WWE WrestleMania 40: Night 1 Review - April 6, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley def. Becky Lynch

In an alternate universe where The Rock doesn't return and other factors aren't at play, this would have been the perfect Night 1 main event. However, it made for an excellent opener as well. It lived up to my lofty expectations and it had its fair share of suspenseful moments thanks to the unpredictable outcome. I assumed Lynch would win, so I was pleasantly surprised when Ripley retained. Motionless in White playing Ripley to the ring for her entrance was a nice touch.

Austin Theory & Grayson Waller and Awesome Truth def. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest), #DIY, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), and New Catch Republic in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match to Win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship Respectively

There were rumblings coming into the event that WWE would use the stipulation to finally split the tag titles and with the Raw and SmackDown tag team divisions being as robust as they are at the moment, I'm happy they went that route. Theory and Waller retrieved the SmackDown tag titles first followed by Awesome Truth pulling down the Raw tag titles soon after. The right teams won in the right order. This was a fun Ladder match with some wild spots. All six teams put forth a hell of an effort.

Rey Mysterio and Andrade def. Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio

I maintain that Rey vs. Escobar one-on-one should have been the 'Mania match. I know they probably wanted to get Dominik on the card and it was logical for him to rekindle his rivalry with his father from las year, but this ended up being a basic tag team matchup you could have seen on SmackDown. It was good, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson helping the babyfaces cheat to win was an odd choice, but I understand their appearances were intended to pop the Philadelphia crowd.

Jey Uso def. Jimmy Uso

This was easily the weakest/most underwhelming match of the night and it's not even close. I wasn't expecting them to steal the show, but I did expect a much better bout than the one that we got. The crowd didn't care, they never reached that next gear, and the spot where Jey fell for Jimmy's phony act made Jey look stupid. At least Jey won, which was the best part about this because it ensures their feud won't continue.

Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi def. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors)

The X-Men-inspired gear/entrance for Cargill, Belair and Naomi was awesome. They came across as absolute stars. The subsequent match hardly mattered, but it served as a solid showcase for the babyface trio and established their dominance. Cargill wasn't in there for very long, but keeping her limited was the point. It will be interesting to see what she can do when the time comes for her to wrestle longer matches.

Sami Zayn def. Gunther to Win the Intercontinental Championship

As soon as Chad Gable and Kevin Owens were shown supporting Zayn backstage right before he made his entrance, it was evident Zayn was winning. I wasn't high on Zayn being the one to take the title and end Gunther's undefeated streak (I held out hope it'd be Gable eventually), but it was still a satisfying moment and I can't complain about the terrific match and stellar story that we got. This was wonderfully executed.

The Bloodline (The Rock and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns) def. Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

I was curious how Rock would fare after having not wrestled an actual match in over a decade and I thought he did really well, especially when you consider that this was roughly 45 minutes long. Despite the first half being pretty pedestrian stuff, it never felt that long and they held my interest the entire time. The constant kick-outs got ridiculous by the end, but otherwise, this delivered as a main event. All four guys killed it, but Rollins in particular was the glue that held it together. Rock pinning Rhodes made sense to set up Bloodline Rules for the Night 2 main event and to set up Rock vs. Rhodes for down the road.

Overall Show

Night 1 wasn't as strong on the whole this year as it has been in years past, but the opening and closing matches were the highlights of night. The Intercontinental Championship clash was also exceptional. The other matches didn't feel too special (Jey vs. Jimmy was downright disappointing), but Awesome Truth getting their WrestleMania moment was cool and the other tag matches were enjoyable. Not having an issue with any of the outcomes was a plus. I can't blame the crowd for being quiet for a majority of the show due to the cold weather, so hopefully it's a tad warmer on Night 2.

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