Logan Paul Wore A $5.3 Million Pokemon Card Necklace For WWE Debut At WrestleMania 38
WrestleMania 38 also featured the return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns.
The two-night Wrestlemania 38 pay-per-view card was stacked with legendary WWE personalities and celebrity crossover action, but Logan Paul managed to get social media buzzing even before setting foot in the ring.
For his professional wrestling debut on Night 1, the social media star and sometime boxer donned the world’s most expensive Pokemon trading card—a Pikachu Illustrator valued at a staggering $5,275,000.
According to Hypbeast, just 39 total examples of the card were produced in 1998, and Paul has the only one rated a perfect 10 by the Professional Sports Authenticator grading service.
A diamond-encrusted Poke Ball necklace secured the Pikachu Illustrator to Paul’s chest as he entered the arena, basking in boos from fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
For his tag team match, Paul joined forces with The Miz to face father-son duo Rey and Cominick Mysterio, CBS Sports reports. Paul’s natural athletic ability shined as he threw down a number of moves, including a suplex and powerslam.
He even played the pro wrestler part, antagonizing his opponents and the crowd by mimicking the mannerisms of late WWE champion Eddie Guerrero, a friend of Rey’s.
The Miz and Paul ultimately notched the victory, after which The Miz immediately turned on his teammate and dropped Paul with a finisher to the crowd’s delight.
Later in the evening, former UFC champ Ronda Rousey took on reigning SmackDown Women’s champion Charlotte Flair, daughter of WWE legend Ric Flair.
Rust accrued in Rousey’s three-year hiatus from singles matches proved to be a deciding factor in a spectacle that saw WWE referee Charles Robinson go unconscious, only to wake up in time to count Flair’s pinfall of Rousey.
Night 2 was marked by another celebrity crossover that stole the show, as former Indianapolis Colts kicker and sports personality Pat McAfee scored a victory in his wild WWE debut against Austin Theory, setting off a wild sequence of events that involved a scuffle with big bad WWE boss Vince McMahon and the long-awaited return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
CBS Sports has more details:
Vince toyed with McAfee while Theory interfered repeatedly. Theory then handed McMahon a football and McMahon lightly punted it into McAfee as he was prone on the canvas. After the punt, McMahon pinned McAfee for the win.
Setting aside how ridiculous this is and how ridiculous it made McAfee look, it’s not hard to imagine that McMahon, watching the reaction to McAfee and his performance against Theory isn’t suddenly more interested in seeing if there’s something in a real McAfee run.
After the match, Steve Austin’s music hit and “Stone Cold” marched to the ring to get in McMahon’s face. Theory tried to jump Austin, only to eat a series of right hands and a stunner. That left Austin and McMahon alone in the ring together in a callback to an era-defining rivalry.
Austin initially called for beers, sharing a toast before a kick to the gut and, after much trouble catching McMahon, who had completely lost his balance, a stunner. After sharing a beer with McAfee, Austin blasted McAfee with a stunner in a reminder of Austin’s philosophy of “Don’t Trust Anybody.”
McAfee’s match arguably outshined the main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, which saw the latter unify the Universal and WWE titles.
Per CBS Sports,
Lesnar removed his MMA gloves once the bell rang, looking to go bare-knuckle with Reigns. Lesnar took the fight right to Reigns before sending him across the ring with multiple overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Lesnar clotheslined Reigns over the top rope and followed him to the floor. Lesnar allowed himself to be distracted by chasing down Paul Heyman, however, and Reigns drove Lesnar through the ringside barricade with a spear.
Lesnar beat the 10 count but ran right into another spear from Reigns that resulted in the first near fall of the match. Reigns followed up with two Superman punches. Lesnar fought back to his feet and began laughing before countering another Superman punch into a series of German suplexes. Lesnar went for an F-5 but Reigns slid out and hit another Superman punch
Reigns tried to follow up with another spear but Lesnar caught him and hit an F-5 for a near fall. Reigns clawed at Lesnar’s face to avoid another F-5 and drove Lesnar into the official with a spear. Reigns hit Lesnar with a low blow and Heyman gave him the universal championship, which Reigns used to hit Lesnar and score a two count. Reigns hit two more spears but Lesnar grabbed Reigns’ arm on the second and locked in a kimura, scissoring Reigns’ body.
Reigns crawled toward the ropes and Heyman pushed the rope forward so Reigns could grab it to break the hold. Lesnar went for another F-5 only for Reigns to slide out, shoving Lesnar into the ropes and allowing Reigns to hit one final spear for the finish. The finish was pretty sudden and the match was a bit lacking in the overall drama compared to previous Reigns and Lesnar contests. A bit of a disappointment, overall. Though there weren’t many matches that disappointed across the weekend.
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