5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)

Roman Reigns conquers Brock Lesnar, Vince McMahon wrestles, Johnny Knoxville & Pat McAfee rule.

Roman Reigns
WWE

After a fabulous first night on which the stunning highs greatly outweighed the relatively insignificant lows, WrestleMania 38's second half was an inconsistent struggle lacking the cathartic peaks of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's in-ring return and Bianca Belair's Raw Women's Championship triumph over Becky Lynch.

38 ended up similar to 37 in that regard - albeit with a full crowd. This year's event was unquestionably made better by a packed-out Dallas audience that maintained its energy across both nights, only wavering when the content presented to them didn't hit. At least from the perspective of a home viewer, burnout wasn't a thing, as Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns were both received rapturously for their grand finale.

But yes, this was like WM 37 in that the first night greatly outperformed the second. A shame, though it's not like this show wasn't without its highlights.

Reigns and Lesnar settled their long-running beef in their hotly-anticipated 'Winner Take All' match, marketed, cynically, as the biggest in WrestleMania history. Elsewhere, Johnny Knoxville provided celebrity entertainment against Sami Zayn, another long-missing WWE veteran returned to the ring, Edge and AJ Styles contested their dream match, and more.

Let's get stupendous...

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.