WrestleMania 42: Can Night 2 save the weekend after a miserable Night 1?

WWE had set themselves a low bar with last year's disappointing WrestleMania. Yet as far as this year's WrestleMania 42 opening night is concerned — which saw WWE return to the scene of the crime Saturday in Las Vegas — the world's biggest wrestling promotion pulled off the most unlikely of feats: They somehow managed to limbo right under it.

What can we say in defense of that Night 1 main event? Well, it was at least slightly different than last year. Having reflected on the infamous Travis Scott debacle of 2025, WWE opted to shoehorn most of its celebrity action into the pre-match section. In fact, Pat McAfee even got a full entrance before either of the championship competitors, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, earning himself a predictably subdued response. That was until Jelly Roll popped up. Indeed, given Jelly Roll's slimmed down physique and the physics of his high-flying bump, McAfee could plausibly claim to be the first athlete to have their life saved by Wegovy.

After that, though, things just got weird. A slightly slower pace is to be expected during these bigger title matches — particularly when they feature men in their 40s — but some of the minutes of Rhodes and Orton walking around outside of the ring Saturday night felt pitifully low energy. If WWE commentator Michael Cole hadn't already confirmed those online rumors about Orton nursing a sore back, this would have confirmed it.

There were snippets of 'Mania-worthy drama throughout the final hour. The sight of both men hitting each other's finishing moves — including Orton's clean-looking Cross Rhodes — got a cheer. There was a suitably dramatic RKO when the champion was caught mid-air attempting a Cody Cutter toward the end. But the cup wasn't exactly in danger of spilling when it came to drama on WrestleMania 42 Night 1, and worse, the narrative was all over the place. After his soppy promo on Friday's "SmackDown," Rhodes was once again positioned as the savior of pro-wrestling. Yet he wrestled most of the match as the heel, drawing boos from the crowd and even resorting to a testicle kick after the ref bump. It felt like a return to 2024 Cody Rhodes — i.e. the babyface champion who seems in denial about his own ruthless side.

Orton's arc was even more nonsensical. In the build-up to 'Mania, WWE had gone big on this new alliance between Orton and McAfee, with hints that "The Viper" would end up being the prize stud for some kind of kayfabe TKO alliance — presumably winning his 15th world championship in the process.