What's a "Frog Blog"?

Night two was far and away the better night of the Wrestlemania this year. It was exciting, well built, and resulted in a lot of interesting stories and historic moments. No need for a long intro, if you saw my night one review you know what is going on.

Opening bout, night two. Triple Threat match for the Womens World Championship between Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and the champ Iyo Sky. And by gum, it was an absolute masterpiece. I can not describe how exciting, entertaining or well performed this match was. In Triple Threats, you sometimes feel like one person is often left out of the action, but not this match. It was action from all three all the way through, with kickout after amazing spots after brilliant moves. All three brought their A-game and it was amazing. Then of course there was the finish. Iyo Sky proved herself unignorable by getting both Bianca and Rhea at the same time and then pinning Bianca and maintaining her championship. This match turned me from an Iyo enjoyer to a full blown Iyo fan. It was spectacular.

The following fight was the Sin City Street Fight between Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest. This grudge match was a long time coming as these two have been at each others throats for a long time. In the match itself McIntyre was very dominant. Priest got in some offense and it was no squash, but it was a decisive Drew victory. Some of the moments were very brutal, especially on the steels steps that were moved into the ring. There were chair shots and people being thrown through tables, just about what you expect from a street fight. The match ended with Drew throwing Damien into two tables and getting a pin afterwards. I liked it, although it was not an especially special feeling match.

Rolling on in now is the Fatal Four Way for the Intercontinental Championship held by Bron Breakker. He defended against Dominik Mysterio, Finn Bálor and Penta. From these guys, I would expect a good match and boy did they deliver. Finn and Dom teaming against the faces, Carlito doing interference as well, Bron throwing himself into people like crazy, Pentas lucha action, it was just stellar. Once Bron killed Carlito with that table to table spear, I figured it was only a matter of time before Dom tried something, and when it came Finn was not happy. Then the ending where Dom frogs splashed Finn while he was pinning Bron only to pin Finn for the win. Dom gets the belt, showboats while Finn mopes and once you think he is done, he runs back down to see it again. What an icon. Solid match, great ending, can not wait to see the Judgement Day implode.

Then came the mystery match with Randy Orton. It was going to Kevin Owens, but he is out because of his neck surgery so Randy went into his 20th Wrestlemania without an opponent. There was a lot of speculation going on about who was going to show up, maybe a returning star like Rusev or just some roster guy like Karrion Kross, but as unexpected as the guy we got was, somebody must have said his name because he appeared. Joe Hendry coming in with the TNA belt was an absolute shock. It was also the funniest thing all night. The match itself was barely anything with Orton knocking Hendry about, Hendry getting in some brief offense and doing his spin, then Randy going in with the funniest RKO I have ever seen. Then Randy does the Hendry spin, match ends, and a little respect to Hendry before an after match RKO. It was brief, funny, and a nice nod to TNA. Solid segment.

Remember how I mentioned Karrion Kross? As it turns out he is going to make an appearance, just not to fight. AJ Style vs Logan Paul was not a match I particularly cared for. AJ is in the twilight of his career and I despise Paul. They did good work, but I just do not care. At some point AJ went out of the ring to deal with the goon Paul has that brings him his brass knuckles. Kross then shows up and tells AJ to use them on Paul but he refuses. AJ loses, Paul wins, I feel nothing except annoyance at Paul for existing.

Almost to the Main Event, but first we have to do a tag champ match for some reason. Judgment Day Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs Lyra Valkyria and a mystery opponent. It was going to be Bayley but she got kayfabe injured so she is out. The mystery partner ended up being a returning Becky Lynch, The Man herself. Lyra was actually inspired to be a wrestler because of Lynch, so that must have been nice for her. The match was decent, Becky being the real heavy hitter, and the tag titles actually changed hands. Valkyria and Lynch win the titles and it all wraps up with a feel good ending.

Final match, Main Event. Cody Rhodes vs John Cena. Does Cody win and protect the future of wrestling, or does Cena win and become 17th time champion, breaking the record, and ruin wrestling forever by taking the belt home with him. What a story. The match itself? Well… it was good to start with. Cena acts heelish, takes it slow, trying to psych Cody out. Then he hits a little offense, but Cody answers. Back and forth they go, hitting their best moves, then near the end, while they both lay on the mat, the music hits and Cena laughs. The doors open, and out walks… Travis Scott. Carrying a WWE belt with the word Hardcore duct taped onto it. It looks stupid, the idea is stupid, and Travis takes an eternity to get to the ring. When he gets there, he distracts Cody. When he gets in the ring though he gets the Cody cutter and is knocked out. But that gave Cena enough time to sneak out of the ring and grab the belt for an attack, but Cody grabs it from him and when he is about to hit Cena, he starts begging. Cody tries to summon the will, but he just can not do it. Cena hits him with a big move and pins him for the belt. Cena and Scott walk out, history changed forever.

As a man who had no expectation for the Rock to show up, I thought this was stupid. Cena could have won clean or cheated or done whatever, as long as he won by himself. Travis Scott is a rapper. He should not be the deciding factor in how a Wrestlemania main event ends. His belt looks stupid, he looks stupid, I still do not forgive him for that concert fiasco that killed people, get out. Outside of that, I thought the match was alright. Cena is well past his prime and you could kinda tell, and Cody really carried this one for me. They both still performed well, but you could tell time has caught up with Cena.

Night two was far better than night one on the whole. However, the wheels sorta came off the wagon near the end. Style vs. Paul and the Womens Tag Champ match were mediocre and the ending to the Main Event was a terrible idea. It had the inverse problem of the first night, started strong, ended rough. Highlights for night two were the Womens Triple Threat, the Fatal Four Way, and Joe Hendry. Overall this Wrestlemania was a little bit of a mixed bag, with some great moments and some terrible ones. Some bad builds and bad booking definitely hampered some of the matches, but I can not in good conscience ignore the great moments that happened. If I were to score it, I would give it a C+ or B-. Passing, but not quite up to standard.

Alright, so, Wrestlemania 41 just wrapped up and honestly? Little bit of a mixed bag. Some of the matches were brilliant, possibly an all timer in there even, but we will get to that. Then of course, there were the middle ground matches. No card can escape at least one mediocre match, but I fear a majority of the matches were quite middle of the road, on the first night at least. Then there were the clunkers. Not total garbage but not good, but I will strive to find the redeemable in them anyway.

Now, let us get to the matches. We are going in order so we are starting with match one of night one, Jey Uso vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Champion. Now, I like Gunther. The Ring General feels like one of the most legitimate wrestlers in the business at the moment. And then there is Jey. He is charismatic, and he has improved a lot in his time as a singles star, but I just do not see him defeating Gunther. What did not help was the fact he got beaten by Gunther several times in a row leading up to Wrestlemania. Then, the match itself was… alright. Not great, kinda good, some of the spots were nice, but the finish was confusing. Gunther taps out after barely a few seconds in a hold! I was in shock, and I still kinda am. The Ring General tapped out! I mean good for Jey but what in the world was the thought process there?

After a rough opener, we get a tag match between the War Raiders and the New Day for the World Tag Team Championships. War Raiders defending, and I think they did a decent job. No real hype behind this match and the crowd was dead so it just sorta felt eh. Heel New Day winning the belts will hopefully spawn something interesting.

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi is the first match that I got excited for. Cargill is a real force in the ring and her feud with Naomi was super entertaining leading up to Mania. Naomi is no slouch either, with her heel turn being what might be considered generational. The match was pretty good, solid momentum and the storytelling was brilliant. Jade getting the win was probably the right choice and I can not wait to see where they go with this.

Next up is LA Knight defending the United States Championship from Jacob Fatu. Honestly, I am not big on either of these guys so this match was not too interesting for me. They did solid work, but I just did not really care. Good on Fatu picking up the belt, I am sure he will be great as a champion.

Our comedy match for night one, the legend himself El Grande Americano does lucha libre battle with Rey Fenix! This bout was honestly a really good time. I like high flying and gimmicks so this match was already going to be fun for me, but the in ring work was also really solid. It was funny, well done, and even though it was because Mysterio got injured, I think this was definitely worth a spot on the card.

The penultimate bout of this night is Tiffany Stratton defending the WWE Womens Championship against Charlotte Hogan- I mean Hulk Flair- I mean Harlotte Fogan- I mean… Charlotte Flair. Yeah I do not like Charlotte, but despite that this match was solid. Tiffy came out and swung with the best. It was brutal, and because of their shoot promo the other week this felt even more personal. Charlotte not winning the championship was the right move and it continues to be Tiffy Time.

Final match for night one is the triple threat between CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. Three morally gray men coming into the ring to settle a mountain of personal animosity. Punks favor means Heyman is walking out with him, leaving Roman alone. Rollins tries to team with Roman to get rid of Punk but he ends up smacking Seth something fierce. Each man gives it their all, and the match is great for it. The psychology, the ring work, the pacing, all immaculate. Then we come to the ending. All three men are down in the ring, Heyman must pick between Punk and Roman, and initially it seems he picks Punk and slides him a chair. But then he hits him in the crotch, causing him to fall and he hands the chair to Roman. He then directs him to Rollins who is slowly getting up, begging him to go for the back chair shot, harkening back to the Shield implosion from all those years ago. But then, just as he’s about to do it, Heyman hits Roman in the crotch, takes the chair and hands it to Rollins who hits Roman with it, pins him, and wins. Seth is now fully a heel, Heyman betrayed both of his friends, and Roman and Punk are left to pick up the pieces. I am so excited to see where this goes, definitely the best match of the night and a true Main Event Match.

Night one overall was decent, slowly getting better as the show went on and culminating in a great Wrestlemania moment. It took its time, but the wheels started rolling and the momentum was massive. Highlights for me were Cargill vs. Naomi, El Grande vs. Fenix, and of course the Punk, Rollins, and Reigns Triple Threat.