The main event of WrestleMania 40 saw Cody Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns for the second year in a row.
Both men had epic entrances fit for an event of this magnitude, and Brandi Rhodes made an appearance with her husband. Reigns had an orchestra play him to the ring.
Once they finally got going, they circled each other until Rhodes pushed Reigns to the corner. Despite this match being under Bloodline Rules, they worked a standard match at first with holds, counters and takedowns like we would see in any other bout.
Once The Tribal Chief was sent into the ring post, Rhodes decided it was time to pull out a table. Reigns hit a drive-by dropkick and put the table back under the ring just to make the crowd angry.
They battled in the ring, at ringside and in the crowd. They used weapons, parts of the set and anything else they could find that would inflict damage.
This was much better than their tag match on Saturday and illustrated why these two men deserve to be in this spot. They combined good wrestling with storytelling to make a compelling main event.
As with any main event world title bout, there were several false finishes to build anticipation for the pin that would eventually end the contest, including near-falls with both men using each other's finishing move.
Both Usos showed up and ended up crashing through a bunch of tables next to the stage to take each other out. Solo Sikoa showed up and almost cost Rhodes the match, but John Cena ran down and fought Sikoa off before hitting Reigns with an Attitude Adjustment.
The Rock walked down to give us the Black Adam vs. Peacemaker showdown we will never get in the movies. He hit a Rock Bottom before The Shield's music hit. Seth Rollins showed up with a chair, but Reigns cut him off with a Superman Punch.
WWE @WWEUNDERTAKER!!!!!!<a href="">#WrestleMania</a> <a href="">
The crowd erupted when The Undertaker's gong sounded. He appeared in the ring behind The Rock and hit a chokeslam before exiting in the dark as quickly as he arrived.
After Reigns took out Rollins with a chair, The American Nightmare grabbed him and hit three Cross Rhodes to finally defeat The Tribal Chief.
This was overbooked in the best possible way and provided a satisfying conclusion to the 40th annual WrestleMania. As the new champion celebrated, several members of the roster joined him in the ring.
Result: Rhodes defeated Reigns
Notable Moments and Observations
- Before the match, Snoop Dogg was in the ring with the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders to announce the attendance of 72,755.
- Rhodes and Reigns both had great entrances with a lot of bells and whistles. The American Nightmare's skull mask was great.
- It took almost 20 minutes from the time WWE began the hype video until the match began.
- Reigns randomly using a Perfectplex was a nice surprise.
- Orton hugging Rhodes in celebration at the end felt like a full-circle moment.
