Jey Uso and Real Winners and Losers of WWE WrestleMania 2025 Night 1 Match Card

Jey Uso realized his dream of being world champion, defeating Gunther in the opening match of WrestleMania 41 and establishing himself as one of the real winners of Night 1 of this year's massive card.

Who joined the new world heavyweight champion and which competitors were less fortunate, earning "loser" status following their performances on the grand stage?

Find out with this recap of Saturday's show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

After a five-year journey that began with his breakout feud with Roman Reigns during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued throughout the Bloodline saga, Jey Uso is world champion.

Shaking off criticisms of his in-ring ability and accusations that he was little more than a catchphrase and a theme song, he showed up to the biggest match of his career and proceeded to show out against Gunther, arguably the best wrestler on the planet.

The two have had previous encounters in high-profile situations, so their in-ring chemistry was well-established. The question was whether the enormity of the moment would be too much for Uso and adversely affect his performance.

It didn't.

Instead, Uso silenced the critics, hanging with The Ring General. And when the time came, he delivered the exclamation point on the match and scored the defining victory of his Hall of Fame career.

His singles push began with him telling the story of fans asking him, "Which one are you?" They won't do that again as the second-generation competitor's legacy is etched in immortality with his WrestleMania victory.

The War Raiders and The New Day are quality tag teams with plenty of experience and obvious talent.

They have delivered some of the best in-ring work on Monday nights in recent months, so there was reason to believe they would produce more of the same when they took to the squared circle in the night's second match.

And they did just that. Except, no one cared.

For all of the praise Triple H has received for his creative since assuming the role of WWE chief content officer, the tag team divisions on Raw and SmackDown have left plenty to be desired, with the biggest criticisms often surrounding the lack of long-term vision and a one-dimensional booking.

There's no real story to any of the feuds, just two or more teams battling over the titles. They exchange wins in singles contests, the challengers win non-title bouts and then there's a championship contest to blow things off.

The result is an apathetic crowd such as the one Saturday night in Vegas, something neither The New Day nor The War Raiders deserved.

Until that changes and the same effort that goes into the singles roster is put into the tag team division, expect more of the same.

Any questions about Jade Cargill and Naomi's ability to deliver a suitable payoff between the ropes to what had been one of the best feuds entering this year's event were answered early on.

Both women delivered a quality matchup that eased any concerns about Cargill's performance in singles competition and reaffirmed Naomi's status as one of the most undervalued and underrated workers in the industry.

The Storm turned in her finest performance in singles competition since joining WWE, and if she can build on the momentum she will have coming out of Saturday's show, she should be a championship contender by the summer.

Perhaps even finishing unsettled business with Bianca Belair by that time.

Knight was again one of the best workers on the card, delivering a match that exceeded expectations for the second year in a row. From that perspective, he is a clear winner.

Unfortunately, there is a bigger question putting a damper on his otherwise strong performance: What now?

Where does Knight fit in? He has done the midcard champion thing, but with Cody Rhodes at the top of SmackDown and Jey Uso fresh off a world title victory earlier in the night, there does not seem to be a place for him at the top of Raw.

Does The Megastar stay on a creative treadmill, working United States or Intercontinental Championship feuds while staying immensely popular but not really reaching the next level that was teased when he feuded with Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship?

Those are questions WWE Creative must answer, starting with the first round of shows post 'Mania because anything other than some kind of upward movement for Knight will be seen as a loss.

Whether it is as Chad Gable or El Grande Americano, the Olympian has long been one of the best wrestlers and most entertaining characters on WWE television, despite a push that did not always reflect as much.

Even when he signed a new contract with WWE, it appeared the push he received early in the summer dissipated, much to the chagrin of the fans.

Back in a prominent position as a despicable heel mocking the art of lucha libre, masked alter-ego El Grande earned a one-on-one match on Saturday's WrestleMania card and picked up a big victory over Rey Fenix.

Originally slated to be against Rey Mysterio, who was forced to miss the show due to injury, this was Gable's first bout as a singles competitor and somewhat made up for missing last year's show despite a ready-made Intercontinental Championship feud with Gunther.

Hopefully, this is just the start of a sustained push for Gable and his alter ego because it is over with fans, and the moment he is eventually exposed as the man under the mask will only make for another unforgettable one in his career.

No wrestler was facing more potential scrutiny on Saturday's card than Tiffany Stratton.

An inexperienced champion on the grand stage against the standard-bearer Charlotte Flair, if she failed to deliver a performance befitting her spot, she would hear about it and face questions about whether she could thrive in that position.

All Stratton did in the face of those questions was deliver the best performance of her career, weathering an onslaught from one of the greatest to ever do it and even noticeably chipping her tooth in the process.

She answered with physicality of her own and defeated The Queen. In the process, she likely earned considerable respect from even her harshest of critics, proving once and for all that she can shine under the greatest pressure.

One year after being the fourth-most important figure in the Night 1 main event and the sacrificial lamb that helped Cody Rhodes finish his story on Night 2, Seth Rollins was indisputably the star of WrestleMania Saturday.

The Visionary defeated Roman Reigns and CM Punk in the main event, benefiting from a shocking betrayal by Paul Heyman in the process.

The shocking alliance between Rollins and The Wise Man creates plenty of questions, such as why they came together, what their greater purpose as partners may be and what it means for Punk and Reigns, whose relationships with Heyman are well-documented.

Those answers will come with time, but for one night, the typically selfless Rollins stood in the center of the ring as the winner of the main event of 'Mania and the centerpiece of the production.

Last year's MVP had yet another WrestleMania moment and emerges from The Showcase of the Immortals as hot and intriguing a character as he has been in years.

That bodes well for Rollins and the WWE product beyond this Show of Shows.