8 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 1

5. Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio Vs. The Miz & Logan Paul

Stone Cold Steve Austin Kevin Owens
WWE.com

Logan Paul entered WWE lore as a babyface in 2021.

It seemed impossibly tone deaf. A disliked figure when he dabbled with combat sports and a positively loathed one whenever he tried anything else, Paul’s casting as a laugh-along special guest of Sami Zayn during his WrestleMania 37 feud with Kevin Owens didn’t feel at all right until WWE permitted him to - to steal their parlance - be himself with the volume turned up in a post-match segment with Kevin Owens.

It was this guy that returned a year later, ostensibly cast as The Miz’ sh*t-disturbing mate for the ‘A-Lister’s war with The Mysterios.

The end result was mostly very competent until it entered a different galaxy when Paul trolled the world with a blinding Eddie Guerrero tribute bit.

Mysterio’s comebacks got monster, monster pops but Rey remains the god of this sh*t. Not to crucify his son, but the buzz just wasn’t there for the boy. The heels had to win, and did so when Miz blind-tagged to nullify a double 619.

He then turned on Paul as well, presumably setting up a rematch and explaining the YouTuber’s surprising quality on the night.

Another celebrity dominates the discourse for being better than some of the people he’s in there with. It’s a weird pattern, but don’t expect a change anytime soon.

Contributor
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