WWE WrestleMania 42: Night 1 (2026)

WrestleMania is the biggest wrestling event on the planet every year, but this year's event, which took place in Las Vegas for the second year in a row, had featured one of the most lukewarm and weird build-ups to grandest show that I can recall ever seeing. This first night's matchcard was a lot weaker than Night 2's on paper, but that gave me a sneaking suspicion that those on this first night would feel that they had a point to prove.

After a surprisingly emotional introductory promo from WrestleMania host John Cena, the action got underway with a six-man tag team match, which pit LA Knight and The Usos against The Vision and online influencer iShowSpeed. It was a fairly short but fun match, which played heavily on the famous livestreamer not being an actual wrestler - a smart move, in my opinion. The actual wrestling was fine, but it was really the post-match segment which left the biggest impression. The match may have been one of the more random ones on the Mania card this year, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Next up was one of my most anticipated Night 1 matches; the unsanctioned match between fierce rivals Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre. I liked the physicality that the two men exhibited a lot - it certainly felt like two men who hated each other. There were a couple of really good weapons spots, but I kind of wish that they had gone further with it. Despite that, I enjoyed the match a fair amount, and found the finish pretty cool.

In the third match of the night, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line, as The Irresistible Forces defended their gold against Bayley & Lyra Valkyria, Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair, and the team of Brie Bella and the returning Paige. Seeing Paige, one of my favourite women's wrestlers ever, return to WWE was an awesome moment in and of itself, and getting to see her mix it up with some of the best women's wrestlers in the industry was great.

This was followed by the Women's Intercontinental Championship match between AJ Lee and Becky Lynch. There was a slightly awkward and very obviously lip-synced entrance for Lynch, but that was then followed by a really cute and wholesome entrance for AJ Lee. The actual in-ring action was really solid, as I expected from two of the best women's wrestlers of the century. This was a really decent match, which saw both women get some good moments, but none better than the climax of the match, which was honestly very smart. This was the best match of these two women's entertaining rivalry, in my view.

It was now time for GUNTHER versus Seth Rollins, which, admittedly, had featured a bit of a weird build, for various reasons, but was sure to be exciting, nonetheless. I was not expecting the fast and violent start to the match, but I really liked it - it was awesome! Once the match got under way, the wrestling was, of course, great. The physicality between those two men was befitting WrestleMania, and made their feud feel deeply personal. This was such a frenetic and intense match - it subverted crowd expectations in a great way, and gave both men some really strong moments. The match's shock ending was also really cool and unexpected, and set-up a huge feud for the next few months.

Taking up the second to last spot on Night 1 was the Women's World Championship, with the badass champion Stephanie Vaquer defending against a Britney Spears-inspired Liv Morgan. This was one of the matches I was the most excited for, without question. The two women hit some big moves early, which got the crowd invested quickly. Inevitably, there were some 'Judgement Day' shenanigans, and whilst it was slightly distracting, it definitely added to the drama. The match ended a lot quicker than I thought it would, which I thought was a bit of a shame, but the match was decent, regardless.

After John Cena announced the evening's attendance, plus a very welcome appearance from a returning Bianca Belair, who wonderfully announced her first pregnancy on the biggest stage, it was finally main event time. The match, which saw Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defend his gold against his former mentor and close friend Randy Orton, had been set up by a bizarre feud, which was bogged down by celebrity involvement from Jelly Roll and Pat McAffee. However, it was the in-ring action that I was interested in. After two very different buy fitting entrances for two of the best wrestlers in the industry today, it was time to lock horns. Thankfully, the celebrity aspect of the match was dealt with immediately, so that fans could enjoy the match for what it was. The actual match started off a lot more methodically than I thought it would, considering the rivalry, and was slowed down by a back injury storyline for Orton. The match did, thankfully pick up as it went, with the two men cleverly building the match around increasingly dramatic spots. The in-match story, which had initially seemed to spoil the main event, suddenly paid-off, as the drama of the match began to take hold. I really liked how Rhodes showed his character's proverbial breaking point, it was really interesting to see how that impacted both the match and the live audience. The final moments were extremely dramatic, and the actual finish worked well for the admittedly jumbled story. The post-match segment was brutal and awesome - it made me very excited for the next month of WWE television.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent show, on the whole, although the women's matches were all disappointingly short, and the opening tag match didn't quite feel like a WrestleMania worthy match. With that said, every match was, at the very least, fun, especially the GUNTHER versus Rollins and Rhodes versus Orton matches, in my opinion. Despite its many positives, and there were plenty, I was fully expecting Night 2 to surpass Night 1 - it would have to go very wrong for it not to, thanks to its much stronger card. Either way, Night 1 was certainly entertaining, and, in my view, much better than many people were expecting it to be.