Best and Worst Booking Decisions of WWE WrestleMania 42 Night 1 Results
Fans' alarmingly low expectations for WWE WrestleMania 42 resulted in a surprisingly pleasant Night 1, complete with surprises, quality matches and title changes.
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton matched its messy build in being a mess of a match. Rhodes retaining combined with Pat McAfee's heavy involvement and Orton standing tall afterward made for deflating ending to the event.
In other action, Liv Morgan conquered Stephanie Vaquer to recapture the Women's World Championship. The women's division as a whole experienced a significant shake-up with new WWE Women's Tag Team and Women's Intercontinental champions also being crowned.
The returns of Paige and Bianca Belair made for memorable moments, but the handling of certain finishes was less than ideal. WWE makes matters more convoluted than they need to be when simple storytelling is sometimes all it takes.
All in all, Night 1 was a success and set the stage for what could be an equally entertaining Night 2, provided the company doesn't get in its own way. The event could be the creative turning point they've desperately needed.
Let's look back on Triple H and WWE's best and worst booking decisions from Night 1 of WrestleMania 42.
Best: LA Knight Is Back on Right Track
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Few stars felt more directionless coming into WrestleMania 42 than LA Knight, who has spent the better part of the past year on the losing end of a feud with The Vision.
All signs pointed to him once again taking a backseat in the show-opening six-man tag team match. Instead, Knight scored the win for his team after planting Austin Theory with a BFT.
IshowSpeed's involvement was also kept fairly limited and he had his time to shine afterward. All in all, the bout was exactly what it needed to be, and more importantly, it indicated that Knight may not be treated like an afterthought going forward after all.
Knight's subpar booking hasn't matched his undeniable popularity with fans for quite some time, but he belongs higher up on the card. This WrestleMania triumph should get him away from The Vision for good and put him in a more prominent position coming out of the event.
Best: Jacob Fatu's Ascent Continues
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Jacob Fatu has been a focal point of SmackDown since returning from his hiatus at the beginning of the year, and having him rekindle his rivalry with Drew McIntyre was the perfect use of him heading into WrestleMania.
The two have been at odds for many months, and in their Unsanctioned match at 'Mania, Fatu definitively settled their score by beating McIntyre with a moonsault through a table.
Although the outcome was never truly in doubt, it was a meaningful moment for Fatu to knock off a multi-time world champion. Now, he can set his sights back on SmackDown's main event scene, specifically the Undisputed WWE Championship.
It was never outright revealed that McIntyre was the one responsible for putting Fatu on the shelf late last year, only implied. The next step of Fatu's ascent as a top talent should be targeting the assailant, ideally Randy Orton.
Worst: Paige Returns... to Tag Team Purgatory
3 of 7Rumors had been running rampant all WrestleMania weekend long that Paige was due back in WWE imminently. Sure enough, she was introduced as the replacement partner for Brie Bella to an enormous pop and subsequently captured the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
As exciting of a return as it was for Paige, the aftermath is bound to leave a lot to be desired. Of course, we have to wait and see how it will play out, but Paige has a much high ceiling than the tag team division, especially if Nikki Bella isn't expected to be out of action for long.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship didn't even exist when Paige last competed for WWE nearly a decade ago, so it's fresh ground for her, but the division won't exactly be the best place for her to shine in the months ahead.
It allows her to find her footing again, so perhaps it will be short-lived, but Paige belongs in the singles ranks, specifically in the mix for the Women's Intercontinental Championship. Moreover, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria getting cast aside again despite being a true tandem doesn't bode well for their immediate future.
Best: Becky Lynch Finally Gets One Over on AJ Lee
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Although AJ Lee and Becky Lynch's rivalry lasted longer than it arguably should have, WWE thankfully found a way to stick the landing.
Their feud has always been about Lee having Lynch's number at every turn. Lee forced her to submit on three occasions, including at Elimination Chamber to clinch the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
It was only appropriate that Lynch got that elusive victory on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Their match was adequate and served as a suitable payoff to their long-running rivalry. Lynch should be back in the Women's World Championship picture by now, but her latest reign with the belt doesn't need to last long.
Lee's status is certainly in question since she hasn't worked a full-time schedule since returning, but there's any number of compelling possibilities for her next storyline.
Worst: Bron Breakker's Return Overshadows Gunther Victory
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Bron Breakker returning well ahead of schedule is a massive plus for WWE, but its execution could've been better.
Gunther and Seth Rollins were in the middle of an instant classic when Breakker resurfaced at ringside to decimate his mentor. Gunther had his hand raised after picking up the scraps and choking Rollins out for the victory for the victory.
The Career Killer coming out on top was absolutely the correct call, but there was no reason for him to need an assist after defeating Goldberg, AJ Styles and John Cena in clean fashion in their respective retirement matches.
Breakker vs. Rollins has the potential to be a major storyline for the spring, but the rekindling of their rivalry shouldn't have come at the expense of Gunther's first WrestleMania win in three years. Rollins coming off of a serious injury should have been enough of an out for him to lose, as now the focus is entirely on them instead of the man with the momentum.
Best: Stephanie Vaquer Will Benefit Back in Chase Mode
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Stephanie Vaquer was catapulted into singles stardom so quickly into her main roster run that she was never able to be fully established with the audience before winning the Women's World Championship at Wrestlepalooza last September.
Her run with the title was perfectly fine, but it almost felt as if WWE was killing time with her until WrestleMania when she could go up against a major player in Liv Morgan. Their match was solid, but Morgan taking the title was what mattered most.
Morgan hasn't held the gold since losing it to Rhea Ripley at the onset of 2025. She's managed to remain a top-tier talent since then and is the perfect foil for Vaquer now that the latter is back in chase mode.
Vaquer will have many more 'Mania events ahead of her. She needs to be knocked down in order to be built back up and emerge an even bigger star.
As for Morgan, she'll have no shortage of challengers to defend against in the coming months.
Worst: Pat McAfee Takes Center Stage in WrestleMania Main Event
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Once Pat McAfee made his entrance before anyone actually wrestling for the Undisputed WWE Championship, it became clear he'd end up being more important to the story they were trying to tell than either Cody Rhodes or Randy Orton.
Rhodes and Orton's match was largely plodding up until the final stretch or so, but only because the crowd was firmly behind heel Orton. Unless Rhodes went heel himself, there was no outcome that was going to satisfy a majority of fans.
McAfee returning to the ring right before the finish wearing a referee shirt took away from what was turning into an interesting match. Orton laying out McAfee with an RKO might mean WWE will move away from the alliance, but Rhodes retaining was the most deflating finish they could have gone with.
WWE's only option at this point is to pivot away from McAfee as the main attraction of SmackDown's title picture. Instead, they may be leaning more into it by building to Rhodes and Jelly Roll vs. Orton and McAfee, likely at Backlash.
The post-match angle with Orton punting Rhodes received an overly positive reaction from the crowd despite that not being the intent. It's painfully apparent that the company is confused with where to go with any of these stars and is instead choosing to go deeper into the messiest direction possible.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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