411’s WWE 24 Report: WrestleMania 37 – Night One

-WWE drops an episode of their 24 series based on the previous WrestleMania every year and this time, they dedicated an episode to each night. Tomorrow night we will have Night 2, but for now, it’s Night 1 and let’s get to it.

-Original Air Date: 08.21.21
-Run Time: 53:32

-We see fans walking into the Stadium and WWE Superstars on the stage taking it all in as Vince McMahon explains how something has been missing and that is the WWE Universe. Quick soundbites from Cesaro, Bianca and others talking about what this night means. This is WWE 24!

-April 10, 2021: Tampa, FL: Night One: Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and others walk into the stadium with fans outside and everyone is as pumped as you would expect. Nattie is brought to tears talking about how great it is to see fans again.

-Cesaro made the drive from Orlando to Tampa and was stuck in traffic for two hours. It seems this episode is going to focus on Cesaro a bit which is nice. Cesaro has his temp taken before entering and all is good. He runs into Stephanie McMahon and she congratulates him while giving him a hug. We learn that Cesaro’s nickname is The Mayor because he talks to everyone no matter is a fellow wrestler, or a member of the crew. Sheamus tells us he is delighted from Cesaro because he knows how much hard work he has put in for this moment. Cesaro talks about the pressure of his first Mania single’s match and he is facing this generation’s Mr. WrestleMania.

-He talks about how he is the only one from Switzerland to make it this far. He was 10 years old when German TV started showing wrestling and he fell in love with it. He loved The Steiners, Owen and Bret. They show some footage of Cesaro in Evolve and other Indy promotions. He got into contact with William Regal in 2010 and got his foot in the door with WWE. SummerSlam 2012 he wins The US Championship and we see some of his early promos and then “WE THE PEOPLE,” with Zeb and Swagger. He talks about winning the very first ARMBAR at Mania XXX (last eliminating Big Show) and that was the biggest moment of his Mania career. From there he was teamed with TJ for 6 months and then The Cesaro Section was born. We see him SWING Jericho as this one is full of AEW guys so far. They touch on The BAR as they ended up being great, but like everything else with Cesaro, “that got cut short again.”

-Feb 12, 2021: Cesaro cuts his best promo on Talking Smack (can I get that format back again?) as he puts all his heart into it as he talks about loving pro-wrestling. Heyman talks about how great it was to watch Cesaro just let himself go with that promo. Now Cesaro gets his first one on one Mania match. Michael Cole reminds him backstage that this is the biggest match of his career. Drew and Sheamus joke around with him backstage and sign me up for that Triple Threat Match. They would beat the piss out of each other!

-Bobby Lashley next as he walks into the Stadium and gives Sasha Banks a hug. He talks about how hard he works and that he doesn’t believe anyone works harder than him. We see some home video footage of him wrestling in Kansas. He ends up winning a National Championship in collegiate wrestling his sophomore, junior and senior years. He went to the Army and then was preparing for the 2004 Olympics. He was almost there and fate denied him as he was in a bank when 3 men robbed it. Lashley dove to avoid the gunfire and destroyed his knee. The surgery would take him out of The Olympic Trials and he didn’t want to train for another 4 years for another shot. While he was recovering the WWE came calling off a recommendation from Kurt Angle. In a nice touch they have the footage from Angle’s documentary from years ago where he went to train in amateur wrestling and Lashley was one of the guys working out there. That’s sweet. Wrestling seems to have a lot of moments like that. Lashley signs and is in OVW in 2005 and ends up on the Main Roster in short order. They rush through his Mania debut and winning the ECW Title (complete with sound bites on commentary from Joey Styles and Taz). His career hits a peak when he represents Donald Trump against Umaga at Mania 23 and his win means Vince McMahon gets his head shaved. Just as quickly as he rose, he was gone as he is released from the WWE. MVP mentions he still doesn’t know why and Lashley just down plays it and says it was his time.

-From there Lashley goes to MMA and has a 15-2 career records. They completely skip over the TNA run and Lashley calls HHH to come back. MVP knew Bobby had all the tools to be a big time player. In a word, he says Bobby is “money,” and it was Bobby’s idea for The Hurt Business. The idea was they could be tough, but also professional and that’s why they wore the suits. Lashley SQUASHES Miz on RAW to win The WWE Title and he says he still can’t believe it happened. It was his Olympic Gold Medal. Back in Tampa at Mania, Lashley talks about taking everything in and learning how to feel everything.

-Next is Bianca Belair as she talks about being The Main Event of WrestleMania and she gets choked up about it. She says her road to WWE was unique as she didn’t watch wrestling and she didn’t spend life on the Indys. Her brother was a fan and while she was a casual viewer she was aware of Goldust, Undertaker, Rock and Austin. She wants to help bring in just casual fans who may just have something they catch onto out of the corner of their eye. We learn about her Track career and she had a drive to become an Olympic athlete. It caused her to battle bulimia and depression. She talks about attempting suicide and it put her in a mental hospital. She knew she had to fix it and she learned to love food and her body. She started Cross Fit and that is where Mark Henry saw her and pushed her to WWE. See, more AEW guys! We see her tryout and everyone is impressed with her and is signed to a deal.

-Montez Ford talks about meeting Bianca when she came into NXT in 2016. She tells us that he helped her with her style and he would sit and watch tape and matches with her. She showed out for the first time in The Mae Young Classic and we hear JR on commentary. Take another drink! She had only been training for a year and she had a strong match with Kairi and we see HHH congratulate her in the back as he tells her she has no business having a match that good at this point.

-Royal Rumble 2021: Bianca eliminates Rhea to punch her ticket and does so by setting a new longevity record for the Women’s Rumble. They show her coming back through the curtain in tears as various people chant and cheer for her. Nice! The story soon became that they were creating history as the first 2 black females to Main Event WrestleMania. Bianca wants to make it the greatest moment in WrestleMania history.

-New Day rehearse their entrance while Sasha and Miz talk about how great it is to have fans back. We hear from some of the fans including an adorable little girl dressed up like Bianca. The guy dressed up like Macho Man, no so much.

-Drew talks about talking about this moment for a year as he has wanted to be the first one out the door to hear the crowd. He mentions this is Tampa and there are lightning warnings. The roster pours out onto the stage and we get that great moment were the fans and roster celebrate together. Edge calls it surreal. Rhea looked at Edge who winked at her and that is when she started crying because she couldn’t hold it in any longer. We hear Vince with the opening again as he welcomes the fans to WrestleMania. The fans are back for the first time in 1 year, 1 month and 1 day.

-Then we get a first for Mania: LIGHTNING DELAY! Hogan and Titus are in Gorilla with Steph and Vince when the announcement is made. It looks nasty, so definitely the right call. Heyman: “of course it’s going to rain.” SAMOA JOE AND MICHAEL COLE IN PONCHOS! AWESOME! That was nearly our last image of Samoa Joe on WWE TV.

-The delay lasts about 30 minutes and that played havoc on Drew and Lashley as they were ready to go and had to get amped up again. As promised Drew gets the first entrance and the crowd pops so loud you’d think it was CM Punk in Chicago coming out (I’m kidding). MVP talks about the energy from the crowd and all he could think was they were back. Lashley knew they had to deliver. They deliver a high quality HOSS FIGHT that Lashley wins to the shock of most people. Probably could have given the fans a happy moment, but building up Lashley has worked out for the best. Lashley talks about how important the match was and he thinks they tore the house down.

-Women’s Tag Team Turmoil Match: I just remember that it was long. Tamina and Nattie get the win.

-New Day vs AJ and Omos. I laughed at Woods being shocked they had pyro. AJ and Omos win and as I type this their reign ended to RK-Bro just a few hours ago.

-Braun Strowman tosses Shane off a cage as they waste a McMahon match on someone they released only a few months later. If he ends up in AEW take a drink then.

-Cesaro is pumped as he gets ready for his match and he doesn’t want to let anyone down. He thinks he is ready and he hopes he is ready. He credits Sheamus for being there and encouraging him. Sheamus says he just told him it was his moment.

-Rollins vs Cesaro: Wonderful match that popped the crowd and gave Cesaro a moment he truly deserved. Sadly, they didn’t go all the way after he had his PPV Main Event where he was sacrificed to Roman. That UFO spot is still amazing!

-Orton and Sheamus congratulate Cesaro and Sheamus marks out over the UFO. Cesaro says he has had that move in his back pocket for 10 years and broke it out for WrestleMania. He talks about how sweet the moment was and how he gets his power from the WWE Universe the same way Superman gets it from the sun. He thanks us from the bottom of his heart. God bless them for focusing a portion of this on Cesaro.

-Miz and Morrison vs. Priest and Bad Bunny: Much better than anyone could have expected as Bunny put in work before the match and put in work during it. Credit to Miz and Morrison for keeping him on track out there as well. Bunny gets the win as Booker yells for someone to get him a contract.

-Main Event: SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair: Bianca talks about usually being jittery, but she was very calm as she looked at her husband and she knew she was okay. She told herself to slow down and take everything in while also being big and bold. Good on Sasha for getting this moment as well as she has been a backbone for the division and what it has become. Bianca talks about two black women making history and she appreciates they took the moment to enjoy it. She starts to cry just thinking about it and jokes she thought she cried all her tears at WrestleMania. Very good match that made Bianca a star. The military press while walking up the stairs it still pretty sweet!

-Bianca talks about winning the match and seeing her mom and yelling “I did it.” Montez rushes down and celebrates with his wife. He talks about how they have a daughter and he gets emotional talking about how she can see something like that. HHH congratulates and hugs her backstage. Again, star making moment and I guess now we get to see what he and Becky Lynch can do.

-Preview for tomorrow’s episode focusing on Night Two.

-This was good as I really appreciated the focus on Sheamus as we rarely get anything about his story. Lashley’s story come off as a rerun since everything mentioned here was covered during his interview with Austin last week but for those who didn’t see that this was a quick version. Bianca and her story was a nice contract to Cesaro’s as you had two stars on different spectrums. Again, another wonderful documentary from the folks at WWE. Thanks for reading and now we wait for Part II following Takeover.