WWE WrestleMania 41: Night 2 Review - April 20, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Women's World Champion IYO SKY def. Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley in a Triple Threat Match

Ladies and gentlemen, your best match of WrestleMania weekend. What a tremendous Triple Threat. I know that shouldn't be too surprising given the talent level here, but they really went above and beyond to deliver an outstanding opener. Every minute was action-packed and the crowd was into everything they did. Belair was my pick to win, but I had no issue with SKY retaining. Kudos to these women for kicking off the show on such a stellar note.

Drew McIntyre def. Damian Priest in a Sin City Street Fight

Truthfully, there was nothing "Sin City" about this Street Fight other than the fact it emanated from Las Vegas. It would've been cool if they fully capitalized on the stipulation by having by them brawl into the Vegas Strip, but oh well. This was still a very good hardcore match by WWE standards as they beat the hell out of each other and delivered some sweet spots. McIntyre winning was the right call after all the losses he's endured at the hands of Priest over the last year.

Dominik Mysterio def. Finn Balor, Penta and Bron Breakker in a Fatal 4-Way Match to Win the Intercontinental Championship

Although I would've preferred a straight-up singles match for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania this year, I can't complain too much because this was a blast. All four guys had time to shine, but the crowd was especially behind Mysterio throughout and thus having him win (by pinning Balor specifically) was the correct outcome. Breakker and Penta will be fine and we can continue get the dissension between Balor and Mysterio going forward.

Randy Orton def. TNA World Champion Joe Hendry (Non-Title)

Hendry was not someone I had on the mind of potential opponents for Orton's open challenge whatsoever, but I love the choice. He got a wonderful reaction at the Royal Rumble and the reaction he received here was even more incredible. Yes, it was a glorified squash for Orton, but was it necessary for this to be a competitive contest? That would've been nice, but people will remember Hendry's entrance more than anything he did during the actual match. What an awesome moment seeing as how he was an undercard guy in TNA at this time a year ago.

Logan Paul def. AJ Styles

I had much higher hopes for this considering who was involved. Say what you will about Paul, but the guy can go and has some great matches since signing with WWE, including at WrestleMania. This wasn't bad by any means, but it should've been better. The crowd largely did not care outside of occasionally booing Paul. I partially blame the abysmal build, which was just sort of there. Honestly, the best part of this was Karrion Kross showing up at ringside at the end and unsuccessfully encouraging Styles to cheat to win. Hopefully the loud reaction to Kross leads to WWE doing more with him.

Becky Lynch and Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria def. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

Bayley was "attacked" backstage on Night 1, allowing Lynch to step up as Valkyria's new partner. Apparently, it's all part of the storyline, but it sucks that Bayley was advertised for WrestleMania only to be taken off of it. She deserves better. Lynch returning was hardly a shocker, but this was well done, even if there was nothing out of the ordinary about the match itself. Lynch got revenge on Morgan from last year and the crowd popped for the title change, so this was what it needed to be.

John Cena def. Cody Rhodes to Win the Undisputed WWE Championship

Unfortunately, this was disappointing as well as the weakest thing on the entire show. The match was largely solid, but it's clear Cena is completely washed in the ring at this point. Rhodes is capable of carrying him, but they relied on way too many nearfalls and the ultimate finish was lame. Travis Scott absolutely shouldn't have interfered if The Rock wasn't going to be there after what went down at the end of Elimination Chamber. Rhodes was made to look incompetent and Cena's record-setting title win should've been a bigger deal.

Overall Show

On the whole, Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 was a significant improvement over Night 1. That's why it's such a shame the main event had to fall flat the way it did. The execution of that finish was abysmal, but at least Cena captured the championship. The rest of the card was strong with multiple title changes, above-average wrestling, smart pacing and a hotter crowd. WrestleMania 41 may have paled in comparison to previous installments, but there was also a lot to like between the two nights.

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