UPDATE: The first night of “WrestleMania 38” delivered in a major way. WWE set the bar high with three title matches, a celebrity match, the re-debut of one of the best in the business and the return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, but the show lived up to lofty expectations.
Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey were excellent in their SmackDown women’s title match. Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch were even better in their Raw women’s championship bout. Logan Paul was surprisingly talented in the ring. Cody Rhodes did indeed appear, six weeks after leaving the WWE competitor he helped found, and wrestled an outstanding match with Seth Rollins. In the main event, Steve Austin turned back the clock and thrilled the crowd in his match with Kevin Owens.
Below you will find our live analysis of the show, as it unfolded.
For the first time since 2019, WrestleMania will take place in front of a full house beginning Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.
After the pandemic forced WWE to hold its biggest show of the year behind closed doors in 2020 and with a reduced capacity of 25,000 in Tampa last year, the home of the Cowboys will be packed for WrestleMania 38.
One big thing will be the same as the past two years, though. For the third time, WrestleMania will take place over two nights. Breaking up the show into a Saturday portion and a Sunday portion has been a positive for fans, who no longer have to endure a seven-hour marathon night. It has also been a win for the wrestlers, who are afforded more opportunities to get on the WrestleMania card, and for WWE, which can now sell twice as many tickets.
The trouble for WWE is being able to book separate nights of a show that are appealing enough that fans will want to see both, either in the stadium or at home. But the company has succeeded in that regard this year.
The first night of WrestleMania 38 is headlined by two women’s title matches (Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair). The looming return of at least one other performer may steal the show, though.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is scheduled to appear on “The KO Show” with Kevin Owens, but it remains to be seen whether Austin simply hits Owens with a Stunner or two and walks off or if their confrontation is elevated to an official match.
The other potential homecoming is that of Cody Rhodes. The former WWE wrestler left the company six years ago and reignited his career on the independent circuit and in Japan before becoming one of the co-founders of All Elite Wrestling, the upstart promotion that has quickly become the most successful non-WWE wrestling company in the United States since WCW folded 20 years ago. Rhodes announced in February that he was leaving AEW and SI’s Justin Barrasso reported shortly thereafter that he was expected to land in WWE. There is a spot open on the card for Rhodes to appear in a match against Seth Rollins (who has been announced for a match against an opponent of Vince McMahon’s choosing) and the rumor mill has been buzzing for weeks about whether Rhodes will actually appear.
WrestleMania 38 Night 1 full match card:
- “The KO Show” with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
- Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown women’s championship
- Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw women’s championship
- Seth Rollins vs. an opponent of McMahon’s choosing
- The Mysterios vs. The Miz and Logan Paul
- Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
- The Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs for the SmackDown tag team titles
- New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland
Pre-show notes
With the card spread out over two nights, there are no matches during the pre-show. Instead, the two-hour kickoff show featured interviews and backstage segments. The pre-show did include one important piece of information, though: Kevin Owen’s confrontation with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be the main event of the evening. That should make it clear that the segment will evolve into a full-fledged match.
Opening pageantry
The broadcast opened with a melancholy rendition of “America the Beautiful” by some country musician named Brantley Gilbert.
Then it was time for the show-opening hype video, narrated by Mark Wahlberg, followed by the Cowboys cheerleaders dancing to ACDC’s “Thunderstruck.”
Fortunately, the preamble only lasted 10 minutes before Rick Boogs came out to introduce Shinsuke Nakamura.
The Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
The SmackDown tag team championship bout was the first match of the evening.
It ended up being a quick one after Boogs appeared to legitimately injure his knee. He was attempting a fireman’s carry with both Jimmy and Jey on his shoulders but his right knee gave out. He was able to tag Nakamura into the match and it proceeded quickly to the finish.
Boogs was treated by medical personnel after the match.
Usos retain.
Happy Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre
Corbin started out in control of the match but the tide turned when he was distracted by his pal Madcap Moss. The lapse of attention allowed McIntyre to get back into the match.
Corbin stayed in the match, though. He hit McIntyre with his End of Days finisher but Drew kicked out—the first time someone has kicked out of the move.
McIntyre hit Corbin with the Claymore kick and pinned him to win the match. After the match, McIntyre confronted Moss and sliced through the top two ropes with his sword.
Hopefully that’s the last mid-card match we see McIntyre in for a while. He’s main event material and should be working with bigger names in title programs.
McIntyre wins.
The Mysterios vs. The Miz and Logan Paul
I don’t know how many WWE fans were clamoring for more Logan Paul after his appearance alongside Sami Zayn at last year’s WrestleMania, but here he is.
But dare I say he looked even better in the ring than Bad Bunny did in his match last year? He hit a great running powerslam, three straight impressive suplexes and a picture-perfect frog splash off the top turnbuckle.
Miz and Paul got the win here, which elicited strong boos from the crowd in Arlington, but the fans got to see Paul get his comeuppance when Miz hit him with the Skull Crushing Finale after the match.
The Miz and Logan Paul win.
Stephanie McMahon introduces Gable Steveson
Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion in wrestling, told SI last month that he was going to be at WrestleMania, and he was. WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon came out to introduce him and Steveson saluted the crowd.
Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair
Bianca got the entrance of the night thus far with an assist from the Texas Southern marching band.
If not for Steve Austin’s return, this match probably would have main-evented the first night of WrestleMania, so it’s nice to see WWE pull out all the stops for Bianca’s entrance to make this match feel significant.
The epic entrance set the tone for an outstanding match. Lynch and Belair had the pedal to the metal from bell to bell. Every move and every moment was dripping with intensity.
This was a back-and-forth match but Bianca came out on top in the end. Lynch threw her into the ring steps and Belair just made it back into the ring before the 10-count. Shortly thereafter, she hit Lynch with her KOD finisher and pinned her for the win.
After her stellar match against Sasha Banks at last year’s WrestleMania and a repeat performance against Lynch this year, Belair deserves to be considered one of the top talents, male or female, in all of WWE. She better hold that title for a long, long time.
Bianca Belair wins the Raw women’s championship.
Seth Rollins vs. a mystery opponent
Following the Lynch–Belair match was going to be a tough task. Good thing Becky’s husband, Seth Rollins, still needed to learn who his opponent would be.
As expected, Cody Rhodes was the man who walked through the curtain. Six weeks after announcing he was leaving AEW, the company he co-founded to challenge WWE, Rhodes made his return to the company where he started his career.
Though this had been rumored for weeks, that doesn’t make it any less surprising. It was still surreal to hear Rhodes’s AEW music hit at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
It’s tough to think of a better opponent for Rhodes than Rollins. They wrestle similar styles and Seth is fully capable of absorbing a loss without damaging his standing on the roster. There was no way Rhodes was going to lose this match. You can’t hype up a surprise debut and then bury the guy in his first match.
Even though the outcome was never in doubt, it was still an entertaining match. They did a good job of misdirecting the finish. It seemed like Cody had the match won when he hit Rollins with the Cross Rhodes but Seth kicked out. Cody then kicked out of a suplex off the top rope. Rollins kicked out of a cutter. Cody kicked out of a pedigree.
Cody finally put Seth away with three more Cross Rhodes. You couldn’t have asked for a better match to mark his return to the company after six years.
Cody Rhodes wins.
WWE Hall of Fame class introduced
After back-to-back intense matches, WWE brought the temperature down a little and gave fans a moment to catch their breath by introducing the members of the 2022 Hall of Fame class. It was nice to hear The Undertaker’s music for one of the last times at WrestleMania.
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
This match was inevitably going to be compared to the earlier, excellent women’s match, which probably isn’t fair. It’s not an easy comparison to make. Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch were tremendous, but this was a much different match, built around submission attempts.
The intensity that defined the Lynch–Belair match was also a major factor here. Rousey’s background as a legitimate fighter makes her a very compelling character and Flair does so much with her facial expressions to pull the viewer in.
The finish to the match might have left a bad taste in some fans’ mouths, but it should keep this feud going (perhaps until SummerSlam?) Flair inadvertently knocked the ref over, which meant that he couldn’t signal for the bell when Flair tapped out to Rousey’s arm bar moments later. Instead, Flair pinned Rosuey for the win and retained her championship.
Charlotte Flair retains.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland
This match got cut from the card. It’s not immediately clear to me why. Rick Boogs’s injury in the opening match forced WWE to cut that match short and yet they somehow still ran out of time for the New Day. Oh well.
“The KO Show” with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
It’s so great to see Kevin Owens in the main event of WrestleMania. He’s one of the most talented performers on the roster and even though Austin is the star here, Owens has been the perfect foil.
Owens started the segment by throwing some more jabs at Texas and taunting the audience by saying he wasn’t bringing his guest out until he was ready to.
All of a sudden, Austin’s music hit and the crowd went ballistic. “Stone Cold” emerged from behind the curtain looking the same as he did when he retired from competition 19 years ago.
After some more back-and-forth on the microphone, Owens revealed the true intentions for inviting Austin to appear: a No Holds Barred match with Austin.
Austin may be 57 but he didn’t look like it in this match. Not only did he look like he’s in peak physical form, he wrestled like a man half his age. He even took a suplex onto the concrete floor outside the ring.
He also lifted Owens high above his head for a suplex on the entrance ramp.
Was there any way Austin was going to lose this match? Of course not. He picked up the win after Owens inadvertently hit himself with a chair. Austin then celebrated by cracking open and drinking a few of his Broken Skull beers in the ring while his music played as the show went off the air.
