WrestleMania 37 (April 2021)

Original Airdate: April 10-11, 2021

 

From Tampa, Florida; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, with Byron Saxton and Samoa Joe (RAW); with Corey Graves (Smackdown). Hulk Hogan and Titus O'Neil serve as the onscreen hosts

 

Night One

 

Opening WWE Title Match: Bobby Lashley v Drew McIntyre: As always with WrestleMania, I'll be tracking the time between bells. 22 minutes before the opening bell here, and apparently it was even longer due to a rain delay, but that's all cut out of the Network version of the show. The rain and fog in the background gives it kind of a cool bit of atmosphere though, especially with all the beams of light. Some posturing to start, dominated by the challenger. Drew clotheslines him over the top, but loses a fight out there, and gets tossed into the barricade. Inside, Lashley continues pounding on him for a while, until Drew takes him down for a cross-armbreaker, but Bobby manages to throw fists to shake him off. Lashley unloads in the corner, but a cross corner whip backfires when Drew rebounds with a clothesline. Criss cross ends in Drew overhead armdragging him, and he adds a suplex, followed by a neckbreaker. Northern lights suplex gets two, but Lashley fights back with a modified powerbomb for two. Chokeslam gets two, and they fight to the top, where Drew puts him in a kimura lock. Kind of a weird place to do it, but whatever works. Drew ends up slamming him off the top, but a charge ends badly when Lashley chokeslams him again. Drew kips up, and it's so nice to hear an actual live crowd react to this stuff again. Drew comes back with an overhead suplex and the Future Shock DDT - which he turns into a cool three-alarm rolling version for two. That was neat, but would have been substantially cooler had any of them actually connected. Claymore Kick, but Lashley bails to avoid it, so Drew dives after him with a somersault suicida. Why are the announcers standing? Did the rain break their table, or something? No, wait, their table is right there... maybe they're just trying to stay out of the rain? It looks odd, regardless. Inside, Lashley gets control again with a DDT of his own, and he goes for the full-nelson, but Drew powers out before he can get it fully locked. Drew slaps on another kimura, and Lashley looks close to tapping, but makes the ropes to save himself. Claymore, but Drew gets distracted by MVP, and misses. That looked phony. It allows Lashley the full-nelson either way, and he gets it locked in this time. Drew fights, but fades, and Lashley retains at 18:20. This was okay, but the finish felt like kind of a downer to start the show on. * ½

 

#1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match: Natalya and Tamina v Lana and Naomi v Carmella and Billie Kay v Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan v Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke: 6 minutes between bells here. It's nice to see that some of the super fans from before the pandemic are right back in their usual ringside seats again. Lana/Naomi start with Carmella/Billie Kay, and it's Naomi and Carmella for their teams. Naomi dominates her with a dropkick, and it's over to Lana for a one-handed bulldog. Lana with a ropechoke, but Carmella fights her off long enough to tag, but Lana quickly fights Billie off with a Russian legsweep. That whole sequence was embarrassingly amateurish. Lana then misses a kick so badly that even the announcers don't bother covering it up, but an assist from Carmella allows Billie to cradle Naomi at 2:20. Ruby and Liv are next in, and Morgan hits Billie with a dropkick on the way, allowing Ruby a cradle for one. Kay fights them off long enough for a tag, as the announcer stretch to come up with things to talk about with this shitty match. Carmella superkicks Morgan for two, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on. Ruby gets dumped, allowing Billie a sloppy cradle on Liv, but the referee busts Carmella giving an assist, and won't count. That allows Liv to come back with a kneeling facebuster that had zero impact, and Ruby dives in on Kay for the pin at 4:57. Mandy and Dana are next in, looking like a proper tag team. Ruby tries holding the high ground, but Rose decks here, and Dana dives with a flying blockbuster for two. At least that one didn't look embarrassing. Dana with a somersault neckbreaker for two, as she's quickly becoming the WORKER of this match. The crowd, meanwhile, is completely silent. And rightly so. Rose tags in, but quickly loses control, and Morgan gets the tag. She drops Mandy with an enzuigiri for two, and Ruby adds the Riott Kick, but Dana saves at two. Rose comes back with a suplex on Ruby, then a superplex on Liv, and Dana punctuates it with a flying somersault senton splash. It totally missed, but we're pretending it didn't, cool? Cover, count, but Morgan reverses the cradle for the pin at 9:17. Unfortunately for Liv, Natalya comes right in for the Sharpshooter, but Morgan counters with a cradle for two. Natalya is still fresh, however, and she shoves Morgan into the corner for a double team with Tamina. Natalya with a sitout powerbomb for two, and Roseanne Barr the door again. The Squad double up on Tamina, but they have trouble putting it away, and Tamina ends up superkicking Liv. That allows the tag back to Natalya, and the Hart Attack sets up the Sharpshooter, but Natalya has second thoughts. Apparently she wants Tamina to have the honors with a flying splash, and that shit... actually works! Thought for sure it would cost them the match, but nope, Tamina pins Ruby at 12:04. This was embarrassingly bad at points, looking more like the filler women's matches from the Attitude Era than something from 2021. At least those were super short. ½*

 

Seth Rollins v Cesaro: 5 minutes between bells. Seth's entrance is way over the top, with an outside the stadium fireworks display, and torches lining the aisle. Unfortunately, half of the torches don't light up, but whatever. Cesaro charges with an uppercut right out of the gate, but Seth manages to block the giant swing, and he bails to the apron. Seth tries a slingshot back in, but Cesaro dodges, and hits a springboard corkscrew backelbow. Rollins tries to bail again, but Cesaro is on him this time, and uses a dropkick to set up a gutwrench superplex, but Rollins counters with a bucklebomb for two. Vertical superplex into a falcon arrow gets two, but Cesaro counters a neckbreaker with a backslide for two, and he starts throwing uppercuts. Lariat gets him two, so he goes for the swing again, but Rollins counters with a cradle for two. Cesaro goes back to the swing, but Rollins hides in the ropes, and throws an enzuigiri when Cesaro tries pulling him off. Curbstomp, but Cesaro dodges, and now it's swing time! Cesaro shifts it into the sharpshooter, but Seth is in the ropes. Neutralizer, but Rollins backdrops to block, and he dives with a springboard flying high knee. Sling blade follows, and Rollins gets to the top with a flying corkscrew splash for two. Nice spot, but I could do without the shocked kickout face. Reversal sequence ends in Cesaro hitting the Neutralizer for two (also complete with SKOF), and another reversal sequence ends in Seth planting him with the pedigree for two. Seth knocks him silly with a series of strikes, and the curbstomp looks to finish, but Cesaro blocks with an uppercut. Airplane spin into a helicopter slam leads to the giant swing, and he capitalizes with the Neutralizer at 11:27. Nothing particularly notable going on here, but a solid little match. ** ½

 

WWE RAW Tag Team Title Match: The New Day v AJ Styles and Omos: 10 minutes between bells here. Kofi Kingston starts with AJ, and a reversal sequence ends in AJ schoolboying for one. Kingston with his own cradle for two, and he stops to taunt Omos, as Xavier Woods provide a soundtrack via trumpet. Kofi with a splash, and he tags Woods in for a slingshot elbowdrop for two. The champs take turns working AJ over, and I dig their WrestleMania themed gear - especially how they crossed out the second zero in '2020' and replaced it with a one. AJ finally fights them off long enough to get the tag, and wait, are Styles and Omos the babyfaces here? Oh, okay. I was wondering why they were doing the heat segment backwards. Though, really, how can we buy fun loving New Day as heels? Omos slaughters them, and he's working like Giant Gonzalez here, so being in a tag team is definitely the right fit for him. Omos with a chokeslam on Kingston, and he pins him with one foot across the chest at 9:47. Not much to this one. ¾*

 

Cage Match: Braun Strowman v Shane McMahon: 10 minutes between bells. Jerry Lawler is out for guest commentary on this one. Elias and Ryker attack Braun with chairs during his entrance, and Shane uses the weapon on him in the ring as the match officially gets underway. Shane makes an escape attempt, but Strowman pulls him back down, yelling about how there's 'nowhere to run.' Actually, Braun, I think escaping is exactly the name of the game here, but whatever you say, big guy. Shane actually gets to control the match by out boxing Strowman in the corner, and he works the body. Shane rips a piece of the cage off to beat on Strowman with, but that only lasts for so long before Braun starts returning fire. We're only, like, four minutes into this, and Shane already looks like he's been out there for two hours. Shane comes back with a floatover DDT, and the Coast to Coast gets two. Poor Shane doesn't even get a pop for that anymore, and the camera crew doesn't really seem to give a shit either. They're shooting this match like one of those 'LIVE' crowd shots during chinlocks in the 90s. Shane fights a toolbox to beat Braun down with, as Lawler really stretches with his jokes. Shane has a clear path to victory, but takes too long showboating as he climbs, and Strowman rips a section of the cage open to pull him back in. Haven't seen that before, and it was pretty cool. They both end up on the top of the cage, and Shane ends up taking a big bump down to the mat. Instead of climbing out, Braun gets up on a soapbox about bullying, before finishing with the running powerslam at 11:27. Right guy went over, but this should have been a total slaughter. I mean, I wouldn't buy McMahon going toe to toe with him when he was a young guy, let alone as a gray haired fifty year old. ¾*

 

The Hall of Fame class of 2020 (The nWo, Davey Boy Smith, The Bella Twins, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Titus O-Neil) come out to take a bow. Other inductees Jushin Thunder Liger and William Shatner don't appear, however. I honestly didn't even know they did a ceremony this year, was it even hyped?

 

Miz and John Morrison v Damian Priest and Bad Bunny: 23 minutes between bells. Booker T joins is for guest commentary on this one. Miz goads Bunny into starting the match with him, and Miz is showboating like crazy here. It backfires when Bunny puts him down with a jab to make the first contact of the match, but Miz brushes it off. He tries charging, but Bunny is ready with a waistlock, and he throws another jab when Miz tries escaping. Bunny tackles him down, but quickly gets overpowered by the pro, and Miz unloads on him. Bunny manages an armdrag to put Miz on the outside, and Bunny uses a drop-toehold to counteract a charging Miz, followed by a magistral cradle for two. Miz calls for a test-of-strength and immediately takes a cheap shot when Bunny goes for it, and Miz dumps him to the outside, but wastes time gloating, and Bunny gets the better of a criss cross with a headscissors takedown. Tag to Morrison, and what is up with his hair? I'm not even sure what he's going for there. The heels manage to work together to put Bunny down, and they finally have control of the contest. They go to work on Bunny, and the crowd is surprisingly quiet for most of this. Bunny manages to catch Miz with a DDT to allow the tag to Priest, and Roseanne Barr the door! Priest hits Miz with a chokeslam for two, and Bunny comes in to help deliver stereo falcon arrows for two. The heels bail, so Priest dives after them, and then tells Bunny to do the same - Bunny coming off the top with a flying bodypress on the floor. Inside, Priest goes for the kill on Miz, but gets countered with a Skull Crushing Finale for two. Meanwhile, Bunny catches Morrison with a Canadian destroyer on the floor, and everyone stops to sell the shock of that. Priest hoists Miz up on his shoulders in an electric chair from there, and Bunny comes off the top with a flying bodypress for the pin at 13:02. Bunny worked really hard here, but booking him to look this strong feels like a mistake. I get that we're way past the era of kayfabe, but even still, a scrawny celeb in his first match should not be fighting off two experienced pros like that. ¾*

 

Main Event: WWE Smackdown Women's Title Match: Sasha Banks v Bianca Belair: 13 minutes between bells here. Bit of a feeling out process to start, though an overly choreographed one. Again, dead crowd. Sasha manages to dump her to the outside for a baseball slide, and she adds a tope - only for Belair to roll through it, and press-drop her back inside. Belair walking up the steps with Banks pressed over her head is pretty damn impressive. Unfortunately, she immediately loses control, and Banks puts her down for two. Criss cross allows the challenger a shoulderblock, and a bodyslam sets up a handspring moonsault, but Banks blocks. Banks grabs hold of the braid for some short-knee strikes, adding a shining wizard for two. Mounted punches get two, and a snapmare puts Belair down for a bow-and-arrow. The announcers take a break from the match - the main event of WrestleMania, mind you - so they can do a promo for Snickers. At least Jim Ross used to incorporate it into the match, like the infamous 'Coors Light ring post,' or whatever. Couldn't they work in a line about how Belair is hungry for the title, or something? Belair escapes, and hits a hanging vertical suplex, but her showboating messes her up as well. Just do a suplex! No need to press her up and down a million times first. Belair makes a comeback, but a flying 450 splash hits the knees, and they do a pinfall reversal sequence. Belair delivers a two-alarm no-release powerbomb for two, but Sasha quickly comes back with a facebuster to buy recovery time. Sasha with a tornado DDT for two, and a flying frogsplash is worth two. Sasha decides to start working the arm, and she tries the Bank Statement, but Belair makes the ropes. Banks tries a flying double stomp, but it misses, and Belair lands the flying 450 for two. Belair responds by literally breaking down and crying, and frankly, I'd rather sit through another Snickers ad than have to endure that again. Belair whips her with the braid, and oh shit, she really let her have it with that one. Reversal sequence ends in Belair hitting the Kiss of Death, and we have a new champion at 17:16. This was really dull, and well below the level of most top tier women's matches, let alone worthy of headlining a WrestleMania. One big thing that drove me crazy with this one is that they seemed to be doing everything in slow motion out there, like they're unsure of themselves, or something. * ½

 

Night Two

 

Opening Match: Randy Orton v Bray Wyatt: 22 minutes before the opening bell here. That white gear looks weird on Randy. Bray, meanwhile, gets a really over the top entrance where he pops out of a jack-in-the-box... which they completely ruin by playing rock music over. They're back to doing the stupid red light bullshit for this. Bray dives off of the jack-in-the-box with a clothesline to kick start the match, and he pounds on Orton for a while, then stops to just kind of stare off into the distance for an extended period of time. Randy takes that as a cue to bail, and he side suplexes Wyatt onto the announce table when Bray chases, but Wyatt no-sells, and slaps on the Mandible Claw. They're on the outside though, and Wyatt loses control on the way back in, with Randy delivering a rope-hung DDT. Wyatt no-sells, so Randy gives him another one, but Wyatt is still mostly no-selling. Wyatt comes back with a clothesline, but a senton splash misses, allowing Orton another elevated DDT. RKO, but Wyatt counters with the Claw, and he shifts it into Sister Abigail, but gets distracted by Alexa Bliss, who is getting the Papa Shango ooze treatment at ringside. That allows Randy to sneak up with the RKO at 5:54. This was pretty terrible, but at least it was pretty terrible in six minutes, instead of twenty. Where can they possibly go with this character now, though? DUD

 

WWE Women's Tag Team Title Match: Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax v Natalya and Tamina: 8 minutes between bells. Baszler and Natalya start, and Nattie goes for the Sharpshooter early, but Baszler is in the ropes. Tag to Nia, and she shoves Nattie down, calling for Tamina. The challengers oblige, and we actually get a 'Tamina' chant. Sure, you've been silent for two shows, but give Tamina a chant, why not? Nothing happens, so Nattie comes back in to assist with a tandem suplex, and the challengers drop Baszler across Jax for good measure. Nattie goes for the Sharpshooter, but Baszler blocks again, so Nattie German suplexes her instead. Nattie uses a catapult to send Baszler into a superkick from Tamina for two, but Baszler fights off the follow-up, as Nia takes out Tamina to prevent Nattie tagging out. That allows the champions to go to work on Natalya, but she eventually slips away long enough to make the tag to Tamina (kinda), and Roseanne Barr the door. Tamina with a Samoan drop on Baszler for two, but Baszler blocks the Superfly Splash, and Nia dives off the middle onto both challengers for two. Nia starts cutting a promo on Tamina in between pounding on her, but Tamina fights back with a bodyslam for two, earning her another 'Tamina' chant. I don't get this crowd. Superfly Splash misses, allowing a hot tag to Natalya, and Roseanne Barr that door again, please. I'm being polite! Nattie goes for the Sharpshooter on Nia, and it's shades of WrestleMania IX here. Unfortunately, there's no Mr. Fuji, so Baszler just comes in and chokes Nattie out at 14:17. Another really weak women's match on this show. What's going on with this division? Also, nearly fifteen minutes for THIS? ½*

 

Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn: 10 minutes between bells. John Bradshaw Layfield is out for guest commentary on this one, and Sami has Logan Paul in his corner. I see Owens is still running with the KO-Mania shirt gag, and it continues to be fantastic. Zayn charges into a powerbomb right away, and he wisely bails to regroup. Kevin is on his tail with a powerbomb on the apron, but Zayn blocks, so Kevin unloads with chops on the way in. Owens dumps him across the top rope front-first, and a Cannonball sets up a flying somersault senton splash, but Sami rolls to the outside to prevent the dive. Owens goes after him on the apron, but Zayn is ready with a big boot, and he delivers a brutal looking suplex on the apron. Sami leaves him to die out there for the countout, but Owens beats it, so Sami hammers him with mounted punches. Logan Paul, meanwhile, appears to be settling in for a nap in a big comfy chair at ringside. Zayn with a michinoku driver for two, but Owens blocks a superplex, and dives with a flying frogsplash for two. Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Zayn blocks, and a reversal sequence ends in Owens using a muscle buster for two. Package powerbomb gets countered with a suplex into the turnbuckles, however, and Zayn goes for the Helluva Kick, but Kevin sidesteps. Sami comes back with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two, and another suplex into the buckles leads to a dragon suplex. Sami keeps coming with a brainbuster for two, and Kevin won't stay down. Zayn unloads on him in the corner, but Owens counters another superplex attempt with a muscle buster off the middle. Is Paul supposed to be playing a disinterested fool here, or is he actually a disinterested fool? I honestly can't tell. Owens makes a comeback, but Sami fires up with a Helluva Kick out of nowhere. Again, but this time Owens blocks with a superkick, and he hits a second one to set up a stunner at 9:16. This was like a CliffsNotes version of one of their matches, but it was still fun regardless. ***

 

WWE United States Title Match: Riddle v Sheamus: 9 minutes between bells. Logan Paul with Riddle would have made much more sense. "This match for the US title, which Sheamus has held... a couple of times..." Way to put it over, Cole. Sheamus dominates him in the early going, so Riddle tries choking him down with a sleeper, but takes a scrapbuster for two. Scrapbuster across the knee gets two, as Cole lists off all of Sheamus's accomplishments, and he's STILL confused about the US title reigns. Sheamus hammers him with a series of forearms across the chest, and a vertical suplex gets him two. He goes upstairs, but Riddle is able to pop up with an overhead superplex to prevent a dive, and it's a hell of a superplex too, with Riddle making a full backflip. Riddle makes a comeback, and a jackhammer gets him two. Reversal sequence ends in Riddle getting backdropped over the top, but he lands on the apron, so Sheamus just Brogue Kick's his ass for two. Whiplash gets two, but a fight out on the apron ends badly when Riddle German suplexes him out there. Riddle adds a springboard senton out there, and a flying somersault senton splash is with two on the way back in. Riddle tries for the submission, but Sheamus powers into a powerbomb for two, so Riddle digs in with a sleeper. Sheamus makes the ropes, and he starts pounding the champ with mounted punches. He tries a White Noise off the very top, but slips, and ends up having to just give him a regular one. Big botch, but at least they saved it, instead of just collapsing in a heap. Sheamus with a flying kneedrop for two, and a reversal sequence ends in the Brogue to crown a new champion at 10:50. Great, now Cole will be even more confused. Some nice moves, and they got the crowd into it by the end, but the match was flat. ¾*

 

WWE Intercontinental Title Nigerian Drum Fight: Big E v Apollo Crews: 11 minutes between bells. Wale performs Big E's theme live here.  Both guys immediately arm themselves with kendo sticks, and Big E gets the better of that one. Crews bails to the outside, but Big E follows, continuing to unload with the kendo. Big E tosses him into the barricade out there, and grabs a big gong to beat him with, but the challenger blocks. Crews gets some shots in with the kendo, but Big E dumps him out to the apron, and then spears him down to the floor. Back in, that gets the champion two, so he grabs the steps to slam Crews on, but Crews counters with a fireman's carry on the apron for two. That allows Crews to put Big E on the bottom half of the steps, and drops the top half of them to try and make a sandwich, but Big E dodges. That allows the champ to come back with a uranage on the steps, but he takes too long setting up a table, and Crews fights him off with a well placed enzuigiri. Crews beats him with a kendo for a while, and he puts Big E on a table to set up a flying frogsplash - only for the champ to dodge. Big E capitalizes with the Big Ending, but some big dude runs in (later introduced as Commander Azeez) to break up the pin, and he gives Big E a chokeslam. He caps it off by putting Crews on top, and we have a new champion at 6:49. Definitely better than the Fastlane match, but the crowd was dead for most of it, and the flow was terrible. *

 

The Hall of Fame class of 2021 (Kane, Rob Van Dam, Great Khali, Eric Bischoff, Molly Holly, and Rich Hering) come out to take a bow. Ozzy Osbourne does not appear

 

WWE RAW Women's Title Match: Asuka v Rhea Ripley: 23 minutes between bells, and Ash Costello plays the challenger down for this. Asuka brings fire at the bell, trying to disorient the challenger by throwing everything at her at once, until Rhea ends up on the outside. Asuka brings her back in with kicks, but the hip attack misses, and Ripley superkicks her. Ripley with a slam for two, and she pounds Asuka with mounted punches now that she has control. Rhea works a bodyscissors, and what is it with everyone tonight using 'YOU WANTED THIS' as a taunt? Asuka tries grabbing the leg for a submission, but Ripley suplexes her way out of it for two, but the ankle has been damaged. The challenger takes her upstairs for a side superplex, but Asuka manages to block, and she dives with a missile dropkick. Why are they taking, like, eight hours between each move? We're less than ten minutes into the match, step it up. Asuka with a German suplex and a few spinkicks to set up the hip attack for two, but a trip to the top ends badly when Ripley dropkicks her off. Rhea follows to the outside to give her an inverted electric chair across the apron, but Asuka gets control on the way back in, and decides to turn around with a DDT off of the apron. That was a pretty crazy spot, but the crowd barely even acknowledged it. Rhea beats the count, so Asuka welcomes her back with a running knee for two, but Ripley blocks a shining wizard, and puts the boots to the champion. Ripley slaps on a hold, but Asuka counters to a cross-armbreaker, only for Rhea to power to a vertical base to escape. Ripley with a vertical suplex for two, but Asuka counters a German with a fujiwara armbar, then shifts it into the cross-armbreaker. Rhea rolls it into a cradle for two, so Asuka shifts to a choke, but Ripley cradles again for two. Asuka responds by unloading with strikes, but Ripley fights her off with the Riptide at 13:26. Strong start, boring middle, decent finish (though it felt out of nowhere). This was another one hampered by a dead crowd. * ¾

 

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Triple Threat Match: Roman Reigns v Edge v Daniel Bryan: 14 minutes between bells. First fall wins it. Reigns beats both guys down to start, dumping each to the outside for Jey Uso to superkick. Jey tries whipping Edge into the steps, but gets reversed, and Edge makes a big comeback on Roman - pinballing him between the apron and the barricade a bunch of times before punctuating it with a trip into the post. Edge stops to DDT Uso on the steps to make sure he's out of play, but he hurts himself along the way, and meanwhile Bryan is relatively fresh. They get into a slugfest, and Daniel manages to corner him for a series of kicks, then takes him up for a rana off the top - only for Edge to roll through for two. Edge-o-Matic gets two, so Bryan goes upstairs with a flying dropkick, but an attempt to dive at a recovering Reigns with a tope ends badly when Roman catches him in a suplex on the floor. Edge capitalizes by baseball sliding into the champion, but Roman shakes him off with a jumping clothesline on the way back in. Superman Punch, but Edge counters with the implant DDT. Spear, but Reigns counters with a Superman - only to have his own spear countered with a sunset flip for two. Criss cross ends in both guys trying the spear for a double knockout, allowing Bryan to dive in with a flying headbutt drop on Reigns for two. Daniel alternates on them with Yes Kicks, getting him two on Reigns. Yes Lock looks to polish the champion off, but Edge makes the save, so Bryan puts HIM in the hold instead. Roman saves, and decides to powerbomb Bryan onto Edge, and then powerbombs Daniel through the announce table for good measure. His celebration is cut short when Edge spears him off of the steps, and Edge puts him in a crippler crossface, but Bryan breaks it up. Bryan beats the piss out of Edge with mounted blows, but that fires him up, and he spears everyone. Cover on Roman, but Bryan pulls the referee out at two. That causes Edge to go a little berserk, and he grabs a chair, pinballing between both guys until the thing is falling apart. Still not satisfied, he puts each man's head on a chair to set up the Conchairto, but Jey dives in to save Roman from it. Edge beats Uso down with the chair, but Roman has recovered, and he spears the weapon out of his challenger's hands. That allows Reigns to deliver his own conchairto, and he stacks both challengers up to pin both simultaneously at 21:40. This was pretty good, and generally managed to avoid the flaw of the 'one guy takes a nap on the outside' that most of these matches suffer from. Also, who would have ever thought that seeing Roman Reigns stand tall at the end of WrestleMania after crushing Daniel Bryan would ever be the popular booking decision? *** ¼

BUExperience: At six hours and twenty one minutes this falls just short of last year’s record for longest WrestleMania, and thankfully they weren’t intent on breaking it, because this felt long enough as is. Though, I believe the live airing with the rain delay puts it way over the top, but that version isn’t available on the Network.

This has to be an immediate contender for the worst WrestleMania of all time. Even other really bad ones (IV, XI, XV) at least had something going for them. Interesting character, satisfying angles – something. This one just felt like it went on forever, and with little point. Also, shockingly, despite being back in the big stadium and with fans again, this felt like it was missing all the usual glitz that modern WrestleManias have become known for.

Oh, and for those keeping score, 186 minutes between bells. Over three hours. And that’s not even including the rain delay…

DUD