Top 5 Moments- WrestleMania 41 (Night 1)

Night 1 of WrestleMania 41 just wrapped up! Let’s have a look at the Top 5 Moments from when the Showcase of the Immortals hit Allegiant Stadium in Vegas.

#1- A New Paul Heyman Guy

The Night 1 Main Event hinged around the drama and personal beef that’s been going on for months in some ways and years in others. It also centred around the loyalty of Paul Heyman- a man who has spent the last few years as The Wiseman of the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. However, he walked into WrestleMania aligned with the man who first coined the phrase, “Paul Heyman Guy”, CM Punk- Punk cashed in his “favour” that Heyman owed him after stepping in to save the day at War Games. In the end, Heyman would leave Mania with neither Reigns nor Punk by his side.

After a grueling battle in the triple threat which saw the three former WWE Champions hit all their best shots and then some, Heyman grabbed a steel chair to put some finality to things. He first slid the chair to Punk… then hit him with a low blow. He then went to reverently present the chair to Roman… before hitting him right in the Tribal Nuts. That left Seth Rollins, who capitalised to get a WrestleMania main event victory- with Heyman raising the Visionary’s hand.

#2- YEET-amania Is Running Wild!

Before the monumental moments in the main event, it was looking like the opener would be the biggest highlight of the show. Of course, the Vegas crowd were very into the entrance, YEETING everywhere, but as many fans and critics said- after that, the bell had to ring. But Jey Uso brought his working boots, and the World Champion Gunther was his usual excellent self.

This was a hard-hitting, physical battle, and featured an expansion of Jey’s repertoire, as he used a bunch of the Ring General’s finishing moves as well as his own. Besides a tap that seemed to occur far too quickly, this was an excellent match with a satisfying result to kick off Mania. Now as the World Heavyweight Champion, Jey Uso can truly start to live up to the “Main Event” moniker.

#3- All Gas, No Breaks!

After a couple of matches that seemed more befitting of an episode of Raw or Smackdown rather than the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania needed an injection of excitement. Fortunately, we got it with the US title match.

LA Knight and Jacob Fatu had a fun, impactful match, highlighted by a spectacular spot where Fatu’s moonsault was countered into the BFT by Knight. Ultimately, the Samoan Werewolf walked away with his first singles title in WWE, continuing his meteoric rise through the ranks since debuting in WWE last June.

#4- It’s Tiffy Time!

As one of the featured matches on the Night 1 card, there was a lot of pressure on Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton to deliver in their Women’s Championship match. And while it was a wild, messy affair, it certainly was a spectacle, starting with the dazzling entrances worthy of the WrestleMania setting and ending with the proper result- the young star achieving a statement victory over the legendary established star on the biggest stage.

There’s already some debate online as to whether the messiness or the physicality enhanced or detracted from the match, but one thing is for sure- WrestleMania moments were certainly made in the process.

#5- CM Punk’s “This Fire Burns” video

I deliberated a little over what to put in this fifth spot- I was close to putting the New Day winning another championship, but their act has been ice cold and I didn’t particularly feel that match at all. Then maybe the Fenix/Americano stuff, but while it was well-wrestled, not much about it felt Mania-worthy… save for perhaps the involvement of Vikingo, along with the announcement that WWE/TKO has acquired the Mexican promotion AAA.

Ultimately, I went with a piece of pre-match hype for the main event, which came as CM Punk was making his entrance. Much has been made of Punk having his first WrestleMania main event, and this displayed something that WWE always shine at- production and making incredible video packages.

Set to Punk’s old theme, Killswitch Engage’s “This Fire Burns”, it sees present day Punk mirroring his first promos in WWECW back in 2006, complete with career highlights. For Punk fans, it really highlighted and validated the journey that he’s been on, and even if you’re not a Punk fan in particular, the video was still a great bit of business to effectively sell the triple threat match itself as a Big Deal (TM).