WrestleMania Night 1: Five takeaways from shocking night for WWE
WrestleMania Night 1: Five takeaways from shocking night for WWE
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WWE's Paul Heyman says CM Punk's WrestleMania's match was 20 years in the making
WWE Hall of Famer, Paul Heyman, shares the little known backstory of how CM Punk's WrestleMania 41 main event was decades in the making.
WrestleMania 41 Night 1 was full of action.
Titles changed hands. Bitter rivals faced off. Backs were stabbed.
Even with one more night to go, there is much to parse from the biggest wrestling event of the year. Here are the five top takeaways from WrestleMania on Saturday:
Paul Heyman always pays his debts
Seth Rollins refrained from delivering a stomp to Paul Heyman only to inform the wiseman that he now owed him a favor, a nod to the favor CM Punk cashed in to have Heyman in his corner ― and not that of Roman Reigns — for the triple threat match that headlined WrestleMania Night 1.
That favor was certainly returned to Rollins on Saturday.
Heyman delivered cheap shots to both Reigns and Punk ― two superstars to whom he was once loyal — to side with Rollins, who pinned Reigns for the main-event victory.
It was a shocking conclusion to WrestleMania on Saturday. A Rollins-Heyman alliance would have been the last thing anyone expected to see a month ago, but it's now a reality. Where does a revitalized Rollins, with the wiseman in his corner, go from here?
At WrestleMania, where many expect storylines to end, this Heyman love triangle only seems to be beginning.
Queen without a throne
The surprise result of the night was Tiffany Stratton's victory over Charlotte Flair to retain her WWE Women's Championship. Flair, who won the 2025 Royal Rumble, seemed likely to prevail to add to her resume and unseat the young Stratton.
The question now is how the queen navigates without a throne. Flair's biggest draw is her championship pedigree. WWE considers her a 14-time world champion, just two shy of her father and wrestling legend Ric Flair. John Cena (16 titles) could break Flair's record at WrestleMania Night 2.
It could lead to an interesting storyline of Flair campaigning to regain the record for her family, which is the chief reason a Flair victory on Saturday felt inevitable; it would have set the stage for Flair's charge should Cena break the record.
Instead, Flair was defeated by Stratton, who is perhaps the company's most popular female superstar. It will be interesting to see how Flair pivots from the defeat and how that pairs with a potential future crusade to reclaim the Flair record.
Gimmick Gable gets his glory
You have to wonder if a win by El Grande Americano was the plan all along, or if an audible was called after an injured Rey Mysterio was replaced by Rey Fenix for the match. Either way, Fenix and Americano put on a fine match that ended with Americano using a steel plate inserted into his mask to knock off Fenix, who was making his WrestleMania debut.
For Gable, who is clearly the man behind the American luchador mask, has been soul-searching for months after enduring a rough streak against luchadors. The Uber-talented Gable had been underutilized, considering his elite talent in the ring and on the microphone. At the end of the day, if it takes a silly gimmick to give Gable his flowers, so be it.
The werewolf is unleashed
It was only a matter of time before Jacob Fatu found himself with gold around his waist. Fatu is incredibly athletic, given his physique, and put it on full display in Saturday's United States Championship match against LA Knight. It was the match of the night after the main event.
Fatu deserves some spotlight. And the potential storylines to come are plentiful, given his Bloodline connections and ruthless demeanor. This is the new title reign I'm most excited to see play out.
A revolutionary entrance
I love "Cult of Personality" as much as the next guy, but Seth Rollins gets the nod for entrance of the night over CM Punk.
The eccentric superstar came out in a black outfit and shooting a flamethrower — his theme music begins with "Burn it down" ― before the lights went dark and, as the crowd continued singing the iconic melody to his theme, he then appeared again dressed in white and glowing on stage. It had the visuals, crowd involvement and the surprise factor.
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