WWE WrestleMania 41 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada is in the books! Another year of wrestling storylines have ended, and now new ones with flourish starting tomorrow night on “Monday Night Raw”. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself, lets take a look at all the action that went down this weekend!

Night 1 of WrestleMania 41

World Heavyweight Championship: Jey Uso vs. Gunther (c)
WINNER: Jey Uso new World Heavyweight Championship

A well deserved win by Jey Uso. He has done everything in his power to get over and stay over with fans throughout his singles run. Overcoming challenges like losing a series of championship opportunities. Uso’s surprise Royal Rumble win feels like it happened a long time ago, making this match feel a little late. The match was decent and I did enjoy the ending where Uso used all the moves Gunther tormented him to win.

GRADE: B

World Tag Team Championship: The War Raiders (c) vs. The New Day
WINNER: The New Day new World Tag Team Champions

On paper this seems like a great matchup, but it was executed poorly. I felt like The War Raiders carried this match. It was a lackluster performance with a TV worthy finish, not at the “granddaddy of them all”. I think it could have been better had they given them more time to hype it up, but the tag titles on “Monday Night Raw” often go ignored.

GRADE: C

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
WINNER: Jade Cargill

This match was fine, I would argue that it would have worked better being resolved on “SmackDown” rather than WrestleMania. It’s the third match in a row that I really felt lacked a “WrestleMania Moment”. Maybe a stipulation could have helped here.

GRADE: C-

United States Championship: LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu
WINNER: Jacob Fatu new United States Championship

I am a big fan of both of these wrestlers and I think most of us kind of saw the writing on the wall as far as how this match would go. It was a solid match with some memorable spots that I thought still left LA Knight looking strong. Fatu is a monster and I hope that he can elevate that title.

GRADE: B

Rey Fenix vs. El Grande Americano
WINNER: El Grande Americano

While I understand this was a last minute change, I am upset at Rey Fenix losing here. He is brand new on “SmackDown” and needs to rack up some wins to stand out in the luchador crowd. The fact that El Grande Americano also won the same way he did on “Monday Night Raw” not so long ago was annoying. Both of these wrestlers are amazing, just bad lazy booking.

GRADE: D

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
WINNER: Tiffany Stratton Retains

This was an interesting match. Would WWE give the title back to Flair, or give Stratton that push into superstardom? It was a relief to see Stratton retain, though I think Flair didn’t make it easy. I felt that she was really stiff and hard for Stratton to work with, which made the match more interesting as it went on. I was happy to see Stratton work through it and despite looking very beat up at the end, she came up on top. There was some real animosity there no doubt.

GRADE: B

Triple Threat match: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: Seth Rollins

It had been a rough night one of WrestleMania 41. Enter the Main Event. Three proven superstars and one wiseman in between. The match featured great spots and storytelling that kept us engaged and waiting for that pivotal moment where someone’s true colors would be revealed. After multiple signature moves on each other, Paul Haymen revealed though a pair of low blows that he is now in the services of Seth Rollins. This match left us hyped for night 2.

GRADE: A

Night 2 of WrestleMania 41

Triple Threat Match for Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair
WINNER: Iyo Sky Retains

Ripley and Belair are WrestleMania proven wrestlers, and Sky has experience in big time triple threat matches. You just knew they were going to put on a show. They seemingly used every inch of that ring to work together to give us a solid match. I was very happy to see Sky retain and look forward to hopefully seeing Belair on a heel run.

GRADE: A

Sin City Street Fight: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
WINNER: Drew McIntyre

This is an example of how a stipulation really helped the feud. McIntyre had a legit gripe with Priest as he benefited from many of CM Punk’s interferences. The street fight stipulation allowed them to elevate their talent and moves to make them worthy of WrestleMania. Including that insane finish that gave McIntyre a well deserved win. Couldn’t ask for much more here.

GRADE: A

Fatal 4-Way Match for Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor
WINNER: Dominik Mysterio new Intercontinental Champion

This was probably my most anticipated match of WrestleMania. We know that Penta and Balor were going to deliver. It was a matter of rising stars Breakker and Mysterio to elevate their game. Boy did this match deliver. There were great spots between the four and the interference of Carlito made it easier for Breakker to take the loss. Given all of the work put in by Mysterio since turning heel, this win was well deserved.

GRADE: B+

Randy Orton vs. TNA Champion Joe Hendry
WINNER: Randy Orton

Could this have been the biggest pop of the night? Well at least it was for me, Joe Hendry appeared! The problem though is that I knew it was going to go down as a squash match, and it did. I feel bad that the TNA Champion would be showcased that way at WrestleMania. But then again, when else is Hendry going to get to hear his theme on a show like that?

GRADE: C+

AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
WINNER Logan Paul

Is WWE just obligated to put Logan Paul on the card due to their sponsorship obligations? I honestly felt bad for Styles knowing he was about to take a loss one way or another. Sadly there wasn’t really even a memorable spot that would give this match some excitement. Also trying to include the brass knuckles is getting old.

Grade: C-

Women’s Tag Team Championship: Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (c)
WINNER: Lyra Valkyria & Becky Lynch new Women’s Tag Team Champions

I think we all had an idea that the “mystery partner” was either Becky Lynch or Alexa Bliss and we got “The Man”! It is refreshing to see her in the ring again and I am excited to see her working with Valkyria. I feel like she has struggled to really stand out despite all of the opportunities. Hopefully now she can take that next step up! The match was fine, I think we were all just happy to have Becky back.

GRADE: B

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena
WINNER: John Cena new Undisputed WWE Championship

Let me make this clear, John Cena winning the match was the right decision, but the ending was just weird. We had been teased by The Rock, but in Las Vegas “Pawn Stars” fashion, the best WWE could do for us was Travis Scott. Which was a real shame as up to that point it had been a great match. It was confusing and unnecessary. I would argue that keeping the finish the same WITHOUT Scott would have even made more sense. But these days it seems that WWE is more interested in Celebrities and sponsorships more than ever before.

GRADE: B-/C+

OVERALL THOUGHTS

“WrestleMania 41” proved that even who we consider some of the best storytellers in pro wrestling can have bad days. We are sort of spoiled with the past few WrestleMania cards that I think were fantastic. While not the worst Mania, this one doesn’t feel like it will be memorable for fans.