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In match order
NIGHT 1 WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre This match started off Saturday night, as the WWE wanted to start the festivities off with a bang...Only that bang wasn't exactly like seeing the fireworks in New York City on Independence Day, it was like the fireworks being run by your local town. This match didn't suck, but it wasn't exactly Savage/Steamboat either. Winner: Bobby Lashley Grade: B Tag Team Turmoil Match: Lana & Naomi vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott vs. Natalya & Tamina vs. Billie Kay & Carmella This was a gauntlet style match, with two teams starting the match out, and a new team comes in as soon as one of the teams gets eliminated. Only thing I am going to say about this match, is that I completely don't understand the way it was booked. It was lazy. having the last team to enter win is the easy way to book, requires no creativity at all. This match felt like a Smackdown filler match, not a major PPV one. Winner of Tag Team Turmoil match: Natalya and Tamina Grade: D Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins Can it be? Has the WWE FINALLY figured out that Cesaro is a damn good wrestler, who has been underutilized for years? It's possible...Not only did Cesaro debut a brand new move (a hands-free airplane spin called the UFO, you really have to see it to believe it), but he followed that up with a 23-rotation big swing...And in one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire PPV, gets the win! This match was just damn fun to watch. Winner: Cesaro Grade: A Raw Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) AJ Styles & Omos The way this was booked, expect for AJ Styles and Omos to hold the Tag Team straps at least until Summerslam. Omos was dominant in his debut. Entire match was AJ getting his ass kicked, trying to make the tag to Omos, and New Day constantly cutting him off...as soon as AJ got that tag, the match was effectively over, as New Day had no answer for the size and strength of Omos. Winners: AJ Styles & Omos Grade: B+ Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman (Steel Cage Match) I made no prediction for this match, because I knew there would be shenanigans involved, and there were. Not only did Elias and Ryker try to interfere by climbing into the cage, but somehow, Braun managed to just rip the mesh out of one of the panels to the cage...I don't really know how I feel about this match. It was a lot better than it should have been, and that is really the problem. It made a non-wrestler in his mid 50s look like he was a legitimate threat to beat this huge monster of a man...if Braun Strowman struggles to beat Shane McMahon, why would I expect him to be real threat to the upper level guys that are actually wrestlers? Winner: Braun Strowman Grade: B- (match itself is a B+, but deducting a full grade for how it absolutely weakened Strowman's mystique.) Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison And this is where I appear to be a total hypocrite, by praising the booking of having Miz and Morrison make a non-wrestler look good...But Miz and Morrison aren't Braun Strowman, and their entire gimmick isn't built on being an unstoppable giant...And to Bad Bunny's credit, he has been training in the WWE for months getting ready for this match. He wasn't just a random celebrity faking his way through a match, he had been put through the paces already at the WWE Performance Center...Green? Absolutely. But not incompetent in the ring. The wrestlers who got Bad Bunny ready for this match deserve credit, they did a great job getting him ready for this match. Winner: Bad Bunny and Damian Priest Grade: A- SmackDown Women's Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair This was the final match of Wrestlemania Night 1. and I don't really know how to describe this match, outside of "HOLY SHIT" chants. Sasha and Bianca beat the crap out of each other, to the point where Sasha might end up with a permanent scar on her waist/side from Bianca using her hair extension as a tail whip, and not only was it loud, but it was crystal clear she really nailed Sasha Banks with it...Sasha literally got whipped by that. OUCH. This was not only the best match of night 1, this was the best match of Wrestlemania 37, period. Winner: Bianca Belair Grade: A+ NIGHT 2 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton This match was just weird. Bray Wyatt came out in a giant jack in the box that Alexa Bliss wound the crank of, ok...that was kind of a cool entrance...so far so good. Mandible claws, attempted RKOs, as expected...and then, as Bray was gonna finish Orton with Sister Abigail, the ring posts launch fire (like during a Kane entrance), and you see Alexa Bliss sitting on top of the jack in the box right at ringside, her face covered with this black tar/goo type substance...Bray is distracted, Orton hits the RKO, gets the pin...lights go off, both Bray and Bliss have disappeared. So...was Bliss really helping Orton? Is she the real Fiend now? I have no idea what just happened, other than they just had their best Undertaker replacement character take the L in his first match back...Bizarre. Winner: Randy Orton Grade: C+ Women's Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Tag Team Turmoil winner As soon as Tamina and Nattie got the win on Saturday night, it became obvious that this was just gonna be Smackdown-quality match. If you watch the replay of Wrestlemania, you can skip this match, you won't miss much. Winner of Tag Team title match: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler Grade: C- Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn The only real highlight of this match was seeing Logan Paul (Sami Zayn's ringside guest or something) take the stunner from Owens. I make no bones about the fact that I couldn't care less about either of these guys, but, in all honesty, this match didn't totally suck. Winner: Kevin Owens Grade: B United States Championship: Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus I am thrilled that Sheamus got the win, as I hate Riddle with a passion, that entire "surfer bro" gimmick might have worked in 1991, but in 2021, it just makes me want to see him get punched...however, I am surprised that they used Sheamus to strip the belt from him. Not that Sheamus isn't capable, but Riddle is one of their rising stars, I would think they would wait until they could hand the belt to another rising star who needs the rub...Sheamus doesn't need titles to be over, he just needs to kick people's asses... Winner: Sheamus Grade: B- (this would be a B, but there were a few botched spots that were hard to ignore) Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews This was basically a hardcore match, so no DQs, no count-outs...but no DQs also means interference is allowed...like, Dabba Kato. If you saw the RAW underground segments from this fall, Dabba Kato was that ENORMOUS dude who beat the shit out of everyone at Shane McMahon's behest. Dude is bigger than Strowman...he takes out Big E, Crews gets the win, and the title. By having Kato take Big E out, Apollo Crews STILL feels like just a guy, and an undeserving champion who hadn't been built up at all. I fully expect Big E to regain this belt. Winner: Apollo Crews Grade: B- Raw Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley How do I phrase this...this would have been an excellent title match, if it hadn't come AFTER the Sasha Banks/Bianca Belair match the night before. It wasn't a bad match by any means, and on most PPVs, probably would have gotten an A or A- rating from me...but, not only was it not one of Asuka's best performances, but when compared to the other Women's title match, this was clearly 2nd fiddle. If this match had closed out night 1, and Banks/Belair were the night 2 match, I probably would have graded it as an A-. But, with Banks/Belair already on the books to compare it to, this was...lacking. Winner: Rhea Ripley Grade: B+ Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan Maybe I am being a bit unfair here, because this match was actually really good...but, the ending was not just predictable, but inevitable...at least to me. There was never any doubt in my mind that Roman was going to retain the title, so why this was the main event of night 2, and the final match of the entire PPV, is beyond me. Why make that the final image fans have of the event? The thing is, they had a BRILLIANT finish to the match they could have used...at one point, both Edge and Daniel Bryan had Roman Reigns in submission moves...simultaneously. Have Reigns tap out, without knowing WHO he tapped out to...Massive storyline branches out from that simple outcome...You could even make MITB, the next PPV, be for the title, instead of just for the briefcase. I mean, you could basically pull a Jack Tunney Hogan/Andre/DiBiase kind of move...Roman Reigns taps, he is therefore NOT the champion. However, because the referees could not determine which submission move Reigns tapped out to, neither Daniel Bryan nor Edge could be considered the champion either...boom! The title gets vacated, and you put the 3 of them, along with 5 others in the MITB, with the title on the line! That would have closed out night 2 with a "HOLY SHIT" moment to match Bianca Belair's victory on night 1... But, nope. Instead, we got Jey Uso interfering to give Reigns the win. Again. Just like on every Smackdown. Yay. Bookers come up with a fantastic false finish that could have led to all kinds of future interest, and instead, they go with the same ol', same ol' finish they have booked for Roman Reigns matches for the past 6 months...BORING. Winner: Roman Reigns. Grade: B+ (A- for the match, B for the predictability/lack of suspense) Night 1 Grade: B+ Night 2 Grade: B- Overall Grade: B Final thoughts This will not be remembered as one of the all-time great Wrestlemanias. It had a few highs, hit a few lows...but for the most part, I found it rather...average. And part of that, is the match order. Even a simple change, like swapping the nights, so that Night 2 finishes with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair instead of Reigns/Edge/Daniel Bryan, could have changed the entire perspective by giving the fans a really huge feel good moment to close the PPV out...Vince loves MOMENTS... and he had a perfect moment to close out Wrestlemania with...except he blew it by having it close night 1 instead. So, essentially, the best moment of the entire event, occurred halfway through it, guaranteeing that night 2 had to be a letdown...Which it was. Night 1 was much stronger overall than Night 2 was, as a fan, I would rather have had the weakest matches on Saturday, and then be blown away on Sunday, culminating in the best match of the entire event to close the whole thing out...
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February 2021
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