Here we are, witnessing the 36th Annual Wrestlemania event! For a ProWrestling fan, Wrestlemania weekend is the best weekend of the year. Whether the show lives up to our expectations or not, we still find ourselves excited for it.
For all intents and purposes, this is a different Wrestlemania compared to all the other events before it. Because of all the COVID-19 scare, there has been a lot of uncertainty around this event. The Big Dog Roman Reigns has pulled out of the event stating his immuno-compromised health. His massively promoted match with Goldberg has been affected and Braun Strowman has been scheduled to take his place. Major stars like The Miz and Rey Mysterio have been forced to isolate themselves because they fell sick. The United States champion Andrade has been sidelined due to a rib injury. Thus, storylines have been affected, promotions have been spoiled and so on.
Worse than all that, the show is taking place in the WWE Performance Center with no audience! Can you imagine Wrestlemania without the people?
Amidst all this, WWE has decided to go ahead with Wrestlemania instead of postponing it. That is a questionable decision and I still don't know if that was the right thing to do on their part. A part of me even wondered if this year's event is worth watching. Man, half the card has just been thrown together in the last minute without proper storylines or builds.
But, the hell with it, it's Wrestlemania and I decided to watch it.
Here's my review of the matches that took place on Night One.
Match #1: Drew Gulak vs. Cesaro
This match took place on the Kickoff show. Gulak tried to take down Cesaro with his technical prowess but the Swiss Superman showed amazing display of his power and thwarted his attempts. In the end, Cesaro picked up the victory after an impressive 'airplane spin' move. You gotta watch this match for that.
My thoughts on this match? Firstly, I expected it to be a clinic. Given the extraordinary talent both these men possess, it was hard not to expect one. But WWE disappointed me in the very first match. Secondly, the match went on for just around 5-6 minutes. Why couldn't it have gone longer? The fans would have loved to see these men tear the house down with 15-20 minutes of Wrestling match. I'd take that over Corey Graves-Peter Rosenberg duo's stupid discussions anyway.
Moving on...
The main show kick-starts and we're shown the intro video. I honestly found the intro to be comical. WWE has tried to make it sound like a "Pirates of the Caribbean" type thing and it just didn't fit. The intro didn't get me hyped up for the event like it is supposed to. (or maybe it was just me!)
Match #2: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs The Kabuki Warriors (c) for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
The team of Bliss and Cross take the early advantage. Following which, the match became a little back and forth. As expected, the heels dominated a good portion of the match and all through it, you can see Asuka and Kairi Sane toying with their opponents and mocking them in japanese. It was a bit comical to see.
There were a couple of good spots in the match. Once, Kairi hit a splendid elbow onto Cross as she was pinning Asuka. The same thing repeated when Alexa hit the 'Twisted Bliss' move on Asuka who was pinning Nikki. After some near falls, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross picked up the win to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.
Nikki Cross was solid in this match. Am I a fan of her? No. But she's starting to grow on me. Plus, at last year's Wrestlemania, Nikki got eliminated second in the Women's battle royal. This year, she's winning gold. That's a good Wrestlemania moment for her resume (too bad there was no crowd to make it more special).
On the whole, a decent match. Let's see how things go forward from here.
Match #3: King Corbin vs Elias
I'll be honest. I was completely disinterested in this one. Corbin and Elias are two wrestlers that just don't grab my attention. Sure, Elias has a good level of charisma and Corbin can give a good match sometimes. I don't take that away from them. But, they just don't click with me.
Some people consider Corbin to be the best heel on the roster today and that, in my opinion, is a load of waffle. He has a droning voice and at best, he just comes across as a whiny high school bully, not a legitimate bad guy. His interview before this match was the cringiest thing I've seen in recent memory.
Anyway, Elias wins this uninteresting match with a roll up. I can't help but notice Michael Cole comparing Corbin with John Bradshaw Layfield. Really, Cole? (*sighs*)
Let's move on... I'm yet to get the "Wrestlemania feel" as I like to call it! It just feels like an episode of RAW until now.
Match #4: Becky Lynch(c) vs Shayna Baszler for the RAW Women's Championship
Becky arrives in a truck, something the WWE Creative team probably thinks makes her look like a badass but in reality, it just makes us sigh and facepalm ourselves. Shayna takes the early offence. The match is a bit physical. Both the woman are good in the ring and they manage to keep things interesting. Shayna unpacks some submission moves on Becky but 'The Man' powers her way out of it. At one point, Shayna lifts Becky and gnashes her head in the announce table, like she did on RAW. A few back and forth moves later, Becky rolls up Shayna for the pinfall victory and retains her RAW Women's Championship.
Again, I expected a better match and a better ending. Given Shayna-Becky's talents and the personal aspect of this rivalry, this match should have gone longer with more physically demanding spots. And second roll up in a single night on Wrestlemania? Nah! That's not my thing.
So, another underwhelming match.
Match #5: Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn (c) for Intercontinental Championship
When this match was first announced, I jumped up in excitement. Because, this match promised to steal the show. Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan, two of the finest competitors on this planet today, going at it for the Intercontinental Championship. What else could I expect?
What did I get? As usual, a huge disappointment. WWE wanted to show Sami as a cowardly heel so badly that they probably forgot that he could put on really good matches. Sami was running away from Bryan or begging him, for 99% of this match. And somehow, suddenly, he hits Bryan with his finisher and gets the victory to retain his championship.
At this point, I really lost interest in the show.
But, as they say, the night is darkest just before the dawn...
Match #6: Kofi Kingston vs John Morrison (c) vs Jimmy Uso for Smackdown Tag Team Championship
What do you get if you throw in three of the most athletic guys you have, in a ladder match? That's exactly what we got with this one. A pure entertainer!
John Morrison was absolutely stunning in this match. The guy walked on ropes from one end to another end to deliver a spanish fly on Kofi Kingston. Kofi kept leaping through and to ladders every now and then, keeping this match energetic. Jimmy Uso did his share of athleticism too. That ending was the unique one in ladder match history with Morrison managing to fall off with the titles in his hand. You gotta feel bad for Kofi and Jimmy. They were so close!
Was this one of the best ladder matches ever? Nope, not in my opinion! But it certainly entertained me more than all the previous matches put together. This match was good enough to get me hooked back into the show.
Match #7: Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens
Man, oh Man! If the previous match ignited a spark, this one blew it into a fire. As billed, these are two of the best wrestlers of this generation. They were fighting for a deeply personal reason and this was worth a watch.
As always, Owens was the aggressive guy, trying to punish the Monday Night Messiah. At one point, Rollins hits a falcon arrow on Owens on the apron. It was pretty impressive. Following a sequence of moves and counters, Rollins hits Owens with a ring bell and gets himself disqualified. For one brief moment, I was so frustrated that WWE was giving us this. And then, Owens dared Rollins to come back and finish the match, which was now a No Disqualification match. That's when things got more interesting. Rollins hit Owens with chairs and stairs. Kevin Owens responded by diving from the top of Wrestlemania sign onto Rollins on the announce table, which could be probably remembered as his Wrestlemania moment! The match ended with Kevin Owens picking up the big win.
This match kinda portrayed how deeply personal this rivalry was and that was wonderful to watch. These are two of the best in the business!
Match #8: Goldberg (c) vs Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship
I don't care about this match so much that I was waiting for it to get over. Leave it to Goldberg to provide the worst wrestling match of the night! Strowman wins this one and becomes new Universal Champion.
Good luck, Strowman! May WWE book you better from now on.
Match #9: The Undertaker vs AJ Styles in a Boneyard match
WWE can surprise you in really unbelievable ways. I thought this match wouldn't be that great. The Undertaker is 55 years old and he's having a huge list of health problems in his body. This man can't perform to the level that he used to. So, I thought this match won't amount to much. But I was interested in seeing it, mostly because it's a clash between my Favourite Wrestler of all time and my Favourite Wrestler of this generation. Although I had very little hopes for it.
Boy, how wrong was I?! This match stole the entire night! The Phenom and The Phenomenal One delivered an instant classic in terms of storytelling.
This match saw The Undertaker return to his roots as the American Badass gimmick. No queer words, no mind games, no satanic aura...just pure human version of The Undertaker, a man who just wanted to beat down AJ Styles for disrespecting his wife and age. This was pure brawl between the two men. Gallows and Anderson also got involved, only to get their butts handed to them by Taker. In the end, Taker ended up burying AJ Styles and riding off in his motorcycle.
This whole match didn't take place in a ring. It took place in a graveyard of sorts and it was shot like a movie. So, anybody watching it felt like they were trapped in a weird B-movie from Hollywood. Yet, it was entertaining all the same. The match is being praised on social media by all fans alike. It is quite awe inspiring that Taker pulled this off at this age. As far as AJ is concerned, well, he's called The Phenomenal One for a reason!
That's it for Night One!
Was the entire show good? Hmm, I would say average. If it weren't for Taker vs Styles, the ladder match and Owens vs Rollins, this show would have gone down in history as the worst ever. But, now, it is pretty decent.
Let's hope Night Two is better! Although, knowing WWE, it is better to watch without expectations...
I'll be back tomorrow with my review of Night Two!
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