Seven Best WWE Matches From WrestleMania 37 Week
WrestleMania week is officially in the books for 2021, and between WrestleMania 37 and NXT [...]
SmackDown Women's Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair
From the moment the bell rang, fans could tell just how important this match was to both Banks and Belair, and the two put absolutely everything they had into the match. The story they told was simple — Belair had the raw strength to fold Banks like an accordion, but "The Boss" was the crafty veteran who had an answer for everything the challenger could throw at her (and wasn't afraid to use her hair to her advantage). The finish was brilliant too, as Belair finally had enough of the hair-pulling, nailed Banks with her braid with a crack that rand through the entire stadium and nailed the KOD for the win.
This moment made me come to realization and I finally cried. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair are here and they did it.🥺💙🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/IHTiYuTZ9o
— 𝑀𝓇. 𝒯 𝒟𝒾𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒲𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒲𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 (@TheBpKrew) April 11, 2021
The emotion. The smoothness in the ring. The legitimate joy on Belair's face when she won. All of it made this an outstanding main event. But by the end of the weekend it wasn't the only one...
prevnextWWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan
There were so many ways fans though this would go. Maybe Bryan wins to send the crowd home happy? Maybe Reigns drops the title without being apart of the finish and spends months hunting down targets? Maybe Edge reaches the end of his decade-long journey?
Instead, WWE went with another option and made Reigns a god-tier level heel by stacking both men on top of each other before pinning them both, looking utterly dominant (but still vulnerable, don't forget how much Jey got involved) in his win. This was the perfect move to set up Reigns for that dream match down the road with The Rock.
prevnextTHE BIG DOG HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!!!!! Roman Reigns pins Edge and Daniel Bryan at the same time to retain the Universal Championship! #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/AaO75aQfTt
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) April 12, 2021
NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross
Heading into the week it looked like TakeOver was going to dominate this list, but a few matches didn't make the cut for a few reasons. Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez was solid but felt constrained due TV time. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly was wild but went a whopping 40 minutes and could've dropped at least 10. But Kross vs. Balor stands above both for how it was able to exceed expectations.
Kross' character is still weirdly undefined for this being his second reign as NXT Champion (Is he an assassin? A demon? A stalker? He's got a sorceress girlfriend but he keeps talking about MMA? Why does his gear suddenly make him look like a gladiator? What's with all the clock motifs? The list goes on...). But this match managed to simplify all of that down into the simple fact that he's an unstoppable powerhouse. And yet Balor still looked strong in defeat, proving that he's got the in-ring awareness to get around Kross' power (kicking the liver always helps) and the viciousness to follow through with his plan. Kross still won, picking up where things left off last Summer, but this was head-and-shoulders above his bizarre first title match with Keith Lee.
prevnext#AndNew #NXTTakeOver @WWEKarrionKross @WWENXT pic.twitter.com/nq3x8ms6fD
— Scarlett Bordeaux (@Lady_Scarlett13) April 9, 2021
Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison
Bad Bunny might just be the best celebrity to ever compete inside of a WWE ring. Here's a guy with no athletic background who spent months training at the Performance Center and stole the show at Night One. He's received praise from wrestlers across the industry, and the enthusiasm he brought to the match can still be felt when go back and watch the highlights. This was just pure fun.
prevnext.@sanbenito’s performance at #WrestleMania was simply ... awesome. His months of incredibly hard work and grind in preparation for his performance showed his respect and dedication to @WWE and to our fans.
— Triple H (@TripleH) April 11, 2021
He has truly earned all of our #Respect! pic.twitter.com/vcc1hb51s4
NXT UK Championship: Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa
It might be physically impossible for Walter to have a bad match, and his back-to-back wins over Ciampa and Rampage Brown on Wednesday and Thursday enforced that theory. Now let's finally see that match with Balor that was promised just before COVID hit.
prevnextWALTER JUST CHOPPED CIAMPA INTO A PINFALL.
The #NXTUK Championship is staying with the Ring General!#NXTTakeOver #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/TdG748OFOk
— Peyton Wesner (@pcwesner) April 8, 2021
WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre
At first glance this match felt like a miscalculation. Given that it was opening the weekend and it was the first match with a live crowd, you'd think WWE would give fans a quick five-minute, finisher-heavy sprint like with Brock Lesnar or Goldberg to start off on a high note. Instead we got an 18-minute psychological battle. And while it was a questionable move to put it as the opener, in a vacuum it's actually pretty solid.
McIntyre spends the match either setting up for the Claymore only to run into a power move from Lashley or works the arm in order to prevent The Hurt Lock from being applied. McIntyre's final finisher attempt gets thwarted by a split-second distraction from MVP (considerably better than the usual distraction finishes WWE provides), and Lashley manages to keep his submission locked in no matter how many times Drew tries to power out.
Now Drew has to find himself again, and he's got a few months to do it before the fans are back for good.
prevnextNO STOPPING THE ALL MIGHTY!!! WHO WANTS NEXT??? #WrestleMania @WWE pic.twitter.com/VJmpRPsrl3
— Bobby Lashley (@fightbobby) April 11, 2021
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
It was a Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn match, which means it was fun by default. Plus we got to see Logan Paul do a pretty good job at selling a Stunner!
prevSTUNNER! STUNNER! STUNNER! DOWN GOES @LoganPaul!#WrestleMania @FightOwensFight
Stream on @PeacockTV ▶️ https://t.co/MlZAhw4x3O pic.twitter.com/DrKoz8ck9d
— WWE (@WWE) April 12, 2021