Author Topic: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE: Lashley retains; Belair is the B.E.S.T,  (Read 3891 times)

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
WWE is repeating its format from last year by having WrestleMania on two nights. Since I don't know exactly all the matches and on which night except for the WWE title match, I'll play it by ear.

Now, there are actually live fans at Raymond James Stadium (where the Super Bowl went down two months ago AND where WrestleMania was supposed to be last year).

Mr. McMahon is on the ramp, thanking the fans for sticking by the organization and welcoming them back. Apparently, there's a rain delay; so they're doing interviews. Therefore, I'm getting some of the matches slated for tonight.

Bebe Rexha sang "America the Beautiful, before the big flyover.

WWE World Championship Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre: - This has been one of the few intriguing feuds. And it appears this is a way to give McIntyre his BIG WrestleMania moment that he didn't get last year by beating Brock Lesnar. Using the Elimination chamber and Miz's MITB cash-in to get the belt off McIntyre and onto Lashley set this up and it looks to be interesting. And WOW, Lashley look as good as, if not better than, he did 15 years ago.

Whenever 'Mania starts, this match is FIRST. McIntyre beat Brock Lesnar last year; He'll beat "Black Lesnar" this year.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman - Steel Cage Match: Why in the world would the Human Crash Test dummy be put through this mess. McMahons generally don't win at 'Mania (unless they face each other). So now Shane is the bully here? I'd like to give The Monster among Men the nod. And I will.

RAW Tag Team Championship - New Day (c) vs. AJ Styles and Omos: Since Big E is on Smackdown, New Day is Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. Isn't is lame that Kofi-Mania got destroyed in 5 seconds by jobbing to Lesnar? I don't think he's had a rematch for the world title since then. AJ Styles apparently has some 7-foot beast as his tag team partner. And this beast will basically do the heavy lifting for the match and the win.

Smackdown Women's Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair: - This is apparently the main event tonight (which means the Universal title match is main-eventing night two). Sasha is finally winning pay-per-view matches. But, I'll go with the challenger all the same. Women's rumble winners are 2-1 (I think) at the big dance.

Women's Tag Team Turmoil Match (Winners gets Women's Tag Title shot on Night Two): Lana & Naomi vs. Billie Kay & Carmella vs. Natalya & Tamina vs. Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke:. Simply because of Heyman's pep talk on "Talking Smack", I'll go with Tamina and Natalya.

Seth Rollins vs. Antonio Cesaro: Cesaro hasn't been relevant since he got his teeth knocked out in a tag title match. But, apparently, the Swiss Cyborg is getting a push. Rollins is apparently being turned into a "political" with ads to bash his opponents. I don't know is Rollins is on the way down or Cesaro is on the way up. But, I like Rollins.

Bad Bunny and Damien Priest vs. Miz and John Morrison: I guess the celebrity quota has been met. And since celebs rarely get beat at the showcase of the immortals, Bunny and Priest (how lame does that sound?) win it. How does Miz go from champion to this mess?

Michael Cole and Samoa Joe are in tarps. But, 'Mania is scheduled to start in 10 minutes.

The backdrop is AWESOME. They have a sail for each WrestleMania competitor to hang on a giant mast, when their matches start. There's a giant skull pirate with a sword and a red WWE bandana.

The WrestleMania co-hosts are two Tampa Bay residents. Titus O'Neil (2021 Warrior Award winner) and Hulk Hogan (now 2-Time HOFer). THey've hyped the crowd. Now, it's go time.

WWE World title is on deck. With Lesnar (and Goldberg) gone, at least we won't get matches with just finishers ad nauseum.

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2021, 06:05:10 PM »
Now this is GREAT, so far. You usually don't get this kind of quality from two big men. McIntyre is channelling his inner HBK, kipping up after getting rock-bottomed a second time by Lashley.

Next, he summoned the ghost of Eddie Guerrero, by hitting three "Future Shock" DDTs similar to the "Three Amigos".

Now, he just did his Undertaker "Air Deadman" routine by diving over the top rope to hit Lashley after "The Almighty" dodges a Claymore attempt from McIntyre.

Now, he's getting his Lesnar on by doing the Kimora Lock.

I knew this would be much better than last year (not that it could be much worse). But, Lashley and McIntyre are putting on a show.

Lashley has his "Hurt Lock" full nelson hold and.....WOW!!! McIntyre went night-night and Lashley WINS!!

Maybe we'll have a new streak, as I believe Lashley is 2-0 at WrestleMania.

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2021, 06:15:06 PM »
Women's Turmoil match is next.

Lana and Naomi vs. Kay and Carmella.

That didn't last long. Lana and Naomi are gone. Next, it's Riott Squad.

Kay and Carmella are headed back to the showers. Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose are on their way.

Time keeper had a Steve Harvey moment. He announced that the Riott Squad got eliminated when it was actually Rose and Brooke.

Tamina and Natalya are last. Riott Squad put on a clinic. But, one kick and a Superfly Splash and Snuka's and Neidhart's baby girls get their title shot tomorrow night.

Now, we go to Rollins and Cesaro. Well, this match was almost as good as Lashley and McIntyre. Cesaro now has an airplane swing with no hands, called the UFO. 23 swings and a (second) neutralizer later, Cesaro got his big win, the most relevant since the ATG Battle Royal at WM30.

Speaking of which, the ultimate "everybody does to 'Mania" match got bumped off 'Mania proper and held in front of video screens on Smackdown last night. Jey Uso won the big trophy (and perhaps, with more butt-kissing of cousin Reigns) a bigger push.

Raw tag titles are being contested, with Styles' partner (Omos) making his debut. He's billed at 7'3" and 400 lbs. As I thought, AJ got beat up most of the match. But one he tagged his pet monster......BALL GAME!!!

Cage match time. So, how will Shane-O-Mac nearly kill himself this time?

Oh!! Elias and Riker jumped Strowman with chairs before the match and weakened his knee. Now after a bazillion chair shots, Strowman is limping around the ring but beating Shane up, after Shane failed to escape the cage about 5 times.


Dave D

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 15816
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2021, 07:15:48 PM »
I was not expecting Lashley to come away the winner tonight.

What was the distraction by MVP? Was that botched?

And Drew passed out from the pain and IMMEDIATELY rolled out of the ring? He should have given it a minute or two.

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2021, 07:22:19 PM »
I was not expecting Lashley to come away the winner tonight.

What was the distraction by MVP? Was that botched?

And Drew passed out from the pain and IMMEDIATELY rolled out of the ring? He should have given it a minute or two.

 I don't know. Was MVP supposed to trip him? All he did was yell and that caused McIntyre to miss the Claymore.

Shane McMahon just hit Strowman in the head with a tool box. And while Shane was climbing to the floor, he stick his hand inside a big hole in the cage to wave goodbye. Only to have Strowman grab his hand and arm to keep Shane from dropping to the floor, ripping part of the cage apart, and throwing Shane back into the ring. As the the crash-dummy moment, it's Strowman tossing Shane from the top of the cage to the mat.

Powerslam and 1,2,3.

Dave D

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 15816
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2021, 07:29:10 PM »
I don't know. Was MVP supposed to trip him? All he did was yell and that caused McIntyre to miss the Claymore.

Yeah it was pretty confusing. If a yell is distracting what about all the fans screaming?

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2021, 07:38:31 PM »
Hall of Fame 2020 intros.

Bella Twins, JBL, Titus O'Neil (Warrior Award), Family of Davey Boy Smith, and the NWO (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Waltman).

And the announcement that WrestleMania 38 is in Dallas, Texas AT&T Stadium (previous home of WM 32).

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2021, 07:42:26 PM »
Yeah it was pretty confusing. If a yell is distracting what about all the fans screaming?

And, if Lashley were truly going over, why not just have him take the belt off McIntyre at 'Mania, instead of using Miz as a transitional champion?

This Bad Bunny guy got trained up right. Snazzy entrance on a semi-tractor trainer, lots of pyro. But GOOD GRIEF!! This guy looks better than a number of full-time wrestlers.

NOBODY expected this from him. And the crowd was loving it. Off the top rope suicide dive, a flipping piledriver/destroyer move to Morrison on the floor. A doomsday device splash with Priest and they get the win.

Our 'main event', Smackdown women's title, is next.

Better than I thought. But, at some point Belair is going to have to ditch that long weave of her. Although this time, she used it to actually whip Banks. 450-splashes and other high spots, Belair and Banks did really well.

Belair hits her finisher and gets the win, new Smackdown Women's champion.

Dave D

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 15816
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2021, 09:50:07 PM »
And, if Lashley were truly going over, why not just have him take the belt off McIntyre at 'Mania, instead of using Miz as a transitional champion?

This Bad Bunny guy got trained up right. Snazzy entrance on a semi-tractor trainer, lots of pyro. But GOOD GRIEF!! This guy looks better than a number of full-time wrestlers.

NOBODY expected this from him. And the crowd was loving it. Off the top rope suicide dive, a flipping piledriver/destroyer move to Morrison on the floor. A doomsday device splash with Priest and they get the win.

Our 'main event', Smackdown women's title, is next.

Better than I thought. But, at some point Belair is going to have to ditch that long weave of her. Although this time, she used it to actually whip Banks. 450-splashes and other high spots, Belair and Banks did really well.

Belair hits her finisher and gets the win, new Smackdown Women's champion.

Great summary Mcway!

I honestly can’t figure out this era of booking. To your point, was the Miz given the belt so he could have a little more credibility,  shine and attention when he was setting up for this Bad Bunny feud? Strange decisions...

Did Bad Bunny have the best pop of the night? Was that artificial crowd noise? I wasn’t expecting BB to be better than Omis let alone be respectable.

The main event was ok, I’m not a fan of Sasha Botches, that hair whip was the most impressive spot in the match to me. I thought the sound of her hair hitting Sasha was a leg slap. That one had to hurt.

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2021, 09:48:18 AM »
Great summary Mcway!

I honestly can’t figure out this era of booking. To your point, was the Miz given the belt so he could have a little more credibility,  shine and attention when he was setting up for this Bad Bunny feud? Strange decisions...

Did Bad Bunny have the best pop of the night? Was that artificial crowd noise? I wasn’t expecting BB to be better than Omis let alone be respectable.

The main event was ok, I’m not a fan of Sasha Botches, that hair whip was the most impressive spot in the match to me. I thought the sound of her hair hitting Sasha was a leg slap. That one had to hurt.

According to local Tampa Bay news, 25,000 fans were in attendance for each night (which was about the same amount in Ray Jay for the Super Bowl)..

So, it's possible that Bad Bunny got a legitimate pop. The fans were definitely vocal for both world title matches.

Next year, 'Mania goes back to the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. But, doesn't that count as being indoors, even though there's a "sunroof" on the place?

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2021, 06:14:44 PM »
Now this is GREAT, so far. You usually don't get this kind of quality from two big men. McIntyre is channelling his inner HBK, kipping up after getting rock-bottomed a second time by Lashley.

Next, he summoned the ghost of Eddie Guerrero, by hitting three "Future Shock" DDTs similar to the "Three Amigos".

Now, he just did his Undertaker "Air Deadman" routine by diving over the top rope to hit Lashley after "The Almighty" dodges a Claymore attempt from McIntyre.

Now, he's getting his Lesnar on by doing the Kimora Lock.

I knew this would be much better than last year (not that it could be much worse). But, Lashley and McIntyre are putting on a show.

Lashley has his "Hurt Lock" full nelson hold and.....WOW!!! McIntyre went night-night and Lashley WINS!!

Maybe we'll have a new streak, as I believe Lashley is 2-0 at WrestleMania.

Never mind! I forgot Lashley lost in the Money In the Bank match at WM22.

Playboy

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 11315
  • If the bar ain't bending, you're just pretending
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE: Lashley retains; Belair is the B.E.S.T,
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2021, 05:06:36 AM »
I was happy to see Bobby and Roman retain. Everyone expected one of those titles to change. Sasha and Belair had a fabulous match, glad to see that they are giving Belair a chance with the ball. Shane's bumps are show stoppers...no pun intended....but he better tune it down...he's in his last 40's. Not sure what they are doing with Bray but it seems like they are slowly killing off the Fiend...TBH, I was happy Orton won. He still has a lot of gas in the tank.

WoogsRaven

  • Getbig III
  • ***
  • Posts: 676
  • Whisper sumthin nice and I'll make ya scream twice
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE: Lashley retains; Belair is the B.E.S.T,
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2021, 09:26:11 AM »
I was happy to see Bobby and Roman retain. Everyone expected one of those titles to change. Sasha and Belair had a fabulous match, glad to see that they are giving Belair a chance with the ball. Shane's bumps are show stoppers...no pun intended....but he better tune it down...he's in his last 40's. Not sure what they are doing with Bray but it seems like they are slowly killing off the Fiend...TBH, I was happy Orton won. He still has a lot of gas in the tank.

Shane is 51 years old.

MCWAY

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 19227
  • Getbig!
Re: WRESTLEMANIA 37 - Night ONE: Lashley retains; Belair is the B.E.S.T,
« Reply #13 on: April 30, 2021, 06:40:22 PM »
I was happy to see Bobby and Roman retain. Everyone expected one of those titles to change. Sasha and Belair had a fabulous match, glad to see that they are giving Belair a chance with the ball. Shane's bumps are show stoppers...no pun intended....but he better tune it down...he's in his last 40's. Not sure what they are doing with Bray but it seems like they are slowly killing off the Fiend...TBH, I was happy Orton won. He still has a lot of gas in the tank.

Back in the day, it was a given that whoever held the "Big Gold Belt" was going to get BEAT at 'Mania It happened six years in a row (2004-2009), ESPECIALLY if the world champ was on Smackdown.

If my math is correct, since WWE had two belts, only THREE TIMES have both champions retained the World/Universal title and WWE title respectively: WM 27 (Edge and Miz); WM 34 (Lesnar and Styles) and WM 37 (Reigns and Lashley).

That includes the "Undisputed WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Championship" (the merger of the two belts) with Helmsley, Bryan, Rollins, and Reigns winning at WMs 18, 30, 31, and 32, respectively.

Then again, it was worse in the 90s. Only ONE WWF champion had a successful title defense; that is, he left WrestleMania with the title (so Yoko's first WM 10 title defense against Luger doesn't count): Diesel, WM 11.

Babyface challengers ALWAYS won the gold: Warrior, Hogan (2x), Savage, Hart, Michaels, Taker, Austin (2x).

Heel champs were DOOMED: Slaughter, Flair, Yokozuna, Michaels, Rock.

Of course, three of those were face vs. face matches (Hogan-Warrior, Hart-Michaels, Sid-Undertaker). That also explains WM 11, because Michaels was a heel.