The event was originally scheduled to take place on March 28, 2021, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California; however, the COVID-19 pandemic in California made it unlikely that the event could be held there with in-person spectators. Florida, however, lifted those restrictions, and WWE in turn pushed the date of the event back and moved it to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, which was the originally planned venue for WrestleMania 36 before the pandemic forced it to be relocated and held behind closed doors at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. As a result, it marked the first time WWE had ticketed fans in attendance for an event during the COVID-19 pandemic, though to a limited capacity; the last WWE event to have ticketed fans was NXT on March 11, 2020, just before pandemic-related restrictions took effect. With a limited capacity, both nights of the event sold out of all available tickets, with WWE reporting that each night had an attendance of 25,675 spectators, totaling 51,350 for both nights combined.
The card comprised 14 matches that were evenly divided between the two nights. In the main event for Night 1, Bianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. This was the first time two African Americans headlined WrestleMania, as well as the second time women headlined the event after WrestleMania 35. Other prominent matches saw Bad Bunny and Damian Priest defeat The Miz and John Morrison, Braun Strowman defeated Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match, A.J. Styles and Omos defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, which was Omos' in-ring debut and also made Styles WWE's 32nd Triple Crown Champion and 22nd Grand Slam Champion, and in the opening bout, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre by technical submission to retain the WWE Championship. In the main event for Night 2, Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan and Edge in a triple threat match to retain the Universal Championship. In other prominent matches, Apollo Crews defeated Big E in a Nigerian Drum Fight to win the Intercontinental Championship, Sheamus defeated Riddle to win the United States Championship, Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka to win the Raw Women's Championship, and in the opening bout, Randy Orton defeated The Fiend.
This was the first WrestleMania since 2003 to not feature John Cena in any capacity and the first since 2012 not to feature Brock Lesnar. This was also the first WrestleMania since 1988 to not feature at least one of the following: Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Undertaker. The event was also the first WrestleMania since 2010 to have an on-screen appearance by WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon, who opened the show to welcome fans to the event and welcome them back to a WWE event for the first time in over a year.
Night 1 (April 10)
Match Results:
Singles Match for the WWE Championship
Bobby Lashley (c) (with MVP) def. Drew McIntyre by technical submission
For the first match in front of fans, I couldn't understand for the life of me why were they working so slow for the first half of this match. Maybe they were buying time for the storm to clear since the show was delayed at the start due to the rain, but it made for a pretty tame start to the show in the opening minutes.
It should be mentioned that WWE should take note that those promos and interviews from talent that were done on a whim to kill time during the rain delay(s) were all great because they weren't scripted like normal WWE promos are. We got to see a lot of talent show more personality and character than they typically do on WWE programming. More of this PLEASE! You have great talent, Vince. Just cut off some of the puppeteer strings and have faith in them to deliver.
Back to the match itself though, Drew and Bobby brought things together by the end, despite both men getting the opposite reactions from the crowd as I was expecting. I thought the right man won with Lashley retaining. It's not going to hurt Drew McIntyre to not win the title again in front of fans, but Lashley didn't need to have his reign cut short either. He's just as a pivotal piece of the puzzle that makes Monday Night RAW tolerable, just like Roman Reigns has done for the SmackDown! brand. I just wish that Vince didn't disband the Hurt Business the way that he did. It was completely unnecessary at this point of the game. Then again, he might have seen it as a distraction, much like the Kongtourage in IMPACT/TNA Wrestling.
Tag Team Turmoil MatchNatalya and Tamina won by last eliminating The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) Winners received a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match on Night 2
Tag Team Turmoil Match
Naomi and Lana were the first ones in this match and the first to get eliminated too. Thanks for comin', I guess. I feel even worse for those two when I saw the tweets that Miro and Lana's father came to see her match at WrestleMania too. I was under the impression that her and Naomi would at least last a while in this thing or at least survive to Night 2 and beat Shayna and Nia, but no dice.
Pretty darn strange that they would link up Carmella and Billie Kay for this thing when they could have easily just put the IIconics back together. It's not like they were doing much individually since the split anyway.
I couldn't help but laugh at Mandy Rose slipping on the rainwater on the ramp during her entrance. She played it off well though.
I got behind the Riott Squad running the gauntlet of sorts during this match, but I wasn't mad when Nattie and Tamina picked up the win at the end. The veterans were trying to make this thing good, but it was a beautiful mess from start to finish - even though the ladies get an A for effort.
Singles MatchCesaro def. Seth Rollins
Singles Match
For me personally, this match was the match of the night for Night 1. Great action and athleticism from both Superstars from bell to bell with Cesaro even pulling off an UFO spot in this match at one point.
If you don't watch anything else on this show, go out of your way to watch this match and the main event. I cannot rave about this match enough.
I don't know what else people were expecting from this match. AJ Styles did all of the work for three-fourths of the match while Omos came in and wreck shit the best he could with his limited experience. The little things that he did looked good enough, especially with both the New Day bumping like fools for him and AJ Styles coming in to hide in weak links in Omos' offense. For his first outing in a WWE ring in a major stage as this, Omos made the best of this golden opportunity and that's enough in its own right.
Despite the shitty build of getting to this point, this match was far better than it had any right being going into this show. Strowman beat the holy hell out of Shane O'Mac throughout this thing - rightfully so too. Can we please stop allowing Shane to volunteer to jump off something at Mania every year before he kills himself? That definitely has to be taking a toll on his body. He's looking every bit of old as his father these days.
I'm about as tired as everyone else of these mandatory Shane McMahon matches every year just to see him drop off a building and shave another few years off his lifespan. Give these spots to some other deserving full-time talent(s) on the roster.
While I was pleasantly surprised at how well Bad Bunny performed here and have absolutely mad respect for his dedication to training for this event, I'm not going to say that this was the match of the night like a lot of people on my Twitter timeline were saying during the show. No way. I just thought that Bad Bunny got far too much offense in to the point that it felt like he was making this stuff look far too easy for any outsider to come in and get the upper hand on the established wrestlers. That could be credited to Miz and Morrison going out of their way to be bumping machines for him to look good too.
The biggest takeaway from this is that this match gave Damian Priest the elevation that he needed for his first WrestleMania appearance. That's one good nudge into the right direction for whatever they have planned for him next since this feud is (hopefully) over.
Did I miss something but could someone explain to me why was Sasha dressed like she got dressed in Shotzi Blackheart and Naomi's dressing rooms? That being said, I thought Bianca and Sasha made the most of this main event spot. You couldn't watch this match and really feel for these ladies, especially seeing that Bianca was tearing up before the opening bell with Sasha about to join in before both women put their game faces on to get straight to business. I thought this was a much better match than the Women's Tag Team Turmoil match earlier in this show, but I still felt that Cesaro and Rollins delivered from the bell to bell in terms of performances tonight. That's not selling these women short either. There were some just as impressive - if not more so - spots in this match, such as Bianca military pressing Sasha Banks overhead while she climbed the steel steps.
The finish came at the appropriate moment - right after Bianca nailed her with her hair whip. That allowed Bianca to hit the KOD for the win. I don't have the slightest idea what Bianca has loaded in that hair extension to make that loud as hell crack noise, but it sure as hell left a nasty mark on Sasha's abdomen that you can see during the post-match celebration. Jesus.
In either case, the right woman won and we have the EST as the newEST SmackDown! Women's Champion.
In comparison to the RAW Women's Championship on Night 2, I think this was better of the two women's championship matches and deserved the main event spot here tonight. Much like Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Ronda Rousey main eventing for the first time a few years ago, you can't take this first ever main event against two black women away from Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. I have my gripes about Sasha at times, but her and Bianca both earned this - black excellence was definitely on display in this main event.
I watched this finish at least three different times and I STILL don't get it. This was the worst thing all week on WWE programming and I sat through that go-home edition of RAW last week in its entirety... Why was the Fiend distracted by Alexa Bliss setting off the pyro? Did Orton really need a WrestleMania win at this stage of his career? I mean, come on. The dude already burnt The Fiend alive a few months ago. Shouldn't he be getting his win back by now?
It just seems like WWE is dead set on killing the mystique of this character. Why keep beating this guy over and over into powder?
The only thing I could gather from this loss is that maybe they are setting up Alexa Bliss to "evolve" into being the new Sister Abigail as this storyline's endgame? I don't know. The only thing I know is that with that black ink/paint leaking into her face, it made her look like Senua from Hellblade.
I'm not going to lie but I was behind Nattie and Tamina 110% here, much like so many other fans who got invested into this match. It ran on a little too long, but overall, it was a great performance, especially for Tamina, who deserved a WrestleMania moment after all of these years. I thought the veterans were ultimately robbed of the win here when it was all said and done though.
After the wars that Owens and Zayn have put each other through not just in and out of WWE, no one should have been surprised that this was going to be a solid performance from both men. These guys know each other in and out of the ring and probably had the time of their lives working on a grand stage like this. I remember hoping that they would have gotten a WrestleMania match as the blow off to their original feud a few years ago actually.
Much like the match before it, this match definitely delivered in sheer athleticism.
I was disappointed at the lack of drums here (excluding Wale's musical performance for Big E), but I'll be honest that I didn't care for most of this match - despite the guys both working hard. I thought their Fastlane match was better than this.
I thought for sure that Rhea Ripley was going to lose following the fact that Ash Costello was performing her entrance music ("Brutality") to the ring. Isn't that one of the many unspoken rules of wrestling that if you get a big WrestleMania entrance/performance that you're heavily inclined to lose, much like Big E in the previous match?
The first portion of the show was delayed due to the heavy rain in the Florida area at 8PM EST time, but this forced WWE to stall for time with a lot of promos and interviews with talent on the fly to hype the upcoming matches for the evening (Night 1). These were completely unscripted and came off great because they were real and genuine, instead of the cookie-cutter processed bullshit that WWE Creative writes for a lot of these men and women. Like I mentioned earlier in this write-up, give these people a chance and trust them to talk for themselves. Give fans a reason to get invested in them as real, genuine human beings, instead of wrestlers fresh off the assembly line fresh out of the Performance Center or a bad acting class.
Tag Team Match for the WWE Raw Tag Team ChampionshipA.J. Styles and Omos def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (c)
Tag Team Match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
I don't know what else people were expecting from this match. AJ Styles did all of the work for three-fourths of the match while Omos came in and wreck shit the best he could with his limited experience. The little things that he did looked good enough, especially with both the New Day bumping like fools for him and AJ Styles coming in to hide in weak links in Omos' offense. For his first outing in a WWE ring in a major stage as this, Omos made the best of this golden opportunity and that's enough in its own right.
Steel Cage MatchBraun Strowman def. Shane McMahon
Steel Cage Match
Despite the shitty build of getting to this point, this match was far better than it had any right being going into this show. Strowman beat the holy hell out of Shane O'Mac throughout this thing - rightfully so too. Can we please stop allowing Shane to volunteer to jump off something at Mania every year before he kills himself? That definitely has to be taking a toll on his body. He's looking every bit of old as his father these days.
I'm about as tired as everyone else of these mandatory Shane McMahon matches every year just to see him drop off a building and shave another few years off his lifespan. Give these spots to some other deserving full-time talent(s) on the roster.
Tag Team MatchBad Bunny and Damian Priest defeated The Miz and John Morrison
Tag Team Match
While I was pleasantly surprised at how well Bad Bunny performed here and have absolutely mad respect for his dedication to training for this event, I'm not going to say that this was the match of the night like a lot of people on my Twitter timeline were saying during the show. No way. I just thought that Bad Bunny got far too much offense in to the point that it felt like he was making this stuff look far too easy for any outsider to come in and get the upper hand on the established wrestlers. That could be credited to Miz and Morrison going out of their way to be bumping machines for him to look good too.
The biggest takeaway from this is that this match gave Damian Priest the elevation that he needed for his first WrestleMania appearance. That's one good nudge into the right direction for whatever they have planned for him next since this feud is (hopefully) over.
Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's ChampionshipBianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks (c)
Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Did I miss something but could someone explain to me why was Sasha dressed like she got dressed in Shotzi Blackheart and Naomi's dressing rooms? That being said, I thought Bianca and Sasha made the most of this main event spot. You couldn't watch this match and really feel for these ladies, especially seeing that Bianca was tearing up before the opening bell with Sasha about to join in before both women put their game faces on to get straight to business. I thought this was a much better match than the Women's Tag Team Turmoil match earlier in this show, but I still felt that Cesaro and Rollins delivered from the bell to bell in terms of performances tonight. That's not selling these women short either. There were some just as impressive - if not more so - spots in this match, such as Bianca military pressing Sasha Banks overhead while she climbed the steel steps.
The finish came at the appropriate moment - right after Bianca nailed her with her hair whip. That allowed Bianca to hit the KOD for the win. I don't have the slightest idea what Bianca has loaded in that hair extension to make that loud as hell crack noise, but it sure as hell left a nasty mark on Sasha's abdomen that you can see during the post-match celebration. Jesus.
In either case, the right woman won and we have the EST as the newEST SmackDown! Women's Champion.
In comparison to the RAW Women's Championship on Night 2, I think this was better of the two women's championship matches and deserved the main event spot here tonight. Much like Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Ronda Rousey main eventing for the first time a few years ago, you can't take this first ever main event against two black women away from Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. I have my gripes about Sasha at times, but her and Bianca both earned this - black excellence was definitely on display in this main event.
Night 2 (April 11)
Match Results:
Singles MatchRandy Orton def. The Fiend (with Alexa Bliss)
Singles Match
I watched this finish at least three different times and I STILL don't get it. This was the worst thing all week on WWE programming and I sat through that go-home edition of RAW last week in its entirety... Why was the Fiend distracted by Alexa Bliss setting off the pyro? Did Orton really need a WrestleMania win at this stage of his career? I mean, come on. The dude already burnt The Fiend alive a few months ago. Shouldn't he be getting his win back by now?
It just seems like WWE is dead set on killing the mystique of this character. Why keep beating this guy over and over into powder?
The only thing I could gather from this loss is that maybe they are setting up Alexa Bliss to "evolve" into being the new Sister Abigail as this storyline's endgame? I don't know. The only thing I know is that with that black ink/paint leaking into her face, it made her look like Senua from Hellblade.
...Senua? https://t.co/FzjnLWoMtE
— Ninja Theory (@NinjaTheory) April 12, 2021
Ironically enough, the folks at Ninja Theory thought the same thing.
The following night on Monday Night RAW (April 12, 2021), Alexa Bliss would announce that she is now acting independently from The Fiend after amassing more power over the darkness that possessed and protected her to summon her own creatures to serve her. I guess they are hinting at Bliss truly becoming Sister Abigail in mind and body, but it still doesn't excuse WWE for the sheer amount of stupidity with the booking of this match.
The following night on Monday Night RAW (April 12, 2021), Alexa Bliss would announce that she is now acting independently from The Fiend after amassing more power over the darkness that possessed and protected her to summon her own creatures to serve her. I guess they are hinting at Bliss truly becoming Sister Abigail in mind and body, but it still doesn't excuse WWE for the sheer amount of stupidity with the booking of this match.
Why is this company so adamant about killing the mystique of this character?? The Fiend should be one of their most protected gimmicks/characters for years to come, much like The Undertaker and Kane before it.
Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team ChampionshipNia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) def. Natalya and Tamina by technical submission
Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
I'm not going to lie but I was behind Nattie and Tamina 110% here, much like so many other fans who got invested into this match. It ran on a little too long, but overall, it was a great performance, especially for Tamina, who deserved a WrestleMania moment after all of these years. I thought the veterans were ultimately robbed of the win here when it was all said and done though.
I cannot fathom what does WWE see in Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler as a tag team. I just don't see it. Shayna would be a MUCH better singles heel, same for Nia too. The only reason I could see why WWE didn't have them drop the titles to Nattie and Tamina is that they are going to do the switch on SmackDown! this week since they didn't want to do a complete landslide of title changes on this entire show.
I've seen critiques and complaints from podcasters and other wrestling content creators state that Nattie and Tamina weren't an established team anyway so they didn't deserve to win. Bitch, what? They've been pushing this team on social media for a month or so on and off social media and they were feuding with Nia and Shayna on SmackDown! recently. It's not like they were coming out of the blue with the millionth challenge to them like Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke. I'm honestly surprised that they didn't put Lana and Naomi in the spot to win on Night 1 and to dethrone Nia and Shayna on Night 2. I could see the frustrations with fans about the Riott Squad not picking up the win too. Those girls desperately deserve a bone since they are essentially the only established women's tag team left that hasn't been broken up. I mean, they were but they brought them back together once Ruby Riott came back from injury. I really want to see them get a title run too, especially if go over two veterans like Nattie and Tamina in a lengthy program. Shayna and Nia should have been back in singles matches MONTHS ago.
Singles MatchKevin Owens def. Sami Zayn (with Logan Paul)
Singles Match
After the wars that Owens and Zayn have put each other through not just in and out of WWE, no one should have been surprised that this was going to be a solid performance from both men. These guys know each other in and out of the ring and probably had the time of their lives working on a grand stage like this. I remember hoping that they would have gotten a WrestleMania match as the blow off to their original feud a few years ago actually.
This match started a trend for the rest of the night where it was obvious that everyone had something to prove and the talent definitely had their working boots on.
Singles Match for the WWE United States ChampionshipSheamus def. Riddle (c)
Singles Match for the WWE United States Championship
Much like the match before it, this match definitely delivered in sheer athleticism.
..the kick heard ‘round the world #maniamoment pic.twitter.com/tTqfLBi62o
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) April 12, 2021
Sheamus' Brogue Kick connecting on Riddle while he was upside down during the execution of his Lionsault is going to be a key component to a lot of highlight packages for YEARS to come. Jesus Christ that spot looked awesome. It legit knocked the fuck out of Riddle too as when he came up he was bleeding from the mouth.
Nigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental ChampionshipApollo Crews def. Big E (c)
Nigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
I was disappointed at the lack of drums here (excluding Wale's musical performance for Big E), but I'll be honest that I didn't care for most of this match - despite the guys both working hard. I thought their Fastlane match was better than this.
Repackaging Dabba Kato makes sense if they want to give that big guy something to do, but I had to do a double take for a split second there because I thought he was Damian Priest at first. The biggest positive to come out of this match is that this loss frees up Big E to challenge for the Universal Championship while simultaneously giving Apollo Crews the much needed win for his heel turn. At least they have him doing something now other than just being a generic smiling babyface from week to week, even though I'm not too fond of him being the modern day equivalent of Saba Simba and Prince Nana, but that's just me.
Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's ChampionshipRhea Ripley def. Asuka (c)
Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
I thought for sure that Rhea Ripley was going to lose following the fact that Ash Costello was performing her entrance music ("Brutality") to the ring. Isn't that one of the many unspoken rules of wrestling that if you get a big WrestleMania entrance/performance that you're heavily inclined to lose, much like Big E in the previous match?
I'm not going to lie, but I wasn't feeling this match in the opening moments as there were a few rough spots as it seemed like Rhea and Asuka were feeling each others' styles out until they smoothed things out a few minutes in. From that point on to the finish, the match went off like clock work. Kudos to how hard Asuka and Rhea were laying their shots in too. It contributed to making this match feeling a lot more brutal than the Bianca and Sasha match that headlined the night prior.
Sadly, I was disappointed with how Rhea hit one of the weakest looking Riptides I have ever seen her hit to win the title after ducking one of Asuka's kicks. It made for a rather unceremonious moment, despite this being a big moment for Rhea on the main roster, but the execution made it fall flat a bit for me. I'm still happy for Rhea regardless. I'm glad that she was able to return for a second WrestleMania appearance with a win in the history books instead of suffering a loss and leaving in tears again. Rhea Ripley had a pretty shitty year following that loss and worked her way back up to this point after doing the honors on her way out of NXT to put Raquel Gonzalez over and on the map.
Let's hope that Rhea Ripley turns out to be that shot of adrenaline that RAW Women's division has desperately needed over the past year or so.
Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal ChampionshipRoman Reigns (c) (with Jey Uso and Paul Heyman) def. Edge and Daniel Bryan
Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship
Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the match of the night - and possibly of the entire weekend - for WrestleMania and rightfully so. Edge, Daniel Bryan, and Roman Reigns went out there and ran a clinic for this crowd. I'm sure Vince was happy to hear that they didn't need to pipe in boos for Reigns since he was easily garnering in the reaction they wanted here. I was a little surprised at the boos for Edge, but not surprised in the least that the Yes! Movement is alive and well in support for Daniel Bryan. This was a match where at any given moment that you could believe that any one of these competitors could have walked away as the winner. As a fan, I selfishly wanted Daniel Bryan to win (especially since he was playing it up that this could be his last WrestleMania appearance), but I had absolutely no qualms about Roman Reigns retaining. I went in-depth with my issues about Edge winning back during my Royal Rumble write-up, so I'm not going to repeat myself like a broken record here. He made the shift as a complete heel at Fastlane last month, so I didn't see the point of giving him a fairy tale ending to his comeback story this year. It's not going to kill him not to win the title right now.
My favorite part of this match was the finish. Roman beat BOTH Edge and Daniel Bryan in such a convincing manner that neither one of them can go back and say that they were "screwed" for another rematch at Backlash next month. This ultimately frees up Roman's dancing card for someone new and fresh. There's a wealth of opponents that Edge can face and even more that Daniel Bryan hasn't worked a program with in the last stretch of his career.
Closing Thoughts
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| We had black excellence start and finish on Night 1, but we also had Hulk Hogan attempting to steal the spotlight from Titus O'Neil, who I thought could have handled the hosting duties on his own. |
WrestleMania returned this year with fans in the building and that was a good thing, especially with actual crowd noise instead of the canned cheers, boos, and various chants that have been fed into the shows in the Thunderdome over the past year.
I thought Vince McMahon made a touching speech to open the show to welcome fans back, but we shouldn't be ignoring that there were a wealth of people completely ignoring the CDC guidelines and safety measures. There were numerous fans captured on camera not wearing masks and the seating looked like it was elbow to elbow without people 6 feet apart either. You could easily see this on the front rows at ringside and on the hard camera side throughout the show on both nights. It's no mystery why WWE had everyone sign those consent forms prior to entry.
 |
| We almost got rained out of Night 1 of WrestleMania... |
The first portion of the show was delayed due to the heavy rain in the Florida area at 8PM EST time, but this forced WWE to stall for time with a lot of promos and interviews with talent on the fly to hype the upcoming matches for the evening (Night 1). These were completely unscripted and came off great because they were real and genuine, instead of the cookie-cutter processed bullshit that WWE Creative writes for a lot of these men and women. Like I mentioned earlier in this write-up, give these people a chance and trust them to talk for themselves. Give fans a reason to get invested in them as real, genuine human beings, instead of wrestlers fresh off the assembly line fresh out of the Performance Center or a bad acting class.
This was a show that I dare say that was better than NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, despite some of the hiccups on both nights. The main roster delivered in the regard that they had more matches that held my attention from bell to bell and who can hate on those brilliant video packages to hype up the WrestleMania matches? Those were incredible for both nights.
It should also be noted that this was a WrestleMania show that wasn't filled to the brim with part-timers and Legends taking the spotlight away from the main roster of WWE talent. The main roster should be praised for delivering two nights of great wrestling. Outside of Edge, Shane McMahon, and Bad Bunny, the majority of the current WWE roster got their time to shine. That was a victory in its own right. Let's just hope that WWE keep this positive momentum and move it forward into good programming on their weekly shows.
After seeing Monday Night RAW (April 12, 2021) though, it doesn't seem like they are off to a good start...
