Following a performance of the national anthem by Coco Jones, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H made the first entrance of the night.

The Game welcomed fans to a “new era” of WWE, which was hyped in the kickoff show unofficially as the “Triple H era.” We also saw a new official show open, which is awesome.

The entrances began with Becky Lynch, who narrated a 3D version of her new book in a bit of ham-fisted promotion before popping out of a hole in the book and walking down toward the ring.

Ripley’s entrance was far more epic, with the band Motionless in White playing her theme song.

Michael Cole said at the top of the match that Lynch has been battling strep throat, and had a temperature as high as 102 degrees earlier in the week.

Lynch reversed out of a suplex into an inside cradle for the first pin attempt early on, but Ripley easily reversed the move herself.

Lynch took control, though, targeting the injured left arm of Ripley with an arm drag off the turnbuckle, and later hit an impressive tornado DDT that led to another pin attempt.

Ripley used her strength to her advantage, reversing out of an armbar with a triple powerbomb to Lynch, who kicked out of a pin attempt after the third.

Lynch escaped Ripley’s Prism Trap after Ripley was able to counter a top-rope leg drop, but Lynch couldn’t score a pinfall after hitting Ripley with the Manhandle Slam.

Ripley turned the tide and delivered her first Riptide, but Lynch kicked out at the very last moment.

Lynch recovered and rocked Ripley with a superplex and roll into a Disarm-her, but Ripley survived by taking the fight outside the ring. After rolling Lynch back inside the ring, Ripley hit a frog splash from the top turnbuckle that Lynch kicked out of.

Lynch went for a high-risk move in the corner, but Ripley unleashed a finishing salvo, reversing the move before hitting a double Riptide. The first dropped Lynch onto the turnbuckle, and the second left Lynch on the mat for a count of 3.

Overall a solid start to the night, and a match the Philadelphia crowd was very hyped for – but it never felt like Ripley’s year-long reign was ever in real danger.

Match grade: 3.5/5

This was an interesting twist on the usual ladder match formula. Instead of one belt hanging above the ring, the Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship were hung separately. The team to grab either belt would become tag champions of that show, but the match would continue until both the Raw and SmackDown titles were each retrieved, opening the possibility for one team to become Undisputed Tag champs.

With 12 men swarming all over the ring, this quickly became something closer to a Royal Rumble with ladders, with two or three stars taking turns inside the ring while the rest feigned injuries outside the ring and waited for the right time to jump back inside.

A few teams took early chances to scale the ladder and claim the four belts swinging high above the ring, but were easily stopped.

Awesome Truth and DIY hatched an ill-fated alliance, with each team agreeing to not attack each other and go after separate belts, but A-Town Down Under knocked their ladders over before they could become champs.

Austin Theory and Grayson Waller then quickly scaled the ladder and successfully grabbed the SmackDown Tag Team championship, making them tag champs of that show.

It seemed The New Day were poised to become Raw tag champs. Kofi Kingston launched himself off the ladder to the apron, taking out several competitors and leaving Xavier Woods time to potentially grab the belts – but he was stopped by Austin Theory.

In the most spectacular spot of the night so far, Tommaso Ciampa hit an Air Raid Crash to Tyler Bate from the very top of the ladder, taking both teams out of the running.

The fight for the Raw Tag Team titles came down to R-Truth vs. Damian Priest, but Truth delivered what Michael Cole called an Attitude Adjustment tossing Priest outside of the ring, leaving no one to stop him from grabbing the belts.

This was a chaotic match, and more of a spotfest than anything serious. There’s simply too many people in the ring and too much going on for this to ever be a great match, but it was fun all the same.

Match grade: 2.5/5

Rey Mysterio, at 49 years old, is still at the top of his game.

Upon getting into the ring with his son for the first time, Rey got the upper hand and removed his belt, but just before attacking Dominik was stopped by a kick to the midsection.

Compared to the previous two bouts, this match noticeably lacked stakes and felt like it just as easily could have held on an episode of Raw as it could WrestleMania 40.

Santos Escobar had an upperhand on Rey Mysterio in the ring, but a pair of unknown masked men from the outside stopped Dominik from hitting his father with a chair. That set up a double 619 and a Rey Mysterio frog splash, enabling the elder Mysterio and Andrade to score the win.

The masked men then revealed themselves to be Eagles legends Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.

Match grade: 1.5/5

Jey Uso got the upper hand on his brother in the entrance department, getting an assist from Lil Wayne.

Jimmy Uso quickly took control in the early going, though, toying with the crowd as he kicked Jey in the face.

As the two brothers pummeled each other, Jimmy Uso pulled a trick out of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair’s playbook, begging his opponent for mercy and even hugging Jey – only to surprise him with a superkick.

Jey Uso recovered as Jimmy waited in the corner, plotting his next move, giving Jey time to line up a perfect spear, leading to a splash from the top rope that was enough to score the win.

The crowd work here was fun, but the entire match felt about half as long as it needed to be for an emotional, brother vs. brother clash, and the finish especially was rushed.

Match grade: 2.5/5

The match opened with Damage CTRL keeping Naomi in the corner and not allowing her to tag out, but as soon as Bianca Belair hit the ring, she wiped out Asuka, Kairi Sane and Dakota Kai with ease. Belair even attempted a triple pin, doing a handstand moonsault across the three prone Damage CTRL members, though they were able to kick out.

Damage CTRL fought back and trapped Belair in the corner as the Philly crowd chanted “We Want Jade,” and Cargill similarly overpowered Damage CTRL when she finally got a tag.

In the end, Cargill was too much to handle for Damage CTRL, and she scored a pin over Dakota Kai for a relatively easy win.

It’s a starmaking performance for Cargill, who figures to be a force in the women’s division for a long time.

Match grade: 2.5/5

Before the entrances, we saw a backstage shot of Sami Zayn with his family, wishing him luck before the big match. Zayn was then approached by Chad Gable, who told him he would not be accompanying Zayn to the ring because he’s “got this on his own.”

On his way out to the stage, Zayn came across Kevin Owens, who pumped up his old friend.

With all that build up, it’d be easy to believe Zayn was heading toward an emotional victory – or was Triple H just setting up a heartbreaking defeat to the longest-running Intercontinental champ in WWE history?

The Ring General did what he does, taking control of the match and delivering massive chops to the chest of Zayn. Constant camera cuts to Zayn’s wife in the crowd reinforced the emotional significance of the match to Zayn.

The match kept on at a slow pace, with Gunther continually inflicting damage to Zayn. A long rear choke on Zayn, who was unable to reach the rope to break the hold, led to a nasty German suplex in the center of the ring. When Zayn tried to gain a bit of momentum, Gunther immediately responded with a huge dropkick and a powerbomb into a pin attempt.

Zayn stunned Gunther with a Helluva Kick, but the champ responded with a devastating clothesline and back to back powerbombs. Zayn kicked out – and his wife then began taunting Gunther from ringside.

Gunther continued to physically dominate Zayn, leading Michael Cole and Corey Graves to call for the referee to stop the match. Following a splash from the top rope, Gunther shot a look to Zayn’s wife, then climbed back up the turnbuckle and hit another splash on a defenseless Zayn.

Out of nowhere, Zayn began to writhe in the center of the ring and Hulk himself up, and hit a Helluva kick on Gunther as he was climbing the turnbuckle a third time.

Out of nowhere, Zayn immediately turned the tide of the match, and after another Helluva kick, pinned Gunther to end his title reign at 666 days.

I feel like the framing of this match let Zayn down in what is supposed to be his biggest WrestleMania moment. It was all just so obvious Zayn was going to win, and at the same time not believable at all. From Zayn having a precious moment with his family, to running into Kevin Owens, to the constant cuts to Zayn’s wife, it certainly felt like WWE was setting Zayn up for a Daniel Bryan-type moment.

Yet the flow of the match went too far in Gunther’s direction. He dominated, leaving no question he was the superior wrestler and athlete, only for Zayn to shrug off 15 minutes of punishment to turn the match around in the final 45 seconds. The in-ring action was fantastic, but the scripting of everything else was just a bit too heavy-handed and somewhat spoiled what could have been a stellar match.

Match grade: 4/5

After a very long break for four awesome entrances and a perfect ring intro from Samantha Irvin, the main event finally got underway with a long staredown between the four participants.

The star power in the ring gave this match an entirely different vibe than anything that preceded it on Night 1.

Cody Rhodes pleaded with his teammate to tag him in early to face Roman Reigns, giving us a preview of what’s coming on Sunday night.

After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Reigns finally tagged in The Rock to a roar of approval from the Philly crowd, facing Rollins.

When the action when outside the ring with The Rock attacking Rollins, The Rock turned back to the referee to tell him “if you count, you’re fired.” The tag match was not a no DQ match, but the referee listened and no count began, allowing The Rock to fight Rollins through the crowd while Reigns and Rhodes brawled near the top of the stage.

Things got hardcore, with The Rock slamming a trash can off the back of Rollins, and driving his head into a railing before spitting water in his face.

Rollins suffered damage to his left knee – keep that in mind for his championship match tomorrow vs. Drew McIntyre, and The Rock and Reigns took turns working that knee.

The Rock flexed his muscle as a TKO board member again, warning the official not to do anything before delivering a devastating blow to Rollins’ groin area. The official walked over apologized to Rhodes, but it was made clear that The Rock was calling the shots.

The Rock locked Rollins into the sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, but Rhodes came to Rollins’ aid by slapping The Rock across the face. This set up a furious bit of action, which featured Rollins hitting a stomp on The Rock before Rhodes and Reigns stormed back into the ring.

Rhodes got the upper hand on Reigns and tried to hit the Cross Rhodes, but Reigns reversed the move and caught Rhodes with the Superman punch. Rhodes drew blood on Reigns, who was bleeding from the nose, but Reigns was able to kick out of a huge splash from Rollins.

With the match nearing a finish, Reigns was hit by a two-man superkick and a stomp from Rollins, but The Rock saved his partner by pulling the referee out of the ring as he was about to count to three.

With the official out, Reigns then hit Rhodes with a low blow and a spear. The Rock tossed the official back into the ring, but Rhodes miraculously kicked out at two.

Reigns tagged The Rock in, who stopped himself from getting in the ring and turned to grab his belt while taunting Rhodes’ mother. Before The Rock could whip Rhodes with the strap, Rhodes fought back and the referee fortunately took the belt out of the ring.

The Rock reversed with a classic spinebuster and set Rhodes up for the People’s Elbow, but Rhodes popped up and surprised Rhodes with a Cody Cutter. Rhodes then tried to deliver a Cross Rhodes, but Reigns came to the rescue with a Superman Punch.

Reigns lined Rhodes up for a spear, but Rollins dove in and pulled Rhodes out of the way, leaving Reigns to accidentally spear The Rock.

Rhodes and Rollins quickly tried to capitalize by delivering synchronized Pedigrees and double pins, but The Bloodline members kicked out at the last second.

The fight went back outside the ring, with Rhodes preparing the announce table for carnage. The Rock gained the upper hand, cleared the Spanish announce table and planted Rhodes atop it. The Rock tried to hit a Rock Bottom on Rhodes through the table but Rollins prevented it, allowing Rhodes to reverse and Rock Bottom The Rock through the table. Seconds later, Reigns delivered a spear to Rollins through the barricade.

Rhodes later tried to hit Reigns with three back-to-back Cross Rhodes, but he was prevented from delivering the third as The Rock hit him with a vicious whip of the belt. Reigns then hit a spear and tagged in The Rock, who measured Rhodes for a Rock Bottom and hit it. The Rock then gave a slashing throat gesture, and hit a People’s Elbow on Rhodes, giving The Bloodline the victory.

As a result, Sunday’s main event will be held under Bloodline Rules, meaning there are no rules.

This was the best match of the night, by far, despite the expected result. After a slow, measured start, we saw plenty of back and forth, ventures into the crowd, false finishes and epic sequences. This is what big WrestleMania matches are supposed to be like, and it only built the anticipation for Sunday night’s main event.

Match grade: 4.5/5

• Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship
• The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam and Rezar) in a Philadelphia Street Fight
• LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
• Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens in a triple-threat match for the WWE United States Championship
• Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship
• Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship