Thoughts on WrestleMania 41 From a Novice Fan
Somehow in the last year or two, I became a genuine fan of professional wrestling. It started by flicking through cable TV and catching snippets of WWE Smackdown and WWE Raw. I enjoying the theatricality of the performers, the melodramatic storylines, and the impressive athleticism on display. Whatever you think of pro wrestling, doing what these wrestlers do without getting hurt is undeniably impressive.
Since WWE made the move to Netflix, I’ve been able to watch wrestling more often, now including WrestleMania—the WWE’s biggest event of the year. Heading into WrestleMania 41, there was particular excitement around John Cena’s headlining match against Cody Rhodes, following the former’s shocking heel turn. In recent weeks, Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair have also created buzz around their own rivalry with ever more personal attacks.
How, then, did WrestleMania 41 pan out? Reviews and fan reactions to the headlining match between Cena and Rhodes skewed negative. Personally I enjoyed the event overall, since it was the first time I had watched WrestleMania. I didn’t watch the whole two-day event, but mainly stuck to matches I had some particular interest in. Here are my thoughts on those respective matches.
Gunther vs. Jey Uso
Only watched the last few minutes of this one. For whatever reason, I’ve never been a fan of Jey Uso. Nothing about him really jumps out at me, other than his fixation on the word “Yeet”. Gunther is a more interesting and better wrestler in every way, so his tapping out and handing Uso the victory felt like a weak conclusion.
Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
Great match between two fairly evenly matched opponents. I needed some catch-up on the back story between Cargill and Naomi; all I knew was that Bianca Belair and Naomi had been friends and tag team partners before falling out.
Rather than a straightforward babyface vs. heel dynamic, Cargill vs. Naomi was set up as a fight in which both women arguably had legitimate grievances. Jade suffered an outside attack at the hands of Naomi, who in turn was painted as the underdog unfairly sidelined throughout her career. As a relative latecomer to this story, my sympathies leaned towards Naomi winning this match. But Cargill is in superb physical shape and earned her victory here.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair
Easily the highlight of WrestleMania 41 for me. WWE commentators accurately described this match as a battle of attrition, and it was probably the longest wrestling match I’d seen up to that point. Tiffany Stratton said in a subsequent press conference that she had always wanted to portray a “buff Barbie doll”, and her intro into the ring leaned into that as she stepped out of a giant pink Barbie doll case.
Detractors say the WWE pushing Stratton since the 25-year-old former gymnast won the women’s championship at Money in the Bank has been forced. Pitted against longtime veteran Charlotte Flair, Stratton stumbled in an early promo when Flair went off script. At their next promo in the ring, Stratton made it personal by mocking Flair’s three divorces. Yet Flair has earned the disdain of fans by competing in WrestleMania despite her absence during the regular season—a recurring theme at WrestleMania 41, as we shall see.
As in the best wrestling matches, all this buildup meant we were primed for a great fight, and Stratton and Flair delivered. Their protracted battle once again gave me an appreciation for the physical strength and stamina of professional wrestlers. Flair fought dirty and let out her rage against Stratton, who gave as good as she got. My favourite move from Stratton continues to be her signature triple moonsault. Stratton emerged as the victor with a bruise to the forehead.
Many feared Stratton had chipped or lost a tooth, though she countered this claim with a grinning photo on Instagram in which all her teeth appeared intact. Either way, Stratton proved herself deserving of the women’s championship and looks to be set for a long and illustrious career. The WWE is now truly running on “Tiffy time”.
Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
I wasn’t caught up with the story behind this three-way match. Iyo Sky went in as the current women’s world champion and a fan favourite. That’s particularly impressive considering the Japanese star’s limited English. But this match showed how Sky makes up for it with her sheer charisma and ability to rile up the crowd.
Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair are established heavy-hitters and both put in spirited efforts. But Sky, perhaps the most physically slight of the three, managed to emerge the winner by taking advantage of Ripley and Belair focusing on each other. Despite being the first match on Sunday, this was the day’s highlight—which is never a great sign and says a lot about how the headline match went down.
Penta vs. Bron Breakker vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor
“Dirty” Dominik Mysterio was the only wrestler I knew by name in the match for the WWE intercontinental championship, yet I couldn’t recall much of his wrestling beforehand. What mostly stood out in my mind was his dirtbag persona, embodied in his long, greasy mullet and moustache and role in a love triangle where he abandoned then-partner Rhea Ripley for her rival Liv Morgan.
Hadn’t been planning to watch this one, but my brother is a big fan of Penta and I too became a convert after watching the Mexican wrestler’s impressive physicality. Mysterio took home the intercontinental championship, but in my view Penta deserved to win.
Lyra Valkyria & Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
Becky Lynch, aka “The Man”, might still be my favourite wrestler in the women’s divisions were it not for the fact that she has largely left WWE at the moment to focus on motherhood. She had downplayed expectations that she would return to the ring anytime soon, which is what made her return the best surprise of WrestleMania 41—on a tag team with fellow Irishwoman Lyra Valkyria, no less, competing against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
I’m biased given my love for “The Man”, but I was happy to see her and Valkyria successfully defend the women’s tag team titles. Longtime wrestling fans, however, pointed out that heels Morgan and Rodriguez are stalwart performers who have worked their asses off throughout the year, only for Lynch to return out of nowhere at WrestleMania and win.
It’s a valid complaint. I sympathize with fans who think that wrestlers who are current regulars on Smackdown or Raw deserve the titles more than veterans who swoop in only to compete in championship matches. Fans have lately turned against Charlotte Flair and harshly booed her for that reason.
John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes
Here it was, the headlining event of WrestleMania 41 and the one we’d all been waiting for. Cena and Rhodes were both great in the ring. Watching the match with others, it was interesting how all talk died down and everyone focused entirely on the fight. Unfortunately, the match proved something of a disappointment.
Cena winning a record-breaking 17th world championship as a heel, by cheating, was all well and good and a logical progression of his storyline. The problem was the way it happened. A key player in Cena’s heel turn was The Rock, who had demanded Rhodes sell his soul to him. It was who Rock gave Cena the signal that prompted his heel turn. But while he plays the character of a self-absorbed Hollywood big shot in the WWE, The Rock also appears to be one in real life. Evidently he couldn’t be bothered to turn up for the biggest night in wrestling to help wrap up this storyline.
Instead, we got an intervention at the climactic moment from—Travis Scott, a rapper who looks like he weighs about 140 pounds and has no business playing such a key role in this storyline with Cena, one of the WWE’s all-time greats. I don’t blame Scott; if he’s a wrestling fan, why wouldn’t he want to take part? No, blame for this underwhelming conclusion lies with The Rock and WWE CEO Paul Levesque, aka Triple H. The latter shouldn’t have made The Rock such an integral part of this storyline if he couldn’t guarantee Rock would see it through to the end.
Still, good on Cena for capping his career with this record-breaking championship. Considering the undeserved heat he got from fans for years when he played the babyface beloved by kids—a character Cena described as a “goody-two-shoes Superman”—it’s nice to see him win the championship as a heel. Rhodes will likely have another shot at the championship, so here’s hoping he wins it back at the next WrestleMania or sooner. I confess the sheer number of different championships and championships in the WWE can be bewildering for a newcomer.
Final thoughts
As professional wrestling goes, WWE is the corporate behemoth. So it wasn’t surprising to see an onslaught of advertising at the event, often goofy enough to hammer home just how ridiculous corporate sponsorship in sports and entertainment is. Drumstick and Minute Maid both had poor saps dancing in costume as their respective corporate mascots. A company called “Dude Wipes” sponsored the four-way intercontinental championship match.
Considering this was the first WrestleMania I watched, I found the event mostly entertaining. It was surprising how there were no promos in which the wrestlers trash-talked each other in the ring—probably because they’ve been doing that for weeks to build up hype, so fans at this point would want them to get straight to the fights. WrestleMania 41 included some terrific matches; Stratton vs. Flair was legendary as far as I’m concerned. But I can see how fans who have been watching longer might have been disappointed, particularly by the headline match.