WrestleMania 38 (2022): Returns, Redemption and One Stupendous Weekend

WrestleMania 38 begins with a match that never gets the chance to become what the four wrestlers planned. Rick Boogs injures his right knee while attempting to lift both Usos, immediately changing the structure of the opener. From that moment, Shinsuke Nakamura is effectively working alone.

Before the injury, Boogs' power gives the match a lively visual identity. The Usos bump around for him and the crowd responds to the possibility that the challengers might steal a quick title change. The physical breakdown ends that trajectory.

Jimmy and Jey adjust quickly, isolate Nakamura and finish him with the 1D. The champions retain without the match needing to invent a complicated explanation for Boogs' disappearance. Professional adaptation becomes the most impressive part of the closing minutes.

The reported Observer rating was 1.5 stars, while CBS Sports graded the match C-minus and specifically noted how the injury forced an awkward ending. That criticism is fair without blaming the wrestlers for circumstances outside the intended match. WrestleFile lands at C / 6.0.

Drew McIntyre against Happy Corbin is not a match anyone bought WrestleMania for, but it produces one genuinely important spot. Corbin's End of Days had been protected for years as a finish nobody escaped. McIntyre becomes the first wrestler to kick out.

The rest of the match is straightforward. Corbin controls enough of the middle to make the protected finish matter, while Madcap Moss provides the expected distraction around ringside. McIntyre wrestles like a star completing a feud rather than beginning one.

Once End of Days fails, the outcome feels inevitable. McIntyre hits the Future Shock DDT and Claymore for the clean victory. The post-match sword swing cutting the ring ropes supplies a larger visual than most of the match itself.

The Observer rating was 2.75 stars, while CBS Sports was considerably warmer with a B grade. The match is competent and historically notable for the protected-finisher kickout without becoming a WrestleMania standout. WrestleFile lands at C+ / 6.6.

Logan Paul's first WWE match immediately answers the question that surrounds every celebrity debut. He is not merely willing to take a bump; he has trained enough to participate in a real tag match beside three experienced professionals. The novelty becomes useful rather than distracting.

Rey and Dominik Mysterio provide the ideal opponents. Their speed gives Paul uncomplicated targets, while Miz handles the connective work whenever the match needs to settle. Paul earns enormous heel heat by performing the Three Amigos and frog splash while mocking Eddie Guerrero.

The finish protects the spectacle. The Mysterios hit tandem offense on Paul, but Miz has made a blind tag and catches Rey with the Skull Crushing Finale. Miz then turns on Paul after the victory, creating a future singles program.

CBS Sports graded the match B, and the Observer gave it 3.5 stars. Even reviewers expecting a celebrity sideshow generally praised Paul's athleticism and restraint. WrestleFile lands at B / 7.8.

Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch deliver the wrestling centerpiece of WrestleMania 38. Their story has been running since Lynch ended Belair's championship reign in twenty-six seconds at SummerSlam, and the rematch finally gives Belair the stage and time required for redemption. The audience understands the emotional destination immediately.

Lynch attacks the old wound in the first minute by hitting the Manhandle Slam and nearly repeating SummerSlam. From there, every major sequence asks whether Belair can survive the shortcuts and experience that have kept Lynch ahead of her. The callbacks never overwhelm the match.

Belair's athletic counters are spectacular without feeling decorative. The 450 splash, Glam Slam and power displays gradually force Lynch into riskier decisions, while Lynch's Manhandle Slam on the steel steps creates the strongest late false finish. Belair barely beats the count.

The final escape from another Manhandle Slam leads directly to the K.O.D. Belair wins the Raw Women's Championship and completes a seven-month story that began with humiliation. The finish feels earned rather than merely corrective.

The Observer rated the match 4.5 stars, CBS Sports gave it an A-plus and the contemporary critical response repeatedly identified it among the weekend's best matches. It remains one of the defining WrestleMania performances of Belair's career. WrestleFile lands at A+ / 9.6.

The lights go out, the music changes and WrestleMania receives one of its defining return moments. Cody Rhodes walks back into WWE after six years away and after helping build a rival national promotion. The surprise alone would have made the segment memorable.

Rhodes and Seth Rollins then justify giving the moment twenty-one minutes. The opening is deliberately methodical because the crowd needs time to absorb the return, after which the match becomes a series of increasingly ambitious counters and near falls. Rollins makes Cody earn every step.

The Pedigree near fall gives the match an especially useful layer because it touches Rhodes' history without needing commentary to explain every implication. Cody answers with Cross Rhodes, then keeps escalating after Rollins survives. The pace rises exactly when the spectacle needs wrestling substance.

Two Cross Rhodes, the Bionic Elbow and a third Cross Rhodes finish the match. The Dusty tribute gives Cody's victory a personal signature and announces that this return is being presented at the highest level. He does not come back as a nostalgia act.

Cagematch lists the match around 8.6 from hundreds of votes, and the Observer rated it 4.5 stars. The combination of match quality and historical consequence makes it one of the weekend's essential pieces. WrestleFile lands at A / 9.3.

Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey enter with championship stakes and Royal Rumble momentum, yet the match never finds the emotional force expected from either. The technical idea is sound: two wrestlers with submission identities repeatedly look for the arm and leg. The execution remains uneven.

Rousey creates the strongest moments when she forces Flair to scramble out of the armbar. Flair's counterwrestling is credible, but several transitions feel more arranged than combative. The crowd cools after the two previous matches.

The finish intentionally creates controversy. Flair taps while the referee is incapacitated, Rousey turns to revive him and Flair catches her with a big boot for the pin. The champion retains and the rematch becomes inevitable.

The Observer rated the match two stars, and several contemporary reviews called the bout disappointing relative to its placement. WrestleMania Backlash later gives the rivalry a much better I Quit Match. WrestleFile lands at C / 6.4.

Kevin Owens walks into WrestleMania expecting to host a talk segment and talks himself into the most improbable match on the card. Stone Cold Steve Austin accepts a No Holds Barred challenge and wrestles for the first time since WrestleMania XIX in 2003. Nineteen years disappear in the sound of the Texas crowd.

The match wisely avoids pretending Austin is the athlete he was in 2001. Owens structures a walk-and-brawl around punches, beer breaks, crowd fighting and strategically placed bumps. Austin even takes suplexes on the concrete and entrance stage.

Owens gets enough offense to prevent the match from becoming ceremonial. His Stunner near fall creates genuine surprise, and the chair ricochet gives Austin a plausible opening without requiring an elaborate closing sequence. One Stunner ends the match.

The significance is impossible to separate from the execution. Austin does not embarrass himself, Owens understands the assignment and the audience receives a legitimate WrestleMania main event rather than a nostalgic cameo. The celebration afterward feels like a career epilogue.

The Observer rated the match 3.5 stars, while CBS Sports gave the segment an A because of how successfully it delivered the special moment. That distinction is exactly right. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.9.

WrestleMania Sunday starts with six wrestlers treating eleven minutes like a sprint. RK-Bro, The Street Profits and Alpha Academy abandon slow setup almost immediately and build the match around movement, athletic counters and spectacular saves. The crowd is ready for exactly that energy.

Montez Ford and Chad Gable create much of the visual ambition. Riddle provides the impossible-looking RKO variations, while Randy Orton times his entrances to maximize the reaction. Otis and Angelo Dawkins keep the match from becoming six interchangeable flyers.

The finish is outstanding. Riddle catches Ford with an RKO from the top rope, then Orton catches Gable in midair with another RKO. The champions retain in a sequence designed entirely around timing.

The Observer rated the match 4.25 stars, and contemporary reviews praised it as the ideal Sunday opener. It does not need a long story because the title stakes and crowd energy carry the structure. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.6.

Bobby Lashley against Omos is a spectacle match with one central question: can Lashley physically move a much larger opponent? The answer produces a few impressive moments but not a compelling six-minute match. Omos is still extremely limited at this stage.

Lashley spends most of the match absorbing basic power offense and searching for the Hurt Lock. The vertical suplex receives the reaction WWE wants because it turns the size difference into a visible achievement. Everything between those moments is slow.

Two Spears give Lashley the clean win and end Omos' undefeated streak. The victory positions Lashley strongly, but MVP's turn the next night ensures the pairing is not actually finished. The WrestleMania result becomes chapter one.

The Observer gave the match half a star. Even warmer reviews generally treated it as a brief attraction rather than quality wrestling. WrestleFile lands at D / 4.8.

Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn produce the weekend's best argument that professional wrestling can be ridiculous without becoming bad. The match is structured like a live-action cartoon, with Jackass inventions replacing normal weapon escalation. Zayn treats every absurdity with complete seriousness.

Knoxville's greatest contribution is understanding that he does not need to pretend to be a trained wrestler. Fire extinguishers, bowling balls, mechanical contraptions and Jackass cast members become the offense. Zayn's selling turns each joke into a wrestling beat.

Wee Man bodyslamming Zayn and the giant mousetrap finish are intentionally absurd, but the escalation is coherent. Every new prop tops the previous one without the match losing its central bully-versus-prankster story. The crowd buys all of it.

Knoxville traps Zayn in the oversized mousetrap and scores the pin. The finish could have been unbearable in a different match; here it is the only finish that makes sense. Commitment saves the comedy.

Cagematch currently has the match around 7.3 from hundreds of votes, and the Observer did not assign a star rating. Contemporary reviews were strikingly positive about the entertainment value. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.5.

Eight wrestlers make the women's tag title match almost impossible to organize cleanly. The bout embraces that reality and becomes a rapid collection of tandem offense, saves and short spotlight sequences. The energy is better than the clarity.

Sasha Banks and Naomi have the strongest emotional reason to win. Banks enters without a WrestleMania victory despite years near the top of the division, while Naomi has not held a championship since 2017. The crowd responds to the possibility of changing both stories.

The closing sequence gives the babyface team the payoff. Banks and Naomi combine their offense on Carmella and score the title-winning pin. Banks earns her first WrestleMania victory and her third women's tag title reign.

The Observer rated the match 2.5 stars, while Bleacher Report praised the effort but criticized the spot-heavy structure. The title change matters more than the match construction. WrestleFile lands at C+ / 6.8.

Edge and AJ Styles enter with dream-match expectations that are nearly impossible to satisfy. The first half is deliberately slow and technical, with Edge targeting the shoulder rather than chasing a spectacle. That choice divides the audience but gives the match a clear idea.

Styles gradually forces the pace upward. The Styles Clash near fall and springboard threats create the strongest late sequences, while Edge keeps returning to the damaged shoulder. The match becomes better as it becomes less patient.

Damian Priest appears at ringside just long enough to distract Styles before the Phenomenal Forearm. Edge Spears him and gets the pin. The interference launches the alliance that becomes Judgment Day.

The Observer rated the match 3.75 stars, and Pro Wrestling Dot Net readers later selected it as the best match of Sunday with 31 percent of the vote. It falls short of an all-time dream match while remaining very good. WrestleFile lands at B / 7.9.

The New Day against Sheamus and Ridge Holland is the match that was cut from Saturday and then barely restored on Sunday. Its one-minute-forty-second runtime tells the audience exactly where it stands in the weekend hierarchy. There is no room for a normal WrestleMania match.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods wear gear honoring the injured Big E, which gives the entrance more emotional meaning than the wrestling receives. The heels attack quickly and Butch creates the expected ringside disruption. The match is over before any comeback can matter.

Sheamus lands the Brogue Kick and Holland finishes Woods with Northern Grit. The same side that has dominated the program wins again. Nothing about the result feels like a WrestleMania payoff.

The Observer rated the match a quarter star, and contemporary reviews widely criticized its placement and brevity. It is essentially a television segment inserted into a stadium event. WrestleFile lands at F / 3.3.

Pat McAfee walks into a stadium match with the crowd treating him like a hometown-level babyface despite being a broadcaster with limited wrestling experience. Austin Theory understands his job immediately and becomes the smug obstacle McAfee needs. The atmosphere does half the work before the first lockup.

McAfee's athleticism supplies the rest. His leap to the top rope and superplex is the visual everyone remembers, but his movement and confidence are more important because they keep the match from feeling rehearsed around one stunt. Theory gives him enough structure to succeed.

McAfee counters A-Town Down into a roll-up and scores the victory. The crowd erupts because the match has been presented as a genuine competitive challenge rather than a celebrity exhibition. For nine minutes, the formula works almost perfectly.

The Observer rated it 3.75 stars, and Pro Wrestling Dot Net readers placed it among Sunday's strongest matches. The later McMahon segment damages some of the celebration but not the match itself. WrestleFile lands at B+ / 8.1.

The problem with Pat McAfee beating Austin Theory is that WrestleMania immediately refuses to leave the successful moment alone. Mr. McMahon removes his suit, steps into the ring at seventy-six years old and turns the celebration into an impromptu match. The crowd initially reacts to the absurdity.

Theory attacks McAfee before the bell and McMahon spends the match kicking and taunting a defenseless opponent. There is no competitive structure because there cannot realistically be one. The joke is simply that the chairman is winning.

McMahon kicks a football into McAfee's face and pins him. The result makes the announcer who just earned a huge WrestleMania win look foolish within minutes. Stone Cold Steve Austin arriving afterward is required to repair the mood.

The Observer rated the match minus two stars, the lowest rating of the weekend, and contemporary reviews were similarly harsh. Austin's Stunner on McMahon is entertaining aftermath rather than a defense of the match. WrestleFile lands at F / 1.2.

Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar headline WrestleMania together for the third time with WWE billing the match as the biggest WrestleMania match ever. The WWE Championship and Universal Championship are both at stake, and Reigns' historic title reign gives the result enormous consequence. The setup is larger than the match ultimately becomes.

The wrestlers lean almost entirely on signature offense. Suplexes, Superman Punches, Spears and F-5 attempts arrive rapidly, creating a heavyweight sprint rather than an epic. Paul Heyman's involvement supplies the most interesting character work.

Lesnar's Kimura gives the closing minutes a needed submission threat. Reigns survives with help from Heyman, escapes another F-5 attempt and lands the final Spear. The sudden pin feels abrupt relative to the billing.

Reigns leaves with both championships and becomes recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. That image is historically enormous even though the match is not the classic WWE advertised. The title consolidation shapes the company for years.

The Observer rated the match 3.25 stars, while Pro Wrestling Dot Net's Sunday poll gave it only seven percent of the best-match vote. The historical result is stronger than the in-ring climax. WrestleFile lands at B- / 7.3.