Wrestlemania 40 brings eras of WWE Together
Cole Hendricks
Substack Editor
This year Wresltemania came to the City of Brotherly Love for its 40th installment, the proclaimed biggest Wrestlemania in history. With 142,258 attendees over the two-night extravaganza, the celebrities in attendance and wrestlers got the fans nice and hot in the 43°F degree weather. Night one kicked off with a Womens World Championship as Becky Lynch took on Australlian megastar Rhea Ripley, followed by a Six-pack tag team ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Philadelphia fans got a nice surprise when Eagles players Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce jumped the barricade wearing luchador masks in a tag team match between Rey Mysterio & Andrade (The Latino World Order) vs Santos Escobar and Rey’s son Dominik Myterio. The co-main event of Night one had the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion Gunther lose his title after 666 days as champion to challenger Sami Zayn. In the main event, board member of TKO, Hollywood actor, and returning professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock'' Johnson teamed up with his cousin Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins to determine the rules of the Main event of Night two. The Rock was successful in getting the pin, which meant Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes would go head-to-head in “Bloodline Rules.”
Night two kicked off with Drew McIntyre taking on Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. Seth came into the match with a torn MCL and a subsequent back injury. The match ended with McIntyre winning the title, but his reign was short lived when Damian Priest cashed in the Money in The Bank (a contract to cash-in wherever and whenever for any title) to win the Heavyweight Championship. ECW legend Bubba Ray Dudley returned as the special guest referee for a Philadelphia Street fight match between Final Testament and Bobby Lahley w/ the Street Profits. The match also had commentary from Snoop Dogg. Social media star Logan Paul faced Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in a triple threat match for the United States championship, with a surprise guest appearance from social media star Speed, who helped Logan Paul retain the United States championship. In the co-main event, Bayley took on IYO SKY for the WWE women's championship. The match ended with Bayley winning the title and celebrating with football player and friend Christian McCaffrey.
The Main Event then culminated with the blood feud between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. The match was deemed “the greatest Wrestlemania of all time” from fans and reporters. There were interferences from both sides of the equation with Roman’s cousin Jimmy Uso coming out to help Roman before he was then tackled off the stage by his brother Jey; Roman’s cousin Solo Sikoa then interfered and was stopped by the returning John Cena. John Cena was then attacked by The Rock who was then stopped by a man who had appeared at almost every single Wrestlemania, The Undertaker. He then cleared the ring before disappearing leaving a chair, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins in the ring. Roman picked up the chair and chose to attack Seth Rollins giving Cody Rhodes enough time to capitalize and win the WWE Championship, becoming the first in the Rhodes family to hold the title. Roman is the fourth longest reigning champion of all time with a reign of 1,316 days.