WWE Wrestlemania 42 Night 1 4/18/2026

WWE Wrestlemania 42 Night 1 4/18/2026

 

We are in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wade Barrett and Michael Cole are on commentary.

Michael Cole welcomes us to the show, we see videos of the arena and we get an intro video. 

John Cena, who is the host of the show, comes out in a suit. He's definitely a little overwhelmed. He says The Road to Wrestlemania has been chaos and has been vocal. He says the time to talk is up and the time to deliver is now. He says welcome to Wrestlemania. We get quick fireworks and flames and it's time for the first match. 

The Uso's (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and LA Knight vs The Vision (Logan Paul and Austin Theory) and IShowSpeed

The Uso's come through the crowd as usual. Jey has a new theme that says, "It's you and me, uce". LA drives a truck on the stage, though it's not a Slim Jim truck. The Vision come out together with a white and gold flag dropping down to reveal them. We get a 9 camera feed for their entrance.

The Uso's hit superkicks to start. Speed is stuck in the ring with LA. Speed side headlocks him but LA lifts him. Speed backflips off the top and is lariated. LA knocks Logan off the apron. Speed slams LA and celebrates. Speed then tags out as LA heads for him.

LA throws Logan in. LA boots Logan in the corner. Jey hits mounted corner punches on Logan. Logan takes a double back elbow and a double elbow drop. Jimmy chops Logan. AT tags in. He rolls into a dropkick on Jimmy.

AT hits mounted punches on Jimmy. Jimmy takes a double suplex. Logan and AT pose. Speed is tagged back in. Speed tries to suplex Jimmy but gets suplexed. Logan tags in and hits forearms on Jimmy. Logan hits shots on Jimmy's gut. Jimmy uppercuts Logan then tornillo's him off the top. 

Jey and AT get in. Jey hits punches. Jey spears AT. Logan gutwrench suplexes Jey. Logan punches Jimmy out. Jey is sent shoulder first into the post. Jimmy superkicks AT. Speed flying headscissors Jimmy out. LA is pushed into Logan by Speed. AT yells at Speed and tells him to get up.

AT tells Speed to run the ropes and AT is sent into him. LA hits a BFT on AT and wins.

Thoughts: It was disappointing if we are being honest. It didn't get much time at all and Speed got most of the focus here. Speed did fine but didn't do a whole lot besides a slam and sell, which is about all he should have gotten. I have a feeling this was cut short due to this being on ESPN's TV channel. The faces won here as expected. There was no way they were starting this with faces losing.

Logan yells at Speed after and says he cost him the match. Logan punches him but totally misses. Logan tells him he had one shot and ruined it. Speed is thrown out. Logan puts Speed on the commentary table. Logan goes up top but the faces hit a 3D on him. LA grabs Speed and throws him in. Speed is surrounded and the faces tell Speed to put Logan through the table. Speed climbs up on the post and frogsplashes Logan through the table in a nice spot. The faces then celebrate with Speed.

Unsanctioned Match - Jacob Fatu vs Drew McIntyre

Fatu has fire dancers for his entrance and flames. Fatu has some kind of military vest on with a wolf's head on the back. For Drew's entrance, he has a sword and a door is unsealed with fire.

Fatu topes him before he gets in. Drew's head is banged off the rails, apron and post. Drew is then thrown over the timekeepers rail. Fatu throws chairs and a table in. Fatu empties a tool box in the ring. He goes ti hit Drew with it but Drew begs off. Fatu misses a tool box shot. Fatu is whipped backwards into the ring rungs then he is catapulted chest first into the ring rungs.

Drew is rammed backwards into the post. Drew lariats Fatu on the floor. Drew takes a phone from his brother and hits Fatu in the head with it while he talks in it. Drew grabs a large wrench. Fatu lariats him twice and sentons him.

Fatu corner splashes him then hits mounted corner headbutts. Fatu corner hip attacks Drew. Fatu pop-up samoan drops Drew for 2. Drew flying headbutts Fatu while Fatu has a chair. Fatu misses a corner splash then Drew overhead germans him. 

Drew tope con hilos Fatu. Drew misses a claymore kick and is sent into a chair between the buckles. Fatu double jump moonsaults Drew for 2. Drew hits Fatu in the knee with a wrench. Drew then hits Fatu with the wrench and sticks it into his head. Drew sets up two chairs across from each other. Drew suplexes him through them for 2. Fatu only hits one of the chairs.

Drew grabs the ref's belt. Fatu superkicks Drew. Fatu chairs Drew in the back. Fatu then whips him with a belt hard. Drew claymore kicks him for 2. They trade shots then slap each other. Fatu hits a headbutt flurry. Drew's head is banged off a table. Fatu chairs him there.

Fatu goes up top and has a chair thrown in his face. Drew chairs him there. Drew pushes him off the top and Fatu twisting swantons through a table outside. 

Fatu superkicks him twice. Fatu hits him with a tool box. Drew is on a table and Fatu double jump moonsaults him for the win.

Thoughts: This was aired on TV, so we weren't going to get blood. I knew it the second this aired during the broadcast. It's a shame because it could have used it. They had an okay bout but it wasn't great. They just didn't get violent enough nor did they really have the time to do something great and that's a shame. I'd argue the angle where Fatu got handcuffed and whipped was more vicious. Fatu's bump through the table outside was pretty wild. Fatu won but I don't know where either guy goes from here as I think Cody and Orton will be having another match after tonight.

WWE Women's Tag Titles - The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend) (c) vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Brie Bella and Paige

Bliss has butterfly wings, her doll and some odd makeup on for her entrance. Flair has bigger and more colorful butterfly wings on. Nia and Lash have white Demolition style outfits on as Demolition just got inducted into the HoF. We then see Demolition in the front row. Nikki Bella comes out on a crutch with her sister. She says she tried hard but she's not cleared. She says she wasn't going to ruin her sister's Mania moment and called an old friend. It's Paige, which got spoiled already.

Lash throws Brie down by the hair and forearms Bay down. Bliss jumps on Lash's back then is lariated. Lash corner splashes Brie. Bay takes a pump kick + samoan drop. Bliss high kicks Nia. Flair top rope crossbodies Nia. Brie cradles Flair. Lyra hits kicks on Flair.

Brie hits kicks on Lyra and Flair. Brie step up enzugiri's Lyra. Nia throws Brie into the rails. Lash chokeslams Brie on the apron. Lash pump kicks Flair. Bliss 2nd rope tornado ddt's Lash. Bliss takes corner attacks. Bay and Lyra do a demolition decapitation on Bliss. 

Lash rams Brie into the corner. Lash powerbombs Bliss and Lyra together. Brie top rope dropkicks Lash. Flair facekicks Bay. Paige is tagged in. She hits forearms on Nia and lariats Flair and Bay. She fisherman suplexes Bay. Paige knees Lash in the face then top rope crossbodies Lyra. Lyra backrolls through. Paige lightning spiral's Lyra for 2.

Nia samoan drops Bay. Nia and Brie are dumped over the top. Lash hits a lash extension on Lyra. Lash takes a double superkick then a double lariat. Flair and Paige trade forearms. Paige cradles Flair. Flair hits natural selection. Nikki pulls Flair out and hits her with a crutch. Bliss tries twisted Bliss and Paige gets her knees up. Paige lifting ddt's Bliss and pins her.

Thoughts: I wasn't happy about Paige coming back. She wasn't that good in her prime and wasn't good in her AEW return. The women's division is getting better than ever yet they keep bringing back more and more limited workers to bring it down. The match wasn't that good as expected with some sloppy moments. The format also made things hard as so many people were involved and time was limited. The Bella's also totally cheated here and replaced Nikki which was a bit cheat.

We see two Star Wars characters in the front row.

We go to our second or third commercial breaks where we see nothing but the Wrestlemania logo. I'd actually rather watch commercials to be honest. 

WWE Women's Intercontinental Title - AJ Lee (c) vs Becky Lynch

 
Becky has a band for her entrance. AJ has a bunch of kids who are dressed up like her and doing her skip. 

Wade complains about the ref Jessica Carr being biased against BL. BL hits some shots on her then AJ armdrags her into an armlock. BL misses a dropkick and is thrown out. AJ is caught off the apron and BL fallaway slams her into the rail. BL top rope legdrops her for 2. BL bangs AJ's face off the mat. BL fallaway slams her. BL takes off the top buckle and the ref puts it back on. The ref calls her insane. 

AJ cradles her for 2. AJ hits forearms. AJ lariats her down and lariats her on the ropes. AJ trips her then top rope dropkicks her for 2. AJ knees her in the face then standing shiranui's her. BL powerbombs her for 2. AJ casadora armdrags her and high kicks her. BL swings her into the buckles. BL hits a uranage for 2. 

BL boots her in the corner and foot chokes her. BL gets in the ref's face and pushes her. The ref pushes her back. BL misses a charge at the ref and is uranage'd for 2. They trade shots. AJ does an octopus to her and BL grabs the hair to get out. BL takes the turnbuckle padd off then pushes the ref into a charging AJ. AJ's head is banged off the buckles. BL uranage's AJ and wins.

Thoughts: It was short and the ref vs Becky was more of the focus than anything else. It was probably better kept short but this was basically a throwaway TV match and wasn't special at all. I didn't like this much and this did not do much for AJ.

We see George Kittle drink his third beer. This show sucks so far.

Seth Rollins vs. Gunther

Seth has smoke coming out of his entrance jacket, he has a facemask on and he has some black contacts on. 

Gun dropkicks Seth as he enters and backdrops him. Gun powerbombs him. Seth eye rakes him outside and pounds on him against the rails. Gun is thrown over the commentary table and hit with the table top. Gun is thrown over the other commentary table. Seth throws a chair at him and hits him in the face with the bottom legs of the chair.

They trade in the ring and the bell rings. They facekick each other. Gun sleepers Seth. Seth stomps on Gun's head while holding his arms. Gun hits a big lariat. Gun chops Seth down. Gun elbows Seth in the face. Gun knees him in the chest and chops him. 

Gun stands on Seth's neck. They trade shots. Seth evades a superplex and buckle bombs Gun. Gun germans him then takes a german. Gun lariats him then Seth lariats him back. Gun boots him from the mat and is forearmed. Gun hits headbutts and is punched. They trade chops. 

Seth hits chops then chop flurries him. Gun powerbombs him for 2. Gun lariats him down twice. Gun back body drops him. Seth superkicks him. Seth pumping knees him. Seth pedigrees him then curbstomps him for 2. Seth backrolls him for 2 and Gun does a grounded sleeper. Seth spinning forearms him twice. Gun hits a big lariat.

Seth top rope superplexes Gun then falcon arrows him for 2. Seth grounded sleepers him. Seth firs up and topes Gun twice. Seth tries it again. Seth is powerbombed on the apron and commentary table. Seth pedigrees him on the commentary table. Seth curbstomps him into the table.

Bron Breakker runs down and spears Seth against the rails. Bron throws Seth in the ring. Gun sleepers Seth and Seth is out. Gunther wins.

Thoughts: It was the best match on the show up to this point though that's not saying much. They got stiff and rough with each other, they kept things moving and had a nice action based match. Bron Breakker also made his return here to cost Seth the match which continues their story. My theory going into this was that WWE knew either Seth or Bron would be ready for Mania and saved Gunther for whoever would be ready first.  

Seth gets up after, Bron runs down then ramp and hits a hard rolling spear on Seth. Bron tells Seth that he should have put him down when he had the chance. Paul Heyman hugs Bron on the ramp.

They have the Hall of Fame inductees appear on the stage. They shockingly had Sid's kid there after he ripped WWE for not doing a better induction for Sid.

WWE Women's Title - Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs Liv Morgan

 Liv dances to her new song with a dance group for her entrance. SV has a bunch of rose petals falling from the sky for her entrance.

SV spinebusters her and they trade mounted shots. Liv is sent into the rails. SV corner lariats her then corner meteora's her. Liv flips into a powerbomb on her for 2. Liv hits 3 amigos and step up enzugiri's her. Liv goes for a splash and SV gets her knees up. SV backdrops her.

SV does the devil's kiss. SV double underhook drops her on her own knees. Liv backcrackers her. Liv then slaps her multiple times. Liv is rolled up for 2. SV double underhook backbreakers her for 2. Liv hits a codebreaker. SV hits Liv's oblivion on her for 2. Raquel and Roxanne interfere. Liv hits oblivion on SV for 2.

SV kicks the heels away. Liv topes Raquel on accident. SV springboard plancha's Roxanne and Raquel. SV is sent into the steps. Liv 2nd rope diving codebreakers SV then hits oblivion for the win.

Thoughts: Does WWE have their cars parked at some paid parking meters or something? This was yet again another shorter mach for no real reason. What we got was acceptable but they didn't even get the chance to do anything great here. This was over before they even got halfway through. Liv won as expected. The ads have been longer than the matches here.

John Cena comes out to talk. He says we have 50,816 people in attendance, which I'm skeptical of.

Bianca Belair comes out. She says you can't have Mania without the EST. She says you can't have Mania without a few suprises. She says we need to add one more to the attendance list and we see that she is pregnant.

Undisputed WWE Title - Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton 

 
Pat McAfee said he won't appear in WWE again if Orton loses. Pat McAfee gets his own entrance. Orton gets a snake slithering on the tron for his entrance. Cody Rhodes has a bunch of mannequins with his old gear for his entrance. Cody then comes out from below the stage with a skull mask and gold plated gear. Cody hugs his daughter during his entrance. Pat McAfee does Orton's intro for him and rips the fans during it. This whole thing got more time than 2 of the matches together so far have.

Pat nails Cody with the mic before then match starts. Orton stomps Cody. Orton sends Orton shoulder first into the post then hits a cross rhodes on Pat. Cody punches Pat on the commentary table. Jelly Roll elbow drops Pay through the commentary table. They carry Pat out on a stretcher. Cole says Orton is rumored to have an injured back.

Orton and Cody roll on the ropes and let go. Orton shoulders Cody over. They fight over a top wristlock. Orton shoulders Cody over then euros him. Cody's head is banged off the buckles. Cody does a drop down punch and powerslams Orton. Orton over the back neckbreakers Cody.

Orton eye pokes Cody then chinlocks him. Cody backdrops Orton and Orton goes out to sell his back. Cody half crabs him. Cody forearms and knees him in the back. Cody bearhugs him from behind. Cody goes up and over and rolls him up for 2. Cody forearms him in the spine. Cody suplexes him. Cody is crotched up top. Orton superplexes him. Orton powerslams him.

Orton draping ddt's him. Orton is sent out and he hits Cody on his tope attempt. Orton backdrops him on the commentary table. Cody sends Orton into the post. Orton is busted open. Cody punches Orton's busted open head. Cody stomps him in the corner. Cody does the garvin stomp to Orton, which is a move he usually does. Cody hits a disaster kick on Orton for 2. Cody rubs Orton's blood on his chest. Cody then hits Orton's draping ddt. 

Cody bangs the mat like Orton does. Cody misses a charge into the corner nd Orton hits a cross rhodes on Cody for 2. Cody hits an RKO for 2. Cody bangs Orton's head off the commentary table then backdrops him on it. 

They go back in and Orton RKO's Cody for 2. They trade shots. Cody eye pokes Orton. Orton RKO's the ref as he can't see due to the eye poke. Cody blocks a low blow then Cody kicks Orton in the crotch. Cody runs up the buckles for a cody cutter and Orton RKO's him on the landing. 

Pat McAfee comes out with a neckbrace and a ref shirt on. Cody kicks out at 2. Pat yells at Orton to attack Cody. Orton RKO's Pat. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Orton and pins him.

Thoughts: I have no idea what this was. They seemed like they were trying to do a double turn where Cody was going heel and Orton was going face. Why? I don't know. Then Orton RKO'd Pat for unknown reasons. It was an unusual match with a very bad build and all I can really do is shake my head. 

Cody holds up the title after. Orton grabs the title and hits Cody with it. Orton punts Cody after to face pops.

Overall thoughts: The opener was short and really only existed to turn IShowSpeed face for some reason. I liked Fatu/Drew but it didn't get to be anything memorable. The women's tag match wasn't good. AJ vs Becky was very short and the focus was on Becky vs the ref. Gunther/Seth was good and the best bout on here. Liv/Steph was short and nothing of note. The main was odd with lots of Pat McAfee stuff. They seemingly tried to do a double turn here for unknown reasons it had a weird ending.

This was the worst WWE PPV I've ever seen and the worst Wrestlemania I've ever seen. I really do mean that too. I gave WWF Survivor Series 1991 a 1 out of 10 and I thought that was a better show than this. The matches were all short for no real reason and therefore none of the matches ended up being great. We had tons of commercials that seemingly ran longer than the matches did. Nobody really went all out. The show was filled with celebrity cameos and I saw more of George Kittle than I did Jey Uso. This legit felt like a house show at the biggest show of the year. Sometimes, you book a good show and things just go poorly. They booked a bad show and it was a bad show. While SS91 was bad, that happened in 1991. They didn't have a library of wrestling to study. WWE does and they just didn't care. The message WWE has been sending lately is that they only want to milk as much money out of us while giving us as little as possible in return and that was on full display this Mania season. Something has gone seriously wrong in WWE and Triple H clearly has no power anymore. This was a show that could kill a promotion and this made AEW Dynasty look like Wrestlemania 17. This show was so bad that I spent half of it with my jaw dropped in shock at what I just saw. Every bad thing AEW fans said about WWE leading up to this came true. I would give this a 1 out of 10. This was a slap in the face to the fans who got charged $40,000 for good seats. Go watch AEW instead. I dislike AEW, but they'll give you a 6 hour PPV where they try their best and will try to give you your money's worth.