6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 40 - Night 1 (Results & Review)

1. Bloodline Rules

Any beliefs that The Rock would wrap himself in cotton and protect himself and his movie career from potential injury Saturday night were dispelled by the time that final bell rang.

The main event starts slowly and tentatively enough, but it eventually gave way to a really dramatic bout, with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins coming incredibly close to putting Rock and Roman Reigns away on a few occasions before Cody eventually succumbed to a low blow, spear, Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow to finish his night and ensure that Sunday’s title match is Bloodline Rules.

To his credit, Rock did bump around for the match, including getting put through an announce desk via a Rhodes Rock Bottom. The babyfaces also had an incredible near-fall when Roman accidentally speared Rock and Seth and Cody hit stereo Pedigrees for a super-hot two-count.

However, it was not their night. WWE wisely played with fans’ emotions, drawing strong parallels to last year’s horribly disappointing WrestleMania 39 finish, with Cody locking in the Cross-Rhodes on Roman before outside interference led to him eating a spear and getting pinned, then just sitting there dejected in the ring. The only thing missing Saturday night was a rubber chicken hurled from the audience.

For movie fans, the parallel here is the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity Wars, which depressed the hell out of fans but perfectly set up the heroes to triumph in Avengers: Endgame.

Good match overall, but the last 10-15 minutes were really clutch and completely worth watching if you haven’t seen it.