There's no mistaking the general sentiment of the fans; Wrestlemania 41 ended with a thud. After a questionable build up to the "rivalry" between John Cena and Undisputed Universal champion Cody Rhodes, Cena winning the championship wasn't as much of a problem as the way the booking was handled and the match produced. It left a dry taste in the mouths of everyone watching, both in person and on television.
And it harkened back to a time when the brand also botched things with their Wrestlemania main event.
The release of the recent documentary on Wrestlemania 9 stirred up memories of that much maligned show, the previous occasion on which the world's premier professional promotion brought their showpiece event to Las Vegas.
At the time, the now-controversial conclusion to that show received a rapturous reaction from those in attendance, as the iconic Hulk Hogan emerged to rescue the WWE Championship from the clutches of the mighty Yokozuna after he had defeated Hogan’s intended successor, Bret Hart.
In the years since, that finale has come to symbolize a company at a desperate low point, and a pro-wrestling politician at his selfish worst. Sunday night wasn't the first reason to recall such an atrocity, but if may have been the worst.
The 32 years in between provided many an underwhelming conclusion to Wrestlemania’s here and there. There was Triple H at his dastardly wicked peak becoming the first pro-wrestling heel to close out the showcase of the immortals with a win. He proved, in both 2002 and 2009, unable to follow instant classic Wrestlemania bouts.
Cena himself had his moments. In 2007 he repeated the exact same finish he had done in the main event the year before, just on a different DX member.
There was 2017 and 2018’s woeful attempts to get Roman Reigns over as the WWE’s successor to Cena, but being met with complete indifference. More recently, there was the 2023 main event where a finish all felt like they had seen a thousand times before, with Solo Sikoa attacking Cody Rhodes to help Roman Reigns retain his title.
Yet what happened this past Sunday in Allegiant Stadium was as bad as anything the NFL's lumbering Raiders franchise have subjected their fans to in the years since their move to Las Vegas in 2020.
It would not be too much of a stretch to say Cena’s heel turn, that gone-viral Elimination Chamber attack that brought WWE as much public attention as they’ll have in many years, had so far proved underwhelming.
Through some combination of Cena’s filming schedule, a lack of physicality from Rhodes against his attackers, or The Rock’s own absence since, the match of the year had a horrible build up.
Yet some hope seemingly remained that the match itself, promising the end of a year-long title reign, and a "record-breaking"17th championship for Cena, would deliver.
Instead, all fans got was a series of in-ring action duds. Rhodes barely got a measure of revenge on rapper Travis Scott as WWE pandered to the mainstream. There was a tug of war between Rhodes and Cena for the belt, where the face of the company didn't have the killer instinct to hit the challenger with it. Instead he got kicked with a low blow and took a shot in the head for his trouble. The 15 seconds it took for a knocked out referee to return and deliver a slow count, along with commentator Michael Cole no-selling the shenanigans to instead focus on Cena's historic victory was the icing on the cake.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Las Vegas may be the place Wrestlemanias go to let fans down in the end like the Game of Thrones.
Even after all was said and done, there was still no sign of The Rock, nor of anybody else but the Grammy-nominated Scott and his far too protracted entrance. There was no angle of any kind to move things forward, just a heel finish that was barely a heel finish, Cena celebrating with the mainstream star looking weak.
It felt like an attempt by WWE to recapture the black magic of 2001's ending to Wrestlemania 17, still maybe the single greatest night in the history of the promotion, without any understanding for why that worked so well.
The shot of San Francisco 49ers Tight end George Kittle, noted wrestling fan, in attendance shown in the slow motion replays after the match mouthing a stunned “What?” as he put his hand on his head in disbelief, could have been on behalf of all of us. Less for the result, more for the manner of it.