WWE WRESTLEMANIA 41

Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

NIGHT 1 (Saturday, April 19th)

JEY USO vs. GUNTHER (16:21): This show was a dog. I always bitched about how long Wrestlemania was and that they should make it two nights. Well, now I'm pleading for them to go back to one night. While the crowd was into this first match and into the main event, they didn't much care for anything in between. It certainly didn't help that none of the matches besides the main event were any good. This show was so dull that some people online were raving about the main event like it was Omega-Okada or something. It wasn't, it's just that the show up to the main event was so forgettable and boring that it made the main event look like something excellent. It also didn't help that between matches there were at least 10 minutes or more of commercials and video packages. I feel pretty bad for the audience that paid those exorbitant ticket prices for such a bad show. Not that this card was any good in the first place. Ospreay vs. Takeshita on Dynamite on Wednesday was better than this entire show combined. If they had only done 1 night this year, it at least would've cut the fat. Jade Cargill vs. Naomi is a match for the biggest show of the year? Give me a break. Also The New Day vs. The War Raiders? These are RAW matches at best. They decided to go with the WWE championship match first. This is for the lesser of the two main titles, obviously "lesser" because it wasn't even the main event. Gunther beat Jey Uso a few months ago on a Saturday Night's Main Event show...so it was pretty obvious Jey would win the title here. The crowds at all these WWE shows love doing the "Yeet" hand motion, which is why Jey is popular. It's not because of his exciting wrestling. Usually, at least, in the past, Gunther's matches have been match-of-the-year caliber. Not lately, anyway. At least the crowd was somewhat awake for this match. Jey Uso choked out Gunther to win...which is kind of ridiculous, but whatever. They should really just put The Uso's back together as a tag team because they've never been good singles wrestlers. **

THE NEW DAY vs. THE WAR RAIDERS (9:12): And then they went into four straight short matches that a silent crowd sat through utterly bored. They popped for some of the big moves here and there, but that was it. The New Day are heels now. They won the tag titles here. The tag division is pretty thin these days, which makes me wonder why they decided not to keep The Lucha Brothers as a tag team. Xavier Woods cheated when the ref wasn't looking and held someone's leg which caused Kofi to pin one of the Vikings. The War Raiders did one cool spot where one picked up the other and tossed him off the apron onto The New Day. I guess Big E. is never coming back. 1/2*

JADE CARGILL vs. NAOMI (9:20): They really tried to push Jade as a power house and a big star and all that. Trust me, it doesn't work. AEW tried it for years. Jade just isn't a good wrestler. Naomi spent the whole match trying to keep her boob from popping out of her outfit. 1/2*

JACOB FATU vs. LA KNIGHT (10:38): Fatu is one of the few WWE wrestlers that is actually really exciting to watch and the fans seem to get behind. I guess beating LA Knight for some superfluous title is considered pushing him? I mean...put him in the main event title hunt already. The crowd popped when Fatu was doing moonsaults. LA Knight has cooled off thanks to the WWE never really going all the way with him. His pinnacle was a main event losing to Roman Reigns in Saudi Arabia two years ago. The crowds at least still chant his catchphrases. This was fine but nothing special. **

EL GRANDE AMERICANO vs. REY FENIX (7:55): Chad Gable is wearing a Luchador mask now for some reason. I'd say it's because Vince thinks it's funny but Vince isn't writing this, anymore. Rey Mysterio was supposed to wrestle in this match but he got injured on Smackdown so they threw in Rey Fenix. While Fenix lost, at least he got his Wrestlemania moment, which I guess is why he left AEW (WWE bought AAA, so maybe that also had something to do with him leaving AEW). The Lucha Brothers are awesome as a tag team but not as great separately. Hopefully the WWE realizes this sooner than later. Gable cheated by putting a steel rod in his mask and head butting Fenix. I've seen Fenix look a hell of a lot better literally all the time. Has WWE already ruined him? *1/2

TIFFANY STRATTON vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR (19:09): This feud got a lot of online press because on Smackdown two weeks ago they apparently went off script and it was a disaster. First off, they didn't go off script. Nobody cared about this match so they decided to pretend like they both really hate each other and say stuff on TV as if it was real life. How stupid are you fans to think that this shit is real? Well it worked, as suddenly people cared about this match. It was clunky. Tiffany came out in a Barbie Box. That was amusing. Really, none of the grand entrances were that cool. LA Knight and Charlotte both came out in a car. Both Tiffany and Charlotte did moonsaults. They both seemed a bit off. Match was just okay. Tiffany retained her title. **

SETH ROLLINS vs. ROMAN REIGNS vs. CM PUNK (32:39): I think there was 20 minutes or more between the last match and this one. They brought out the Hall of Fame inductees. HHH, who runs the company now, was inducted into the hall of fame. Supposedly his speech at the Hall of Fame was over an hour long. I'm glad I didn't watch that. This match was more entertaining than anything else on this show. Considering how bad the rest of this show was, this match seemed like Steamboat-Flair or something. If you had only watched this match, though, it was good but nothing spectacular or anything. They broke both announce tables and Paul Heyman turned on both Roman and CM Punk to align himself with Seth. This was not a surprise. I read a preview of this show on Voices of Wrestling and he predicted this. I'm guessing more people than him figured this "shocking" finish would occur. They did a zillion kick outs. That got old. Roman went for a spear and Seth jumped up and turned it into a Pedigree. That was kind of cool. They brawled in the crowd. The finish had Paul Heyman coming into the ring and giving CM Punk a low blow and then Roman a low blow and then handing Seth a chair. The funniest thing was at one point, Seth was yelling at Roman about the past and mentioned "Mox." As in...Jon Moxley. But he wasn't "Mox" in WWE. He was Dean Ambrose. Oh, c'mon, Seth, just go join AEW already. Match was entertaining but my God was this a dull show. **1/2

AEW DYNASTY

The Liacouras Center, Philly

CRU (ACTION ANDRETTI & LIO RUSH) & NICK WAYNE vs. AR FOX & TOP FLIGHT (DANTE MARTIN & DARIUS MARTIN) (11:16): The last AEW PPV, Revolution, was one of the best they've ever done...so it was fairly obvious this show would get some negative feedback. First off, the card wasn't good. The only match on paper that seemed like it would be excellent was the Omega 3-way. The last PPV we had Ospreay and Fletcher doing a Spanish Fly off of a cage and Toni Storm and Mariah May dipping their taped up hands in glass and punching each other. That was kind of hard to live up to and, honestly, they didn't really even try. The negative feedback seemed to be centered on two things: the show was too long (it ended at 12:21 AM on a Sunday night...meaning people had to work the next day) and everyone hated the main event ending. Considering I never watch these shows live, the length never bothers me. I just watch it in 2-3 chunks. The main event ending wasn't bad...it's just that people didn't like that Swerve didn't win. This was not a typical, excellent AEW PPV, though. It was entertaining throughout. And this first match on the pre-show was fantastic. The crowd was on their feet going crazy when AR Fox was doing back and forth over-the-top-rope dives from both sides of the ring like a mad man. I really wish they'd do something with Nick Wayne because he was a big star on the indie scene and AEW hasn't really done much of anything with him. Top Flight used to be a top team and they're pretty much just a low-card, forgettable team now with no future. Still, the match was a lot of fun. *** 

ANTHONY BOWENS vs. MAX CASTER (0:40): Considering AEW rarely uses a ton of talent for whatever reason, it's odd that Max Caster has been getting a ton of TV time lately for no good reason. He comes out and shows off his "Best Wrestler Alive" trademark plaque then loses quickly to someone in a squash. This might've been cute, like, once or twice. It seems like they do it all the time. Is this going anywhere? This time, Anthony Bowens came out to a big crowd pop. He's been gone for awhile for no good reason. Maybe they shouldn't have broken up this tag team? 1/2*

WILL OSPREAY vs. KEVIN KNIGHT (13:46): One reason that this card wasn't good was that it had a bunch of matches like this that were just random TV matches thrown on a PPV. I mean...at least we got a Will Ospreay match, and it was a great match. Kevin Knight used to be in a team with Kushida in NJPW. AEW just signed him. He's fun to watch but he's just going to end up in those forgettable, purposeless Top Flight type of random matches you'll see on Collision sometimes. The crowd was great tonight for awhile (they got tired late). They cheered for everything Ospreay did. The crowd even started doing European chants during the Toni Storm match which was jarring. This was the first round of the Owen Hart cup. The winner, which presumably will be Ospreay, gets a title shot at All In Texas. ***

THE HURT SYNDICATE (BOBBY LASHLEY & SHELTON BENJAMIN) vs. THE LEARNING TREE (BIG BILL & BRYAN KEITH) (10:29): I said this card wasn't any good, right? Well, here's another one. The Learning Tree is pretty much a joke. The Hurt Syndicate is a heel team that the audience loves so now they're baby faces. MJF wants to join The Hurt Syndicate so he popped up in the front row and hit Big Bill with his ring. I'm guessing this is leading to a Bobby Lashley vs. MJF match? I don't really get it, either. Match wasn't good. *1/2

MERCEDES MONE vs. JULIA HART (13:03): This was the first round of the Owen Cup which presumably Mercedes will win so she can face Toni Storm at All In Texas. I love Julia Hart because she's a cute 20 year old gymnast. She's not a very entertaining wrestler, though. This wasn't very good. *1/2

DEATH RIDERS (PAC, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & WHEELER YUTA) vs. RATED FTR (CASH WHEELER, DAX HARWOOD & COPE) (14:43): After the match, FTR turned on Edge and laid him out and gave him the Conchairto. That was memorable. The match wasn't. FTR is heel now. I think they used to be a few years ago, right? You kind of have to figure Edge will get a partner to face FTR. The only partner I can come up with is Christian, right? Christian was a babyface when he started in AEW. Hell, he wrestled Omega on the first ever Collision when Omega was a heel champ with Don Callis as his manager. That match was excellent. I mean...FTR vs. Edge & Christian at All In Texas would be a pretty big match. I honestly don't even remember if this match was any good but the post-match was great. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. MEGAN BAYNE (15:23): Megan Bayne is this tall, blonde woman with giant fake tits. So...I get why they're pushing her. She's not the greatest in-ring talent, though, even though she came from Stardom. The match was fine but nothing special. Toni retained her title with a roll up. *1/2

KYLE FLETCHER vs. MARK BRISCOE (16:06): This was, shockingly, the best match on the show. Holy, shit, this match was awesome. It was another Owen Cup match. Fletcher beat the living shit out of Briscoe. He gave him power bombs on the ring apron and the guardrail. His running kicks to Briscoe's face were insane. This was All Japan mid-90's type of hard-hitting brutality. The crowd ate this up. I loved this. ***1/2

BANDIDO vs. CHRIS JERICHO (18:12): This match had all the cornball cliche of an Arena Mexico match in, like, the 1960's. First off, Bandido hasn't looked that great since his return. Granted, he was out with an injury for, like, two years or something preposterous. Jericho won by hitting Bandido with a baseball bat when the ref wasn't looking. For some reason, this match had instant replay and the ref reversed it when Bandido's mother and sister and ringside mentioned the bat shot to the ref. The match was re-started and Bandido won the ROH title and kept his mask (the stipulation had him losing the mask if he lost). I mentioned a few years ago that Jericho shouldn't be in singles matches anymore. I'm standing by that! Match was kind of dull. When the ref re-started the match, Bandido's mother and sister were ringside jumping up and down cheering. Like I said, this was cornball cliche out of another era. **

ADAM COLE vs. DANIEL GARCIA (15:35): This hot, packed Philly crowd was pretty quiet for this one. They come to AEW shows to see high flying and blood. They don't want to see a regular wrestling match. This was a regular wrestling match. Adam Cole has cooled off since his high in the summer of 2023 when he teamed with MJF. Garcia lost the TNT title here and I don't think anyone cared. Oh, well. It probably didn't help that this match was the 3rd in a month between these two. *1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. 'SPEEDBALL' MIKE BAILEY vs. RICOCHET (30:56): Everyone said this match was too long. I guess it was? My problem was that a singles match between Omega and either guy would've been better. It was too stop-start with three wrestlers in there and it didn't have that dramatic flow, it was pretty much just high spots. It was very entertaining, though, and Omega looked great. The Philly crowd woke up for this one to chant about Ricochet being bald. ***

JON MOXLEY vs. SWERVE STRICKLAND (31:14): This was a classic WWE clusterfuck main event. What that means is...you get the ref bump, the announce table break, and a ton of interference. It did at least make this interesting, because before all of that happened the match was kind of dull. Marina Shafir came into the ring with the briefcase (which has the world title). Prince Nana ran into the ring but Marina hit him with the briefcase. Moxley gave Marina an RKO by accident. Eventually, 'Hangman' Adam Page ran out. He was ready to give either Moxley or Swerve a Buckshot Lariat (the storyline is...we don't know who he was going to take out). PAC, Wheeler, and Claudio ran out. Samoa Joe, Hook, and Shibata ran out to make the save. After they all brawled to the back, Moxley pulled out a ladder from under the ring (it should be noted that this was not a no-DQ match or anything). Swerve and Moxley were brawling on the ladder by the announce table. Swerve jumped off the ladder to give Moxley a stomp through the table that broke. That was a great spot. The ref was knocked out with a thrown chair somewhere during this mele. The lights went out. When the lights came on, The Young Bucks had Swerve in the ring and they gave him the EVP double knee. The ref woke up and Moxley pinned Swerve to retain the title. Okay. Deep breath. That was a lot. It was entertaining even though everyone online seemed to hate it. The Young Bucks are still heels? I kind of thought they'd return as good guys. They've been gone for 6 months. They did wrestle twice this year for NJPW in Japan (they won and lost the tag titles). And where's Jack Perry? Why does AEW have a black hole where talent disappears? Like...where's Britt Baker? I did give a lot of matches on this show low ratings so it certainly wasn't a great show or anything but it entertained me throughout and the crowd was awesome for a lot of it. **1/2