The Rock, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns face off on WWE SmackDown.
The Rock and Roman Reigns faced off against Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania Night 1. The star-studded main event was billed as the biggest tag team match in WrestleMania history, and after WrestleMania went 38 consecutive WrestleManis without a tag team main event, tonight marks the second straight WrestleMania to be headlined by a tag team match on Night 1.
Everything That Happened During The WrestleMania 40 Main Event
The sponsor for this match was American Home Shield, which is so meta. Get it? Shield? Mama Rhodes was ringside, and Cody Rhodes hugged Mama Rhodes and gave his weightlifting belt to his father-in-law.
Seth Rollins’ entrance went long because the WWE production team was setting up a gigantic outline of a brahma bull on the stage. The Rock made his entrance, wearng a tracksuit and carrying The People’s Championship. Reigns, like Rhodes and Rollins, received his standard entrance with more pyro than usual.
I don’t know if this is an official stat, but I would bet money that the combined time for all four entrances were longer than every WrestleMania match.
Both The Rock and Cody Rhodes received mixed reactions for their entrances. The match began with a big pop and dueling chants of “Rocky” and “Cody.” All four men stood in the ring as they built tension as to which one of these big egos was going to start the match. The Rock deferred to Reigns. The match started with Reigns and Rollins. Fans sang Seth’s song to start the match.
Cody Rhodes begged for a tag, leading to “Cody” chants and a pop when he tagged in. There were dueling chants of “let’s go Cody/Cody sucks!” Rhodes and Reigns didn’t do too much i their WrestleMani Night 2 preview. They exchanged a few holds before Rollins tagged in.
The loudest pop of the match to this point came when The Rock tagged in, setting up Rock and Rollins. Rock got the better of an exchange between himself and Rollins, then did the “Just Bring It” gesture to Cody Rhodes, who tagged in. Rollins and Reigns ultimately teamed up on The Rock before turning their attention to Roman Reigns. 10 minutes in, this match was paced was very slow and relied on the build and crowd reaction.
The violence started and the pace picked up when the match spilled to the outside with Rollins and Rock brawling in the crowd while Reigns and Rhodes brawled on the entranceway. The four stars were outside for several minutes with weapons and no ten count, it was like this match was Bloodline Rules, too.
Once the action returned to the ring the pace slowed back down to build heat for the heels as Reigns locked Rollins in a hold. The Bloodline then dominated as Reigns and Rock did a number on Rollins on the outside. Given the star power of this match, the heat was disappointing to this point.
As Reigns dominated Rollins, fans booed him louder. Rollins hit a neckbreaker on Rhodes, and fans begged for the hot tag. Then The Rock tagged in and put an end to that. Reigns and Rock continued to take turns beating down Seth and neutralizing Rhodes. Rock even slapped on a sharpshooter on Rollins, but back came Rhodes who slapped The Rock, opening the door for a Curb Stomp from Seth. There was a scary-looking spot where Rhodes had too much momentum going for a Cody Cutter on Reigns, but it looked awesome and violent. At this point, the nearfalls were getting much bigger reactions. These were masters of their craft, diligently working a crowd and peaking the match at the right time.
The Rock pulled out the referee while Reigns was dead to rights following a Stomp/Cross Rhodes combo. This led to a Spear from Reigns and a slow count where Cody kicked out and the crowd exploded in cheers.
Inevitably, The Rock grabbed the Mama Rhodes belt and began taunting Mama Rhodes. Rhodes apprehended the belt, dropped it after taking a punch from Rock and hit the Dusty Punches. Rock went or the People’s Elbow and Cody cut him off with a Cody Cutter. An awesome spot that popped Lincoln Financial Field huge.
In a climactic spot, Roman Reigns accidentally speared The Rock. This led to a stereo Cross Rhodes/Pedigree, a double pinfall and a double kickout. “The Link” was boiling-hot now, chanting “this is awesome” and “holy s—t!”
The match spilled outside yet again In another series of “holy s—t” moments, Rhodes Rock Bottomed The Rock through a table (you read that right) and Reigns speared Rollins through a barricade.
There was a “boo/yeah” exchange with the entire stadium booing Reigns’ punches and cheering Cody’s. Rock interrupted a series of Cross Rhodes by whipping Rhodes, who took a Spear from Reigns. Rock demanded to be tagged in, and Reigns obliged. Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Rhodes, threw up the one (not the L) and hit a People’s Elbow for the win. Should Rhodes win tomorrow (which he will), it will set up Rock vs. Cody for the WWE World Championship in the future, and ultimately Rock vs. Reigns. A very well-done spectacle that battled a stubborn crowd and peaked brilliantly.
In a poetic callback, Cody Rhodes sat solemnly in the ring. Dejected and disappointed. This is poetry. This is cinema. Most importantly, it’s professional wrestling.
