Taking Night 2 separately, there was a great variety and a lot to love. Some exciting fast-paced wrestling, some classic WWE-style matches, and even some whack spot-fests to keep fans happy throughout the night. It’s a great culmination of the past year of WWE programming and lays the foundation for the next chapter going forward.
8 Bobby Lashley Def. Omos
Most people weren’t expecting much from this match, and it’s fair to say that was a reasonable perspective. Unfortunately, this match was exactly as dull as many thought it would be. It’s clear that Omos, who is coming to WWE 2K22 in DLC later this month, isn’t quite ready for big singles matches yet, and putting him in this one was quite the mistake.
It’s a shame WWE missed the opportunity to put him in a match with AJ Styles, as that could’ve really been something. However, what Omos gave here wasn’t exciting in the slightest. It’s the kind of slow giant-based offense fans have seen over and over for years. Lashley did better, but he didn’t have a lot to work with.
7 Sheamus & Ridge Holland Def. The New Day
After this match was cut from Night 1 for time, it was never going to go well jamming it onto Night 2 at the last minute. The match lasted less than 2 minutes and there sadly wasn’t anything worth watching in that time. It’s better than the match being cut again, but it’s still not good.
The way Butch was booked to act in this match was strange, and way below what Pete Dunne can do. He was acting wild, and like he couldn’t control himself from attacking people, with Sheamus having to hold him back. It’s unclear what WWE is trying to do with this, but it makes Butch look like a pathetic child.
6 Edge Def. AJ Styles
This match was arguably the biggest disappointment of the night. Although it did have stuff to like, it was definitely below the expectations of what fans hoped these two could do. The match started well, with Styles & Edge exchanging holds, going back and forth at a good pace.
Unfortunately, as the match reached the middle, things slowed to a crawl. Edge threw on multiple rest holds, and when the pair started selling huge for every move, it didn’t feel earned. On the bright side, things picked up once more towards the end, as both men countered each other with submission holds, and Damian Priest’s alignment with Edge presents an interesting scenario for the future.
5 Sasha Banks & Naomi Won The Women’s Tag Team Championships
10 minutes arguably wasn’t enough time for a match involving eight women, but all the wrestlers here did a good job of creating a fast-paced match that allowed everyone at least a little moment to shine. Weirdly, the champions felt like the least important people in the match, serving only to play spoiler to bigger spots.
Rhea Ripley looked as good as ever, carrying a decent chunk of the match, and the eventual winners, Sasha & Naomi were involved in the action from start to finish. Spots like the double Tower of Doom are always going to get a crowd going, and in the end, the right team walked away with the titles. The Women’s Tag Team Championships have a reputation for not being well-treated in WWE, but hopefully, Sasha Banks & Naomi are the right people to change that reputation.
4 Roman Reigns(c) Def. Brock Lesnar(c) - WWE & Universal Championships
Despite Michael Cole drilling the “biggest WrestleMania main event of all time” into the audience’s heads way too aggressively, this match successfully lived up to their big fight feels. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have had two prior matches at WrestleMania. Their WrestleMania 31 match was fantastic, their WrestleMania 34 match was awful.
This match sat firmly in between the two. The action never let up, and both men went in with maximum aggression. Brock avoided spamming Finishers like he normally does, and it gave that match a proper push and pull. At the same time, the match never hit that higher gear that their first match did, going just 12 minutes wasn’t quite enough time to feel truly epic by the end. That said, Roman won decisively and now holds both world championships in WWE, which was the right call.
3 Pat McAfee Def. Austin Theory (& Vince McMahon Def. Pat McAfee)
This pair of matches was a wild ride. While McAfee may not be an in-ring technician, he has boundless energy that is wonderfully contagious. He can make just about anything exciting, which is exactly what he did in this match. It wasn’t the most complex of matches, but it was still gripping thanks to McAfee’s performance.
After that, things went into mental territory. The 76-year-old owner of WWE, Vince McMahon stripped off his suit and got in the wring with the most muscled old-man body there has ever been. He then proceeded to beat McAfee with help from Austin Theory, only for Stone Cold to come out and hit the Stunner on everyone in sight, including one of the best Stunners ever on Theory, and one of the worst on Vince. It was insane, but loads of fun.
2 Johnny Knoxville Def. Sami Zayn - No Holds Barred
When it comes to insane fun, the crew of Jackass have the market cornered, so it’s no surprise that this match was a barrel of laughs. It was the height of silliness, but in a good self-aware way, rather than WWE’s usual style of cringe comedy.
Zayn performed his role to perfection, and it was easy to tell that everyone out there was having tonnes of fun. The regular weapons at the beginning made the match feel sufficiently brutal, and it built nicely to bigger, wackier weapons and stunts that were pulled later on in the match.
1 RKBro(c) Def. The Street Profits & Alpha Academy - Raw Tag Team Championships
The opening match of Night 2 set the stage beautifully for the rest of it, but when it was all said and done, it was still the highlight of the night. Much like the women’s 4-way tag match, the action was a mile-a-minute from the word go, but with one less team and a couple of extra minutes, this match reached much higher highs.
All three teams had moments where it looked like they could win, and everyone came away from it looking good, be it from an in-ring or character perspective. The Street Profits can do no wrong, and Alpha Academy has found a rhythm that works for them. RKBro, meanwhile, are the center of attention like they have been for a while, Orton and Riddle are perfect together, and both of them have extremely exciting movesets, which were used to great effect in this match.
More: WWE 2K22: Awesome AEW CAWs You Need To Download
