wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s WWE WrestleMania 37 Night Two Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...NXT WrestleMania 37 Night Two
April 11th, 2021 | Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida | Attendance: 25,000
A lot of people seemed pretty upset that I ignored a Hulk Hogan promo, had a technical issue that caused me to miss some of a match, and didn’t note about a tag promo that meant nothing on night one. What will night two bring?
By the way, I rewatched Bianca/Sasha this morning and it’s even better a second time around. I bumped up the score to ****¾ and night one is an 8/10.
Country singer Ashland Craft performed “America The Beautiful.”
Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan arrived dressed as pirates and made lame jokes. Hogan got booed whenever he spoke while Titus got cheered. They welcomed the fans to the show, put over last night, and hyped tonight. There, I covered it.
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
I only wanted this if they had a Firefly Funhouse style fight because a match between them sounds uninteresting. Then Orton came out in sick WrestleMania whites (some of his best gear ever) and I turned around on it a bit. Fiend healed magically during his special effects entrance and then Alexa Bliss turned a giant Fiend-in-a-Box that he emerged from. Bray jumped off the box and clotheslined Orton to start this and they were back to the old red light gimmick. Bray did some no selling early on but Orton managed to get in some offense, only for Bray to find ways to stop him with stuff like the Mandible Claw. As Bray went for Sister Abigail, fire erupted from the turnbuckles like Kane arrived but it was Alexa Bliss with black ooze dripping down her face. It distracted Bray, allowing Orton to win with the RKO in 5:53. I honestly don’t really know how to rate that. The match itself was pretty bland and the wackiness was kept to an ending that was mostly just confusing. [**]
Backstage, Bayley interrupted Eric Bischoff with Hogan and Titus by trying to get him to join her talk show. Bischoff put over Bianca and Sasha, saying he wanted Bianca on his podcast, which irritated Bayley. They ignored her and left.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Natalya and Tamina
Imagine booking this as your WRESTLEMANIA Women’s Tag Title match. Two Tamina matches on one WrestleMania is no bueno. They have tried to hype the Nia/Tamina face off at like six different PPVs and it’s never interesting. That was the case here again. Nia slammed Tamina outside, leaving Nattie to take the heat from the only interesting wrestler in the match, Shayna. Tamina saved Nattie and they looked awkward standing in place waiting for a Nia cross body. Nia talked smack to Tamina and Tamina retaliated with a PUTRID body slam. She barely did it. Tamina missed the splash and Nattie got the tag, trying for the Sharpshooter on Nia. Shayna was legal and chocked her out to retain in an absurd 14:18. Who looked at this and said it should go nearly 15 minutes? I thought this was oddly just so Tamina and Nattie could get some kind of veteran moment or something like that but it was just the same old, stretched out over a boring timeframe. [½*]
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
It’s the first time a TakeOver match is run back at Mania. These two went right at it, as KO hit a Popup Powerbomb instantly and Sami hit an apron Brainbuster about a minute later. We also got a Michinoku Driver (that Michael Cole called a Blue Thunder Bomb) and frog splash in the early stages. That ended up being the theme. It was two guys who know each other incredibly well hitting each other with their best moves. It didn’t have the story that some of their past encounters did and that’s why this format worked. This was a sprint with tons of action, cool looking moves, and was to the point. They basically got to have a PWG style match at WrestleMania, which is too cool. The finish came after 9:15 when Owens hit a Stunner. Honestly, I can’t ask for much more than that. Two great wrestlers having a balls to the walls match playing off their history. [***¾]
After the match, Sami got mad at Logan Paul and got shoved. Then, KO planted Logan with a Stunner, which he sold pretty well. Why Bad Bunny and Logan Paul better at selling than most wrestlers?
Backstage, Riddle tried to sell The Great Khali on one of his goofy ideas. Rob Van Dam came over to translate and said they needed good branding like his own “RVD’s Rolling Papers.”
WWE United States Championship: Riddle [c] vs. Sheamus
I may not want to root for Riddle these days but the hard hitting matches these two have had on TV are undeniable. This was similar in pace to the last match as it was worked at a quick pace and featured a lot of big offensive moves. Riddle hit a top rope belly to belly suplex and a freaking Jackhammer in the first five minutes. He also kicked out of some of Sheamus’ biggest offense. The key moment came when he wanted a top rope White Noise, which would’ve been a ROUGH bump to take. He slipped and had to hit the move in normal fashion. It looked like Riddle was about to power up and win but his attempt at a quebrada saw Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick to take home the title in 10:51. Good match and a fantastic finish, with the right guy winning. [***¾]
An ad ran with Triple H and Bad Bunny plugging the latter’s 2022 tour.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Nigerian Drum Fight: Big E [c] vs. Apollo Crews
Wale played Big E to the ring. Nobody knows the rules coming into this but there are kendo sticks and other random weapons outside, as well as a big ass gong. They each grabbed a kendo stick and started whipping each other with them. They brought the big guns offensively, from Big E’s sick spear off the apron to a uranagi onto steel steps. Apollo came off the top and went through a table that Big E moved out of the way from. It was a tough landing and Big E seemed set for the Big Ending. However, Babatunde/Dabba Kato showed up dressed as some kind of general and he attacked Big E. That allowed Apollo to win the title in 6:49. That had potential despite the weird gimmick. It ended too quickly and didn’t have enough drum based offense but was fun. [***¼]
The 2021 Hall of Fame inductees came out to be honored.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley has a great entrance theme but the live performance of it came off poorly. There was a lot to like in here. Rhea took it right to Asuka, showing no intimidation against someone who has such a sterling record in WWE. You got the sense that Asuka understood how tough Rhea was because she resorted to bigger offense. The moment where she hit a DDT off the apron marked a change of pace a bit. Asuka became more vicious and aggressive, firing off kicks at a rapid pace. Rhea was just too strong at times, catching kicks and stomping her out. Then, Asuka could just outwrestle or outsmart her with veteran instincts. It made for some good back and forth before Rhea hit Riptide to win the title in 13:27. This was good and had some really fun moments but never sniffed greatness. Rhea and Bianca winning could be huge and set the tone for the future. [***]
Titus and Hulk came out to pump up the crowd again but got interrupted by Bayley. She wanted the spotlight and had her pyro go off. The Hall of Fame queens that are the Bella Twins interrupted and Nikki put Bayley down with her forearm that is better than what the NXT Champ does. Nikki and Brie threw Bayley down the aisle and posed to end the segment.
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Edge
The fact that we’re getting to see THESE three guys in a WrestleMania main event is wild. Two of them retired and thought they’d never wrestle again, while the other beat leukemia. Main event Jey Uso was with Roman and got involved early since there’s no DQ in these kind of matches. So, Edge took him out with an Edgecution onto steel steps. They also took Reigns out for a short while, which allowed us to get the Edge/Bryan battle fans have clamored for. I absolutely loved the spot where Roman and Edge collided shoulders on Spear attempts. It made sense and looked brutal. Bryan had a hot run hitting kicks and slapping on submissions before Roman powerbombed him through a table, only for Edge to Spear him off the steel steps. It was wild and glorious. There was a really cool spot where a chair broke and Edge used the piece of it for extra leverage on a crossface on Roman. Bryan saved a tap out and put on the Yes Lock at the same time, only for him and Edge to headbutt each other because Bryan is a madman. Edge had it won with a Spear but Bryan pulled out the referee, causing Edge to snap and beat them both up with chairs. Bryan even took a Con-chair-to. Jey Uso got involved but Edge got rid of him only for Roman to Spear him. A con-chair-to later and Roman dragged Edge onto Bryan, pinning both to win in 21:40. Outstanding pro wrestling. It hit some expected tropes and had the heel win but what a ride to get there. They wrestled this like it was their last match, which is fitting given who was involved. Wild spots, huge drama, tons of emotion, and three of the best wrestlers ever putting on a showcase on the biggest stage. [****¾]
