WWE WrestleMania 37: Night One Results & Grades: Bianca Belair wins title

WWE WrestleMania 37 held Night One of their annual marquee tonight, headlined by Sasha Banks defending the Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair.

Below are the results and brief synopsis of each match, including letter grades for each match taking into account build and in-ring story.

*NOTE: The grades are based on my subjectivity, and should be contextualized as such. It’s absolutely fine if you disagree!

There was no Kickoff match tonight, a rarity in the WWE pay-per-view landscape particularly since the advent of the WWE Network. There was a Kickoff, but it was a straight-up preview show.

Speculation had been that WWE wanted that initial (presumably boisterous) crowd pop in over a year to be for whoever makes their entrance first, in this case, Drew McIntyre. Unfortunately, the weather caused a delay due to lightning.

WWE filled the time by having backstage interviews with the likes of McIntyre, Shane McMahon, M.V.P. and Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, and others. After a half, an hour or so, the package for the opening match played.

Inexplicably, they then introduced Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan. That took some more time.

With that preamble aside, let’s move to said opening match of the night.

(1) Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre – WWE Championship match (Grade: B+)

Even with the delay, and possibly because of it, McIntyre received a huge pop. Still, to my ear, the crowd was 50/50 during the introductions.

The match started out with a methodical pace as each man gained the advantage over then taunting the other. McIntyre dodged Lashley, who hit the post shoulder-first, and began working the left arm about four and a half minutes into the match. Lashley fought off McIntyre quickly and took a deliberate pace to his beating of McIntyre.

McIntyre fought back, but Lashley controlled most of the match; every time McIntyre found an opening, Lashley halted his momentum like when McIntyre hit a Glasgow Kiss only to run into a huge spine buster from Lashley. He finally gained some sustained offense, culminating in a reverse Alabama slam for a two-count.

In a spot where both men were sitting on the top turnbuckle, McIntyre went back to the left arm by applying a Kimura lock. Lashley fought out, but McIntyre sprung up to flip him over his head. Still, as he went for the Claymore, he ran into another one-armed spinebuster.

After Lashley posed a bit, McIntyre kipped up and they traded blows. McIntyre hit three rolling Future Shock DDTs, but only for a two-count. As he went for the Claymore, Lashley rolled outside, but McIntyre hit a tope con hilo on both Lashley & M.V.P. as he cleared the ropes!

However, back in the ring, Lashley regained control, hit a flatliner, and set for The Hurt Lock for the second time in the match, but McIntyre was able to fight it off a second time by running Lashley into a turnbuckle. As Lashley went for another spinebuster, McIntyre countered into a Kimura lock, this time on the mat.

Lashley fought out, and they traded blows on their feet. McIntyre hit another Glasgow Kiss but was distracted by M.V.P. when he went for the Claymore, allowing Lashley to dodge and apply The Hurt Lock. McIntyre tried rolling out by kicking off of the turnbuckle, but Lashley held on, and McIntyre passed out.

The match had a good build in the match, starting out with a deliberate pace. The build to tonight helped, and Lashley’s entrance is just so good. Well done.

Bobby Lashley retained the WWE Championship at 17:36 with The Hurt Lock (technical submission)

(2) Naomi & Lana vs. Carmella & Billie Kay vs. The Riot Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan) vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. Natalya & Tamina – Tag Team Turmoil match where the winner faces Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the Women’s Tag Team Championship on Night Two (Grade: D+)

This match already came in with some work to do because the lack of story leading to this match just caused very little investment from me and by the sounds of it, the crowd as well.

The order of teams listed corresponds to their order of entry in the match. Naomi and Carmella started out before Lana tagged in, allowing the foes to gain the advantage. Kay tagged in (she was her hilarious self through the whole match), but was thwarted by Lana as Naomi tagged in.

After some more teamwork, Kay countered into a rollup with Carmella pushing on her back for more leverage (hidden from the ref) to pin Naomi and eliminate their team.

The Riott Squad entered next, but Camella & Kay kept the momentum. When Carmella & Kay tried the same rollup tactic, the ref saw this time and stopped his count. This allowed Morgan to hit her double knees and hold Kay in place as Riott hit a top rope senton to eliminate Camella & Kay. Carmella hit Morgan with a superkick after their elimination.

Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke entered next, sauntering to the ring; Rose actually slipped and fell. They took advantage of Brooke hitting a modified top rope blockbuster to Riott. Riott & Morgan were able to recover, but Rose took over for a bit with some power moves.

Rose hit a second rope superplex to Morgan and Brooke, who tagged in earlier, hit a Swanton, but Morgan reversed the pin and pinned Brooke to eliminate them. Greg Hamilton actually announced the wrong team had been eliminated.

Natalya & Tamina entered next. Morgan hadn’t regained her feet as Natalya entered. She immediately looked for a Sharpshooter, but Morgan rolled her up for a two-count. The heels took over, working on Morgan and cutting off the ring.

Morgan finally fought off Tamina as Riott tagged in and they hit some double-team maneuvers. They hit the same combo that finished off Kay, but Tamina kicked out. Tamina powered out, Natalya tagged in, and they hit a Hart Attack. Natalya then teased the Sharpshooter but tagged in Tamina to hit the big splash for the victory.

As stated earlier, the lack of story in the build to the match didn’t help. There were many clunky spots, as well as some you could telegraph easily, unfortunately. However, it should also be noted that the number of jitters and adrenaline each competitor has been in front of a crowd for the first time in over a year probably played a factor.

Still, it just lacked investment and action to engage the viewers.

Natalya & Tamina win in around 15:06 with a top rope splash (pinfall) to advance to Night Two

(3) Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro (Grade: B+)

On a personal note, this was my pick heading into the weekend to be the best match. Cesaro started out furiously with an immediate running uppercut and kept the pace up. He looked for a swing, but Rollins immediately fled to the apron.

Rollins attacked Cesaro’s left arm (a theme so far tonight in two of three matches), but Cesaro maintained the advantage for the most part until Rollins ran up to the top rope to hit Cesaro with his superplex-Falcon Arrow combo for a two-count.

Cesaro hit a bunch of uppercuts with both arms to Rollins in the corner, to the crowd’s delight, and kept up with more uppercut attacks. The crowd called for the Cesaro Swing, but Rollins countered into a pinning combo for a two-count, then landed on his feet on another attempt and hit an enziguri, but Cesaro got him on the fifth attempt!

The crowd counted, but Cesaro could only hit nine swings as he sold the left arm. He locked in the Sharpshooter, but Rollins grabbed the bottom rope. He looked for the Neutralizer, Rollins escaped, then moved as Cesaro launched with an uppercut right into the turnbuckle; both arms compromised.

Rollins hit a twisting, 360-degree splash from the top rope for a two-count. After Rollins took too much time, Cesaro suddenly sprang up and hit the Neutralizer for a two-count, much to his shock and dismay.

An amazing sequence led to Rollins hitting the Pedigree, but Cesaro kicked out at two! Rollins reacted with shock. Rollins rolled out of the Neutralizer right into the Pedigree there. After some taunting, he hit a rolling elbow to the back of Cesaro’s neck, went for a Shining Wizard that Cesaro ducked, but then hit a kick to the back of Cesaro’s head.

Rollins set for the stomp, but Cesaro turned it into an uppercut and the U.F.O. (no-hands inverted airplane spin), then called for another Cesaro Swing (the crowd did, too). This time, Cesaro hit a bunch of swings, the Neutralizer, and pinned Rollins for the victory.

A great match, but probably could have gone another five minutes to really hit a crescendo. The story, once again, helped coming into tonight, and Cesaro really sold the victory as his biggest after the match. The macro-story of Rollins doing everything to avoid the Ceasro Swing, then having that lead to his demise, was some good A-to-B booking.

Cesaro wins in around 11:30 with the Neutralizer (pinfall)

(4) The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (c) vs. A.J. Styles & Omos – Tag Team Championship match (Grade: B)

Big E actually did the intros for The New Day, making me think it was the Intercontinental Championship match, which isn’t until Night Two!

Kingston goaded Styles to start the match by saying he was scared. As expected from these two, the opening sequences were fast-paced interactions filled with counters and reversals. Kingston & Woods then used their speed and teamwork to gain the advantage, cutting off the ring (which is usually a heel tactic). Woods even yelled out what they were doing to Styles (and the crowd), punctuating it with, “This is why you’re not tag team wrestlers!”

They teased Styles tagging in Omos before being cut off by The New Day. The crowd seems to have lost interest in the faces using heel tactics to prevent the Omos from tagging in. Styles tried running outside and around to tag in Omos, but Woods cut him off with a basement dropkick.

They did some more teases with Styles trying to tag in Omos, but he was unable. Kingston caught him with a springboard splash across the back as Styles tried to regain his feet. Woods sat on the top rope as Styles fought off Kingston, then was finally able to tag in Omos (the crowd popped).

Styles finally tagged in Omos, who just stood there and took two leg kicks and a dropkick from Woods, budging very little. They really highlighted his size and power as he did very little to dispatch his foes, mainly strikes and throws. He did show some good agility for his size with running corner splashes to both men.

He hit a pendulum backbreaker and palmed Woods’ face as he lay across his knee. Styles springboarded off of the shoulders of Omos and hit the Phenomenal Forearm on Woods. Omos grabbed Kingston and hit a big short-arm sky-high spinebuster for the victory.

https://twitter.com/WrestleMania/status/1381065488428584960

Look, the story was built around Omos, and it worked. It took a bit getting there, but once it did, it had me glued. The only viable booking decision was what happened. It will be very interesting to see how they continue to work around Omos since presumably, as Champion, they will be involved in more matches as a team. He acquitted himself well with what we saw tonight, so they did start off on the right foot.

A.J. Styles & Omos win at 9:47 with a spinebuster (pinfall) to become NEW Tag Team Champion

(5) Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman – Steel Cage match (Grade: D+)

Full disclosure: I’ve hated this entire story and build. HATED.

McMahon tried holding the door close to prevent Strowman from entering, which distracted Strowman and allowed Elias & Jaxson Ryker to attack him with chairs before he was dragged into the ring. Shane brought in one of the chairs and wailed away all over Strowman, including his arms, legs, back, and torso.

Strowman unequipped McMahon for a moment, but then the chair was lost as McMahon tried exiting through the door. McMahon used his quickness to dodge haymakers and land his rapid-fire punches that look more like love pats. McMahon was able to grab a piece of sheet metal that lined the outside of the top of the cage and used that to strike Strowman several times, but to little avail.

Strowman prevented McMahon from escaping through the door again and hit a HUGE alley-oop slam that sent McMahon across the ring. He then threw McMahon into the cage a couple of times. Strowman took advantage with a huge running avalanche to McMahon, pinned between the cage and the ropes. The pace slowed considerably to match Strowman’s style.

Strowman’s left leg gave out on a power slam attempt, allowing McMahon to ram Strowman into the cage three times before hitting a float over DDT. They both worked over each other some more before McMahon gained the advantage again. He climbed, but Strowman chased. As McMahon straddled the top, he grabbed a toolbox out of a chute-type bag that’s hanging off each corner of the top, dropping Strowman to the mat.

McMahon started climbing down the cage, reached his hand into wave bye, but Strowman grabbed his hand and then literally peeled the cage off a bit to bring McMahon back into the ring. After hitting a flurry of body shots while on the top rope, he threw McMahon on top of the cage and climbed with him.

Strowman grabbed McMahon by the collar, then tossed McMahon from the top of the cage to the mat as McMahon flipped and landed flat on his back. Strowman then climbed back into the ring for some reason, then yelled out this was for everyone who’s been called stupid. One power slam later, Strowman won.

The match was all about spectacle, and while it wasn’t as ridiculous as some posited, I’m glad it was rather tame considering what could have been, particularly since leaving ringside would mean being around many maskless fans. Still, it didn’t need to be 11 minutes, and I’m just glad it’s (hopefully) over.

Braun Strowman wins in around 11:00 with a powerslam (pinfall)

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1381071986378612737

(6) The Miz & John Morrison vs. Damian Priest & Bad Bunny (Grade: A-, but A+ for a celebrity match)

The heels did their “Hey Hey Hop Hop” song for their entrance with a whole bunch of people in bunny costumes, leading me to say, “Look, Justin Gabriel!”

Bunny entered on top of a semi being driven in from outside of the stadium, a great entrance that really popped the fans.

The Miz goaded Bunny in, who obliged, showing no fear. The crowd were on their feet. The Miz put his chin out to mock Bunny, but Bunny hit him with a right cross to drop him. Bunny actually countered The Miz a bit and landed another right to the mouth. He dodged The Miz in the corner, then turned around and unleashed a flurry of punches before taking The Miz down and mounting him for punches.

The Miz finally got on top with a knee to the gut. Bunny actually countered a hip toss by landing on his feet and arm dragging The Miz to the outside. He hit a drop toehold on a returning Miz, then hit a La Magistral cradle for a two count.

The Miz threw Bunny into the second rope head-first, but Bunny fought back and hit a big headscissors. Morrison tagged in, but Bunny hit a gut kick and headbutt. He hit a corner splash, but got caught with an elbow on his second attempt.

They wore down Bunny for a while, but Bunny fought back, even hitting a sunset flip pin before being hit with a big boot from The Miz. Morrison bounced Bunny’s head off of the announce table on the outside, too.

It was a long heat segment, but Bunny ended up fighting them off and hitting The Miz with a tornado DDT from the second rope. He finally tagged in Priest, who came in and hit a furious flurry of strikes on both men, including punches, spinning heel kicks, and lariats.

Morrison broke up a pin, but Bunny came in as Priest & Bunny hit stereo thunderclaps and Falcon Arrows for two-counts! Bunny was incredulous but helped whip Priest to do his step-up tope con hilo on both men. Priest pointed at Bunny to climb, which he did and hit a crossbody on both foes!

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1381081085321355268

The Miz was able to counter Priest into the Skull Crushing Finale for a believable near-fall broken up at the last moment by Bunny. Bunny then hit Morrison with a DESTROYER on the outside! Wow! They hit a doomsday crossbody on The Miz for the victory to the biggest pop of the night!

OK, that match had NO reason being that good and fun. Wow. All props to Bunny as reports of him taking his training and role seriously came to fruition. His facial reactions were great, and his worked punches are pretty good for a non-wrestler.

The crowd being so hot helped so much, really the first match tonight where the crowd made a noticeable positive difference. That was probably the best debut by a non-athlete or celebrity I’ve seen in my lifetime, and arguably ever. WWE made the correct (to steal from The Miz & Morrison) decision in bringing Bunny into the fold. Well done.

Damian Priest & Bad Bunny win at 15:01 with a doomsday crossbody (pinfall)

(7) Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair – Women’s Championship match (Grade: A+)

This match, while the build has been up-and-down, was the rightful main event and possibly best match of the card. Both women’s gear are worthy of the WrestleMania main event. The crowd was hot from the entrances.

Belair started tearing up as both women took in the moment, though Banks maintained a fierce heel look as the fans cheered both women.

Banks gained the early advantage, but Belair didn’t back down.to Banks’ credit, she showed no fear even with the size and strength discrepancy as well. Both women taunted each other a bit, too.

Belair nearly hit the K.O.D. finisher before Banks slipped out. Belair reversed a wheelbarrow attempt into a Glam Slam attempt, but Banks shot her out of the ring. Banks hit a tope through the second rope, but Belair held on, rolled through, and military pressed Banks while walking up the steps with her before finally dumping her in the ring. Wow.

Both women just exuding confidence and charisma. Belair went for her handspring moonsault, but Banks countered by moving and grabbing Belair’s long ponytail and hitting a running knee. Banks took control and slowed the pace a bit to instill her will on the match.

Belair was able to hit an impactful spinebuster, but Banks rolled outside and grabbed the ponytail. Belair pulled and rammed Banks into the post, then moved as Banks went for a meteora, causing her to hit the barricade.

Belair held a delayed vertical, bounced her off of the top rope twice, deadlifted her twice, then finally hit the suplex, but couldn’t make the cover. Later, Banks grabbed the hair again, but Belair used it to hit a short-ponytail clothesline. She hit a running Shooting Star to the back of Banks, then after some back-and-forth, hit a modified Glam Slam.

Belair climbed to the top for her 450, but Banks put her knees up. Both women attempted pins on each other, but then Belair countered a Banks Shining Wizard attempt into two powerbombs, then Belair countered into a facebuster after just kicking out in time.

Banks hit a ridiculous tornado DDT off of the second rope for a two-count where she rotated twice by using the rope for leverage before hitting the move. Banks climbed to the top and hit a frog splash for a two-count!

Banks started working the left arm nearly 13 minutes into the match, kicking it into another gear. She looked for the Banks Statement, but then maneuvered into a modified Banks Statement using Belair’s hair! She was able to grab the rope, though.

After some frustration, Banks taunted Belair, but Belair rushed her into the corner and pounded away. She lifted Banks, who fought her off, but Belair hit a handspring scorpion kick that Banks somehow countered into a double stomp attempt that she rolled through, then hit the turnbuckles on a meteora attempt as Belair moved.

Belair hit the 450 this time for a believable near-fall! Belair yelled out in frustration but started to regain composure after being so close to victory. She went for the K.O.D., but Banks landed on her feet by grabbing the hair. However, Belair whipped her across the gut LOUDLY, then countered a Banks Statement attempt into a K.O.D. for the victory! Huge pop from the crowd, and her parents nearly leaped over the barricade!

Wow! What a way to end the show! A great, fantastic match that everyone should watch not only for the historical significance but the pure display of skill and talent. Just a great way to end Night One with the last two matches. Wow. That was worth the time, especially considering it was just over three hours from the first bell to last.

Bianca Belair wins at 17:17 with the K.O.D. (pinfall) to become the NEW Women’s Champion

Come back tomorrow night as Kevin Parvizi will bring match results and analysis for Night Two!