Originally Written in the Body Slam Brigade Newsletter Issue #50 – Read and Subscribe Here

Fans and journalists often criticize WWE’s short term booking and scripted promos, but nobody can deny WWE’s ability to put on a spectacular show. WrestleMania 37 was spectacular!

Arriving in Tampa, you would have been hard pressed to find a surface that wasn’t plastered with the face of one of the many WWE superstars performing at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. The faces of Sasha Banks, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns and countless others were everywhere you looked.

Whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, those banners guaranteed that you could not exist within Tampa without knowing about the massive event that was about to rain down on the city. While wrestling fans anticipated the ability to chant, cheer, and boo for the first time in over a year, Mother Nature was determined to have her say.

The greatest event in entertainment would start with a rain delay. WWE has dealt with all kinds of drama like fans knowing about Goldberg and Brock leaving the company to threats on the life of Sergeant Slaughter to just last year when the pandemic caused WrestleMania to be held on a closed set.

Despite all the crazy issues WWE has encountered over the years, WrestleMania has never teetered on the edge of cancellation due to weather.

In storyline, Vince McMahon teamed with his son Shane to defeat Shawn Michaels and God at Backlash 2006 (I’m sure you cringed reading that just as much as I cringed writing it), and apparently God wasn’t quite done with this rivalry. The showdown between Vince and Mother Nature only lasted a short time as Night 1 kicked off 30 minutes later than planned. Let the record book show that the opening contest of Night 1 was in fact WWE versus Mother Nature.

Mother Nature brought thunder and lightning to what the social media meme artists dubbed “WrestleRainia” and WWE spared no expense with pyro, lasers, and special effects once WrestleMania got underway.

There is so much great wrestling content available these days that I can’t honestly say that WWE programming is my favorite each week. That said, this event was full of the moments that create goosebumps, inspire joy, force you to scratch your head, and even a few that make your skin burn with fury. I don’t know about you, but that’s the combination of things that I want from all entertainment.

It also speaks to the diversity of WWE’s audience that the same moments that inspired joy for some caused others to scratch their head or even become angry. See Sasha Banks v. Bianca Belair and The Fiend Bray Wyatt v. Randy Orton for two examples.

No matter how spectacular the event, no matter how many external forces (Covid-19, government regulation, public relations, and weather) need to be overcome, and no matter how much joy a moment can bring to some . . . not everyone will be happy. That’s how life works.

From my point of view (which was 100 level seating about midway between the ramp and the ring), the event was a magical production. I’m so grateful to have been able to attend the event, and I can’t wait for the next one.

The darn ship at WrestleMania 37

A Little More

WrestleMania weekend is about so much more than the two day show. That’s obvious right? There’s NXT TakeOver, WWE Hall of Fame, and Impact even had a show at 3PM (right before WrestleMania).

Dig a little deeper though, and you’ll find that WrestleMania weekend offers a lot more than just that.

My crew and I went to Game Changer Wrestling’s (GCW) Collective Remix, which was a series of 12 shows over 3 days. The last show each day kicked off at 11:59 PM, so I have to admit that we didn’t see much of those shows. You’ll often hear wrestling promoters describe their events as a variety show. Well. . .the Collective Remix was a variety of shows. I saw everything from Effie’s Big Gay Brunch to Acid Cup 3 to Allie Kat’s Hot Girl Shit to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport and plenty more on top of that.

The names of those shows kind of speak for themselves. GCW presented Spring Break as the third show on Day 2. I don’t know if this is GCW’s WrestleMania or not, but I certainly recognized the Spring Break brand before arriving in Tampa.

The match between Joey Janela and Chris Dickinson highlighted the action as far as I’m concerned. The match leaned heavily on the hardcore side, but got a little crazy when Dickinson called for chairs and an entire section of fans tossed their seats into the ring. If Chris Dickinson called for those fans to follow him into the ring, then it’s not without question that they would have stormed the apron and caused a riot.

The aftermath of fans tossing chairs in the ring at GCW Spring Break

It’s not always easy to lose yourself in the energy of a wrestling match, especially not to this degree, but these fans had foam welling up at the corners of their mouth and they wanted VIOLENCE. Eventually order would be restored and the match continued to it’s conclusion with Joey Janela (dressed as Bam Bam Bigelow) getting the win.

In a fun and perhaps devious twist, the GCW crew pulled all the chairs out of the ring on the side where all the fans stood waiting, but instead of handing them back to the now standing foam mouthed spectators, the GCW crew just placed the chairs under the ring for the duration of the show. Here’s your lesson: don’t throw your chair if its the only thing you have to sit on.

Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport

In addition to Spring Break, I also had awareness of the Bloodsport brand before I watched it for the first time over WrestleMania Weekend.

Remember how I said that the Collective was a variety of shows. The uniqueness of Bloodsport is obvious from the beginning. No ropes. No pins. The matches only end by knockout, referee stop, or tap out.

Bloodsport 6 included many big names like Jon Moxley, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Rocky Romero, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Josh Barnett himself.

If you’re someone that has a hard time suspending disbelief when watching cruiserweight wrestlers fight heavyweight wrestlers, Bloodsport pairs the athletes up in accordance with their body type. No suspension of disbelief required.

I can’t point to any one match or moment on this show that captivated me over another because the show held my attention the entire time. I’m planning to watch the previous five events on FITE TV and begin covering Bloodsport on MinutesToBellTime.com (it was that good).

Toward the end of Jon Moxley v. Josh Barnett at Bloodsport 6.

Finally

I want to mention that I was surprised to run into a number of fans at GCW that were not only skipping out on WrestleMania, but actually turned their nose up at the prospect of going. While not the intention of WWE, WrestleMania today marks a special weekend where Wrestling Fans of all types can come together from all over the country (and world) to appreciate Pro Wrestling in whatever style we want.

I loved my trip and can’t wait to go again.

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