2021 WWE WrestleMania 37 results, recap, grades: Roman Reigns, Edge, Daniel Bryan deliver all-time main event

For the second consecutive night, WrestleMania 37 received a main event worthy of the biggest stage in professional wrestling. In front of a sold-out crowd inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Roman Reigns put his universal championship on the line against Edge and Daniel Bryan in the final match of the two-night extravaganza.

Reigns, Edge and Bryan delivered a thrilling match with all three men coming within inches of winning the championship in a wild triple threat match. Jey Uso found his way into the match on several occasions but paid the price every time for his involvement in trying to give Reigns an upper hand before a stunning finish to the show. The match was a worthy follow-up to the incredible main event from Night 1 where Bianca Belair won the SmackDown women’s championship in a war with Sasha Banks.

CBS Sports was with you the whole way through the event, providing updates, highlights and grades as the action went down. 

“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton: Before the match, The Fiend was shown “burning” and returning to his original form, no longer appearing burned. Alexa Bliss cranked a giant Jack-in-the-box next to the ring before The Fiend emerged. The Fiend dove off the box, nailing Orton with a clothesline and then hitting a uranage suplex. Orton attacked The Fiend on the outside of the ring, dropping him on the announce table, but his offense had no effect before The Fiend locked in the mandible claw. Orton escaped back into the ring and hit the hanging DDT, again to no effect as The Fiend came back to continue his assault.

After sending The Fiend face-first into the box, Orton finally was able to start doing some damage. As Orton built momentum, he tried to hit the RKO but The Fiend countered into the mandible claw. The Fiend attempted to hit Sister Abigail, but fire shot from the ring posts and The Fiend looked at Alexa Bliss, who was seated on the box with black goo shooting down her face. The distraction allowed Orton to hit the RKO and score the pinfall victory. After the match, The Fiend stared down Bliss before the lights went out. When the lights came back, both had disappeared. This was very odd all around. The pre-match spectacle of The Fiend’s entrance was great, but the match itself didn’t really do much before the sudden, very odd ending. Randy Orton def. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt via pinfall. Grade: C-

Women’s Tag Team Championship — Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Natalya & Tamina: Natalya was able to go hold-for-hold with Baszler early, leading to Jax tagging in. Jax called for Tamina, who took the tag from Natalya. Jax and Tamina traded headbutts before Tamina tried for a bodyslam, but Jax was able to counter before being floored with a tandem backdrop. The challengers continued their hot start, isolating Baszler through a series of tags, leading to a near fall when Natalya hit a slingshot into a Tamina superkick.

Baszler was able to hit a knee to Natalya’s face to finally take over the match, going to work on Natalya’s knee after putting her down. Jax was in for a moment and tried to lock in a stretch muffler but Natalya attempted to counter into an armbar before she ate another knee from Baszler. Jax hit Natalya with the one-arm spinebuster before Tamina made the save. Tamina got the hot tag and took the fight to Baszler, getting the upper hand before Baszler took her out on the top rope. Jax came off the second rope with a double crossbody to the challengers for a near fall on Tamina. After absorbing some insults from Jax, Tamina finally managed to hit a body slam on the bigger woman. Tamina came off the top rope with a splash, but Jax was able to move out of the way. Natalya tagged in and locked Jax in the sharpshooter, but Baszler was the legal woman in the match. Baszler slid in and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch to score the win. A perfectly good tag match with no real rough spots other than Tamina’s slam of Jax not really hitting the way it was intended. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Natalya & Tamina via submission. Grade: B-

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn: A fired-up Owens hit a pop-up powerbomb just seconds into the match, but Zayn rolled out of the ring. Owens looked to powerbomb Zayn onto the ring apron, calling back to their feud in NXT, but Zayn was able to escape back into the ring where he was met by more offense from Owens with a cannonball into the corner. Zayn was eventually able to hit a brainbuster on the apron to finally get some offense flowing, looking to Logan Paul at ringside for approval before hitting a Michinoku driver for a near fall.

Owens fought back on the top rope, knocking Zayn to the mat and hitting a frog splash for his own two count. Owens tried for the package piledriver but was countered into an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles from Zayn. Zayn countered another big move from Owens, avoiding a stunner to hit the Blue Thunderbomb. Zayn then went on a flurry of suplexes before a brainbuster for yet another near fall. As Owens came back with a superplex and a series of clotheslines in the corner, Zayn countered into a Helluva Kick, but Owens came back with a pair of superkicks and a stunner for the three count. After the match, Paul tried to shake Owens’ hand, but Zayn got angry, claiming Paul was his guest of honor, leading Paul to shove him to the floor and raise Owens’ hand. The crowd booed Paul and immediately began cheering when it became clear that the inevitable stunner was incoming. Owens delivered by dropping Paul. This was a very good match between guys with a lot of history — and the chemistry that comes with it. The Logan Paul business was what it was. At least he ate a stunner. Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn via pinfall. Grade: B+

United States Championship — Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus: Sheamus got off to a fast start, trying to work the arm of Riddle before resorting to a punch to the stomach and stomp of the head after Riddle mounted an early a comeback. Sheamus continued the physicality with clubbing forearms, but Riddle came back with a huge flipping belly-to-belly suplex from the top rope. Riddle flurried with strikes and hit the Pele kick into an exploder suplex and senton as he made his big comeback. Riddle hit a jackhammer for a near fall in a subtle callout to Goldberg.

Sheamus finally cut off Riddle’s offense with a big knee as Riddle flipped over the top rope and followed up with an Alabama slam for a near fall. The big moves kept coming, with Riddle hitting a twisting springboard moonsault to the outside before finally slowing things down a bit with an armbar attempt, which Sheamus was able to counter into a powerbomb. The second big botch of the match came when Sheamus slipped from the top rope as he was trying to hit White Noise. After a diving knee, Sheamus scored a near fall and then set up for the Brogue Kick, but Riddle countered and tried to hit a springboard moonsault but was caught by a mid-air Brogue Kick by Sheamus for the pin. This was a surprisingly sloppy match. There were multiple botches throughout and the final Brogue Kick caught Riddle square in the mouth, drawing a good amount of blood. Despite the issues, the bulk of the match was a solid, hard-hitting affair. Sheamus def. Riddle via pinfall to win the title. Grade: B

Intercontinental Championship — Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews (Nigerian Drum Fight): Big E immediately went to work with a kendo stick, wearing out the ribs of Crews before sending him crashing into some of the drums at ringside. Crews managed to get his hands on the kendo stick for a bit of retaliation before Big E hit the spear through the ropes to the floor. Big E tried to set up some of the ring steps, allowing Crews to get back into the match, eventually trying to drop the steps on Big E. Big E was able to move and hit a uranage suplex from the ring apron onto the steps set up on the outside. 

Crews fired up and came back with a flurry of shots with a kendo stick but missed when trying to hit a splash on Big E from the top rope through a table. Big E hit the Big Ending and was seemingly on his way to retain the title, but Dabba Kato ran in and took out Big E, hitting a choke slam and placing Crews on top for the three count. This was short, but very brutal. Every bit of offense was heavy and meaningful before the Dabba Kato run-in. The only big knock here is that the announcers acted as though they’d never seen Kato, despite him being a fixture on Raw Underground in 2020 and someone selected in the draft. Apollo Crews def. Big E via pinfall to win the title. Grade: A-

Raw Women’s Championship — Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley: Asuka hit a dropkick and flurried with strikes before trying for a quick roll-up and then backslide, neither even getting to a one count. Ripley hit with a chop but was sent into the turnbuckle, which Asuka then kicked into her face. Ripley battled through the continued knees and kicks of Asuka before Asuka missed with a hip attack, allowing Ripley to start grinding away. Ripley hit a series of short-arm clotheslines before Asuka caught a kick and turned it into a leg lock. Ripley was able to muscle out of the hold to hit a German suplex for a near fall.

Ripley took Asuka to the top rope, but Asuka was able to fire off a series of elbows to set up a missile dropkick. Asuka hit her own German suplex and a hip attack before a flurry of kicks to set up another hip attack. Ripley got a reprieve from Asuka’s attack after dropkicking the champion from the top rope to the outside and then driving Asuka from her shoulders into the ring apron. Asuka was able to drive Ripley into the floor with a DDT from the apron and tried for an armbar back inside, continuing to go back to the arm of the powerhouse. Ripley countered an Asuka Lock into a pin, forcing Asuka to break the hold. Seconds later, Ripley was able to hit Riptide after ducking a kick to win the title. A good enough match, but not quite to the level of Asuka’s best and certainly not on the level of Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks from Night 1. Rhea Ripley def. Asuka via pinfall to win the title. Grade: B+

Universal Championship — Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan: Reigns went right at Bryan, landing a right hand before Edge jumped on the champion. The action quickly spilled out to the floor with Reigns trying to set up the announce table for violence, but Bryan landed a suicide dive. Jey Uso took out Bryan with a superkick and Edge took out Reigns to be the only man standing amid the chaos. Edge took out Uso with a DDT on the ring steps, taking away Reigns’ ace in the hole. Edge and Bryan went at it in the ring before Reigns grabbed Edge from the apron. Bryan slid between the legs of both men and drove Reigns face-first into the edge of the ring before a flurry of offense on Edge. Bryan tried to hit Reigns with another suicide dive but was caught and dumped on the floor by the champion.

Edge countered a Reigns Superman punch with a DDT before setting up for a spear. Reigns hit his own counter, drilling Edge with a Superman punch and setting up for his own spear, but Edge countered with a sunset flip before the men hit spears simultaneously. This allowed Bryan to get back in the match with diving headbutts on both men before a near fall on Reigns. Bryan hit both men with Yes Kicks before a running knee to Edge and a kick to Reigns’ head for another near fall. Bryan’s hot run continued as he locked Reigns in the Yes Lock until Edge broke the hold. Bryan responded by putting Edge in the same hold, this time with Reigns making the save.

Reigns pummeled Bryan before taking him to the outside and powerbombing Bryan through the announce table. As Bryan was laid out, Edge drove through Reigns with a spear. Reigns and Edge ended up back in the ring with Reigns ripping a chair away from Edge. Edge responded by taking Reigns to the ground and locking in a crossface, then grabbing a piece of the now-broken chair and putting it in Reigns’ mouth to pull back on the hold. As Reigns was about to tap, Bryan caught his hand and locked in the Yes Lock. Bryan and Edge traded headbutts, both holding Reigns in their respective holds before they broke and Bryan unleashed a flurry of strikes. Bryan went for the running knee on Edge but was hit by a spear before Edge hit Reigns with a spear, but Bryan pulled the referee from the ring before the three count. Edge snapped and attacked with a steel chair before looking to hit both opponents with a con-chairto. He managed to hit Bryan with the move, but Uso ran to the ring to attack Edge before getting speared. Reigns got back to his feet, took out Edge with a spear and hit his own con-chairto, placing Edge on top of Bryan and pinning both men to retain the title. 

A thriller in the main event with all three men delivering in a wild match. All three men had believable moments where they had the match won and the double-submission spot was especially good. For the second night, WrestleMania had a worthy main event. Roman Reigns def. Edge and Daniel Bryan via pinfall to retain the title. Grade: A