Roman Reigns vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan (WWE, 4-11-2021)

WWE WrestleMania 37, Tampa, FL

I don’t watch WWE TV much anymore and I really don’t watch Smackdown, so I missed pretty much the entire build to this, but I kept tabs as it went by because I’m very online and on Twitter all day, and the video packages WWE do are designed to fully catch up anyone who hasn’t watched a second. I mean, WWE promos are really just for video package B-reel anymore.

Anyway, the response to Edge in front of the live crowd at Raymond J. Johnson Jr Stadium is great, meaning WWE probably didn’t have to twist themselves into doubtful knots inside The Thunderdome and panic to insert Dan Bryan into this match. But, I mean, what match is worse for Daniel Bryan?

Goddamn, this match is physical. This is not necessarily surprising, everyone on both nights has been fired the fuck up, and these guys are who they are. I am not the world’s greatest Edge fan, but Edge is more than capable of holding up his end of the bargain. Bryan is still great and this probably is the last WrestleMania main event he’s ever getting. (Edge, too, most likely.) And Roman Reigns is Roman Reigns. If you still have not come around on Roman Reigns, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s a shot during the intros of Reigns holding up the belt and even considering it’s that streamlined blue piece of shit, there are very few guys in the modern era of WWE (Steve Austin and The Rock are not “the modern era,” you are old) who have held up a belt and you could look at them and go, “That guy is The Man here.” Not at the level you can with Reigns right now. He is truly “the big dog” and this is genuinely “his yard” now.

Obviously Edge and Roman do a double spear attempt collision, which is as dangerous as anything on these shows, really. That can go wrong so easily, and with so little input from either of them. Bryan does flying headbutts because if he’s leaving it here for WrestleMania, then he’s leaving it here. God bless him.

As mentioned basically every time they do a big triple threat, WWE have really sort of perfected the layout. I hate a triple threat or beyond (four-way, five-way, nine-way, whatever) but I don’t hate the results, I just still don’t like the concept and never will. WWE do them extremely well, though, at least when the talent is right. And the talent is right here.

Reigns’ viciousness here is outstanding. The crowd annoy him with “Roman sucks” chants, so he power bombs Bryan through a commentary desk at ringside, but then Edge flies in to spear Reigns off the steps he’s standing on. I tire of the “desperate coughing” sells that have become more popular over the years, but This Business changes and all, it is what it is.

Great, instantly memorable Mania spot and visual sees Edge get Reigns in the crippler crossface, using a piece of a chair leg in Reigns’ mouth to make it even worse. Roman goes big on the sell with the wide, bugged-out eyes, but this doesn’t come across goofy, it comes across like he’s in unreal pain he was not prepared for, pain that is beyond the normal he experiences in a match.

Reigns is ready to tap there, he has no choice, but Bryan comes in and stops his hand, then locks him up on the other side with the Yes Lock. This pisses Edge off, so obviously Edge and Bryan trade headbutts while having Reigns in utter agony. These two men are insane. Bryan gets the better of the fight, beating the shit out of Edge after they release their holds on Roman.

Bryan shows killer instinct, targeting Edge’s neck. Reigns is the bad guy, and we know and have seen the depths Edge will go to, but Bryan is not a nice guy between the bells, either. He can be nasty.

Bryan’s running knee is countered with an Edge spear. Edge then ducks the Superman punch and spears Roman down, but Reigns is saved by Bryan pulling the ref out of the ring. Twice in minutes, Edge had this match won if not for Daniel Bryan. We are setting up a great Edge-Bryan feud and at least One Big Match for those two before they both head off down the old dusty trail.

Edge loses it and has another chair, and he just wears both Bryan and Reigns the FUCK OUT. He’s snapped and gone back to the old Edge, and he intends to finish Daniel Bryan with a “con-chair-to,” and Reigns, too. Bryan’s is completed, but Jey Uso comes back out of nowhere to save Roman. Jey is speared down by Edge, and then battered with the chair, too. Reigns spears Edge and gets the chair himself — and he’s going to do to Edge what Edge meant to do to him. And he does it.

Reigns drags Edge over on top of Bryan and pins both to retain the Universal title. Statement made visually, but Reigns comes out vulnerable because Edge had him twice, maybe three times only to be saved by Bryan and Uso.

Just like Banks-Belair on night one, this goes down as one of the great WrestleMania main events immediately. This is truly WWE at their best, with three guys who excel at the style coming together for basically a flawless three-way filled with violence, drama, and physicality. Edge is ruthless but not in a totally unlikable way; he is sort of a Will Munny here, with Reigns as Little Bill and Bryan as, I dunno, someone from some other movie, this is a flawed comparison. And it doesn’t always work out like the movies.

Rating: 4.5/5