8 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 1

6. Stephanie McMahon Introduces Gable Steveson

Stone Cold Steve Austin Kevin Owens
WWE

WWE chose WrestleMania to get the nice promo pictures of Gable Steveson, but it went down like a barely-functioning lift in the building.

Why did he not speak?

Why didn’t he not at least hit the ring?

Why didn’t they think one of those things might have helped get him over from the off before he disappears into developmental oblivion?

There was a consistent pattern of this pop diffusion throughout the evening, but when Stephanie McMahon didn’t deliver her husband or somebody else that might have earned a WWE superstar reaction, Steveson was trotted out to indifference.

Off the back of countless commercials and promos, this was a big swing anyway. That it missed was another indictment of the mostly-broken star-making machine.

There are many bikes Vince McMahon has frustratingly forgotten how to ride. Booking a gold medalist is apparently the latest.

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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