MR. TITO: My Top 10 Takeaways from WWE Wrestlemania 42 in Las Vegas, NV
Another WWE Wrestlemania in the books, as we now enter into the “post-Wrestlemania” era to see if there are any surprises on the RAW following Wrestlemania. And then, we march onto Wrestlemania 43 which is a $250 million purchase by the country of Saudi Arabia. I think that it’s totally bogus that a country who didn’t build the WWE brand and make Wrestlemania great, as North America and England have, gets to host Wrestlemania but I’m not a shareholder to please.
Seeing lots of feedback on Wrestlemania 42 with it mostly being “weak night 1, stronger night 2” and many are even questioning the idea of a 2-night Wrestlemania. I don’t know, those 6-7 hour 1-night Wrestlemania shows were brutal. THAT SAID, these PLEs on ESPN are shoving in so many advertisements, as you’re probably watching like 30% advertisements now.
Here are my takeaways from Wrestlemania 42 and I’ll put them in a is of 10 to keep it convenient.
#1 – Pat McAfee heel turn meant NOTHING for Wrestlemania 42
Told you so that it was BAD BOOKING to randomly turn Pat heel and have him join Randy Orton, whom he had zero connection with previously and ditto for Cody Rhodes. All news reports show that it was Pat’s agent, Ari Emanuel (also the President/CEO of TKO) forcing the issue following Pat signing him to become his agent during February. Pat was so out of place and acting as if a wrestling mark was out there to be a heel manager. He attacked Cody to start the match but then got his arse handed to him to put on a stretcher job. He later returned in a referee shirt (WTF??) to interfere further, but then Randy Orton turns on him?!? Wait, what was the point of Pat McAfee turning heel? Orton would then lose the match anyway.
After the match, Randy Orton punted Cody Rhodes and legitimately injured Cody. That’s BS and hopefully TKO tightens the bolts to ensure something like that doesn’t happen again. Cody’s eye may be permanently damaged by that or could have been.
#2 – Happy for Paige, though confused about the Women’s Tag Title situation
Paige is one of the best women’s talents and it’s a shame that her relationship with Alberto Del Rio shook up things for her personally and professionally. That said, she’s still young and she looked fantastic in that ring on Saturday. The crowd gave her flowers, too, and it was a nice moment to see her winning. However, that Wrestlemania 42 match was supposed to be the coronation of the Bellas winning the tag titles and not just Brie & Paige. This possible snap judgment decision to give them the belts kind of rubs the shine off of the Bellas winning the tag titles if Brie already won the tag titles.
#3 – Retirement for Alexa Bliss? Is AJ Lee gone?
Alexa Bliss posted a big THANK YOU on his social media accounts and I think her big tribute to Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania was also a “goodbye” to the business. I think this is it for her, as she might be stepping back to be a mother full-time or possibly have more children. In my opinion, the WWE used her incorrectly since that MASSIVE Royal Rumble 2025 return in which her pop blew the roof off of Lucas Oil Field’s stadium (I was there, it was LOUD). HOWEVER, I do appreciate that her teaming up with Charlotte Flair helped repair Charlotte internally and allowed Charlotte to find the joy in pro wrestling again.
After her match with Becky Lynch, AJ Lee announced that she’d be stepping away from the ring too… She’s been in and out of the ring since her return, so taking long breaks is common… But I think she accomplished all she wanted to with a comeback and just wants to chill with a normal life. I wouldn’t be surprised that CM Punk, too, steps back and maybe considers starting a family with AJ Lee. Why not?
#4 – CM Punk was amazing.
That’s a 47-year old dude out there in the Main Event of Wrestlemania 42 and I’m so proud of him, as he finally headlined the big show and CRUSHED IT with a 5-Star Match with Roman Reigns. Best part was CM Punk selling the effects of the match, as he should because he took multiple Superman punches + a shot with the steel steps as he was hanging upside down from the top rope on the outside. That moment when he collapsed during the GTS meant everything. CM Punk just delivered Roman his BEST Wrestlemania main event match and remember, Roman has many of them in his holster. Punk delivered huge and cemented himself as an all-time great.
Honestly with CM Punk, where does he go now? He came back, proved that he could be a professional in a reasonable setting, and headlined Wrestlemania which was his goal during the 2010s when he walked out of the WWE. I would not be surprised if he retired, knowing that he righted the wrongs of his prior WWE career and also proved AEW wrong with this amazing second WWE run.
#5 – Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
Very happy that Oba Femi won and if I were WWE, I’d place a rocketship onto his arse and light that thing on fire to push him to the top. THAT SAID, I really didn’t like how the match went, specifically the complete no-sell of the F5 by Oba. Sorry, but that move ended the Undertaker’s streak and defeated many people in the WWE. It barely hurt Oba, who went on to Chokeslam and then Powerbomb Lesnar with barely any effects of that move. Other than that gripe, I’m glad that Brock Lesnar did business here and put the younger guy over.
And then, Brock Lesnar retired… Those fans in that Las Vegas stadium really felt that and in return, Lesnar got emotional as he was unlacing his boots and hugging Paul Heyman. Since 2012, Lesnar has dominated our lives as pro wrestling fans and in my opinion, Lesnar was the “saving grace” from the 2010s being even worse than what they really were with Vince McMahon’s creative micro-managing.
I still think he’ll wrestle Gunther at SummerSlam and possibly defeat him there, but I’d be perfectly content with Lesnar retiring here. Him hanging it up after losing to Oba makes Oba’s win even more impressive. “I made Lesnar retire”. That’s much different from Gunther defeating Goldberg or Cena because you knew their retirements were coming up. This was more of a random decision, as Lesnar just retiring sells the fact that he knows his time is now up and cannot defeat a monster like Oba Femi.
#6 – Jade Gargill experiment is over.
Look, I won’t deny that Jade looks like a million bucks. She’s beautiful and sculpted like a god. I’ll never deny that… But damn, was she built with 2 left feet? For as hard as both AEW and WWE worked, they tried and tried to make her a professional wrestler but it just did not stick. This goes to show you how natural talent makes a great wrestler and not fully the promotion with its smoke & mirrors. Rhea Ripley bounced all over that ring to sell whatever Jade sent to her, but to anyone watching for a long time, we know what’s going on and know which wrestlers understand how to work.
#7 – No surprises at all.
Many were expecting surprises, including myself, for both Cody/Orton or Punk/Roman and we got nothing… The Rock still hasn’t shown up yet and wasn’t behind Pat McAfee. Once again, this “TKO Era” likes to present surprise appearances throughout the year but craps the bed when it comes to its top show Wrestlemania.
#8 – Concerns over wrestler safety.
I’m surprised that TKO doesn’t show more concern for wrestler safety… There were crazy moments in that Ladder Match and then the “punt” by Randy on Cody could have caused permanent damage to Cody’s sight. There are ways to make things look convincing without, ya know, actually harming another wrestler. Night #1 was a bummer with a bad main event between Cody and Orton, thanks to stupid interference from Pat McAfee, and then to have Cody get legitimate injured was the crap icing on the cake.
#9 – 50,000+ fans still isn’t bad.
I thought that the Las Vegas football stadium looked full and the crowd seemed loud. Getting 50,000 at those high ticket prices is still an accomplishment. AEW’s top show, All In, has less than 20,000 tickets sold in Wembley this year and that’s with cheaper ticket prices. All In last year only did around 22,000 last year and again, with cheaper tickets. History will show that the WWE raised ticket prices too high for Wrestlemania 42 and probably should have gone to another city rather than burning out Las Vegas for a second year. However, all things considered, they still sold over 50,000 tickets and that crowd was still hot.
But damn, quit price gouging loyal WWE fans, TKO. You have all of that TV revenue money, Saudi money, getting Las Vegas to pony up for another year, having Fanatics ripping off fans for merchandise… Bunch of greedy bastards. Think about this, folks… All of this WWE and UFC revenue pouring in and these idiot executives at TKO still have $4 billion in debt. Now, I realize that every company utilizes Commercial Loans to finance things rather than burning through cash but Endeavor itself had over $7 billion in debt before a private equity firm, Silver Lake, bought them to restructure that very debt. That tells me there is more greed within Endeavor and TKO than even we know.
#10 – Roman is champ again, don’t blow it.
Since Wrestlemania 40, Roman Reigns has only wrestled TWELVE TIMES… For both 2024 and 2025, Roman disappeared for 3 months following Wrestlemanias and then would often be barely available during some of the fall months. Yes, I totally agree with the concept of “less is more”, but at least appear and do something. Brock Lesnar made more frequent appearances with his part-time contract than Roman has for the past 2 years.
Even during 2023, Roman would disappear for months as World Champion which is why RAW created its own World Heavyweight Championship to counter that extended absence.
I’m NOT saying to wrestle every single RAW or Smackdown, or perform on every single PLE. Cody Rhodes did that and over-exposed himself since Wrestlemania 40. What I’m saying is show up for the actual paying WWE fans in attendance and tuning in on television.
What is hurting the NBA right now? Players taking nights off, even when they are fully available to play. This “load management” stuff has devalued seeing the NBA live and in-person, along with destroying viewership numbers for regular season games (good lord, what did NBC and Amazon just over pay for?).
Roman is champion again and instead of taking blocks of months off, just fly him in for an appearance… How hard is it to fly him on a private jet just to cut a promo?
Again, I’m not asking for him to WRESTLE at every RAW/Smackdown or perform at ever single PLE… Make appearances and make your presence felt.
WWE, in my opinion, has suffered since Wrestlemania 40 because BOTH Roman Reigns and the Rock disappeared after teasing they’d finally wrestle. The friction from their egos being on the same Bloodline team and then Roman losing at Wrestlemania 40 should have set things in motion. But noooooo, Roman takes 3 months off and Rock only appeared 1 more time during 2024. Then, the opening show of RAW on Netflix was a total joke and Roman honestly hasn’t recovered since.
Now is the time to re-establish Roman as the #1 wrestler for the WWE and we need to see him just a little more… Not saying wrestle every night, but good lord, is it asking much to perform on at least half of the PLEs and maybe show up to 1 or 2 shows per month? That fits well into the “less is more” concept.
Overall, Wrestlemania was “meh” for Night 1, and pretty good for Night 2. Overall, good show despite the struggling hype and TKO meddling to get there.
Wrestlemania 42 reminded me of how much TKO sucks with the sponsors everywhere, 3-4 minute advertisement breaks, and the over-produced show.
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THE LAST WORD
60 minutes for a Hall of Fame speech for Stephanie McMahon.
Tell us how much of a mark of yourself that you are without telling us that you’re a mark for yourself.
Look, Stephanie McMahon was a good on-screen character for her time… I thought her 1999 work as the victim of the Undertaker’s scheme was good and then I liked her teaming up with Triple H through 2000. After that, it was total hit or miss with her often being a dominant heel that never “got hers”. She kept away from any babyfaces retaliating against her, aside from Ronda Rousey beating her up at Wrestlemania in that mixed tag match.
She had a long tenure as EVP of Creative from late 2000 through late 2013. Lots of issues with that time, too… Yes, she did hear John Cena rapping on the back of the touring bus and then incorporated that onto WWE television… But her creative almost got him fired throughout 2002 before that! So many issues with the 2000s WWE, from letting Triple H run RAW into the ground from 2002-2003 to being agitating to Paul Heyman when he was running a successful Smackdown show. The way that women were treated was terrible under Stephanie, as we endured 3 Minute Warning and Divas Search under her creative watch. Ironically, it was her husband Triple H who took better care of female wrestlers creatively.
She didn’t deserve 60 minutes and it’s a CRIME that WWE made fans sit through her speech early in that show.
The FACT is that Stephanie McMahon would NEVER be a character, let alone an executive, if her name wasn’t “McMahon”. This Communications major would probably be working in a marketing department somewhere or maybe a news reporter for a TV channel. Instead, she was pushed to the very top because of her name. Don’t get me wrong, she has some talent… She grew up around the WWE and understood how to cut a promo or generate heat as a character. However, her ego often got in the way and she never let anyone one-up her as the opposition (besides Rousey).
Meanwhile, Sid Eudy is a “legacy” inductee to the Hall of Fame and he received less than 2 minutes of a video on that show. What a joke. Sid was a two-time WWE champion and became said champion because WWE’s pushed Shawn Michaels FAILED to draw as World Champion. Sid won at Survivor Series 1996 because HBK was tanking and then regained the title when HBK “lost his smile”. Sid helped the WWE safe face back then when they needed a credible champion. Yeah, I know, “scissors Sid” or “softball Sid”, but at least Sid didn’t compare his family to the victims of 9/11 like Stephanie McMahon did.
Triple H is too nice of a husband… He restored her confidence by putting her back on WWE shows and now this 60-minute Hall of Fame speech. But come on, quit self-glazing yourselves. WWE’s Attitude Era was built on the Rock and Steve Austin’s characters and whatever they did. FACT is that WWE houseshow attendance began to slide after Austin left to have neck surgery during November 1999 and then RAW’s viewership began sliding after Wrestlemania 16 before it joined TNN. Then from 2000 through 2004, RAW’s viewership kept sliding with Triple H dominating that show as the champion of that brand.
If you want to make a good argument about “getting rid of Triple H”, the past 2 Hall of Fames would be your argument. They are kind of rewriting history from their 2000s and 2010s transgressions, which is a shame because Triple H legitimately saved the WWE from itself during June 2022 when he took over during a very complicated time with Vince McMahon’s bad office behavior towards women being fully exposed.
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