Welcome to the CultureSplat WrestleMania 38 Recap and Thoughts! Mania this year came to us over two nights, April 2nd and 3rd from Jerry’s House in Dallas Texas and was being billed as the most Stupendous WrestleMania in history. Honestly going into the event I was not expecting much from WWE. Well to say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement. Let’s break down the card for the two nights:
WrestleMania Saturday
- SmackDown Tag Team Championship – The Usos def. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rock BOOGS to retain the titles. BOOGS was injured in this match cutting it short and it has been reported he suffered a torn quadriceps and a torn patella tendon.
- Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin w/ Madcap Moss -Drew McIntyre took the W here and the excitement came after the match when he used Angela and swung as Madcap was on the apron and cut through 2 ropes.
- The Mysterios vs. Logan Paul and The Miz – I am on record being a mark for the Miz. He plays the chickenshit heel so well. I was looking forward to seeing the Mysterios win this one and put down the Miz and Logan Paul, but I walked away disappointed. Not only that but feeling like Logan Paul doing a Three Amigos and the Eddie Shimmy before the frog splash was blasphemous. The the winners of this one were The Miz and Logan Paul with the Miz turning on Paul after the match and hitting a Skull Crushing Finale on him.
- RAW Women’s Title Match – Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch – I am going to make a statement here that some may agree with or totally disagree with, but I am kind of over the ever changing Becky Lynch. It feels she is going through personas faster than the original Braun squash matches. This match was pretty solid and had some great story telling involved. In the end Bianca wins and gets retribution for her Summer Slam squash and regains the title.
- Seth Rollins vs. ??? – This match seemed like we all knew exactly what was going to happen and seems we were all prepared for it to happen, but when it happened the crowd went nuts. Cody Rhodes is back in WWE and wasn’t Stardust. Rhodes kept his American Nightmare persona and appearance and this match did not disappoint. I generally am not a fan of Cody matches but this one hit different. It was great to see him, he looked happy and seemed to have a renewed vigor. The ending was great with a pair of CrossRhodes followed by a Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow and one more CrossRhodes for good measure for the 1, 2, 3.
- WrestleMania 38 continued on with a showcase of the Hall of Fame entrants with Undertaker headlining the class of inductees.
- SmackDown Women’s Title Match – Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair – Rousey makes her way to the ring first and is all smiles followed by Flair. This match played out very well as the “co-main event” of the night. The story telling was pretty damn good and led to a longer feud heading into Summer Slam season. With the ref getting taken out and Flair tapping but the ref didnt see it and with Rousey pleading to the ref, she gets a boot to the head and Flair gets the pin and retains her title.
- KO Show/No Holds Barred Match – Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens – This one started out with Owens degrading Texas and Stone Cold again. Finally Stone Cold comes out and interrupts Owens. In traditional Stone Cold style he rides a 4-wheeler to the ring. I will say to this day that Glass Break illicits and insane pop by the crowd. Owens breaks the news that he tricked Steve to come and didn’t want him as a guest, he wanted a fight. Well the Rattlesnake was happy to oblige and we got a No Holds Barred match between them. I was shocked at Stone Cold taking a suplex onto the concrete in the crowd. We got Stone Cold stomping a mudhole and walking it dry. KO got some offense in and even dropped Steve with a stunner. Owens went for a chair shot on Austin but it bounced off the ropes and hit him in the head opening the door for a Stone Cold Stunner and a 1, 2, 3. Austin gets the W and proceeds to pound beer after beer to a raucous crowd just taking it in.
WrestleMania 38 Saturday Night was a fun night. The matches were good, although we did get The New Day vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland bumped to Sunday Night due to time. Stone Cold blew the roof off the event and what a pop he got. I went in with low expectations was definitely pleasantly surprised by WrestleMania 38 Saturday Night. Sunday night is being headlined by what is being billed as the biggest WrestleMania match ever.
WrestleMania Sunday
- Triple Threat Match for the RAW Tag Team Titles – Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. RK-Bro – The champs head out first, followed by the Profits and then Alpha last. The match had a nice flow to it. Orton hit an RKO on Montez Ford from the top rope and then he got Gable in the ring with an RKO for the pin. Your winners and still Tag Team Champs RK-Bro. After the match Gable Steveson was ringside and gets in and gets involved with Gable while Gable was doing his shoooooooosh thing. Belly to belly by Steveson and he celebrates with the Profits and RK-Bro.
- Omos vs Bobby Lashley – This was the first dud of the whole event and for no fault of Lashley but Omos is not a good wrestler and it got scary for a minute when he slammed Bobby into the corner and his whole head snapped back and looks like it hit the ring post. Lashley lands a snap suplex and hits a couple of spears and pins the big guy for the W. Lashley did the best he could in this one, but Omos wont be around long if he cant figure out how to wrestle.
- Anything Goes Match Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville – This match has been building up for a while I anticipated a throw away match but it ended up being pretty fun. We even got to see a bodyslam to rival Hogan/Andre from WrestleMania 2 with Weeman body slamming Sami. This match had some impressive moves by Knoxville and crew and some hi-jinks. Sami played the part well and it was a well received affair between them.
- Fatal Four Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles – Shayna and Natalya vs. Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Carmella and Queen Zelina – I feel the women’s tag titles are kind of a waste as this match was just 8 singles competitors tossed together to make a match on WrestleMania 38. We kind of knew where this was going right away from the outlandish entrance from Banks and Naomi coming out in a Lamborghini. Banks hits a Meteora on Zelina on the floor then a double team on Carmella in the middle of the ring and the Pin for the win. Your new champs Naomi and Sasha Banks. With the win, it was the first win of Sasha’s career at WrestleMania.
- Edge vs. AJ Styles – AJ makes his way out to the ring first and is bleeding already. Apparently he bumped the set with his face on his way out. Edge comes out with an entrance with fire and pyro. The match is a hard hitting one and they are really going at it. The two men put on a clinic and fought in and out of the ring. Style hit a styles clash on Edge and you thought that would be it but nope, edge gets the shoulder up at 2. Styles heads to the outside for a Phenomenal Forearm and Damian Priest is ringside and delays him just enough that Edge hits a spear mid-air and gets the pin. Priest enters the ring and they both let out a laugh and looks like we have a new group coming together.
- The New Day vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland – Well this match is finally happening after getting bumped on night one. Don’t blink or else you missed it. They ended up getting about 2 minutes for their match. The New Day did have on singlets and had coats like Big E on their way to the ring in honor of their injured brother. Butch (man that is so terrible, make him Pete Dunne again) distracts the ref and Sheamus hits a big Brogue kick on Woods to get the pin and the win.
- Austin Theory vs. Pat McAfee – Well this one was a friggin hoot. Vince comes out and grabs the mic. He introduces Theory as a future WWE Universal Champion and Theory makes his way to the ring. The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” comes on and out come the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. McAfee appears and punts a football into the crowd. He gets a huge pop by the crowd of over 78,000. Theory is working over McAfee at first but he turns it around and hit a hurricanrana. He has Theory on the top and gets pushed off to which he does a back flip and lands on his feet. McAfee then leaps up to the top rope (anyone saying punters are not real athletes anymore?) and hits a superplex on Theory. He even put on a headset and did some announcing on his own match. It was great! McAfee gets the win and Vince starts faking taking off his jacket and finally does and hits the ring. Theory dropped McAfee from behind, the bell rings and…..
- Mr. McMahon vs. Pat McAfee – Vince is working over Pat with clotheslines Vince punts a ball into his chest and pins Pat. After the match Vince and Theory are celebrating and the glass breaks. Wish JR was there for this one… Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold! The crowd is going absolutely nuts now at WrestleMania 38 and Austin hits the ring. Vince is talking to Austin and he is attacked by Theory, stunner on Theory. Vince looks terrified and then Austin gets some beers, he hands Vince a beer and Vince does some “tasting” and is smiling and what follows next is the absolute worst stunner in the history of stunners. Stone Cold was laughing while delivering it. He stomps a mini mudhole on vince and finally Vince is out of the ring. Austin shares a few beers and goes to the corners with Pat, finally dropping Pat with a stunner that he sold brilliantly. A few more beers and Stone Cold who appeared to be living his best live heads off into the sunset.
- Winner Take All Title Unification Match – WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns – Roman and Heyman head to the ring first with the USO’s. Brock comes out second. Lesnar looks relaxed and chill and Roman seems very uptight and on edge. This was billed as the biggest WrestleMania match ever but honestly it wasn’t much different than any other match we saw with them. Brock eventually hits the Kimura Lock on Roman and he gets the bottom rope to break the hold. He is heard saying it is out to Heyman and we think he means his shoulder. Lesnar goes for an F5 but he gets hit with a spear and an abrupt ending to the match. Roman is the unified champion and makes his way up the ramp with pyro going off. The ending was lackluster and rushed, probably due to the injury to Roman.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with WrestleMania 38. For the most part, it delivered an enjoyable experience and I was not mad I spent almost 8 hours watching it. What were your thoughts on WrestleMania 38? Let us know below or on our Twitter Account and stay tuned to more wrestling content on Culture Splat .
