PHILADELPHIA — Evening 1 of WrestleMania 40 was full of compelling motion and surprises.
The Rock and Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the primary occasion of WrestleMania 40’s first night time of motion, stacking the chances even larger towards Rhodes for his title match on Sunday towards Reigns.
After a grueling match that featured a dozen ending strikes and close to falls — and The Rock exerting his affect on the match referee, as a board member of the WWE’s father or mother firm, TKO — Rhodes was pinned following a Reigns spear and The Rock delivering a Rock Backside and the Individuals’s Elbow.
Sunday’s Undisputed WWE Common Championship match will now be contested by “Bloodline Guidelines,” that means something goes and Reigns’s faction could have free reign to do something they wish to forestall Rhodes from “ending his story.” This was The Rock’s first WWE match since 2016.
Rhea Ripley retained the Ladies’s World Championship towards Becky Lynch, after delivering a Riptide into the turnbuckle. Ripley received the championship final yr at WrestleMania 39 towards Charlotte Aptitude. The announcers stated that Lynch had been battling strep throat and a fever within the week earlier than the match. Lynch, who wore ring gear that referenced her lately launched autobiography, acquired boos from the Philadelphia crowd.
The RAW and SmackDown tag-team titles had been on the road in a six-team ladder match. A-City Down Below — Austin Concept and Grayson Waller — received the SmackDown tag-team titles early within the match, however R-Fact of Superior Fact acquired one of many largest ovations of the night time when he grabbed the RAW belts for himself and The Miz. It lived as much as the brutal repute of WrestleMania ladder matches, with damaged tables, ladders and our bodies by the tip.
The group of Rey Mysterio Jr. and Andrade defeated Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio, due to just a little native help: Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson and the lately retired Jason Kelce manhandled Dominik Mysterio whereas sporting green-and-white Luchador masks.
Jey Uso defeated his twin brother Jimmy with a top-rope splash within the newest chapter of their Bloodline-related feud. Jimmy received Jey to drop his defenses by apologizing for betraying him the previous — and almost earned the win — earlier than Jey recovered for the pinfall.
In a trios tag group match, the group of Bianca Belair, Naomi and Jade Cargill defeated Injury CTRL. Cargill, making her first look in a standard WWE match, hit her finisher on Dakota Kai. Asuka mistakenly blew mist within the face of accomplice Kairi Sane, and Belair hit Asuka together with her braid-whip adopted by the Kiss of Demise finisher.
Within the night time’s largest upset, Sami Zayn ended Gunther’s 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion in a punishing match in entrance of a divided crowd. Zayn overcome 4 energy bombs, two top-rope splashes and chest-bludgeoning chops to win the match with a Helluva Kick that adopted a top-rope brainbuster on Gunther. An emotional and exhausted Zayn collapsed within the ring, as his spouse celebrated from ringside.
Evening 2 of WrestleMania is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. Together with Rhodes and Reigns, Logan Paul defends the U.S. title towards Randy Orton and Kevin Owens; Iyo Sky defends her WWE Ladies’s title towards Bayley; and Rollins defends the World Heavyweight championship towards Drew McIntyre.