WWE WrestleMania 42: Night 2 Review - April 19, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Oba Femi def. Brock Lesnar

WWE was smart to have this open the event considering it was the most anticipated match of the weekend for many. Although I was hoping for more of a hoss fight between the two, what we got was good and pretty much what it needed to be. What mattered most was Femi winning (clean, too) and I was worried they'd do the right thing. Ultimately, they did and it paid off perfectly. Lesnar teasing retirement afterward was an interesting development, but I'm not convinced he's definitively done as I still think there's a chance he'll wrestle one more match in his home state of Minnesota at SummerSlam against Gunther (don't forget about the "favor" Paul Heyman owes Gunther).

Intercontinental Champion Penta def. Rusev, Je'Von Evans, Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh and Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match

This was another match coming into WrestleMania weekend that had next to no build but ended up being one of the best bouts of either night. All six stars worked hard and delivered a fun spectacle. Penta retaining the title was the correct call since he only just captured it a month or so ago, but I thought Evans had a standout showing. He excelled in the Ladder match environment as you'd expect him to.

Trick Williams def. Sami Zayn to Win the United States Championship

What were these guys really going to do in six or seven (insert meme here) minutes? I didn't think this would be a show-stealer regardless, but the limited didn't help their cause, resulting in it being no better than any other average outing on a Raw or SmackDown. On the bright side, Williams winning was a cool moment. They didn't do anything to cement the double turn, but we're clearly headed in that direction.

"The Demon" Finn Balor def. AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio in a Street Fight (Non-Title)

I was stunned when this was announced as a Street Fight. I must have missed that on the pre-show or wherever that was made official. And did it actually need the stipulation? The answer is no, because it wasn't much different than the Unsanctioned match between Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu from Night 1. That said, it was a solid affair and it was all about The Demon, anyway. Amazingly, this marked The Demon's first win since 2019, which is wild.

Rhea Ripley def. Jade Cargill to Win the WWE Women's Championship

I didn't have the highest of hopes for this match on paper because Ripley and Cargill haven't had strong chemistry in the slightest since the feud started, but I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining this was. They worked very well together, and even the spot with IYO SKY thwarting Michin and B-Fab's inference was well done. I still have my doubts regarding Ripley winning the title since the depth of SmackDown's women's division is abysmal, but we'll see how they handle it.

Danhausen Attacked Kit Wilson and The Miz

It would have been egregious to not get some sort of interaction between John Cena and Danhausen at some point during WrestleMania weekend, so I'm glad we got it here. It may not have been for everyone, but the crowd certainly enjoyed the segment and so did I. In fact, I thought it was an excellent use of everyone involved. As someone who was in Las Vegas all WrestleMania weekend long, I can tell you firsthand that Danhausen was over huge with the casual fans. It's awesome to see how quickly he's turned things around since his less-than-ideal debut at Elimination Chamber.

Roman Reigns def. CM Punk to Win the World Heavyweight Championship

It's hilarious how this match was the polar opposite of what we got in the main event of Night 1 with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. The entrances were incredible (especially Punk's) and it just felt like a fight without any nonsense or shenanigans. This may be an extreme comparison, but it gave me "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. The Rock vibes in that sense (even though their matches often had shenanigans, but you know what I mean). This was an outstanding outing that told a fantastic story. I wasn't super fond of how the finish was executed (it essentially proved Reigns right about Punk being too old), if Reigns is indeed going to be full-time going forward, then I have less of an issue with Reigns becoming champ.

Overall Show

To say Night 2 was a vast improvement over Night 1 would be an understatement, and that's coming from someone who liked Night 1 more than most. WWE nailed the opener and the main event and there was plenty of quality stuff in the middle. The excessive amount of commercials and ads are still a problem, but they were more bearable on Night 2. On the whole, I'd say WrestleMania 42 was a success and less of a mixed bag than last year.

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