RingoPlaysDrums

Just in case you were lucky enough to have missed the first match...

Great, loved it. This second hour has been like night and day compared to that dreadful first hour.

Dabba Kato!

Wow, this is brutal. I'm glad they didn't go with something especially cheesy for the stip.

Oh yeah, I forgot that Wale was playing Big E to the ring. Excellent.

Yeah, definitely the best match so far. I thought it was really good. Would be genuinely interesting if they did make Riddle more serious as a result but I won't hold my breath.

Wow fair play. Sheamus has been on fire lately.

This is more like it.

Oh my god, those birds. I hate those shit CGI images more than any of their other shit production features, I really do.

RVD translating for Khali Dying here.

Okay sorry that was great.

Holy shit, great slow mo of Zayn's bump there

Owens and Zayn having an indie bombfest at Wrestlemania with Logan Paul watching on is just the weirdest thing and I'm loving it.

Logan Paul is the biggest heel on the planet. Love it.

Well on the bright side, surely things can only get better.

The last hour of night one was great. The first hour of tonight's show is on track to be quite the opposite.

Am I right in saying that Natalya & Tamina were heels a few weeks ago but have turned without really turning?

Right into Natalya and Tamina. HOT START.

One of the worst things I've ever seen. I'm speechless.

Yeah, good point. I figured it would be initially but I don't think they ever hinted at it not being a regular match. They might be putting it on first to increase the chances that the weather has improved and everything is in order by the time they begin the in-ring stuff.

Seems an odd choice to open the show to me but maybe it's got something to do with the entrances or some other gimmicky thing they need to set up.

Reading through some of the responses in the "good matches ruined by their endings" thread, I realised that there are a lot of high profile examples of wrestling match endings that have negatively affected how well that match is perceived. But I'd probably find it more difficult to name examples of the opposite: matches which are actively enhanced by strong or creative finishes. This also draws off some discussion about WALTER/Ciampa from this week's Takeover ending with a single chop, which seems to have divided opinion. I watched that match and instantly loved it. It felt particularly refreshing for a modern WWE match to end with a move like that and it factored in the injury and subsequent selling of Walter's right hand as he had previously attempted offense with his left. I liked the match already but that unique finish helps it to move up a level in my eyes. I suppose I'm asking for both the best finishes in general as well as average or forgettable matches which have been immediately elevated by a memorable ending.

Well they initially announced one date for next April but the ad last night apparently just said "April 2022" which has people wondering if they will in fact keep the two night format. I would prefer that myself but it seems unlikely, especially as they're running such a big stadium. Didn't they struggle to fill it for one night last time?

- The weather delay being announced as soon as they came back from the show opening was almost tragically poetic. For a moment it just didn't look like this was going to happen. - The set is incredible. Absolutely loved it, particularly after the last big one at 35 was such a huge letdown. Top tier Mania set and I love the cannon pyro. - Hogan & Titus's introduction was both awkward and shite but I'm guessing they were dragging out what they were going to say in order to kill a bit more time and allow everyone to retake their seats. Titus looked dapper though. - Opener was great. They worked their asses off, especially Drew. There were a couple of moments later on where they looked a bit lost and perhaps it went a bit long. McIntyre missing the claymore because MVP shouted something was dumb but all in all I think they delivered a really good bout to open the show. I popped for Lashley retaining. I thought Lashley might have been more popular with the fans. Maybe Vince will change his mind and put THB back together. - Women's tag turmoil wasn't much. I don't think second was the best slot for this match. People were still chomping at the bit and ready for something more substantial to stick their teeth into. It took the wind out of things a bit. - Cesaro & Rollins had a banger that could have done with more time. Memorable spot with the stomp attempt countered into the spinning uppercut as well as that mad no hands spinning move Cesaro did. Big win for Cesaro I guess. - Omos was amazing. That was exactly what I wanted. I'm sure it was all planned and rehearsed extensively but everything he did looked great and he ooked genuinely unstoppable. I liked AJ calling for the one foot cover. Their future tag matches could follow the same template and be pretty entertaining. I don't know how long he'll stay hot as he likely becomes more and more exposed but for now it's working a treat. - I expected the worst from Strowman/Shane so was pleasantly surprised it wasn't completely dreadful. Strowman looked great in his entrance. Emerging from all that smoke roaring and looking absolutely jacked. I liked the spot where Braun ripped out the mesh. Big bump from Shane for the finish as you'd expect. Fine. - Kind of thought that Bad Bunny would impress after all the talk about his training in the performance center and that's exactly what happened. This was actually a lot of fun and the finish got a big pop. His entrance was suitably grand. Big Damian Priest got to look like a big deal alongside him. - Main event absolutely delivered. They needed to deliver a great match for this show to really be considered a success I think and they did that. This was a hell of a showcase for Belair who came out of this looking like a star. The roll through from the dive into the gorilla press walk up the steps was impressive, as was the delayed vertical suplex she did and the two 450 splash attempts. Sasha went for Belair's hair constantly throughout the match and so that brutal hair whip was a great pay off. It was such a good moment. I kind of wanted a few more minutes of this but it was still a genuine delight. - The show exceeded my admittedly quite low expectations. Pretty much everything delivered or overdelivered. It was a lot easier to watch at around 3 hours than usual and it was just a treat to see a wrestling show in a big stadium with fans after so long.

Don't a lot of people like the Orton/Fiend stuff? I haven't really been paying attention personally but I saw some positive comments on Reddit, heard a podcast where they said it was one of the matches they were most into and I just stumbled over this Ringer article: Is WWE finally telling a good horror story?