Reigns bested Brock Lesnar in the main event on Sunday night for his first win over the now former champion at WrestleMania, After a wild Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, WWE returned to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas for Night 2 of the biggest event in pro wrestling. In the main event, WWE champion Brock Lesnar clashed with Roman Reigns in a bout to unify WWE's top two championships.
In the end, Reigns was able to outlast Lesnar in another of their typical hard-hitting matches, though one that didn't live up to the past clashes between the two men.
Instead of the main event, the lasting memory of Night 2 may instead be Vince McMahon returning to the wrestling ring as he faced Pat McAfee in an impromptu match moments after McAfee defeated McMahon protege Austin Theory. McMahon ultimately got the victory but was embarrassed by his greatest rival when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin made an appearance for the second night in a row.
2022 WWE WrestleMania 38 results, grades for Night 2
Triple H kicked off the show by making an elaborate entrance to leave his boots in the ring, finishing off the recent news that he is officially retired from in-ring action after his recent cardiac episode. He then welcomed the crowd to WrestleMania to officially get the event underway.
Raw Tag Team Championship -- RK-Bro (c) vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy: It took only seconds before all six men were involved in the match, ending with Otis as the last man in the ring before an all-out brawl as everyone entered the ring again. Montez Ford hit a flipping dive to the outside, only for Chad Gable to hit his own top rope moonsault to the outside seconds later. Momentum swung wildly as men tagged in and out until Otis tagged into the match and hit both Angelo Dawkins and Riddle with a splash to break a pin, slightly slowing the match down.
Randy Orton eventually took a hot tag and cleared the ring, leading to both RK-Bro members spiking the Profits with hanging DDTs. A huge near fall came when Fort hit Gable with a blockbuster as Gable was seated on Dawkins' shoulders. Riddle took out Ford with a springboard RKO as Ford was on the top rope and Orton hit Gable with an RKO of his own as Gable came off the top rope, scoring the win. Really fun, all-action match to get the show off on the right foot. After the match, the Profits poured a drink for the champions before welcoming Gable Steveson to the ring to partake. Chad Gable then jumped in the ring and slapped the drink from Steveson's hand. Steveson whipped off his shirt and hit Chad Gable with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. RK-Bro def. The Street Profits and Alpha Academy via pinfall to retain the titles. Grade: B+
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos: Omos easily knocked aside a Lashley kick before dropping Lashley with a forearm to the back. Lashley continued to fire back, though he was repeatedly overpowered by Omos, including when Lashley first attempted to apply a Hurt Lock. Omos caught Lashley and launched the former champion from his shoulders. Omos locked Lashley in a bear hug, but Lashley fought out and after more attempts managed to hit Omos with a vertical suplex. Lashley then hit a spear to the back and another spear from the front to score the pin. It wasn't a great wrestling match, but it's how you use a monster heel, building him up until you feed him to a big star.
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville (Anything Goes): Zayn immediately hit Knoxville with a Helluva kick as the bell sounded. Knoxville used a fire extinguisher to even things up, but Zayn stopped Knoxville from using any weapons from a trash can full of them. Zayn used a baking sheet and a crutch to hit Knoxville across the back before pulling out a table from under the ring. Zayn then found a table covered in mouse traps under the ring, which he pulled out and set up only to run into Knoxville, who used a pair of trash can lids only to end up sent through a table in the corner with an exploder suplex.
Chris Pontius of "Jackass" would enter the ring and dance at Zayn before stripping down to his underwear. Wee Man then attacked Zayn and hit a bodyslam to set up a Knoxville tornado DDT for a near fall. Zayn took out Wee Man with a Helluva Kick. Knoxville knocked Zayn from the top rope by pressing a button that set off pyro from the ring post. This built to Knoxville throwing Zayn from the top rope through the mousetrap-covered table at ringside. Knoxville then used a giant mousetrap to pin Zayn and get the win. I don't know what to say about this match. It was basically a Looney Tunes cartoon in the form of a wrestling match. Some of the gimmicks didn't work, but that didn't really matter. As pure entertainment, the match was a complete success.
Women's Tag Team Championship -- Carmella & Queen Zelina (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi vs. Liv for Brutality vs. Natalya & Shayna Baszler: Interesting early segments between Ripley and Banks, who failed to hit a backstabber when Ripley easily shrugged her off. Baszler paired off with Morgan and stomped her ankle before locking her in a footlock. Zelina hit Morgan with a code red, but Ripley broke the pin, setting off a stretch of everyone hitting big moves. Morgan and Ripley hit simultaneous tower of doom spots on the other six women in the match, setting them up for a big run that included hitting Naomi with a Riptide into Morgan's knees.
Near falls continued to come one after the other, with all the women in the match hitting signature moves only to see pin attempts broken until Naomi hit a facebuster into Banks' knees to score the win. Like the men's tag earlier in the night, this was served by pure non-stop action. Well structured all-around.