9 Live Observations From WWE WrestleMania 38 Night 2

8. RK-Bro (c) Vs. The Street Profits Vs. Alpha Academy

Stone Cold Steve Austin
WWE.com

The Randy Orton hot tag, live, is a thing of beauty.

Hot tag, but not a hot take. Nonetheless, this article is about live observations and that’s the main takeaway from RK-Bro and indeed the reason the company have kept the belts on Randy Orton and Riddle instead of expediting their inevitable split.

Other than that, what else was there to discern from this opener?

This match was good throughout and great in places but what can be said about Raw’s version of the 2002 SmackDown Six by this point? Rotations of these and select others in the Monday night doubles division have been having rippers for weeks and this was no different. Orton caught Gable with an RKO as he flew down from the top rope in a spot you can picture but still impresses all the same. Gable Steveson was back again afterwards, but the response to his suplex on Chad Gable was tepid thanks to a limp build the night prior.

Living up to expectations warrants praise, but truthfully the pairings have had better matches on the red brand than on ‘The Grandest Stage’. That happens when you hire tremendous wrestlers but tell nonexistent stories.

More on that later.

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