9 WWE WrestleMania 37 - Night 1 Impulse Reactions

5. Cesaro Vs. Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins Cesaro
WWE

On the WrestleMania Kickoff, Kayla Braxton posited that a "personal rivalry would come to an end" when Seth Rollins and Cesaro went into battle for the 'Swiss Superman's first ever 'Show Of Show's singles match.

This was generous - it was all about how many times the cocky pr*ck in the suit was getting swung. No bad thing either. Not everything has to be so full of grit that it should be in a yellow box by the side of a snow-covered road.

Brilliantly, the match massively over-delivered on the premise, pulling itself away from that rather pedestrian WWE midcard style we see every week on Raw and SmackDown. Rollins countered and countered and countered until he couldn't counter 'no more, but Cesaro's nine swings were derailed by an arm injury he'd also sustained earlier in the bout. He got 23 in later on, but it wasn't even the standout moment of the match.

Rollins took control and nearly stole the whole thing with a gorgeous-looking corkscrew splash, but Cesaro's UFO hands-free shoulder spin served as an exhilarating set-up for his clean-as-a-sheet win.

Awesome match, genuinely great moment for a great man, and a delivery on a pre-match promise from a babyface. This was a triumph.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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