Austin and Owens fought in and around the ring before passing through the crowd, taking advantage of the lack of rules and physically restricted Austin. The final reward was good, with Austin disappointing Owens for good with an impressive one before celebrating his likely final fight in front of his Texan counterparts. CBS Sports was with you throughout the event, providing updates and snapshots as the action was downloaded to the live blog below.
WWE WrestleMania results 38, points for Night 1
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – The Usos (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs: Nakamura got things started to kick off, but the Usos quickly overturned the table and isolated the former intercontinental champion away from the Boogs. Nakamura was able to get the hot tag on the Boogs, who quickly knocked out both Jimmy and Jey before hitting a big suplex late on Jimmy Uso for the first real almost fall of the race. Bugs tried to put both Usos in a fire department but his knee fell. This gave The Usos momentum and Jimmy Uso almost scored the winning goal with a Uso Splash on Nakamura. The Boogs never returned to the race and the WWE later announced that the Boogs had suffered a quadriceps patellar tendon rupture. The Usos soon won after hitting their 3D version. Unlucky with the injury and made the end of the fight fall together strangely and hastily. According to the announcement, Boogs will have surgery in the next few days to repair the injury. The Usos (c) def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs via pinfall to retain titles. Grade: C- Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin: After a brief altercation at the start of the match, Corbin took over and struck McIntyre with a vertical suplex followed by a backsuplex. McIntyre continued to eat punches from Corbin before Madcap Moss attempted to party with Corbin, causing quite a bit of distraction as McIntyre began his return with a spinebuster. Corbin was able to stop the comeback fairly quickly when he almost fell from a Deep Six. The momentum continued to sway before McIntyre set up for Claymore just for Moss to pull Corbin out of the ring to save. McIntyre would lose with a Claymore and fall right into the End of Days, but McIntyre drove in both. A shocked Corbin would eat a Claymore moments later, giving McIntyre the win. A fun mid-card game with some steady momentum shifts and a good fake ending at the end of the day. The right kind of action in the middle of WrestleMania. After the fight, McIntyre tried to cut Moss with his sword, but only managed to cut the two top ropes. Drew McIntyre def. Happy Corbin via pinfall. Degree: B The Mysterios Vs. The Miz & Logan Paul: Paul showed impressive athleticism early on, jumping Rey Mysterio several times before hitting a split mid-ring. This only helped to kick Paul in the head, however, and he was forced to stick to Miz. Paul went on to show off some impressive moves, including punching Dominik Mysterio with a powerslam run and a blockbuster. While Miz and Paul used many cheap tactics to stay in control, the Mysterios continued to resist, using a variety of DDT and speed-based moves to keep counterattacking. In a moment of cheap heel, Paul hit Rey with the Three Amigos and a frog dive with an Eddie Guerrero shimmy. The Guerreros responded by hitting Paul with a tandem of 619, but lost a blind tag to Miz, who was able to sneak into the ring and hit a Skull-Crushing Finale on Rey for the win. After the fight, Miz turned to Paul and hit him with a Skull-Crushing Finale. As expected, a celebrity match at WrestleMania was a fun ride. The fact that Paul was a young, athletic performer certainly did nothing wrong. Miz & Logan Paul def. Mysterios via pinfall. Degree: B Raw Women’s Championship – Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair: The Texas Southern University parade band appeared before Belair’s entry, adding a sense of great struggle. Lynch struck the Manhandle Slam seconds after the race, returning to its extremely fast SummerSlam victory. However, this time Belair managed to eliminate. The early sprint saw many quick pin attempts before the race spilled into the ring and Lynch sent Belair to the ring steps. Lynch used this momentum to achieve many great moves, including one leg with a guillotine while Belair was dressed in the upper rope. Belair returned after the early run for Lynch, hitting the double wing slam and rebound moonsault for an almost fall. Belair placed Lynch on her shoulders in a fire extinguisher and took her to the second rope before throwing her on the upper rope. This created another almost fall for Belair after hitting a second 450 splash rope. Lynch hit her own big move, coming out of the turn with a slap in the face. Lynch confronted KOD by grabbing the top rope and shortly afterwards hit Belair with a Manhandle Slam on the ring steps on the ringside. This failed to beat Lynch and she began to lose her temper. Lynch went for the Manhandle Slam again, but Belair put the turn in a backflip to escape before hitting KOD for the win. People were completely crazy about the finish and the match was fantastic. Belair already has a real legacy in WrestleMania. In a fair world, she is the next wrestler to have an Undertaker series in WrestleMania. Bianca Belair ορ. Becky Lynch (c) via pinfall to win the title. Grade: A + Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes: Rollins reacted with surprise, but not a complete collapse, as Rhodes was revealed as his mysterious opponent. The crowd was also hot on the way back and the two men confused it with some chores back and forth as Rhodes stayed one step ahead early. After both men poured out after a suplex over the top rope, things slowed down a bit as Rhodes started working on Rollins’s hand. Rollins was able to regain control of the match, mocking Rhodes along the way by telling him: “Welcome back to the big championships”. Rhodes returned with a suicide dive to the Rollins outside. The two continued to quarrel before Rollins returned to the ring, finally hitting a hawk arrow for an almost fall. Rhodes countered the stump several times before finally hitting Cross Rhodes just to eliminate Rollins. The match became a war of almost convincing falls, with Rollins hitting a pedigree and putting Rhodes out before screaming that Rhodes was at home and in his company. Rhodes would respond by hitting Cross Rhodes twice before a bionic elbow and one last Cross Rhodes to take the win. The match became a bit sloppy, especially in the track, but for the moment, it served its purpose quite well. It will be interesting to see how WWE handles Rhodes that will return after tonight. Cody Rhodes def. Seth Rollins via pinfall. Grade: B + SmackDown Women’s Championship – Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey: Rousey tried to break out with early shots, but Flair used a break to get a cheap shot and get the momentum. Rousey returned with fire, going to Flair with a big throw of judo and then closing an inverted triangle chuck on the ropes before Flair could take over with an attack on the ring apron. Flair kicked Rousey with his right forearm to the side of his head and locked in a variant of a dragon sleeper before being thrown by Rousey with his hand and a knee in Flair’s face for a near fall. Fleur picked up an almost drop with a spear on a celebratory Rousey. As the two women continued to throw big moves at each other, Rousey hit one arm off the ropes before Piper’s Pit, but Flair avoided the next attempt on one arm. Rousey eventually locked in the lock at the ankle, but Flair managed to escape the grip and almost score a pin before Rousey counterattacked with an arm and pulled Flair face down. Rousey went for an arm again, creating a series of twists before Rousey was able to lock the lock on his ankle again. Flair struggled with a series of kicks to the face. Another submission match led Flair to lock the Figure-Eight, which Rousey went through to break by falling out of the ring. Rousey hit another Piper’s Pit and Flair managed to catch her foot on the bottom rope. As Rousey complained, Flair hit Natural Selection for almost falling. As Flair set up Figure-Eight again, Rousey kicked her away from the referee, who then lost Flair hitting him in the arm. As Rousey tried to rejuvenate the referee, Flair hit her with a big boot to get the win. The fight was a bit sloppy and strangely structured, with more drama than it gave, but it was not bad at all. Charlotte Flair (γ) ορ. Ronda Rousey via pinfall to retain the title. Grade: B- Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens: Owens came into the ring and cut a promo before the scheduled “KO Show” section, saying he may have overdone it by speaking out against the Texas trash. He went on to say that he regretted “telling the absolute truth of God” about the state and that Texas was even worse than he remembered. Austin’s music hit and cut Owens, sending a huge chord of Texas fans. After soaking the reaction on stage, Austin left and returned with an ATV, circling the ring before entering and going from corner to corner celebrating. Austin took his place on the KO Show set and fell under Owens for his “silly haircut” and gossip talk about Texas, calling Owens “the stupid son of b — x.” After some talking about garbage, Owens said he actually fooled Austin and did not want to talk. Instead, Owens said, he was looking for a fight. Owens challenged Austin to a fight, saying that Austin had no reason to reject a No Holds …
