8 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 1

The introduction to WrestleMania X-Seven is perhaps the most grandiose in the history of the event.

You’ll recall it, probably. The show warrants enough rewatches without hitting Skip Intro every time. Shooting for an air of immense profundity and bizarrely almost hitting the target, a WWE fresh off securing a mainstream North American monopoly on the industry presents itself as even more than just the wrestling show. It’s a slice of Americana, a beacon of hope, truth and beauty, and a symbol of life. That last one’s verbatim.

The world was indeed watching as Vince McMahon celebrated the purchase of WCW with perhaps the best show he’d ever promote. 2001’s ‘Show Of Shows’ was the most magnificent coalescence of McMahon’s ideals and pro wrestling’s rich history. It was that and more, as wrestling cards go, but it wasn’t really all those fancy things it aspired to be off the top.

WrestleMania 38, for reasons entirely unrelated to the card, stood the chance of being just that. It’s been three years since a WrestleMania opened with the sight of an as-good-as-full stadium, the planes, the pageantry and the vision of the biggest wrestling show in the world still somehow being just that. The pandemic isn’t over - will it ever be? - but WrestleMania, a symbol of life, remember, is reflecting the world at large and living with it after all.

And as for the matches themselves?

At WrestleMania 33, Shinsuke Nakamura might have lost a moribund match against AJ Styles, but he gained something ultimately more memorable than that ever stood a chance of being. His ripper of an entrance provided the sort of imagery WWE love. A “WrestleMania Moment”, as Michael Cole almost certainly labelled it as his pal “Shin” danced onto the ‘Grandest Stage’.

Like a contestant’s early cash prize on Bullseye, that’s safe. Good job too - on this evidence, ‘The King Of Strong Style’ as an actual pressing concern may well not even exist.

He looked incredible in his orange and yellow gear but he was a literal walking billboard alongside partner Rick Boogs. It got sadder too - the hot opener bit had been undone by the Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders anyway, but a Boogs injury killed some fun buzz the four had done well to drum up.

It was a race to the finish from there - they hit a 1D for the win but fans in the stands seemed to patiently await the inevitable with Boogs getting checked out at ringside.

A sad and ungainly start in truth, but “the hazards are real” never felt as potent as in the opener of the biggest show of the year.