WWE
On Saturday, at Night 1 of WrestleMania, we saw Drew McIntyre fail to win back the WWE Championship, and Bianca Belair become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion in a fantastic main event. On Sunday, on Night 2 of WrestleMania, we’ll see who walks out of The Show of Shows as Universal Champion when Roman Reigns defends his title against Edge and Daniel Bryan.
And hopefully there won’t be any more weather delays, which is how Night 1 opened.
It’s one of many matches to look forward to when Night 2 streams on NBC’s Peacock. Rhea Ripley will challenge for Asuka’s Raw Women’s Championship — which should rule — and we’ll also see Sami Zayn (with Logan Paul) take on Kevin Owens. There’s also The Fiend versus Randy Orton which will be… interesting?
Check back to this page from 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET for live updates, results and analysis for WresteMania 37 Night 2.
Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan
It’s main event time. Edge is cheered heavily as he comes out, a reminder that WWE’s decision to turn him heel was insane.
Jey Uso gets involved pretty much straight away. Reigns throws Bryan out of the ring and Uso clocks him with a Superkick before attacking Edge. Edge takes him out with a DDT onto the steel steps, leading to Uso being walked to the back by medical personell.
Rhea Ripley pins Asuka
Rhea Ripley was ready for Asuka. Ripley pinned Asuka with the Riptide.
This match was just OK, which is a bummer. They both worked hard, but the crowd was quiet for most of the match which made it very hard to get into. Rhea is so promising and Asuka is great, but this didn’t click for a number of reasons. The big issue is that Asuka hasn’t had a pay-per-view title defense since last October, so she doesn’t feel as important as she should, and this is Ripley’s first WWE pay-per-view in front of a live crowd.
There was some great submission wrestling, with Asuka countering out of Ripley’s power moves into armbars and kneebars. But this didn’t really excite the crowd, nor did the big spot where Asuka DDT’d Ripley off the apron. That said, the crowd did pop big for Ripley when she got the win.
Rating: 3 stars. The crowd was so flat for this, even though they woke up for the finish, which made this hard to get into.
Apollo Crews wins Intercontinental Championship
Another championship change. Apollo Crews beat Big E in a Nigerian Drum Fight (really just a No Holds Barred match) after Dabba-Kato, a former NFL player and current development talent, debuted and chokeslammed Big E.
It was a hardhitting match. These two were in a tough spot, coming after two very strong bouts, and made the most of it with a high-intensity sprint. They started by barraging each other with Kendo Stick shots. Apollo got one of the big gold drums from ringside but Big E kicked it out of his hands.
Big E hit his patented spear from the apron to the floor, which makes me wince every time. Later, after Crews set up steps below the apron, Big E planted Crews with a urange from the arpon onto the steel steps. Another wince from me. The finish came when Crews set up a table and went for a splash but Big E moved and Crews crashed through. Big E had Crews in the Big Ending, but Dabba-Kato came out of nowhere to interrupt, chokeslam Big E and pull Crews over the top for the cover.
Rating: 2.5 stars. These two worked hard, but they were just in a hard spot coming off two awesome matches. The silly “Nigerian Drum Fight” stipulation made it harder to take seriously, too.
Sheamus wins United States Championship
Another great match — Night 2 is rolling on well. Sheamus and Riddle beat the hell out of each other, and Sheamus was victorious after he caught Riddle with Brogue Kick as Riddle was mid-moonsault.
It started out with some wrestling and fairly standard action. The Owens versus Zayn match ended on a high, so Sheamus and Riddle started off by reseting the crowd. But things picked up when Sheamus hit a gnarly bicycle knee strike to Riddle for a nice near fall. Sheamus then hit an Alabama Slam for another two count. Moments later, Riddle got his turn. He smashed Sheamus on the outside with a German Suplex on the side of the ring, a Penalty Kick and a Floating Bro for a two count.
Back in the ring, Sheamus went for a White Noise off the top rope, but he lost his balance. Thankfully, he landed on his feet with Riddle still strewn over his shoulders, so hit the White Noise in the center of the ring, followed by a flying knee from the top rope for a two. Riddle began to fight back, but was caught by that Brogue Kick mid-moonsault.
After the match, a bloodied-up Riddle had a stare down with Sheamus. Hopefully we see these two go at it again.
Rating: 4 stars.
Kevin Owens pins Sami Zayn
A very good match. Sami Zayn was pinned by Kevin Owens in a bout that, thankfully, saw no interference from Logan Paul, who sat by ringside ostensibly in the corner of Sami Zayn.
The two started off strong, with Owens immediately hitting a Pop-up Powerbomb. Zayn rolled out of the ring and it was pretty much all action from there. There’s really actually not much to say. There was little story throughout the match, as it pretty much consisted of Owens and Zayn trading moves. That sounds like a criticism, but everything was so tight, and both are so talented, so it was just a bunch of fun to watch.
Story did play into it at the conclusion though. Sami Zayn hit a Helluva Kick on Owens and then, as Owens began to fall, Zayn held him up. This was a throwback to their match at the 2016 Battleground pay-per-view match — something that JBL, guest commentating, actually pointed out. Zayn went for another, like how he did at Battleground all those years ago, but Owens caught him with a superkick, then another superkick. Owens then held up a fallen Zayn, hit him with a Stunner and got the 1-2-3.
After the match, Paul came into the ring. Zayn got in his grill, so Paul shoved Zayn. Zayn then retreated. There was a fun moment were Paul lifted Owens’ arm and the whole crowd was chanting for Owens to stun him. Which he totally did, and the crowd loved it. Credit to Logan Paul here: He knew his role — i.e. the guy that the crowd wants to see laid out — and he took the stunner better than most of the roster.
Rating: 4 stars. Super good.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler retain tag titles
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defending their titles against Natalya and Tamina is up next.
The match started off surprisingly snug. Nia Jax and Tamina got into a headbutt battle, Baszler hit Natalya with an awesome knee strike that looked like it hurt, and Jax planted Tamina on the outside with a body slam. But then the pace slowed down. With Tamina on the outside, Jax and Baszler worked over Natalya in the ring. The pace crawled and the crowd went quiet.
Eventually Natalya fought back and was able to tag in Tamina. She had a square off with Jax, which culminated with Tamina doing a body slam on Jax (even if she didn’t quite hoist her all the way up). She then went for a Superfly Splash but Jax moved. They both tag their partners. Natalya blasts Baszler outside of the ring and locks Jax into a Sharpshooter, apparently not realizing Baszler is the legal woman.
Baszler breaks up the Sharpshooter by locking in a Kirafuda Clutch, and Natalya passes out.
Rating: 2.75 stars. This was much better than Night 1’s Tag Team Turmoil match. It was a mixed bag, as most of the time Tamina was in the ring it wasn’t particularly good. But it was well laid out, with some real bright spots (like Baszler’s awesome knee) and a cool finish — even if the “babyface passes out” finish is overdone.
Randy Orton defeats The Fiend
WrestleMania 37 kicked off with one of the most heavily promoted matches of the show: Randy Orton versus The Fiend. After a thankfully short match, Randy Orton pinned The Fiend with an RKO.
Randy Orton came out in white tights — some WreslteMania pizzaz for you. Then we got The Fiend’s entrance.
We see him walking through a walkway where he transforms from the burnt Fiend to the “normal” one, albiet with a slightly new mask. Then Alexa Bliss comes out in her Firefly Funhouse form, and walks to a jack in the box that’s set up near the ring. She turns the handle, to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel, and out comes The Fiend.
So in WWE canon, the RKO is more powerful than being burnt alive and dying.
— Voices of Wrestling (@voiceswrestling) April 12, 2021
The match itself was like an average Raw bout. They had a straightforward wrestling match until Alexa Bliss appeared on top of the Jack in the Box from which The Fiend appeared. She was… I don’t know, covered in ink or blood or something. The Fiend was confused, and Orton hit an RKO for the pin.
After the match, Bliss and The Fiend stared at each other and then the lights went out and both vanished. The crowd booed.
Rating: 1 star. This is just preposterous. Randy Orton burned The Fiend to a crisp, and that culminated with… a wrestling match. Where they actually just hit normal wrestling moves. If The Fiend can literally defy the laws of life and death, why do we care if he got hit with a DDT? How could an RKO possibly keep him down? It’s just stupid.