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It's been a pretty jovial atmosphere at the stadium during the Kickoff Show. Some "Wrestlemania" chants.
I really loved the new signature opening that kicked off the Wrestlemania broadcast. With each change and shift, they move farther into the Endeavor era.
Philly popped for the Meek Mill song as he's a hometown guy and is very much beloved in the city. There will be a lot more Philly flavor on this show, I can assure you.
After the national anthem, Paul Levesque came out to a MASSIVE pop live. It's a new era and sure enough, he's going to lead it. He said, "Man I live for this" and you know that was a shoot. He said it was a new time and era. Welcome to Wrestlemania.
Our opening contest is Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch for the WWE Women's World Championship. I loved Lynch having passages from her memoir on her ring gear. Great synergy there. Good action early with Rhea using her power to keep Becky at bay early. She went to the top and did the old Eddy Guerrero shimmy but Lynch took her down with an armdrag off the ropes. Lynch controlled Rhea and nailed a legdrop from the ropes while Rhea was caught between the ropes, then nailed an exploder on the floor. Lynch nailed an Alabama Jam for a two count. Lynch was caught and slammed coming off the ropes for a close two count. Some absolutely great back and forth fire shown during their battle, especially since Lynch has been sick all week.
Lynch went after Ripley's arm, using the Disarmher in the ropes. Lynch went for a legdrop but Rhea turned it into a submission hold, elevating Lynch while grapevining her legs in a Prism Trap. Becky turned it into a pinfall attempt. Rhea went for Riptide but Becky turned it into the Bookend for a close near fall. Very good match so far! Becky kept going after the arm but was caught in Riptide for another close two count. Rhea, holding her hurt arm close, was furious that Lynch kicked out.
Lynch went to the top but Lynch knocked the ropes, making Rhea lose her balance. Lynch used a superplex and turned her over into a Disarmher. They went over the ropes and Lynch remained on Rhea's back, so Rhea hit an Electric Chair. Rhea nailed a Frog Splash off the top for another two count. This is great.
They battled near the ropes. Becky went for a move but was caught and hit with a Riptide into the buckles, then another for an exclamation point, scoring the final pinfall. Hell of a finish. This was an absolutely great opener.
Next up is the Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship!
DIY came out in DX-inspired gear. This is Johnny Gargano's Wrestlemania debut. New Day came out dressed as Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago.
All chaos early. Finn was teeing off talents to send them into a ladder weaponized by Priest. Tyler Bate escaped a move by Priest, who crashed into a ladder. There was a great Terry Funk tribute spot where Tyler Bate hit an Airplane Spin on Balor while holding a ladder. LOVED that. Bate took a scary bump getting knocked off the ladder.
There was some great silliness with Truth, who tagged in and covered Balor and counted his own pinfall. Priest was trapped, getting wiped out by everyone's finishers. Gargano paid tribute to Sweet Chin Music and Tommaso nailed a pedigree. Awesome Truth and DIY agreed to each get a set of belts for themselves but Grayson and Theory prevented that. They grabbed the SD belts and were announced as the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions. New Catch Republic powerbombed Grayson over the ropes through a bridged ladder.
DIY pulled out several tables and Philly chanted and this will shock you to your core - ECW! Before they could use them, New Day took out Gargano and Woods nailed an elbow on Ciampa on a bridged ladder, Kofi hit a huge dive off the ladder onto everyone on the floor. Woods tried to get the Raw belts but Theory nailed him. Theory went to retrieve but was taken out by New Catch Republic. Gargano nailed a DDT off the apron through a table on Dunn to the floor. Ciampa hit an Air Raid Crash off the top of the ladder.
With everyone out, R-Truth returned to the ring and went for the belts but JD McDonaugh attacked him. He helped Finn back to the ladder but New Day interceded. McDonaugh was tipped off the ladder and crashed through two tables in frightening fashion. Damian Priest hit a Razor's Edge off the ladder through a chair. This is nutty stuff.
Truth grabbed the Raw Tag belts to win the match after knocking Priest off a ladder and then tossing him to the floor. Philly went NUTS for that.
This was an absolutely awesome ladder match with everyone working their asses off. You can't do all those insane bumps every week but for the biggest show of the year, sure. I loved this. I lost part of my blog when the WiFi went out in the media room - sorry folks.
Philly had the fireflies out when they plugged the excellent Bray Wyatt documentary. It looked amazing live.
Next up is Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs. Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio!
All o the LWO were dressed up except Carlito. Foreshadowing?
Lots of fun stuff here early including Rey and Andrade doing a double dive with Rey on his shoulders. They teased Rey whipping Dom but it was prevented. Santos looked really strong with his offense. Zelina hit a moonsault from the ropes to the floor. Just lots of stuff. This was absolutely fun fun fun live, as if they were working an Arena Mexico show and not WWE. Everyone involved really let it all hang out and all the dives popped the crowd.
Two masked guys showed up an helped Rey score the victory. They weren't Dario Cueto's henchmen from Azteca Underground but were Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson who had gotten some training at the Monster Factory (as we reported on the front page). Philly LOST THEIR MINDS for that. Big celebration.
More on Page 2!
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