WWE put a bow on WrestleMania 42 this Monday with the always eventful “Raw After ‘Mania,” but the crew here at Uncrowned isn’t quite finished discussing the “Showcase of the Immortals.” After bringing you features, columns, previews, predictions, recaps and takeaways, the Uncrowned Horsemen are here with one last cherry atop the sundae pertaining to the “Grandaddy of Them All” — our WrestleMania 42 Exit Survey.Let’s ride!1. What is your grade for WrestleMania 42?Anthony Sulla-Heffinger: I am going with a solid B here, with the majority of the heavy lifting coming on Night 2 — which was one of the best installments since WrestleMania shifted its format in 2020.
Night 1 had its bright spots — Seth Rollins vs. Gunther, Paige’s return and IShowSpeed’s splash — but it was ultimately overshadowed immediately as Night 2 started off with two show-stealing moments and matches: Oba Femi’s coronation (more on this later) and that incredible ladder match.Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley exceeded all expectations and was a very strong WrestleMania match and then the main event from CM Punk and Roman Reigns was one of the best matches you’ll see this year, if not ever.
The character work, physicality and storytelling were top-notch.I think the two-night format really works against WWE when there’s an imbalance between the shows like there was this year, but it’s not like every other WrestleMania was 7-8 hours of non-stop greatness, it’s just magnified now.Dansby: Hold on, I don’t want to get banned from covering events — is this a safe space?All jokes aside, I’d give it a solid B-. I probably enjoyed Night 1 more than most, but the pacing across the weekend felt off. A lot of the matches could have used an extra five minutes to really hit another level.Instead of dragging out those endless Hulk Hogan ads, that time could have easily been redistributed to the in-ring product.
It’s a small fix that would have made a noticeable difference.Riggs: A 5/10 score feels borderline perfect, given the two-night nature of WrestleMania in this day and age. Night 1 was a disaster, and essentially a glorified episode of “Raw” or “SmackDown.” WrestleMania just didn't feel like WrestleMania — and that was the case leading up to it. Night 2, thankfully, helped balance things out, and I dare say pushed the score up with its backloaded heavy goods, in the form of the main event, ladder match and the opener, in particular.
Any rating higher than a 6/10, though, is weighing far too heavily into Night 2's recovery from Saturday's wicked blunder.Jackman: Like everyone else, I'm going to split the grade on this one: A "D" for night one, and a "B" for night two.If you're going to insist on a single grade, I'll say "C-", which seems mean to CM Punk and Roman Reigns, but hey ho.Roman Reigns (L) and CM Punk closed out the weekend with an instant classic.Ethan Miller via Getty Images2. What was the one thing from WrestleMania weekend you think we’ll be talking about for the longest time?Dansby: The obvious answer is CM Punk vs.
Roman Reigns, but I’ll go a different direction and say Oba Femi squashing Brock Lesnar.Oba was already incredibly over with the crowd, but a dominant win over someone like Lesnar instantly elevates him to another level. That moment is going to live on in highlight packages for years. It’s the kind of win that defines a career.Riggs: How can it be anything other than CM Punk vs.
Roman Reigns? Like Kel said, yes, Oba Femi is that dude, and he deserves the shine. But Punk vs. Reigns was literally the only great match of WrestleMania 42.
OK, the only great singles match, because the ladder match was also excellent.Funnily enough, both matches were fully expected to deliver and did.Jackman: Ticket prices. We can sound like a broken record on those topics but it's been one of the standout themes of this WrestleMania, with the steep jump in seat prices becoming a lightning rod for antagonism for TKO.That wouldn't have been so remarkable on its own, but the fact that WWE leaned into that in some of its promos in the run up to ‘Mania? That's one of those crazy mergers of backstage politics and entertainment that you occasionally see in pro-wrestling (for me it ranks alongside Schiavone referencing Mick Foley's title win during the Monday Night Wars, or Tony Khan airing the backstage brawl footage), and it’ll stick around in the imagination.Sulla-Heffinger: It has to be CM Punk and Roman Reigns’ match.
As I mentioned above, it was an absolute masterclass in all aspects of professional wrestling once the bell rang, but even the pomp and circumstance of their entrances made this feel like one of the biggest WrestleMania matches of all time. These two were at the top of their game and really brought home the show in a memorable way. For better or worse, Pat McAfee was a central part of the build to WrestleMania 42 Night 1.WWE via Getty Images3. If you could change one outcome from WrestleMania 42, what would it be and why?Jackman: I would’ve