7 Match Star Ratings For WWE WrestleMania 37 - Night 2
Daniel Bryan soared to the same heights as the depths to which the Fiend was buried.
To read the star-rated breakdown of the wonderful WrestleMania 37 Night 1, click here.
For a probably overdue reminder of the system itself:
★★★★★, the forever maximum, is reserved only for the very best matches ever worked - those magical, life-affirming classics determined by the feeling that you've just watched something immortal. ★★★★¾ is an amazing, mind-blowing or incredibly productive/momentous match that isn't quite on the immortal level. A ★★★★½ match contends for Match of the Year. ★★★★¼ is worthy of headlining any pay-per-view.
★★★★ is a banger. ★★★¾ is a banger with a botch or something, like a weird sense of pacing or a reliance on tropes, that positions it just below must-see. ★★★½ is obviously very good, but maybe slightly underwhelming or, conversely, a massive over-delivery - depending on who is in it.
★★★¼ is a match that has something about it, like a great sequence or high spot, that positions it above the gentleman's ★★★, which is a good match that more often than not inspires absolutely zero emotion whatsoever. ★★¾ is just barely above average. ★★½, crazily enough, is average. Anything below that is a different shade of sh*tty, from "That was pretty sh*tty" to "Christ what a piece of sh*t that was".
Anything minus ★ more likely than not involves The Fiend.
But how did he do on Sunday...?
7. The Fiend Vs. Randy Orton
Really smart to book the Fiend in the hot opener. Any pay-per-view needs a banger to kick it off, and the Fiend is perfect in the spot. Best 450 in the biz.
Randy Orton, somehow the heel in a feud with a hell-spawned demon, was wearing white. And this company will lecture you about psychology. Shouldn't Edge, incidentally, have an issue with the Fiend no-selling a back suplex?
"He's from hell, so it's OK!" - somebody's actual thought process.
Imagine acquiring a wrestler's license in hell. Imagine being as powerful an entity as the Fiend, and deciding to be a professional wrestler. In hell.
Christ, what a load of absolute b*llocks.
Randy Orton DDTd a guy he failed to murder by setting alight, and he'll bury other workers for doing a high spot because it doesn't make sense. The Fiend actually did one! A box-like-structure-assisted diving clothesline! It was the coolest thing he's ever done, and the fans still resented it because that infernal red light returned months after everybody, even Vince, realised it was awful.
The match itself sucked because of course it did. The usual signatures were no-sold, and the Fiend lost via distraction because Alexa Bliss turned on him. Demonic entities succumb to distraction in WWE. They'd job Cthulhu out like this if they could.
Lessons learned:
An RKO is more lethal than fire, and somebody in WWE creative really, really likes the idea of coating the face of Alexa Bliss - who is playing a child - in liquid.
Star Rating: Minus ★★★