WrestleMania 42 biggest winners and losers: What should we make of WWE's roller-coaster weekend?

The numbers game was always going to factor into this rivalry, and getting the belt on Morgan in the way WWE did on Saturday night does protect “La Primera,” but it’s hard to see her remaining prominent in the main-event picture in the short term, assuming she loses in the inevitable rematch.

Perhaps this was always the outcome for someone who rose so quickly to WWE stardom, but her title run felt a bit underwhelming considering what we have seen from Vaquer in the past.

Winner: NXT’s Big 3

Anyone with a set of eyeballs knew that Oba Femi, Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams were destined for great things when they came up to the main roster this year — and they made good on that potential in a big way on Sunday night.

Femi needed a shade under five minutes to obliterate Brock Lesnar and instantly become a main-event player on “Raw.” His entrance drew some of the largest reactions from the crowd all weekend, and getting put over by Lesnar is a true changing-of-the-guard moment. Evans — already well known for his jaw-dropping aerial offense — had the spot of the night with his OG Cutter to Rusev in a show-stealing ladder match. It’s worth noting that Femi and Evans were both featured during the first hour of Night 2, which aired on ESPN. Finally, Trick Williams got a star’s entrance and captured his first main-roster championship by defeating Sami Zayn.

It’s not out of the real of possibility that these three are in a WrestleMania main event in the not-so-distant future.

Je'Von Evans (left), Trick Williams (center) and Oba Femi have made an immediate impact with WWE in 2026.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Loser: Long matches

There has been plenty written and said about the ratio of in-ring action to commercials and entrances at WrestleMania 42, so I will not rehash that. (Our man Robert Jackman already crunched the numbers on this front — and they may be even more shocking than you’d think.)

What I will say is that some of the time constraints truly prevented matches from reaching a higher level, most notably the amazing Night 1 clash between Gunther and Seth Rollins. Despite being one of the longer matches on either night, I believe that if Rollins and Gunther had been given 5-10 more minutes, they may have put together one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time. I also believe that given more time, Vaquer and Morgan could have both looked significantly stronger coming out of Night 1.

Ultimately, many of the weekend’s matches felt like they were better suited to be television main events than WrestleMania showcases, due in large part to the lack of time given to allow WWE’s performers to shine.

Winner: Jade Cargill

Cargill faced plenty of questions and doubts heading into WrestleMania 42, despite being WWE Women’s Champion. Her lack of title defenses and sudden pairing with B-Fab and Michin left many skeptical of how her match with Rhea Ripley would play out on Night 2.

Yet Cargill didn’t just weather that storm — pun intended — she also put together the best match of her entire career against one of the best women’s performers in WrestleMania history. The action and storytelling were top-notch here and fans were treated to the best women’s match across the entire WrestleMania weekend.

Cargill may have dropped her title to Ripley, but she’s in a much better position moving forward because of the standout performance she had in doing so.

Jade Cargill (L) and Rhea Ripley had a stellar match at WrestleMania 42.

(Ethan Miller via Getty Images)

Loser: Pat McAfee

McAfee’s involvement in the Night 1 main event was polarizing and overshadowed a match the wrestling world had been looking forward to ever since Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022. For better or worse, it generated real heat for himself and Orton, which was likely the intended outcome — but as it turned out, McAfee’s involvement in the match itself was minimal. It was the right call to have him removed from ringside after a beatdown from Rhodes and Jelly Roll, which allowed the main event to be a mostly one-on-one affair, but his return in a neck brace and referee shirt only helped polish off a confusing double turn in the match’s closing segment.

Ultimately, we could’ve gotten to the same outcome without McAfee’s presence, because the fans were behind Orton in the weeks after the Elimination Chamber and Rhodes’ heel-like antics during Saturday’s match helped hammer home his persona changes. McAfee’s a good WWE in-ring performer and great commentator — he just felt badly miscast in this role.

Winner: IShowSpeed

Speed had a small role in Night 1’s opening match, but he also had one of the most-talked about moments with his splash onto Logan Paul through an announce table.

Say what you will about celebrity/streamer involvement in WWE, but these guys have shown an understanding of the requirements needed — physically and emotionally — to shine on the biggest of stages.