10 LIVE Observations From WWE WrestleMania 35

3. Big Banter

Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

To put in perspective the length of the show, WWE actually aimed to create an atmosphere of apathy, when putting Baron Corbin over Kurt Angle in his retirement match - and the crowd was too knackered to groan. This, from my point of view, was d*mn effective.

Baron Corbin's ring introduction was top, top banter, and the in-ring story told was bittersweet. We were asked to believe in Angle for the last time, and he briefly created an atmosphere of anxiety and hope when he tried to hit the moonsault one last time. Well, one first time, but you get the idea. And yet, despite the quiet reaction to the match - which might be because Corbin was in it, and not because we'd watched 19 hours of wrestling to this point - Angle commands such incredible respect that he raised the dead with booming, unanimous chants of You Suck in a spectacle that was emblematic of the show itself: a lot of the action didn't land, but the resonance of the Moment did.

As for the result: it's going to be hilarious, legitimately, when Corbin runs this into the ground, per comedy's rule of repetition.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!