Mfonobong Inyang: What Happened In Vegas? My Thoughts On Wrestlemania 41

It’s said that whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But in reality, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to keep a secret about events in the entertainment capital of the world. WWE is one of those organisations that has used its in-ring characters to tell compelling stories, and WrestleMania, the grandest stage of all, is always an inflexion point where such storytelling is amplified. One thing I have learnt so far in life is that learning isn’t just a function of intelligence; it’s more of interest. For example, as much as I love sports, I have no idea how the game of cricket is being played, yet I understand why fans would go crazy whenever the West Indies is on. The same logic applies to the WWE. If you’re not interested in the multi-layered storytelling, it might just appear to you as some slugfest where wrestlers throw hands.

It takes a fan of pro wrestling to know that whenever Bailey does the flying elbow, she’s paying homage to the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage (Uuuh yeah)! ‘El Campeón’ Damian Priest going old school during his matches is him channelling his mentor, the Undertaker. You can draw a straight line from the arrogance of Charlotte’s character as a genetically superior superstar to her wheeling and dealing father, the Nature Boy – Rick Flair (Woooo)! Before Alpha’s Academy, Otis began doing the squirm; Scotty 2 Hotty had already popularised the move in an earlier era. Azuka’s face paint, mist and wrestling style were inspired by her role model from Japan, The Pearl of the Orient – the Great Muta. Dominic Mysterio and Liv Morgan doing the three amigos is a beautiful ode to the Latino Heat, Eddie Guerrero.

Stand and Deliver

Quick shout out to NXT for holding it down on Wrestlemania Weekend; Stand and Deliver was indeed as advertised. Every talent went for broke on a stacked card, but an honourable mention for the Champion and Ruler of NXT, Oba Femi, Trick Williams (Whoop that trick) and the bouncy one, Je’Von Evans, for an unforgettable main event. NXT is no longer just that developmental brand of WWE, but now the baddest brand – it’s hard to refer to the locker room as rookies when they keep churning out main roster performances. To the credit of NXT, most of the talents on Wrestlemania have their origins in the Performance Centre – no surprise there when Mr. Wrestlemania himself, HBK, is taking care of business.

Day One Ish: It’s Just You, Uce!

‘Main Event’ Jey Uso’s story arc is nothing short of inspiring. In all of his personal and professional life, he has had to literally tag with his twin from day one. Even more challenging is coming from such a huge pro wrestling family – it’s very easy to get lost in the shuffle. Jey has had to break from the Bloodline, where he wasn’t the main character anyway, he has had to fight his brother in a bitter family feud to prove that he could stand up for himself and even when the odds were stacked against him, he emerged as the 2025 Royal Rumble Winner. I have been Ucey from the jump as far as the Uso penitentiary, I saw the YEET movement coming since last year, but I’m not gonna lie – trying to pick up a W against Gunther felt a bit like playing Russian Roulette. He’s not called the Ring General for nothing; he’s probably the finest technician in the squared circle. So Jey climbing the top of the mountain is a dream come through for a Uce who has paid his dues. It is four letters, one word, uh-uh: YEET!

A Triple Threat For The Ages

What do the fans get when the best in the world – CM Punk, the only tribal chief – Roman Reigns and the visionary – Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins face off in a match with so much history among all three men? Bedlam! The second city saint returned to the WWE not to make friends but to make money. The Monday night messiah believes he needs to save the entire industry from leeches, and the head of the table has to acknowledge the reality that his wise man is not loyal to him. In such a high-stakes match, little did we know that Paul Heyman had an ace up his sleeve. No pun intended, nobody had it on their bingo cards that Paul Heyman would be a nutjob – his extreme low blows to both Reigns and Punk made Judas Iscariot look like an angel. As far as I am concerned, Seth Rollins’ character hasn’t changed; he’s still the architect who plotted the destruction of the Shield, he still wants to burn everything down, and he’s still the kingslayer who knows how to hold cards close to his chest. I wonder whether the voice of the voiceless will still consider himself a Paul Heyman guy. It will be interesting to see how the big dog processes this catalogue of betrayals. One thing I would tell Seth is to watch his back with his new best friend, the wise man will eventually give him a taste of his own medicine – that’s not a prediction, it’s a spoiler.

Hassle, Travesty and Disrespect?

In this digital age, keeping the kayfabe can be a very daunting task, so when I say nobody saw John Cena’s heel turn coming at the Elimination Chamber, that’s a loaded statement. For non-wrestling fans who are not familiar with the lingo, the good wrestlers are known as babyfaces while the bad wrestlers are known as heels. John Cena as a character in WWE has been a solid babyface for more than two decades, putting in the work and carrying the company on his back – so this heel turn officially served as a shock and awe moment that switched things up for Wrestlemania 41. How could anyone explain to me that the leader of the Cenation, the guy that told us for 20+ years to never give up and the wrestler that had granted more wishes to kids than anyone else had sold out?

My initial reaction was, “What have you done, Cena?” There was no justification for turning his back on every fan who had believed in him. I get it that he was between a rock and a hard place, by that I am not referring to Dwayne Johnson and Cody Rhodes – I am talking about choosing between pursuing his ambition of becoming the record-breaking 17-time champion by being the dirtiest player in the game and preserving his legacy of being the stand-up guy. How desperate could he be that he aligned with perhaps his fiercest rival in WWE, the Rock? The guy that once mocked Cena as looking like a bag of Fruity Pebbles, the same guy that Cena himself had called a SOB – the animosity between them then was so heated it completely blurred the lines between a shoot and a work. By the way, getting John Cena to turn heel before GTA6 is crazy work, I’m not gonna lie.

When Cena said he was retiring this year, we all thought he was coming to give us a nostalgia tour, reel out some of his greatest hits and sing his swan song before riding off into the sunset. When Travis sauntered into Allegiant Stadium in Nevada, I knew that there was trouble in Paradise – bro should be flying out of town for his peace of mind. After two decades of getting us to believe we can’t see him, we finally saw Cena in his true colours (no shade at his different t-shirts) as the guy who ruined wrestling for a lot of people. On the Monday Night RAW following Wrestlemania, at least we got some reprieve from Cena’s long-winded blasphemy against the fans. The apex predator, Randy Orton, hit him with an RKO outta nowhere – for the first time in a long time, I was glad Randy listened to those voices in his head.

What Do The Opps Wanna Talk About?

In my opinion, Cody Rhodes still remains the quarterback of the WWE, and whether or not he has a champion belt around his waist, I don’t think most fans want to roll the dice on that. He has that talent power, he is still the man of the hour, too sweet to be sour. This bleak period is reminiscent of the “hard times” his father, Dusty Rhodes, talked about. Not everyone can go band-for-band with John Cena on the mic, let alone in the ring. If he finished the story against all odds, I can’t wait to see where the next chapter of his career takes him.

30 Years In The Game!

Last year, when I wrote about Wrestlemania XL – I mentioned how Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque was doing such a stellar job as WWE’s Chief Content Officer and that he clearly belonged to the Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling – so finding out that he was being inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame didn’t come as any surprise to me. In my opinion, one of the reasons the Hall of Fame has more weight now in the WWE universe had to do with the tragic passing of the Ultimate Warrior three days after his own induction – it underscored the importance of giving people their flowers while they can still smell them. There are three distinct signatures I have observed in the Paul Levesque Era. The first is more long-form storytelling. For example, Philadelphia has always been the home of the ECW, and it is known for its hardcore matches. So when Chelsea Green and Michin were booked for a street fight on SmackDown in the City of Brotherly Love, both women mirrored the hardcore match between Trish Stratus and Victoria. The sneak attack by Naomi on Jade Cargill to endear herself more to Bianca Belair mirrors a similar storyline in the Attitude Era when Rikishi attacked ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin to endear himself to the Rock – even Naomi’s “I did it” promo mirrors that of her real life father-in-law, she literally took a page from Rikishi’s playbook.

The second is more dynamic talent acquisition and bookings. Recent signings have also generated more interest in the company, from the ‘Samoan Werewolf’ Jacob Fatu, Stephanie Vaquer (la primera), Ricky Saints, Giulia, Rey Fenix, to his exciting Mexican luchador brother, Penta (Cero Miedo)! The third is the global expansion of the WWE product. One of the banter points I share with my American friends is this culture of using the ‘world’ to describe something that almost entirely occurs on American soil. So seeing the World Wrestling Entertainment doubling down on having more premium live events outside the Stars and Stripes is most welcome; ditto for the Netflix partnership. Quick plug: Africa is due for a PLE, the motherland. I remember ten years ago at WrestleMania 31 when Sting and Triple H had that classic match. It wasn’t just two iconic men in the ring, the Game vs the Franchise, it was WWE vs WCW and the NWO vs D-Generation X – almost as though the famous Monday Night Wars were being litigated all over again. Ten years later, he is still that guy holding it down for the company – you can’t teach that level of dedication.

WWE Universe

In whatever creative endeavour, there will always be chatter – how tickets are too pricey, talents dropping the ball or how office politics are affecting in-ring action. I see valid reasons for criticisms, too, but I just opt to enjoy the product as a fan. You have to respect people who have pulled off live events for more than four decades; not many organisations can boast of having one of the longest-running weekly episodic television shows in history. Hopefully, lessons have been learnt ahead of WrestleMania 42 in New Orleans.