Cody Rhodes, Paige, Real Winners and Losers of WWE WrestleMania 42 Night 1 Match Card
Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 is done, and the annual Showcase of the Immortals was left brimming with winners and losers.
From new champions to competitors poised for main event pushes to Superstars with no clear path for the foreseeable future, the biggest event of the year produced wrestlers in varying states.
Find out who landed on what side following the first night, which culminated in Cody Rhodes retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship in a main event that fans will be talking about for years to come—for all the wrong reasons.
Winner: IShowSpeed
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IShowSpeed wrestled his first match Saturday night in the opening contest of WrestleMania, teaming with world tag team champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory against The Usos and LA Knight, and to the surprise of the harshest skeptics, the YouTube influencer emerged as the show's first big winner, thanks to a shining performance.
The celebrity never looked out of place, delivered every one of his spots on point, and factored heavily into the finish in a way that made sense within the confines of the story being told.
He was hesitant to be involved, did not necessarily want to team with The Vision, and that played out as he collided with Theory late in the match and cost his team the win.
After the match, he was the sympathetic babyface as he was berated and attacked by his "friend," Paul, only to be saved by the victorious babyfaces and put an exclamation point on his performance with a high-risk splash to The Maverick, through the announce table.
There was plenty of criticism surrounding his involvement on the show but when he needed to deliver, Speed did and the result was a high-energy start to the show.
Winner: Jacob Fatu
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For the second year in a row, The Samoan Werewolf enjoyed what feels like a momentum-building victory with his win over Drew McIntyre in Saturday's Unsanctioned Match.
Fatu overcame the fury of The Scottish Warrior, battling from underneath and fighting his way back into the match late. Then, he utilized a toolbox, which had been the catalyst of McIntyre's downfall against CM Punk in their famed Hell in a Cell match, and blasted the former WWE champion with it.
A top-rope moonsault through a table earned Fatu the victory.
The victory sets him up to be a major player at the top of the SmackDown card, which will need new blood, with only Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton solidified there right now.
While he did not appear in a WWE title match Saturday night, as it appeared he may at one point, he is certainly in a position to be there coming out of the Showcase of the Immortals, especially after his victory over the most recent former WWE champion.
Loser: Drew McIntyre
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It is impossible to look at the last few months of McIntyre's career and recognize him as anything but a loser.
He won the WWE Championship, lost the title, and had his WrestleMania main event opportunity ripped from him.
Saturday night, he lost to Jacob Fatu in an outcome that meant a lot to the victor but left the rest of the WWE Universe wondering: what's next for McIntyre?
Continuously presented by WWE as a top-tier talent, but booked like someone who cannot consistently stay at the top of the promotion or loses the biggest matches he competes in, he finds himself in an unenviable position coming out of this year's event.
With his credibility taking major blows on the road to WrestleMania, and his most recent loss not helping matters, The Scottish Warrior is a Superstar who needs some solid booking and a few big wins, if there is any hope of him returning to main event legitimacy.
Winner: Paige
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Amid reports that she had re-signed with WWE, Paige made her triumphant return after eight years away, filling in for Nikki Bella in the Fatal 4-Way Match for the Women's Tag Team Championship and capturing her first title since her Divas Championship reigns of nearly a decade ago.
Not only was her return a triumphant one, but it was met with an enormous ovation from the fans in Las Vegas, who greeted her with one of the biggest pops of the night.
She was at the center of a bona fide WrestleMania moment, the kind that her peers work their entire lives for.
By the time the referee's arm slapped the mat a third time and she and her partner, Brie Bella, were declared the new champions, she let go of her emotions, openly crying as she was awarded her prize.
Back to join the revolution that she helped fuel when she rose to prominence as part of NXT, she is has a rare second chance to live out her dream and write her wrestling legacy.
Winner: Jessika Carr
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Referee Jessika Carr once again found herself at the center of a Becky Lynch match and, as a result, could be trending toward her first in-ring action as part of WWE.
A trained wrestler who transitioned to officiating upon her arrival with the company, she is more than capable of mixing it up with Big Time Becks. After repeatedly correcting Lynch, only to be rebuffed, she finally put her hands on the villain, elevating the tension between them.
A central figure in the match, she played her part well, showed great intensity when the moment came, and had fans in Allegiant Stadium cheering for her defiance in the face of the antagonistic Lynch.
The question now is whether it is followed up on as early as Monday or if this is merely the latest chapter in a bigger story that will eventually see her share the ring with The Man, this time in the role she dreamed of filling in a WWE ring.
Loser: Gunther
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The Ring General defeated Seth Rollins Saturday night, picking up his first victory on the grand stage since the 2023 event. That is where the good news ends for Gunther, who emerged from his victory as an afterthought.
Late in the bout, Bron Breakker returned to WWE after a significant hernia kept him out of action and off the WrestleMania card. He speared Rollins, setting up Gunther's win, then added another following a long sprint down the ramp.
The focus of the entire match, which was among the best of the opening night card, was not on him or his massive victory. It was, instead, on another, higher-profile program.
That is not the best look for someone who retired John Cena, then AJ Styles, and nearly missed out on a spot on the WrestleMania card altogether when original plans for a match with Rey Mysterio did not materialize.
Where Gunther heads next, and if there are any immediate plans for him, will determine how long-term a loser the former world heavyweight champion is.
Winner: Liv Morgan
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For years, Liv Morgan was the co-star. She was the Superstar opposing Ronda Rousey, partnered with Rhea Ripley, or programmed against her. She appeared in WrestleMania matches, but was never in the WrestleMania match.
That changed in 2026, with her Royal Rumble win, and a Women's World Championship match with Stephanie Vaquer.
Saturday, in Sin City, Morgan capped off the monumental victory, defeating La Primera with some help from Judgment Day teammates Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez to win the top prize in the Raw women's brand.
Not as the other woman in the match, but as the star.
She got the grand entrance, set to her new song, "Trouble." She was center stage as the challenger in the biggest women's title match of the night, and when she won it, she did so as the centerpiece of The Judgment Day faction.
Though on the short side, Morgan delivered in her match with Vaquer, never overshadowed by La Primera or appearing undeserving of sharing the ring with one of the best in the business today.
Morgan is at the forefront of women's wrestling following her defining victory Saturday night, and that will not change. The days of being a sidekick, a co-star, and an alsoran are over.
Losers: Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and The Main Event
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The American Nightmare entered WrestleMania facing a growing number of jeers and fatigue from WWE fans, and nothing about what unfolded Saturday night in Las Vegas helped his case.
He wrestled the match as a heel, controlling the pace, taking cheap shots like eye rakes and low blows, then defeated Randy Orton with a Cross Rhodes only after excessive Pat McAfee interference.
What looked like a potential heel turn was then aborted after the match, when he was dropped with an RKO and punted in the head as The Viper returned to his 2009 ways.
And then the show went off the air.
There was no explanation, nothing that made any sense within the context of anything WWE presented on television on the way to the show, and the result was a baffled crowd who cheered one guy despite having no reason to and booed another, with plenty of reason, despite his status as the company's biggest babyface.
It was a baffling conclusion to a show facing immense pressure to deliver after a chaotic, unpredictable, and unexplainable build, which was alluded to by John Cena at the top of the show.
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