6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 40 - Night 2 (Results & Review)

2. WWE Lands The Plane

Above all else, WWE finally finished its biggest story Sunday night, capping off a years-long Bloodline saga that stretched back to mid-2020 and chewed a ton of scenery along the way.

Roman Reigns’ World Title reign lasted 1,316 days, which ranks fourth in company history. His run with the title lasted far longer than anyone could have assumed, and when Cody Rhodes fell short at WrestleMania 39, the saga took on a different tone. Adding The Rock to the mix only ramped things up even more, making this more of a soap opera than a wrestling angle.

In Rhodes, WWE had the consummate professional, the guy who looked, acted, and talked like the World Champion despite not having the title, but they inexplicably decided to wait a full year before finally pulling the trigger on the title change. Even with the company blatantly signposting that Cody had to win this year, there still was the doubt that they either wouldn’t follow through, or they would somehow botch it by doing a half-hearted job.

Instead, Cody – with a little help from a cast of thousands – vanquished the Bloodline once and for all, the Avengers: Endgame conclusion to this saga. He put Roman down and pinned him in the center of the ring, with the Tribal Chief's family laid out and no one left to save him.

Triple H started WrestleMania 40 off by telling fans this was the beginning of a new era. Stephanie McMahon reminded everyone Sunday night that it was a new era. And Cody, after defeating the guy who was the centerpiece of WWE programming for the past decade, declared it a new era.

The degree to which this is deemed a success will be written in the weeks, months, and years ahead, but credit must be given to finally reaching this point and turning the page.