It’s WrestleMania Saturday, and Greg DeMarco is here to see what WWE can deliver to us all!

WWE WrestleMania is the Showcase Of Immortals, and it’s also when the WWE gets to showcase itself. With no reliance on part-timers to be found, WrestleMania Saturday features a historic main event and a ton of potential. Will it meet that potential? Read on to see what Greg DeMarco thought in real time!

(Extended) Opening Moments

• Fantastic job picking up where they left off last year, and updating it for now.
• Loved seeing the talent on the stage, and you could see how emotional they were.
• Now, we have the rain delay. And I have to say…this is amazing. Seeing them cut promos on the fly with no script, no bullet points, no preconceived/pre-produced
• Shane McMahon killed time for Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre, who crushed it. The New Day was fantastic, Braun Strowman did his best, Kevin Owens cut what is basically a shoot promo. So well done.

No script. No producers. Best promos I've seen in a LONG time.

— Greg DeMarco (@ChairshotGreg) April 11, 2021

Titus O’Neil and Hulk Freakin’ Hogan

• Do we really need Hulk Hogan at this point?
• I feel for Titus, but I give him all the credit in the world for not slapping the shit out of Hogan right there.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. The Almighty Bobby Lashley (champion) w/MVP

• Drew McIntyre deserves this entrance more than anyone. And you can see the emotion on his face.
• Lashley needs pyro to go off when he points.
• That stage looks awesome, by the way.
• How do you not focus on Bobby Lashley’s MMA experience when it finds it’s way into the match? That has to be off limits, otherwise you know Joe would bring it up.
• I don’t know who does Drew’s beard work, but they did him no favors.
• Amazing throws and even a Northern Lights Suplex–Drew pulling out the entire moveset tonight!
• Commentary team standing in front of the table, monitors probably out. They’re doing a great job with this.
• Crowd SOLIDLY behind The Hurt Lock.
• BOB WINS!

Winner and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Bobby Lashley

• Bob doesn’t kick out of the Claymore, but Drew also doesn’t escape the Hurt Lock. Well done all around.

Tag Team Turmoil: Lana & Naomi vs. Carmella & Billie Kay vs. The Riott Squat (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan) vs. Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose vs. Natalya & Tamina

• I bet this gets cut short for time. I am glad they’re getting introductions.
• We start with Naomi & Lana vs. Carmella & Billie Kay.
• Billie Kay & Carmella eliminate Lana & Naomi, which makes no sense.  I have a feeling The IIconics will be back together come WWE Draft season.
• The Riott Squad should really win this thing.
• MATCHING TIGHTS! MATCHING TIGHTS! MATCHING TIGHTS!
• Little confusion there, eh? The Riott Squad survives!
• Welp, that was going well until Natalya & Tamina won. But I have a feeling Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler are retaining.

Winners: Natalya & Tamina (advance to WrestleMania Sunday to challenge Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women’s World Tag Team Championships)

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

• This truly is the biggest match in Cesaro’s career–but it’s also one that would further cement Rollins as a Hall Of Famer.
• I’ve been picking Cesaro here as I can imagine Rollins wants to make him in this one match.
• Also, surprised that we haven’t seen everyone wearing white tonight, as we typically see a lot of at WrestleMania. It’s a welcomed change, I did all the black gear.
• Nice to see that the Big Swing is a part of the match’s storytelling.
• Corkscrew Splash! Seemed less effective that way–but more impressive.
• Fans REALLY want to see Cesaro get the win, and I am with them.
• Stomp into European Uppercut + 23 Rotation Big Swing + Neutralizer = CESARO WINS

Winners: Cesaro

• I can’t tell you how happy this makes me, seeing one of my all time favorites get the duke here.
• I had a feeling Seth wanted to put him over, and he truly did.
• Credit to Corey Graves for going off script in how he put Cesaro’s win–and career–over.

Kayla Braxton Interviews The Dirty Sawgs

• Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode putting in hard work to put over a match when they aren’t on the card. That’s impressive.

Raw Tag Team Championships: Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. AJ Styles & Omos

• Remember when everyone thought they broke up The New Day? WrestleMania was the perfect time to have Big E doing that intro the way he did.
• New Day is one of the acts who benefits most from having fans present.
• Omos wrestling in street clothes actually makes perfect sense.
• The gear in this match is 🔥🔥🔥
• Especially love AJ’s silver gear
• Great POP for Omos after AJ literally carried this thing.
• Omos’ moveset is super simple–it’s actually what it should be.
• Korfi Kingston???
• And we have our new Andre The Giant.

Winners and NEW Raw Tag Team Champions: Omos & AJ Styles

• Perfect debut for Omos, and AJ doing some amazing work here. Very well done.

Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

• It’s time for the match that came together because Shane called Braun stupid.
• I know much of Wrestling Twitter doesn’t want to see this, but Braun is over with the kids and casuals, and Shane is over with the adult casuals. This match makes perfect sense.
• Shane McMahon is a horrible professional wrestler.
• Shane McMahon should be a horrible professional wrestler.
• This one is for the kids and casual fans, see:

Yup. My kids are glued to the TV to see how far Braun can shot put Shane.

— Mary-Helen Clark (@MHClark2617) April 11, 2021

• Jerry Lawler is terrible at this commentary thing.
• See, Shane lost because he did something stupid. It’s storytelling.
• Braun is insanely over, and this match was way better than anyone will want to give it credit for.

Winner: Braun Strowman

Hall Of Famers

• Nice touch having X-Pac come out first for the NWO, since it’s his only induction.

The Miz & John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny & Damian Priest

• The Miz should always have his standard WrestleMania entrance.
• The crowd is already hyped for Damian Priest and Bad Bunny before they enter. This match could make Priest a huge star.
• Hell of an entrance for Bad Bunny, and it showcased the jealousy part of the angle.
• Franky Monet’s husband might steal this match.
• Bab Bunny obviously trained, but he focused on his spots. Apparently running the ropes and getting tossed through them wasn’t part of the curriculum,
• That said, this is more than worth the cost–exposure is insane. He’s perfect for WrestleMania.
• Priest FINALLY Gets tagged in and kills the crowd with his stupid pose. The guy can be a big star, they just need to strip away a few things.
• He may not be good at running the ropes, but he can sure hit  Falcon Arrow.
• And now he hits a Canadian Destroyer???
• The right guys won, that’s for sure.

Winners: Bad Bunny & Damian Priest

Twitter will hate this, but this is the WrestleMania 31 story.

Bianca = Roman Reigns
Sasha = Brock Lesnar

And they're telling it with brilliance.

— Greg DeMarco (@ChairshotGreg) April 11, 2021

• And Bianca gets the win! Michael Cole thought Sasha kicked out, so maybe there was a screw up. At least that’s what Meltzer will tell us. Great match.

Winner and NEW Smackdown Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair

When you factor in the rain delay, this clocks in at just over 3 hours. Very well done by WWE. Very well done.

Overall Impressions

Plenty of memorable moments on a card that is all about memorable moments. From Bob Lashley retaining to Bianca Belair winning, plus Cesaro’s big moment and Bad Bunny delivering, this show had it all. Hopefully WrestleMania Sunday can live up to what Saturday delivered.