WrestleMania 42 took place April 18 and 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with seven matches on Night 1 and six on Night 2. The event produced strong performances across the card, but fans and media spent much of the weekend talking about the limited amount of in-ring time and the heavy ad load. Former WWE star and strongman Mark Henry addressed the reaction in recent comments, praising several matches while pointing to the same pacing issues that drove the online complaints.
WrestleMania 42
Night 1 opened with LA Knight and The Usos defeating Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and IShowSpeed in a six-man tag team match. Jacob Fatu then beat Drew McIntyre in an unsanctioned match, starting with a dive outside the ring and ending with a moonsault onto a toolbox strike. Other results included Brie Bella and Paige winning a fatal four-way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, and Cody Rhodes retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship over Randy Orton in the main event, with Pat McAfee appearing in Orton’s corner.
Mark Henry
Henry called out the strong spots on Night 1. “I thought a lot of people came out of WrestleMania doing really well,” he said in an exclusive interview with LowKick MMA with the help of BetVictor Online Casino.
“Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu did really well and sparked the interest of wrestling fans.” He added that the ladder match featuring Rusev, Rey Mysterio, Penta, and Je’Von Evans worked well, even if the actual ladder match with those competitors took place on Night 2. On the main event, Henry said, “I thought the main event with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton was good, with Pat McAfee in tow.”
The former World’s Strongest Man pinned the backlash on match length and production choices. “There was really no weakness in the pay-per-view; it’s just that people wanted to see more wrestling. And it just didn’t happen,” Henry said.
“On that first night, the matches were too quick. Every match should have been at least two to three minutes longer, with less video packages in between the wrestling. That way, fans could stay focused without thinking about food, the bathroom, or anything else.” His take lined up with reports from the weekend, including Slam Wrestling’s count of just 1 hour 23 minutes of bell-to-bell action in a 3 hour 55 minute Night 1 show.
Night 2 followed a similar pattern. Oba Femi opened by defeating Brock Lesnar, a match Henry said “set the table” for the rest of the card. Rhea Ripley then beat Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship, and Roman Reigns topped CM Punk in the main event to claim the World Heavyweight Championship after nearly 34 minutes. Henry praised both.
“Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley was excellent. And of course, Roman Reigns and CM Punk was a master class of education for pro wrestlers, they should watch it and try to emulate it, not be exactly like them, but replicate it,” he said.
Henry wrapped up by giving WrestleMania 42 a clean stamp. “Overall, in a nutshell, pro wrestling was real,” he said. His comments came amid reports of 57 minutes of ads on Night 1, according to social media counts, and carryover frustration about sponsor integration on both nights. The event delivered the wrestling highlights Henry highlighted, even as the format drew scrutiny.
