WWE WrestleMania 37: 5 things that need to happen

It is the biggest event on the WWE calendar. The show fans and wrestlers look forward to the most – we are days away from night 1 of WrestleMania 37.

The Show of Shows is always special, but this year’s event is more so as it is the first pay-per-view in 13 months that the WWE Universe will be in attendance. Both nights will have 25,000 fans – this will give superstars extra motivation to put a bit more effort in and make it an unforgettable experience for those lucky enough to be there live.

In total, 14 matches have been confirmed, seven on both nights.

On Saturday – Sasha Banks defends her SmackDown Women’s Championship against the 2021 Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair. Drew McIntyre challenges Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. Bad Bunny & Damian Priest will attempt to put The Miz & Damian Priest in their place, and Cesaro faces Seth Rollins in a wrestling purist dream match.

24 hours later – The Fiend will be out for revenge when he battles Randy Orton in a heated grudge match. Asuka puts her Raw Women’s Championship on the line against Rhea Ripley. Apollo Crews knows the Nigerian Drum Fight will be his last shot at Big E’s Intercontinental title, and Roman Reigns will have to fend off Daniel Bryan and Edge if he wants to leave Raymond James Stadium with SmackDown’s richest prize.

This promises to be a memorable night – here are five things that need to happen across the two-night extravaganza that is WrestleMania 37.

Drew McIntyre has to defeat Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship on night 1. 

Drew McIntyre reached the culmination of a life-long journey when he beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania last year but fans were not permitted inside the Performance Centre to witness the special occasion – due to the global pandemic. 370 days later, the WWE Universe is back, ready to celebrate “The Scottish Warrior” winning his third world title.

The master of the Claymore Kick continues to be a stand-out performer during one of WWE’s most difficult periods in history – having brilliant matches against Sheamus, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Keith Lee, and Roman Reigns. McIntrye carries himself as a champion – he has grown into the role of one of the locker room leaders recently, earning the respect of his fellow wrestlers. McIntyre deserves his moment of glory in front of fans as a reward for his hard work and dedication – nobody could begrudge him of it.

This match could be the first match on night 1. McIntyre winning the WWE Championship back from the man who cost him the title in February is the feel-good moment WrestleMania is all about.

This take is not a dig at Bobby Lashley’s reign, he is a good WWE Champion, it is about the moment McIntyre was robbed of 12 months ago. These two will have a great match. Lashley could win the title back in a few months but McIntrye recapturing the title takes priority over “The All-Mighty” retaining in this climate.

Rhea Ripley must beat Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship on night 2.

The Internet Wrestling Community hardly agrees on anything however the majority of fans thought the wrong woman had their arm raised when Charlotte Flair beat Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship on night 2 of WrestleMania last year. That loss took “The Nightmare” off-track – it has taken 12 months for her to recover.

After the aforementioned defeat to Flair – Ripley admitted she “lost her confidence”. In the months after dropping the title – Ripley was defeated in high-profile matches against Toni Storm, Io Shirai, and Raquel González. She was drifting along on Wednesdays – the 24-year-old had outgrown NXT.

The loss to González was Ripley’s last appearance for three weeks until the 2021 Royal Rumble, where she was runner up to Bianca Belair. That proved to be Ripley’s last match as an NXT superstar as the next time she was on television was in March when she appeared on Raw to challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37. The way Ripley swaggered down to the ring – showed the confidence she lost was back. Asuka did not hesitate to accept the challenge – this has the potential to be a show-stealer.

Ripley has got the better of the exchanges leading into the first time match. During the contract signing to make the bout official – Ripley flipped the table onto Asuka, laying her out. On the go-home show – the two were teammates, but Ripley turned on her partner, costing them the match. While Asuka was prone on the mat, Ripley told her “this is my division now” – she is determined to become the red brand’s next Women’s Champion.

When Ripley lost to Flair – Triple H, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development, said her “path to greatness” had not changed – if that is the case, Ripley needs to dethrone Asuka on Sunday.

Eight months in, Asuka’s title reign has been forgetful, no fault of her own, but it is the result of WWE failing to build credible opponents for her. The Raw women’s division needs a new leader – it is Ripley’s time now.

A Firefly Fun House match should settle the score between The Fiend and Randy Orton on night 2.

The issues between Randy Orton and The Fiend date back to 2011 when the latter, then known as Husky Harris, was punted by Orton.

In the subsequent decade – these two have been tag team champions, “The Viper” manipulated the Wyatt Family from within, burned their compound to the ground, took Bray Wyatt’s WWE Championship, and set him on fire.

Wyatt has used Alexa Bliss to play mind games with his foe. This included setting Orton’s face on fire and poising him on several occasions.

With so much history between them – a Firefly Fun House match is the perfect way to end this rivalry, just like it finished The Fiend’s feud with John Cena on night 2 of last year’s event.

That match was so bizarre but in a good way – it was creative and set social media ablaze. Cena dressed in his 2002 attire, Wyatt mocking The Bellas pose, “The Face That Runs The Place” in the New World Order, and the flashbacks to their WrestleMania 30 encounter – it was spectacular.

Imagine what WWE could do with all the footage they have of Orton, who has been in the company for the same amount of time as Cena, it would be a wasted opportunity if this is a regular bout. A few days before they clash, no stipulation has been announced – this has to change.

These two are brilliant performers, but their encounters to date have been anticlimactic. Their contest at this event four years ago is evidence of that – it was boring. The bugs on the mat did not help proceedings. The “House of Horrors” cinematic fight a few weeks later was not much better, and their Inferno match at Table, Ladders & Chairs last December was passable. They are capable of so much more.

A Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 37 is the perfect way to end this once and for all – any other scenario would be disappointing.

Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair deserve to close night 1.

“The winner of the Royal Rumble goes to the main event of WrestleMania to face the champion of their choosing”, is a line Michael Cole repeats every January.

No other match should headline the first night of WrestleMania 37 except for Bianca Belair, the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble winner, challenging Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Yes, not every Rumble match winner has the privileged of being in the last match at WrestleMania. Asuka did not, neither did Charlotte Flair, but Becky Lynch did – the “Est of WWE” can follow in the Irish “Lasskickers” footsteps.

Banks and Belair can create HERstory on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Their match would be the first time a one-on-one women’s contest has closed the show, and they would be the first African American women to do so.

Belair intends to show the champion she is no “rookie”, while “The Blueprint” will want to remind her challenger who runs the blue brands women’s division – the anticipation for this showdown has reached fever pitch.

“The Boss” and Belair are tremendous athletes – two of the best in WWE. They have worked their way through the company’s developmental systems, all the way to the very top of the women’s division, they have waited all their lives for this spotlight.

They will want to have the best match of the entire weekend, in their first-ever singles encounter, they should have the chance to showcase their talents in the most prestigious spot on the card.

Things come full circle for Edge – he leaves night 2 as the new Universal Champion.

The second night of WrestleMania 37 is exactly ten years to the day Edge announced he had to retire because of a neck injury – it would be fitting if he won the Universal Championship this time around.

“The Rated-R Superstar” began his road to redemption as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble last year – his first match back after hanging up his boots.

With the Rumble in his rearview mirror – Edge had two brilliant matches against Randy Orton, the man who stabbed him in the back. The former WWE Tag Team Champions clashed on night 2 of WrestleMania 36 and at Backlash three months later. During their second battle – Edge tore his tricep, putting him out of action for seven months. Would he have the grit and determination to come to return once again after this setback? The answer was a resounding yes! Edge started and won the 2021 Royal Rumble, cementing his spot in the main event of WrestleMania 37.

Roman Reigns is an incredible Universal Champion – he won’t be pinned on Sunday, Daniel Bryan will, and “The Tribal Chief” and Edge will have a program by themselves.

Call it a coincidence or fate – it is written in the stars for Edge to win back the title he never lost, a decade after surrendering it.

This is the perfect story for Edge – it is his destiny to leave the Grand-Daddy of them All as a 12-time world champion.