According to former WWE wrestler Reginald, he was nearly inserted into Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair’s match at WrestleMania 37.
Banks and Belair made history in 2021 when they became the first Black women to headline WrestleMania. But the match apparently could have been a triple threat, with Reginald telling Rewind Recap Relive that Vince McMahon wanted to add him to the mix.
“Brother, I have a million,” Reginald responded when Rewind Recap Live asked if he had any stories about McMahon being high on him. “Just one that’s ridiculous off the bat, I almost main evented WrestleMania. It was an intergender match… If I would have been in this match, I would have got so much heat from everyone because this match had such — like, this was a huge match. This was a first… Vince wanted a triple threat between Sasha, Bianca, and myself.”
Around the time of WrestleMania 37, Reginald was involved in a storyline with Banks, Belair, and Carmella. He even worked a singles match against Banks earlier that year. The story was supposed to be Reginald splitting off from Carmella and getting close to Banks — only to reveal that he was joining her match at WrestleMania. Banks and Belair did not respond favorably when they found out the idea.
“So Carmella fired me and I was supposed to fall in love with Sasha, all of these different things,” Reginald said. “So Vince calls all of us into the office. Me, Sasha and Bianca, and we have some producers and writers there. He says, ‘This is what I’m thinking, Reggie, you buy her a dog, she loves you, and you’re playing every week in the middle, but the thing is you have an endgame. You will come out and announce that this is no longer a singles. This is a triple threat.’
“When he said that, Sasha had a look on her face, and Bianca had the same look on her face. And I’m just like, ‘I don’t know what the hell is happening right now. I’m not going to look at anyone, I’m not going to say anything.’ Vince said, ‘Because Sasha and Reginald, you guys have great chemistry.’ And Sasha kept asking Vince, ‘What do you mean? What is this chemistry?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, it’s just chemistry.’ She’s like, ‘But what makes us have this chemistry?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know, damn it. It’s chemistry.’ We just didn’t get an answer. It was just: chemistry.
“Lo and behold, they came to their senses. That would have been stupid to throw me in that match. And so they went on to have a great match that’s going to live in WWE history for a long time. Can you imagine? Can’t even, yeah.”
Even if he was added, Reginald might not have been able to compete —
It’s unknown if this triple threat actually would have gone on last had it taken place. And the WrestleMania plans likely would have fallen through even if McMahon did decide to move forward with them, because Reginald ended up testing positive for COVID the day of the show. He told Rewind Recap Live that he was supposed to accompany Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for their WWE Women’s Tag Team title defense against Natalya & Tamina.
“I was supposed to debut in front of a live crowd that WrestleMania with Nia & Shayna, but I got COVID the day of,” Reginald said. “I drove to Tampa, tested, got horrible news. Legit been clean, negative the entire pandemic. First time I get to go, my first WrestleMania — COVID. I have to drive back home.”
During his WWE career from 2020-2024, Reginald (real name Sidney Bateman) was known as Reggie, Reginald, and Scrypts. He noted during the Rewind Recap Relive interview that he’s now “in the midst of getting a deal done” with AEW/ROH, where he’s already worked ROH tapings with his new character Soleil.
Daniel Bryan discussed feeling detached while wrestling at WrestleMania 37 in a new interview.
Talking to BT Sports about his match at WrestleMania 37, Bryan said he experienced a ‘detached’ feeling while wrestling Roman Reigns and Edge in a triple threat match for the Universal title.
“It’s taken me time to fully process what the experience was like because it wasn’t like a normal thing,” he explained. “It was really weird, like out of body in it. When I’m wrestling, I feel everything and feel like I really enjoy it. This was weird, I was out there and it felt like I was detached. It was so strange in fact that before the match started, I got this strange feeling like, ‘Is this what it’s like before you die? Am I going to die? I was like huh, well, okay.’ I don’t know why or how it happened, but it was unlike anything I have felt while wrestling.”
He later explained that he may have seen it as a sign of winding down his career as a full-time wrestler, which he has expressed before in previous interviews.
“The odd detachment, I was like, ‘woah’,” he said. “Like I said, I’m either gonna die or maybe it’s a sign that this isn’t it and it isn’t the same type of fulfillment that it was before. I’ve been trying to meditate on it and talk to my friends that I’m close with like ‘hey, what is that?'”
Bryan also confirmed in the interview that his contract was coming up “relatively soon” and was considering what he would do.
Roman Reigns defeated Bryan and Edge at WrestleMania 37 to retain the Universal title. Bryan did not appear on the following edition of SmackDown.
In numbers released from the Tampa Sports Authority to Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston, WWE WrestleMania 37 sold 40,806 tickets over two nights, generating a combined $6.2 million in revenue.
Turnstile numbers on Saturday, April 10th had 18,328 in Raymond James Stadium with 20,172 total tickets sold while Sunday, April 11th had 18,924 in the house with 20,634 total tickets sold. Comped tickets for Saturday were 1682 and 1470 for Sunday. Revenue for both nights were virtually identical.
WWE announced 25,675 attendance on both nights.
7952 two-day packages were sold in non-suite seating while a total of 435 suite tickets were sold for both nights.
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WWE president Nick Khan continues to add some of his former team to his current team, adding several former CAA co-workers to the company Tuesday.
Chris Legentil was named senior vice president and head of global communications, coming off a stint in a similar role at DAZN under then-chairman John Skipper. He also worked in the NBA and Showtime.
Scott Zanghellini, a former senior talent agent at CAA, was named head of revenue strategy and development. Joining him in another former CAA agent in Alex Varga who becomes vice president of revenue strategy and development. Both men will report directly to Khan.
The two days of WrestleMania, the first U.S. shows during the pandemic with a sizable audience, were shows with hard working wrestlers and very questionable decision-making.
The big surprise was that of the 17 matches, ten were won by the supposed heels (the concept of faces and heels is not particularly strong but this was based on designations going into the matches). There was the feeling that the first shows with live crowds would be presented as a major celebration, particularly now when booking and building the next house are no longer important with all the money guaranteed. But instead of a celebration, the weekend ended with the company having, in theory, eight heel champions and one babyface, Bianca Belair, who ended night one winning the title in the main event. One could argue Rhea Ripley was a face in the end and while the heel in the build, was presented as a face coming out of her title win over Asuka for the Raw women’s championship.
Several match finishes, including Randy Orton vs. The Fiend, were changed during WWE WrestleMania 37 weekend.
Fightful first reported the Orton/Fiend changes with Dave Meltzer confirming that on Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio. He said for the entire weekend, three finishes were changed and/or finalized with one major match on Saturday and the other (Orton/Fiend) on Sunday happening hours before the show. Bryan Alvarez said he was told four finishes were changed.
Orton defeated Fiend in the opening match of Sunday’s card which was the original plan. Fightful reported the idea, however, was that Orton would be written off TV for a while but those involved with putting the match together weren’t told anything past that. They said Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard were instrumental in changing the plan to a “surprise” finish over the weekend.
In a match that included a giant jack in the box that Fiend emerged from, Orton won after Fiend was distracted by Alexa Bliss coming out of the box with black liquid coming out of a headband, leading to an RKO and a pin.
Orton returned on Raw and was part of a three-way match to determine the next challenger to WWE Champion Bobby Lashley while Fiend returned as Bray Wyatt.
After simultaneously pinning both of his challengers, Roman Reigns is still Universal Champion coming out of WrestleMania 37.
In the main event of WrestleMania 37 night two, Reigns defeated Edge and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match to retain the Universal Championship. Edge and Bryan had both been laid out with con-chair-tos before Reigns pinned them at the same time.
Edge gave Bryan a con-chair-to near the end of tonight’s match and then went to do the same thing to Reigns, but Jey Uso ran into the ring and attacked Edge. Edge gave Uso a spear and hit him with repeated steel chair shots. But as Edge turned around, Reigns dropped him with a spear. Reigns gave Edge a con-chair-to, dragged him on top of Bryan, and pinned them both to retain the Universal Championship.
Before returning and attacking Edge, Uso had been taken to the back during tonight’s match after Edge gave him an implant DDT on the steel steps.
After Edge won this year’s men’s Royal Rumble, Reigns vs. Edge was originally announced as the Universal Championship match for WrestleMania. But Bryan was later added to make it a triple threat. Bryan won SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber match this February, but he then immediately had to face Reigns for the Universal Championship. Bryan again challenged Reigns for the Universal Championship at Fastlane last month, but Edge — who was the special guest enforcer — cost Bryan the match. In storyline, Edge wasn’t happy about Bryan getting to challenge for the Universal Championship on the road to WrestleMania.
Reigns has been Universal Champion since defeating “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at Payback last August.
One year after losing at WrestleMania 36, Rhea Ripley got WrestleMania redemption tonight.
Ripley defeated Asuka at WrestleMania 37 night two to win the Raw Women’s Championship. The finish of the match was Ripley pinning Asuka after hitting Riptide.
This was the second WrestleMania match the 24-year-old Ripley has had during her career. She lost the NXT Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36 last year.
Ripley debuted as a member of the Raw roster by confronting Asuka three weeks ago and challenging her to a title match at WrestleMania. After having her final match for NXT, Ripley was an entrant in the women’s Royal Rumble match this January. Ripley made it to the final two of the women’s Royal Rumble before losing to Bianca Blair.
Rock musician Ash Costello performed Ripley’s theme music “Brutality” as Ripley made her entrance for tonight’s match.
Prior to losing the Raw Women’s Championship to Ripley tonight, Asuka had been champion since winning the title from Sasha Banks at SummerSlam last August.
Dabba-Kato made his return to WWE television on night two of WrestleMania 37, aligning with Apollo Crews in Crews’ Intercontinental title win in the Nigerian Drum Fight.
Intercontinental Champion Big E had Crews pinned after hitting a Big Ending. Dabba-Kato then appeared and broke up the pinfall. He connected with a chokeslam, then placed Crews on top of Big E for the pinfall and the title change. Dabba-Kato is of Polish and Nigerian descent, explaining the alignment with Crews as he plays a descendant of Nigerian royalty.
Dabba-Kato was prominently featured on Raw during the late summer of 2020 in Raw Underground segments. He was drafted to the Raw brand in the WWE Draft in October 2020, but had not made an appearance since Raw Underground’s hiatus.
Dabba-Kato was part of the WWE Performance Center class of April 2016.He had a career as a professional football player prior to joining WWE, playing in American football leagues in Europe for nearly a decade. He was a late cut from the Minnesota Vikings in the 2015 NFL preseason. His highest-profile appearance prior to tonight was at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018 under the Babatunde ring name. Additionally, he wrestled for EVOLVE while under WWE contract in 2019.
Apollo Crews won his first WWE Intercontinental title Sunday at WrestleMania 37, defeating Big E in a Nigerian drum fight match thanks to a surprise return.
After hitting the Big Ending following Crews missing a frog splash through a table, Big E was about to win the match when the wrestler formerly known as Dabba Kato from last year’s Raw Underground segments appeared from under the ring. Dressed in military garb, he attacked Big E and following a chokeslam, he dragged Crews onto him for the pin and the title change.
WWE announcers didn’t name Kato and acted like they didn’t know who he was.
The match was essentially a hardcore match but with kendo sticks, stand-up drums, gongs and tables. The ringside steps were also used liberally, a tie-in to when Crews dropped them on Big E several weeks ago on SmackDown.
This is Crews’ second WWE title as he is a former U.S. titleholder while the loss ends Big E’s second I-C title reign. He had held the title since last December when he defeated Sami Zayn in a lumberjack match on SmackDown.
He also joins a list of short list of wrestlers to have competed in five or more WrestleMania main card matches without getting a win (Goldust, Ron Killings, Sasha Banks).
WrestleMania 37 concludes tonight with a triple threat Universal Championship match headlining the night two card at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns will put his title on the line against men’s Royal Rumble winner Edge and Daniel Bryan. Bryan was added to the match following the events of last month’s Fastlane pay-per-view. Bryan made Reigns tap out during their title match, but there was no referee to call for the bell. Edge, who was the special guest enforcer and had been unhappy about Bryan getting a title shot on the road to WrestleMania, then cost Bryan the match.
The Raw Women’s Championship will also be on the line as Asuka defends against Rhea Ripley. Ripley will be looking for WrestleMania redemption after losing the NXT Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair last year.
Plus, Randy Orton will face “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens will take on Sami Zayn (with YouTube star Logan Paul appearing as Zayn’s guest), Big E will defend his Intercontinental title against Apollo Crews in a Nigerian Drum Fight, Sheamus will challenge Riddle for the United States Championship, and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler will defend their titles against Natalya & Tamina.
The show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time and will air live on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network everywhere else. The pre-show will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern. No matches are set for the pre-show.
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Show Recap–
KICKOFF
The kickoff panel consists of Kayla Braxton, JBL, Pete Rosenberg, Bookert T, and Jerry “The King” Lawler. The weather is better, so the backdrop is the Raymond James Stadium. The panel ran down tonight’s lineup.
They took a closer look at Randy Orton vs. The Fiend. Braxton noted Orton vs. Fiend opens tonight’s show.
They recapped Tamina & Natalya’s victory in the tag team turmoil last night to earn a title shot against Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler tonight. The panel turned their attention to Riddle vs. Sheamus.
They recapped Sheamus defeating Riddle two weeks ago. Lawler wondered why Riddle doesn’t wear boots. Booker T agreed and claimed he’d stomp on his feet.
Rosenberg defended Riddle not wearing boots because he’s from MMA. JBL agreed and pointed out that Kevin Von Erich didn’t wear shoes either. Booker claimed nobody without boots ever won the world championship. JBL countered with Antonino Rocca. Booker didn’t care.
They recapped WrestleMania Night One. The panel talked about Bianca Belair’s victory and Montez Ford celebrating with her. The panel discussed the rest of the results.
They recapped Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Rhea Ripely. They recapped the 2021 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The panel discussed Big E vs. Apollo Crews. Sonya Deville joined the panel to discuss the feud and tonight’s Nigerian Drum Fight. They recapped Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn with Logan Paul’s involvement.
They recapped Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan.
WRESTLEMANIA – NIGHT TWO
Country singer Ashland Craft performed America The Beautiful. They showed shots of the roster standing on the stage from last night.
WrestleMania’s co-hosts, Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan walked out on the stage dressed like pirates. The fans cheered Titus, but Hogan got a mixed reaction with lots of boos.
Randy Orton defeated The Fiend (w/Alexa Bliss) (5:52)
Orton and Fiend had a fine match. They kept it short, but the fans were into it most of the way. The finish came out of nowhere and featured magic.
The Fiend’s entrance was awesome.
As The Fiend walked down a hallway, he transformed from being burnt and deformed to the normal-looking Fiend.
Then Bliss walked to the ringside, where there was a huge jack in the box. She turned the handle, and The Fiend popped out.
The lights remained red throughout the match. The Fiend jumped off the box and caught Orton with a clothesline. The fans popped for The Fiend when he posed. The Fiend charged at Orton, but he slipped out to ringside.
Orton gave The Fiend a back suplex on the announce table, but it did not affect him. The Fiend locked on the mandible claw, but Orton escaped. Orton hit the draping DDT, but The Fiend jumped back up.
Orton sent The Fiend head-first into the box to take over. The Fiend fought back and rocked Orton with a clothesline. He followed up with a flying cross-body block. Orton recovered and beat down down The Fiend.
Orton attempted the RKO, but The Fiend countered with the mandible claw. The Fiend set up for Sister Abigail, but flames emerged from the ring post. Suddenly, Bliss was sitting on top of the box dressed in black. She had the black ooze pouring down her face. The fans popped big for Bliss’s transformation. Orton took advantage and hit the RKO for the win.
After the match, Bliss and The Fiend had a brief staredown. The lights went out, and they were both gone. The fans erupted in boos when the lights came back on, and the ring was empty.
Eric Bischoff approached Titus and Hulk Hogan backstage. Bayley interrupted and invited Bischoff on her show Ding Dong Hello.
Bischoff praised Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Tamina & Natalya to retain the titles (14:00)
This was a fine match. Both teams worked hard, although it dragged at times.
The fans cooled off midway but were mainly into the match.
Baszler used a side headlock on Natalya for the early advantage. Natalya attempted the sharpshooter, but Baszler made it to the ropes. Jax tagged in and overpowered Natalya.
Jax demanded that Tamina get in the ring. The fans popped big for Tamina and broke into a “Tamina” chant. Tamina overpowered Jax to gain control. Tamina and Natalya gave Jax a double flapjack. Baszler made a blind tag, but the faces took over.
Natalya gave Baszler a catapult into a superkick from Tamina. Baszler rocked Natalya with a knee to gain control. Jax attacked Tamina at ringside and slammed her down hard.
Baszler slowed the pace down and worked over Natalya’s knee. The fans erupted in boos as Jax worked over Natalya’s leg. The heels isolated Natalya in their corner.
Jax missed a charge in the corner, and Natalya hit the discus clothesline for a near fall. Jax recovered and hit a powerbomb, but Tamina broke up the pin attempt.
Tamina got the got hot tag and ran wild on Baszler. Baszler attempted the Kirifuda Clutch, but Tamina broke free.
Tamina climbed to the top, but Baszler cut her off. Jax recovered and hit a crossbody onto Tamina and Natalya. Jax trashed talked Tamina.
Tamina heard enough and hit Jax in the face. She then slammed Jax for a near fall.
The fans broke into another “Tamina” chant.
Tamina attempted the Superfly splash, but Jax moved out of the way. Natalya tagged in and knocked Baszler off the apron, but Baszler made a blind tag.
The finish came when Natalya locked on the sharpshooter on Jax, but Baszler was legal in the match. Baszler jumped in and locked on the Kirifuda Clutch for the win.
Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn (9:15)
Owens and Zayn had a really good hard-hitting and fast-paced match.
JBL joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves on commentary.
Zayn came out first and introduced his guest Logan Paul. The fans booed Logan Paul as Zayn did the introduction. Zayn danced to Paul’s music, which was hilarious. The fans booed Paul when he got in the ring. The fans broke into a “KO” chant when Owens entered. Paul sat at ringside with the commentators.
The bell rang, and Zayn charged at Owens. Owens caught Zayn with a pop-up powerbomb for a near fall. Owens was firmly in control and hit a cannonball in the corner.
Owens avoided a suplex on the apron. Zayn recovered and hit a brainbuster on the apron to take over. There was a slight “Logan sucks” chant.
Zayn hit the Michinoku Driver for a near fall. Cole called it a blue thunder bomb, but Graves corrected him to save Cole from the Internet.
Owens and Zayn fought on the top rope. Owens knocked Zayn down with a head butt. He followed up with a frog splash for a close near fall. Owens then hit a modified backbreaker for another near fall.
Zayn recovered and hit the exploder suplex in the corner. Zayn missed the Helluva Kick but hit the blue thunder bomb for a near fall. Zayn hit a series of suplexes and a brainbuster for a close two-count. The fans broke into a “This is awesome” chant.
Zayn attempted a superplex, but Owens reversed into a suplex. Owens hit a running clothesline in the corner. He attempted a second running clothesline, but Zayn hit the Helluva kick.
Zayn went for the Helluva kick again, but Owens hit a superkick. Owens hit a second superkick and the stunner for the win.
After the match, Paul jumped in to check on Zayn. Paul congratulated Owens and tried to shake his hand. Zayn became furious and got in Paul’s face. Paul knocked Zayn down, and the fans booed.
Paul raised Owens’s hand, and the fans booed. Owens didn’t seem happy and then gave Paul the stunner to a huge pop.
United States Champion Riddle approached The Great Khali in the back. Riddle congratulated Khali on getting in the Hall of Fame. Riddle asked for a translator. Rob Van Dam showed up to a huge pop.
He gave Riddle and Khali RVD rolling papers. They wished Riddle good luck with his match against Sheamus.
Sheamus defeated Riddle to win the United States Championship (10:50)
Riddle and Sheamus had a good hard-hitting match with an awesome-looking finish.
Riddle got a big reaction from the fans. The fans broke into a “Bro” chant as he made his entrance.
Sheamus rocked Riddle with a shoulder block for the early advantage. Riddle fought back with a sleeper hold, but Sheamus backed into the corner. Sheamus then hit the Irish Curse backbreaker for a near fall.
Riddle briefly fought back, but Sheamus hit a suplex for a near fall. Sheamus climbed to the top rope, but Riddle jumped to the top rope. He then hit a belly-to-belly superplex. Riddle fired up and hit a forearm in the corner. He followed up with a suplex and the broton. Riddle then hit the jackhammer for a close near fall.
Riddle went for the buckshot lariat, but Sheamus hit a knee for a very close near fall. Sheamus followed up with the Alabama Slam.
Riddle and Sheamus fought on the apron. Riddle pushed Sheamus into the ring post and hit a German suplex on the apron. He followed up with an Asai moonsault.
Riddle hit the floating bro for another near fall. Sheamus countered the armbar into a powerbomb for a near fall.
Sheamus and Riddle fought on the top rope. Sheamus went for White Noise off the top, but they slipped off. Sheamus managed to land on his feet while still holding Riddle. Sheamus then hit White Noise. He followed up with a knee of the top rope for a close near fall.
The finish was awesome. Riddle hit a moonsault off the second rope, but Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick mid moonsault for the win.
Nigerian Drum Fight: Apollo Crews defeated Big E to win Intercontinental Championship (6:49)
Big E and Crews had a good match until the finish.
They announced the match is no disqualification and no count-out. Tables, kendo sticks, drums, and a gong surround the ring.
Wale performed Big E’s entrance. The fans gave Big E a big reaction when he made his entrance.
The bell rang, and they both jumped out of the ring to get kendo sticks. They traded kendo stick shots in the ring. Crews briefly gained control with the kendo stick.
Big E fought back and hit a massive spear through the ropes to the floor. The fans broke into a loud “Let’s Go Big E” chant. Big E set up the ringside steps, but Crews countered with a death valley driver on the apron for a near fall.
Crews placed Big E on the steps. He tried dropping the other half of the steps, but Big E moved out of the way. They fought on the apron, and Crews charged at Big E. Big E countered and hit a uranage off the apron onto the steps.
Big E set up a table in the ring. Crews fought back and destroyed Big E with the kendo stick.
Crews placed Big E on the table but missed a frog splash.
Big E then hit the Big Ending and had the match won. Suddenly, Dabba-Kato jumped in and broke up the pin. He gave Big E a chokeslam and dragged Crews onto Big E for the win.
They recapped the 2021 Hall of Fame ceremony. They honored Eric Bishoff, Molly Holly, The Great Khali, Rob Van Dam, Kane, Ozzy Osbourne, and Warrior Award recipient Rich Hering,
Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka to win the Raw Women’s Championship (13:30)
Asuka and Ripley worked hard and had a good match.
Ash Costello performed Rhea Ripley’s entrance.
The fans popped for Ripley and broke into a “Rhea” chant. They did the special ring introduction for this match. The fans cheered for both Ripley and Asuka.
Asuka hit a dropkick, but Ripley didn’t go down. Asuka made several pin attempts, but Ripley kicked out. Ripley rolled to the floor, but Asuka rocked her with a knee to the face.
Asuka missed the hip attack, and Ripley took over. The fans broke into dueling “Let’s Go Asuka” and “Let’s Go Rhea” chants. Rhea slowed the pace down with the body scissors. The fans booed as Ripley taunted Asuka.
Ripley continued to trash talk Asuka. Ripley tried to kick Asuka, but she got caught in a kneebar. Ripley powered out and hit a German suplex.
Ripley slowed the pace down and backed Asuka into the corner. Ripley placed Asuka on the top rope, but Asuka knocked her off. Asuka followed up with a missile dropkick.
Asuka then hit a German Suplex and a hip attack. Asuka hit a series of strikes and a hard kick to the head. She followed up with a hip attack for a near fall.
Asuka climbed to the top, but Ripley cut her off with a dropkick. Ripley then dropped Asuka face-first on the apron. Asuka recovered and hit another hip attack.
Asuka hit a DDT off the apron to the floor. Ripley avoided a sliding knee and stomped on Asuka. Ripley applied a submission, but Asuka reversed into an armbar. Ripley broke free.
Ripley attempted a waist lock, but Asuka reversed into an armbar. She then applied the Asuka Lock, but Ripley reversed into a near fall.
The finish came when Asuka rocked Ripley with a series of kicks. Ripley challenged Asuka to hit her again. Asuka went for another kick, but Ripley ducked and hit the Riptide for the win.
The fans popped big for Ripley’s victory.
They recapped Randy Orton vs. The Fiend from earlier tonight.
Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan came back out to thank the fans in the audience and at home. Bayley’s music hit, and she walked out. The fans broke into a slight “Bayley” chant.
Bayley demanded they set off her pyro. She complained about all the legends and Michael Cole.
Suddenly, The Bella Twins interrupted Bayley. Bayley was furious and noted that John Cena’s not there tonight.
Nikki knocked the microphone out of her hands. The Bellas between down Bayley and threw her down the ramp. The fans booed The Bellas beating up Bayley.
Triple Threat: Universal Champion Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman & Jey Uso) defeated Edge and Daniel Bryan to retain the title (21:40)
Reigns, Bryan, and Edge, had a great WrestleMania main event. They all worked very hard and told a good story.
The fans cheered Bryan as he entered and broke into a loud “Yes” chant. The fans cheered Edge as well and gave him a big reaction for his entrance.
The fans started booing Reigns before his music started. They did the special ring introductions.
The fans cheered for Edge and Bryan during the introductions. They loudly booed Reigns.
Reigns threw Bryan to the floor, and Uso rocked him with a superkick. He threw Bryan into the ring steps.
Reigns threw Edge to the floor, and Uso knocked him down with a superkick as well. Reigns and Uso cleared the announce table, but Bryan hit a suicide dive. Uso then rocked Bryan with a superkick.
Edge recovered and sent Uso into the steps. Edge beat down Reigns and sent him into the ring post.
Edge then gave Uso an implant DDT on the steps. A medical team ran down to check on Uso and helped him to the back.
Edge and Bryan traded shots in the middle of the ring. Bryan hit a hurricanrana on Edge, but Edge rolled through for a near fall. Edge tried to suplex Reigns into the ring. Bryan slid through Reigns’ legs and took him out of the match.
Bryan avoided Edge and attempted a suicide dive but Reigns caught him. Reigns then gave Bryan a belly-to-belly suplex.
Reigns rocked Edge with a clothesline. The fans erupted in boos. Reigns attempted the superman punch, but Edge avoided it and hit a DDT.
Reigns hit the superman punch and attempted the spear. Edge countered into a sunset flip for a near fall. Edge and Reigns both went for the spear and collided in the middle of the ring.
The fans broke into a “This is awesome” chant. Bryan hit a diving head butt on Edge and then on Reigns for a near fall. Bryan rocked both Edge and Reigns with Yes Kicks.
Bryan hit Edge with the running knee. He avoided Reigns’ superman punch and hit a kick for a near fall.
Bryan stomped on Reigns and then applied the Yes Lock. Edge made the save and broke up the submission.
Bryan then got the Yes Lock on Edge, but Reigns broke it up. Reigns then gave Bryan a powerbomb onto Edge. The fans broke into a “Roman sucks” chant.
Reigns then gave Bryan a powerbomb off the steps through the announce table. The fans booed Reigns as he posed on the steps.
Suddenly, Edge caught Reigns with a spear off the steps. The fans broke into another “This is awesome” chant. Edge tried to bring in a chair, but Reigns grabbed it, and a piece of the chair came off.
Edge then locked on the cross face on Reigns with a piece of the chair. Reigns almost tapped, but Bryan stopped him. Bryan then applied the Yes Lock on Reigns while Edge still had the cross face applied.
Bryan and Edge traded head butts. The fans broke into another “This is awesome” chant. Bryan went for the running knee, but Edge countered with the spear.
Reigns went for the superman punch, but Edge avoided it. He responded with the spear. Edge had the match won, but Bryan pulled out the referee.
Edge attacked both with a chair. Edge then gave Bryan a concerto. He went to give a concerto to Reigns, but Uso ran out for the save. Edge destroyed Uso with the chair. Reigns recovered and caught Edge with a spear. He then hit the concerto on Edge.
Reigns dragged Edge onto Bryan and pinned both of them for the win in a great match.
Reigns, Uso, and Heyman, posed in the ring as pyro went off. The fans booed Reigns as he celebrated his victory.
A recent back injury had originally kept Damian Priest on the sidelines of the Bad Bunny vs. The Miz match at Saturday’s WWE WrestleMania 37 night one, but a recent medical clearance paved the way for it to change to the tag team match that took place instead.
On the post-WrestleMania edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that he was told Priest was cleared “last minute” and it was even “touch and go” whether Priest could still go in the match against Miz and John Morrison.
“He was hurting,” Meltzer said.
Priest and Bunny defeated Miz and Morrison Saturday in a match where Bunny was involved nearly the entire way.
Originally, the match was a singles affair between the pop star and Miz but on last Monday’s Raw, they made it a tag match instead. The show was taped the week prior, but it’s unknown if that was when he was originally cleared. Meltzer had assumed the reason it was a singles match was due to a Morrison injury, but that apparently wasn’t the case.
It’s unknown when or how the injury occurred. Priest had wrestled twice in March with his last one a 35-second squash win over Jaxson Ryker on the March 15th Raw. Saturday’s tag match was only his seventh of the calendar year including his debut at the Royal Rumble.
Bianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks in the main event of night one of WWE WrestleMania 37 to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Belair pinned Banks after hitting her KOD finisher, securing the first title win of her professional wrestling career.
The match’s closing sequence saw Banks avoid one KOD and tug at Belair’s hair. Belair then hit Banks with a hair whip, which appeared to lacerate Banks. Belair then successfully hit the KOD to get the pin.
Other highlights from the match included Belair rolling through on a Banks dive, then pressing Banks over her head as she climbed the ring steps, a standing shooting star press and 450 splash from Belair, plus a frog splash by Banks.
Both Belair and Banks appeared to be emotional as the opening bell rang for the match, with Belair seemingly fighting back tears. It was noted on the broadcast that this was the first time two Black women had wrestled for a championship at WrestleMania.
Belair, 32, signed with WWE in May 2016. She had her first match on an NXT live event in September 2016. Belair was called up to WWE’s main roster in 2020, appearing with The Street Profits on night two of WrestleMania 36, airing on April 5, 2020. Belair won the 2021 Royal Rumble to earn the title shot at WrestleMania, last eliminating Rhea Ripley.
Banks’s title reign ends after nearly six months. She defeated Bayley at Hell in a Cell on October 25, 2020 to win the Championship. Banks’s career resume now includes a WrestleMania main event to go with her five Raw Women’s Championship reigns, SmackDown Women’s Championship reign, NXT Women’s Championship reign, and two WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship reigns.
For someone that not only wrestled their first match but had that first match at WrestleMania, pop star Bad Bunny made a great accounting of himself Saturday as he and Damian Priest defeated The Miz and John Morrison at WWE WrestleMania 37.
Bunny surprised many by working the majority of the match, both dishing out offense and taking a beating from both Miz and Morrison throughout the match. He eventually got the hot tag to Priest with the two hitting stereo falcon arrows at one point. Later in the match, Bunny hit a destroyer on Morrison on the outside of the ring, leaving both Miz and Priest with mouths agape looking on.
The end came when Priest hoisted Miz on his shoulders and Bad Bunny hit a flying crossbody to pick up the pin and win.
A self-described lifelong WWE fan, Bunny trained for the match at the Performance Center and drew rave reviews from Paul “Triple H” Levesque on several media calls for his work ethic and dedication to learning the game. He made his debut at January’s Royal Rumble with a performance of “Booker T” which is where the angle with Miz and Morrison kicked off.
The WWE in-ring debut of Omos was a successful one as he and AJ Styles defeated The New Day at WWE WrestleMania 37 for the Raw Tag Team titles.
The match was built around Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods cutting off Styles from not tagging in Omos and for the majority of the match, they achieved that goal. Styles eventually tagged in Omos and things changed rather quickly.
To no big surprise, Omos used his size in dominating both Kingston and Woods who were unable to get any offense in with both staring up in fear at him at one point. Styles launched himself off Omos’ shoulders for a Phenomenal Forearm, helping clear the way for Omos to hit a two-handed chokeslam on Kingston. At Styles’ request, Omos put his foot on Kingston for the pin and win, giving the duo the titles.
This is the first Tag Team title reign in WWE for Styles, putting him in the triple crown club (World, Intercontinental, Tag Team). He also has held the U.S. title on three occasions.
Kingston and Woods’ reign didn’t even last a month as they won the titles from The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin) on the March 15th Raw.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler have their challengers for WrestleMania 37 night two.
Jax & Baszler will defend their titles against Natalya & Tamina at WrestleMania 37 night two on Sunday night. Natalya & Tamina became the number one contenders to the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles by winning a Tag Team Turmoil match at WrestleMania 37 night one.
Natalya & Tamina were the final team to enter the Tag Team Turmoil match. They defeated The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan) to get the win, with Tamina pinning Riott after hitting a top rope splash.
Naomi & Lana were the first team eliminated from the Tag Team Turmoil match, Carmella & Billie Kay were the second team eliminated, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke were the third team eliminated, and The Riott Squad were the final team eliminated.
Night two of WrestleMania 37 will stream live on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network everywhere else. The show will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will also be a pre-show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. No matches have been announced for the pre-show.
Here’s the updated card for night two:
WrestleMania 37 night two (Sunday, April 11) —
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Edge and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Rhea Ripley
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Intercontinental Champion Big E defends against Apollo Crews in a Nigerian Drum Fight
United States Champion Riddle defends against Sheamus
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defend against Natalya & Tamina
