WrestleMania 42 Night 2 – Best and Worst – After Brock Lesnar, Another Top Star May Have Stepped Away From WWE

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Last night wasn’t a complete dud, but there were a lot of baffling decisions. Almost every match had a problem: the wrong winners, too short, or the story not making sense. Thankfully, it was the opposite tonight. Almost everything was perfectly booked. Almost.

So, with that in mind, here is the best and worst of WrestleMania 42 Sunday.

#3. Best: Ladder Carnage

Night Two of WrestleMania 42 was bookended by some massive moments, but there was a lot of good stuff in the middle. The highlight among those was the Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship. All six men put in quite the shift, as they destroyed their bodies for our entertainment.

Some of the ladder-based spots involving Rey Mysterio, Penta, and others were unbelievable. JD McDonagh and Rusev, in particular, took some nasty bumps. Je’Von Evans had a fantastic ‘Mania debut, but it was the champion who retained his title.

Penta came out on top after he and everyone else took a lot of damage. There was practically no fault with this match. There was a lot more to like elsewhere, too, with Rhea Ripley winning the WWE Women’s Championship and The Demon coming out on top over Dominik Mysterio.

#2. Worst: No Big Returns

This was far from the worst thing in the world, but there weren’t going to be any huge surprise returns on Night Two of WrestleMania 42. We got three on Saturday. Perhaps one of them should’ve happened on Sunday to balance things out.

WWE moving the Women’s Tag Team Championship match would have made everything better. Tonight’s show was about half an hour shorter, so it could have been added here without compromising anything else. Bianca Belair and Paige’s returns are then saved for different nights.

But, most crucially, all six matches on WrestleMania 42 Night One would have had more time. That may have been the difference between a decent ‘Mania and a great one. It is proof of how important it is for WWE to get the placement of every single match right across the entire weekend.

#2. Best: Oba Ends Brock at WrestleMania 42

This was booked to perfection. We don’t know if Brock Lesnar has officially retired. Maybe Gunther has something to say about that. But, if this is it for The Beast Incarnate, what a scalp for Oba Femi!

Lesnar truly put him over at WrestleMania 42. He gave The Ruler everything. Oba decimated the former Universal Champion in five minutes and is now on top of the world. A fantastic moment that should encourage WWE to continue to trust young stars and give them the ball.

The color theme of WrestleMania 42 Sunday suggests that is very much the case. The future seems to be bright.

#1. Worst: Showcase of the Commercials

This wasn’t necessarily a problem exclusive to Night Two, but it actively affected our experience. Both nights of WrestleMania 42 featured a repulsive amount of commercials. Some of the breaks were as long as the women’s matches on Night One. Yes, I’m still mad about that. Liv Morgan and Stephanie Vaquer deserved better.

But regarding tonight, half of the entrances for the Ladder Match happened while the commercials were still ongoing. Dragon Lee wore a special attire for his WrestleMania 42 entrance that nobody saw. That is disrespectful to him, JD McDonagh, and Rusev, even though they redeemed themselves with incredible performances.

Also, the ring is filled with sponsors. So it’s not like we are free from TKO’s advertising overkill during the matches. Yet, they decided that the commercials would eat up time from the matches and force us to miss parts of the show as they happen. It’s understandable for television, but unacceptable for premium live events.

Considering how expensive the WrestleMania 42 tickets were, the least WWE could have done was optimize each match to the best of their abilities. Instead, they rushed through a lot of them just so we could watch clips of Hulk Hogan’s documentary on repeat.

The booking may have improved on Night Two, but this issue remains. And it doesn’t look like anything will change. Okay, back to the wrestling now.

#1. Best: Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk – Match of the Year

Even TKO couldn’t ruin this main event!

For all of the faults in how WrestleMania 42 was laid out and the lack of importance for overall consumer experience, there was at least one all-time classic at this year’s Show of Shows. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk will be remembered as one of the greatest main events in ‘Mania history.

The action was intense right from the start, and we could feel the hatred between Punk and Reigns. Both stars had performances that would rank among the best of their respective careers, with The Best in the World truly living up to that name.

I’m not going to mention every big spot; that’s the job of a different article. Nevertheless, every one of them served the match and the story of CM Punk ultimately losing because of how exhausted he was. He collapsed over 30 minutes into the contest, as he was about to hit one final GTS.

Roman Reigns finished him off with two Spears to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The OTC has claimed he will be a full-time champion, so let’s hope he sticks around following WrestleMania 42. It seems like Punk will go on hiatus for some time, though. If he does, it’s a well-earned break. He truly had one of the greatest World Title reigns in recent WWE history.