Trending
The conclusion and post-match celebration to the main event of WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia on April 7 served as a seminal moment for WWE as it begins to move forward and heal in the wake of the many scandals involving former chairman Vince McMahon.
Cody Rhodes finally "finished the story" and defeated Roman Reigns for the undisputed WWE Universal championship, bringing an end to a storyline involving his Bloodline stable that has captured the imaginations of wrestling fans for nearly four years. But it was so much more than that.
The conclusion to WrestleMania XL served as a swan song to the last 40 years of the business -- and a tip of the cap to the things to come as WWE moves into its "Paul Levesque era," a phrase that has been brought up a lot over the past few weeks but warrants further explanation.
So let's go back through the end of Cody vs. Roman for a moment.
Paul Levesque, more commonly known by his wrestling name Triple H, is the chief content officer of WWE. He has long prided himself on solid storytelling that makes sense and pays off for fans who have stuck it out for the long haul. And boy did this main event pay that off in spades.
Not only did you have the surface level -- Cody getting his revenge on Roman and the Bloodline for screwing him out of the title at Mania 39
by winning the Royal Rumble a second time in a row to get back to this spot -- but the payoff to a bunch of smaller Bloodline related stories. There were also a couple that were strictly Roman adjacent, but helped put a bow on his character as it, seemingly for now anyway, is going to be taking some much deserved time away from the ring.
You have the carryover of the Usos civil war that carried over from the first night's card into the second night, with Jey spearing Jimmy off the stage. When Solo Sikoa came out and tried to help put Cody away, John Cena comes down to deal with Solo as payback for taking Cena out late last year, almost immediately followed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who had become a huge part of the leadup to Mania XL, down to the ring to face Cena in a scene reminiscent of their Mania matches years before.
Then when Rocky takes out Cena with a Rock Bottom and all hope appears lost, the gong rings and The Undertaker, the ultimate leader of the locker room, comes to Cody Rhodes' aid and gets Rock out of the ring.
Which leads us to the best part of the whole show. Seth Rollins, who lost tagging with Cody to Rock and Reigns the night before and lost his world heavyweight title earlier in the evening, was lying in the ring, in gear from the old Shield stable days with Roman and Dean Ambrose (AEW's Jon Moxley), after taking a Reigns spear before the Undertaker appearance. He has the same exact chair that he used to betray Roman and Ambrose, and instead of taking the chair and using it to finish Cody off, Reigns uses it to beat Rollins relentlessly, and it's this mistake that costs Roman Reigns everything.
The layered storytelling on display here was second-to-none and easily makes this the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time.
The emotion of the post-match celebration could be felt through the screen at home. Ring announcer Samantha Irvin barely being able to get the words out announcing the match result was certainly a mood many fans felt. The celebration in the ring with over half the locker room was reminiscent of Bret Hart's title win at WrestleMania X. Triple H coming down at Cody's behest to give him a long hug and celebrate the beginning of a new era for the business that they love, both of them knowing full well that if the old man was still in charge, none of this could have ever happened, much less Cody Rhodes, son of Dusty Rhodes, being WWE champion.
It was a moment in wrestling history that you'd like to just capture in a snow globe and have it forever.
And in the days since, news has come out that WWE is going to be moving away from the internal use of the phrase "sports entertainment," something also coined and heavily favored by Vince McMahon during his reign, and much despised by most everyone else.
This change, while not yet announced at that time, can be best felt by Michael Cole, standing with Corey Graves and Pat McAfee at ringside, watching the newly minted champion walk the ramp to the curtain to close the show -- "Pro wrestling is back."
Dan Isenberg is a copy editor who writes about whatever strikes his fancy for the Mirror. He can be reached at disenberg@altoonamirror.com or on Twitter @TheseDanTweets.