WrestleMania 42: Night 2 (2026)

After a solid, if slightly patchy, first night of the 2026 edition of the greatest spectacle in wrestling, Night 2 looked to better that with, on paper at least, a much stronger matchcard. There were potential Mania classics up and down the card, and I was itching to see them all unfold. Night 1 was good - definitely better than expected - but it was bogged down by an extremely annoying amount of adverts. I knew Night 2 would be the same way, but at least the matches looked set to deliver.

The night was starting off hot, with the highly anticipated bout between Brock Lesnar and the upstart Oba Femi. As Big E would say, this was all about "big meaty men slapping meat" - and I for one could not wait, as long as the right man won. It was a fast-paced and short match, as expected from Lesnar in this stage of his career. I enjoyed it, but even more importantly, the correct man won the match. This was followed, unexpectedly, by the shock retirement of Lesnar, who, despite his controversies, which are notable, left an impossibly huge impact on the business, good and bad. He will undoubtedly go into the 'Hall Of Fame' in the coming years.

Match two of the night was the much anticipated six-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, featuring the champion; Penta, as well as Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh, and Je'Von Evans. This was a sure-fire cracker of a match, in my mind, and I could not wait for it. There were so many great moments in this match, not least of all a superb ladder spot with Mysterio and an incredible Spanish Fly from JD McDonagh. Everybody went absolutely crazy in this match, especially Je'Von Evans, whi hit one of the craziest moves in WrestleMania history. Honestly, I would have been happy with any of them winning the match, it was that good.

The second hour kicked off with Sami Zayn's defence of the United States Championship against Trick Williams - a match I hoped would be a star-making one for the challenger. There was a great flow to the match, with both Zayn and Williams showing how smooth they can be. A really good false finish involving Lil Yachty, real life friend of Williams, was followed by a super exciting climax to the match, which I enjoyed a lot. This wasn't a long match, but it was very good for what it was, and it achieved exactly what it needed to.

Next up was a street fight between Dominik Mysterio, who had one hell of an entrance, and 'The Demon' Finn Balór, who brought back his iconic darker persona in style with a great look and an epic entrance of his own. As a slight aside, it was hugely significant to see the AAA Mega Champion on a WrestleMania card. I was thrilled to see 'The Demon' return after so much time away. I think these two used the weapons much better than the previous evening's unsanctioned match, for the most part. Dom continued to show why he is such a good heel character, and Finn seemed to relish the opportunity to play his alter ego once again. The two men did a good job of making the match a bit of a back-and-forth, but, realistically, I think most people knew that the result was never really in doubt. Regardless, it was a fun match.

Following this was Jade Cargill's defence of the WWE Women's Championship against Rhea Ripley. I was looking forward to seeing this first-rime match-up, particularly because both women are incredibly physical. The match was a little ponderous for my liking initially, but once the two women got into gear, the match improved quite dramatically. The quicker pace of the match brought the live fans into things in a big way, and Cargill knew how to work the crowd well. The inevitable shenanigans added some drama, although, I don't think it was necessary, to be fair. I must say, I absolutely loved the match's finish. Both women looked very slick, and, for my money, this was comfortably the best performance by Cargill to-date.

Before the main event, there was a humorous segment involving John Cena, The Miz, Kit Wilson, and Danhausen. It wad genuinely one of the funniest and most random segments I've seen at WrestleMania in a long time. I must admit, it made me giggle a lot, even though it really was ridiculous.

At last, though, it was time for the main event of Night 2; the World Heavyweight Championship match between CM Punk and Roman Reigns. The promos in the lead-up to the match were great, and I was sure this was going to be a really solid final match of this year's WrestleMania. Punk's entrance was very cool to see, and paid tribute to his varied and memorable wrestling career. This one had a big fight feel from the start, as it should. I really liked the dynamic these two men set out early - the hatred, the disrespect, the need to beat the tar out of the other. Punk in particular was on top form with his antagonism - it was great. Their rivalry feels so real, and a huge reason for that is because of the truth behind it - a truth that both men used to fuel the epic action that unfolded in this main event. At this stage of their careers, there are few better at crafting a match around a story, and this was another supern example of that. As a small aside, the bird's eye view camera, when used, was awesome all evening. I liked seeing Roman trying to maintain composure and failing - it was a very well-conveyed aspect of the match. You knew the match was cooking when the crowd was perpetually on their feet. There were multiples great false finishes and spots throughout the match, especially as it approached its closing moments. The finish was dramatic, it was intense, and it was full of emotion. I felt the winner coming, but I can't pretend like I wasn't a tiny bit disappointed, from a sentimental point of view. With that said, I wasn't mad about who won, and honestly both men clearly put their heart and soul into the match. What a war. What a truly classic main event.

Overall, I thought this was, as expected, a much better evening of wrestling than the night before. The match quality all-around was really strong, and provided fans with a number of truly iconic moments. In a period where many fans have become apathetic to the WWE television they've seen, myself included, this was the spectacle we needed to see. Night 1 was solid, but Night 2 was absolutely brilliant. I think it's a show that will be highly praised for years to come, with the exception of the many, many ads and video packages, which did, admittedly, slow the show down a lot. I digress, this was a special evening of wrestling, and one of the best and most complete nights of WrestleMania in quite some time.