9 WWE WrestleMania 37 - Night 1 Impulse Reactions
7. Bobby Lashley (c) Vs. Drew McIntyre
This time last year, Drew McIntyre was gritting his teeth, cursing his luck, and making the best of things.
'The Scottish Warrior's inevitable WrestleMania coronation had - like everything else - been poleaxed by the pandemic, but McIntyre's admirable sense of perspective only added to the very pleasing babyface package WWE had rapidly assembled. 12 months on and he can be considered the steward of the entire pandemic era, and one senses that's as much a reason why this was selected to open WWE's return to live public-facing entertainment.
The match itself was very good, but it was almost too tough to focus on with so much other stuff to look at. Fans were there, and loud as f*ck, and the whole thing felt too good to fail regardless of what went on in between the ropes.
Lashley in particular seemed spectacularly energised by the crowd as the battle wore on, but both looked almost delirious to be back in something resembling normal.
Speaking of which, 'The All-Mighty's retention was shockingly reassuring stuff. He'd waited all those years for this, then waited another half an hour to be WWE's top guy in front of an audience, but all of that fell away as he held the belt aloft.
Finding something resembling perfection in imperfect times, this was more of a WrestleMania Moment™ than WWE will probably ever give it credit for.