Ranking Seth Rollins' Win and Every Match from WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1 Card
WrestleMania Saturday is in the books and WWE produced a card that was more hits than misses but will certainly need the Sunday night crew to blow the roof off of Allegiant Stadium to really up the overall quality of this 41st entry in the Showcase of the Immortals.
What matches exceeded expectations, which fell just sort of them, and where did your favorite showdown from Saturday rank?
Find out with this rundown of every match, ranked from worst to best, according to match quality and in the event of a tie, historical significance.
7. World Tag Team Championship Match: War Raiders vs. New Day
1 of 7
The World Tag Team Championship was represented on WrestleMania, which is always a good thing. The New Day and War Raiders each got time on the biggest card of the year, also a good thing.
What was not was the match and the crowd's decided lack of reaction to it, both of which can be attributed, at least somewhat, to the nonexistent story behind the contest.
This should have been a match on Raw, where it may have meant more, rather than the second match of the WrestleMania Saturday card, where no one really cared and the result was a disappointing showing for Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Ivar, and Erik, all of whom are deserving of better.
Not a bad match, just not a particularly memorable one, either.
6. Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
2 of 7
Naomi showed out Saturday night, proving why she is one of the most underrated, undervalued talents on the entire roster. A superb worker who only got better during her stint with TNA Wrestling, she turned in arguably one of the best individual performances Saturday night.
She was not alone as Cargill delivered what was her most confidence singles performance in a WWE ring and gave fans hope that all of the promise and potential is preparing to pay off.
Another physical match with a great ending, this one was better than imagined, thanks to what both women brought to the table.
5. United States Championship Match: LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu
3 of 7
For the second year in a row, LA Knight rolled into WrestleMania and delivered a good, competitive, physical match-up that exceeded expectations, this time against "The Samoan Werewolf," Jacob Fatu.
A back and forth battle that saw Knight pull out a German release suplex from the top rope, then add a Blunt Force Trauma to a moonsaulting Fatu in midair, it had the fans invested and more importantly, served as the coronation of the heel as one of the faces of WWE with his first United States Championship victory.
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4. Rey Fenix vs. El Grande Americano
4 of 7
It should not be surprising that a match featuring Fenix and Chad Gable (as Americano) would be good. A late change to the card after injury forced Rey Mysterio to the sideline, the match was still a competitive showdown with great work by both combatants.
Americano especially shined, seizing the opportunity to highlight why he is one of the best workers in the world on the grandest stage of them all. There were clearly some nerves there for Fenix, but the luchador showed up, showed out, and has a bright future ahead of him.
As does Americano, who may end up getting over as a babyface despite his clear mockery of an entire style of professional wrestling.
3. WWE Women's Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair
5 of 7
There were plenty of questions entering Saturday's match between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair about the former's ability to keep up with one of the all time best to ever lace a pair of boots.
Stratton answered every one of them, turning in a defining performance and earning the biggest, most important victory of her young career in a surprisingly physical match.
Stratton and Flair laid into each other, delivering hard-hitting strikes and high-impact moves, but it was ultimate The Center of the Universe who bested The Queen in a contest that kept fans engaged and catapulted Stratton into the stratosphere of top female stars in WWE.
2. World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jey Uso vs. Gunther
6 of 7
The lead-in to WrestleMania was dominated by Gunther mocking Jey Uso. He discredited him, mocked him, and called him a mascot. He disregarded Uso's abilities and in the end, it was that overconfidence that proved to be The Ring General's downfall.
Gunther likely thought he could roll into WrestleMania, overwhelm Uso with his trademark chops and strike his way to win. USO had other plans, absorbing everything thrown at him and, late in the match, laughing it off. He used Gunther's own offense against him, delivering a powerbomb, then three Uso splashes, followed by the sleeper for the submission victory.
I was an emphatic win for Uso but also a story-heavy match, that brought the physicality but never lost track of the narrative. A strong opening contest that was accentuated by the long-awaited, much-deserved Uso win.
1. Triple Threat Match: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
7 of 7
Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk delivered an instant classic in the main event of Saturday's card. Together, they not only produced an all-timer of a Triple Threat Match, but their marquee match-up wasted little time catapulting up the rankings of the greatest WrestleMania matches.
That should not be surprising given the talent involved. What was, though, was that the match exceeded what were already lofty expectations and saved part one of the biggest show of the year from being a letdown.
A dramatic three-way match that rarely leaned on the tired Triple Threat Match trope of one guy powdering while the other two wrestle, it kept all three competitors involved and the fans guessing as to which one would emerge victoriously.
The shocking twist ending, in which Heyman betrayed both Punk and Reigns to align himself with Rollins, only enhanced the match and ended it with an exclamation point.
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