Wrestlemania 37 - April 10th & 11th

[Doog]

I really enjoyed the last couple of nights to be fair, canned crowd noise aside.

Actually seem to be in the minority here but I preferred night 2, could have been due to the fact I accidently saw who won a couple of the night 1 matches before watching mind wheras was completely spoiler free for night 2.

Have only watched last years SummerSlam and Royal Rumble since the pandemic started so that could also be why I enjoyed it so much, but when fans are back I'll definately be all in to start watching again. I think it's one of those where it was a habit for so long and then when you stop watching you miss it, even if it's shit, you miss that habit, so dipping in to a big event like this fills that void. I can't stand the thunderdome mind so I won't be watching again until fans are back, so I guess around SummerSlam.

I also think two night WrestleMania's are the way to go, and the fact they just said 'April 2022' for next years, despite previously advertising a date for the one night show, makes me think they're veering towards that too. It means its two 3 hour shows rather than a mammoth 6 hour show which you know they would do on one night, which is just too much, and makes a proper decent weekend out of it as well. 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Night two never really got off the ground. 

The sight of The Fiend rising from the music box to those chugging power chords took me back to summer 2019, when he felt like a cool, unique character, full of exciting potential. But of course, after the (lovely) Brodie Lee tribute, it was Same Old Bray Wyatt. The invincible, no-selling, super natural monster that loses to a distraction finish. Fucking hilarious.

I love Owen's as a babyface star but I've never got on with his matches. Unlike night one's Seth/Cesaro, this was a workrate sprint that had no meat or story to it. Just two guys endlessly trading big movez because big movez. Fantastic post-match though with Logan Paul getting what he deserved.

Night finally picked up with Riddle vs Sheamus. Proper scrap. Riddle is annoyingly fucking good in the ring and Sheamus is one of the best on the planet. What a brilliant finish. 

Barely remember anything about the Nigerian Drum match other than Big E looking like a superstar during his entrance and the announcers pretending not to know who Dabba Kato is. Was a drum even used? Anyone defending Apollo's gimmick is fooling themselves.

Auska/Ripley was decent but ice cold. Rhea's entrance band should have Milli Vanilli'd it like Wale did. Bloody awful.

To be a downer, I have absolutely zero faith in them capitalising on Bianca Belair and Ripley's big wins. Reading the weekly tv reports it looks like they're barely tolerating the women's division let alone booking it half decent. But what does it matter. The next PPV they'll have some awesome video package that makes it look like they're in some white hot feud instead of being complete non-entity's all along.

The use of Hulk Hogan on this show was as criminal as the non-use of Bayley. Poor Titus could barely hide his disdain at being trotted out all night beside this clown. I'm kind of glad Becky didn't return because these morons would have found some way to get her booed. The reaction to Hogan and The Bella's punking out Bayley went about as well as anyone with a brain cell would have imagined. 

The main event was electric until the silly bollocks with 'con chair to''s and melodrama towards the end. Best triple threat match in donkeys years. It speaks to how much Daniel Bryan has been defined down in three years that he felt like the third wheel and got the crowd reaction to match. And I'm happy to see Roman still getting the boos in. He's the man. I love how there is always an big asterisk next to his victories but he looks dominant at the same time. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Mr Butternut Squash

[Statto]

33 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

 

‘No shits given’ Orton is back, isn’t he?

He’ll be doing star jumps before the month is out.

I caught a chunk of "The Bump" before the pre-show came on last night, they were interviewing Randy and when given the chance to give some final thoughts on his match that night, he instead spent five minutes putting Bad Bunny over (thanks for being respectful & working hard, welcome in my locker room any time type of thing, seemingly very sincere), which I think shows you where he's at with the angle right now.

That said... I'd not be shocked if we now get the "cinematic" Funhouse match at "Wrestlemania Backlash", seeing as it'll be back in the Dome.

[Sonny Mustang]

I was a little underwhelmed about attending given my lack of interest in WWE product rn but since it was 20 minutes away and I have friends very enthusiastic about it, bit the bullet.

For me, the two night thing took away from the spectacle. Was blown away- quite literally by the storm- by the set on night 1. Night 2 just felt like more of the same. I’d love them to just keep it to 4 hours for a single night but I think that ship has sailed. I’ve never known weather like this in April! Friday was perfect, we sat in my friends outdoor restaurant all afternoon, went to a parking lot show, couldn’t believe the change. 

Things I enjoyed- booing hogan, the roster gathered on the ramp, pyro, omos dominance, the lovely off air Randy n Liz esque Bianca/Montez celebration, Randy’s white trunks, massive pop for Edge and Roman ending the show.

 

Re Covid, Florida has largely been open for business since last June, though obviously massive events like this have been rare (Super Bowl etc). Seating was in PODs so no one in the row in front or behind and two or three empty seats between each party. Masks were required but once inside adherence was less so (I counted 22 naked faces of the 82 I passed when coming back from a drink). I think being an outdoor event and the strong winds help from what I understand. There were definitely moments where fans were bunched up together in line for merch but that was easy enough to avoid- who wants to be close to a most of that lot anyway! 

Will it end up being a super spreader event? Obviously, I hope not (I personally have been vaccinated, my friends chose not to).

[Supremo]

I’ve seen a supporter of two night Wrestlemanias for years, but seeing it finally executed in a mostly normal setting? Nah. It’s splitting the problem without actually addressing it. It’s time to cut the fat. Not everyone needs to be on the show. The only thing on Night 2 of any worth was the main event. Add that to everything on Night 1 and you’ve got a fantastic show.

The real lesson from this year is that they should do on Raw exactly what they did on Smackdown. Brand it as a Wrestlemania special and fill it with all the non-important matches that would normally bulk out a six plus hour show. Have a “Wrestlemania Smackdown,” on the Friday and a, “Wrestlemania Raw,” on the Monday for all your Battle Royals and less important Title matches, then have one four-hour proper Wrestlemania on the Sunday with matches that actually matter.

[air_raid]

I’m a little bit pissed off that they had Riddle lose a non-title match to set up Sheamus as his challenger, then had him lose to him again. There’s only so many times you can mark the card of a babyface “loser” before it sticks. Losing a midcard title after a short, forgettable reign to a heel that’s rather played out and way past his peak as a character, smells a bit too much like Punk losing to JBL. And he had to turn heel to recover, he was fucked as a face after that.

[Cannibal Man]

loved watching Hogans eyes drain of any sort of life while they're making him fuck arse about in a pirate suit to boos

[The Gaffer]

51 minutes ago, Cannibal Man said:

loved watching Hogans eyes drain of any sort of life while they're making him fuck arse about in a pirate suit to boos

I lost it when he came out in that garb and started going "Yo, yo, yo" for no apparent reason. He looked more baked than usual, too. They'll never get that Babe Ruth they want who is both fully committed to the cause and doesn't have a 'Controversies' section on their Wikipedia page, will they? 

Night 2 was a definite step down. Didn't mind blazing through it this morning though with liberal use of the skip ahead button during those slogs with all the adverts and recaps. I know WrestleMania should aspire to being more than a half watched laptop balancing on my belly, but whatever. I had zero expectations for the weekend, didn't get properly excited until Saturday afternoon and ended up having a pretty engaged time watching WWE with the welcome return of fans, a genuine moment feeling at either end of night 1, and a proper bizarre half an hour of unscripted promos. 

That's decent innings for what I suspect was a WrestleMania deliberately booked to be a bit of a holding pattern. Maybe I'm cutting them too much slack, but I reckon 25,000 each night was enough of a draw for them to just offer up a decent card for the rest of it and not try and phone too many old friends until a proper, proper WrestleMania next year. They didn't even bother referring to it as the biggest WrestleMania of all time in the build up, did they? Ordinarily, WWE would do that if the main event was Mideon vs. Tiger Ali Singh. 

Shout out to Sheamus for seeming like the most disinterested person on the show. I know he didn't have much to work with, but a bit of intensity wouldn't go amiss. Such a tragic contrast to that Day of Fastlane doc where he was rambling on about being the best in the business and bawling his eyes out into Cesaro's arms. 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Gay as FOOK

[Jazzy G]

That lukewarm reaction for Bryan's entrance was such a contrast from when he arrived at Mania 30. Edge got a huge pop, which was surprising. 

I slept through Owens Zayn because I'd had a busy one at work and was knackered. I managed to miss Sasha Vs Bianca on night one as well, so might have to try and watch them back tomorrow. 

The way they present Rhea Ripley is odd. It kind of works against a shorter wrestler like Asuka, but she's only about 5' 7", so it doesn't quite look right when she's shrugging off Dropkicks like she should be a foot taller and weight 3 times what she does. Her strength is impressive, second maybe to Bianca Belair. 

Renaming popular Klingon PPV B'Klash to Wrestlemania Backlash seems weird, and like they're trying to drag everything out, but possibly also explains why Mania didn't feel like the culmination of much stuff. Presumably they want to see whether they can get a full crowd in for Summerlam, or capitalise on the massive September CXW show by putting something on around then to exploit the zaitgeist. 

[Frankie Crisp]

I felt for Sheamus when he realised he’d made a balls of the top-rope spot but my word did he make up for it by the perfectly-timed boot to that moron’s face. A lot of luck involved with the timing but this was excellent.

Also, this version of Roman is the best thing in wrestling for absolutely ages. He’s incredible.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Frankie Crisp

[The Gaffer]

Was also surprised by Bryan's reaction, actually. What's the logic the usual suspects have there, I wonder? He got some fairly audible booing during the ring introductions. 

It's probably fair to suggest the two nights got more of a local crowd than usual, too. Not sure how many people in the U.S. are travelling state to state for events right now or what difference it would have made, but there's no way it'd have been the same heavy contingent of hardcore fans most years get. Even the few shots of the crowd showed a fairly varied selection of people who mostly just looked happy to be there. 

Bryan not the guy, now? Fair, his run was fecking years ago. But Edge has been doing his best to play heel on TV - you know he really wants people to boo him, too - and Reigns got the heel reaction no problem. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Gay as FOOK

[DavidB6937]

Seeing Edge wrestle live is a rarity these days. No surprise whatsoever that he got a massive pop for his entrance and a reasonable amount of support throughout the match too.

Bryan? He's popular but he's been shoehorned into a natural one on one feud. He hasn't consistently been presented as the top guy so it's not that surprising the crowd weren't completely behind him.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

I’ve seen a supporter of two night Wrestlemanias for years, but seeing it finally executed in a mostly normal setting? Nah. It’s splitting the problem without actually addressing it. It’s time to cut the fat. Not everyone needs to be on the show. The only thing on Night 2 of any worth was the main event. Add that to everything on Night 1 and you’ve got a fantastic show.

I blame WrestleMania XX for this - by and large considered a really good show, which had a huge roster even for a 12 match card. They squeezed 10 Cruiserweights into the rushed “Open” and a total of 8 tag teams into a pair of 4-ways lasting 6 and 8 minutes as well as four women in the cheesecake tag as well as two in the title match. Also, eight big name stars between the main event and the handicap match. They may have gotten the idea there that everyone getting on the show was the best idea ever, and spare a thought for Matt Hardy who didn’t make the cut on a show even as bloated as it was.

Although for a card more convoluted than it should have been, it doesn’t beat 16. Between half a dozen tag matches or six-persons, three-ways and four-ways and a battle royal, the only one on one match to settle a score on the “grandest stage of them all” was Terri Runnels vs The Kat. Staggering, when you think about it. Plan some feuds to culminate at Mania? Nah, fuck it - throw everyone into a load of clusterfucks.

Edited April 12, 2021 by air_raid

[BomberPat]

39 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Renaming popular Klingon PPV B'Klash to Wrestlemania Backlash seems weird, and like they're trying to drag everything out, but possibly also explains why Mania didn't feel like the culmination of much stuff. Presumably they want to see whether they can get a full crowd in for Summerlam, or capitalise on the massive September CXW show by putting something on around then to exploit the zaitgeist. 

I'm guessing it's a Peacock thing - only the second PPV on the new platform, and hoping to trade off the established brand name of Wrestlemania for a little longer.

33 minutes ago, Gay as FOOK said:

Was also surprised by Bryan's reaction, actually. What's the logic the usual suspects have there, I wonder? He got some fairly audible booing during the ring introductions. 

It's probably fair to suggest the two nights got more of a local crowd than usual, too. Not sure how many people in the U.S. are travelling state to state for events right now or what difference it would have made, but there's no way it'd have been the same heavy contingent of hardcore fans most years get. Even the few shots of the crowd showed a fairly varied selection of people who mostly just looked happy to be there. 

Bryan not the guy, now? Fair, his run was fecking years ago. But Edge has been doing his best to play heel on TV - you know he really wants people to boo him, too - and Reigns got the heel reaction no problem. 

Yeah, the reactions were a lot more in line with what WWE would want - booing Hogan aside - and the lack of international travel and too much interstate travel probably played into that. As close to a house show crowd as you'll ever get at a Wrestlemania.

As for Bryan, I saw smatterings of negative reaction to him being added on Twitter - he was shoehorned into the match, and it's not a million miles away from Charlotte getting added to Ronda/Becky. I think WWE expected him to be a bit of a magic bullet, but actually for as good as he still is, Bryan's been slumming it in the midcard for a long time over the last couple of years, and Wrestlemania 30 was seven years ago - if you believe the old Cornette adage, seven years is the time period through which you can expect the audience to have cycled enough that you can repeat an angle or character; you've picked up enough new fans, and lost enough old ones, that you can get away with recycling material, and anyone still watching will stick around regardless. But what that also means is there's been enough of a change in the audience that a good percentage of them never saw the groundswell of support that rose up beneath Bryan before Wrestlemania 30 - to them, he's not the underdog desperate for an opportunity, he's ironically a company man getting crowbarred into someone else's match.

If they could go back and do it again, knowing that they were ending up with Edge working heel and Bryan getting added in, I expect they'd have had Bryan win the Rumble, then Edge turn heel sooner and he be the one to weasel his way into the match through the "Ultimate Opportunist" schtick.

[Statto]

I do wonder, if they had known for sure back in October/November that they were going to be doing the show in the stadium in Tampa with in person attendance (and that it would probably skew more local than usual), they might have pressed ahead with that Big E Rumble win & had him in one of the two big title matches, if not THE main event?

Coming out in his home town, with a 'live' performance of his music by a biggish name artist, wearing gear promoting a local charity, he sure wouldn't have looked out of place at the tippy top IMO.