WrestleMania 42 Saturday Final Grades: Big Ads, Brief Matches

Day one of WrestleMania 42 is done with, and we’re hours away from the climax of WWE‘s biggest weekend of the year with CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns as the main event.

After a night and early morning to reflect on what happened during the first night of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, it’s time to give out grades for each match of the night and an overall score heading into Sunday.

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The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and LA Knight defeated The Vision (Logan Paul and Austin Theory) and IShowSpeed

Not every match at WrestleMania needs to be a 20-minute barnburner, and this was a fully acceptable opener to the weekend. Aside from Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. and some interactions with Knight, the match itself was bland, but it did what it needed to do.

IShowSpeed had the big moment with the frog splash to the outside on Paul that went viral, and the fans were satisfied.

Grade: C+

Jacob Fatu defeated Drew McIntyre by pinfall in an unsanctioned match

Both guys did their best, and it was a fun plunder match in the ring, but overall, it’s hard not to watch this contest in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium and not be reminded of the same match McIntyre had in the same spot on the card last year versus Damian Priest.

The build-up to the feud promised more than we got, but overall, it was a fun match that put over the younger talent who needed the win.

Grade: B-

Brie Bella and Paige (with Nikki Bella) defeated The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend) (c), Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, and Bayley and Lyra Valkyria by pinfall for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

After a year of building up the women’s tag division, this was it?

Paige’s return was awesome, and she looked crisp in her comeback to the WWE. But aside from her big return, this felt like a match we’d see on “Monday Night Raw,” and not even in the main event.

A short, unmemorable match between some of the best talents on the roster. Bayley and Valkyria essentially spent the entire year from WrestleMania 41 building up to this moment, and they were completely invisible?

Grade: D (would be worse without Paige)

Becky Lynch defeated AJ Lee (c) by pinfall for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship

Another feud that had been building for half the year felt like a random television match to keep the heat on the rivalry.

Lynch is arguably the best all-around performer, man or woman, on WWE’s current main roster, and this is how we use her on the biggest show of the year?

Right as the match felt like it might be entering a new gear, it was over. A forgettable match for two women who shouldn’t be forgettable.

Grade: D-

Gunther defeated Seth Rollins by submission

An excellent match that should be praised for how well it came together after things broke down all around the two performers before WrestleMania weekend.

While the two, like every other match on this card except the main event, had another level or two to hit to reach classic status before Bron Breakker interfered, it was still by far the best match on the show at this point in the evening.

Grade: A-

Liv Morgan defeated Stephanie Vaquer (c) by pinfall for the Women’s World Championship

What are we doing here?

Seriously, what was this?

The lead-up to WrestleMania 42 was lukewarm at the kindest, but these two women were one of the few bright spots leading up to the weekend.

They hated each other, with Morgan’s gigantic bump on her forehead to prove it. Both women can go in the ring, and after an avalanche of commercials and advertisements, we were given a short, flat match with a 200-day title reign ending like it was an afterthought.

Who needs a five-star match when you can have a five-star General Insurance advertisement?

Grade: F

Cody Rhodes (c) defeated Randy Orton (with Pat McAfee) by pinfall for the WWE Championship

What a confusing, somewhat beautifully wrestled mangle of a main event.

It was one of the weirdest main events in WrestleMania history, and I’ve watched all of them numerous times, including the awfulness that was The Miz vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 27.

From a pure ring standpoint, rewatching it, this is a great match. It tells a fantastic story. Rhodes needs to find that killer instinct to match his teacher, Orton, and surpass him.

Both men are willing to go to hell and back for the championship, and you see that evolution throughout the match.

The issue is that it isn’t the story WWE was telling for the past three weeks leading into WrestleMania 42. What might have been the original narrative behind the match devolved into Pat McAfee, TKO speculation, Jelly Roll getting beat up, and even more McAfee.

So when they essentially brushed aside everything thrown at us over the past month to switch back to the original heart of this rivalry, it created whiplash that confused a majority of the fans watching.

In a world where they just went the simple path and focused on Rhodes needing to find that extra edge to match “The Viper,” this could have gone down as an all-timer main event.

Yet, even though Orton and Rhodes tried to salvage the feud, it left a strange aftertaste and a melancholy what-if feeling of what this match really could have been.

Grade: C+

Overall, Saturday was a strange night: the show was four hours long, but most matches felt shorter than what a fan would see on weekly television.

As someone who has always loved the pomp and circumstance of WrestleMania, the lack of backstage segments and the endless commercials killed much of what I’ve loved about the biggest show of the year.

WrestleMania used to feel alive, even when it was awful. You’d have legends popping up backstage. Interactions with wrestlers that you’ve always wished would bump into each other. There was a rhythm to it all.

WrestleMania 42 night one had no rhythm, and while there were positives, it was a disappointing show with a card that held such promise.

Final Grade: D+

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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 2:44 PM.