WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38 - NIGHT 2
Street Profits vs. Chad Gable & Otis vs. Randy Orton & Riddle
On paper this looks like a low-key perfect opener. And it sure was quite a lot of fun! RK-Bro has their shtick down wonderfully, with Riddle taking most of the match getting the heat on by the other participants, and then Randy comes in as the hot tag, a true house of fire. Good shit. I also like what Gable & especially Otis are doing, and the Street Profits work extremely well in matches like this with their explosive & exciting arsenals as well. ***
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
This reminds me of Kane vs. Khali from Mania 23. I thought it was solid for what it was; Omos did his basic dominant giant-thing and Bob Lashley was a solid little badass underdog. So a pretty solid little number with a fulfilling finish is how I would describe the entire thing as. **
Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
This was AMAZING. Perfect for what it was always gonna be. Sami fucking Zayn, man. What a damn professional wrestler. One of the very best & the exact dude to perfectly do a match of this kind. ****
Carmella & Queen Zelina vs. Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi & Sasha Banks vs. Natalya & Shayna Baszler
This was honestly way better than I would've expected. Everyone involved were out there to deliver clear big match efforts, and we got some really neat spots in there with Rhea & Sasha in particular being consistently really good from bell-to-bell. **3/4
AJ Styles vs. Edge
I thought that for the most part, this was very good. A hell of a match, really. It was a slow-burner, which was to be expected given the participants, and I thought it worked extremely well between 'em. Styles is a helluva babyface & Edge looked very good being the heel working on top, focusing his attack on two particular body-parts. AJ sells like he does, which is excellently, and overall his babyface work between that great selling of his & the comeback bits, it was awesome. Now with matches that build like this one, it usually ends with a nail-biting finishing gear where they go all out, and they clearly tried to go for that here too, but that's where the match fell a bit flat. There was a cool sequence/spot or two in there, but ultimately, it just didn't feel juicy. So yeah, with a better last third this easily could've been great, because even without it, it was pretty damn close. ***1/4
Austin Theory vs. Pat McAfee
Holy hell, this BANGED. The whole presentation w/ the Seven Nation Army setting the tone, Cole going crazy on commentary all match long, Theory's wonderful selling & bumping for McAfee, McAfee's genuine holy-shit superplex, the upset victory. Everything that happened afterwards was simply gold as well. Joyous! ***1/2
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
This match oozed importance with its billing, video package, the entrances, the aura & demeanor by both men. This could've & should've been something so damn special... but it just wasn't. It was the usual post-WM31 Brock vs. Roman match. Signature moves galore. Suplex, suplex, suplex, Superman Punch, Spear, F5, F5, Spear, Spear. I still enjoyed it though; I would actually say that it's one of the better versions of the match, as watching 2022 Cowboy Babyface Brock do his thing, throw bombs, sell his ass off, you know the deal, it's extremely fun & feels fresh + Reigns definitely can throw bombs as well, but MAN, this really should've been something so much more. The ending in particular was so damn cold. ***1/4
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