Penta wins hectic six-man ladder match to retain Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 42

Image Credit: WWE

Penta survived one of the wilder Wrestlemania matchups of the weekend.

Penta prevailed in a 15-minute ladder match against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rey Mysterio, Rusev, and JD McDonagh, continuing his reign as the WWE Intercontinental Champion on Sunday evening.

His win closed out the opening hour of WrestleMania 42, which aired on ESPN’s main linear TV channel.

All six men delivered a jaw-dropping, high-flying performance before Penta found the belt in 15 minutes.

Highlights from earlier in the match included a Mexican Destroyer from Penta to McDonagh, sending them onto a ladder set up in the ring. At ringside, Mysterio briefly sidelined Rusev after putting him through a ladder with his West Coast Pop. And later in the match, Evans went leaping off the top rope, peeling Rusev off a ladder for his OG-Cutter.

With most of the match’s competitors wiped out at ringside, Penta took out the other standing wrestler, Evans, with a Mexican Destroyer at the 14-minute mark. This allowed him to scale a ladder and retrieve his Intercontinental title to end the match.

Penta has carried the IC title since last month, when he ended Dominik Mysterio’s run in a 15-minute battle. He has been an active champ since then, beating El Grande Americano, Dragon Lee, Kofi Kingston, and AAA’s El Hijo del Vikingo along the way.

Sunday was Mysterio’s first in-ring appearance since this year’s Royal Rumble. He had spent months out of the ring due to fractured ribs, but was able to get cleared in time for this year’s Mania.

About Jack Wannan 1607 Articles
Jack Wannan is a journalist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes and reports on professional wrestling, along with other topics like MMA, boxing, music, local news, and more. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]