Being a wrestling fan, I was happy to see that the WWE found a way to proceed with WrestleMania despite the Coronavirus pandemic. From what I understand, none of the wrestlers on the roster were forced to perform. As a matter of fact, some of their big stars opted not to take part in their biggest event. I enjoyed the fact that it brought a sense of normalcy to otherwise unnormal times.
The performers all put on a good show despite the fact that the major missing element was the crowd. Let's face it, the live audience is a big part of the show and their chants can get pretty outrageous during WrestleMania season. On the plus side, all of the grapplers on the first night of this two night event were very vocal. In addition, the referees also had plenty to say in the ring.
As the host, Rob Gronkowski didn't have much to do on the first night, except watch Mojo Rawley push him out of the way to pin R Truth for the 24/7 title. Kevin Owens did provide a WrestleMania moment by jumping off the WrestleMania sign to put away Seth Rollins. He could have saved himself more pain by accepting his win by disqualification earlier in the match, but he needed to defeat the Monday Night Messiah in proper fashion. Both competitors literally got their bell rung!
Due to the Miz not making the event, the triple threat tag team ladder match went on with only one member of each team competing. It didn't take away from having an action-packed match as John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso all displayed their athletic prowess. While Morrison narrowly won that match with all three competitors having their hands on the belts, Elias snuck a win against King Corbin in their match.
The unbridled energy of Nikki Cross was a major factor in herself and Alexa Bliss quieting Asuka and Kairi Sane, the Kabuki Warriors. I was expecting to see the use of the green mist, but I guess it wasn't in the script. Braun Strowman wiped out Goldberg, after falling victim to numerous spears. Becky Lynch surprisingly (at least in my mind) kept her title against a very disappointed Shayna Baszler. Another surprising win (again in my mind) came when Sami Zayn pinned Daniel Bryan, after Zayn spent the first part of the match trying to avoid contact with the "Yes" man.
The night ended with a Boneyard Match. What else would you expect from something involving the Undertaker? AJ Styles brought along the rest of the OC to assist him in trying to bury the dead man. This match was obviously inspired by Matt Hardy's early "Broken" videos, as it took place at some unknown location that was designed to be a cemetery, including a tombstone already in place for AJ Styles. This was a very ingenious way to utilize the Undertaker, with no crowd present to enjoy the action. After getting over the fact that I could hear everything without screaming fans, I really enjoyed the show and the effort put out by the wrestlers to still be entertaining. However, even though I liked the show, I do welcome a live audience back next year for this show of shows!