Wrestle Review: 2 Big for 1 Night Submitted by Andy Sullivan on 04/10/2021 at 11:33 AM
NXT followed suit of WrestleMania last year and expanded to two nights. The main event of Kyle O'Reily vs Adam Cole was unbelievable! The ladder match with Santos Escobar becoming the unified cruiserweight champion was really good. WWE has a lot to live up to with WrestleMania. Let's jump into the card!
Hosted by Titus O'Neil and Hulk Hogan(which I'm sure won't have any awkward moments), night one kicks off with the WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defending against Drew McIntyre. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander are barred from ringside, which means they'll almost certainly be involved in some way. Was the Hurt Business breakup a ruse? I'm thinking they show up, make everyone think they're going to screw Lashley but attack Drew. At any rate, Lashley retains.
Olmos makes his anticipated in0ring debut as he teams with his charge A.J. Styles to challenge New Day for the Raw tag team championships. If New Day neutralizes AJ, they might retain. But Olmos will most certainly get in there. Vince likes big guys. Therefore, we get new tag champions.
Shane McMahon faces Braun Stroman in a steel cage. Does anyone want this match? The whole feud is centered around Shane calling Braun "stupid" all the time. Remember that "Be A Star" campaign WWE used to do? They don't. Braun needs to win. What would be the point of Shane winning? Besides, we know Shane doesn't win matches. He's the antagonist that always gets his in the end.
#1 contender tag team turmoil match: the thrown-together team of Carmella and Billie Kay face Lana and Naomi, Tamina and Natalya(who I'm surprised isn't called Dynasty), the Riot Squad and Mandy and Dana. The winners take the L the following night against Nia and Shayna. I'm going with the Riot Squad. I'd love the Squad to win the titles but...
I feel for The Miz. A month ago, this guy was WWE Champion. Fast forward to WrestleMania and he's stuck in the celebrity match as he teams with John Morrison to face(and probably take the L against( Damien Priest and Bad Bunny. Bunny pinning Miz would probably happen here. Cesaro and Rollins face off in a match I wish Cesaro would win. They finally need to push him. Wouldn't shock me to see Seth win, though. Cesaro definitely needs it.
The main event of night one sees Bianca Belair challenge Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women's Championship. I think Sasha retains in a fantastic match.
Night two begins with Daniel Bryan and Edge challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. Reigns is obviously retaining here. Initially I thought they might give Edge the cap to his feel good story. Then he "turned heel" at Fastlane. I don't know. Edge has been a tweener. I think that's what it is. I thought for a second back in January they might give him the title just to have him lose it back to Roman a few weeks later. Now, I'm picking Roman. Perhaps because of interference from Andre the Giant battle royal winner Jey Uso. Side-bar, how great was it that Jey won that last night?
Raw women's champion Asuka defends against Rhea Ripley. Will Rhea and/or Almos win championships in their first match? Well, there's a difference. Rhea was a champion in NXT. Olmos was not. Ash Costello will perform "Brutality" for Ripley's entrance. I think we see a new champion.
Wale will perform Big E's entrance as he faces the challenge of Apollo Crews in a Nigerian Drum match. That is, anything goes. If a drum isn't used in this match, the name will be moot. Also, if Apollo doesn't finally win the title, this whole thing is moot. Why do all this for Crews if he doesn't win? Plus, maybe we can get Reigns vs Big E this summer.
Sheamus will win the U.S. title against Riddle. The Riot Squad, as I said they'd win in night one, will take the L against Nia and Shayna. There needs to be a good story payoff at Mania, though. This could be the one.
Orton vs The Fiend and Owens vs Zayn also happen on night two. I'm assuming Orton vs The Fiend will close night two. Orton has been burnt. Fiend has been burnt. Please WWE, don't burn Alexa! If that match closes the show, though, something big has to happen. Knowing how this storyline has gone, who knows what happens?! As for Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn, I see either a double DQ or Sami's guest Logan Paul (still don't know why they're involving him) helps Sami win.
