Rhea Ripley (c) def. Becky Lynch

Lynch entered the ring to a series of quotes from her memoir, “Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl” while Ripley entered to a live performance of her theme song by Motionless in White to begin one of the most anticipated matches on the card.

In an evenly contested match, Lynch and Ripley kicked out of each other’s finishers, the Manhandle Slam and Riptide, respectively. But in the end, as Lynch attempted a second Manhandle Slam, Ripley performed a second Riptide onto the top turnbuckle, followed by a third Riptide on Lynch to continue her year-long title reign.

Ripley was forced to vacate the title nine days later due to an arm injury unrelated to this match, but she proved why she is the standard for women’s wrestling today. She is well on her way to becoming one of the best to ever lace a pair of boots.

A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) and Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) def. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) (c), #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa), New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate), and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)

The Judgment Day’s resident tag team had their work cut out for them as they defended their titles against five other teams in a ladder match, which could only end after both sets of titles (Raw and SmackDown) were retrieved.

The Awesome Truth and #DIY formed an alliance to secure each a set of titles, only to be tipped over by A-Town Down Under. Waller then retrieved and won the SmackDown titles.

Judgment Day member JD McDonagh attempted to help his brethren, but The New Day tipped over a ladder, causing McDonagh to be sent through a table ringside. Ultimately, Truth performed John Cena’s finishing maneuver, the Attitude Adjustment, on Priest, then climbed the ladder to grab and win the Raw titles, marking the first WrestleMania win of his 20-year career in WWE.

The match featured six of the best tag teams in WWE, each with a fair chance to win. Balor and Priest had an incredible run as tag champions, but this match allows them to drop the titles and remain strong as they presumably bring more singles titles to The Judgment Day. A perfect match with two deserving winners.

This match came to be through Escobar’s betrayal of Rey and Dominik’s ill-fated attempt to recruit Andrade into The Judgment Day.

The boos for Escobar and particularly Dominik were deafening as the latter emphasized his status as the most hated man in wrestling. In the end, two masked men helped Rey, who hit the 619 on both and pinned Escobar to win the match. The masked men were revealed as Philadelphia Eagles offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce.

These four men put Latino excellence on full display with a finish that protected Dominik and Escobar in defeat. This was a great match between the two teams.

In only the third match between two brothers at WrestleMania, the former eight-time tag team champions attempted to sort out their deeply personal feud, which began after Jimmy betrayed Jey at SummerSlam in August 2023.

Jey attempted to perform a superkick on his twin brother, but Jimmy proceeded to apologize and offer a handshake from his knees. Jey shook Jimmy’s hand and helped him up, only for Jimmy to return with a superkick. After kicking out a Frog Splash by Jimmy, Jey performed a Spear and Frog Splash on Jimmy to win the match.

While the highly anticipated match was dominated by superkicks and was substandard to fan expectations, the match wrote another chapter in the feud, which is likely to continue well beyond WrestleMania

Belair and Naomi’s contentious history with Damage CTRL led to Cargill getting involved and teaming up with the two in this six-woman tag team match.

In the end, Asuka accidentally sprayed Sane with her signature blue mist, leading to Belair performing the Kiss of Death on Asuka. Jade then hit her finisher, Jaded, on Kai to win the match and preserve Belair’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.

Cargill is new to WWE after a successful run in All Elite Wrestling. This match proved she will be world champion in no time.

Sami Zayn def. “The Ring General” Gunther (c)

In a true underdog story, to put it lightly, Gunther put Zayn through several sleeperhold submissions and powerbombs. These sequences of moves would put away most competitors, but not Zayn.

Gunther had several chances to put Zayn away once and for all, but he began mocking Zayn’s wife, who sat in the front row. As Gunther began climbing the top rope, Zayn hit him with his finishing maneuver, the Helluva Kick, followed by a Brainbuster. Two more Helluva Kicks to Gunther would end his 666-day title reign.

The decision to end Gunther’s dominant title reign came as a surprise, but the match proved he is ready to move on to the world title scene.

In the main event on April 6, this tag match would determine the stipulation for Rhodes vs. Reigns on April 7. If Rhodes and Rollins win, Reigns’ Bloodline brethren would be banned from ringside. If The Rock and Reigns win, the match will be contested under Bloodline Rules.

The match saw The Rock embrace his villainous character, using his authority as a board member of TKO, the company that owns WWE, threatening to fire the referee if he and Reigns were counted out. He also pulled the referee out of the ring, which would disqualify most competitors, but not The Rock.

Rollins and Rhodes, once bitter rivals, proved the past was behind them as they showed what they could do as a team, including both men performing simultaneous Pedigrees on their opponents for a near fall.

Despite an accidental spear from Reigns to Rock, the latter repeatedly struck Rhodes with a belt, which allowed Reigns to spear Rhodes. Reigns made the tag to Rock and pinned him with the People’s Elbow to win the match.

Drew McIntyre def. Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c)

McIntyre sought to win his first world title in front of fans since the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on those plans in 2020. He took advantage of Rollins’ fatigue from the previous night, performing his finisher, the Claymore kick, immediately after the bell rang.

In a particularly hilarious spot, McIntyre grabbed a phone and took a selfie with his family who sat at ringside. He also mocked special guest commentator CM Punk, with who he had been feuding with McIntyre since Punk’s return to WWE in November 2023.

McIntyre finished off a severely weakened Rollins with a Claymore kick to win his first world title in front of fans, his third overall, in a thrilling opener to the show.

McIntyre celebrated his victory with his family before proceeding to taunt Punk, threatening to end his career. Punk, who is still recovering from tricep surgery, proceeded to pull McIntyre’s right leg out and strike him with his arm brace, followed by repeated kicks to the chest.

The Judgment Day’s theme song began to play to a massive crowd reaction.

Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre (c)

Damian Priest, who won the Money in the Bank ladder match in July for a world championship match at any time, ran to the ring and struck McIntyre on the head with the briefcase.

Priest hoisted McIntyre in the air and performed his finishing maneuver, the South of Heaven chokeslam, on McIntyre to end his short title reign, much to Punk’s delight. The win made Priest the first world champion of Puerto Rican descent since Pedro Morales in 1973.

The decision to have Priest win the ladder match was a controversial one, as many fans preferred LA Knight. But Priest silenced all the naysayers through a brilliantly executed cash-in.

The Pride (Bobby Lashley) and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) def. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam and Rezar)

The months-long feud between Lashley and Kross led to the formation of these two groups, who looked to settle their differences through a Philadelphia Street Fight.

WWE Hall of Famer, Bubba Ray Dudley, served as special guest referee for this match and Snoop Dogg was the special guest commentator. The back-and-forth match reached its climax when Dawkins and Ford grabbed a table, allowing Ford to perform a Frog Splash on Kross through it. Lashley proceeded to pin Kross to win the match for The Pride.

While the appearances of Dudley and Dogg largely overshadowed the match, both teams proved how well they can perform as a cohesive unit.

In a grudge match several months in the making, the overwhelmingly popular Knight sought revenge against Styles, who cost him a world championship match at Elimination Chamber in February.

Knight didn’t wait until the bell rang to get his pound of flesh and immediately attacked Styles during his entrance. In the end, Styles attempted the Phenomenal Forearm, only to be met with the Blunt Force Trauma from Knight to win his WrestleMania debut match.

Knight has become one of WWE’s most popular acts and is one of the top merch sellers in the company. He is set for championship gold soon.

Logan Paul (c) def. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton

Owens and Orton’s unity against Paul led to this triple-threat match, but it was every man for themselves. The alliance between Orton and Owens was short-lived as the two exchanged blows during the match.

Paul used underhanded tactics throughout the match, hitting Orton with his signature brass knuckles. He also made his entrance alongside a Prime energy drink mascot, later revealed to be YouTube star, IShowSpeed. Orton took his eye off the ball and hit IShowSpeed with an RKO, allowing Paul to hit a Frog Splash on Owens to remain champion.

Paul proved in this match that he belonged in the ring with veterans like Owens and legends like Orton. Despite his polarizing reputation on and off camera, he remains one of the best active wrestlers today.

Bayley def. Iyo Sky (c)

Once great friends turned bitter enemies, Bayley sought revenge on the woman who kicked her out of Damage CTRL, the faction she created.

This evenly contested match saw Bayley persevere through several of Sky’s cross face submissions as well as her finisher, Over the Moonsault. But in the end, Bayley hit Sky with an Elbow Drop, followed by her finisher, Rose Plant, to win the title and end Sky’s 246-day reign.

The crowd was behind Bayley for the entirety of the match, a far cry from her previously villainous character with Damage CTRL. This was a feel-good story told through this match as Bayley made her way back to the mountaintop.

Cody Rhodes def. Roman Reigns (c)

In a rematch from WrestleMania 39, Rhodes attempted to finish his story and become world champion, but he had to get through arguably the most dominant champion in recent memory.

Much like last year, the match was riddled with interference from fellow Bloodline members. But Rhodes also had his fair share of friends ready to help him.

Jimmy Uso’s attempts to help were met with Jey Uso’s neutralization via a Spear off the entrance ramp. Solo Sikoa’s attack on Rhodes led John Cena, who lost to Sikoa at Crown Jewel in November, to neutralize him, only for The Rock to attack Cena.

Rollins then came out to save Rhodes and was met with a Superman Punch from Reigns. The Rock was about to whip Rhodes with the belt, only for The Undertaker to appear and perform a chokeslam on Rock.

Rhodes capitalized on the distractions, hitting Reigns with three consecutive Cross Rhodes to end Reigns’ three-and-a-half-year run as champion.

The appearances of Cena and The Undertaker did not come as a surprise since they were both heavily rumored to be involved in this match. While The Undertaker didn’t have much history with The Bloodline, the crowd never ceases to come unglued when his signature gong is heard. This was the perfect match to pass the torch from Reigns to Rhodes, one WWE fans will never forget.

This was undoubtedly the start of a new era in WWE as only two champions, Ripley and Paul, retained their respective titles while some of the longest title reigns in history came to an end.

Many compared Rhodes vs Reigns to Avengers: Endgame with legends returning to help Rhodes win the title. It has also been believed by many that the Marvel Cinematic Universe “fell off” after Endgame. But with the passionate fans and awe-inspiring storytelling, the same will not be said about WWE.