WrestleMania 41 Fall-out: Triumphs, Letdowns & Cena's Historic Win

Peter Klein

WrestleMania 41 delivered unforgettable moments, but it also featured some unexpected disappointments. Peter Klein analyzes the matches, including John Cena's record-breaking 17th title win, and discusses the event's overall impact.  #WrestleMania41 #JohnCena #WWERecap #WWE2025 #CodyRhodes #IyoSky #RheaRipley #BiancaBelair #DominikMysterio  🔗 Stay Connected & Support the Show 🎧 Listen & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189  Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM 🧠 Partners & Promos:  C of Dead Apparel → https://www.cofdead403.ca/  Swift Energy → https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm  🎁 Use Promo Code: PKPrimetime for 25% off! 📲 Follow Me:  Twitter (X) → https://x.com/primetimeklein  Instagram → https://instagram.com/primetimeklein  Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary  Twitch → https://twitch.tv/primetimepk 📬 Business Inquiries & Fan Mail:  Email → couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com

Transcript

00:00it was not the grand spectacle that everyone was hoping it would be I mean it was a spectacle for

00:10sure it was the grand part that was missing as Wrestlemania 41 is now behind us and what we have

00:17are a couple of interesting things a couple of things that we are hoping become interesting

00:22and a whole lot of frustration so that's kind of where I am at in is the frustrating part of it and

00:29almost like kind of apparent you know the I'm not mad I'm just disappointed that that's kind of where

00:36we are at is that I was saying this to my wife um last night is coming out of this it kind of feels

00:42like here I'm based in Calgary shout out Calgary cannons sea of dead uh where there um all that

00:49there are some years where you get to really stampede it up right like it okay Calgary stampede

00:54let's go let's lock and load fire it up here we go um and then there are some years where

01:01especially in the industry that I'm in you have to work a whole lot and so you don't really get to

01:04enjoy it and then you have one of those where you're working a whole lot or like a Christmas season

01:08if you're working or if just certain life events make it not really something you can fully enjoy

01:15you kind of come out of it and then you'll see something that reminds you of that in a couple

01:19of weeks oh man I can't wait for oh oh it's over we have to wait a full year for that that's kind

01:25of where I'm at with Wrestlemania where it feels like we went through it we we got the build up

01:29and then it happened and now a couple weeks from now I'll see some kind of like a clip or something

01:33like oh man Wrestlemania is gonna be oh nope nope we had it and it was a little disappointing um that

01:38that's that's where I'm at that they were just you had a run with so much potential and so much

01:45I think good creative in in everything built building up to it a lot of not great and we'll

01:51talk about that as well but you had so much potential and so much good creative and so many

01:56potentially interesting parts going into this one that it just it feels like a bit of a dud now that

02:04we come out of it and that's that's what we get so uh don't let me um kind of shape how you're

02:09thinking what we have on youtube and on twitch a a poll going on in the chat right now what do you

02:16give Wrestlemania thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle I think I would be thumbs in the

02:22middle I still think there was enough good on this that it wasn't an entire waste of time and just a

02:27bad Wrestlemania but I do think that this was not one that you could say the good outweighed the bad

02:33enough to say oh no this is awesome we need to do this one for sure um I think the follow-up now is

02:39going to be very very interesting with this because there is a lot of backlash around it and there is a

02:46lot of frustration and there's a lot that I think still needs to be answered when you are looking at

02:52some of these stories as well so I I think the follow-up to this now is going to be quite interesting

02:58to to see where they kind of roll with this and and what decisions they make and and so look like

03:05going back night one you really get saved by an amazing main event it felt like a lot of the matches

03:11night one for sure but also you know night two um as well there was a lot of matches that felt they

03:19could have got to another level right another gear and I get a lot of what you were looking for was

03:25story based right and so you get like the big moment with hey Jey Uso has done it and that's

03:29kind of what we were looking for we didn't need this to be a five-star classic in fact given one of

03:34the participants in it we weren't necessarily expecting a five-star classic but you you still

03:41need to give something along those lines right and what when you have a talent roster as good as this

03:48one and the bar has been raised for what good matches are in 2025 and I know they took a lot of

03:54shots at AEW but one thing you can say about AEW we can yell and scream all we want about the the

04:00creative in all elite wrestling and all of that it is um it is always delivering on pay-per-view when

04:09it comes to big matches or just on television in general right like you look at a couple of matches

04:13that we saw on dynamite on Wednesday with Mercedes Monet against Athena and the Will Ospreay match um

04:21both of those delivered in ways that 90% of the matches at Wrestlemania this year didn't even do so

04:27it is one thing to really rely on a lot of the story but you do still need that in-ring aspect

04:31and I feel like that was kind of lost this year where a lot of it is okay this is about the story

04:36of the New Day winning the tag team titles this is about the story of Jey Uso overcoming and uh getting

04:43to the top of the mountain and becoming the world champion that this is about the the story of

04:48Tiffany Stratton being able to to overcome and pick up a win over Charlotte Flair but you still

04:53need the matches to be good for us to get excited about like we're not story is very very very

04:58important obviously but you didn't just get 61,000 people on both nights into Allegiant Stadium

05:06on Easter weekend to watch the stories play out I mean there is some of that but you want to see

05:12good matches well when it is happening too and so again we get on AEW for the the creative and

05:18honestly a lot of the creative gets um hit on Wrestlemania here too but you have to have the

05:22good matches as well it all has to kind of tie in and it just felt like this mania never really

05:27hit that and I kind of I think I was maybe whistling past the graveyard a little bit when it

05:33came to that on um in the build-up because like doing a couple of interviews out here in Calgary and

05:39stuff like that you you get kind of the thought of um okay or the question story of okay what what's

05:45the match you're looking forward to and I would be like oh well obviously it's well wait what match

05:50am I looking forward to because you can give the oh well Cody Rhodes and John Cena or you could give

05:54the um well Seth and Roman and CM Punk but a lot of times there's like okay you got those but

06:00we got this classic one that we are excited about and you never you never got that on the undercard

06:05um we get again a couple of matches delivering and one of them that I was excited for does end

06:10up delivering but it still never really clicked in that full way for this one so again quite a bit

06:16of frustration with all of this and I mean you got that in the crowd reaction too and uh John Pollock

06:22brought this up on post-wrestling I do wonder like higher ticket prices more focus on celebrities

06:29you wonder if that does change a little of the reaction now the uh devil's advocate part of that

06:34is when things picked up there was reactions you know that like um Jacob Fautou and LA Knight got

06:42some big crowd reactions as their match went on Dominic Mysterio gets a massive crowd reaction when he

06:48wins the Intercontinental Championship the crowd was into yeeting at the beginning of the show so when

06:53there were things to get excited about they were there but you do wonder like it is a bit of a

06:58different crowd now also I do want to say um like just saying oh well they've priced out the real fans

07:03I think that's nice for those of us who can't afford trips to Wrestlemania to say I think just

07:07because you can afford a $400 ticket doesn't automatically make you less of a real fan I

07:11think that's just something nice that we say about ourselves uh who can't necessarily get there

07:16for um some of these now given the prices and and everything like that so I just that was just

07:23something I thought of with this whole thing but I do still say again um the reason I'm not full

07:30thumbs down like we have going on in the um in the polls right now that the reason that I am not

07:36full-blown thumbs down is there were still some big moments on this one and there were still some

07:42great matches on this card uh the Seth thing felt like a major deal and it gets the reaction all over

07:48social media all weekend right with um Paul Heyman whatever this was um really drives that home now look

07:56I have never fully done that low blow thing to anyone before I've never also had it done to me

08:01so I look I would imagine if you are getting hit in that way if the guy is then kind of giving you

08:05like a little fishtail thing um that probably sucks as well uh but it was a little bit funny that that

08:10was happening but this still feels like a major moment and still feels like something that you can

08:16really build up and and really kind of get behind and could be something that kind of sets up the rest of

08:22the year like that felt like a major thing EO Sky and the the women's championship match that was

08:27again right now that is my favorite match of the year and again I cannot think rationally about our

08:33genius of the sky EO Sky but I I I still loved that match I think that there's a lot of different ways

08:40you can go now coming out of the women's title picture with um with Asuka and with Bianca and with

08:48Rhea Ripley as well so you you get a couple of like good payoffs again the intercontinental title

08:52match was a lot of fun it's funny that there was especially from behind this microphone too there

08:58was some bitching and moaning about um multi-person matches and oh man they're just loading these up

09:03with all and just trying to sneak everyone onto these cards and then when you looked at it it wasn't

09:07actually that much that they were doing that on but it was those matches that delivered in the

09:12biggest way we're talking about the fatal four-way the triple threat and uh the other triple threat

09:17match so there was a lot of different ways that um those matches delivered in ways that the singles

09:22matches just never really did but then ultimately again you're finishing your show with this big angle

09:30that has been built up for a while now and if you're gonna do something huge like John Cena is

09:35turning heel and now John Cena is winning the title at Wrestlemania this this did not feel like

09:44the the creative or the match or anything that met that moment and now look like John is at this point

09:50rather limited in what he could do and while I was never as big of a Cena hater as uh most

09:58he we aren't starting with the least limited skill set to begin with anyway right like no one was

10:04tuning into John Cena for the five star matches or anything like that right um but this one was even

10:10more basic than that and even still you can still have a wild match without doing a thousand flips

10:17and everything that they have proven that time and time again but it just it kind of felt like if this

10:22was what you were going to do if it was going to be this heel turn to turn everyone against John Cena

10:28but he still overcomes then that match has to be absolutely incredible for it to kind of live up to

10:35that because otherwise now like the reaction if John Cena would have just come out and we just had

10:40good guy John Cena against good guy Cody Rhodes for the undisputed although kind of disputed because

10:45someone else won a world title earlier in the night but it's their belt they can call it what

10:49they want for the undisputed WWE championship I feel like the reaction to Cena winning would have

10:55been significantly bigger if it was just good guy versus good guy than that that we got where we had to

11:02put Travis Scott in the main event and we had to put The Rock involved in this in some way shape or

11:08form and you're seeing a lot of the stuff where people are now suggesting like Rock has to like

11:13Rock is just like oh yeah I can come to that show and they have to shoehorn him in as some kind of part

11:18of the creative and then when he can't stick around the whole time well then you have to pivot and do

11:23something else and that may be true and that I would imagine from a creative standpoint would be

11:28frustrating as all hell I do still think if you wanted to do Rock comes down gives the little

11:34thing to to John Cena and then Cena um ends up turning heel there is still more you could have

11:40done referencing it even a little bit and mentioning it on your television and okay well why did you sell

11:46your soul to that guy in particular why like we we get it you're very upset that we booed Cena sucks for

11:51a long time and still bought the merch and still did all of those things you're really really mad about

11:56that um but why why with The Rock and why now you just won the Elimination Chamber match like what

12:01what's what's what's the point in in all of this and so even if The Rock wasn't going to be involved

12:06there was still a way that I think you could have tied it all together that made it make more sense

12:09and didn't make it that bleh that we got on Sunday night so it really did feel like the the creative

12:17direction you want to do something new and I respect that entirely and you're kind of running out of time

12:21to do that so that this would be the time to do it um but it just felt like it takes away from what

12:28is supposed to be a very major moment in like John Cena's career in WWE history and in pro wrestling

12:36history the way that you have built this up so it was just a bit of a downer at the end of this whole

12:42thing and it it is frustrating because you look back and like just putting thumbnails together and

12:46everything like that you see the picture of Cena just dead ass staring and this the the pictures

12:51of Rock Cena and Travis Scott and you go back to that time and you're thinking oh my god this is

12:57going to be insane this is going to be the jump start that we needed for the road to Wrestlemania

13:02and this is going to be great and now you're looking back on it and it's more of a

13:06what could have been you know it's it is like a lot of stuff in the the worst parts of uh Vince

13:14creative where like you have man it is AJ Styles against Samoa Joe

13:18what could have been with all that huh like that there's a lot of stories and even the one that I

13:24was kind of going back to this weekend because it was brought up a lot where CM Punk is talking about

13:28I brought the shield in to to this wrestling industry and I can take them out and if you go

13:32back and remember at the time that was heavily implied but they never just straight set it right

13:37like it was always well these guys are banned from ringside and they are uh kind of getting

13:43involved in CM Punk matches but then eventually we kind of turn on CM Punk and it was always like

13:47they were trying to be kind of half pregnant with that whole thing and so I like there was a way

13:51where you could do that where CM Punk is starting basically his NWO with the shield and they are just

13:57running through everyone there is a way that you can do that and it's awesome but they didn't do

14:02that and so you're looking back on it and you can kind of twist it and make it seem like this was

14:06a good thing and overall like it was entertaining it was more entertaining than a whole lot of the

14:10other stuff they had at the time but it still leaves a bit of a incomplete feeling and that's

14:17what I have with this where it's like man like all of that and this is what we get at the end it's just

14:22a bit of a bummer with all of this and so now um now there is a lot of pressure and now there's a lot

14:30of momentum that that needs to be built back up because a lot of people going into this had again it

14:36was a very Vince era mindset where you were looking and saying all right we um we we didn't

14:44get the build we wanted the creative wasn't fantastic but this is Wrestlemania man how are

14:49like we're gonna get some stuff that's gonna be great and we're gonna get some stuff that we're

14:52gonna be talking about and the matches are gonna be fire and it's gonna it's still gonna be fun

14:55and we're still looking forward to it because of the talent on the card and even that part didn't

14:58really deliver in the way that we wanted it to so it was all just very very disappointing

15:02uh deeds subscriber on uh twitch which is again always very much appreciated deeds thank you thank

15:07you thank you um in the chat over on twitch saying roman said without the wise men there is no tribal

15:13chief does this set up a character shift for roman reigns i do i do wonder about that right because

15:19he comes out with the ulafala and he has no one to hand it to and like you said with no wise men there

15:24is no tribal chief so what does this mean for the roman reigns character now and like it's tough to say

15:31he's full baby face because he just went off and assaulted cm punk with a steel chair for a little

15:35bit but it is also tough to say full heel because he just had everyone turn on him so what is kind of

15:41the next evolution in the character of roman reigns now that he is kind of this lone wolf is there a bit

15:49of a like we've already done the um the bloodline coming back together and now jay is the champion so

15:55he's not gonna go as the a second in command to to anyone to roman reigns so that is an interesting

16:02part i think that we still get somewhat of a tribal chief type of a thing with with roman reigns and i

16:08do think that that there was a bit of symbolism in them bringing those video boards down around roman

16:12with all the different members of the family and everything like that where you could kind of say

16:17like look roman was going into this alone but he wasn't really alone because he still has the

16:21backing of his family but there's another area um another level story of that story that you can

16:27tell because at that time he he's the head of the table because he is the world champion well that's

16:33jay now and jacob fought too while uh not exactly aligned is still you know part of the family i think

16:40so uh he has the united states championship now so all of that where does roman go in all of this i do

16:47think deeds is really really fascinating i i don't know if we get a full-on character switch

16:52necessarily um but i i do think that we get some some evolution in this character going forward now

17:00with roman i'm i'm curious to see what the follow-up is with him now because he has been on

17:04a very part-time schedule for a while now right but you see some of the interviews and he's like yeah

17:09i got like two or three years left and and so does that mean we get a little bit more full-time from him

17:15now now that it is on netflix a bigger platform like what's what is kind of the usage of a lot

17:21of these guys where you would have some part-time stuff but now this is the biggest platform they

17:27have ever been on with all due respect to fox and usa network and everything like that it is a whole

17:31lot easier to sell roman reigns on coming back on netflix every week than it is um coming back to

17:37the usa network so do we get a little bit more full-time from some of these guys because this has

17:43turned into a more mainstream thing there is more money coming in now with all of this and there is

17:48a bigger platform for them to do their thing on it so i do think really really really interesting

17:53next few weeks and months ahead for the wwe

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