Caption: Roman Reigns stands victorious alongside Solo Sikoa (R) and Paul Heyman (L) at the end of Wrestlemania night two 

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a third-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

April 8, 2023

Brock Lesnar def. Omos via pinfall 

This match set the tone for night two of Wrestlemania with a bang. The crowd was excited when Omos appeared for his entrance, but the reaction that Lesnar received was so much louder than I expected. 

In this match that didn’t even reach the five-minute mark, Lesnar was first overpowered by Omos. He was tossed around the ring in a way we hadn’t seen in a long time. But before Omos was able to capitalize, Lesnar snatched him up for an F-5 and pinned him for the three count. 

It was a fun match but didn’t make much sense to me in the long term. WWE had been building up Omos as an undefeatable monster, but Lesnar was able to take him out in under five minutes. We will have to see what the future holds for Omos before chalking this up as a loss. 

Rhonda Rousey & Shayna Baszler def Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya & Shotzi, and Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville via submission 

It is very hard to believe that this match went the same length as the men’s tag match from the night before as this match dragged on and on. There was very little story going into the match and the crowd wasn’t into it very much.  

Baszler and Rousey took care of the other teams in dominant fashion, and I expect them to chase after the Women’s Tag Championships in the coming months. 

Gunther def. Sheamus and Drew McIntyre via pinfall 

This was by far the match of the night and possibly the match of Wrestlemania weekend. These three absolutely beat each other senseless and this match was hard-hitting from bell to bell. 

I really didn’t think this match would live up to the hype that surrounded it. But after the nearly 17 minute match, my jaw was glued to the floor. The pure number of chest chops and huge strikes were enough to make you wince in pain.  

After Gunther retained his title and won the match, the trio received their second standing ovation in the match. I HIGHLY recommend seeking this match out for yourselves. 

Bianca Belair def. Asuka via pinfall 

This match was another great match on the night two card. These two always produce magic when they are together in the ring and night two was no different.  

Asuka was in her craziest state we have seen yet and that was a blast to watch and Bianca played up to it perfectly. The crowd was on the edges of their seats throughout the whole match and were biting at every near fall.  

Bianca was able to pick up the win after dodging Asuka’s blue mist attack. As much as I enjoy Belair, I just don’t see their plans for Asuka as it seems they can never give her the big win at Wrestlemania. 

Snoop Dogg def. The Miz via pinfall 

Well… This was weird. After losing his impromptu match against Pat Mcafee the night before, The Miz came out again with Snoop Dogg and talked about how he deserves his Wrestlemania moment.  

Then Shane McMahon’s music hit and he rushed to the ring to answer his challenge. It looked like it would be fun. And then the bell rang. 

Shane threw The Miz into the ropes and went to jump over him as he reached the center of the ring. Shane McMahon then tore one of his quads and collapsed to the mat. After a few moments of confusion and panic, Snoop Dogg grabbed the microphone and challenged The Miz to a match.  

The D-O double G then punched The Miz in the face and then dropped an elbow on him before covering him for a pin. This was a very weird segment but was one of the most professional performances I have ever seen from Snoop Dogg to keep things moving.  

Edge def. “The Demon” Finn Balor via pinfall 

This “Hell in a Cell” match was a great showing of just how chaotic these stipulations can be. The wrestlers began in the ring before quickly getting out of the ring to get weapons involved.  

At one point, we could see Balor throwing chairs at Edge and it looked like he got hit pretty hard by one. The two went back and forth for a little longer before Edge picked up a ladder and launched it at Balor.  

This time, one of the rungs of the ladder hit Balor square on the top of the head, splitting him open, causing blood to spill to the canvas. The medical team did an amazing job of checking Balor for a concussion and also stitching him up at ringside before allowing him to finish the match.  

Unfortunately for Balor, he would go on to lose the match as well as even more allure at the expense of his “Demon” character who has now lost two matches in a row.  

Roman Reigns def. Cody Rhodes via pinfall 

There have been very few times that I have been entirely confused by the outcome of a match. This was one of those times.  

Everything seemed to be in place for Cody to be the one to dethrone the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns and become the undisputed WWE Universal champion. He left WWE, toured the independent wrestling scene around the world, and started his own wrestling promotion that rivals WWE today. 

Even when he returned to WWE, he won the Royal Rumble making it seem that everything was right in front of him. And then it wasn’t. And this isn’t to say that it was a bad match, as it was great to watch live.  

But it just seemed like there was something there that would prevent it from happening. Even after Roman’s cousin, Solo Sikoa was ejected from ringside during the match, it still didn’t feel like Cody’s night. 

After over a half hour of back and forth action that was highlighted by near falls and Cody attempting to hit his finisher, the “Cross Rhodes,” the referee was distracted by someone on the outside. This allowed Sikoa to sneak back into the fray and hit Cody with the “Samoan Spike” which then allowed Reigns to nearly cut Cody in half with a spear before pinning him. 

I really expected this Wrestlemania to be the end of The Bloodline (Roman’s family) for a while in WWE. But after Wrestlemania and the WWE TV programing that followed, I wouldn’t be surprised if we still see Roman main-eventing Wrestlemania 40.