It's been a fine week for PROOOOOOO RASSLIN'/Sports Entertainment™. Wrestlemania week is the biggest week of the year for everybody's favorite pseudo sport and everybody made sure to bring it, whether you're a fan of WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Bloodsport, or what have you. I'm not here to recap the whole thing, because lord knows we'd be here all night if I did.
Instead, I'm here to give you my five favorite matches from the week. This goes from all of Wrestlemania week, which includes the NXT Takeovers. Your mileage may vary, but here were my five best!
Honorable Mention: "Hangman" Adam Page vs. "Platinum" Max Caster - AEW Dynamite
To go off the board for an honorable mention, I'm going with this match from AEW Dynamite. This was definitely not the "best" match of the night. But in terms of the participants involved and the work they put in, I loved the hell out of this. There's no better act in AEW right now than Hangman, the hard-drinking cowboy. He was up against "Platinum" Max Caster, out there with injured partner Anthony Bowens. The Acclaimed are my absolute favorite act in AEW right now. I was saying last week that Caster's raps had lost steam, but he saved his best work for Dynamite.
🙈 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 🙈
— ''Platinum'' Max Caster (@PlatinumMax) April 8, 2021
Here's my 🔥 freestyle from #AEWDynamite!
Hangman was so triggered he attacked @Bowens_Official like a jerk 😬
What up, @LilNasX 🙏🏼@AEW @AEWonTNT #AEWDynamite#MicDrop 🎤⬇️💥 pic.twitter.com/tHXkzZovDT
And the story was great, too. Bowens was running interference left and right and it looked like Hangman's new friends in the Dark Order might even the odds. Instead, Hangman is AWESOME and is able to beat up both guys and win decisively. That's how you do babyfaces in wrestling, man. I loved this. My favorite non-WWE match this week.
5. Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez: NXT Women's Championship Match - NXT Takeover Night 1
One of the best women's matches of the year, period. I didn't like this better than Sasha/Bianca, as I'll get to, but this was probably the better "technical" showcase and a lot more fun. Io was the fighting champion who had beaten all comers, but had clearly hit a wall with Raquel Gonzalez. Io threw everything she had at the big woman, but Raquel Gonzalez is an awesome power worker and came off looking like a beast. It was an awesome display, Raquel's a lot more fun to watch than she was when she first started, and she's deserved this moment, so good for her!
4. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins - Wrestlemania Night 1
Seth has been a superstar for the last few years and Cesaro is consistently the most underrated guy in wrestling. The Swiss Cyborg finally got to show what he could really do on the big stage, putting on a fun match with Seth. It all built up to the Cesaro Swing, but before that, Cesaro was just doing all kinds of cool stuff, like the no-arm airplane spin. But the story was that it was all building up to the Swing and, in the end, he sure did swing the shit out of Seth.
One of the better Cesaro matches I've seen in a minute. And good for him for getting the win!
3. Damian Priest & Bad Bunny vs. Miz & Morrison - Wrestlemania Night 1
Where the hell did this come from? I think everyone who's been watching weekly was expecting the absolute worst out of Bad Bunny, especially given that The Miz isn't exactly the greatest wrestler in the world. But holy crap, this was so much fun. Bad Bunny worked just fine, he was able to hang just fine with the experienced workers, he had some good moves (a tornado DDT? WHAT?), some good dives, and even busted out a CANADIAN DESTROYER!
I'm a fan of Priest and the rock star gimmick that he's been busting out for the last year. He hung in just fine, working as the big muscle. I was as surprised by this match than anybody. What a fun match!
2. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair: WWE Smackdown Women's Championship Match - Wrestlemania Night 1
I've loved Sasha's work for years. I went into this believing in Belair as WWE's top female prospect. They put on a hell of a show last night. Belair almost broke into tears when the bell rang, because of how overwhelming the moment was, but when it was time to get to work, she worked. Belair's power moves were off the charts, especially when she caught a Sasha dive and just straight up MILITARY PRESSED HER ALL THE WAY UP THE STEPS! That was just amazing!
I also loved the story that Sasha kept pulling on Belair's braid, because lord knows if that's just hanging out there, might as well use it. And the match ended when Sasha went for the hair for the millionth time and Belair just WHIPPED THE LIVING PISS OUT OF HER in what sounded like a gunshot. And that sure did look like it hurt like hell afterwards.
BRUHHHH NOT EVEN WALTER DID THIS LOL pic.twitter.com/GIqwlGawUj
— _denisesalcedo (@_denisesalcedo) April 11, 2021
Good on Belair for her big win, Sasha looked awesome in the loss, and this was a great way to end Night 1.
1. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa: WWE UK Championship Match - NXT Takeover Night 1
I love BRUTALITY! And there's no one better at being a BIG BRUTAL MOFO than WALTER. His matches are an absolute treat. I wasn't sure how much he'd be able to do with Ciampa, given that this is post-neck surgery Ciampa. But holy shit, Ciampa brought the goods, tried super hard to take out WALTER's chopping hand, and it just turned into a big slugfest. But you're not beating WALTER in an all-out fight and, sure enough, WALTER just CHOPPED THE PISS OUT OF HIM for the win. This RULED! Matches like this are exactly why I watch pro wrestling and I enjoyed the hell out of this.
If you're like me and caught any part of Wrestlemania weekend (or anything outside of WWE), feel free to jump in with your favorite thing from the week.
