WrestleMania 37 Night One: Three things WWE got right

As someone who is often critical of many of the things WWE does, it’s also important to give the company its due when it gets things right. For example, WWE’s efforts to make WrestleMania 37 feel like the biggest show of the year in the months were lackluster, but the show itself mostly lived up to the lofty reputation the promotion has built for the pay-per-view.

Was everything on the show a home run? No, but given the company’s more recent PPV offerings, this certainly felt like one (maybe an inside-the-park one).

But what aspects of the show did WWE get right. Shockingly, there were more than three, but let’s focus on the top moments.

Here are three things WWE got right on the first night of WrestleMania 37.

3. Omos’ in-ring debut

Aside from charades and a bunch of singles matches where the babyfaces came across as heels, the Raw Tag Team Championship match between The New Day and A.J. Styles & Omos revolved around what Styles’ “own personal colossus” could do in the squared circle.

The match itself reflected this intrigue, as the two teams constructed the match using inverted ring psychology; they forwent the traditional “babyfaces get worked over to build to a hot tag” to instead center the story around getting Omos into the ring.

Once the big man finally got his first taste of official in-ring action, we finally answered whether he was good: he was fine in the small portion of the match he was responsible for.

Of course, it helped that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods bumped their backsides off to ensure Omos looked as imposing as a wrestler as he does just standing at ringside during Styles’ singles matches, but given the talent depth on the roster, there will be an abundance of workers who can do that for him. If WWE keeps things simple for him, this Owen Hart and Yokozuna-esque tag team with Styles can work.

2. Bad Bunny

This was arguably the best celebrity performance in WrestleMania history, with the argument being: How far ahead is this from Floyd Mayweather’s performance at WrestleMania XXIV?

Sure, Bad Bunny’s performance was far from flawless — the spot where The Miz threw him into the second rope was scary — and heels’ heat segment on him lasted a bit too long, but when you have a Grammy award-winning rapper doing CANADIAN DESTROYERS, it’s easy to forget about those nitpicks.

Miz and John Morrison deserve credit for bumping for Bunny, and Damian Priest also looked great when it was time for him to get his stuff in, but it was clear that Bunny put the work in to prepare for this match (unsurprising given his love for the sport), and his efforts fostered a moment that will be replayed in highlight packages for decades to come.

3. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair’s masterclass in the main event

Even if Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair hadn’t authored one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history, WWE still made the right call putting these two generational talents in the main event.

While WWE still has a long way to go as far as representation goes, simply seeing two Black women face off for a world championship in the featured spot of the promotion’s flagship PPV meant everything to people who never thought this day would come, not because none were “good enough” but because of the implicit biases still held by the people in charge.

That said, seeing Banks and Belair deliver their magnum opus on the biggest stage possible for any pro wrestler made this moment in BLACK history AND WOMEN’S history (not just “history”, as John “Bradshaw” Layfield uttered on the WrestleMania 37 pre-show) all the sweeter.

The match started with smooth and crisp work from the champion and the number one contender, with the early story premised around Belair repelling Banks’ offense with her power advantage before Banks used her technique — and Belair’s braided ponytail — to take control.

The spots with the ponytail, like when Banks used it to aid her in applying The Bank Statement, built well to Belair whipping Banks so hard that it left a noticeable welt on “The Boss'” ribs, but we saw plenty of other great stuff, too, before Belair hit the KOD to score the clean pinfall and win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Among the highlights: Banks executing a perfect suicide dive to the outside, only for Belair to catch her, press her over her head, and carry her up the steps before throwing her back into the ring; Belair’s delayed vertical suplex with a couple of slingshots in between; Banks’ tornado DDT; and a tremendous nearfall following Belair’s 450 splash.

As if there were any doubt, this match cemented Banks as an all-time great worker and proved that Belair should be a featured star in this company for years to come, two things that a WrestleMania main event should always strive to accomplish.