
Bengals extend Lawrence after blockbuster trade
Cincinnati Bengals extend Dexter Lawrence II for $28 million after trade from Giants
WrestleMania 42's Night 1 in Las Vegas was disappointing, failing to meet expectations set by last year's event. The main event between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton lacked energy and coherent storytelling.
Mentioned in this story
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.
The main event featured Cody Rhodes defending his title against Randy Orton, but it was criticized for its low energy and poor narrative.
Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 was considered worse than last year's event, as WWE failed to improve upon its previous disappointing performance.
Cody Rhodes wrestled much of the match as a heel, drawing boos from the crowd and resorting to questionable tactics like a testicle kick.
The crowd's response was subdued, with moments of cheer during finishing moves, but overall, the match lacked the expected drama and excitement.

Cincinnati Bengals extend Dexter Lawrence II for $28 million after trade from Giants

El Cádiz no reacciona y pierde 3-0 contra el Sporting en El Molinón.
Exploring Sonny Styles' NFL Draft Potential and Career Highlights
Will Howard earns less with Steelers than at Ohio State, taking a pay cut.
Sei Young Kim nearly loses her 8-stroke lead at the LA Championship!

Dana White is working to secure medical treatment for Maya Gebala, a Canadian shooting victim.
See every story in Sports — including breaking news and analysis.
Instead, we had a string of inexplicable double-turns from "The Viper", culminating in Orton delivering a surprise RKO to McAfee. Sticking it to the TKO lackey may have got a cheap pop from the crowd, particularly from those in the $200 cheap seats, but it still didn't make sense. Why maximize Orton's popularity if you're just going to have him lose five minutes later — and to the guy who was meant to be the actual babyface here?
Then came the final pivot, as Orton finally delivered the dreaded punt kick that WWE has been teasing for some months now, leaving Rhodes with the biggest headache on the Vegas Strip. In fairness to the creatives on this one, it did hit pretty hard — even if Rhodes had already been bleeding for some time — but it wasn't enough to save the night.
Pat McAfee (R) attacks Cody Rhodes before the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Rhodes and Randy Orton during WrestleMania 42 Night 1.
(Ethan Miller via Getty Images)
We've been calling the end of WWE's hot streak for years now. But we shouldn't shy away from labeling last night's WrestleMania 42 opener as what it was: A disappointment. And the problems weren't just confined to the main event. If anything, the whole show felt uninspired from the off.
The Logan Paul and Usos match was a pastiche of previous hits. The women's world title match felt massively truncated, with a finish that would have seemed derivative if it had happened on a random episode of "Raw." Becky Lynch wrestled a match that seemed to have one single aim underlined in bold — to overturn what happened to her at Elimination Chamber.
Sure, Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre delivered, while Seth Rollins and Gunther knocked it out of the park as hoped. On a smaller show, the latter match could've saved the entire evening. On the first night of 'Mania, though, it just felt slightly bittersweet: A reminder of what pro-wrestling should look like. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that was the match to receive the least creative output over the past few weeks.
Who knows, maybe WrestleMania 42 will be another WWE stadium show saved by its second night. But right now, that's looking less and less likely. To rehash a joke going around on social media, perhaps it's time to rethink those "three most deadly letters in sports entertainment." After last night, they should no longer be R-K-O, but T-K-O instead.