WWE’s WrestleMania 37 has come and gone. And what a show it was. Split between two evenings – dubbed WrestleMania Saturday and WrestleMania Sunday – the highly anticipated pay-per-view event offered tons of action, with something to appeal to all but the most particular of fans. Now that we’ve had time to reflect, let’s take a look back at some of the best moments from the biggest wrestling event of the year.
Welcome to WrestleMania
It had been one year, one month, and one day since WWE was last able to hold shows in front of a live audience. Vince McMahon kicked things off right, addressing the pandemic, and letting everyone watching know WWE superstars have missed the audience as much as the audience has missed them.
Welcome to WrestleRainia
Bebe Rexha’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” must have brought tears to the skies above, because, for the first time in WrestleMania history, the event was delayed for over 30 minutes due to weather. But this ended up being a good thing, forcing everyone to think on their feet. What followed was a series of fantastic unscripted promos and ringside analyses – something fans who have grown disillusioned with the tightly scripted nature of WWE’s current product have been clamoring for for years. We got to see the superstars we love improvise in a way only the best of the best know how to do, and it made for great entertainment.
Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison
In a performance that set a new standard for celebrity matches, Bad Bunny may have stolen the show. We knew Bad Bunny had been training for months, but even so, many fans expected Damian Priest to do the majority of the wrestling. Instead, Bad Bunny was in the ring for most of the match – and when he wasn’t, he was pulling off a Canadian Destroyer out on the floor. Props to The Miz and John Morrison for making Bad Bunny look like a seasoned veteran.
Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks
WrestleMania Saturday ended with another great moment in WrestleMania history, whose main event marked the first time two Black women headlined a WrestleMania. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks took a second to appreciate the moment, before tearing the house down with the best performance of the night. Belair pulled out all the stops, from landing an incredible 450 splash to using her hair like a whip to secure a victory, becoming the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (with Logan Paul)
WrestleMania Sunday had a worse opening hour than Saturday’s show, and that’s including the 30-minute rain delay. After the Sunday show’s underwhelming opening hour, the third contest of the night finally woke up the crowd. Before the match even started, Sami Zayn reminded everyone how he is one of the most engaging heels in the business today. His rantings about the WWE conspiring against him seem topical without being overt – and, therefore, make his promos more timeless. Zayn set the tone for a match ultimately about a friendship in disintegration, where one side loses touch with reality. Kevin Owens and Zayn have had a number of great performances together over their storied careers, and this hard-hitting contest unsurprisingly delivered. That would have been enough to leave most fans satisfied, but Owens gave us vicarious catharsis after the bell: he hit a stunner on Logan Paul in the center of the ring. If that’s not entertaining, we don’t know what is.
Visit The Hawthorne blog for more on entertainment, lifestyle advice, and upcoming local events.