WWE’sWrestleMania 41officially kicks off on Saturday nightwith Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The show has seven matches announced, including World Heavyweight Champion Gunther vs. 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso (already confirmed to open the show) and a triple threat main event between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk. While no championship is on the line for that triple threat match, there’s still quite a bit of intrigue as Paul Heyman will be in Punk’s corner - leaving Reigns without the guidance of “The Wise Man” for the first time since 2020.
Other confirmed matches include Tiffany Stratton defending the WWE Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair, United States Champion LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu, and The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods will attempt to finally become champions again when they face The War Raiders for the World Tag Team Championships. Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano was also set to take place, butMysterio suffered an injury on Friday’s edition ofWWE SmackDown. Rey Fenix was announced as Mysterio’s replacement during the WrestleMania pre-show.
Here are your key moments from WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1:
Paul Heyman Aligns With Seth Rollins
A New Alliance Formed In The Main Event
Everyone went into Saturday night’s main event questioning who Paul Heyman would side with. CM Punk has been his best friend for years. Roman Reigns has been his “Tribal Chief” for half a decade. But Heyman decided to shock the world and go with the third option,aligning with Seth Rollins and hitting both Reigns and Punk with low blows.
While it’s unexpected, I have to admit it’s the most interesting option of the three. Rollins is the only one in the bunch who still works on a full-time schedule, and he has consistently been forced to take a back seat to bigger storylines like The Bloodline Saga, Cody Rhodes “finishing his story” and Punk returning to the company. But an alliance with Heyman could be just what “The Visionary” needs to finally be positioned as the top heel onWWE Raw. You can go ahead and start the countdown to a Rollins vs. Jey Uso World Heavyweight Championship match now.
A Night of New Champions, But Not Many Twists
With The Exception Of The Main Event, There Weren’t Many Surprises Tonight
Saturday night was rough if you were walking in as a champion. Tiffany Stratton was the only champ to retain, and even she walked out minus a tooth or two. Jey Uso silenced the doubters with an emotional victory over Gunther, The New Day cheated to win the world tag titles from The War Raiders, and Jacob Fatu won the United States Championship after some jaw-dropping moments in his match with LA Knight.
The biggest surprise of the night was honestlyhow straightforward it wound up being. Stratton/Flair never went off the rails with stiff shots. The El Grande Americano match ended the same way as his last few matches onWWE Raw. Fatu won the title without the slightest hint of dissension from Solo Sikoa. And there was no sign of Big E to put a stop to The New Day’s cheating. Maybe they’re saving the big surprises for Sunday?
A Mid Mania?
Night 2 Needs To Step It Up
The consensus among fans and critics heading intoWrestleMania 41seemed to be thatthe build-up was just okay, but that the show could be redeemed once the bell rang and the wrestlers started competing in front of a sold-out stadium. The opening match and the main event lived up to their end of the bargain and made the show feel like a proper WrestleMania. But the rest of the night was noticeably lacking. Nothing was particularly wrong with any of the matches, but the crowd never seemed fully invested (at least from where I was sitting watching along at home) and many of the entrances lacked the pomp and circumstance WrestleMania usually provides.
Thankfully, there’s still plenty in store for Night 2. John Cena competing as a heel is something fans have been waiting to see for two decades. The women’s tag team championship match and Randy Orton’s open challenge all but guarantee some surprise returns or debuts. And the women’s triple threat and Sin City Street Fight both have the potential to steal the entire weekend. I wasn’t wowed by Night 1, but I’m not giving up onWrestleMania 41just yet.
