By Steve Ward
WWE once again emanated from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA for Night Two of WrestleMania 40. This evening proved to be a more entertaining spectacle with the increase in star power and championship bouts as Night One felt like more of a glorified kick off show with the exception of a stellar main event. Tonight’s card featured seven matches with five titles contested leading up to Cody Rhodes getting another opportunity to “finish his story” in an attempt to take the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns under Bloodline Rules.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall
McIntyre earned his shot at Rollins’ championship as a result of his victory in the Elimination Chamber. Seth “Freakin” Rollins would face an uphill battle after the punishment he undertook on Night One in the main event, and it showed as he entered the match covered in Kinesio tape. Seth Rollins demonstrated impressive resiliency throughout the match as he withstood several Claymore Kicks until the final two were simply too much for him to withstand.
Following the match, McIntyre decided to gloat in the face of CM Punk who was the guest commentator for the match. Punk took exception and swiped Drew’s feet out from under him as he stood on the announce table over him. Punk then removed the brace from his arm and beat McIntyre down as the music of The Judgement Day echoed throughout the stadium. Damian Priest sprinted to the ring with his Money In The Bank briefcase and leveled McIntyre with it before telling the referee that he would be cashing in his title opportunity.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Damian Priest
Winner: Damian Priest via pinfall
Damian Priest promptly executed the South of Heaven to steal the World Heavyweight Championship from McIntyre.
Philadelphia Street Fight
The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & Authors of Pain) w/ Scarlett & Paul Ellering vs. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits w/ B-Fab
Special Guest Referee: Bubba Ray Dudley
Winners: Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits
Following the destruction of several kendo sticks, chairs, and tables, this match saw its conclusion as Lashley and The Street Profits isolated Kross and laid him out across yet another table. Montez Ford then climbed to the top turnbuckle and leapt onto Kross putting him through the table and cinching the victory for his team.
AJ Styles vs. LA Knight\
Winner: LA Knight via pinfall
AJ Styles blamed LA Knight for costing him the Universal Heavyweight Championship when they were engaged in a triple threat match with Roman Reigns several months back. Tempers finally boiled over in the Elimination Chamber match as Styles assaulted Knight with a steel chair leading them into a bitter rivalry that culminated tonight on the Showcase of the Immortals. AJ Styles appeared to have LA Knight in dire straits for much of the match, however, his attempts at a springboard 450, Phenomenal Forearm, and Styles Clash were all denied before Knight finally countered with the BFT (Blunt Force Trauma) to seal his first WrestleMania victory.
United States Championship Match
Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
Winner: Logan Paul via pinfall
Orton and Owens initially stood unified against Paul until he had been thoroughly beaten down and the match devolved into chaos. In the final moments of the match, Orton hit the RKO on Kevin Owens as a counter to the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Paul then got the jump on Orton and tossed him out of the ring allowing him to capitalize on a downed Owens with an impressive frog splash to put the final exclamation on his successful title defense.
WWE Women’s Championship
Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley
Winner: Bayley via pinfall
After Bayley won the Women’s Royal Rumble match back in January, her Damage Ctrl stablemates unceremoniously ousted her from the group with a vicious beat down setting up tonight’s showdown of former best friends. Bayley was limited the entire match by what appeared to be a legitimate knee injury but still prevailed in the end with a massive top rope elbow drop followed by the Rose Plant to crown her as the new WWE Women’s Champion.
WWE Undisputed Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Cody Rhodes
Winner: Cody Rhodes via pinfall
Tonight’s match was contested under Bloodline Rules (meaning there would be no disqualifications, no count outs, etc.) as a result of Rhodes and Rollins losing the main event of WrestleMania Night One to Roman Reigns and The Rock. The big question tonight would be whether Cody Rhodes, the cover Superstar for the WWE 2K24 video game, would “finish his story” as predicted or would Roman Reigns continue his historic title reign. The match initially got off to an uneventful start, but business began to pick up as Jimmy Uso came to Reigns’ aid at the first sign of peril, but he was neutralized by his twin brother Jey. Next, Solo Sikoa helped Roman take down Rhodes again. This time John Cena came to Rhodes rescue only to have his momentum disrupted promptly by The Rock who delivered the Rock Bottom to the 16-time world champion.
Then the music of The Shield shocked the WWE Universe as a broken Seth Rollins entered the ring in his old Shield attire only to be the recipient of a brutal chair shot to the back. Next, the shocker of the match occurred as the lights went out and the unmistakable bell tolled throughout Lincoln Financial Field. As the lights returned, The Rock found himself face to face with The Undertaker who choke slammed “The Final Boss” before the lights once again went out. As the lights came back up, The Undertaker was gone, and The Rock was incapacitated on the floor outside of the ring. Shortly thereafter, Rhodes delivered three consecutive Cross Rhodes to conquer The Tribal Chief and finish his story on the grandest stage of them all.
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