6 WWE stars who were buried on Night 2 of WrestleMania 41
WrestleMania 41 was certainly one of WWE's most polarizing PLEs in recent memory. Some fans loved the title changes, like Jey Uso overcoming Gunther and Jacob Fatu beating LA Knight.
The action on Night 1 fell well below that at Stand & Deliver earlier in the day. Night 2 was a better offering of matches, with IYO SKY retaining her title after disrespectful treatment from her opponents.
Dominik Mysterio also received many cheers as he became the new Intercontinental Champion. A few booking decisions, however, caused particular performers to lose some credibility.
These six WWE stars were seemingly buried on Night 2 of WrestleMania 41.
#6. Joe Hendry steps in to eat an RKO
Whoever was facing Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 was going to lose. Had Kevin Owens been healthy, he would have quite possibly lost. Solo Sikoa or Aleister Black would have also eaten the pin to put The Viper over.
That still doesn't mean that his new opponent wouldn't be buried. By advertising Backlash with Orton on the poster, it heavily telegraphed his victory at the Show of Shows.
While not technically a WWE star, Joe Hendry made a surprise appearance to oppose The Legend Killer. There was a strong chance of him getting hit with an RKO right after the bell, but Hendry at least lasted around six or seven minutes.
Competing at WrestleMania was still a big moment and a dream for Hendry. It was still disappointing to see such a popular star and the TNA World Champion fill in and get soundly defeated.
#5. AJ Styles and fans who boo Logan Paul
Whoever faced Logan Paul at WrestleMania 41 was going to lose. AJ Styles was chosen, and he fell to The Maverick. While The Phenomenal One didn't get squashed, he deserves better than losing to a part-timer like Paul.
The announcers didn't help, sucking up to Paul throughout the match. Michael Cole claimed that people who didn't like Paul were "jealous" and continuously praised the social media star.
McAfee chimed in, saying gems like "Mediocre people also like to blame others, and Paul blames no one." Those were just a sample of the many platitudes they must have been mandated to say during the match. Styles didn't get the same treatment.
Cole's "fans are jealous" reasoning is the same he gave for heels like Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre acting out over the last year. If they're not going to be objective and call the action, be consistent. They were neither during the Paul/Styles match.
#4. Bayley misses out on WrestleMania 41
WWE ran an injury angle with Bayley on the pre-show of Night 1 of WrestleMania. She's not truly hurt, according to the reports, as the plan was to replace her during the show eventually.
It wasn't a last-minute change like what happened with Rey Mysterio. Taking a healthy Bayley out of the match simply to be replaced by Lynch is unfortunate for one of WWE's most selfless workers.
She went from winning the Royal Rumble and WWE Women's Championship in 2024 to getting written out of a tag team match.
#3. Raquel Rodriguez & #2. Liv Morgan lose the Women's Tag Team Title
Once Lyra Valkyria needed a new partner, two names jumped to the front. The first was Alexa Bliss, who had issues with Liv Morgan since returning at the Royal Rumble.
Morgan eliminated the multi-time champ from both the Rumble and the Elimination Chamber. The other obvious choice was Becky Lynch. The Man returned and won the title with Valkyria in her first match back.
While Morgan and Rodriguez are three-time champs, they only had a run of 56 days after beating Bianca Belair and Naomi for the belts in February.
Morgan did a solid job of carrying RAW in the absence of many stars who were gone for different reasons.
#1. Cody Rhodes was WWE's quarterback since WrestleMania 40
At WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes had to wait an entire year before receiving another shot to dethrone then-Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns. While he accomplished the feat, the match was an overbooked mess.
Nearly seven or eight stars interfered on both sides, leading to a title change that could have happened with one or two stars interjecting themselves into the bout.
More chicanery was likely again after John Cena, The Rock, and Travis Scott beat up Rhodes at the Elimination Chamber PLE. The Final Boss shockingly didn't appear after making such a big deal about wanting Cody's soul.
Scott did show up, killing the mood and the match's momentum. Cena's 17th world title victory should have come after several moves out of desperation instead of a weak sequence with a non-combatant. Rhodes deserved better for carrying WWE for the last year.