WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s annual review of WWE WrestleMania — this case, Night 1 of the 41st edition of "The Showcase of the Immortals!" The major headline coming out of WrestleMania Saturday was nothing if it wasn't Paul Heyman siding with Seth Rollins to help him win the main event triple threat match, betraying first Roman Reigns and then CM Punk in the process. We are absolutely going to talk about that here, along with Tiffany Stratton's borderline upset win over Charlotte Flair, the New Day capturing their 12th tag team championship, and Jey Uso overcoming GUNTHER to finally become a world champion. We'll even talk a little bit about the Hall of Fame presentation and the general vibe of the show as a whole.

Of course, that means there are some matches we won't get into in depth, including Jade Cargill vs. Naomi, Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight, or El Grande Americano vs. Fenix. If you need information from WINC on those, be sure to check out our WrestleMania Night 1 results page. This is not just about the facts, however — these are the WINC staff's strongest opinions about the first half of this year's "Show of Shows." In other words, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1!

Is it just me, or did WrestleMania feel...off this year?

If you enjoyed the first night of WrestleMania 41 festivities, then good for you! If you felt like WrestleMania 41's first night was just a little off this year, then welcome, and make yourself comfortable. You're not alone.

I can't put my finger on just *why* WrestleMania didn't feel very WrestleMania this year. We had some good, even great matches and storyline beats, so it's not those. The magic was just missing, and I can't put my finger on *why.* I have a few theories, and any combination of these could be the case. None of these could be the case at all, and the reason for this lackluster first night of 'Mania could still elude me. However, whatever the reason behind it may be, the feeling of blandness and, strangely, loss has bothered me so much, I just had to write about it.

Is it because Saturday was a semi-outdoor affair? It sounds silly, but stay with me. Typically when you think of WrestleMania, you think of an event held under the bright lights, with the ring so lit-up, you can see every wrestler's microexpressions, every hold's intricacy. When we're hosting this outside in the dusty, less-than-desirable air quality that the Las Vegas Strip boasts, however, it just muddles everything out. This didn't feel like the complete WrestleMania visual we all have in our minds. It almost feels like the opening to SummerSlam, or some other lesser-tier event that cannot even lace up WrestleMania's boots. The impressive entrance ramp and Titantron muddled into the dirty desert background, and even the flashiest sets of gear looked like the had the life sucked out of them.

Is it because the crowd sucked? This is not a dig at Vegas specifically; when you have a sold out stadium crowd, it's hard to have everyone engaged at one time. However, when Jacob freaking Fatu comes out, and the crowd is absolutely dead, you can't help but feel unexcited. I've said it so many times in these pieces — when the crowd is into a show, their excitement becomes infectious. When the reverse happens...you get whatever Vegas was.

Could it be that most of the feuds felt rushed, incomplete, or messy? Maybe; while some feuds have been must-watches, like the Naomi and Jade Cargill feud, or the Triple Threat for the "soul of WWE," others just fell flat. I don't know who is passionate about the New Day taking on the War Raiders. I don't know who is passionate (positively, anyway) about El Grande Americano versus Rey Fenix. Every WrestleMania has some skippable matches, but Saturday's card moreso. Even the matches that did have some fire behind them had a messy build, thus sucking the excitement and joy out of WrestleMania 41's first night.

I don't know why this WrestleMania felt so...bleugh. It might not even be WWE's fault. Still, I just couldn't enjoy this WrestleMania like I typically would. Where was the WrestleMania sparkle?

Written by Angeline Phu

Much had been said going into WrestleMania 41 about "Main Event" Jey Uso's chances at dethroning Gunther as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, whether he could finally break his duck against the "Ring General" on the biggest occasion, or whether he would need help from the familial dynasty he was trying to break free of. 

Each time before, Uso had come so close and yet so far to being able to pin Gunther, having seemingly already thrown his best arsenal at his opponent and it continuously not being enough. That all built into the sheer impact of what transpired, with Uso shown going through the stages of accepting and acclimating the position he was in at long last. He looked rough at the beginning, reinforcing the fact that he was scared of Gunther and didn't know what to do with himself. 

Sometimes wrestling strives to be too perfect, and this was by no means a spot-fest or a clinical masterpiece, but it told the story between the two competitors in a credible way. Uso isn't someone that could credibly stand toe-to-toe with Gunther and succeed, much in the same way he couldn't conceivably stand toe-to-toe with Roman Reigns in any of their title bouts. He just had to ensure he didn't lose, and he took all he could from Gunther, escaping the deepest submissions and kicking out of the best the "Ring General" had at his disposal. And the more frustrated Gunther grew and as fatigue began to sit in, Uso literally laughed in his opponent's face. 

The laughs lulled Gunther into spending more energy, and when the moment was right Uso threw into succession his and Gunther's best shots; a spear, Uso splashes, Gunther's powerbomb, and then locking in a deep chokehold. Many had wondered how Uso was going to pin Gunther credibly after the last three times, and he answered by tapping the "Ring General" out. Gunther had been beaten at his own game. Uso had endured to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, perfecting the style seen in his very first world title match and etching himself as the true "Main Event" Jey Uso.

Written by Max Everett

I don't want to dwell too much on what didn't happen when the New Day beat the War Raiders tonight, but I feel like I have to at least mention my disappointment that Big E wasn't even the slightest bit involved in trying to stop his former stablemates from winning gold. Of course, I have no idea what Big E's status is, if he can get physical in any way even without taking a bump, or if he even wants to be anywhere near the ring or if it's too sad for him. I suppose I had myself so convinced that he was going to be involved in this somehow, and my prediction was that he'd help the War Raiders retain their championships, so when nothing happened outside of the New Day grabbing the titles after their victory and running up the ramp, it all just felt kind of disappointing.

If Big E was never going to get involved in this storyline, WWE waited much too long to put the gold on Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods after their heel turn. The heel turn that happened way back on December 2 of last year. A grand total of 138 days ago. I don't think I can stress that fact enough. WWE has booked these guys so poorly that I did not care to see this match happen on the WrestleMania card at all, and when it did happen, I didn't think the match itself was anything to write home about. 

Woods and Kingston came out in cute gear seemingly paying homage to Giant Gonzalez, which was funny, but then WWE had their champions come out in extremely silly Clash of Champions mobile game-inspired gear that made them look like an even worse version of the Viking Raiders. While the New Day's gear was funny and cute, the War Raiders' looked like it had been pieced together that morning. I understand leaning in to the partnership and everything, but making your champions look extra goofy right before a loss just isn't it for me.

I don't hate the fact the new New Day are now World Tag Team Champions, especially as heels, but it just seems so late in the game. I don't exactly know where they go from here, and I'm kind of hoping to see "WWE NXT's" Nathan Frazer and Axiom get called up to start a program with them as a fresh set of babyfaces on the "WWE Raw" roster. This match also would have been just fine on "Raw" this week, or even on the pre-show if WWE did matches on those three hours leading in to WrestleMania anymore, but everything about this match tonight didn't scream "WrestleMania" to me.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I'll be completely honest, Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair's match for the WWE Women's Championship was probably the match I was least excited for on the WrestleMania 41 card (not even just Saturday's card, the entire WrestleMania card, period). I absolutely loathed that Flair won the Royal Rumble, and the build to Stratton and Flair's match was predictable, unkempt, and corny until very recently (and even that was messy). By the time their match came in the latter half of WrestleMania 41 Saturday, I was equal parts over it and unexcited — enough that if I didn't have to report on the match, I would've taken a bathroom break.

I'm so glad I didn't, because Stratton and Flair's match might have been my match of the night.

I'm not going to say that Stratton and Flair's match was perfect, because like their feud, there were some sloppy bits that I wouldn't put on my resumé. What they lacked in polish, though, they made up for in vitriol. Reports came out that Stratton and Flair planned on getting very physical in their fight for the WWE Women's World title, and they absolutely wrecked each other in that ring. When was the last time you watched a women's match where someone walked out with a chipped tooth?

Despite my reservations, I knew we were in for a good match when the two women immediately started catfighting to open the contest. No locking up, no mat work, no nothing — just straight-up wanting to rip the other girl's face off. Even when they straightened out and actually wrestled, they did not lose any of that scrappiness. Given how much these two women absolutely despise each other (whether that is reserved to the ring or applies to their personal lives doesn't really matter), the real-fight-feel worked tremendously in their favor. It was also just a great departure from their typical routine: both women are, generally, by-the-book when it comes in their in-ring work. To have them step away from the formalities to really sink their teeth into each other was a very good decision.

I told my friend that Stratton needed to rip Flair's knee brace off and send her back into physical therapy (not really, but you know what I mean), and Stratton did just that. She absolutely went ham on Flair's leg, screaming and hissing the entire time. It all added to the illusion that this is real, that these women really hate each other, and that this match is real and important — not just for the title, but for their honor. Honor. That's what they were really fighting for. The reason this match felt so personal was because it, to some extent, was. The unscripted shots, the very real pressure of being compared to each other — the fear of being replaced? In an in-ring world based on charade, all of those pressures were so real.

I would like to formally apologize to Flair and Stratton. I was not familiar with your game.

Written by Angeline Phu

When this year's class of the WWE Hall of Fame were introduced, I understood that Paul "Triple H" Levesque would -like he did during the ceremony- get the headlining spot and his own entrance, but then he spit water into the camera and the rest of the Hall of Famers were forced to pose while Triple H's spit covered the lens. It was a potent metaphor for the weekend.

We've gotten a lot of Triple H this weekend. From his hour-long Hall of Fame induction speech, to his show-opening spiel, to his watery appearance alongside his fellow Hall of Famers, he's been everywhere, and even when he's not on screen, there is a certain sense that you have to remember who wrote everything. It's like the whole show had Triple H's spit all over it, like a little kid who has to lick a bagel to declare it "mine."

And this is only day one. We have a whole other day coming, and it will likely be less of Triple H and more people who are related to Triple H. Probably a Stephanie McMahon appearance, maybe Kevin Nash will show up, or Sean Waltman. Maybe Shawn Michaels will announce the attendance again. Either way, Triple H will have lifted his leg on the second day in ways that will be unmistakable.

Written by Ross Berman

It wasn't for a title. The logic behind Punk getting a main event was frustratingly inside baseball, as was the story of Paul Heyman being Punk and Reigns's manager. And yet, Saturday's main event did deliver on feeling like a WrestleMania main event.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have just enough of their issues unresolved that every interaction was soaked in drama and subtext, like gasoline. CM Punk is basically a lit match of a human being. You can see where I'm going with this. It was a combustible environment and all three men (and Paul Heyman) managed to blaze a trail around the arena of fire and fury.

The shocking and yet completely sensical finish, which saw Heyman cast off the two men who have been bickering over him since November, and side with Rollins, as fresh a start as he could get from this match. Rollins and Heyman are such a perfect match that it does feel kinda strange that it has taken this long for the two men to be aligned.

I have no idea how to work this in, so let me just say it here as a coda. The match also had two of the most painful-looking announce table spots I've seen in a long time. The new announce tables sound terrifyingly painful.

Written by Ross Berman