The Real Winners and Losers From WWE WrestleMania 2023 Night 1 Match Card

WWE put together a major Night 1 show for WrestleMania 39. The Superstars arrived, and the younger names in the company stepped up to face them.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens completed their journey to take down The Bloodline, dethroning the longest-reigning tag team champions in WWE history, The Usos, in the first tag team title match main event at The Show of Shows.

Austin Theory found a way to take down John Cena. It took a low blow and a referee bump, but he still has a win over a legendary world champion at WrestleMania.

Rhea Ripley finally conquered her greatest demon by taking down Charlotte Flair in an intense and physical match to win the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Dominik Mysterio finally got his chance to fight Rey Mysterio in a top-notch showcase. After frequent interference, The Master of the 619 took down his son with a 619 and frog splash.

Seth Rollins pulled off a rare but important 'Mania victory by taking down Logan Paul after overcoming The Maverick's dubious plans.

Damage CTRL could not keep up the energetic performance of Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita, and Bayley fell to a second-rope Manhandle Slam.

The following wrestlers were the real winners and losers of Night 1, leaving The Show of Shows better or worse than they came in.

Austin Theory walked into this match with inconsistent booking that could be solidified or broken by the result of his contest with John Cena.

The Champ did not lose clean, but he did lose. Since he is unlikely to look for a rematch, he will end his rivalry with Theory as a loser, giving him a huge WrestleMania moment.

It wasn't a great match, but no one is really expecting something special from the veteran these days given his focus is no longer on the squared circle. He is back occasionally to put over the younger generation.

Cena could have faced so many big names, but he chose Theory, who is solidified now. Even if he does lose the gold soon, he will likely move up in the rest of 2023.

Logan Paul has done great work for WWE over the past year, and it looks like he may have completed his run with a definitive loss.

WWE has put so much behind The Maverick as a rising star. However, after doing the honors for both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, his momentum has slowed.

Paul continued to impress in the ring, pulling off moves that a rookie should not be able to. He has adapted to his competition and always brought a unique flavor to each performance.

However, it could be over after Saturday's loss. On his Impaulsive podcast (beginning at the 28:30 mark), Paul advised that his contract was up after WrestleMania 39.

WWE must be interested in signing Paul, but can they afford what The Maverick will ask for now that he has proved himself?

It certainly looked like the company was hedging its bets by giving him another loss. That could lead to an unfortunate break-up before Paul can truly define his WWE legacy.

Bayley fought for Damage CTRL for years, hoping to create a women's stable that would change the landscape in WWE.

When the group finally debuted at SummerSlam last year, it came off the first true Triple H creative decision.

Since then, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai have won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships, lost them, won them back and lost them again. They should have revitalized the women's tag division but have, instead, spent months not defending the gold.

Bayley has lost on repeat. She could not defeat Bianca Belair or Becky Lynch, and WWE could not even make them dominant as a trio in six-woman tag team matches.

With all the talent in this group, it should have been a slam dunk to team them up. Instead, Damage CTRL have lost all credibility. It's hard to imagine them staying together after this loss.

Dominik Mysterio needed to deliver in his match with Rey Mysterio, and he did just that. The Ex-Con got a WrestleMania entrance to remember followed by the best contest of his career.

While Dom could not defeat his father, it looks like the feud is far from done. He will find a way to get his win before The Master of the 619 retires.

On this night, the 25-year-old was as big a star as he has ever been. He will certainly rise up the ranks after this performance, and it would be surprising if he did not win gold in 2023.

This was also the most important match of Rey's career. He had a chance to solidify his son in WWE, and he did just that. It was clear how much both men needed this, and it was fantastic from start to finish.

Rhea Ripley walked into her match with Charlotte Flair needing the win. She had lost every time to The Queen so far in her career, but she was confident she could finally beat her.

After a physical contest where both kicked out of the other's finishing move, The Eradicator pulled off the victory with an avalanche Riptide.

It was an important moment for the Australian, who needed to be able to stand alongside Flair. She is now one of WWE's top women, and it will be tough for anyone to dethrone her.

The Eradicator and The Queen had one of the best women's matches in WWE history together on Saturday, elevating their previous strong work one-on-one. It made up for a weak build by completely committing to the talent.

One year ago, at WrestleMania 38, Sami Zayn was thrown into a comedy angle where he lost to Johnny Knoxville. While it was an impressively fun match, it defined where the Canadian was on the WWE card.

On that same show, Jey and Jimmy Uso barely defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs, likely only winning because of an unfortunate injury to the latter.

Go back even further, these three men could not get a strong spotlight. Zayn was too small to be taken seriously, and The Usos were battling a stigma against tag team wrestling in WWE.

This year, everyone fought for these three men with Kevin Owens to main-event The Show of Shows. They did the work to sell this as the biggest story in wrestling, and when it happened, the crowd was electric throughout.

While it was impressive enough to get a tag team match as a WrestleMania main event, it's even more impressive to think how far these men have come in the last few years.

KO was not seen as a main event guy, either, when he arrived in WWE, though he got his moment last year against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This time, he was in this spot to help his friend.

This was a special match, solidifying the star power of all four men. Hopefully, this is just the first of many WrestleMania moments for all of them.