Hello everyone, I am the Shida Army General and Joshi Prime Minister, the resident Amazon Oracle known as the Canary with another Canary Review. I normally post a review the day after the event but I was full of emotions on the event and waited to digest what went down. For the first time since the pandemic, Wrestlemania was finally able to have fans in attendance for the 2 nights. With fans in attendance, definitely brought a different dynamic to the show compared to last year where the event had to move to the WWE’s Performance Center and had no fans. Even worse, watching the regular shows and the ppv’s that followed was not that fun. Having piped in noises and screens that had fans just wasn’t the same. Granted, at this years event, even with the live crowd, they still had piped in crowd noises for a majority of the event. For the ones that pay close attention, you’ve realized not all the crowd noises were authentic but nonetheless it still didn’t take away from a pretty good Wrestlemania, well match wise compared to the previous years. Take a trip with me as I recap.
So night one was full of surprises and unpredictable victories but also a few botches, a slip and a near slip. Even worse, at the start of the event, it started to rain so it had to be postponed for pretty much a half hour. During the half hour, we got a chance to see wrestlers cut loose with unscripted promos that normally requires them to go off a script. Some of them good, some of the bad but hey at least they got a chance to get some freedom. But anyways, about the event. Besides the rain, the night was filled with surprise victories and surprisingly good matches. Now before the first match, we had the hosts of Wrestlemania, recipient of the Warrior Award, part of the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame class, Titus O’neil and the man that still gets hate due to his use of the n word, 2x Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan. This is where they piped in cheers because what you didn’t catch was the crowd actually booed him so to cover it, the E piped in cheers but we know the real story. Fans don’t forget especially something like that. After that cringe moment, we kicked off the show with the WWE title match. Reigning champ, the “Almighty” Bobby Lashley vs “The Scottish Warrior” Drew McIntyre where Lashley retained after clamping on his submission finisher, “The Hurt Lock” that secured the victory over a very game McIntyre. The match could’ve went either way but in the end, he failed to capture the title. The second match after was a Women’s Tag Team turmoil match to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag titles. This match was won by the team of Natalya, daughter of the late Hall of Famer, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and daughter of the late Hall of Famer, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka after pinning crowd favorites and mine personally, the Riott Squad, who’s ring gear paid tribute to Harley Quinn and Joker’s Daughter. Before their entrance, another team had a slip on the wet ramp as they were making their way down to the ring. I didn’t even notice it until another fan pointed it out during a watch party. After that match, we had the “Swiss Superman” Cesaro taking on the “Friday Night Savior” Seth Rollins where Cesaro finally got his Wrestlemania moment by defeating Seth Rollins. In a back and forth match that was almost won by Rollins, it was nice to see Cesaro come out with the victory, not to mention seeing him swing Rollins around 23 times which if you really count, they weren’t full revolutions but we’ll give it to him. Next match was for the Raw Tag Team titles where defending champs, the New Day were defeated by one of my favorites and wrestler who I marked out for when I finally got a chance to meet him, AJ Styles and his bodyguard, 7’4 behemoth Omos with his Wrestlemania debut where during the match, New Day wanted nothing to do with him and so tried to single out AJ. The plan almost worked until one mistake allowed AJ to the make the tag and the rest was history. The minute Omos stepped in, he dominated and not soon after pinned the champs to win his first title and to help AJ become a Grand Slam champion. I followed AJ since the TNA Asylum days where you had to pay 10 bucks to watch the show. What a way to cap off an amazing career. Hands down, this guy is Hall of Fame bound with everything he’s accomplished, next to Randy Orton there is no other better performer than him. The next match was a Steel Cage match between my least favorite guy Braun Stroman and his “Choo Choo” sounds against the prodigal son of the Chairman, Shane O’mac. Braun was fighting for those who’ve been bullied and called stupid and with a very predictable outcome, came out on top. This match was easily one of the most predictable matches on the card. However the next match was a different story. In what was easily conceived as one of the worst matches and shouldn’t have happened but did, was latin music star Bad Bunny teaming up with my boy, the “Archer of Infamy” Damian Priest against the team of John Morrison and The Miz in which the duo came out to their single, “Hey Hey Hop Hop”, which by the way, funniest shit you’ll ever watch. This match from the get go was crapped on from the fans but the match itself changed their minds. I don’t listen to Bad Bunny but I’ll give credit where credit is due, dude didn’t disappoint, if anything he surprised. This guy was truly living his dream and put in the work. Of course you also have to give credit to Miz and Morrison for being the ring generals and taking control of the match. Love or hate him, The Miz hands down, is one of the best workers to be put with, same with Morrison if you want to have a good match. Fans don’t like Miz but the guy is literally one of their best workhorses. And this match clearly showed. The biggest highlight was Bunny hitting a Canadian Destroyer, or as they called it, the Bunny Destroyer, on the outside to John Morrison. Granted the move is one of the most used in the business but to see someone like him, hit a flipping pildedriver on a veteran, was very impressive. Dude no doubt, showed respect to the business with this match that most celebrities don’t do. Definitely the highlight of NIght One. Finally, closing out night one, the Smackdown Women’s championship was the main event where defending champ, Sasha Banks lost to 2021 Royal Rumble winner, the “EST” of WWE, Bianca Belair. One thing I can say, it was a fitting way to close the first night. Unfortunately for Banks, this loss made her 0-6 at Wrestlemania but take nothing away from the match. Sasha has come a long way and clearly showed she is one of the best in the WWE. And that my friends, sums up Night One.
So if you need a breather, I have split up the recap and review of Wrestlemania into 2 parts so you can choose which one to read. I am the Amazon Oracle who is the Shida Army General and Joshi Prime Minister, the one and only Canary. Thank you for reading the latest edition of the Canary Review. And I’m telling you, be nice to each other, #EndTheHate, #RememberHana and #StopAsianHate and remember one love and zero miedo. Canary out.
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The Musical Hippie 