7 Match Star Ratings For WWE WrestleMania 37 - Night 2

5. Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn

Alexa Bliss
WWE.com

Kevin Owens immediately drilled Sami Zayn with a pop-up powerbomb to start.

Zayn rolled out of the ring. In a callback to a grand history WWE has never properly realised in their own canon, Owens, the babyface, seemed to agonise over the apron variation. If WWE had no interest in their saga, beyond the recognition that it made for a guaranteed banger, Owens and Zayn did - and were smart enough to neatly package it together in a tight, no-filler Greatest Hits set.

Zayn took a wild, gut-first bump on the top rope before rallying back with an apron brainbuster - that shouldn't have been exposed via replay - and a Michinoku driver that did nail the scary sweet spot between the neck and the upper back. This was super-indie signature city, and it ruled, even if the WWE rhythm was in effect for a while there. It couldn't ruin the giddy rush of Kevin Stee-Owens teasing the package piledriver; if this was a Greatest Hits set that knew what the crowd wanted, this was a nice cult B-side of a spot that Zayn reversed with a series of exploders.

In the end, Owens and Zayn just realised their exquisite chemistry and bantered off the imposed pacing with a frenzied slap battle and a top-rope death blow. They've had better matches, but this was still really, really good.

Leave it to the indy guys WWE buried a decade ago to save the sports entertainment sh*t-show from itself.

Star Rating: ★★★¾

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!