From every tangible metric, WWE will consider WrestleMania 41 a great success and with the money generated, social media impressions and sellout crowds, they have every right to do so.

As a veteran of five WrestleMania weeks (used to be weekends, but here we are), three of which have been over two nights, I've seen first-hand how the company has changed exponentially since the TKO takeover.

WWE took over Las Vegas. It's hard to move in that city at the best of times (Ubers must make a killing), but you couldn't take a step without some WWE promotion accosting you.

Furthermore, WWE World took over the enormous Los Angeles Convention Center where they raked in record-breaking profits on merchandise while holding more access to talent than ever before.

They had events at the Fountainbleu hotel where the talents were staying, SmackDown and RAW at the T-Mobile Arena and, of course, the showpiece itself over two nights at the mightily impressive Allegiant Stadium.




The stunning Allegiant Stadium played host to WrestleMania night one and two





WWE held SmackDown and RAW at the T-Mobile Arena

 So what was the week like? Allow Mail Sport to give you a glimpse.

Wrestling

If you've been a WWE fan for several decades like I have, you'll know the end of the Vince McMahon years were really tough going. Combine that with the pandemic that forced the company into challenging waters anyway and the product was almost at breaking point.

AEW took away many disenfranchised WWE fans who yearned for something fresh. Now? Triple H has full control of WWE creatively (unless The Rock pokes his nose in) and with Paul Heyman by his side, he's been able to craft some money-making stories.

The Game also understand the importance of those stories translating to in-ring classics and WrestleMania undeniably had a few over the two nights.

The first four matches of night two might be the best four-match streak I can think of in recent memory at a WrestleMania - potentially ever.




Triple H runs WWE these days and was also inducted into the Hall of Fame

 It's not hyperbole to say the women's triple-threat - IYO SKY vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair - will go down as an all-time WrestleMania opener. Drew McIntyre and Damien Priest brought the carnage fans crave after hours of conventional matches, Dominik Mysterio arrived as a true star in the Intercontinental title four-way and Randy Orton's open challenge being met by Joe Hendry? Absolute genius levels of reading the room and executed perfectly.

The main event from night one was the triple-threat between CM Punk - main eventing a WrestleMania for the first time - Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, the latter of whom convinced Paul Heyman to turn on both his opponents, side with him and help him claim a historic victory.

Now this was a main event. It had all the moving parts; excellent, memorable action, callbacks for the fans, maximum star power and a satisfying twist that had the crowd going wild.




Seth Rollins aligned with Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman to close Monday Night RAW

No surprise that an angle involving Heyman was crafted so meticulously and the follow-up on Monday Night RAW that saw Bron Breaker join the duo has got the industry talking. Perfect.

On the flip side, there was some moments that didn't capture the imagination quite as much. New Day's 13th tag title win felt like it dragged, Naomi and Jade Cargill deserved more crowd investment for their efforts than they got and AJ Styles being almost put out to pasture by Logan Paul was not a pleasurable watch - as perhaps they intended.

Becky Lynch returned in memorable fashion winning and losing a title in less than 24 hours and then turning heel. As great as Becky is - and she really is wonderful - Bayley being taken off the card for her hung in the air all weekend. Fans and superstars alike love her and the sorrow felt for Bayley certainly spread.

The Rock?!

Surely, the main event of a heel John Cena challenging Cody Rhodes for the WWE world heavyweight title could not miss, right? Well, kinda.

The match itself was decent, but not overly memorable or indicative of a WrestleMania main event. The action plodded a bit as Cena peppered Rhodes in Attitude Adjustments for near falls that no one really believed would get the job done.

Then Travis Scott entered the fray. Ok; surely this means that The Rock, whom Scott flanked during Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber, was on his way too? Not to be. Not now, not on Monday Night Raw - not at all. 




The angle kicked off in earnest with Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber





Despite no Rock appearance, Travis Scott did appear to help John Cena win the title

The only glimpse of the Final Boss came on the Pat McAfee show as I was departing Las Vegas on Tuesday, almost infuriatingly.

The Rock said he didn't want to turn up in the main event because that would take the shine away from Cena. Having Scott there though? Totally fine.

He also revealed he only returned for Elimination Chamber because Endeavour CEO Ari Emmanuel - the company that owns TKO - asked for his help due to slow ticket sales. Quite the juxtaposition opposite Triple H's grand master creative plans.

So, we didn't get The Rock. Everyone - and I mean everyone - was waiting for The Rock. The McAfee interview felt like they finally did read the room, or more specifically social media, and realised they got that one wrong and iconwin wanted to attempt damage limitation. It's arguably made it worse.




The Rock has been criticised for his in-and-out WWE role

But Cena did still win a historic 17th world title. Scott tried to interfere but Rhodes was too smart for the rap superstar and hit him with the Cross Rhodes. He was, however, not smart enough to see through Cena's beg for pity when he could have hit him with the title belt, thus allowing Cena to low blow him and then hit him with said belt. One more AA for the hell of it and Cena is the champion.

It's the right result on the retirement tour for sure. But the way it was done has not helped anybody involved.

The Triple H show 

Elsewhere, Triple H had a Hall of Fame induction so long that Booker T and many others were spotted falling asleep. Then he opened night one of WrestleMania.

Then he came back out on the same night to show off his induction again (as is customary every year, to be fair). One might feel as though this was ever so slightly indulgent of the chief decision maker in the company.

He gets a pass from me for such a legendary career (and general job of bringing WWE back to life) but there was plenty around me in the press box and online who strongly felt my previous sentiments.




Like WrestleMania last year, Triple H continues to take centre stage with his WWE events

I'm there as a journalist, but you still can't hide the fact you're a fan. And from the latter's perspective, overall, I saw four nights of very entertaining wrestling and stories. The RAW after WrestleMania was the best iteration of that in forever. Quite literally, maybe.

Back at WrestleMania 33 and 34, I could go to the Hall of Fame ceremony on the Friday night, watch NXT TakeOver on the Saturday and then WrestleMania on Sunday. You then had Raw on the Monday and SmackDown on the Tuesday if you fancied it. 

Now, you've got every big sit-down podcast at WWE world throughout the week with meet-and-greets etc. They cram SmackDown and the Hall of Fame both in on a Friday night before you get NXT's show on the Saturday morning. 

In L.A. I went to the NXT show and then night one of WrestleMania - that is an impossibly long day. I didn't make that mistake again, despite NXT having plenty of talent I'd like to see. 

That congested first part of the WWE schedule does need tackling, but it feels like they're adding more and more each year if anything. Certainly the TKO affect. Something has to give, but it doesn't appear that WWE's prices will be the thing to tumble.

Fans are paying their sky-high prices and until that changes, it's going to get worse for many. 

Things to do

As previously mentioned, there was a good reason to head to WWE World every day. I can certainly see the appeal; names like Stone Cold Steve Austin are there chopping it up with McAfee. Well, just about everyone is chopping it up with McAfee.

For the media, access to the names near the top of the card has diminished with the rise of WWE World. It's hard to argue it when you see the business they do as a result, too.

The Las Vegas strip invites any and all and wrestling fans absolutely made their presence felt all weekend. We played roulette with fans at the Bellagio, had beers in a wrestling bar called DDT and traversed the unique Fremont Street which, coupled with hundreds of wresting fans created a vibe like no other.




The famous Las Vegas strip was full to the brim with wrestling fans

Other journalists did head out to Hover Dam, about 45 minutes in an Uber. Helicopters regularly fly over your head as people take a tour of the city from above. The Miz launched his YouTube channel at Top Golf as other journalists played rounds of golf nearby. If you wanted to escape the wrestling bubble, it was just about possible.

Travel

Travelling to Las Vegas from London is a good 11 hours even if you go direct, so we partnered up with United Airlines to make sure we got there as smoothly as possible.

Priority drop-off ensured my baggage was taken care off in the blink of an eye. United have have a lounge for customers to enjoy at Heathrow Airport so things were off to a good start when we were able to grab an appealing buffet breakfast.




United's lounge at Heathrow Airport before you set sail across the Atlantic





United's Polaris class certainly costs, but it's a special way to travel long haul

 We still had work to do before we left and there was plenty of comfy seating areas to plug-in and crack on. They also have shower facilities and the longest bar at the airport.

I connected via Denver and flew in United's Polaris class for the initial nine-hour flight. A two-hour turnaround saw me take United First for their domestic ride to Las Vegas, which was just under two hours two.

As someone who has done the trip over to America a lot during my career, I'd like to think I'm not easily impressed. But the standard of service and sheer space on all legs of my trip was a difference maker. I've often debated the monetary difference in classes, but it's certainly worth it.

Check out United's vast options to fly to America 




United have over 20 fights a day from London and hubs all over the U.S.

Overall

I love wrestling, I really do. Even so, by the end of WrestleMania week you are ready to come home. WWE does a fantastic job of making the city they take over just a bounty of offering for any and every fan.

You're bound to be all wrestled out by the time Tuesday comes (where they actually have an NXT show as well if you stay in town!).

Any fan with a real interest in wrestling should absolutely go. Though many on the internet will critique them, the shows over the course of the week were of a very high standard overall. The high notes blast over the low ones for sure. WWE delivered their end of the bargain on that front for my money.

The fact you can get so close to the stars is something WWE do very well, too. The meet-and-greets and watching them up close doing interviews cost, but it's something that virtually no other sport does on their banner weekend.

And it's in New Orleans next year! As someone who went to WrestleMania 34 there, I will not need much convincing to return to Bourbon Street.


WWE