The first night of WrestleMania 42 did not go as planned. The show was widely criticized on social media for how short the matches were, how long the commercials were and how prominently the celebrities were featured. Fortunately for WWE, the response to night two has been significantly more positive. That tracked with my own personal viewing experience too. I was disappointed with Saturday, and I absolutely loved Sunday.
Here’s the thing though. All those main criticisms of night one, in theory, could have applied to night two also. Most of the matches weren’t exactly forty-five minute masterclasses. There were, once again, too many commercials, and a celebrity played a very prominent role in one of the finishes. On paper, it has the same problems, but thanks to some key tweaks and strong individual performances, the second night felt so much better. Let’s talk about why.
The Matches Got The Right Length Of Time, Which Made A Big Difference
Night one featured seven matches, and four of them ended in less than nine minutes. Not every match needs twenty minutes, but each one needs to be long enough to tell a coherent story and build up anticipation and momentum. The problem with those four matches on night one is that they all felt like they could have been more with a little additional breathing room. Liv Morgan and Stephanie Vaquer especially seemed like they were just getting warmed up when it ended.
Night two featured six matches, and two of them went less than ten minutes. The first, Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi, was a car crash, big man style match that went just under five minutes and was exactly the length it should have been to make Oba look like the next big thing. The second short match, Trick Williams and Sami Zayn, maybe could have been better with a little more time, but it told a character-building story that elevated Williams and will allow Zayn to fully turn heel. It was right for what it was.
That’s the difference. There’s not some one size fits all formula to spreading out the WrestleMania time. It’s about treating each match as an individual entity and figuring out how long it needs to tell the story you’re trying to tell. Morgan and Vaquer got seven minutes, and it felt like something we would have seen on Raw. Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill got ten minutes, and it felt like they delivered in a really meaningful way. The first match didn't get enough time. The second match got just the right amount of time.
The Celebrity Involvement Was An Enhancement, Not A Distraction
I want to be clear about something. Every celebrity that appeared at WrestleMania took their job seriously and performed as well as can be expected. IShowSpeed, Jelly Roll, Pat McAfee and Lil Yachty all hit their spots and delivered. Because of factors outside of their control, however, their involvements hit very differently with fans.
The first night featured IShowSpeed, Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll. Speed pulled off a wild ringpost frog splash onto the announcer’s table and had some clean in-ring moves, but his actual match, which was part of a six man tag, only went seven minutes. It also featured some sloppy in-ring work from the actual wrestlers and had a screwy finish that felt disjointed and overly goofy. I was impressed with him, but that match itself was poorly executed and awkward.
McAfee and Jelly Roll did their jobs too, but they faced an unhill battle because everyone was already frustrated with the Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes storyline they were a part of heading into ‘Mania. The two wrestlers have decades of history together, and fans wanted to see that explored in the lead-up. Instead, the build was mostly about McAfee’s return to wrestling, which would have been great as a midcard angle but felt desperate and off-tone for a WrestleMania main event. WWE smartly used Jelly Roll and McAfee to (mostly) cancel each other out at the beginning of the match, but there was just too much negative momentum.
On the other hand, Lil Yachty appeared on the second night, and he was a definite value add. He’s been coming out as Trick Williams’ hype man, and his presence feels very natural for a wrestler that’s positioning himself as a pop culture star. Yachty added something to the entrance, and he had a few confrontations outside the ring with Zayn that will help the latter continue his journey to being a full-blown heel.
The Midcard Got A Few Great Moments
Night one technically featured the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, but let’s be honest, Becky Lynch and AJ Lee are not mid-carders. The Women’s Tag Team Championship was also fought for, but once again, most of the women in the match (Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Brie Bella, Paige, Bayley, Nia Jax) don’t feel like mid-carders. They’re current or former main eventers who are currently in the tag team division.
Night two, however, gave moments to people who aren’t exactly in the main event scene, and they delivered the tone changes the show needed. First, we got an insane ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship that featured some of the craziest and most dangerous spots we’ll see on the main roster this year. Penta, JD McDonagh, Rusev, Dragon Lee, Je’Von Evans and even Rey Mysterio all bumped their asses off and got crazy in one of the best high spot matches I’ve ever seen. They all knew the assignment and delivered.
Second, we got a ridiculous segment between The Miz, Kit Wilson, Danhausen and John Cena that included little people, nut pouches and a cloud of smoke that didn’t work as intended. It was a mess in a really fun way and a good reminder that professional wrestling is supposed to hit different emotional beats. When WWE is at its best, it’s not just delivering great matches. It’s delivering comedy and weirdness too.
To Sum Up
The two nights of WrestleMania 42 sound a lot alike on paper. One will be remembered pretty negatively and one will be remembered very positively. It’s not because the talent on one night was better or because the basic structure was meaningfully different. It’s because the second night was put together much more thoughtfully. Matches were given the amount of time they needed to tell the story, which for many was just an extra two or three minutes. The celebrity that was used was integrated thoughtfully in a way that didn’t overshadow what happened. There was real balance with a midcard presence that included both goofy comedy and high-flying acrobatics.
In retrospect, this could have been a two night banger. If Liv and Stephanie had gotten a few more minutes... If the Usos and LA Knight vs The Vision and IShowSpeed was put together like a real match and not an excuse to generate a big moment… If some of the great midcard characters left off the card had been. included… If Jelly Roll and Pat McAfee had been incorporated more thoughtfully into a midcard program and Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes were allowed to tell the story we wanted to see… If only everything would have been treated a little more thoughtfully like it was on night 2, we could just be celebrating a fantastic ‘Mania instead of talking about the stark contrast.
