8 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 1

2. Charlotte Flair (c) Vs. Ronda Rousey

Stone Cold Steve Austin Kevin Owens
WWE.com

The pop for Ronda Rousey wasn’t exactly thunderous when she returned at the Royal Rumble, and an uneven display opposite Becky Lynch on Raw the next night resulted in a sharp course correction that has just about worked.

Between smiling all the time, committing to more wrestling beyond WrestleMania and rather charmingly going back to her roots (as charming as unleashing judo hell on your poor opponents can be) at Elimination Chamber, it has felt like a restorative project rather than the return of woman with the best rookie year in company history

In Dallas, it was the worst followed by the very best of both.

Awkward chemistry in front of a shattered crowd made for a clunky start, but the force of Will won everybody over, and mostly to Ronda’s side.

A ref bump/visual tap finish was Sports Entertainment when it wasn’t entirely needed, but Rousey‘a excellent 2018 instincts were on display and thus made the inevitable rematch extremely enticing. In 2022, that might be the shrewdest skill a WWE Superstar can exhibit.

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