#LAWTAKE - WWE WRESTLEMANIA XL (NIGTHT TWO) 4/7/24
We bykeeee! Night Dos of WrestleMania 40 has conceded and this was easily better than Night Uno for me. Wanna know about it via my eyes? I was in Philly seeing up-close just how everyone was feeling the electricity in the buildings when Cody Rhodes got that pinfall, better yet Roman Reigns taking that pinfall. Check out the #LawTake for Night Two below, right now, right now.
Meek Mill wasn’t on deck but he did provide the theme for the night somewhat. It’s Philly, it’s the Chasers! Hopefully he doesn’t take things to Twitter to crash out on his opps on the cusp of this mega-millions promotion of his recent EP.
Opening the night with a Shane Taylor Promotions live performance of God Bless America was pretty cool. Glad we got to see black singers hold it down with the opening performances this weekend. Chrisette Michelle somewhere swinging at the air like Tre from Boyz N The Hood.
Stephanie Levesque is back and she is without her patented Lil’ Kim theme song, which I figure is not the best of timing for that artist to be doing Steph’s theme at a time like this.
If any doubt of Stephanie Mcmahon’s where-abouts were in question, consider that 86’ed. She’s not a prominent on-screen character but she’s still one of the pillars of the WWE and the audience treated her as such.
Drew and Seth opened up the show for the World Heavyweight Title & to be honest I like that the “work horse” World Title opens PPV’s. It leaves the rest of the card with a “top that” feel until it’s time for a Universal Title main event.
Seth Rollins came out Mardi Gras-down in Philly. The streak of outlandish outfits continues.
Drew Mac was dominant out the gate, hitting a total of FOUR Claymore’s in probably one of my favorite matches of the whole night. The action felt fast paced and didn’t lack at all.
Drew was so obsessed with CM Punk (sitting on Commentary and was kept out there through the pre-show) throughout the match, down to the end, that it’s gotta mean he’s resigned. Why would he go through such a character revamp to just end up being All Elite?
Drew finally gets his sought-after World Title win in front of fans. The three time World Champion is activated! Ready to lead the Raw brand, be the dominant heel/tweeter he was destined to be…
… until all the gloating in front of CM Punk’s face would ignite Punk to attack Drew himself.
This caused Damian Priest to finally reverse the recent string of bad luck MITB cash-ins. One South of Heaven later and a classic CM Punk spin-around meme being born, Damian Priest will in fact lead WWE Raw moving forward.
The right call with Priest winning. A strong bounce back from losing the Tag Titles last night on Night One. Now he and Rhea are the dominant champions of Raw. Let the cracks of “who is the real leader?” Begin!
Please don’t let Drew be All Elite.
WWE and Nick Khan miss no dollars. Gin & Juice as a sponsor? This company is one of a damn kind.
Snoop Dogg on commentary is wonderful. He can really make a match nobody would care about mean something.. anything.
Bubba Ray Dudley came out as the surprise special guest referee for the Philly Street Fight looking as close to Alex Jones as possible. Ha!
I would love if Bubba Ray ended up in a creative/booking space with AEW but with the way his WWE affiliations be kicking in.. I don’t think that’ll ever happen.
B-Fab is so cute but she’s such a non-factor. I almost thought she was in this match if not for her part of the match graphic and her walking to the ring with Lashley.
B-Fab got to have a WrestleMania match/moment before Swerve and Top Dolla. Wicked.
I don’t wish unemployment on wrestlers but I can see half of this Philly Street Fight not being in WWE a year or two from now.
“The Street Warriors” as future TNA Tag Team Champions or Montez as a future X Division champion is not far-fetched.
I said this same thing about Mustafa Ali last year and now look at him. It’s not a knock at all.
Karrion Kross really is better bald.
The Final Testament with the Toni Storm filter for this entrance.
Watching three white men attack a black man with Kendo Sticks was the vibes for the opening portions of this match.
Lashley vs Kross at WrestleMania Backlash in some gimmick match now loading.
No way Karrion Kross gets a title shot against Cody or Damian any time soon, maybe Lashley, so I just see these two entangled in a feud all Summer.
Street Profits and Lashley get the W after a Bully Ray/Dudley Boyz table/headbutt callback spot erupted. Montez with the smoothest frog splash out.
With one table breaking before anyone even went through it, Botchamania youtube channel is going to have a field day with this weekend.
Snoop Dogg said he gotta go back to the green room to celebrate with the team. The VKM era is over.
LA Knight can’t get a WWE title belt but he for sure is the face of Slim Jim. Former TNA World Champion, NWA Tag Team Champion, Million Dollar Champion, and now current undisputed Slim Jim Champion.
AJ Styles debuts his TNA heel/Lone Wolf theme song tonight and the crowd online and in person probably did not want that. They don’t want none, nope.
Two former TNA World Champions colliding is a normal occurrence in WWE and I love it.
AJ & Styles looked very into this match. They had to have known they were in a sink-or-swim position on this card since they had nothing at stake other than a victory over the other.
LA Knight wins clean with a BFT and AJ Styles continues to hold L’s in singles matches. Rough few years for AJ Styles in the WWE despite always being one of the better wrestlers in the company.
If LA Knight isn’t next in line for the U.S. Title, I just see him and Styles getting ran back one more time or two at WrestleMania Backlash and then at Blood Money in Saudi. Gimmick matches galore otw!
That match was good, but it felt like CAW at times when we play WWE 2K. Dom, Finn, Seth, Sami, Gable, either two combo’s could have had that same match as LA and AJ and that’s just a testament to WWE’s video game supremacy.
King and Queen of the Ring returns this Spring. That should be pretty cool for whoever wins. At least we are guaranteed WRESTLING on these weekly products, featuring people that rarely get camera time at that.
My predictions for KOTR & QOTR… I’m going Tiffany Stratton as the Queen. If she wins that or not, I also see Tiffany becoming MITB winner this year. As for the King… I think Gable or Shinsuke win it to reheat their gimmicks.
As much as I appreciate the fast paced, action packed matches tonight; punches need to be taught properly or eliminated and replaced with bitch slaps. Randy Orton and a select few might be one of the last people I watch across any company that can make a punch look believable.
The US Title Triple Threat was going to be good by default just because of the names involved.
Logan Paul can’t be stopped! That man is a future World Heavyweight Champion. You’d swear he was wrestling Will O’Spreay and Okada in Japan for years the way he moves with precision sometimes.
Randy Orton getting a strong WrestleMania look after missing what, the last two years? Holy smokes. That was a great sight.
Kevin Owens aka Mr. Main Event does not get to main event night one of WrestleMania for the first time in two years. This US Title match is anyone’s ball game.
Kicking out of a brass knuckle punch… what in the AEW Dynamite is going on here?
The streamers have taken over entirely as I So Speed from Twitch or Kick or whatever platform you use was revealed under the Prime mascot outfit and not KSI as I predicted. Mans took a helluva RKO on the announce table.
Of all the retentions this weekend, Rhea & Logan Paul keeping their belts is a strong sign of how much WWE values those two as the future. Oh and they also had a really good episode together on Logan’s ImPAULsive Podcast.
Samantha Irvin is really the GOAT Ring Announcer across any companies. Her enthusiasm and vocals are just outta this world.
Thunderbolt Patterson’s drunk grandfather rambling promo from the #WWEHOF has been living rent free in my mind all weekend.
The SMACKDOWN Women’s Title match is up next with Bayley & Io. Before and after the bell rings, you couldn’t name three of your favorite main roster Io title defenses off the top of your head.
We didn’t get any Bayley Buddies tonight which was odd. Instead, we got her in an Egyptian Goddess type of entrance. Word. That was random as hell and one of the more awkward parts of the night in terms of entrances.
I wish Bayley put me in a Bayley-to-Belly.
Io Sky even being Women’s Champion for as long as she has surprised me. She really coasted with that belt. It’s time for a major reset although I just see more Bayley/Damage Control back-and-forth title matches.
Dakota Kai will be the heel to watch out for within the next 12 months. I keep saying this and I don’t doubt it.
I’m glad this match went on clean. Just really good maneuvers and pacing. The reversals, the Moonsaults, everything. Easily one of both Io & Bayley’s best title matches, ever. Ever. I think I even liked this more than the Rhea match.
No bullshit faction run-ins or referee bumps.. just right to the point wrassling with a decisive ending. I love when we get this type of booking.
Brandi Rhodes joins Cody Rhodes via the Codyvator for the first time since his return. It’s main event time!
During this Universal Title video package we got cameos from The Bucks, Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega. What a lovely tip of the hat from WWE. Fast forward to Wednesday on Dynamite when we watch AEW try to fight for survival with their upcoming card headlined by the Bucks trying to sabotage CM Punk from the other side of the fence.
Cody Rhodes has had a helluva last three Wrestlemania’s, going 2-1 since his official return. If not Cody, then who? I couldn’t even begin to think of who on that roster would be able to fill Cody Rhodes’ shoes with the path he’s walked since leaving AEW. It’s been there, done that with a lot of the top main event talent. Cody is as refreshing as it gets.
No MJF sighting everyone so now you can all keep your commentary quiet and just anticipate his return to AEW.
You can’t be a professional wrestler and not want to perform, let alone headline, a WRESTLEMANIA. It’s the Super Bowl of Pro-Wrestling. But like some of your favorite Independent rappers, signing to the major label just ain’t for them.
This main event was going to be a long experience filled with chaos and pandemonium and not really until the final stretches did the chaos erupt.
The only move missing from this main event was Cody hitting a One Wing Angel on Roman only for him to kick out.
Hey whatever became of those Bloodline Rules? “Laaaaaaaaaaaazyyyyyyy booooooking” (Corny voice)
Roman putting the table back under the ring after Cody took it out was subtle yet nice to keep the balance of Roman being booed and Cody being cheered.
Jimmy Uso pulled a Solo before Solo could and stopped Cody from getting a good pinfall. Jey’s music was just casually on standby ready to cue up so he could battle his brother on the ramp as we prepare for a long summer of these two having some stinkers in the ring. Gimmick matches only for these two PLEASE.
With Jimmy being taken off the stage via a body splash through a table by Jey, Solo was able to stop Roman from hitting his multiple Cross Roads.
I will be so happy to enjoy months and montbs of not seeing Solo run in and Samoan Spike someone to cause a World Title loss.
John Cena returns to avenge his loss to Solo and b-lines it to the ring to whoop ass in only Super Cena fashion.
The Cena bald-spot just gets wavier and wavier. I still don’t think I’m ready for John Cena with a baldy. Nah, don’t do it yet. Let the patch rock.
Cameras made sure to not focus on the bald spot though, down to John slicking his hair back multiple times.
The Rock returns right in time to give a call back to his series with Cena. Included with a slew of F-bombs. I love this shit yo!
Rock and Cena got their WrestleMania X8 stare at the crowd moment off before Rock disposed of Cena with one Rock Bottom that would melt Cena into the ring and out of cameras.
This allows for… wait what, THE SHIELD music?? Considering it’s trending, EVERYONE thought Dean Ambrose was making a cameo. Yeah we were clearly delusional. Seth Rollins in Shield gear attempts to be Cody’d aforementioned shield yet again and that’s a fact because Roman knocks Seth out cold before he could even touch The Rock.
Roman will never cut his hair because then he can’t call out spots for the match. Ha!
Just as the Bhrama Bull was about to bullwhip everyone, the lights went out and The Undertaker makes a surprise return to pop the entire arena. Dressed in his American Badass garms for a change, I dug it. Let the Deadman character just stay dead.
We watched The Undertaker in jeans and a hoody and a skully Chokeslam The Rock in a Versace shirt like this was dead ass 2000 Triple H WWF Champion era. The IWC was right, the Attitude Era is back.
Roman calls back the decade-long spot of Seth turning on him with the steel chair but not using a chair on Cody but instead attacking the Shield that was Seth Rollins. This, in the end, would cost him. Seth, albeit on the losing end all weekend, was the best scapegoat for Cody and really was poetic how this turned out.
Three Cross Roads later and Samantha Irvin let out one of the most genuinely excited and emotional announcing of a NEWWWW WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion ever.
Yes, shenanigans entirely included this was one of the best WrestleMania main events of all time. If we had no Bloodline Rules or whatever was made of them, we would just be having a repeat of last year’s match but with a clean Cody win and who wants that lack of drama?
Michael Cole on commentary was amazing for this whole encounter. When asked what becomes of the Bloodline now, Cole just replied “WHO CARES”
Cody Rhodes as WWE Champion still feels surreal to watch but the last two years has been built to make him look as credible as possible. Genuinely happy this Bloodline/Cody feud has ceased because the run-ins and chaos of this whole match I just don’t want to see again. I need a good YEAR before I see Roman/Cody 3.
Cody Rhodes will never be a heel in WWE. Supreme John Cena levels now loading.
If Cody ends up not having a year and a half long title reign after all of this, what are we even doing?
Cameos from Triple H, Nick Khan, Bruce Prichard, CM Punk, Sami Zayn, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, the entire Rhodes family to help Cody bring in his first WWE Title will be a remembered image for years to come when selling the idea of being apart of the WWE.
Again, this still feels surreal seeing Cody finally win the big one and not end the night with us being trolled by booking & another eye-rolling Roman retention after a bucket of interference.
We are truly in the new era of WWE and I love the shit. 10/10 night, combined with last night’s 7/10 for me, I think this show equals out to a 8/10 between both nights. Way more excitement and time to let things breathe as opposed to feeling rushed. Now we are onto the Raw AFTER Mania my pals..