WWE WrestleMania XL (Night 2) Results
April 7, 2024
Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 69,621
It’s time Day and Night 2 of the Showcase of the Immortals, and ther 40th Anniversary of the biggest show put together by the biggest wrestling company to ever exist, World Wrestling Entertainment. This was such hype, but after a few disappointing results the night before on Night 1, I was hopeful that things would work out better for Night 2.
WWE World Heavyweight Title Match
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
The Match:
I really loved the elaborate entrances for both of these guys, it was really a sight to see, and I thought the match itself was fantastic although I think perhaps we could have protected the Claymore a bit with Seth kicking out of it so much. The match had some actual heat to it which was cool, and it really felt like Drew was destined to win this match up after 2 failed attempts at Seth previously, and rave reviews for his new edge as a heel character again. CM Punk was on commentary for this match which added a nice element to the whole thing, Drew kept on hyper focusing on Punk and Drew was acting like a man possessed and I for one was really getting into what was happening here. Especially once Drew had actually hit that final Claymore and picked up the huge victory, to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion again, in front of a crowd this time at a WrestleMania. It did feel emotional and you could see Seth, whom had been a gracious champion in his loss, I read his mouth tell Drew that he deserved it. I will say though, it felt like the match went rather quickly, not that I’m complaining really.
Winner: NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Drew McIntyre via pinfall in 10:40.
After the match Drew McIntyre was on top of the world and he was rubbing it in the face of CM Punk so much, who was just trying to stay calm on commentary, but Drew as a character really did take it too far and he totally deserved Punk pulling his legs from under him whilst he was standing on the announce table. Punk would then take his arm brace off and wipe Drew out with it. Then, what do you know, here comes Damian Priest!
WWE World Heavyweight Title Match
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Damian Priest
The Match:
It was about some to see this cash in happen properly. Damian Priest charged at Drew and NAILED him with the Money in the Bank briefcase and then cashed in. Finally. No hesistation from the referee, let’s just do this. Damian threw Drew into the ring and hit his sweet Sit Down Chokeslam to pin Drew and for the first time, become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. That got a crazy reaction!
Winner: NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Damian Priest in 0:07.
I am really happy to see Damian get his moment in the sun here, and I could see fans whinging online about it but I have been a fan of his since his match with Bad Bunny in Puerto Rico last year where I really could see him as a future Main Eventer. Props to Drew for being a good sport and dropping it so quickly, I just really hope he re signs with the WWE and sticks around another 5 years.
Six Man Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight (Special Referee: Bubba Ray Dudley)
The Pride (Angelo Dawkins, Bobby Lashley & Montez Ford) (w/B-Fab) vs. The Final Testament (Akam, Karrion Kross & Rezar) (w/Scarlett)
The Match:
Some nice final added touches to this match included the hilarious Snoop Dogg being brought out to be on Commentary, and he was great in this role and I hope he does it every year. Then, Bubba Ray Dudley was introduced as the Special Guest Referee, which was super cool to see as a little prize for the Philadelphia crowd. This was an all out war between these two factions, but I have to be completely honest, this was the chance to really get The Final Testament over. Having Karrion Kross pin Lashley in this match would have done wonders for the newly found group. When a group like this gets beaten so convicingly in their first big outing as a group, how are we as fans to believe they can get the job done after this? It’s called establishing a talent, or a stable. Santos Escobar could have really done with a pinfall victory over Rey at a WrestleMania. Karrion could have done with the win here, but maybe there is more to come, it just felt rather ‘final’. Props to Scarlett and B-Fab for what they brought to the match. Despite not being happy with the result, this was fun, it was good, and the inclusions of Bubba Ray Dudley and Snoop Dogg gave us some fun elements here.
Winner/s: The Pride (Angelo Dawkins, Bobby Lashley & Montez Ford) (w/B-Fab) via pinfall in 8:36.
Singles Match
AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
The Match:
These two really had a fantastic match, I felt the chemistry between them was off the charts. I know perhaps with this being LA Knight’s first WrestleMania match, it was great for him to pick up the victory, but again, I think AJ Styles really needed to re-establish himself, but it’s not necessarily a big deal in the end, I just don’t want AJ to be in that echelon that starts putting people over on a consistent basis, and no longer be a true threat to the Main Event scene, like a guy like The Miz. To me I really thought this was the best match of the undercard.
Winner: LA Knight via pinfall in 12:28.
WWE United States Title Triple Threat Match
Logan Paul (w/IShowSpeed) (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
The Match:
This too was a really fun match! I know this was a slight shoe-horning because they clearly were going with Logan Vs Randy but then decided to keep Kevin with Logan to match this a Triple Threat but I think the company did an entertaining job building this story up heading into WrestleMania. This had a lot of suspense, I particularly enjoyed it when Kevin and Randy both kind of realized it was every man for themselves as they both went for a pin attempt on Logan at the same time. Then soon after, Randy went for an RKO on Kevin Owens, who shoved him off and Randy kind of gave Kevin a cute look like gee, sorry bro! Haha. They both went at it, it really did feel like Logan Paul was going to lose the United States Championship here, but it was a really cool swerve to see Logan be the ultimate opportunist and get the pinfall victory over Kevin Owens! Logan retained!
Winner: STILL WWE United States Champion, Logan Paul in 17:38.
WWE Women’s Title Match
IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley
The Match:
I was also quite hyped for this match as i felt that the buiold up to this was tremendous and it was a story that was kind of winding through the WWE for some time so that’s what made it meaningful, there was a story that built up over time and wasn’t thrown together from just the Royal Rumble. That’s when you know long term booking is finally being utilized in the WWE. These two really had a great match and whilst I feel like the Becky and Charlotte Flair era’s in WWE should start winding down ever so slightly, as far as Main Event goes – Bayley still has a couple years left there before I do really think we need to start thinking about evolving the top tier spots and women in the main event scene because there’s only so many times I want to see Becky, Charlotte and Bayley go over on fresher talent. That’s just me, they still DEFINITELY have a place in WWE, where that is, I don’t know, but I Feel we are in the Rhea era now, which includes other rising and risen stars. Congrats to Bayley for telling a great story with somebody who was a fantastic champion, IO SKY.
Winner: NEW WWE Women’s Champion, Bayley via pinfall in 14:22.
WWE Title / WWE Universal Title Bloodline Rules Match
Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman) (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
The Match:
It was finally time for the big showdown everyone had been waiting for, for a WHOLE year. I knew this would be the destination that we would be at, and NOW you look back at the journey Cody went on for the last 2 and a half years, now do all you whinging marks on Reddit and Twitter that argued with me that Cody was ‘buried’ – do you now want to eat your words? Cody was made to look like an absolute star here, Roman put him over to nauseum. Roman and Paul were all out of their tricks, I would have bumped Paul at one stage though and have him try to do something to stop this from happening. To have Jey be summoned to stop Jimmy, John Cena to be summoned to stop Solo Sikoa, was brilliant. To have Rock and Cen have a showdown like they did was SO SO entertaining to me. Rock Bottom on Cena, I was laughing so much. It is just such a shame that they could not summon Stone Cold Steve Austin here because let’s be honest, The Undertaker doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, but that’s completely fine. It still got a pop, I just really wanted to see Stone Cold stun The Rock one last time. Nonetheless, the smoked cleared and Cody finally beat Roman clean in the center. Brilliant stuff and one of the most fun Main Events I’ve seen of WWE in some time.
Winner: NEW WWE Undisputed Universal Champion, Cody Rhodes in 33:25.
Final Thoughts:
Night 2 was much more exciting and enthralling than Night 1, but I enjoyed both nights thoroughly and I look forward to seeing what is next for The Bloodline and Cody, Damage CTRL better stick together, Damian as the new World Champ, and everything else they’ve got going on there at WWE.
