Saturday, April 10, 2021

WWE Wrestlemania 37 Night 1 4/10/2021

WWE Wrestlemania 37 Night 1 4/10/2021

There's a big storm in Tampa and Wrestlemania was thought to be on hold at one point today.

The show starts with Vince and the roster welcoming everyone and we go to a weather delay. Shane McMahon cuts a promo on Braun being stupid.

MVP and Lashley then cut a promo. MVP talks about where Bobby's mind is right now and how this is his big moment. Drew McIntyre then comes in and they have to be pulled apart. Drew's ready to go and is insistent that this match will happen tonight and it's clear he was trying to come up with something to say.

The New Day did a nonsense promo, though Braun did a good one. Kevin Owens then did a promo on Sami.

WWE Championship - Bobby Lashley (c) vs Drew McIntyre

Lashley beat Drew with the Hurt Lock. I wasn't particularly impressed with this one. These guys do more wild stuff on Raw each week than what they did here. Drew did a flip dive to the outside on MVP and Lashley here in the big spot. Drew kind of worked the arm a little but this is WWE and we all knew that wasn't really going anywhere. The crowd was also just not there until the 2nd half of the match which really didn't help things, amongst all the distractions from the delay. The crowd wanted Drew to win here.

Bayley went up to the NWO and Titus O'Neil. She asked if they needed any help. Nobody wanted to give her a too sweet except for X-Pac. I don't know what this was supposed to be but it wasn't funny.

Tag Team Turmoil

Lana and Naomi were eliminated first. Carmella totally botched a high kick that didn't even get close, yet was sold anyway. Naomi threw a bunch of high kicks and the crowd didn't care at all. Billie Kay anbd Carmella were eliminated next after a 2nd rope senton on the back of Billie after a codebreaker from Liv in a quick leg.

Mandy fell during her entrance and Riott missed a Riott kick. Many hit a side slam that turned into a weird suplex and Dana tagged Mandy by slapping her on the butt. Liv got the pin over Dana and then the announcer said the wrong team won that leg.

Natalya and Tamina came down and had control over Liv. They did the codebreaker + senton combo again on Tamina for 2. Natalya and Tamina came back and Tamina splashed Ruby for the win from the top. This really wasn't any good as expected.

We had an Old Spice commercial with Bugenhausen from NXT with Gulak, Tozawa, R-Truth, The Gobbedly Gooker and The Hurricane.

Seth Rollins vs Cesaro

We were shown the Seth Rollins commercial on Cesaro. Cesaro has new black and yellow gear here. Cesaro hit a twisting euro off the 2nd rope onto Rollins and dorpkicked him while Seth was up top. Seth came back with a buckle bomb. Later on in the match he hit a great jumping knee on the shin and a twisting splash from the top. Cesaro then hit a neutralizer for 2. Seth countered a neutralizer with a pedigree for 2. Seth hit a reverse shining wizard after a forearm to the back of Cesaro's neck.

Seth went for the curb stomp but Cesaro countered with a euro uppercut then did his UFO airplane spin and tossed him. Cesaro then did the giant swing and hit a neutralizer for the big win. This was really good, especially after that garbage women's match. Both guys matched well here and did some extra stuff for the big show.

Roode and Ziggler were interviewed. They were asked about New Day vs AJ and Omos for some reason and said they had to go to take pictures with the HoF members.

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The New Day (s) vs AJ Styles and Omos

Big E did the intro here but didn't accomapny them to ringside for some reason. Omos didn't have any special gear here, just wearing black pants and a button up sleveless shirt. AJ headscissors Kofi from the mat early. Kofi then got the edge on AJ and stared down Omos and twerked while Woods played the trombone.

TND took control and blocked an AJ tag on Omos. Then Kofi did an M. Bison stomp to AJ from the 2nd rope. Kofi did a hard springsplash on AJ's back. AJ teased a tag to Omos and Woods tried to stop it, but Omos got the tag.

Woods tried offense but just bounced off Omos, then mos swatted Kofi down. Omos backbreakered Xavier then put him in the claw while he did it. Aj did a springboard then jumped off of Omos' shoulders for a forearm. Omos hit a super high spinebuster and pinned Kofi with one foot for the win. This was what it needed to be and made sense. It was just odd because Omos should have been the face for this debut to get that big pop.

Cage Match - Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon

This whole feud has been awful and why Shane would want this one is confusing. This has escape the cage rules. Lawler is here on commentary to make sutpid jokes at Braun. Ryker and Elias chair Braun before he gets in and hit his knee. Shane then gets the chair and starts nailing Braun with it.

Shane hits punches and tries to run from Braun. He finds a piece of sheet metal on top of the cage and beats Braun with it. Braun takes back control and throws Shane into the cage. Shane is behind the ropes and Braun splashes him into the cage.

Braun's leg gives out and he goes into the cage a couple of times. Shane goes up top and hits the coast to coast dropkick on Braun for a 2 count. Ryker and Elias climb the cage to help Shane out of it but Braun rams the cage and knocks all 3 down. Shane finds a tool box up up on top of the cage in a bag. Shane hits Braun with it and is almost down. He waves bye to Braun through the cage and Braun grabs his hand. Braun rips off the cage and brings Shane back in.

Braun pounds on Shane up on the top rope then Braun puts Shane on top of the cage. Braun then hiptosses Shane from the top of the cage to the mat. Braun then grabs Shane and running powerslams him for the win. This was pretty well done though the cage breaking and the weapons being up on top of the cage weren't good things. This made sense as there was no way Shane could go even with Braun, so him getting help worked out. Shane's big bump also helped the match. I would have liked to have seen Braun have more fun with Shane though to put over that he's a monster and Shane isn't in his league.

Bayley interrupts the commentators and calls Cole a "little idiot". Then they do the Hall of Fame package and bring out this years Hall of Famer's.

Bad Bunny and Damian Priest vs The Miz and John Morrison

A bunch of people in bunny suits come out and hop for Miz and Morrison.  Miz and Morrison sing Hey Hey Hop Hop. Bad Bunny rides a 16 wheeler in and gets a ton of fireworks.

Miz teases giving Bunny a free shot then Bunny drops Miz with a shot. Bunny does it again and flurries on Miz then takes him down and pounds on him. Bunny then armdrags Miz out of the ring as Miz looks on in shock.

Bunny starts dancing and Bunny hits his head on the 2nd rope when going out. Bunny satelittle headscissors Miz and headbutts Morrison. Miz and Morrison take back over. Miz and Morrison stop his comeback with a Miz big boot. Jomo does a spinarooni and mocks Priest's arrow taunt. Bunny gets an opening and hits a bad tornado ddt.

Priest finally gets the hot tag in and hits kicks on both opponents. Priest suplexes Morrison into Miz then sitout side chokeslams him. Bunny and Priest hit stereo falcon arrows for 2. Priest is whipped into a springboard flip dive onto his opponents. Bunny then crossbodies his opponents from the top.

Priest goes for the win and Miz hits the skull crushing finale for 2 but Bunny saves him. Bunny CANADIAN DESTROYER'S Morrison onto the floor. Bunny then hits a crossbody while Miz is on Priest's shoulders for the win.

This was a pretty good match with Bad Bunny looking very good here. Maybe the best celeb performance ever with him really showing up. The crowd even chanted for him and he did a great job here.

WWE Samckown Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs Bianca Belair


They did some counters early and Bianca was sent out. Sasha then toped her but Bianca caught it, rolled through. Bianca gorilla pressed her and walked her up the steps then threw her in. The ref held the ropes down for Sasha for the dive.

Sasha grabs her by the hair and kicks her. Sasha goes for double knees in the corner and is slammed down hard. Sasha grabs her by the hair and is pulled into the post. Sasha goes for a running double knee but gets the barricades.

Back in the ring and Bianca goes squats with Sasha in the suplex position. Sasha grabs the hair again and is forearmed then Bianca does a running SSP. Bianca drops Sasha chest first from the double chickenwing position.

Bianca goes for the 450 but Sasha gets her knees up. Sasha takes a big powerbomb then is lifted up for another one. Sasha tornado ddt's her off the 2nd rope then frogsplashes her for 2. Sasha ties up Bianca with her own hair then crossfaces her. Bianca is in the tree of woe position and Sasha ends up doing double knees to the bunch when she jumps over Bianca. Bianca then 450's Sasha for 2.

They fight over Bianca's hair and Bianca whips Sasha hard with the hair. Bianca then hits the kiss of death and wins it. A fan almost jumps the barricade. One of the more athletic women's matches they've had with good work by both girls. I didn't really have any problems with this and it was a good match. I think it could have gone on longer though and I honestly thought we could have had another kickout or two which is something I don't say often.

Overall thoughts: Started off like a trainwreck but as I expected, it was a good show. Only the women's tag match was bad. Bad Bunny stole the show here and was the MVP.

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