When WrestleMania 37 Night 1 went to air , things didn’t look good. The show opened with announcer Michael Cole informing us that bad weather …
When WrestleMania 37 Night 1 went to air, things didn’t look good. The show opened with announcer Michael Cole informing us that bad weather above Tampa, Florida’s Raymond James Stadium meant that the show’s start would have to be delayed. After 30 minutes of stalling, the show opened properly. And that’s when the surprises started. The first bout was Bobby Lashley defending his WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. Drew seemed like a sure thing — but Lashley made him pass out with his Hurt Lock. WrestleMania started with a shocker. It was a mostly good show from that point on, with one weak match and many good ones. As far as WrestleManias go, though, it was saved by the main event. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair killed it, and in the end Belair stood tall as SmackDown Women’s Champion. So Night 1 is officially in the books. But like NXT TakeOver was spread over Wednesday and Thursday, Sunday night will see a second night of WrestleMania. That’s where we’ll see the most anticipated match of the weekend: Reigns versus Bryan versus Edge. That kicks off on Peacock at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. In a star-making babyface performance, Bianca Belair beat Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania 37 Night 1. It was the best match on the show. Sasha Banks was on fire, and put on an absolute great performance that helped Belair look like a star. The was great before the two even locked up. Belair and Banks were overwhelmed with emotion at main eventing the show, as the two were visibly tearing up as the bell rang. Once they locked up, though, both women were all business. The point of this match was to get Bianca Belair over as a top bobyface. It was a success. All of the key spots showed off her crazy athleticism, like the bit where she got Banks in a military press on the outside and walked up the stairs, holding Banks in the air, before tossing Banks inside. Then there was the wicked suplex spot, where Belair hoisted Banks up for a vertical suplex, walked around the ring and bounced her off two sets of ropes, with Banks fighting back twice and almost countering it only for Belair to use her strength to re-lift Banks back to a vertical position, ultimately landing the suplex. From what I could see, this was the stiffest match on the card — or at least, it looked the stiffest. I mean that in a good way. All the action was tight, a hallmark of Banks’ matches. There was a bit where Banks put her knees up to counter Belair’s 450 Splash, and it looked like Belair crushed her ribs on the impact. Sasha also gave a lot with her body, crashing into the barricades and later the turnbuckles with Meteora attemps that Belair dodged. Banks’ creative flair was on show too, as she used Belair’s long braid throughout the match. The high point here was when she wrapped Belair’s own hair around Belair’s shoulder before locking in the Banks Statement. Towards the end of the match, Belair hit back by whipping Banks with her long braid, slapping her leg (I hope) so it sounded like a gunshot. It was great. The finish came after a 450 Splash. Belair went for the KOD, Banks countered to go for the backstabber, but Belair countered again and scored the KOD for the pin. Rating: 4.25 stars. Bianca Belair could be WWE’s next big thing. She has everything. Incredible athleticism, highly marketable look and, as this showed, the ability to have great matches — even if Sasha Banks deserves a lot of the credit for this one. With WWE’s track record at making babyface stars, she’s unlikely to reach that level. But we can complain about that in the future, if and when those mistakes are made. This was a breakout moment for her, and a fabulous WrestleMania main event. Bad Bunny is the biggest star of the show so far. This whole match was laid out to make him shine, and he did great in his role. His offense was surprisingly tight, and he took his share of bumps too. You could tell he’s a true fan who wanted to do this the right way. He pinned The Miz when Priest hoisted Miz on his shoulders and Bunny did a top-rope splash. Miz and Morrison enter with a gang of bunnies, singing their parody rap song. Bad Bunny got a major superstar’s entrance, with a prerecorded clip of him sitting atop a trucker arriving in the arena.
