WWE promoted WrestleMania 38 as a “stupendous” two-night extravaganza, and it’s hard to argue with the results.
WWE announced Monday that WrestleMania 38 became the “highest-grossing and most-attended event” in company history, supposedly drawing 156,352 fans from all 50 states and 53 countries over the course of Saturday and Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Of course, each viewer’s enjoyment level, whether watching at home or in person, depends on their own cup of tea. But the annual “showcase of the immortals” remains extremely profitable, largely because it transcends wrestling and crosses into mainstream pop culture with its overall presentation.
Now, bottom line aside, some WWE superstars benefit more than others from being on the grandest stage in sports entertainment. So, here are the biggest winners and losers from WrestleMania 38.
WINNERS
Roman Reigns
Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in the main event Sunday night — a clash billed as the “biggest WrestleMania match of all time” — to unify WWE’s two top titles. He’s been a dominant force for well over a year, and a clean victory over The Beast further solidifies The Tribal Chief’s legacy. Acknowledge him, if you haven’t already.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Arrive. Raise hell. Leave. It was Austin’s forte back in the day, and the Texas Rattlesnake didn’t disappoint in that regard this weekend, beating Kevin Owens in his first match in 19 years on Saturday and then returning to drink more beers and hand out more stunners on Sunday. Legend.
The celebrities
Pat McAfee, Logan Paul and Johnny Knoxville (plus other members of the “Jackass” cast, including Wee Man and “Party Boy” Chris Pontius) more than held their own. Especially McAfee, a former NFL punter who now hosts a world-famous podcast and does commentary for WWE “SmackDown” on Friday nights. He was unbelievable in working with Austin Theory, Vince McMahon and eventually “Stone Cold.”
Cody Rhodes
Rhodes didn’t just receive a HUGE pop Saturday night in his return to WWE. He also used the “American Nightmare” persona that became popular among AEW fans, suggesting WWE might give him a little more creative freedom moving forward. It’ll be interesting to see if Rhodes continues to work with Seth Rollins, whom he defeated, before potentially entering the main-event picture.
Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch
Belair defeated Lynch to win the Raw Women’s Championship, but both deserve a ton of credit. Their storyline was compelling, from start to finish, and their match genuinely had a big-fight feel, on which they delivered.
LOSERS
Rick Boogs
Boogs suffered a legitimate injury, tearing his quadriceps and patella tendon in the event’s opening match. Hard to get much worse than that. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
The New Day
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were supposed to face Sheamus and Ridge Holland on Night 1. The match instead got bumped to Night 2 due to time issues. And really, being bumped off the card entirely would’ve been a better result for Kingston and Woods, who were quickly pummeled in a short match that was supposed to be dedicated to Big E, their partner who recently suffered a legitimate broken neck.
Omos
Omos was supposed to be unstoppable. Then, Bobby Lashley showed up on “Raw” last Monday, paving the way for a WrestleMania match in which he pinned Omos clean. There was very little buildup to further enhance Omos’ stock, and now the intrigue of him steamrolling everyone is gone.
Ronda Rousey
Not only did Rousey’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match with Charlotte Flair stink, especially relative to the awesome Belair-Lynch spectacle. There also were rumors of Rousey, who lost, kicking up a fuss about it not being the main event Saturday. Not a great look all around for the former UFC champ.
Gable Steveson
One actually could argue Steveson was a winner based on how much WWE pumped his tires this past weekend. Clearly, they have sky-high expectations for the two-time NCAA champion, who even got physical inside the squared circle Sunday night. But it’s for that very reason that he’s getting a “loser” label in this space. The WWE Universe often rejects superstars when it seems like they’re being force fed, and it’s easy to envision a scenario where Steveson is jammed down fans’ throats way too fast.
