Rose and Reigns will headline WrestleMania on night two for the second year in a row. After Rose and Seth Rollins lost to The Rock and Reigns on night one, the main event match was decided to be held under the “pedigree rule”, leaving the challenger at a huge disadvantage. It seems to be placed.
Rhodes entered first with an intense, war-like video package. He came up from below the stage, wearing a crown and skull mask that seemed to be an homage to Triple H – how far have these two come? Rose was accompanied by his wife Brandi for the first time since returning to WWE.
Reigns' entrance included a section of the Philadelphia All-City Orchestra, but despite the “pedigree rule,” the champion entered the ring accompanied only by Paul Heyman. Reigns has now appeared in the main event of WrestleMania nine times, surpassing Hulk Hogan. Reigns' tenure as champion is the fourth longest in WWE history, behind Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, and Hogan.
Just like on the first night, the two sides engaged in a staring contest from the beginning. The Philadelphia crowd was much more enthusiastic early on Sunday than it was Saturday. Reigns used his power advantage, while Rose relied on his speed to avoid Reigns' spear and slam the champion into the ring post.
In fact, Rose brought in the weapon first, pulling a table out from under the ring. Reigns hit a “drive-by” dropkick on Rose, and the champion brought the table back under the ring, much to the dismay of the Philadelphia crowd. Rose continued to lean into the violence, sending Reigns into the ring steps.
Shortly after, Reigns hit Rose with a kendo stick to regain the advantage. Rose avoided the blow and eventually pinned Reigns in a “figure four”. A WWE announcer suggested that the “Bloodline Rule” essentially amounts to a no-disqualification match, but that a pinfall or submission would have to occur in the ring.
Immediately after, the action spread out into the crowd, loosely following the structure of night one's main event. Reigns went for a massive suplex through the crowd, but Rose countered with a suplex of his own, sending the action back to the ring area.
Rose had a bit of momentum and went for a “Disaster Kick”, but was caught mid-air and hit a powerbomb, obliterating a short swing in favor of the challenger. Reigns then mocked Rose by saying he would send him to Hollywood with “the rest”, citing John Cena and his cousin The Rock.
Reigns stayed in control and used a submission hold and a fisherman's suplex for a near fall. After the referee counted two and Rose kicked out, Reigns began to show obvious signs of frustration, even though he remained in control.
The pace briefly picked up as Rose and Reigns traded superkicks and big boots and took each other down with double clotheslines. Rose eventually regained the advantage with a scoop slam and a “disaster kick” that nearly cost the champion.
When Rose went for the “Cody Cutter,” Reigns grabbed the challenger and, in the ultimate sign of disrespect in wrestling, attempted to end the match with Rose's own finisher. Due to Reigns' taunts, Rose avoided “Superman”'s punches and recovered enough to hit the champion with his father's patented “Bionic Elbow” combination.
Reigns would utilize the “Bloodline Rule” to give Rose a low blow and a powerbomb on the announce table. Reigns quickly threw Rose back into the ring and hit a “Superman” punch for another dramatic nearfall. Rose countered a spear from Reigns and hit the “Cody Cutter” for a near fall himself. Rose got another near fall after countering a “rock bottom” attempt and hitting Reigns with a spear.
Nearly 22 minutes into the game, the long-awaited interference from outside finally occurred. Jimmy Uso superkicked Rose as he tried to get a finisher on Reigns. Jey Uso, who defeated Jimmy on night one, followed shortly after, using a spear to drag the twins off the WrestleMania stage over a table.
Back in the ring, Reigns hits Rose with a Spear for another near fall, but the challenger kicks out. The action flared to the outside shortly after, allowing Rhodes to break through the barricade and spear the champion.
Rhodes went for another trio of “crossRhodes” finishers, but Solo Chicoa interrupted and hit the Samoan Spike on the challenger. This was reminiscent of how last year's main event ended. Sicore dragged Reigns into Rose for a cover, but the challenger kicked out, surprising Sicore and his cousin. The Bloodline duo hit a spear/spike combo, but Rose kicked out again.
Just like Jey Uso, John Cena also came to the rescue to get revenge on Chicor. Cena hit Reigns with an “Attitude Adjustment” and sent Cicor through the announce table with another “AA”.
The Rock was brought out by Cena's furious force. Cena and Rock faced off at WrestleMania 28 and 29, each winning once. The two megastars looked at each other before The Rock hit “rock bottom.” As The Rock removed his weight belt, The Shield's music blared and Rollins attempted to take The Rock down with a chair. This was a reminder of Reigns' betrayal ten years ago.
Chaos continued as Undertaker's music hit, the lights went out and the legendary Superstar appeared in the ring and chokeslammed The Rock. The lights dimmed again, leaving only Rose, Rollins, and Reigns in the ring with the steel chairs.
Rather than punch Rose, Reigns turned his attention to Rollins and got revenge for the aforementioned betrayal. This allowed Rose to recover and hit Reigns with a knee before finishing the story with a triple “Cross Rose”.
Cody Rhodes defeated 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 the new champion in the ring.
Rose told the celebrating crowd that he was surrounded by greatness in the ring and in the stadium. He singled out Bruce Prichard and Triple H, saying he would never have returned to WWE without them.
