WrestleMania 40 Night 2 results, grades, analysis: Cody Rhodes defeats Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Universal title

Rhodes and Reigns headline WrestleMania for the second night — and second year in a row. After Rhodes and Seth Rollins lost to The Rock and Reigns on Night 1, the main event match would be held under "Bloodline Rules," seeming putting the challenger at a severe disadvantage.

Rhodes entered first, with a fiery, almost war-like video package. As he rose from beneath the stage, he was wearing a crown and skull mask in what appeared to be an homage to Triple H — how far these two have come, right? Rhodes was accompanied by his wife Brandi for the first time since he came back to WWE.

Reigns' entrance included the School District of Philadelphia All-City Orchestra, but the champion was only accompanied to the ring by Paul Heyman despite the "Bloodline Rules" stipulation. Reigns has now been in the main event of WrestleMania a record nine times, surpassing Hulk Hogan. Reigns' run as champion is the 4th-longest in WWE history, behind Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Hogan.

Much like the Night 1 match, both men engaged in staring contest in the very beginning. The Philadelphia crowd was far more engaged in the early stages on Sunday compared to Saturday. Reigns used his power advantage, while Rhodes relied on his speed, avoiding a Reigns spear to have the champion crash into a ring post.

Rhodes was actually the first to bring weapons into the equation, pulling a table out from under the ring. Reigns hit Rhodes with a "drive-by" dropkick and the champion put the table back under the ring, disappointing the Philadelphia crowd. Rhodes continued to lean into the violence, sending Reigns into the ring steps.

Moments later, Reigns regained the upper hand by pummeling Rhodes with a kendo stick. Rhodes dodged a blow and eventually locked Reigns in the "figure-four." The WWE announcers suggested that the "Bloodline Rules" essentially amounted to a no-disqualification match, but pinfall or submission needed to happen in the ring.

Action spilled into the crowd shortly after, loosely following the structure of the Night 1 main event. Reigns teased a massive suplex off among the crowd, but Rhodes countered into a suplex of his own and guiding the action back to the ring area.

Rhodes, with a bit of momentum, went for a "disaster kick" but was caught in mid-air and powerbombed, snuffing out the brief swing in the challenger's favor. Reigns then taunted Rhodes, saying he would send him to Hollywood with the "rest of them," referencing John Cena and his cousin The Rock.

Reigns stayed in control, using a submission hold and a fisherman's suplex for a near-fall. After the referee counted to two and Rhodes kicked out, Reigns began to show visible signs of frustration despite maintaining control.

The pace briefly picked up as Rhodes and Reigns exchanged superkicks and big boots before taking each other out with a double clothesline. Rhodes finally regained the advantage with a scoop slam and "disaster kick," leading to a near-fall on the champion.

As Rhodes went for a "Cody cutter," Reigns caught the challenger and — in a sign of ultimate disrespect in wrestling — tried to end the match using Rhodes' own finisher. Reigns' taunts allowed Rhodes to recover enough to dodge a "superman" punch and hit the champion with his father's patented "bionic elbow" combination.

Reigns would leverage the "Bloodline Rules" to land a low blow on Rhodes and powerbomb him through an announce table. Reigns quickly threw Rhodes back into the ring and hit a "superman" punch for another dramatic near-fall. Rhodes followed up by countering a spear from Reigns and hitting the "Cody cutter" for a near-fall of his own. Rhodes would get another near-fall after countering a "Rock bottom" attempt and hitting a spear on Reigns.

Finally, nearly 22 minutes into the match, there was much-expected outside interference. Jimmy Uso hit Rhodes with a superkick as he attempted to hit Reigns with a finisher. Jey Uso, who beat Jimmy on Night 1, followed shortly after and took out his twin with a spear off the WrestleMania stage and through a table.

Back in the ring, Reigns landed a spear on Rhodes for yet another near-fall, but the challenger kicked out. Action spilled outside shortly after, allowing Rhodes to spear the champion through a barricade.

As Rhodes again went for a trio of "crossRhodes" finishers, Solo Sikoa interfered, delivering a Samoan spike to the challenger — a callback to how last year's main event ended. Sikoa dragged Reigns onto Rhodes for the cover but the challenger kicked out, stunning Sikoa and his cousin. The Bloodline duo hit a combo spear and spike, but Rhodes kicked out again.

Much like Jey Uso did, John Cena came to the rescue to get revenge on Sikoa. Cena hit Reigns with an "attitude adjustment" and then put Sikoa through an announce table with another "AA."

That flurry from Cena brought out The Rock. Cena and Rock faced each other at WrestleMania 28 and 29, with each winning one match. The two megastars stared each other down before The Rock landed a "Rock bottom." As Rock took off his weight belt, The Shield's music hit and Rollins was about to take out The Rock with a chair — a callback to his betrayal of Reigns a decade earlier.

Chaos continued as The Undertaker's music hit, the lights went down and the legendary superstar appeared in the ring to chokeslam The Rock. The lights dimmed again and just Rhodes, Rollins and Reigns were left in the ring with a steel chair.

Reigns, rather than hitting Rhodes, turned his attention to Rollins, payback for his aforementioned betrayal. This allowed Rhodes to recover, hit a knee on Reigns and finally, land three "crossRhodes" and finish his story.

Cody Rhodes defeats Roman Reigns in 33:23 to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

After the match, LA Knight, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Brandi Rhodes and Cody's family celebrated in the ring with the new champion.

Rhodes addressed the celebrating crowd, saying he is surrounded by greatness in the ring and stadium. He called out Bruce Pritchard and Triple H out, saying he would never have returned to WWE without those two men.

With just one match remaining on the card, WWE showed off the big names in the crowd, including a couple of multi-night guests.

Among the celebrities shown in attendance were:

George Kittle (both nights)

Vanessa Hudgens (both nights)

Lilly Singh

Michael Che

War and Treaty — Who also sang "God Bless America" to open the show

T-Pain

The Eagles cheerleaders and mascot then introduced Snoop Dogg for his second appearance of the night. The WWE Hall of Famer announced the Night 2 attendance number as 72,755 — bringing the two-night total to 145,298.

A wing-clad Bayley entered WrestleMania on the shoulders of men dressed in Anubis masks as part of an overall Egyptian theme. It was the first time the star has had a one-on-one match at WrestleMania, a right she earned by winning the women's Royal Rumble match in January.

Iyo Sky, who was formerly aligned with Bayley as part of Damage CTRL, came onto the stage accompanied by Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane, but they did not follow the champion down the ramp to the ring, suggesting the match would take place without outside interference.

The early stages of the match saw both Bayley and Sky briefly gain momentum before the challenger grabbed a significant advantage with a dive through the ropes and a baseball slide. Bayley would sell a knee injury and Sky would capitalize, focusing on her rival's right knee. Iyo would take firm control with a "dragon screw" and continue her offense outside the ring.

Bayley sent Sky over a barricade into the timekeeper's area and countered a high-risk maneuver into a body slam. Bayley picked up a near-fall before unleashing a modified sidewalk slam. Bayley climbed to the top turnbuckle, but Sky shoved her down to the floor and hit a massive moonsault and springboard dropkick herself.

The back-and-forth nature of the match continued as action returned to the ring. Bayley sent Sky into the turnbuckle with a sunset flip for a near-fall, then Sky landed two German suplexes — the second ending with a bridge pin for a near-fall of her own.

After the two near-falls, Sky and Bayley traded counters on each others' top-rope attempts and Sky locked in multiple submission moves — a "crossface" and "STF." Once Bayley broke free, she landed a "Bayley-to-belly" finisher, but Sky kicked out.

Sky and Bayley would tee off on each other in the middle of the ring before Sky landed a backbreaker and moonsault, appearing to end the match. Frustrated, Sky went for multiple moonsaults, but Bayley countered the last one and began to rebuild her momentum. Bayley landed a belly-to-back suplex, big elbow and "roseplant" to finally put away Sky and win the WWE Women's Championship.

Bayley defeats Iyo Sky in 14:26 to win the WWE Women's Championship.

Logan Paul entered WrestleMania on a massive, blue monster truck adorned with the logo of his hydration/energy drink brand Prime. Paul's Prime is also the first sponsor WWE has allowed on the ring mat, an announcement that was made earlier this year. Paul was also accompanied to the ring by a Prime mascot, who in the past was revealed to be Paul's friend and fellow social media influencer KSI.

In a moment that mirrored Owens sending Sami Zayn through Gorilla on Night 1, the new Intercontinental Champion was there to offer encouragement to his best friend. Owens continued the vehicle theme by driving a golf cart to the ring. As Orton's music hit, Owens backed up to pick up The Viper.

Once the bell rang, Paul left the ring, attempting to bait Owens and Orton into fighting each other. Instead, the two veterans set their sights on Paul, using tandem offense on the champion outside. Orton and Owens took turns slamming Paul onto the Spanish announce table before moving things back inside the ropes.

Another attempt from Paul to turn his rivals against each other failed, and the beatdown of Paul continued. The first rift between Owens and Orton came as both went to pin Paul. Orton went for an "RKO," and the brawl was officially on. With Orton and Owens battling, Paul pulled out a slingshot double clothesline to finally gain the upper hand.

Owens would take out both Paul and Orton with a double cannonball and then went for a follow-up swanton bomb on Paul. The champion, who got his knees up to counter Owens, hit a swanton and frog splash combination of his own.

Recovered, Orton forced Paul out of the ring and hit his scoop slam on Owens and Paul before landing a double DDT to both men. Orton tried to capitalize with an "RKO" on Paul, who countered, forcing Orton into an Owens superkick.

A chaotic segment came as a "tower of doom" was teased, Paul attempted to go for a superplex on Owens, Owens countered to hit an avalanche powerslam and moonsault on Paul, Orton landed an "RKO" on Owens, and Paul took out Orton with brass knuckles. There were three dramatic near-falls involving all three competitors.

As Paul went for another brass knuckles punch, Orton countered with an "RKO" and took the brass knuckles and handed them over to the referee. Instead of using the brass knuckles, Orton lined Paul up for a "punt" before the Prime mascot saved Paul and revealed himself to be streamer IShowSpeed.

Orton wouldn't have any more interference as he hit IShowSpeed with an "RKO" onto the announce table.

Paul tried to capitalize on the distraction, but Owens hit him with a pop-up powerbomb and then followed that with a stunner to Orton.

The final segment had Owens try and build momentum and land another pop-up powerbomb, this time on Orton. Orton countered with an "RKO," but Paul shoved Orton outside the ring and hit a frog splash on Owens for the win.

Logan Paul defeats Kevin Owens and Randy Orton in 17:38 to retain the United States Championship.

WWE paid tribute to the Hall of Fame class of 2024 during Night 2. In case you missed it, the newest inductees were.

Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda — The U.S. Express

Thunderbolt Patterson

Lia Maivia

Bull Nakano

Muhammad Ali

Paul Heyman

Styles wasted no time, running down the ramp and starting the brawl with Knight right away — easily the shortest entrance of any at WrestleMania 40.

Knight used the announce table to his advantage, slamming Styles' head against it repeatedly. As the action returned to the ring, Styles began to focus on Knight's left knee. Knight would counter a knee drop from Styles to get a quick near-fall and build momentum of his own — capping the series off with a tornado DDT.

The action picked up after Knight went for a superplex, but Styles countered. Knight would rebound fairly quickly to land an avalanche German suplex from the top rope and go for a pin. After kicking out, Styles locked Knight into his "calf crusher" submission, continuing to home in on Knight's knee. Styles used the ring post to do more damage to Knight's knee, but the tactic backfired when Knight pulled Styles' head into the structure.

Knight ripped up the padding outside the ring, going for a powerbomb that Styles would reverse into a back-body drop. Knight barely made it back into the ring before the 10 count, allowing the match to continue.

As things returned to the ring, Styles went for a springboard 450 splash before Knight was able to get his knees up for the counter. Knight and Styles would pick up the pace, with each man countering the others' finisher attempts. The closing sequence ended with Knight hitting a "BFT" on Styles and picking up the win in his first WrestleMania appearance.

LA Knight defeated AJ Styles in 12:31

After the thrilling opener, WWE brought in Snoop Dogg as a special guest commentator and WWE Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley as the special guest referee. Dudley's ties to Philadelphia as one of ECW's biggest stars made him a perfect fit for this match.

Profits and Lashley quickly cleared the ring and went to get weapons. After the Profits set up a table, Authors of Pain took out Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, allowing The Final Testament to turn their attention to Lashley, beating him down with kendo sticks and a chair.

The Street Profits broke up a pin and tried to turn the tides but found themselves falling victim to the numbers game. B-Fab and Scarlett Bordeaux got involved for their respective teams and Lashley and the Street Profits were able to gain the upper hand.

Ford took out both members of the Authors of Pain with a massive leap over the ring post to the outside while Lashley focused his attention on Karrion Kross. With Kross locked in Lashley's submission finisher, Scarlett broke the hold. B-Fab performed a Russian leg sweep on Scarlett through the table that was set up outside the ring earlier.

Kross DDT'd Lashley onto a steel chair, but Lashley kicked out at two. Kross then got angry with the special guest referee, Bubba Ray Dudley, allowing Lashley to land a spear. Lashley and the Profits paid homage to the Dudley Boyz, hitting a "wazzzup" drop and then demanding that they "get the tables," earning a huge pop and "E-C-Dub" chants from the Philadelphia crowd.

With a table set up in the middle of the ring, Ford landed a frog splash on Kross and Lashley pinned him for the win.

Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits defeated The Final Testament in 8:35.

McIntyre taunted CM Punk on commentary and before long, the "Best in the World" had enough. Punk took out McIntyre on the announce table and beat him down with his arm brace.

As Punk assaulted McIntyre, Judgment Day member Damian Priest rushed to the ring to cash in his "Money in the Bank" contract, guaranteeing him a championship match at any time. Priest hit a chokeslam on McIntyre and pinned him for the win.

Damian Priest defeats Drew McIntyre in ~10 seconds to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Priest's win marks the second time in WrestleMania history that the "Money in the Bank" contract has been cashed in. The last time was at WrestleMania 31 when Seth Rollins used his briefcase to insert himself into the main event against Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Rollins would win his first WWE Championship that night.

CM Punk was the first out before Night 2 of WrestleMania officially got underway. This spot was believed to be his — a championship match against Rollins — before an injury forced him out of action.

Punk will be commentating — as if he didn't make enough news with his commentary in the week leading up to WrestleMania — but look for him to potentially factor into the match itself.

As for Rollins, he's technically performing in back-to-back WrestleMania matches, having closed out Night 1 alongside Cody Rhodes against The Rock and Roman Reigns. Expect an emphasis to be placed on how much a battle he went through roughly 20 hours before Night 2 kicked off.

McIntyre is no stranger to the WrestleMania stage, but this will be the biggest match he's he's been in at the "Showcase of the Immortals." McIntyre won the WWE Championship in a match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 — which was held in the WWE Performance Center with no fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the in-ring action, Stephanie McMahon did a brief intro and gave her husband, Paul "Triple H" Levesque his flowers for leading WWE's creative efforts.

McIntyre was introduced with a series of bagpipe players from Philadelphia's Ulster Scottish Pipe Band and extras holding swords to create an archway on the way to the ring.

Rollins, who had a fairly standard entrance on Night 1, had a series of musicians from the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association play him onto and follow him down the stage. This looked like a fever dream more than a WrestleMania match.

As soon as the bell rang, McIntyre hit Rollins with his finisher, the "claymore kick," and scored a near-fall. As action shifted outside the ring, McIntyre hit Rollins with a chop block to his injured knee and executed two belly-to-belly suplexes.

With McIntyre's attention shifted to CM Punk, Rollins was able to hit a pedigree on the floor and a stomp back in the ring, evening up the score. Rollins continued to sell his knee injury as the two men exchanged blows in the center of the ring.

McIntyre went for another "claymore," but Rollins countered to hit a flurry of big moves — powerbomb, pedigree, stomp — and get a near-fall to draw "this is awesome" chants from the Philadelphia crowd.

Rollins went for a top-rope stomp, but missed and again played up the knee injury. McIntyre capitalized to land a "future shock" DDT. McIntyre, again taunting CM Punk, attempted to land Punk's finisher on Rollins. Rollins reversed it into a quick rollup pin for yet another near-fall.

McIntyre, clearly frustrated, moved things outside the ring and nearly powerbombed Rollins through an announce table. Rollins countered and then used both the English and Spanish announce tables to land a stomp on McIntyre.

As things moved back into the ring for the closing stages, McIntyre quickly hit two "claymore" kicks to score the pin and become a 3-time WWE world champion.

Drew McIntyre defeats Seth Rollins in 10:38 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

We had a pretty solid showing on Night 1 — going 4-3. If we really want to flex, we accurately predicted both winners in the six-pack tag team ladder match, Awesome Truth and Grayson Waller/Austin Theory.

Here's how we see Night 2 unfolding:

Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits vs. The Final Testament in a Philadelphia Street Fight — Prediction: The Final Testament Wins

LA Knight vs. AJ Styles — Prediction: LA Knight wins

Triple-Threat Match for the United States Championship: Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul (c.) — Prediction: Logan Paul retains the United States Championship (c.)

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins (c.) - with CM Punk as special guest commentator — Prediction: Drew McIntyre wins the World Heavyweight Championship

WWE Women's Championship Match: Bayley vs. Iyo Sky (c.) — Prediction: Bayley wins the WWE Women's Championship.

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (c.) under "Bloodline Rules" — Prediction: Cody Rhodes wins the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Here's the full six-match card for WrestleMania Night 2, with WWE's promotional graphics. There are four championship matches, including the main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, which will be contested under "Bloodline Rules" in the wake of Rhodes' loss in a tag team match on Night 1.

(Note, the matches are not listed in the order they will take place.)

In case you missed any of the action from Night 1 of Wrestlemania, here's our results, grades, analysis and live blog recap.

Some of the highlights/takeaways

• WWE created a true WrestleMania moment during the tag team ladder match as R-Truth and The Miz — known as the Awesome Truth — won their first championship as a team. It was also the first time R-Truth has won at WrestleMania

• Speaking of the ladder match — DIY's tributes to DX and Triple H and Shawn Michaels were spot-on. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano also had two of the more jaw-dropping moments of the night during the match.

• Bianca Belair steals the show every time she steps into the ring, especially at WrestleMania. Hers, Naomi's and Jade Cargill's entrance was the coolest of the night.

• There were plenty of "Rocky" references — the movie, not Dwayne Johnson — but my favorite was Chad Gable saying Sami Zayn owed him a favor a la Apollo Creed in "Rocky III"

• Sami Zayn ending Gunther's record Intercontinental Championship reign was the night's biggest surprise, by far.

• The main event, while having a relatively predictable outcome, still delivered. The Rock showed that even in his 50s, he's still a main-event level star.