WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXXVII

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida

NIGHT 1

Attendance: 25,675

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. DREW McINTYRE (18:20): This show started with Vince welcoming the crowd while all of the wrestlers stood on the entranceway. Then some lady sang the national anthem. Then there was a 30 minute weather delay. Nice way to start the show! The rest of the show went on fine, though, but it is surprising that this is the first time that happened since they've been doing outside Wrestlemania shows for awhile. I wonder what would happen if they had to cancel the show? I also suspect they might have used some fake crowd noise...but maybe I'm just used to that so much now that I even hear it in my sleep. This show ended up being just okay. There were no great matches and two bad ones. The Takeover shows earlier this week were much better. They opened the show with the big championship match which was an odd choice. I'm guessing they did this because they decided Lashley was going to win and didn't want to end the show on a sour note. Everyone thought McIntyre would win for some reason, but considering Lashley just won the title...they made the right call. This was one of the better matches on the show. Lashley, who often looks sloppy and confused in spots, performed well. It was two guys doing big moves and the crowd seemed into it. ***

NATALYA & TAMINA vs. LIV MORGAN & RUBY RIOTT vs. CARMELLA & BILLIE KAY vs. LANA & NAOMI vs. DANA BROOKE & MANDY ROSE (14:15): This was a tag team turmoil match...meaning two teams start and then the winners face a new team and so on until there's a final winner. This match was awful. The winners face Shana Baszler and Nia Jax tomorrow night. The big problem, which was obvious and apparent in this match, is that the WWE tends to hire pretty girls instead of good wrestlers. That means that a lot of these girls are more models than athletic types, which made this a fairly atrocious in-ring match. I don't even remember them announcing this match yet alone having any sort of build. Thank God the main event reclaimed women's wrestling to its rightful place. -No Stars-

CESARO vs. SETH ROLLINS (11:35): Cesaro was, for one night anyway, a star. The crowd adored him. I'm not sure why. Wrestlemania usually gets the hardcore fans...but I'm not sure they did this year. Hardcore fans of course have always loved Cesaro. In a perfect world, this match would have been the main event for the title and went 35 minutes long. Alas, it was pretty entertaining for its 11 minutes. Cesaro did his leg swing on Rollins and also his shoulder swing. Rollins used to be this big, main event star but the last year or so he's been kind of lost at sea. **1/2

AJ STYLES & OMOS vs. THE NEW DAY (9:45): AJ wrestled most of this match and then when Omos came in he destroyed Kofi and Xavier Woods without giving them any offense and then pinned one of them with just one foot on their chest. So they pushed Omos as this unstoppable monster...yet he'll never be in an exciting wrestling match in his life because he's a bore. So this seems like a dumb decision, pushing a guy that can barely wrestle. They even won the tag titles here. Supposedly, AJ had been bugging HHH for months to get an HHH vs. AJ match on this show. I'm not the biggest HHH fan, but that match would have been lightyears better. 1/2*

BRAUN STROWMAN vs. SHANE McMAHON "CAGE MATCH" (11:25): This was disappointing. Shane is in his 50's, so I guess expecting him to do some crazy, suicidal dive off of something isn't in his best interests. But that's kind of what you expect in a Shane O'Mac match...otherwise, why have it? The big move was Braun throwing Shane off of the top of the cage and into the ring. I was kind of hoping the "big" move would have been something more spectacular. There was a unique moment when Shane was climbing out of the ring and Braun just ripped the cage open and pulled him back in. Before the match started, Shane's goons, Elias and who ever the other guy is, beat up Braun with a chair before the match started. Shane then used the chair on Braun in the ring. Shane did a coast to coast kick. I was kind of hoping this would have been another wild Shane O'Mac spectacle but unfortunately it wasn't. *1/2

BAD BUNNY & DAMIAN PRIEST vs. THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON (15:05): Is Bad Bunny a big star? I have no idea, as I never heard of him before he showed up on RAW a month or two ago. He was on Saturday Night Live last month...but that might be more because this show was on Peacock which NBC owns. Maybe he is a big star? Who knows? Either way, he did a top rope jump to the floor and a Canadian Destroyer on the floor to Morrison. Like any non-wrestler, though, he was sloppy and all over the place. The crowd seemed to like him, though, and this was fun. **1/2

BIANCA BELAIR vs. SASHA BANKS (17:15): This was a really good match. It's not shocking, as Sasha Banks has been one of the WWE's best wrestlers for years. Belair did some high flying which was nice to see. She did two 450 top rope splashes and a standing shooting star press. They kept using her long, hair braid as a weapon throughout the match culminating in Belair using it as a whip across Sasha's chest that left a huge mark. This was fast paced and back and forth and ended with Belair winning the title and the crowd happy. It was a good way to end the show. ***

NIGHT 2

Attendance: 25,675

RANDY ORTON vs. THE FIEND (5:50): I've been complaining for years that they should split 'Mania into 2 nights because it's gotten too long. They finally did it last year and, unfortunately, it feels like a diluted product. The same thing happened to New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom when they switched to 2 nights. It doesn't really feel as special or as big when it's spread out over 2 nights for whatever reason. What I wish both NJPW and WWE would do is keep it 1 night but just have the biggest matches and cut out all of the lame shit that nobody cares about. The entire Wrestlemania 37 felt a little underwhelming. Granted, a lot of it was still entertaining, and of course one of the big problems is that the WWE just isn't as good anymore. Night 2 on Sunday started with this awful match. Randy Orton burned The Fiend to death last year but he's back and apparently fine now. They did a stupid special f/x backstage gimmick where the burnt Fiend miraculously turned into his normal self. Alexa Bliss came out and wound up a giant music box by the ring and The Fiend came out of it. That was kind of a cool entrance. That's about all I can say about this match that was good. After a few minutes of monotonous wrestling under the red lights that I thought were gone for good but are back, Alexa Bliss appeared on top of the music box and she was crying black liquid. This confused The Fiend and Orton RKO'd him and won. Huh? So Alexa Bliss and The Fiend are going to feud? What the fuck is going on with this storyline? It has to go down as one of the most legendary dumb storylines in the history of wrestling. And, unfortunately, it doesn't really seem like it's over. 1/2*

NIA JAX & SHAYNA BASZLER vs. NATALYA & TAMINA (14:20): I thought Night 2 had a better card and might be the superior show. It was not. It was probably about as good as Night 1, though matches like this didn't help. We did get Nia Jax saying "shit" on live TV. That was about as memorable as this got. Shayna did a knee to Natalya's face that looked ultra dangerous. I think I noted this before but it sometimes seems like Shayna doesn't realize that pro-wrestling is fake. The big story here was Nia and Tamina facing off since they're both large. Tamina tried to pick up Nia and slam her in what was probably supposed to be a big moment but she could barely lift her and kind of just dropped her. Nia and Shayna retained the women's tag titles. *

KEVIN OWENS vs. SAMI ZAYN (9:20): This was fantastic. I could watch these 2 wrestle each other every week forever. It helps that they've been wrestling each other forever, from their youth days in Canada to their Kevin Steen and El Generico matches in ROH. They have great chemistry together, and like how Omega and Ibushi are, they trust one another enough to deliver crazy, sick moves against each other. After the match. Logan Paul, who's a Youtube star and now a celebrity boxing star, got a 'Stone Cold' Stunner from Owens. ***

SHEAMUS vs. RIDDLE (10:50): This was really good until Sheamus botched what was supposed to be a top rope slam. He couldn't hold Riddle and so the move fell apart. Riddle looked as good as he's ever looked in the WWE tonight. It's kind of sad he's not in a better promotion where he can have the epic, awesome, 30 minute matches he's capable of having. Sheamus won the U.S. title here. ***

APOLLO CREWS vs. BIG E "NIGERIAN DRUM FIGHT" (6:50): A "Nigerian Drum Fight" sounds kind of racist, doesn't it? They had drums at ringside but I don't think they ever used them. They used a drum cymbal and a Singapore cane because I guess this was just a hardcore match. Apollo Crews won the IC title after a big mystery man came in and slammed Big E. The problem was that the new mystery man looked too much like Damian Priest. I bet the people in the cheap seats thought he was Damian Priest. This match sucked. 1/2*

RHEA RIPLEY vs. ASUKA (13:30): This match was awful. Rhea Ripley looks like a star...she's tall and has that Matrix, lesbian/goth biker style going for her. But Rhea Ripley just can't put together an entertaining wrestling match for whatever reason. Did she ever have a good match in NXT? Asuka gave Ripley a DDT off of the apron which was cool. The rest of this match was boring as shit. It's too bad Charlotte wasn't at 'Mania this year, because this match really needed her. The reason Charlotte wasn't in this? Because the WWE doctors thought she was pregnant even though she wasn't. Yeah, that sounds like a bullshit excuse. I'm guessing they punished her since her boyfriend, Andrade, just asked for his WWE release and got it. 1/2*

ROMAN REIGNS vs. EDGE vs. DANIEL BRYAN (22:41): This was a really good, exciting match. The only problem was that the heel won and sent the crowd home sad. What a way to end the show! Have the bad guy win! They did this once at 'Mania when The Miz beat Cena in the main event...and that's pretty much known as the worst 'Mania ever. I can see that you want the supposed big star of the company to come out on top but you also kind of don't want to end the show on a downbeat note. I thought that Edge would win the title simply because why the hell else would you bring him back and have him win the Rumble and everything? They turned Edge heel because he was beating everyone up with chairs and was looking feral by the end of this. The crowd still cheered for Edge, though, although they seemed to adore Bryan and still did the "Yes" chant that I thought was kind dead and buried. Jey Uso was basically in this match, hitting people with chairs, attacking Edge and Bryan early. Reigns put Bryan though the announce table. Edge gave Bryan a conchairto. Edge speared Reins and was ready to win late and the crowd was loving it but Bryan pulled Edge out of the ring. That was a great, dramatic moment...but if Edge had won there the audience would have erupted and that would have been better. Reigns stacked Edge and Bryan on top of each other and pinned both. The crowd groaned. They did boo Reigns throughout, which people weren't sure they'd do. This was the first time a live audience could react to heel Reigns. They still boo him, no matter what. Some things never change. ***

NXT TAKEOVER: STAND & DELIVER

 

Orlando, Florida

NIGHT 1

ZOEY STARK vs. TONI STORM (9:52): It's Wrestlemania week...which means a plethora of wrestling shows. Not as many as usual (Ring of Honor used to put on a big PPV before 'Mania), but the WWE is having 9 straight nights of shows...which is insane. RAW, the Hall of Fame, 2 NXT Takeovers, Smackdown, 2 Wrestlemania nights, RAW, then NXT on its new Tuesday night. Granted, none of this means anything since the most memorable thing of the week already occurred when Will Ospreay beat Ibushi on Sunday to win the IWGP championship. I gotta admit...I'm rarely surprised watching wrestling...but when Ospreay won I was surprised. And while that match was fantastic, this show did have a match of the year contender. This was night 1 of their 2 night Takeover: Stand & Deliver. Tonight it was the last Wednesday NXT show on USA and so the last night of the Wednesday night wars. They're moving to Tuesdays because of the NHL. I didn't even watch this on USA, though, because it was on Peacock commercial free. The show was pretty good though tomorrow night will probably be better since it has a ladder match and an Adam Cole match. This Stark vs. Storm match was on the pre-show. It was fast paced and short at least. The women's division in NXT is not the greatest these days. **

PETE DUNNE vs. KUSHIDA (10:39): Quite the dream match, no? Who would have ever thought these two would ever be wrestling? And for a 10 minute bout, it was pretty good. Though short on time and with no buildup or story, you kind of got what you paid for. Dunne is more a ground and pound, brutal wrestler...Kushida is the fast, high flyer. Since they're both so good it still worked. These two are too good to be in a forgotten opener, though. **1/2

BRONSON REED vs. ISAIAH "SWERVE" SCOTT vs. CAMERON GRIMES vs. LA KNIGHT vs. DEXTER LUMIS vs. LEON RUFF (23:14): This was a Gauntlet match, meaning 2 guys started and then after a few minutes another entered. It was elimination style and the winner is facing Gargano tomorrow night. The one guy that might not have a good match with Gargano ended up winning, which is kind of disappointing. Bronson Reed is fat and does all of the Yokozuna type of stuff. Isaiah Scott was kind of the star with his high flying and cockiness. LA Knight is kind of the prototypical wrestler that Vince loves (tall, muscled, good looks, a bore) so I was shocked he didn't win. This was a lot of fun, actually. A ton of action. Good match. ***

WALTER vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA (16:59): This match was phenomenal...but of course it was. Walter is probably WWE's best wrestler just for the fact that he's usually the only one who ends up in my top 10 matches of the year every year. Ciampa is so great that he refuses to leave NXT for the main roster. Usually, Walter matches are squashes, but they turned it around here and had Ciampa on offense for most of it. This was brutal, which sickening chops and kicks and slams. The story had Walter's hand damaged so he couldn't deliver his patented chops. There were a ton of near falls. The end was a bit anti-climatic, with the fading Walter just winning out of the blue. It was also kind of obvious Ciampa wasn't winning the UK title because, what, he's going to go live in England and wrestle now? But this will probably end up being the WWE's best match all year. ***1/2

MSK vs. GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS vs. LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (15:24): This had a lot of action, a lot of high flying, a lot of bodies all over the place. MSK won the tag titles here. They had a tough spot here trying to follow that classic...but it was entertaining. **1/2

RAQUEL GONZALEZ vs. IO SHIRAI (12:56): Both of these wrestlers are pretty boring for whatever reason, so this was just okay. Gonzalez won the women's title here. It's funny, but Io Shirai did like ten moonsaults in this match plus jumped off the big skull on the entranceway...but she's still a bore. I think it's because she's dating New Japan's Evil...and he's boring as well. Gonzalez is tall...but doesn't have much of an arsenal. This wasn't terrible or anything but for a main event title match you kind of want something longer, more dramatic, and more awesome. **

NIGHT 2

KILLIAN DANE & DRAKE MAVERICK vs. BREEZANGO (8:38): Since it's Wrestlemania week ...remember when Fandango debuted and beat Jericho at 'Mania and then a few months later he disappeared forever? And remember the crowds would do that stupid dance to his entrance music? That seemed like it was ten years ago...and yet Fandango is still around. I'm not sure where he's been? Probably in the blackhole that's WWE Superstars, a TV show that exists but I'm not sure when it's on or what channel. It's strange, but the WWE keeps people around that just aren't on TV. Why do they still pay them? This baffles me. Well Fandango is back on TV, albeit on the Peacock app, albeit on the pre-show. This show was only on the Peacock app. The picture quality was good and they added the pause and rewind buttons. Hopefully come Saturday night the whole thing won't crash. Last night's Takeover was a better show, but this still had his moments. This forgettable match wasn't one of them. They still haven't figured out what to do with Drake Maverick and I think they've tried just about everything. 1/2*

SANTOS ESCOBAR vs. JORDAN DEVLIN "LADDER MATCH" (18:06): This was the match of the night. It was for the cruiserweight title...which I think used to be the 205Live title. There were 2 belts hanging above the ring so who the fuck knows what's going on...I'm not sure anyone watches 205Live anymore, especially considering it's not even live anymore even though it's called "live." These 2 did a bunch of crazy shit. Devlin did a moonsault off of the top of the ladder which was awesome. Escobar pushed Devlin off of the ladder and down onto another ladder and then grabbed the titles to win. Good match. ***

EMBER MOON & SHOTZI BLACKHEART vs. CANDICE LeRAE & INDI HARTWELL (10:35):

I've said it before, but Shotzi reminds me of Hiromu Takahashi. That's not entirely a good thing, as Hiromu broke his neck and is now less exciting as he once was. Shotzi did a dive through the ropes and Candice and Indi didn't even catch her and she almost landed right on her head. Alas, she's crazy and thrilling to watch, and perhaps the WWE's most exciting female wrestler now. This match wasn't very good, though, since Candice and Indi are kind of pedestrian and Ember Moon didn't do much of note. *1/2

JOHNNY GARGANO vs. BRONSON REED (16:23): They really should have had Isaiah "Swerve" Scott win the Gauntlet match last night instead of Bronson Reed. I think Reed is Samoan...so maybe he's related to The Rock or something and that's why he's been semi-pushed. Bronson is not a very good wrestler. He got really tired and slow too fast in this match and botched one particular top rope spot where he was supposed to hold on to Gargano but let him slip and fall to the mat. Gargano is awesome so at least half of this match was good. The announcers noted that this was Gargano's 16th straight Takeover show. Jesus. I guess he's never going to RAW or Smackdown. Granted, that's probably a good thing, as him and Adam Cole and Ciampa would probably die a slow death on the main roster. **1/2

KARRION KROSS vs. FINN BALOR (17:08): Kross won the title in August by defeating Keith Lee but he was injured so he had to give it up. He won the title here to make up for that. Kross is a Vince type; tall, muscular, boring. He'll never be in a good main event, so giving him the title is a mistake. By the end of this it was fairly entertaining, though nothing spectacular or anything. Kross just wrestles awkwardly whereas Balor is flawless. Maybe they'll finally kick Balor out of NXT. Why is he still there, anyway? They mentioned this was Balor's 16th Takeover show. The only great Takeover match I recall him having was that match years ago against Neville. **1/2

KYLE O'REILLY vs. ADAM COLE "UNSANCTIONED MATCH" (40:10): This was the longest WWE singles match in a really fucking long time, right? Walter had a 40 minute match in 2019 but that was in NXT:UK. This was too long, though, as some of it dragged. It was certainly memorable, and brutal, although a lot of the "hardcore" stuff didn't really work. After watching AEW doing exploding barbed wire and thumbtacks and buckets of blood...using a chain and chairs just kind of pales in comparison. They used the chain way too much and it always came across as kind of silly. They did a suplex on the announce table and it didn't break. They fell through the entrance walkway that collapsed. Cole hit O'Reilly with a tire iron and a TV. The ref was knocked out for awhile. O'Reilly wrapped a chain around his leg and jumped off the top rope to knee Cole in the head while Cole was draped over an upside down chair. Then O'Reilly pinned him for the win. I think if these two just had a regular wrestling match it would have been better. **1/2