For only the second time in history, WrestleMania was split up into two nights this year. Night One offered its share of hidden highlights and offered a tough act to follow, with an inspired main event, a show-stealing performance from Cesaro, a strong celebrity performance from Bad Bunny, and the spectacle of WWE returning to a live audience.
Night Two had plenty to offer in its own right, including a marquee-worthy main event Triple Threat, theatrics from The Fiend, and a Raw Women’s Title match that held its own. With so much going on for this second half of the biggest event of the year, it was easy to miss some pieces.
10 The First Time Roman Reigns Defends A Title At WrestleMania
Roman Reigns has spent most of the last six years as WWE's top star, following in the tradition of men like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and John Cena as the face of the company. WrestleMania 37 saw him work his fifth WrestleMania main event—a milestone befitting a top star.
Despite the positioning Reigns has enjoyed, it’s interesting to note that this was actually the first time he walked into the biggest show of the year reigning as world champion. It was perhaps not so coincidental that this happened for his first WrestleMania match as a heel.
9 Randy Orton May Have Ribbed Mandy Rose
Randy Orton wound up being the first wrestler to make his entrance to wrestle for Night Two of WrestleMania. Fans had to watch him walk down the ramp carefully to notice him pause midway through to check his footing.
It’s unclear if Orton may have actually stepped on a slick spot, as he did pause to wipe his feet at the bottom of the ramp, too. Given that Orton has demonstrated an awareness of the Internet wrestling conversation more than once, it stood to reason he may well have been ribbing Mandy Rose who had a viral moment of unintentional comedy during Night One when she slipped on the ramp during her entrance.
8 Rhea Ripley Is Only The Second Woman To Work One-On-One Matches In Back-To-Back WrestleManias
Women have benefited from increasingly high-profile positioning at WrestleMania. Many of the division’s biggest ‘Mania matches have involved three or four competitors, though, not least of all including the WrestleMania 35 main event Triple Threat Match between Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair.
Remarkably, WrestleMania 37 saw Rhea Ripley become only the second woman to ever work one-on-one matches at back-to-back WrestleManias—against Flair, then Asuka. She built on her WrestleMania legacy with a memorable showing, capturing the Raw Women's Championship. Notably, the only woman to have worked singles matches at consecutive 'Manias previously was Trish Stratus, who did so at WrestleManias 21 and 22, with Christy Hemme and Mickie James, respectively.
7 The Deceptively High Number Of Parallels Between Daniel Bryan’s Journey To WrestleManias 30 & 37
Daniel Bryan worked his second WrestleMania main event of his career at WrestleMania 37. Besides closing the show, there were a deceptively high number of other parallels between his first time working the last match at ‘Mania and this second time around.
In 2014, Bryan was a favorite to win the Royal Rumble, but a returning legend (Batista) won instead. Nonetheless, he was ultimately added to challenge the Rumble winner and a heel world champion who had turned back his challenges before (Randy Orton). The result was one of the greatest matches of Bryan's career. The story was very similar in 2021. Returning Edge won a Rumble many had pegged Bryan to win before Bryan joined the match to make it a three-way, going after Roman Reigns, who had retained the title over Bryan in preceding PPVs.
6 The First NXT TakeOver Rematch At A WrestleMania
It’s no secret that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have had a long history with one another as opponents and teammates alike. Indeed, WWE didn’t shy away from the fact that they knew each other and wrestled with and against one another on the indies pre-WWE. From there, Zayn and Owens had an NXT feud that crossed over to the main roster before they struck up a partnership.
NXT TakeOver has become one of the most celebrated series of events in wrestling. Owens and Zayn had a clash there to headline NXT TakeOver: Respect back in 2015 and remarkably, this was the one time that a one-on-one match was reprised between the biggest events in developmental, and the biggest event the main roster has to offer: WrestleMania.
5 A Pop Culture Reference In The Women’s Tag Match
In the late stages of the Women’s Tag Team Championship match pitting Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax against Natalya and Tamina, the mics picked up Jax trash-talking Tamina as she called herself “King Kong.” When Tamina rallied, including delivering a massive body slam, Corey Graves finished the story, proclaiming Tamina “Godzilla.”
The reference made a fun connection to pop culture, given the popular Godzilla vs. Kong movie that was released on March 31. It was a fitting comparison, too, as two of the biggest, strongest women in WWE collided.
4 Matt Riddle May Have Struggled On Purpose
Late in the United States Championship match between Matt Riddle and Sheamus, The Original Bro went for what looked like a vertical suplex. He struggled, had to set The Celtic Warrior down, and tried again, connecting with a Jackhammer.
Were it another wrestler to have worked this spot, one might chalk it up to a minor misstep en route to a minor point of interest for someone using Goldberg’s finisher. With Riddle being the perpetrator, the moment took on more meaning. Riddle has criticized Goldberg on Twitter, and the two sides have each sniped at each other since, with Riddle criticizing Goldberg for being unsafe, including a memorably botched Jackhammer on The Undertaker at Super ShowDown 2019. Riddle was quite conceivably “poking the bear” when he failed at the Jackhammer then followed it up by hitting the move successfully.
3 Could Kane Have Cost The Fiend His Match?
Bray Wyatt lost the opening match of Night Two of WrestleMania when flames shot up from the ring posts, distracting him. It was interesting, however, to see Kane in attendance, later on, to commemorate his Hall of Fame induction.
Flames magically shooting from the corners of the ring was an effect synonymous with Kane’s character. So, his presence introduced a possibility that one could say Kane interfered in The Fiend’s affairs. The overlap was more likely a coincidence, or perhaps a symbolic passing of the torch as The Fiend surpasses The Big Red Machine as the WWE character most associated with fire. The conspiracy wouldn't fit recent storylines, but neither would it be the least sensical thing that had happened in Kane's career.
2 Kevin Owens Carries Forward His T-Shirt Tradition
Kevin Owens is one of the few regular WWE Superstars who has routinely wrestled in a t-shirt with cut-off sleeves. That wardrobe choice has opened a unique opportunity to represent himself at WrestleMania events.
Starting at his second WrestleMania appearance Owens has worn a shirt stylized with the number of WrestleMania appearances he’s had. So, at WrestleMania 33, he wore a KO Mania 2 shirt, at 34 he wore a KO Mania 3 shirt, and after a missing 35, he came back at 36 with KO Mania 4. This year, Owens wore a shirt for KO Mania 5, with pictures of himself in the style of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s promotional materials for WrestleMania 5.
1 Edge Is The Only Main Eventer Who Can’t Win A WrestleMania Triple Threat
An interesting factoid related to the main event match was that, for everyone involved it was the second time they’d worked a world title Triple Threat at WrestleMania. Daniel Bryan won his previous encounter at WrestleMania XXX. Edge lost his at WrestleMania 25. Roman Reigns lost his first one at WrestleMania 31 when Seth Rollins inserted himself to make the WrestleMania main event a Triple Threat.
This match offered an opportunity for Bryan to win a second world title in a WrestleMania Triple Threat, or for either man to accomplish that feat for the first time. Reigns prevailed, meaning that now Edge is the only one of the three who has not won such a match. Similarly, much as Cena did a double AA to Edge and Big Show at WrestleMania 25, Reigns pinned both Bryan and Edge at the same time.