The closing night of WrestleMania 38 feels a little less than compared to Saturday, but still features a massive title unification, a dream match and two celebrities in their first match at WWE Super Bowl. Here are five things to watch for at Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 (8 p.m. Peacock) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Come Together
WWE appears to be heading toward its first singular world champion since its brand split in 2016 unless things get wacky at the end of Universal champion Roman Reigns vs. WWE champion Brock Lesnar. Along with Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair from Night 1, this feud is WWE’s best long-term story at WrestleMania. This incarnation of Lesnar vs. Reigns goes back to The Beast returning from a more than year-long absence at SummerSlam. It includes their history that dates back to WrestleMania 31 and Paul Heyman and Lesnar’s relationship of 20 years. Reigns pinned Lesnar with some outside help at Crown Jewel in October in their last meeting, they are 2-2 all time in singles matches and The Tribal Chief has never topped The Beast at WrestleMania. There have been plenty of twists and turns to get here – with Heyman smack dab in the middle of it – but someone is leaving Dallas with all the gold. It feels like there couldn’t be two better candidates.
Lesnar, who has shown a more affable and entertaining side of himself since returning, took the WWE championship off Big E, lost it to Bobby Lashley (due to outside interference from Reigns and a backstabbing Heyman) at the Royal Rumble, won the Royal Rumble and won the WWE championship back at Day 1 after Reigns had to bow out of their scheduled match after contracting COVID-19. Reigns is in the midst of a 500-plus day reign as Universal champion and the best run of his career. If there is a top candidate – outside anyone named Dwayne – to finally take the belt off Reigns it is Lesnar, who has said in storyline that’s he out for blood. Remember this is the same man that ended The Undertaker’s streak.
Will he be the one to finally put Reigns down? Does Heyman have one last double cross in him? Will Reigns add another huge feather in his cap? What will a unified champion mean for that person’s presence on WWE TV and the company’s brand split? Will The Rock confront his cousin to close the show to lay the groundwork for a match next year in Los Angeles? So many questions and we are finally about to get a few answers.
Finding Their Edge
Edge has always found ways to reinvent himself and did it again for this first-time-ever dream match versus A.J. Styles in a clash of two of the best performers of their generation. A few months after being full babyface for a mixed tag match with wife Beth Phoenix at the Royal Rumble, Edge has turned things very dark – changing his music and entrance for this feud. Edge, after a viscous beatdown of Styles, sent a message (draped in purple light) to Styles imploring him to bring his viscous side to WrestleMania and thanks the Phenomenal One for unlocking this new side of himself. Edge has been near the top of card and isn’t going anywhere, but – after tagging with Omos for while – this can be a launching off point for Styles back into the word title picture. Even so, winners and losers feel like it doesn’t matter here, but it’s about the ride these to megastars could take us on during this match.
Johnny Be Good
A lot of time, promotion and storytelling has gone into Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn. It’s been made to feel more important than the Intercontinental championship that the “Jackass” star cost his opponent to add even more fire to this feud. This story dates back to Zayn taking umbrage with Knoxville, who he eventually eliminated, entering the Royal Rumble. To further this story, Zayn showed up at the “Jackass Forever” movie premiere and got kicked out. Knoxville then flew Zayn’s phone number in the sky in LA leading to hundreds of thousands of call, texts and FaceTime requests.
Everything about this feud has been unconventional, so it will be interesting to see just how much actual wrestling gets done. Knoxville has a history of concussions from his “Jackass” stunts and his only in-ring action was a short stint at the Rumble. Making this match “anything goes” leaves the door open for plenty of shenanigans, comedy and appearances by the “Jackass” crew. Enjoy this for what it is and they should leave everyone happy.
Buddy System
Give WWE credit for getting the most out of the remainder of its women’s division on the card by putting together some fun tag teams in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. With that said, women’s tag team champions Carmella and Queen Zelina have defended the belts just twice on TV since winning them in November. There are chances for feel-good stories here with the a really cool team of Rhea Ripley-Liv Morgan and the pairing of Sasha Banks-Naomi, who also were together for a run in 2015. Natalya and Shayna Baszler would give the division a veteran team to build around. Of the people in the match, only Banks, Baszler and Ripley have held the titles before. So this could be a pretty cool moment for a number of the performers. Let’s hope WWE doesn’t just split these teams up once Mania is over and instead gives the division a chance to properly grow.
Welcome to the Show
It wasn’t too long ago Pat McAfee got in trouble for wearing shorts at WrestleMania, now he is one of the best color analysts WWE has seen in some time and is set for his first match at the company’s biggest show. This isn’t the former Colts punter’s first time competing in the squared circle. He acquitted himself very well in two matches in NXT in 2020 centering around a feud with Adam Cole – but WWE will never tell you that with Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish all in AEW now. McAfee was told about his WrestleMania match during an interview with Vince McMahon on his “The Pat McAfee Show” on SirusXM.
This is really about shining a light on McAfee’s opponent — Austin Theory. The 25- year-old Theory, who is appearing at his second WrestleMania, is a rising star in the company and his selfie-taking character is being mentored on-screen my Mr. McMahon. Theory has continually taunted McAfee while he’s doing commentary on SmackDown to build the heat here – once running straight to McMahon’s office. His in-ring abilities should allow him to carry the load and let McAfee to safely get in his spots in – expect one to be GIF worthy.
Full WrestleMania 38 Night 2 Card
(Projected Order)
Edge vs. A.J. Styles
RK-Bro (c) vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy (Raw tag team championship)
Austin Theory vs. Pat McAfee
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
Carmella and Queen Zelina (c) vs. Natalya and Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi (Women’s tag team championships)
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville (Anything Goes Match)
Roman Reigns (Universal) vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE) (Championship unification match)