8 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 1

7. Drew McIntyre Vs. Happy Corbin

Stone Cold Steve Austin Kevin Owens
WWE.com

Was this feud ever really about Drew McIntyre and Happy Corbin?

The match was supposed to take place as early as January before covid-19 caused some shuffling around and a dreaded delay that ultimately dragged it kicking and screaming to the ‘Show Of Shows’.

In yet another damning assessment of the company’s memory of exactly what Drew McIntyre did for them in 2020, the major hook here didn’t even involve him! Somebody important has really taken to Madcap Moss, and WrestleMania suddenly started becoming more about the wise-cracking d*ckhead in the funny boots turning babyface than McIntyre getting revenge for…whatever it was Corbin might have done one time ages ago.

Dissension reared its ugly head when Moss got on the apron for no reason, allowing Drew a route back in after some extended beatdown stuff. They inserted a big moment in towards the end that located the heat - McIntyre became the first person to kick out of the End Of Days. It went down a treat.

From there it was a rote route to The Claymore, but the Corbin two followed by a McIntyre three felt like a fittingly big time finish. Pyro and the explosion when Drew cut the ropes with a sword were a bit much, but hasn’t most of this felt that way?

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett