Check our Pop Break’s Coverage of Wrestlemania Weekend:
Wrestlemania 41 Night 1 Predictions – Bill Bodkin & Amanda Rivas
Wrestlemania 41 Night 1 Review – Bill Bodkin
Wrestlemania 41 Night 2 Predictions – Bill Bodkin & Tyler Yasembousky
NXT Stand & Deliver Predictions – Bill Bodkin & Mike Mueller
WWE Wrestlemania 41 Night 2 is officially in the books. It was an undeniably better show than Night 1. But let’s be real, that’s not an incredibly difficult task to complete as Night 1 was essentially a high gloss, stadium-sized version of Monday Night RAW.
WWE Wrestlemania 41 Night 2 felt like a full-fledged Wrestlemania complete with some excellent wrestling, a hot crowd (that had questionable taste) and big time moments that’ll be forever etched in the annals of WWE history.
Alright now, let’s talk about the WWE Wrestlemania 41 Night 2 results…
“The Genius of the Sky” Iyo Sky defeated Rhea Ripley and “The EST” Bianca Belair to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.
This was the best match of Mania weekend, and let’s state the obvious — the best wrestling match the WWE has produced in quite some time. These three have such incredible chemistry. Everyone sold for the other like they were being shot with a cannon. Everyone had the opportunity to look like they would win the match in extremely credible ways. The counters on counters on counters were done flawlessly. If there is a nitpick on this one it was the Bianca Belair “I work harder than you” monologue towards the end of the match. It was unneeded, but it was the one micro issue this match had. So many terrific spots towards the end of this match should be studied — the blocked super poisonrana into a KOD. Then a KOD that Iyo crashed into with a moonsault and the win. It’s a great match and Iyo was beloved throughout this match. Definite room for a Bianca heel turn too.
Drew McIntyre beat Damian Priest in a Sin City Street Fight
This was your bog standard WWE hardcore match that was elevated by the maniacal genius of Drew McIntyre. This man has been turning chicken shit into a magnificent roast chicken dinner complete with biscuits, gravy and stuffing for the better part of a year, and lest we forget how he carried WWE during the pandemic too. Spots to remember in this match were McIntyre breaking out his flipping centon to the outside (has it been since the FloSlam days that we last saw him do this?) and Priest hitting a Razor’s Edge through a table. Priest got major heel heat for doing Undertaker’s Old School, but got sent through tables for his crimes against Mark Calloway. In the end Drew wins with a Claymore into a steel chair, and sets the table for the crowd cheering for heels throughout the night.
“Dirty” Dominic Mysterio beat Bronn Breakker, Finn Balor and Penta to win the WWE Intercontinental Title:
The crowd loved everything about “Dirty” Dom. You know, the guy who’s supposed to be a despicable heel. I absolutely hated this crowd who definitely thought they were just “the coolest” — definitely giving off the snarky RAW after Mania vibes. For most of the match, Breakker looked excellent and this was definitely a showcase for him. His jumping spear into Carlito was a nice highlight moment, and don’t be shocked if he beats Jey Uso very quickly. Penta had a couple of nice spots, and Finn Balor for the most part was irrelevant. Dom’s turn on Finn popped the crowd huge and they went nuts for his win as if it were the Red Sox breaking the Curse of the Bambino.
Randy Orton vs. A Mystery Opponent… TNA World Champion Joe Hendry
This is literally every single thing this writer hates about WWE. It was the guy known for his entrance and finisher versus the guy known for his entrance and his pose. It’s meme vs. meme and if you loved this God bless you. However, if you think about this, it was Randy Orton squashing the world champion of your “partner” promotion. WWE has a history of doing this — go back to 2000 when Triple H pinned then ECW Champion Taz on Smackdown. Not only did Orton pin Hendry, he then picked up Joe, pretended to put him over, then hit another RKO and mocked Hendry’s pose. Not a burial at all, right?
“The Maverick” Logan Paul beat “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles
The outcome of this match was fairly obvious. These two had a fairly solid match, nothing great here as AJ had to wrestle to Paul’s speed. Paul has all the natural athletic ability, but if he ever dedicated a prolonged bit of time to pro wrestling he’d be a natural main event for WWE instead of a guest star. The match fell about when one of Paul’s flunkies tried to slide brass knuckles into the ring only to be stopped by “The Catalyst of Everything WWE and They’ll Never Let You Forget” Karrion Kross. Kross got zero reaction. AJ got zero reaction when he decked Kross. Maybe it’s because he’s not as over as WWE social media would have you believe. Styles decided to not be a bad guy and lost the match. This would be the second time WWE would repeat their finish (see the IC & Women’s Title Matches).
Lyra Valkyria and Mystery Partner …. BECKY LYNCH defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgement Day to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Bayley was “injured” by someone backstage the day before and would need to be replaced. It was obviously going to be Becky Lynch as the replacement as she has history with Lyra and Liv. Also, anyone else would have been a complete letdown. Also, you couldn’t have the second mystery person job out like Joe Hendry did. This was a fairly solid tag team match that would be the “let’s give one to the people” moment due to the main event.
John Cena defeated “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes to become the WWE Universal Champion and Become the Most Decorated World Champion in American Wrestling History
The crowd decided “Hey, we’re going to boo Cody Rhodes.” Why? It is Cena’s last Wrestlemania and these crowds usually eat up nostalgia like it’s a free buffet at a Vegas casino. Cody and Cena definitely were able to get the crowd into the big fight feel despite the rather lackluster build this program had. The big issue with this match was once it started getting good, and it really did start getting good, things came to a halt when Travis Scott slowly made his way into the match. The crowd really didn’t seem into him, especially when it became very apparent The Rock was not coming out to join him. That’s right, no Rock. No Seth Rollins. No Paul Heyman. Just Travis Scott. The crowd did not seem to care one iota about Cody getting his revenge on Scott. They were more amped about Cena potentially winning. The ending was pretty lame, sadly. Cody had a “crisis of conscience” and refused to use the championship belt to take Cena out (much like AJ Styles did two matches before). This allowed Cena to kick Cody straight in the American Nightmare, hit him with the belt and score a very abrupt win. The crowd loved it, but it just felt like there was about 5-10 minutes left in this one and it got cut short.
Overall, WWE Wrestlemania 41 Night 2 felt more like a classic Wrestlemania. Big fights, hot crowds, surprises and some damn good wrestling. The two nights combined make for a solid Mania. The most memorable match off this one for the traditional WWE fan will be Cody vs. Cena, while the Women’s Triple Threat is one for the sickos.
