7 Match Star Ratings From WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 1
2. GUNTHER Vs. Sami Zayn - Intercontinental Championship
In a completely unexpected and wholly emotional shocker, Sami Zayn dethroned Intercontinental champion GUNTHER.
This was amongst the best last five minutes of any WWE match ever. The main event could have benefitted from a similar sense of pacing because the latter half built impeccably on the first here, where in the last match everything was disjointed and almost pointless. Sami withstood a barrage of GUNTHER's powerbombs and looked done. GUNTHER kept taunting Sami's wife with incredibly smug facial expressions. He had never looked more like he needed knocking off his perch, but he's invincible and never loses, so tough. The sense that GUNTHER had taken it too far and had become too arrogant and entitled to win was palpable.
Sami, deep into the final third and mastering the difficulty of the stage, started to pound the mat. He wasn't going to take that disrespect anymore and, through incredible body language in the spaces between moves, fired up an entire stadium. Sami then smashed GUNTHER with a godddamn brainbustaaaah!
He then did the impossible and only beat him. GUNTHER! GUNTHER lost!
This was great in and of itself but all the more effective equipped with the knowledge that Sami wasn't even meant to work this match. A true WrestleMania classic, a masterclass of pacing, suspense, emotion, body language, everything. The creeping sense of hope that justice simply had to be served was unforgettable. In a total rarity for 2024, this probably could have done with a little more time.
This is what you watch wrestling for.
Star Rating: ★★★★½