{"id":196994,"date":"2025-04-29T12:20:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=196994"},"modified":"2025-04-30T12:56:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T17:56:21","slug":"special-feature-david-bryants-view-of-wrestlemania-41-through-the-eyes-of-an-aew-fan-from-the-production-quality-to-the-match-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/29\/special-feature-david-bryants-view-of-wrestlemania-41-through-the-eyes-of-an-aew-fan-from-the-production-quality-to-the-match-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"SPECIAL FEATURE: David Bryant&#8217;s view of WrestleMania 41 through the eyes of an AEW fan from the production quality to the match quality"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3249623912\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Hey! My name is David Bryant, and I am an AEW fan.<\/p>\n<p>Some of you may remember me from such profound and important columns as \u201cDark Elevation,\u201d \u201cOut of Bounds\u201d (What was that even about?), and AEW Collision Hits &amp; Misses, a column about a show watched by a population of viewers so large they could rival the ratings of C-SPAN.<\/p>\n<p>If you were to go back and read these columns, you would find that my commentary often featured insightfully-blind takes about some of my favorite AEW stars \u2014 stars such as Cody Rhodes, C.M. Punk, Miro, Andrade, Malakai Black, Penta, Rey Fenix, Jade Cargill, Ricky Starks, Shawn Spears, Brian Pillman Jr., Ethan Page, Bea Priestley, William Regal, Mark Henry, and many more who I assume have gone to the bathroom.<\/p>\n<p>While I wait for them to return, I\u2019ve decided to check out WrestleMania 41 (God, I\u2019m old.), and see how the competition is holding up.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>NIGHT ONE:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>THE ART OF THE HYPE VIDEO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>WrestleMania 41 began by flaunting a soaring shot of something WWE has that AEW does not&#8230; buildings with exteriors. After this, we were shown a slew of wrestlers getting ready backstage before a hype video played, which, all jokes aside, was of a quality AEW has no excuse for not emulating. (Editing equipment hasn\u2019t been prohibitively expensive since 2009.)<\/p>\n<p>Now, I\u2019m not saying that AEW doesn\u2019t have good hype videos; they do. While many of them are as well executed as a death row inmate, very few of them are as well executed as the video I just witnessed. The opening video for night 1 of WrestleMania was not merely executed in the same way the government commits murder; it was executed in the same way that the American government executed the feat of putting multiple men on the moon before completely forgetting how to do it ever again.<\/p>\n<p>What AEW should do is invest in a film school. Now, obviously, Full Sail University is taken and Half-Sail University is a pot store, but Central Florida is also home to another film school that has had dozens of its alumni nominated for Academy Awards. That school is Ringling College (not the clown one, which was surprisingly located in the same city). Ringling College is located two hours from Full Sail and four hours from Daily\u2019s Place. If four hours is too far for Tony Khan\u2019s private jet, the Savannah College of Art and Design is located just two-and-a-half hours removed from Daily\u2019s Place, and I\u2019m sure its students (much like all film students) would work for toilet paper if it meant getting their creations on national television.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1799908257\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>These young, aspiring students and\/or recent graduates would not only work for peanuts (shelled, unshelled, comic-stripped), but they would do a jaw-droppingly good job. Trust me, I know firsthand. Not only have I edited multiple hype videos, but I also studied Filmmaking with a focus on Screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Recent film graduates want work more than they want \u201cJoker\u201d posters in their bedrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, where was I?<\/p>\n<p>Oh yes, Night One.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE OPENING OF NIGHT ONE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Night one of WrestleMania began with a rousing rendition of a song that is not the national anthem and nobody had the balls to tell Vince McMahon for 39 years. The song was beautifully sung by a person disguised as a fruit-filled pastry before the camera cut to the ring where a person disguised as a nose welcomed us to WrestleMania: Night One. Fireworks then erupted across the stage and shone as bright as the sun for the next four hours. (How is WWE able to afford Jelly Roll but not a tarp big enough to cover a roof?)<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, where was I?<\/p>\n<p>Oh yes, the set. AEW needs to talk to whoever designs WWE\u2019s sets because these sets looked like gorgeous architecture and not like someone took the Monday Night Raw set and put it in a blender.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WRESTLING QUALITY:<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-997809629\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>WWE really needs to talk to whoever is in charge of AEW\u2019s in-ring work because I just watched a WrestleMania men\u2019s World Heavyweight Title match that looked like it was choreographed by a dial-up modem trying to stream HD and a women\u2019s World Title match that looked like it was choreographed by an espresso machine in a dentist\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of espresso, I am frankly surprised and impressed that WWE managed to convince Sabrina Carpenter to become their Women\u2019s World Champion. Over in AEW, the closest thing we have to an A-list celebrity is Leslie Jones putting over more people in a single match than Charlotte has in her entire career.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, where was I?<\/p>\n<p>Oh yes, the main event.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE MAIN EVENT OF NIGHT ONE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When C.M. Punk said he wanted a WrestleMania main event, I am sure this is exactly what he had in mind.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Wrestling Night in America,&#8221; part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/wrestling-night-in-america-wwe-wrestlemania-41-night-2-post-show-leclair-adams-parks-discuss-cody-cena-finish-steve-austin-more--65647901\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=65647901&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>NIGHT TWO:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>THE NATIONAL ANTHEM:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Night two began with the national anthem (not the Lana Del Rey version) being sung by Ava Max, which was the most \u201choly shit\u201d moment I\u2019ve had while watching a musical act at WrestleMania who has never had a top 5 single or top 20 album in the United States in her entire career. (That\u2019s not on her; that\u2019s on you. Get your act together and stream \u201cLose Your Faith.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>AEW should have the national anthem performed at their shows more often. It sets a tone of grandeur; Lillian Garcia would love the work, and adding two minutes to an AEW PPV would get them closer to their dream runtime of 13 hours.<\/p>\n<p>After the national anthem, another outstanding hype video played, and this one was narrated by Dana White (the one who is not involved in \u201cWheel of Fortune.\u201d) After Dana (not the Carvey kind) finished talking, the camera cut to a person disguised as what would happen if King Midas hugged a waterfall, and she proudly used her dad-sized voice to welcome us to WrestleMania: Night Two!<\/p>\n<p><strong>WRESTLING QUALITY:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh, wait. Now I get it. WWE was saving all of the good women\u2019s wrestling for the SECOND night of WrestleMania. Well, boy oh boy (or girl oh girl), watching this opening women\u2019s match was like watching brilliance snort cocaine (which I wouldn\u2019t know anything about because I\u2019ve never used it sometimes), and pure magic (if rabbits suplexed hats).<\/p>\n<p>On the whole (or the half, if you\u2019re using Ozempic), tonight\u2019s wrestling was miles better than last night\u2019s wrestling (outside of Night One\u2019s main event, which was good even AFTER they ran out of trashcans designed and purchased in 1982). Heck, the in-ring work on Night Two\u2019s show almost made up for the ending of the John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes main event. Almost.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SPONSORSHIPS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s WrestleMania was brought to you by literally everything.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE ART OF THE WRECK:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Darby Allin needs to have a pow-wow with \u201cStone Cold\u201d Steve Austin about how to wreck vehicles into things that aren\u2019t Nick Khan\u2019s wallet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE MAIN EVENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If I could convince AEW to take away just one thing from tonight\u2019s main event, it would be this: when it comes to professional wrestling, the pomp is as important as the circumstance. There is no 360 splash, no shooting star press, and no Stormbreaker awesome enough to equal the spectacle of a really, really good storyline.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, where was I?<\/p>\n<p>Oh yes, wrapping things up!<\/p>\n<p>Welp, it looks like my favorite wrestlers have finally returned from the bathroom and are now on the Raw after WrestleMania. F\u2014.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you all for reading. I truly appreciate it. And as always, I\u2019m still working on my sign-off, but until next time, remember: One, two\u2026 buckle my shoe. Three, four\u2026 knock at the door. Five, six\u2026 will somebody answer that? The pounding is driving me nuts. What happened to Velcro? Why are sticks even a part of this? Don\u2019t bring random sticks into my house! What are you doing? Are you nine? Ten? Let\u2019s start again.<\/p>\n<p><em>(David Bryant\u2019s bathroom selfies can be found on his \u201cArtist Formerly Known as Twitter\u201d account @IamDavidBryant; a video of David Bryant being knocked unconscious by an exploding television set can be found on his Instagram account @IamDavidBryant, and David Bryant\u2019s Threads account is threadbare and also located @IamDavidBryant because David Bryant sucks at usernames. David is a published author, circus artist, drag promoter, male pageant winner, unrenowned musician, sloppy figure skater, and the inventor of the world\u2019s first inflatable anvil for the conservation of endangered coyotes. Less impressively, David studied Screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WWE Wrestlemania Night 1 Post-Show w\/ Brandon LeClair &amp; Greg Parks\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ljCRnOIj3KE?start=117&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-876120330\"><div id=\"pwtor-3606328768\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Hey! My name is David Bryant, and I am an AEW fan. Some of you may remember me from such profound and important columns as \u201cDark Elevation,\u201d \u201cOut of Bounds\u201d (What was that even about?), <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/29\/special-feature-david-bryants-view-of-wrestlemania-41-through-the-eyes-of-an-aew-fan-from-the-production-quality-to-the-match-quality\/\" title=\"SPECIAL FEATURE: David Bryant&#8217;s view of WrestleMania 41 through the eyes of an AEW fan from the production quality to the match quality\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,61,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-guesteditorials","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-19-at-12.35.03\u202fPM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196995,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196994\/revisions\/196995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}