Stream Your Heart Out: “WrestleMania 38”

WWE’s most anticipated event of the year, “WrestleMania,” finally happened. The company had been advertising the event as “The most stupendous WrestleMania to date.” 

The company stuck with the two night format once again. There were seven matches on night one, and nine matches on night two. However, some of these matches were not originally advertised. Like the warning for every wrestling show says, “Card is subject to change.” 

NIGHT ONE

Night one began with the Usos defending their Smackdown Tag Team Championships against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs. Both teams had fun entrances since the crowd sang their theme songs while they walked down the ramp. 

Unfortunately, this match ended before it could really start. Boogs was trying to do a strong man spot by lifting both Usos on his shoulders, but his leg gave out and he was almost immediately removed from the match. One of the brothers pinned Nakamura shortly afterwards. 

It was later learned that Boogs tore his quad, which is why he fell during the match. 

Next on the card was Drew McIntyre versus Happy Corbin in a grudge match. The two had been at odds since January, so they were bound to collide in a big way. 

Corbin brought his friend, Madcap Moss, to be in his corner. Throughout the match, Moss would try and distract McIntyre so Corbin could get the upper hand. 

McIntyre won the match by kicking out of the End of Days, the first one to do so, and hit his finisher, the Claymore Kick. After the match, Moss tried to attack McIntyre, but was stopped by a sword cutting the ring’s ropes. 

The match that followed was the first celebrity match of the event. Rey and Dominick Mysterio were set to face The Miz and his partner, Logan Paul. 

This was Paul’s debut match, and he did well. He had great ring awareness, hit moves correctly, and had nice timing. He taunted the Mysterious throughout the match by hitting Eddie Guerrero’s moves on the father-son duo. 

The Miz hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on Rey to get the win. Almost immediately after the match ended, he turned on Paul. 

The fourth match of the evening pitted Raw Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch, against Bianca Belair. The pair had been back and forth with each other since Summerslam, when Lynch returned and beat Belair in under 30 seconds. 

At the beginning of the match, it seemed as if it would end the same way, but Belair learned her lesson from before. 

The two had an exciting back and forth, but Belair got the win by hitting the KOD to get the pin. 

The following contest was many’s most anticipated of the weekend. Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins was set up against a mystery opponent of Mr. McMahon’s choosing. Once he made it to the ring, he and the crowd waited in anticipation for who was going to come out. 

His opponent ended up being Cody Rhodes, former Executive Vice President of WWE’s rival company, All Elite Wrestling. He came out to a large reaction from the crowd, and with a lot of pyrotechnics. 

Rollins and Rhodes were evenly matched during the bout. The two tried their best to make the fans care about the enemy coming to the company, and they succeeded. 

Rhodes hit two Cross Rhodes, a Bionic Elbow in honor of his father, Dusty Rhodes, and a third Cross Rhodes to get the win. 

Up next was the advertised main event match, between Smackdown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair, and Royal Rumble winner, Ronda Rousey. 

These two have had trouble in the past, so their match was set up to be explosive. 

The had an even match, with Rousey getting a few UFC holds in, but it was no matter. Flair speared the official on accident, which caused them to miss Rousey tapping out Flair. Once a new official came to the match, Flair hit a Big Boot on Rousey to retain the title. 

The final segment of night one was the Kevin Owens show, with his guest, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Owens had called out Austin a few weeks before WrestleMania, and Austin accepted the invitation.

Since the show was set in Texas, Austin’s home state, Owens challenged him to a No Holds Barred match. Austin accepted, and this was his first match in 19 years. 

The two battered each other around the arena and Owens hit Austin with both of their signature moves “The Stunner.” Austin kicked out, and the match continued. 

Owens tried to hit Austin with a chair, but in turn hit himself in the head. Austin then hit a Stunner on Owens, and got the victory. 

He celebrated by drinking his own beer in the ring surrounded by the roaring crowd. 

NIGHT TWO

Night two opened with recently retired Triple H getting the crowd pumped up for the show. As he was leaving, he left his boots in the ring, signifying that he truly was retiring. 

The first match of the night pitted Raw Tag Team Champions RKBro defending their titles against the Street Profits and Alpha Academy. It was instant chaos, with everyone doing top rope moves, suplexes, and so much more. 

The match ended with Randy Orton hitting an RKO on Chad Gable to get the victory for RKBro. 

Up next was a bout of the big men. Bobby Lashley was put up against the undefeated, seven foot tall Omos. 

Omos pummeled Lashley for the majority of the match. However, Lashley hit two spears to Omos which knocked him down, and allowed Lashley to get the victory. 

The second celebrity contest of the weekend followed with Sami Zayn facing “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville in an Anything Goes match. 

Zayn tried to get the upper hand on Knoxville, but unfortunately for Zayn, they had company. Knoxville’s “Jackass” crew came out and assisted him throughout the entire match. 

Knoxville eventually got the pin on Zayn after using a giant mousetrap to keep him stuck in place. 

Next on the card was a four-way women’s tag team match for the Women’s Tag Team championships. It had teams of Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, Sasha Banks and Naomi, Shayna Bazler and Natayla, up against champions Carmella and Queen Zelina. 

It was an all out war for the win. All four teams fought hard against each other to try and get the pin. Everyone hit their big moves, broke up close pinfalls, and even worked together to try and stop certain teams from winning. 

The match ended with Naomi and Banks hitting their signature move to get the win and secure the Women’s Tag Team Championships. 

One of the more anticipated matches followed, putting AJ Styles up against a newly heel Edge. The two hit each other with everything they had. They worked with technical and high flying moves. 

Edge got the victory on Styles after Damien Priest distracted him from hitting “The Phenomenal Forearm.” Priest and Edge celebrated in the ring after the match ended. 

Up next was a match surrounded by controversy, as it was originally cut from the card. The New Day were set to face Sheamus and Ridge Holland. The New Day were out for blood, as Holland had recently broken their friend Big E’s neck.

The match lasted under two minutes with Holland pinning Xavier Woods to get the victory. Fans felt that it was pointless to the card, and should have been kept cut. 

Following the disappointment of that match, was the final celebrity match of the weekend. Austin Theory, accompanied by Mr. McMahon faced Pat McAfee in a singles match. 

The two had a decent back and forth, with McAfee eventually coming around and getting the pin. However, the interesting part is what followed. 

McMahon, who is 76 years old, decided it would be a good idea to face McAfee after his victory. However, since he is the boss, shenanigans ensued and he got the victory. 

Steve Austin came out afterwards to come to the aid of McAfee and stunned everyone in the ring while drinking his beer again. 

The bout everyone was waiting for followed. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar facing Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a Unification match. Fans had high expectations for the fight as Reigns was the heel this time around. 

The two hit their big moves on each other almost immediately and the match dragged on from there. The used submission moves against each other to no avail. The match ended with Reigns hitting a spear on Lesnar to get the win. 

It felt like every one of their older matches, so fans were not impressed.

Overall, “WrestleMania” this year felt like any other Pay-Per-View. A lot of matches fell flat and left the fans disappointed, but it was still a lot of fun.  Go watch “WrestleMania 38” now streaming on Peacock.