7 Match Star Ratings From WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 1

3. Jade Cargill, Naomi & Bianca Belair Vs. Damage CTRL

The Rock three stars
WWE

Jade Cargill, Naomi and Bianca Belair defeated Damage CTRL in a lovely and effective throwback to a simpler time. Many people grew up on those first WrestleManias, with loads of short matches comprising the undercard. This was such a neat way of looking kids for life. Those matches played to the attention span of the young child and featured visually striking and incredibly strong babyfaces kicking ass and overcoming the baddies in short, lean, impactful matches. This was that, nothing more, and it didn't need to strive for anything else. 

The only thing missing from the presentation was a purple sky and lightning in the background. 

The match was built around the impact of Jade Cargill, and her stuff was incredible. Bianca dusted off her special occasion hair whip signature in another cool moment that was built towards with simple, enduring basics. 

An aesthetic treat, while it was hardly the best nor most heated attraction on the night, it was all an undercard match often needs to be in an age of constant asterisk-chasing back-and-forth.

Star Rating: ★★★ 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!