5 Surprising Moments from WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

At WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One, we saw Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestle a match for the first time in 19 years. Unreal.

The first night of this year's Show of Shows was a truly spectacular showcase of professional wrestling. It was one of the WWE’s best outings in quite a while. We had some great title changes, an amazing Raw Women’s Championship match, an emotional return for Cody Rhodes and a Stone Cold Steve Austin match in 2022.

WWE can get some deserved criticism from time to time, but when they are at their best, it's pretty magical.

Instead of trying to figure out how Logan Paul was so impressive, let's distract ourselves with the top five most surprising moments of WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One.

#5. Logan Paul impresses at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

Logan Paul was part of a huge tag match teaming with The Miz against the Mysterios. Celebrities wrestling at 'Mania has become an annual tradition at this point, but Bad Bunny set the bar really high last year. Could Logan Paul meet it?

It is a matter of opinion, but you cannot deny that Logan Paul did an excellent job in his first major match on Saturday night. He showed some surprising athleticism throughout the fast-paced 11-minute match.

He even hit the Three Amigos and a good Frog Splash from the top rope. Doing that tribute to Eddie Guerrero likely didn’t win him any fans in Dallas, but it was impressive.

After the tag match victory, The Miz turned on Logan Paul. Does that make The Miz the face or heel? It's hard to say, but it does seem to set up a future match between the two. After Paul’s impressive performance on Saturday night, fans will be looking forward to seeing him back.

#4. Bianca Belair defeats Becky Lynch clean at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

Becky Lynch hasn’t been pinned in a Women’s Championship match since Money in the Bank 2019, which is a fairly impressive feat in modern WWE.

While it seemed possible that Bianca Belair would be the one to pin Lynch and win the Raw Women’s Championship, it was still surprising to see a clean victory at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One.

The Raw Women’s Championship match was arguably the best on the entire card. Lynch controlled the early part but Belair made a fierce comeback. Becky seemed to become more and more desperate for the pin.

In the end, Lynch went for the Manhandle Slam but Bianca backflipped out of it and hit the KOD for the victory. It was an impressive ending sequence to a great bout.

Bianca Belair has now snagged huge victories over Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch at back-to-back WrestleManias. It is clear that she is seen as a star of the WWE Women’s Division. It will be exciting to see where the division goes with Belair as its face in 2022.

#3. Cody Rhodes debuts at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

Seth Rollins' desperation to get on the WrestleMania card has certainly been an interesting story. But the real intrigue began when he was granted a match against a mystery opponent of Vince McMahon's choosing at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One.

While rumors indicated Cody Rhodes, his actual arrival at WrestleMania was an incredible moment. Seeing one of AEW's founders returning to WWE in a huge match against one of wrestling's biggest stars was pretty shocking.

It was also surprising to see Cody Rhodes arrive with the same ring attire, entrance and theme as his recent run in AEW. It's a rare occurrence for WWE to do that with a re-debuting wrestler.

It was time for a match between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Could they possibly deliver to the excited Dallas crowd at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One? The answer was a resounding yes.

The 21-minute bout between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes was one of the best of 2022. The match was also filled with tributes and callbacks, such as Cody doing the Stardust Cartwheel and the Bionic Elbow.

It took four Cross Rhodes, but in the end, Cody beat Rollins at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One. It was a shocking moment that we wouldn’t have believed was possible just a few months ago.

#2. Charlotte Flair retains the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

The feud between Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey had a unique build centering on one question: could Rousey make Flair tap out?.

The last few weeks made mention of the new offense Rousey had built during her long absence from WWE. But the title match at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One had the most controversial ending of the entire show.

The 18-minute match was quite hard-hitting, looking more like a brawl in certain places than a traditional wrestling bout. Rousey had multiple moments where it looked like she was about to win, even making Charlotte tap out at one point. But the ref didn’t see it, leading to a surprising ending.

Flair went for her Figure Eight but Rousey kicked her directly into the ref. Rousey locked in the armbar which caused Flair to instantly tap, but Charles Robinson wasn’t up to see it.

Rousey then attempted another move, but Flair hit her with a running boot. This was enough time for the referee to get back up and count for the pinfall victory. Flair shockingly retained her title over Rousey.

In a rare moment, the heel retained the title at WrestleMania. Though it was based on a screwy finish, and it seems likely that this feud isn't over. But the sight of Rousey getting pinned in a WWE ring is still quite shocking.

#1. Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled a match at WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One

At WrestleMania XIX in 2003, Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled his last match at the age of 39. After losing cleanly to The Rock, he retired from in-ring competition and wouldn't wrestle again for 19 years.

At WrestleMania 38 Night One, Steve Austin came out to take part in the KO Show. The crowd went wild when Owens challenged The Texas Rattlesnake to a No Holds Barred Match. Stone Cold was about to have his first match in 19 years.

Even if people believed Austin would have a match on Saturday night, no one thought he would wrestle Owens for nearly 14 minutes.

The 57-year-old took a suplex onto the cement floor. He even took Owens' stunner in the ring for a near-fall. For someone who hasn't wrestled in almost two decades, Austin did great on the biggest stage.

The finish was also a lot of fun. Kevin Owens brought a steel chair into the ring and swung it at Austin, who quickly ducked. The chair then hit the top rope and bounced back into KO's face. This allowed Austin to take advantage and hit the stunner for the pin.

It was the perfect way to end the extravaganza that was WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One. If that truly was the last match for Stone Cold, he couldn’t have picked a better way to say farewell than to a thankful Texas crowd.