The 5 Best Matches Of WrestleMania 41 Included Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns And More

Most of the post-WrestleMania 41 conversation has been about the main event between Cody Rhodes and John Cena. I get it, but I also don’t want to talk about it anymore. Yeah, I wish things had gone down differently too, but there was enough that worked about WrestleMania that I’d prefer to take some time to celebrate the good.

Over the course of two nights, some WWE superstars worked together to deliver fantastic matches. The second night in particular had one of the hottest starts to a ‘Mania card I’ve ever seen. So, let’s celebrate that. Let’s get away from some of the negativity and talk about the superstars that really showed out.

Before we get there though, let me hype up a few honorable mentions. Jade Cargill vs Naomi was the toughest cut for sure. They were a strong sixth place in my opinion, but with just a little over nine minutes, they didn’t get quite enough time to get going. Job well done though. I’m also not going to include Randy Orton vs Joe Hendry, which was a ton of fun but in a more comedic and gimmicky sort of way. El Grande Americano and Rey Fénix also did their job, but with a last minute switch out and less than eight minutes of time, there was no way they could get up to the level needed to make this list.

5. Jacob Fatu Vs LA Knight

A lot of people felt like this match would feature some shenanigans that would lead into a feud between Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa, but sometimes you just need to let your rising stars grab a title and run with it. Fatu is a future WrestleMania main eventer. With all due respect to Bron Breakker, he’s the most exciting new star to make his main roster debut since Gunther. It was terrific to see him get his moment here.

But LA Knight deserves a lot of praise too. He held his own with the Samoan Werewolf and showed he’s perhaps one of the few mid-card guys on the roster who could keep the crowd on his side against Fatu. That’s no easy feat, nor were some of the more difficult moves pulled off during this match, particularly the moonsault into a BFT. Saturday, as a whole, had some struggles, but this was a clear bright spot.

4. Damian Priest Vs Drew McIntyre In A Sin City Street Fight

There were so many complaints about this match a month or so out from WrestleMania. Many fans felt Drew McIntyre deserved to be higher on the card and to be put in a more prominent position. I get that. I think he should be given another World Championship run ASAP, but put some respect on Damian Priest’s name. He’s one of the strongest and most reliable workers on the entire roster. He and Drew found a way to sell the program with consistent storytelling leading into ‘Mania, and they really delivered with a very good match here.

Both men willingly took some big bumps and consistent punishment throughout, but that was balanced well with some good combinations and more intricate sequences where they proved how capable they are as technical wrestlers. Plus, we got a fun viral moment from Drew McIntyre with another mid-match tweet and some excellent post-match selling from Damian Priest after the Claymore onto the chair. Job well done by everyone involved. Hopefully this’ll catapult Drew into another World Championship run and lead to Damian having another extended program with a top guy in the company.

3. Bron Breakker Vs Penta Vs Dominik Mysterio Vs Finn Bálor For The Intercontinental Championship

I think Dominik Mysterio celebrating his victory will be remembered as the single best and most memorable thing from this entire WrestleMania. He’s been doing fantastic heel work for years, and it’s been obvious for a long time that the boos he was getting were a sign of respect. He wasn’t getting go home heat. He was getting appreciated for his good work. So, job well done. I can’t say enough nice things about him or the moment he earned.

I can definitely say more nice things about the rest of this match too. It may have only been ten and a half minutes, but it was really fast-paced and well-constructed. Everyone got some really fun spots, and Carlito really delivered in his role too, as he interfered several times and took a very memorable spear spot from Bron Breakker. Also a big shout out is due for Penta who is an absolute star and to Finn Bálor who once again played the hard luck loser.

2. Seth Rollins Vs Roman Reigns Vs CM Punk

I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of the night one crowd, but they really made this feel like a big fight atmosphere and stayed plugged in throughout the entire match, which was more than thirty minutes. Most of the credit for that, however, should go to the three performers, who wrestled like they knew this match was going to be watched and rewatched for decades to come. Every spot felt important, and every near fall felt like edge of your seat drama.

Unlike the night two main event finish which was also designed to be cinematic, this one really worked. The interaction between Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns after he betrayed CM Punk and later Paul Heyman and Seth Rollins after he betrayed Roman Reigns was fantastic. Everyone involved here has been in huge moments on the biggest stages in the past, and they really showed that experience here. At most ‘Manias this would have been the fight of the weekend.

1. Iyo Sky Vs Bianca Belair Vs Rhea Ripley For The Women’s World Championship

I just looked at the official time and am shocked this didn’t even go fifteen minutes. Each of the women got some really good extended interactions with each other, and each one did some really good character work and told a believable story. I particularly loved Bianca leaning into the boos and telling the fans they needed to be louder. It gave her character ownership over what was happening and made her look empowered.

The in-ring work was just fantastic too. There were so many combinations where one move flowed into another move, and it was beautiful to watch these three superstars all show off their various movesets which are unique and visually different from each other. Wrestling is best when there’s obvious variance, and this match featured so much of it.

Bianca, Rhea and Iyo are three of the greatest female superstars in the history of this business. All three of them sold out to make each other look as good as possible, and all three wrestled to improve the quality of the match, not to make themselves look good. I’ll remember this as one of my favorite ‘Mania matches ever, and I think there are a lot of people right there with me.