as it created new ones.
The show opened with Raw Women’s champion Rhea Ripley against challenger Becky Lynch. After a decent showing, Ripley retained. This match was followed by a six-team ladder match separating the two tag belt sets. The Judgment Day lost their championships to the teams The Awesome Truth and A-Town Down Under, respectively.
Sami Zayn defeated Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship, ending his historic reign at 666 days. Iyo Sky also lost her Smackdown Women’s Championship to her ex-teammate Bayley.
One weekend highlight was Logan Paul’s United States Championship defense, retaining against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens with help from prominent streamer iShowSpeed.
Seth Rollins finally lost his World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre, who then lost it to Damian Priest when he cashed in his money in the bank contract.
The moment that fans had been waiting for arrived at the main events of both nights, with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins taking on The Rock and Roman Reigns. Having lost the match, Rhodes had to go into Night 2 of Wrestlemania operating under “Bloodline Rules,” meaning that Reigns and his team could do whatever they wanted.
Still, Rhodes took Reigns on in a match that was filled with interference on both sides. Jimmy Uso appeared to help his Tribal Chief but was swiftly countered by his brother, Jey, who took both of them out of the equation.
Reign’s enforcer, Solo Sikoa, was defeated by John Cena, who was then beaten by the Rock. Rollins came out to the Shield’s entrance music but was stopped by Reigns. All hope seemed lost for the American Nightmare until The Undertaker’s iconic bell rang. Undertaker choke-slammed the Rock and then disappeared, leaving just Rollins, Reigns, and Rhodes.
Instead of winning the match, Reigns took his revenge on Rollins for betraying the Shield almost 10 years ago. Rhodes took advantage of this, dethroning Reigns after he had held the title for 1,316 days. This monumental win is even crazier since Reigns has not been pinned since 2019, before COVID-19. The American Nightmare has finished his story.
