HOW WWE SHOULD BOOK WRESTLEMANIA 37: NIGHT 1 AND NIGHT 2

 Nigerian Drum Match Set For WWE WrestleMania 37 - Wrestling Inc.

Hey everyone! Ever since Night Of Champions 2015, through multiple accounts, before major WWE pay-per-views every month, I’ve come on here and booked the cards to make them as exciting, intriguing, and best possible scenarios for the future. I do both NXT and main-roster pay-per-views, as well as the occasional big milestone RAW or Smackdown weekly show. Without further ado, here is how WRESTLEMANIA 37: NIGHT 1 AND NIGHT 2 should be booked!


MY WRESTLEMANIA PPV POSTS OF PREVIOUS YEARS:


NIGHT 1 (April 10th)

MAIN SHOW  

  • THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL. THE SHOWCASE OF THE IMMORTALS. THE SHOW OF SHOWS. THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. WRESTLING’S SUPER BOWL. WELCOME… TO WRESTLEMANIA!.... where it all begins… again. We get a big WrestleMania opening video package, we get the big show-opening pyro, we get America the Beautiful, AND WE’RE OFF.

1ST MATCH: Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Drew McIntyre (Singles match for the WWE Championship with The Hurt Business BANNED from ringside)


  • Yes, this is on first, because McIntytre has literally said in MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS that he actively doesn’t want to main event this year because he wants to have the distinction of being the first superstar to make an entrance/appear in front of a crowd for the first time in over a year. And you know what they say, if you can’t get on last, then you wanna go on first. We’ve seen the results of WWE putting a World Title match on first at WrestleMania like they did at 35 with Brock and Rollins, and that got the crowd fired up so well for the next hours of the show. Belair and Banks should go on last. I mean, why not? The people have already bought their tickets to WrestleMania anyways, I mean the show is practically sold on the name itself, what will it hurt if you put Bianca and Banks on last? First two african american women in the main event, it’ll make an incredible statement and be a legitimate quarterstone of WWE history that will, in 2021, very likely make all sorts of mainstream press and generate interest in that demographic that’s never been reached before. ENOUGH OF THE TANGENT. THIS IS MY POST, AND HERE, WE DO THINGS MY WAY (my way or the highway, happy wrestlemania). Let’s get onto this damn match. Drew McIntyre is out first, and he’s got an entrance replicating that famous folk tale as he pulls a sword from a giant stone set up on the stage, this one is COMICALLY large, like this dude should have a 100ft sword with him here. Drew is decked out in the same Scotland facepaint he sported at Fastlane, and he’s got his craziest kilt on yet. He stabs the sword into the ground, and fireworks explode all around the arena for McIntyre. Out next is the WWE Champion, the CHIEF HURT OFFICER and the WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley. I would suggest a big elaborate WrestleMania entrance for Lashley here, but let’s face it- the new entrance they’ve had for him, with all the holograms and the lighting and the floating CGI Lashley silhouettes all around the stage, is what they should’ve debuted at Mania here. I really don’t think he needs anything more than what he’s been using lately. The match gets 14 minutes, and we get formal ring introductions. Right, so I’ve been doing these posts for 6 years now, come September. Never once, especially for a post for a PPV as big as WrestleMania, have I literally not given a finish for the match. But I’m not gonna give one here. However, I will offer up TWO finishes, one scenario for both men winning each. I’ve heard people say it all across the board, and I couldn’t possibly agree more, this is absolutely a match where you have got to have two possible finishes booked, you have these two guys go out there and wrestle, and whoever the crowd is louder for, whoever they’re behind, whoever gets the crowd off their feet for every single move, that’s who you’re gonna communicate to the referee is the one going over. Call and audible. Have two finishes booked. Create real unpredictability for once. I mean, this is the match that WWE was so terrified Drew McIntyre was gonna be booed in because of the awesomeness of The Hurt Business that they BROKE UP The Hurt Business and paired your favorite wrestler and mine, BARON CORBIN with Lashley, in a desperate plea to make certain that Lashley is booed at Mania, and Drew is cheered. But I think the fans are smarter than that, and I think that whole situation could really just be a red herring. So here’s what I’m proposing.

Here is Plan A, in which Bobby Lashley goes over and retains the WWE Championship. The amount of fans I already see turning on McIntyre online is alarming enough to where I think they could really pull off a double turn here. Bret/Austin WM13 style. Bret being McIntyre, who would go heel in defeat. Lashley being Austin, who would go babyface. Both guys flip coming out of this match. Have McIntyre become increasingly aggressive against Lashley as the match goes on, to the point where it starts to become legitimately uncomfortable to watch. Have McIntyre hit a Claymore Kick for a nearfall, and have Lashley come up, busted open afterwards. Have Drew going after the wound, trying to cut Lashley open, have Drew get weapon shots behind the referee’s back, have him grow in increasingly heelish tendencies throughout. Again, this is ONLY in the event that the crowd boos McIntyre and is cheering Lashley wildly. The Plan A match result would end when Drew, fully heel and playing to the boos now, sets up for the Future Shock DDT to finish Lashley off, hooks the arms, but Lashley breaks it up and twists Drew into the Hurt Lock. Drew gets to the ropes once and tries the Bret spot where he walks up the turnbuckles and tries to roll backwards onto Lashley for the pin, but Lashley kicks out while still having the Hurt Lock in, and eventually Drew has no choice but to tap. From here you can have Drew play to the “You Tapped Out” chants that will naturally come, and to officially solidify the heel turn, have Drew SNAP after the match. This was supposed to be HIS moment. HIS chance to finally get his big title win in front of fans that he didn’t get last year. This was supposed to be HIS big winning pop. And Lashley’s taken that all from him. There is SO MUCH to work with here. I think McIntyre going heel could really freshen up his character and get the fans that’ve been turning off of him lately back interested. You can work to a Lashley/McIntyre grudge match down the line, each man with one win against each other a piece in WWE Championship matches, McIntyre having retained against Lashley at Backlash 2020 and Lashley retaining against McIntyre here at Mania. You can build to a match to complete the trilogy at SummerSlam, only this time, the roles are reversed, so the fans have every reason to be invested in one more match between them. But... let’s say that the fans are wholeheartedly behind Drew McIntyre, and somehow, WWE have got their desired reaction for Lashley, with Corbin out there with him, and they’re booing the champion out of the building. Well, good thing we’ve got a Plan B.


Here is Plan B, in which Drew McIntyre goes over and wins the WWE Championship for the 3rd time, finally getting his big title-winning pop that he lost out on last year. This might be the less exciting one, since obviously if the crowd is crazy for Drew and totally against Lashley, there’s no need for a double turn. But you’ve gotta listen to the crowd and go with one. You won’t know until the day. For this scenario, Drew is working fully babyface, and the crowd is absolutely rabid for him. Getting a complete top babyface reaction. Here, near the end of the match, just as it looks like McIntyre is about to get the win, he looks to the crowd for the 3… 2.. 1.. CLAYM- ALL OF A SUDDEN… AIN’T NO STOPPIN’ ME NOW. Shelton Benjamin’s music hits as he and Cedric Alexander make their way down the ramp. They both slowly walk out onto the stage in Hurt Business shirts, stop for a second, and then tear them off. THEY RUSH DOWN THE RAMP AND TRY TO GET THE MATCH THROWN OUT TO HELP LASHLEY. THE ENTIRE HURT BUSINESS BREAKUP WAS ONE BIG RUSE AFTER ALL. THEY’VE FOUND A WAY TO BYPASS THE STIPULATION. The stipulation explicitly stated that THE HURT BUSINESS are BANNED from ringside. But since MVP and Lashley had “exiled” Cedric and Shelton from The Hurt Business, TECHNICALLY, THEY ARE NOT INTERFERING AS THE HURT BUSINESS. THEY’VE FOUND A GENIUS WORKAROUND. Totally not in The Hurt Business anymore Cedric and Shelton are totally fine to be at ringside off a technicality. The heels have outsmarted the babyface at WrestleMania. But don’t worry, I’m actually going to book my babyface to look smart in the end, and overcome insurmountable odds on his path to victory. This is wrestling 101. McIntyre goes to hit the Claymore Kick on Lashley, BUT CEDRIC AND SHELTON RUSH THE RING TO TRY AND STOP IT. Cedric ducks under Drew and Benjamin eats the Claymore Kick. Cedric does a handspring off the ropes and ends up also eating a Claymore Kick. McIntyre turns around RIGHT INTO A SPEAR AND A DOMINATOR. 1...2… MCINTYRE KICKS OUT. MASSIVE POP. McIntyre begins hulking up and the crowd should be going crazy for him by this point. They pull out their big moves and we get to the major nearfalls portion of the match, and in the end, Lashley nails McIntyre with a Spinebuster. Lashley goes up to the top rope, the crowd rises to their feet, as we don’t see Lashley go up top often, if ever. What the hell is Lashley going for here? Suddenly, MCINTYRE KIPS UP TO HIS FEET, NAILS A LEAPING GLASGOW KISS HEADBUTT THAT KNOCKS LASHLEY SILLY, GETS UP TO THE TOP, DREW MCINTYRE HITS A HURRICANRANA OFF THE TOP ROPE ON BOBBY LASHLEY BECAUSE IT’S WRESTLEMANIA, MCINTYRE GOES TO THE OPPOSITE CORNER, HITS ONE LAST CLAYMORE KICK AND GETS THE PIN. This finish would have the crowd going insane. These two 300 pound monsters pulling off a top rope Hurricanrana, right into a Claymore Kick finish would be epic. Imagine the pop for that. Now, the decision lies in the hands of the fans. Have two finishes. Create unpredictability. Call an audible in the ring. Listen to the reaction, communicate the finish you’re going with to the referee, have the referee communicate the finish to the wrestlers, boom. SHIT LIKE THIS should be what WrestleMania is all about, with your biggest and boldest ideas put out there, and that’s exactly what this is. And let me just say, if you’ve got Lesnar at this show as a surprise, hell, add him to this last second to make it a triple threat behind 3 behemoths. We got the Lesnar vs. Lashley dynamic and Lesnar vs. McIntyre II in the same match then. But I’d have to say that’s unlikely. Nobody knows how Night 1 of Mania will begin.. nobody except the fans in the audience. They’ll know the second the bell rings.


WINNER by PINFALL/SUBMISSION and NEW/STILL WWE Champion: Have a Plan A finish where Lashley goes over and a Plan B finish where McIntyre goes over, Call an audible in the ring based on the reaction of the crowd for both guys


  • We get an ad for WWEShop, followed by an ad for WWE on Hulu.

2ND MATCH: Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose vs. Lana and Naomi vs. Natalya and Tamina vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) (Tag Team Turmoil match where the winners will face Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the Women’s Tag Team Championship on WrestleMania Sunday)


  • You know, people will say that it doesn’t feel like WrestleMania is happening this weekend, or that this has been the weakest build in history, but I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here. If we’re getting randomly thrown together multi-team matches like this, it absolutely feels to me like a modern day Mania. There’s really nothing closer. The Riott Squad are out first and start out the match with Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose. The match gets 16 minutes. This way, every team can get a solid 3 to 4 minutes in the ring against each other, just short enough to not expose too much of the inexperience of a lot of the women in this match. Now, over this past week, WWE apparently seemed to jump the gun and had posted a graphic for this match which also included Billie Kay and Carmella. I’m only going off what’s currently announced as I write this on Wednesday, and I could have theoretically waited until after SmackDown where they might officially be announced, but I don’t want to cut it too close. ALSO DO NOT THROW BAYLEY AND CHARLOTTE IN THIS RANDOMLY BECAUSE THE LAST THING WE NEED IS CHARLOTTE IN ANOTHER THROWN TOGETHER TAG TEAM. AND THEY AREN’T EVEN ON THE SAME BRAND. SO NO. BAD WWE. If indeed Billie Kay and Carmella end up in this match, I’d have them come out secondly, after The Riott Squad pin Dana Brooke to eliminate her and Mandy.  If you wanted to have Billie and Mella win this, and Mella comes down with a kayfabe injury on Night 2 and Billie has to choose a replacement partner and it ends up being Peyton Royce to reunite The IIconics at WrestleMania, I think that’d be a nice option too. Fans really love The Riott Squad. They’re organically loved, and so I definitely think it’d be wise to let them get the iron-women role in this match. Let them run through the early teams in the match. Riott Squad eliminate Dana and Mandy first, Riott Squad eliminate Billie and Carmella. The next team out is Natalya and Tamina, who go about 3 minutes with The Riott Squad before Natalya taps out Ruby Riott. If there were more teams in the match, I’d have Riott Squad go as far as possible, but I wouldn’t have them win here. You can have such a great story of them gaining wins and building credibility until they finally capture those Women’s Tag Titles. It doesn’t need to happen now. Let them have a long winding road to them. And plus, the match just won’t work with two babyface teams as the final 2, with the winners I have in mind. Natalya and Tamina are perfectly good foils for none other than Lana and Naomi, who are the last team out. I absolutely loved Paul Heyman ripping into Nattie and Tamina on Talking Smack. No more bitching and moaning. He told them to march to Vince and demand to be on Mania, and here they are. In the end, Lana and Naomi get the victory in this match when all 4 women have broken loose and are fighting in the ring. Natalya and Lana are legal. Tamina goes up top to hit the Superfly Splash on Naomi to finish things off, but Naomi sidesteps and Tamina leaps right onto her partner Natalya, instead. Naomi hits a rear view on Tamina, knocking her out of the ring. Natalya has been TAKEN OUT as a result of a miscommunication by her own partner. Lana sees the chance, leaps to get the cover on Natalya, and scores the pinfall. Lana and Naomi win the Tag Team Turmoil match, and they’ll advance to WrestleMania 37: Night 2, to challenge Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Let’s get the facts: WWE’s Women’s Tag Team division on both brands is largely horrendous, and the titles themselves are largely worthless, which is a result of the booking, not necessarily the fault of any of the wrestlers themselves. Whether you like it or not, I’d go with Lana and Naomi because that’s really the only actual story you could tell here. Lana and Nia’s feud spanning back months, Lana getting put through all those announce tables, there’s really just no half decent story with any of the other teams in this match. The match on Sunday won’t be a pretty sight, but hey, when Lana pins Nia Jax to win those Women’s Tag Titles, and finally gets her comeuppance on the grandest stage of them all, that’s the culmination of a long-term storyline that’ll make you feel really good at the end of it all. And that’s what WrestleMania is all about.

WINNERS by LAST ELIMINATING NATALYA AND TAMINA: Lana and Naomi


  • We get a video package for our next match.

3RD MATCH: Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon (w/ Elias and Jaxson Ryker) (Steel Cage match)


  • Shane McMahon is out first, tailed by his henchmen, Elias and Jaxson Ryker. Shane stops before the ring and slowly looks up to the top of the cage to sell the intimidating nature of the match. Ryker holds the door open for Shane and Elias and the two walk inside the cage together, while Ryker stays on the outside. Strowman comes out next and he wastes no time slapping hands with fans or soaking in the spectacle of Mania, instead storming down the ramp and getting right into Ryker’s face. It’s now apparent why Ryker’s remained on the outside as he’s stood on the steps right in front of the door, acting as a gatekeeper. Shane doesn’t even want Braun to be able to get in to start this match. Braun yells at Ryker to move and then gets physical, picking Ryker up off his feet and RAGDOLLING THE BIG MAN OVER THE BARRICADE. One layer of defense has now been penetrated by Strowman. Shane begins freaking out and he commands Elias to help him hold the door shut. Elias has a hold of the door and Shane is thrusting behind him. The strength of two men is no match for Braun though, as Strowman swings the door off its hinges and sends Elias face first into the steel mesh as a result. Both of Shane’s henchmen have now been taken out and it is ON. The bell finally rings and the match gets 12 minutes. Had it been something like a Falls Count Anywhere match, I was gonna give it more in the realm of 15 minutes, but Braun and Shane in a little cage with limited movesets isn’t gonna do well going long. And plus last time Shane was in a steel cage (against Miz at MITB 2019), that went 13 minutes and even that felt too long. Shane’s eyes are wide with fear as he tries to climb out of the cage, but Braun picks him off and military press slams Shane down to the mat. We get lots close calls of Shane ALMOST managing to escape over the top before Braun catches him, and teases of Braun slamming Shane through one of the walls of the cage. Those latter teases are important for later. The match ends when Elias tosses Shane a trashcan for Coast To Coast purposes. Shane smashes it over Braun’s back once and then stuffs him up in the corner, with the trashcan trapping him in there. Shane goes to the other side and is about to hit it, but Braun EXPLODES out of the corner and grabs Shane by the throat before he could make the jump, and scoops Shane up for a Running Powerslam OFF THE TOP ROPE for the pin. Braun’s music hits and we go to replays but it’s not on for long as Strowman drags Shane out of the cage by the foot and carries him over to the announce tables at ringside. Braun is gonna try to put Shane through! Shane manages to take control when he takes one of the monitors from under the announce table cover and blasts Strowman in the skull with it. Shane knocks Braun onto the table and if you’ve got a brain, you know what's coming next. Shane staggers back into the ring and climbs the cage wall. He crosses his heart, and THEN LEAPS OFF THE TOP OF THE STEEL CAGE THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE, BUT NOT THROUGH BRAUN AS HE MOVES AT THE LAST SECOND. Shane crashes and burns and Braun is PISSED now. He wants to finish this off once and for all and send Shane McMahon packing. All the teasing of the cage walls coming crumbling down comes to fruition as Braun lawn darts Shane back into the ring, scoops Shane up, faces toward the ramp, and NAILS SHANE WITH A RUNNING POWERSLAM THROUGH THE STEEL CAGE. THE WALL EXPLODES OFF IT’S HINGES, BOLTS AND SCREWS FLY EVERYWHERE, AND BRAUN HAS OFFICIALLY MURDERED A MAN. (if you wanna know what this’ll look like: https://youtu.be/YOHuIM1yjyE?t=8) Boom, another WrestleMania moment. Shane McMahon won’t be calling anybody stupid for a little while after this.

WINNER by NOT BEING STUPID (Pinfall): Braun Strowman


  • We get an ad for The Broken Skull Sessions with CHRIS JERICHO, dropping on the network the following day, premiering after Night 2 of WrestleMania.

4TH MATCH: The New Day (c) (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. AJ Styles and Omos (Tag Team match for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships)


  • Before the match, we get a video package of all the wacky segments between these two teams, focusing on the theme that AJ and Omos don’t know each other nearly as well as Kofi and Xavier know each other. Who’s the stronger tag team here? Will AJ and Omos’s unfamiliarity with each other ultimately cost them? The answer is… no. Omos is a giant. Giants always win. But hey, don’t stop reading about this match yet.The New Day are out first to bring the crowd up with their first OOOOOOHHHHHH TAMPA BAYYYYYYY type introduction back with fans, and they’re out with Big E! The New Day all have a group hug on the stage, and Big E goes to the back and wishes Kofi and Xavier good luck. Styles and Omos are out second, and dear god, please give me a WrestleMania entrance imitating Jurassic Express in AEW. I NEED AJ STYLES RIDING OMOS’S SHOULDERS AS THEY WALK DOWN THE RAMP. The match gets 10 minutes. When I think AJ Styles at WrestleMania, well, this is definitely not what I think of. I’ve been advocating for Styles/HHH at this show for months now, but HHH is a busy man and said he declined that match. It’s a shame. I suppose Omos in his first match is a spectacle, and he’ll surely become one of the very few guys to win a championship in his “debut match”, but this just isn’t something that’s getting a lot of people excited. How much Omos is gonna do in this match, and how polished he’s actually gonna come across is anyone’s guess, but I think it’s fair to say that AJ is gonna be taking the majority of the work for his team in this match, which is why I don’t have it going too long. Get AJ in there to do some spots with Kofi, have AJ do some spots with Woods, and then tag Omos in at the end for the offense on New Day, and have Kofi and Xavier sell like crazy for everything Omos does. The match ends as Omos hits a Double Handed Chokeslam on Kofi Kingston, and then hoists Kingston upon his shoulders, in position as if he were about to hit an Electric Chair. AJ Styles is on the apron and HITS A PHENOMENAL FOREARM TO KOFI OFF OMOS’S SHOULDERS. KOFI FLIPS OVER 7FT TO THE MAT BELOW and Styles gets the pinfall as Omos simultaneously puts a foot on Kofi’s chest. We have new RAW Tag Team Champions. You just knew this was going to be the case. What else can New Day possibly do with those titles at this point? They have beaten everyone and done everything. AJ Styles is now a Grand Slam winner within WWE, you have a 7ft giant as one half of your Tag Team Champions on your “flagship show” that will be a guaranteed channel stopper to new viewers whenever he’s on, and it’s a good thing for all.

WINNERS by PINFALL and NEW WWE RAW Tag Team Champions: AJ Styles and Omos


  • We get a recap of the events of the special “WrestleMania SmackDown”, including the winner of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, as well as the SmackDown Tag Team Championships match, which hopefully went to Dominik and Rey Mysterio, although a moment like that should be on WrestleMania. We also get a video package for our next match.

5TH MATCH: Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins (Singles match)


  • Seth Rollins is out first, followed by Cesaro. The match gets 23 minutes, the longest of Night 1. This is Cesaro’s FIRST WrestleMania singles match and that is unbelievable to fathom. But now he’s here, and he’s got it. And this is gonna be where he proves that WWE should’ve pulled the trigger on his push a decade ago. This whole match is built around Cesaro continually teasing the swing, Rollins' fear of it, and it looking like it’s about to happen, but Rollins keeps on wriggling out of it. The match sees Rollins pulling out Frogsplashes, Phoenix Splashes, the top-rope Superplex-Falcon Arrow combo, God’s Last Gift, Curb Stomps, the whole nine yards. Cesaro hits Neutralizers, Uppercuts, gutwrench suplexes, Swiss-1-9’s, that superplex from the apron back into the ring, Sharpshooters, Crossfaces, and of course, that pesky Cesaro Swing. The match ends, YES, WITH CESARO SWINGING SETH ROLLINS FOR A FULL 100 ROTATIONS UNTIL ROLLINS BEGINS SCREAMING FOR THE REFEREE TO END THE MATCH BECAUSE HE CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE. Don’t think he can do it? He’s done it. Watch this: https://youtu.be/AEtR97_CAxw?t=6 The ref obliges but Cesaro doesn’t stop even at the sound of the bell until he’s done 100 swings. With this whole feud being built around the swing, it surely has to culminate in a special 100-rotation Cesaro Swing for WrestleMania, right? I mean, is there any other option? And Cesaro swinging Seth so many times that he legitimately has no other choice but to give-up will make the swing look so much more lethal and put it over so damn strong. Cesaro is victorious in his first WrestleMania singles outing, and Seth Rollins finally succumbs to the Swing, which looks more dangerous than ever.

WINNER by VERBAL SUBMISSION: Cesaro


  • We get an ad with all the superstars about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. We get an ad for the next WWE PPV, Money In The Bank 2021, which will occur on May 16.

6TH MATCH: Bad Bunny and Damian Priest vs. John Morrison and The Miz (Tag Team match)


  • Miz and Morrison are out first, and they come out to their “Hey Hey, Hop Hop'' parody song instead of either of their regular themes. Damian Priest is out next and does his solo entrance at first. He’s got an actual bow and arrow for WrestleMania, and he shoots it up at the titantron and his name appears in the fire. Bad Bunny is out next to his Booker T song, and the two walk down the ramp. The match gets 10 minutes. From the very point this feud began, I knew I’d put Bad Bunny and Damian Priest vs. Miz & Morrison on Night 1, the hope being that fans tuning in to see Bad Bunny will see him on Night 1 and be interested enough with the overall show to order Night 2. That’s the theory, anyways. Similar to the AJ and Omos vs. New Day tag match earlier on the card, this match is a bit shorter as Damian Priest does most of the work, fighting off the heels. Bad Bunny is tagged in near the end, hits maybe a splash off the top rope, maybe an elbow drop, maybe hits some arm drags on The Miz, maybe gets put in the Figure Four where Priest breaks up the submission just before Bunny is on the brink of tapping; nobody can really say right now what Bad Bunny will be capable of here. That being said, he has been training a ton, has appeared near every week for television and seems to have a great attitude and a great deal of respect for the business which is definitely a promising sign. The match ends when Bad Bunny and The Miz are legal, and Miz hooks Bunny in position for a Skull Crushing Finale, but Bunny’s training proves to have paid off as he leans forward and does an almost forwards backslide on Miz, Bunny turns Miz over and gets the quick sitout pin for the victory. If ever there was a match to bet your house on… it’s this one. Bunny and Priest celebrate as Miz and Morrison seethe with rage inside the ring. Bad Bunny winning his match will make headlines, and know casual fans will see in those headlines alongside Bunny? Damian Priest. He becomes a star by association. I would have Bad Bunny go on to win Money In The Bank, Logan Paul win the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, and book Bad Bunny vs. Logan Paul for the world title at WrestleMania 38. Also, all of that was a lie and please don’t do that.

WINNERS by PINFALL: Bad Bunny and Damian Priest


  • We go to the commentators, who plug the official theme songs of the PPV, and then go over the full lineup of the Sunday show for Night 2 of WrestleMania 37.

7TH MATCH: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair (Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)


  • Well, we’re here. Refer back to my words from the McIntyre vs. Lashley portion of this post if you need any indication as to why this should be going on last. Bianca Belair is out first, followed by Sasha Banks. The match gets 17 minutes, and we get formal ring introductions. Man, has the build to this match been lackluster. The unnecessary involvement from Reginald that didn’t really end up going anywhere, the overplayed trope of making the two opponents at Mania a tag team and asking “CAN THEY COEXIST” upwards of every 2 minutes, it just sucks. But there’s too much history to be made here. And I don’t care if a damn parrot wins the Royal Rumble, the Royal Rumble winner should always go on last. I think this could be something really special, just from an in-ring standpoint alone. There’s a distinct possibility that this will end up being a very face-heavy winning Mania for both the fact that it’s the first product they’re putting on back in front of a live audience, and for the Peacock deal. Far from it for me to reference something from the Bret Hart/Steve Austin feud in this post, but I’m going to do it again. I think that Sasha is a very savvy business person and she could make the case backstage that Bianca loses, but comes out of it looking much better, all while Sasha gets to hold on to that title. And I can’t say that’s far from my line of thinking. I mean my god, Bianca Belair is just starting out in this business. She’s got YEARS to go. YEARS ahead of her. She’s got all the time in the world. She doesn’t need this now. I am a big Bianca fan, but if as of right now, Sasha Banks is still the biggest women’s draw that you have actively wrestling that you can possibly capitalize on, you’re just not gonna take that championship off of her. There’s no reason to. Maybe there’s a story there to tell in the coming years if Sasha were to lose this that she can’t win at WrestleMania, being that she’s 0-5 currently. But Bianca still has things to learn, she still has hills to overcome, she’s got time to have her moment. But she can still come out of this looking just as good as she would if she had won the title. After an absolute war, the match ends with Sasha locking in the Bank Statement multiple times in the center of the ring. Bianca keeps getting to the ropes but Sasha keeps on rolling to the middle of the ring and keeping it locked in. We get like a good final 2 minutes of the match being Bianca Belair trying to fight out of the Bank Statement as the crowd hopefully gets behind her and gives her the strength and energy to escape it, but after exhausting every last effort and last gasp to get out of it, after fighting like hell and not giving up until she exhausted every option, Bianca taps out slowly to the Bank Statement as tears roll down her face. We go to replays and WrestleMania Night 1 goes off the air with Sasha Banks, solidified in her persona as the arrogant heel, planting one foot on Bianca’s back as she holds up the SmackDown Women’s Championship with fireworks erupting throughout the Tampa Bay sky. Not gonna make any promises or guarantees here, but maybe que Trish Stratus, que Becky Lynch, or que Ronda Rousey as Sasha’s next major challenger to come out and confront Banks for that big surprise end to WrestleMania.

WINNER by SUBMISSION and STILL WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks


WRESTLEMANIA 37 NIGHT 1 FINAL RESULTS:

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
1Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Drew McIntyre: Pick a Plan A finish where Lashley goes over or a Plan B finish where McIntyre goes over, Call an audible in the ring based on the reaction of the crowd for both guysSingles match for the WWE Championship with Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin BANNED from ringside14 minutes
2Lana and Naomi defeated Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose, Natalya and Tamina, and The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) by PinfallTag Team Turmoil match where the winners will face Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the Women’s Tag Team Championship on WrestleMania Sunday16 minutes
3Braun Strowman defeated Shane McMahon by PinfallSteel Cage match12 minutes
4AJ Styles and Omos defeated The New Day (c) (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) by PinfallTag Team match for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships10 minutes
5Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins by Verbal SubmissionSingles match23 minutes
6Bad Bunny and Damian Priest defeated John Morrison and The Miz by PinfallTag Team match10 minutes
7Sasha Banks (c) defeated Bianca Belair by SubmissionSingles match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship17 minutes


NIGHT 2 (April 11th)

MAIN SHOW  

  • Hulk Hogan’s music hits to begin Night 2’s broadcast of WrestleMania 37. Hogan announces the total attendance, likely saying that it’s broken all kinds of records. Hogan is welcoming us to the show and saying how it’s so good to be back when all of a sudden R-Truth’s music hits and he makes his way out to the stage. R-Truth is confused and thinks that HE is Hulk Hogan’s co-host of WrestleMania. After a back and forth exchange, Hulk Hogan bodyslams R-Truth and pins him to win the 24/7 Championship. If WWE wants something they can tout as a WrestleMania moment, give Hulk Hogan the 24/7 Championship to kick off Night 2, because why not, right?

1ST MATCH: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (w/ Logan Paul) (Singles match)


  • No better match on this card to kick off Night 2 than this. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, a years rivalry that has spanned across all companies. Finally, now, they get to go one on one on the WrestleMania stage. Oh, also Logan Paul is here. Kevin Owens is out first, followed by Sami Zayn. The match gets 13 minutes. We get all the old school spots from both guys here. They run at each other and do the punches to start. We get the Tornado DDT through the ringpost from Zayn, we get a Powerbomb on the apron from Owens, we get Zayn’s Asai Moonsault where he bounces his ass on the top rope onto Owens on the outside, we get Owens hitting Swanton Bombs and Frogsplashes, we get Blue Thunderbombs and Corner Exploder Suplexes from Zayn. Now, I know how badly Kevin Owens has wanted to jump off of the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium for a year now. I don’t particularly know where this pirate ship in question is in the arena relative to the ring, but maybe they could do a referee bump spot in this match in order to fight up to the pirate ship to let Owens jump off, so that there’s no count-out happening while all this goes on. Throughout the match, Sami Zayn is screaming his head off at Logan Paul at ringside. Any time Logan tries to cheer Zayn on, or get up on the apron to try and help, pretty much Sami Zayn is an annoying prick to him the entire match, blabbing on about the conspiracy, and his big mouth costs him when Logan Paul turns on him at the end, helping Kevin Owens hit a Stunner for the win in a big babyface victory to kick off Night 2. The last shot of this match is Logan Paul now having aligned with Kevin Owens, as they hold each others arms up in the air in celebration.

WINNER by PINFALL: Kevin Owens


  • We get an ad for WWEShop. We get a short video package for our next match detailing the history between Nia Jax and Lana.

2ND MATCH: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Lana and Naomi (Tag Team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships)


  • Lana and Naomi are out first, followed by Jax and Baszler. The match gets 11 minutes. Immediately, Nia pulls Lana out of the ring and Shayna begins to clear off the announce table for Lana to go through it. Naomi saves her partner though, and order is eventually restored in the ring as Naomi goes one on one with Shayna Baszler for a bit. Near the end of the match, Nia is legal, and Naomi has been knocked out cold after Nia hit a legdrop to her on the apron. Lana has to come in and face Nia Jax. The closing stretch sees Nia Jax dominating Lana, and now with Naomi out of the equation, Jax tries one more time to drag Lana out of the ring and put her through the announce table. Shayna sets up the steel steps right in front of the announce table so that this Samoan Drop can have some extra height to it. Nia gets Lana on her shoulders and is about to drop Lana when Naomi comes back in and hits Nia with the flying ass. Lana and Naomi are both trying to powerbomb Nia through the announce table but they’re not quite strong enough. Shayna, after several miscommunications during the match where Nia accidentally hit her, says Fuck it, and walks up the steps and shoves Nia forwards to give Lana and Naomi the extra leverage, and Nia goes crashing through the announce desk. Shayna Baszler walks out of the match, up the ramp and never looks back. Lana and Naomi both have to work together to lift Nia back into the ring, and Lana gets the pin to win the championships. Finally the story arc of Lana and Nia Jax is over, as Lana gets the last laugh by teaming up with Nia’s own partner against her, pinning her, and taking her championships. A satisfying conclusion if there ever was one. Now that there’s a happy ending to this story, I suggest you reunite The IIconics and put the titles on them ASAP because no one actually wants to see Lana and Naomi as champions.

WINNERS by PINFALL and NEW WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Lana and Naomi


  • We get an ad for The Broken Skull Sessions with CHRIS JERICHO, dropping on the network TONIGHT and premiering immediately after WrestleMania Night 2. We get a video package for our next match.

3RD MATCH: Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews (Nigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship)


  • Apollo Crews is out first with a special entrance as a Nigerian Army walks him do the ring, all playing the drums. Big E is out second as Wale performs his entrance music live. The match gets 10 minutes. I would give them more time, and I invite WWE to extend this match if they feel it should be longer, but I’m a little wary after last time when their entire match was talking loudly to each other, culminating in a horrible botched pin. Hopefully they can improve here. I have a question. What the hell is a Nigerian Drum Fight? I’ve heard Apollo say that it’s a match with no rules where you beat your opponent so bad it sounds like they are being beaten like a drum. Oh, okay. The match ends when Apollo clotheslines Big E to the outside and then gets the steel steps and slides back into the ring and tries to recreate what took Big E out in the first place all those weeks back. Apollo drops the steps and we hear a thud. It’s presumed that Big E was once again crushed by the steps, and we get a few seconds where time stands still, but then the camera pans over to the outside and Big E isn’t even there. Big E comes out from under the apron on the other side of the ring and lays out Crews from behind. Big E goes to finish Apollo off with a Big Ending, but Apollo SMASHES A DRUM OVER BIG E’S HEAD and then hits the Standing Moonsault for the win. Apollo is finally your new IN-TAH-CON-TAH-NENTAL Champion. Apollo has grown to become one of SmackDown’s most intriguing characters since he’s taken on this Nigerian Prince gimmick and gone heel. Big E’s work as of late shows that he’s ready for that next level. From here, start testing the waters for Big E hovering around the main event picture. Start putting him against a Bryan, or an Edge, or let him have a main event on SmackDown with Roman Reigns. See how he does, because he’s going to be there sooner or later. For now, Apollo is the hallmark of the Intercontinental Title picture, and Big E drops the title to begin advancing to bigger and better things.

WINNER by PINFALL and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Apollo Crews


  • We get both the 2020 AND 2021 WWE Hall Of Fame inductees coming out on stage, as is WrestleMania tradition. They all wave to the crowd, and out to interrupt the pomp and circumstance is Riddle, who rides out on his scooter, and has a moment on the stage with Rob Van Dam. They have a back and forth promo segment, where they make weed references, because if you’re gonna have these two in the same building, PLEASE HAVE THEM INTERACT.

4TH MATCH: Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus (Singles match for the WWE United States Championship)


  • Riddle continues his entrance, riding down the WrestleMania ramp on his dumb scooter and flips off his flip-flops as those CGI birds fly out of his ass. I’m sorry, I try to remain unbiased when doing these posts, but Riddle is UNBEARABLE. He’s a hell of a wrestler in the ring, but his character has been massacred. He is an INSTANT channel changer when he’s on. He’s presented so damn annoying and unlikable. There is no way this man is going to be marketable to anyone. Not even stoners because literally no actual stoner is as obnoxious as Riddle comes across on TV. Sheamus is out second, would be great if it was to his TOO MANY LIMES theme song. The match gets 15 minutes and we get formal ring introductions. Despite my reservations about Riddle, I love seeing these two beat the crap out of each other. They’ve had a handful of excellent matches on RAW this year and I expect this to be no different. Sheamus has become a machine lately. The match ends when Riddle hits the Final Flash Knee Strike, sending Sheamus into the ropes, and Sheamus rebounds with a Brogue Kick for the pin. Sheamus more than deserves AT LEAST the US Title as a consolation prize for how damn awesome he’s been lately. He has taken it upon himself to club the shit out of every opponent he’s been in the ring with and everybody needs a title on him. Have Sheamus rule the US Title scene for a while, having the most physical matches of the night at every PPV. It’s a shameful thing, fella.

WINNER by PINFALL and NEW WWE United States Champion: Sheamus


  • We go to the commentators, who plug the official theme songs of the PPV, and then go over the full results of the Saturday show for Night 1 of WrestleMania 37.

5TH MATCH: Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley (Singles match for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship)


  • Rhea Ripley is out first, with her theme music being performed live by Ash Costello. Asuka is out next. The match gets 18 minutes. Asuka has not defended her RAW Women’s Championship on PPV since SHE FACED ZELINA VEGA AT CLASH OF CHAMPIONS IN SEPTEMBER. THAT IS PROBABLY BAD. Asuka was one of the true highlights of the pandemic era. She put the work in, appearing on both RAW and SmackDown where she was needed, having those great matches with Bayley and Sasha, and teaming with Kairi against them during the summer. But I think that WWE’s squeezed just about all the juice they could out of this current title reign for Asuka. I was not a fan at all of how this match came to be, with Rhea just appearing on RAW, pointing at the Mania sign and proclaiming she wanted to challenge Asuka. That sucks. That’s lazy writing. Why her runner-up status in the Royal Rumble match was never capitalized on THE NIGHT AFTER I’ll never know. You could’ve had 4 solid months of building Rhea up for this feud with Asuka. I personally would’ve had her win the Women’s Rumble which you would’ve known if you saw my Rumble 2021 booking post, but after that didn’t happen, she could’ve gone on to win a Women’s Elimination Chamber match instead. But instead there was just nothing of substance. The match ends when Asuka is building up a head of steam with strikes and kicks and runs the ropes to hit her running hip attack, but Rhea catches her mid-air and nails a Riptide to pick up the championship. I genuinely think you could sell Rhea Ripley on just look alone. There’s no reason she can’t be your next Chyna. She’s jacked, tall, and looks like she could beat up most of the male roster. Also, I know I just said in the Night 1 section of this post that Bianca shouldn’t win yet because she’s still got years ahead of her to continue to learn and grow, there’s not really any choice but to do it with Rhea here. She lost last year to Charlotte and if she loses again here to Asuka, who wouldn’t really have anywhere else to go as champion from here, it would be extremely damaging. Here we can get a fresh set of feuds. This is HER brutality.

WINNER by PINFALL and NEW WWE RAW Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley


  • We get a video package for our next match.

6TH MATCH: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Randy Orton (Singles match)


  • Orton is out first, followed by The Fiend w/ Alexa. He walks out of a giant Fiend Head on the stage. The… er…. segment gets 15 minutes. If that seems excruciatingly long to you, don’t blame me. The Firefly Funhouse match last year went 13 minutes and the regular Fiend matches when he was champion with guys like Rollins and Bryan went excess of 20 minutes. I just tried to ballpark it somewhere in the middle. I hate to regurgitate what I’ve seen online again, but it really is ass backwards that Braun and Shane have spent their entire feud calling each other stupid and they’re having a cage match, and in this feud the two men repeatedly tried MURDER and they appear to be having a straight up wrasslin’ match. Wat. Since I have no damn idea whether this match is gonna be in-ring, cinematic (probably not a good idea cause you’ve actually gotten a paying crowd this year), or whether there’s really gonna be live magic tricks done in the ring… I’m dreading the crowd response to all of this live. However the method of winning (I’ll just go with pinfall), all I know is that The Fiend was burned alive so he should probably win. The Undead Charred Murder Clown is apparently a babyface. All of this feud is so ass backwards. The Fiend wins, presumably at the behest of Alexa Bliss causing it to rain acid in the arena, melting Randy Orton away. Just please, WWE. Promise me no projections of maggots and worms on the ring this time.

WINNER by PINFALL: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt


  • We get an ad for the next WWE PPV, Money In The Bank 2021, which will occur on May 16. We get a video package for our main event.

7TH MATCH: Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan (Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship)


  • Edge is out first, played to the ring by a live performance of Metalingus by Alter Bridge. Daniel Bryan is out second, and he’s got an army of clones in Daniel Bryan shirts lining the ramp, (basically an imitation of John Cena’s entrance at WrestleMania 25), and Bryan does the Yes Chant sideways down the ramp as he jumps throughout the sea of Bryan clones doing the chant. Roman Reigns is out last, and his big entrance is rising up on a platform from beneath the stage like the Undertaker, only here, ROMAN REIGNS IS LITERALLY AT THE HEAD OF A GIGANTIC LONG DINNER TABLE. Reigns slowly steps up and does his pose to a big firework show lighting up the sky, and preferably would debut his new theme music that’s been in the works here as well, if possible. The match gets 25 minutes and we get formal ring introductions for all 3 men.The bell rings and Bryan is stood up on the turnbuckle Yes Chanting to the crowd. The second he turns around, BOTH REIGNS AND EDGE CHARGE DANIEL BRYAN WITH A DOUBLE SPEAR RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE. Bryan is taken out of commission seconds into the match. The match sees lots of big moves between Edge and Roman, with Bryan weaseling his way in as he does so well with the occasional flying missile dropkick or Running Knee out of nowhere. The match sees twin magic as Jey Uso tries to interfere and take out Edge but Edge nails a Spear on Jey. As Edge is distracted, Jey rolls out and in comes the returning JIMMY USO. Edge hits an Edgecution on Bryan and then goes to dispose of the Uso but Jimmy is the fresh man and he hits a Superkick and 3 consecutive Uso Splashes on Edge, which Roman Reigns gets a nearfall on. The match ends with Edge and Daniel Bryan going at it in the ring, and they do the same spot that's been done with Reigns and Bryan when Edge is in the corner with those signature crazy Edge eyes, setting up to hit the Spear, and he runs for it but Bryan transitions it into the Yes Lock. Edge is trapped and we get lots of teases of Edge being close to tapping out. Edge won’t do it and as he’s just on the verge of passing out, ROMAN REIGNS COMES BACK IN AND APPLIES A GUILLOTINE CHOKE ON BRYAN WHILE HE’S GOT EDGE PASSING OUT IN THE YES LOCK. IT’S A DOUBLE SUBMISSION. Bryan’s grip on the Yes Lock slowly weakens as he loses consciousness in the Guillotine Choke, and JUST as Edge is regaining consciousness, Daniel Bryan is OUT and the referee calls for the bell just as Edge is about to break it up. Edge was just a second too late, and that one second was the difference between win and loss. Roman Reigns’ music hits and Edge is having a silent meltdown. You can read it on his face. His path, his journey, his purpose, to become World Champion one last time after coming back after 9 years on the shelf, his one and only undying goal to finish his career on HIS terms, to finish his run as World Champion on HIS terms, it all just slipped through his fingers. Alright, let’s break this down: Daniel Bryan was put in this match to take the fall and that’s the only reason; let’s not pull something crazy and have Bryan win the belt in a shocking swerve “just to surprise the fans”. It doesn’t make sense right now. The magic of the Yes Movement isn’t there anymore. Unless you want to turn Bryan back heel and explore the Eco Warrior/Planet’s Champion character a little bit more, I don’t see any fathomable reason to put the title on Bryan. Now why not Edge? As much as I love him, the proof is in the pudding that he just hasn’t been a ratings mover ever since winning the Royal Rumble. I don’t believe the prospect of him challenging for the title vs. the prospect of him having the title would be that drastic of a change in ratings. I hate to have WrestleMania end two nights in a row with no title change, but sometimes the right decision needs to take precedent over the “happy ending”. If they had taken up my idea of having Edge vs. Roman Reigns remain a one on one affair and have Roman Reigns swap the Universal Championship for the returning Big Gold Belt World Heavyweight Championship in order to goud Edge in to choosing him after the Royal Rumble, this feud would’ve been a lot more interesting and had a lot more layers to explore. Edge can have a run with the WWE Championship on RAW, I feel like that’s more suited for him in this day and age. Edge as WWE Champion on one show, Reigns as Universal on the other show, that’s a strong top of the card right there. There is no one that should be beating Roman Reigns right now. Plain and simple. WHY NOT build up that reputation and give him the win and the total star treatment for the foreseeable future? I’m in no way saying that he should hold the title for 2 years until we can get the Rock match in Hollywood at Mania 39, but…. I’m also not not saying that. And yes, IF POSSIBLE, I think an awesome ending to WrestleMania this year would be The Rock coming out and confronting Roman Reigns as he holds up the championship, Rock and Reigns both point to the titantron which has the WrestleMania Hollywood logo and date on it, and they get one up on Cena/Rock by booking the WrestleMania main event 2 YEARS IN ADVANCE. HAH. TAKE THAT, JOHN. This ending would create an iconic lasting image of this Mania, Rock and Roman in the center of the ring, creating the match for 2 years from now at Mania 39. But the cruel reality is that The Rock is a very busy man, and he probably won’t be there at all. But if he is….. DO THIS. In the event of no Rock, the second and final night of WrestleMania 37 officially goes off the air with Roman Reigns on the ramp, holding up the title, as the most ludicrous firework show of all time unfolds, and we sign off with a zooming shot on Edge’s face in the ring. The face of a man who has just discovered he will do anything to get his championship back. This isn’t over yet.

WINNER by SUBMISSION and STILL WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns


WRESTLEMANIA 37 NIGHT 2 FINAL RESULTS:

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
1Kevin Owens (w/ Logan Paul) defeated Sami Zayn by PinfallSingles match13 minutes
2Lana and Naomi defeated Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) (w/ Reginald) by PinfallTag Team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships11 minutes
3Apollo Crews defeated Big E (c) by PinfallNigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship10 minutes
4Sheamus defeated Riddle (c) by PinfallSingles match for the WWE United States Championship15 minutes
5Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka (c) by PinfallSingles match for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship18 minutes
6“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (w/ Alexa Bliss) defeated Randy OrtonSingles match15 minutes
7Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Daniel Bryan and Edge by SubmissionTriple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship25 minutes

 

MY CARD FOR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2021 (May 16, 2021, WWE Thunderdome, Yuengling Center)

No.MatchesStipulations
1Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee vs. SheamusFatal 4-Way match for the WWE Championship
2Men’s MITB Ladder match8-man Ladder match for a World Championship match contract
3Women’s MITB Ladder match8-woman Ladder match for a Women’s Championship match contract


Well, that was the post. Thanks for reading! As always, let me know what you liked and/or what you didn’t like from the post, and what from the post you’d like to see actually happen on the show this weekend!


ENJOY WRESTLEMANIA, EVERYONE!!!!

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