WrestleMania 40 Night 2: Cody Rhodes defeats Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship
PHILADELPHIA — The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40 to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
“For the first time ever, a Rhodes can call himself WWE champion,” said announcer Michael Cole, in reference to the fact that Cody had accomplished something his father Dusty Rhodes, the late WWE Hall of Famer, had never done — and something Cody had vowed to do since returning to WWE.
Rhodes delivered three Cross-Rhodes on Reigns before scoring the pin in a marathon match.
The match was held under “Bloodline Rules” after Rhodes and Seth Rollins lost to Reigns and The Rock in a tag-team match on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40.
With no disqualifications, the main event featured a series of run-ins and interference after 20 minutes of incredible individual action between Reigns and Rhodes. The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso‘s interference was countered by his brother Jey Uso. The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa was countered by John Cena, whose return made the crowd roar. That brought out The Rock, who teamed with Reigns against Rhodes and Rollins in the main event of Night 1. That brought out Rollins, in his old “The Shield” gear, only to be taken out by Reigns.
In the night’s most shocking moment, retired superstar The Undertaker appeared in the ring to chokeslam The Rock and neutralize “The Final Boss.”
Soon after, Rhodes was the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, celebrating in the ring with “faces” like Cena, Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, as well as his mother, wife, family and eventually WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
The rest of the night was just as wild, starting with two world title changes in the opening match.
Challenger Drew McIntyre defeated World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins after a series of Claymore kicks. Rollins sold the effects of the previous night’s main event tag-team match with Rhodes, Reigns and The Rock, clutching his knee throughout.
But after McIntyre celebrated, he took the championship over to taunt special guest announcer CM Punk, whom McIntyre injured during the Royal Rumble. With McIntyre standing on the announce table, Punk swiped his leg out from under him and beat him with his arm brace. That left McIntyre hobbled enough that Damian Priest of The Judgement Day ran out to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win his first world title — and in the process, sending the Punk and McIntyre feud to new heights.
Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits defeated The Final Testament (Karrion Kross and The Authors of Pain) after Montez Ford’s frog splash sent Kross through a table. The match featured several references to ECW legends The Dudley Boys, as Bubba Ray Dudley was the guest referee.
In fan favorite LA Knight‘s first WrestleMania match, the 41-year-old star defeated AJ Styles with his BFT finisher in a hard-hitting match.
Logan Paul retained his United States Championship in a Triple Threat match against Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. Owens attempted his Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Orton reversed it into an RKO. But Paul, ever the opportunist, tossed Orton out of the ring and hit a top-rope frog splash for the win.
Bayley won the WWE women’s championship — and a measure of revenge against her former faction, Damage CTRL — by defeating IYO SKY, thanks in part to a top-rope elbow drop. It was a long-awaited WrestleMania moment for Bayley, who never had a singles match at the event previously.
The second night attendance for WrestleMania was 72,755, putting the two-day total inside Lincoln Financial Field at 145,420. The next scheduled WWE premium live event is Backlash France on May 4.
