WrestleMania Night Two: Another Disaster or A Step in the Right Direction?
After a disastrous night one, how did night two of wrestling’s biggest event fair?
There are always concerns when live events decide to do shows over multiple nights. It often leads to unnecessary comparisons, and disappointment when expectations are not met. This seems to be the case with every 2-night show WWE does. However, after what seemed to be an irredeemable WrestleMania weekend after night one, WWE more than made up for it with night 2.
Simply put, fans were not happy with how night one turned out. It was a show that was plagued with terrible booking decisions, an unbalanced schedule and ads that ran for more than half of the show’s runtime (you can read my review here!). WWE really had to show out with night two to regain some level of satisfaction with the product. With another 3-hour show in front of them, did they deliver enough to make up for the day prior?
Runtime
It is no news to anyone that night one was abysmal in terms of wrestling content. There were more ads than wrestling for a wrestling event. We had a match for a major women’s title be under 7 minutes. We had celebrity entrances taking up more time than the talent’s time in the wrong. This was my biggest concern going into night two, were we going to give the wrestlers enough time to showcase their skills or was it going to be another 3-hour ad break? Here were the matches and their runtime:
Matches & Match Length: WrestleMania Night two:
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi — 4 minutes 46 seconds
Ladder Match (Intercontinental Title) - 15 minutes
Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams (United States Title) — 9 minutes
Demon Finn Balor vs. Dominic Mysterio — 13 minutes
Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s Universal Championship)- 10 minutes
Roman vs. Punk (World Heavyweight Championship) - 34 minutes
Though there was still too much time given to ads, each match got a little more time to breathe. This gave the talent more time to let their match play out and showcase each number correctly. We saw much less botches on night two compared to night one. Overall, WWE needs to look at the package they are presenting overall and give way less time to ads. There were matches where the talents entrances were cut in place of ads – which really shows were the products head space is at right now. Dragon Lee had a beautiful presentation, showcasing custom-made dragon wings that the televised audience did not experience because of Hulk Hogan’s Netflix Ad.
Entrances
Speaking of entrances, night two really went the extra mile with how the wrestlers displayed their characters! As stated above, Dragon Lee had custom dragon wings made for his entrance. Penta came out as Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat – and while it was a promotion for Mortal Kombat II film coming out in May, it still looked bad ass! Just a few seconds after Dominic Mysterio marched to the ring with after jumping off a thrown carried by Luchadores, Demon Finn Balor gave us the best entrance of the night, with red and black confetti shooting out of the entire arena, giving us the idea that we were in his domain. We also got high glam moments like Jade Cargill coming out in a gorgeous tool outfit that color-matched with her hair, giving us the illusion of a storm walking towards the ring. Trick Williams rose from under the stage and walked down the runway in what is probably the longest train I’ve ever seen on a cape. These outfits really showcased that wrestling doesn’t always have to be edgy and cool, it can also have a campy high-fashion side to it!
Decisions… Decisions…
Probably the most important part to any wrestling show is the results. Not only can it kill a live crowd, but it can really turn away people from watching the product in the future. Selecting the wrong winner (sorry for spoiling it, it’s predetermined!) can really spoil things for the coming months. We saw examples of this after night one, when we saw Cody retain his title. Though the reasoning is behind an injury, fans seem to be upset at having to see Cody keep this title reign going. Now when it comes to night two, they had a chance to regain the trust of their viewers.
Immediately, as the show begins, the “Oba” chants can be heard roaring throughout the crowd of 50,000+ people. He shimmied his way down the ring and as the drums beat and his theme music played. This is the ‘Future’ of the WWE, but to prove that he must take down The Beast, Brock Lesnar. WWE has spent decades building Lesnar up as this unstoppable force AND immovable object. I remember being a kid and being terrified of this guy simply for how big he is. We have seen him bury John Cena who is considered to be the greatest of all time in a 5-minute match to open shows before, and that did not end well (look up Wrestlepalooza 2025 reactions). If they did not book this correctly, the night would have already been ruined. I am pleased to say that Oba absolutely decimated Brock in under 5 minutes. Not only did he beat him, but Oba threw a 300-pound Lesnar up on his shoulders from a standing position and power bombed him straight into a victory. This decision is not only great for Oba as a future hall of famer, but really got the night started off on a good foot.
The next match was the ladder match for the Intercontinental title (IC title for short). We saw Penta defend his championship against JD Mcdonaugh, Dragon Lee, Rey Mysterio, Jevon Evans and Rusev. Truthfully, the outcome of this match did not matter much considering the mid card on Raw, where the IC title lives, seems to be in a great position with the stars that are active in its rotation. However, this did not take away from the excitement of this match. With 5 cruiserweights and one big man, this match was nothing short of exhilarating.
We then saw Sami Zayn defend the United States Title (US title for short) against Trick Williams in what was possibly the most controversial match going into night two. This is because of the decision to take the title from Carmelo Hayes during the ‘Road to WrestleMania’ and put on Sami in hopes to boost show draw. As most of you might know, the wrestling fan base can smell decisions like this from a mile away - and they detested the decision. Sami, who is usually the good guy, was now getting booed beyond reason simply because he is holding the title and Carmelo isn’t. The decision to have Trick Williams win the match in a definitive way not only helps Trick Williams grow his characters draw but also takes some of that heat off the US title scene for now. It will be interesting to see how they put Carmelo back into the title conversation, possibly in a rivalry against Trick where they can rehash the feud they had in the past.
I have no notes on the Demon Finn Balor vs Dominic Match. While I love both, this match could have been so much better if it was on night one. The match overall was great but having Finn win also kind of leaves Dominic in this weird mid card spot even though his draw is worthy of the main event. Also, seeing Finn Balor bring out the demon alter ego was so much fun, I only wish they kept it a secret so they can get that crowd pop they are always chasing.
In what was probably the worst Title reign the company in a long time – we saw Jade defending only for the second time in over half a year. This was also against the biggest draw for the women right now. Having Rhea win the match breathes new life into the title, which was beginning to run stale with the two reigns before her victory. We also saw Iyo Sky featured in the match, who was wrongfully left out of the mania card after last minute changes. My only concern is having Rhea on Friday Nights now rather than Monday and what that might do for Raw’s show quality going forward. Also, is Iyo on smackdown now also?
CM Punk vs Roman Reigns has a similar story to the Jade vs Rhea match. A reign that went on for too long and was beginning to run still. For a match that would have looked totally different if Bron Breakker did not suffer an injury a few months ago, both men put on a hell of a show. There was a lot of tension going into this match after weeks of each men cutting promo’s really digging deep into each other’s personal lives. They told a story in front of the crowd and finished it with a great ending. With Roman winning, this gives so much space for new stories going forward, we even saw Oba Femi call him out in the post show – which would be an insane match to see in the future!
At the end, Night two felt like an entirely different even than night one. WWE presented the package much better and really gave the talent more space to showcase their skills. Even though each match had more time, they still give way too much time to ads. If we pay for a show, the ads should really be kept to a minimum. This is to also say that there is no need to promote the same Hulk Hogan documentary for over 40 minutes in two days, I think we get it by now. Night two ended with me being excited for Monday Night Raw tonight and for the future Paid Live Events, which is usually a good sign for live shows like this. We can only hope that they continue to deliver shows like this in the future.
