WWE Wrestlemania 41 N1 (4.19.25) review 

 

Amazingly, at 9:30AM, there is no replay on Netflix of last night’s show. What an absolute fucking disaster the Netflix move has been for the fans. So, I’m having to watch an illegal stream of something I legally pay for. The loss of the Network is the main reason I’ve not been watching the company at all this year. As user friendly as the Network wasn’t, it was perfect for my needs. Nice one, cunts! 

 

I haven’t watched any wrestling in about 10 months, so I may possibly miss a bunch of storyline stuff. I’m already confused as to what’s happened with Heyman, Roman and Punk. I’m sure a video package will catch me up.  

 

 

While various packages play out, I look at tonight’s card and it is GARBAGE. I assume the good stuff is happening tomorrow because this is one of the most underwhelming things I’ve ever seen on paper for a Wrestlemania. One positive for WWE here; the lighting rig is set up so you can see the ring in the building. Not sure how far into the cheap you go before the view gets shit but credit to them for giving line of sight.  

 

WWE World Championship 

Gunther (c) vs. “Midcard” Jey Uso 

Just a reminder that 12 months ago, Uso had one of the worst matches in the history of Wrestlemania. It boggles the mind that he could get a push after that. Uso reminds me of Seth Rollins. That’s not a compliment. Too concerned with look and sizzle and spotz. 18 minutes of show before first bell. Not a disaster.  

 

They absolutely shit the bed from the go here. First by stalling and then Jey drops Gunther with his first strike. Surely, you build to that? The match has no structure. Stuff just happens. I’ve seen a lot of Gunther matches over the years and you can tell when he doesn’t much care for his opponent. It is smart of them to put this on first so Uso gets the crowd support.  

 

Uso’s choice of moves is so weird. The spear, while a Samoan tradition of recent years, should not work at all. Gunther works better when people earn the big falls on him. By battling through his abuse. Jey is springy, which means stuff like the spear doesn’t work. You need to be impactful for that to work. Even Edge felt like he put his whole body into it.  

 

The head-to-head stuff here is dangerously close to shattering the illusion of Gunther that they’ve spent the last five years building up. Uso, as a singles guy, just doesn’t have the required moveset to trouble a star. His top rope splash feels unimpactful. He’d be better off winning with cheeky roll ups. To really fuck it up, Uso wins with a sleeper and Gunther quickly taps out like a bitch. Welp. 

 

Based on the match, I can only assume Gunther is leaving or retiring. You wouldn’t do it otherwise. Unless you’re really, really stupid. It’s like beating Brock Lesnar with one F5. Uso is still terrible. Match was bad. Like maybe *. If this doesn’t cement this title as the Secondary Belt nothing will. Can you imagine Uso winning the WWE title? The weirdest thing for me is the crowd reaction. I think people at live wrestling will the match that’s in front of them to be good. Well, this wasn’t.  

 

At least we’ve probably got the worst match out of the way to start off with, eh? 

 

WWE Tag Team Championship 

War Raiders vs. New Day 

THEY TURNED NEW DAY HEEL? Hahaha. You can’t boo Kofi Kingston. What the fuck? It also makes no sense to have them in, as heels, against a powerhouse team in the War Raiders. While I like the War Raiders as workers, I hate WWE’s rebranding of them as Vikings. Cultural appropriation. They’re Yanks, lads. The one is from fucking Cleveland. 

 

This one starts out awkward. It’s weird hearing the term “wrestling” on WWE programming. At least we’ve got that one small win. Shame the flipside is WWE attempting to take over all wrestling on the entire planet. New Day have some big issues over timing and positioning and I’m not one to point fingers but it’s Xavier Woods fault. He’s never been a particularly good worker but coasted by on personality and guts. I appreciate that. I don’t want to see it on a Wrestlemania card in 2025. 

 

The match is filled with needless flips. Extra rotations that add nothing. “What a sequence” chirps Cole, referring to a blown spot by Ivar and a blatant positioning switch to set up the next spot. Nothing organic or good about any of it. More ugly spots follow and the New Day win the belts with double teaming. Awful wrestling here. Just a fucking mess. ¾* 

 

I guess I was wrong about the show having already bottomed out. Hopefully it’s all up from here, eh?  

 

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi 

So, we’ve stopped hiding Jade in tags then? Has she gotten any better over the past year?* They ran the Rikishi whodunnit angle to set this up. Naomi is clearly in there to lead the match, and the angle helps put a little heat on it. Jade did a good job of conveying emotions when she attacked Naomi at Elimination Chamber but here, it’s just not there. If you’ve been injured by someone, you want to fuck them up. Screw this whole ‘oh, I’m all chill about it’ nonsense. Attack her before the bell here.  

 

Instead, she just lumbers into some pre-planned stuff that has no heat at all. *To answer my ‘has she gotten any better’ question, the answer is no. If anything, she’s regressed. She looks so awkward and slow. If her in-ring matched her presence she’d be GOATed but it doesn’t. Jade has been wrestling for 4 years and seems to have learned nothing. Some people just don’t have it.  

 

She does have power though, which is what we should be focusing on. When she catches Naomi coming off the ropes, that’s just cool. Don’t have her trying to be like everyone else. She’s not. Neither was Goldberg. Don’t have her do dance matches. They do the same spot again and this time Jade is standing there waiting for it. She’s not good at timing stuff.  

 

Naomi frequently doesn’t give her time to think, which is the right way. Jade’s brain is the enemy. Naomi frequently has to talk Jade through stuff. Including reminding her of the finish when she attempts a pin in the wrong place. Jade isn’t the kind of wrestler that will impress if you want her to wrestle a match. If you want her to do spots, she’s cool. She’s not going to get any better. *¼ 

 

Ideal match for Jade is the Lesnar vs Goldberg one from Mania. Don’t ever go past five minutes. Just hit spots.  

 

0/3 so far. Not a great start to the Showcase of the Immortals. 

 

On Cagematch there’s a take about this match saying it should have gotten 13-14 minutes (OH GOD NO) and “maybe things will be better in 15 years when Seth is in charge”. The brain worms in full effect.  

 

US Championship 

LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu 

The last time I watched WWE, Fatu was still on the Indies. He’s a good signing. If you needed more Samoans, he’s an option. They signed Tonga Loa, so I know the bar is low but he’s comfortably over it. Whether he can get a tune out of LA Shite is anyone’s guess. The middest of the mid. At least they’ve realised Solo Sikoa’s best role is standing around in a suit. 

 

As with most LA Shite matches it has a lot of slow-motion dance sequences. He could release a wrestling version of Just Dance. People could play along while drunk and also do bad ducks under each other’s clotheslines. Amazingly they do a better job of conveying Fatu’s superior size than Gunther and Jey Uso did. That’s when you know you’ve REALLY shit the bed, Jeymond.  

 

Fatu is the first guy on the card, and yes including Gunther in that, who makes simple things look good. Plus a little extra stink on his bumps. He cares that it’s a big show. It’s a shame he’s in there with such a lame worker. Get somebody in there who can hit good spots, and Fatu will have a banger with the bumping alone.  

 

As we move along, the fans start to get into it because it’s structured properly. It escalates. It’s not just a bunch of stuff that happens. They have a great spot in here with Knight countering the moonsault into the BFT and they get the position right, so Fatu doesn’t kick out, he grabs the rope. Kudos. Fatu gets a couple of moonsaults for the pin and the belt. *** 

 

Honestly, a star making turn from Fatu. If getting a tune out of a jamoke like LA Shite doesn’t sell him on the higher ups nothing will. That score is with Knight dragging a load of sequences down with his general shiteness too. HUGE jump up in quality and execution here. Easily MOTN so far. By a long, long distance. 

 

Wrestlemania 42 is in New Orleans again. A great decision. Everyone loved the last Mania in NOLA. A big old party in a big old party city. 

 

El Grande Americano vs. Rey Fenix 

It’s mad that Fenix is in WWE and in a singles match at Wrestlemania. However, it doesn’t surprise me that the match is a complete joke. Fenix is one of the most gifted luchadores of his generation. Americano hails from the “Gulf of America”. Brother was just born in a body of water, huh? Anyway, it’s Chad Gable, entering the rich history of Yanks impersonating Mexicans and stealing jobs from the hard-working people of Mexico. 

 

 

These cutaways always seem wild at first but don’t worry, WWE will find a way to turn him into a JAG.  

 

Gable does have good chemistry with fliers, so it’s a solid match up. Fenix makes hard spots look easy. He makes rope spring stuff look like the easiest thing in the world. So many workers have attempted what he’s doing and have fallen flat on their faces. He does it effortlessly. It’s interesting that WWE have chosen to put him in singles, but I believe that is his best spot. He’s quick, he’s smooth. Great pro wrestler. Gable, while good, still struggles to keep up.  

 

The biggest problem with the match is that it’s a joke. The fluidity of the work is overlooked because it’s ultimately all for chuckles. Gable loads his mask up, which has ALWAYS been stupid. Fenix punts him in the face and hurts his foot. Surely, Gable is just going to hurt his own head? Diving headbutt finishes. I feel bad for Fenix, who looked outstanding here. The match was great too, until the childish nonsense at the end. **¼  

 

WWE are doing a World’s Collide show in June, which might be cute if they play it right. AAA has been one of the worst promotions in the world for YEARS now but that’s mainly because the booking is incompetent. That’s followed by Shawn Michaels coming out here to announce the attendance as 61,000+.  

 

WWE Women’s Championship 

Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair  

It is Tiffy Time. The WWE hand-picked her as the next Charlotte Flair a while ago. Now she gets to wrestle the OG Charlotte Flair. This is a huge challenge for her. They’ve not worked her up towards it, we’re straight in at the deep end. Sink or swim, baby. Say what you like about Charlotte Flair, but she’s been consistently good for a decade. It was weird her not being on the show last year (out with a ruined knee the entire of 2024).  

 

While Charlotte is a nailed-on Hall of Famer, I have my doubts about Tiffany Stratton. We’ll see what she does on the grand stage here. Wade Barrett suggests they should “throw some potatoes”. WINK, WINK. Charlotte weirdly choses to wear pink here, Stratton’s colours. Which is going to hurt the reactions in the building because they already look similiar without having the same gear. 

 

The match reveals Stratton’s lack of aura. Cargill feels like a bigger star than her and Stratton has a lot of Cargill’s shortcomings too. She’s waiting on moves, telegraphing. I’m not sold on her selling. Her strikes don’t look impactful enough. I just don’t think she’s the worker WWE think she is. Considering her experience levels, she is good, but she isn’t ready for this spot.  

 

The result is a flat atmosphere in the building. The match just doesn’t have much going for it. It isn’t like Flair can cover for the shortcomings, as she’s rusty after missing a year of action. Her timing is off, and they have no chemistry at all. Charlotte’s ‘knee injury’ bit doesn’t feel right. The crowd gleefully cheering as Tiffy goes after it.  

 

The match has good agent work behind it. The logic being applied to the knee vs knee stuff makes sense. It’s not well executed. Stratton struggles with everything here bar the high spots. Much like Jade Cargill. Charlotte’s selling and positioning and striking, by comparison, is like night and day.  

 

They make a mess of some bigger spots with Stratton just completely off it. She looks blown up. PME finishes. This was ugly as shit, I’m not gonna lie boys (and girls). *¾  

 

We’ve established Tiffany Stratton can do a moonsault. Everything else was a flop. A genuinely poor all round performance from her here. If the future is Stratton vs Cargill, women’s wrestling is in big trouble. 

 

We get the Hall of Fame inductees out here and Triple H, who doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, gets an unbelievable little raise of the eyebrow from Bret Hart on the stage. Class.  

 

Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk 

I don’t understand why this is supposed to be a main event. Although, I will say, if we’re going off entrance music; Punk is miles ahead of the other two. It’s also great to see Paul Heyman with him. Cult of Personality. “It’s clobberin’ time”. Love it.  

BEST IN THE WORLD! He’s not but hey, let’s give him this moment. It’s no secret that I don’t like Seth Rollins but let me tell you why. He takes these teeny, tiny little steps when he walks around the ring. Like a baby duck, scampering into the nearest body of water. An absolute beta cuck. No wonder the Big Dog took charge of the company when the Shield split up.  

 

There’s a ‘scuffle’ with Rollins and Punk and I don’t expect Seth to know what a punch looks like, but Punk was literally in the UFC. Aren’t they supposed to have legit beef? Check out Bret Hart when he was punching Shawn Michaels during their matches. At least Roman does the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ dive over the rail. Punk has a laugh and gets his character over but his in-ring isn’t what it used to be. Let’s just leave it at that. 

 

The crowd, desperate for this to be good, start chanting “this is awesome”. Comms, which hasn’t been great all night, misses Punk hitting a Rock Bottom on Roman. There’s a spear into Pedigree spot in this, which I can’t tell is really cool or really stupid. The replay does look good because Seth managed to hook the arms. Use the momentum against him.  

 

The more I think about it, the more I think this is all about Roman. The whole match only lands when Roman interjects himself. There will always be debate over who is better than who but, in my mind at least, Reigns is the best worker in this match. He’s been hobbled over the years with bad pushes, bad booking and bad opponents but there’s no denying his raw ability.  

 

Rollins cuts a little promo telling Roman that he’s shit by himself. “Without me, without him (Heyman), without Mox, without your Bloodline”. This does sadly lead to some ACTING. There’s a reason Roman isn’t getting cast in a lot of movies, let’s just say that. The “transition” from the front chancery to the Anaconda Vise is SHIT lads. Absolutely dreadful. Punk looked like he’d forgotten what an arm was. Another stupid sequence is Seth taking GTS and then staying on his feet to hit the Stomp on Roman. Then selling the GTS afterwards. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It’s a head shot, you go straight down. You don’t get a delay on being knocked out.  

 

Heyman slides a chair to Punk, showing that their friendship is stronger than the Bloodline. Only for Paul to nut shot Punker. “YOU MADE ME CHOOSE” he screams at Punk. It’s mad that the best worker in the match is Paul Heyman. He even points out the position of Rollins, on the ropes, where Seth hit Roman with a fucking chair all those years ago. AND HEYMAN NUT SHOTS ROMAN! We’re deep into soap opera territory. Rollins stomps Roman into the chair for the win. ***½ 

 

There was a lot happening here. Lots of soap opera story. The moment where Heyman pointed out the positioning of Rollins, based on his original Shield heel turn, did give me chills. When WWE do remember things, it creates moments like that. What was that, 2015? A decade later we’re referencing it. Punk was almost superfluous here. Rollins getting to win the big one feels like a tip of the hat to his ‘always being there’ attitude. Shame he’s such a bootlicker and shit worker really.  

 

The 411: 

Main event drama and Jacob Fatu arrival aside, this did not feel like a big show. A lot of middling to poor in-ring action. “This is only night one” says Cole, reminding me I have to sit through another one of these in 24 hours. Take the main event off this show and it wouldn’t be a good episode of RAW. That’s how poor it was. As someone who’s seen all of them (bar 38, we don’t talk about 38), this was one of the worst single nights of Mania ever and a great advert for them returning to a single show in 2026. It’ll never happen. That cat is already out of the cash cow.