9:30 PM ET

    Saturday night at WrestleMania 37 (Peacock, 8 p.m. ET) will be unlike any other edition of WWE's signature event that preceded it. That's primarily due to the return of paying fans in attendance at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium -- limited to 25,000 -- for the first time in over a year.

    The first of two nights of action will be headlined by two world title matches. Sasha Banks defends her SmackDown women's championship against Bianca Belair in the final match, while Bobby Lashley puts the WWE championship on the line against two-time former champion Drew McIntyre in the opening one.

    Five other matches are scheduled for Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, including the first steel cage match at a WrestleMania in 35 years, between Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman. Grammy award-winning musical artist Bad Bunny makes his pro wrestling debut in a tag-team match alongside Damian Priest, as they take on former WWE champion The Miz and John Morrison. The New Day puts its Raw tag-team titles against AJ Styles and the debuting Omos and four teams will battle for the right to challenge Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the women's tag-team titles on Sunday night. And, in a showcase match flying under the radar, Cesaro and Seth Rollins go one-on-one.

    Follow along throughout the night as Tim Fiorvanti breaks down the action, match by match.

    Match in progress: Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

    Results:

    WWE championship: Bobby Lashley (c) def. Drew McIntyre

    For those expecting a feel-good moment to kick off WrestleMania 37, they got it -- but only to a certain degree. Even after a 30-plus minute weather delay in Tampa, the reaction for Drew McIntyre's entrance -- the first in the WWE made in front of a stadium-filled crowd since March 2020 -- was electric.

    But Bobby Lashley made that a fleeting moment, pulling off a surprisingly clean and decisive victory over McIntyre, the former WWE champion, in the opening bout of the night.

    Lashley and McIntyre each fired their opening salvo of offense, only for their opponent to pop back up, stung but not hurt. Lashley largely stifled McIntyre and held onto the momentum early on, until a crash landing into the ring post allowed McIntyre to claw back into the match.

    The exchanges in punches and momentum shifted back and forth, with McIntyre briefly taking control back with suplexes and tosses. But Lashley landed the first big move with a Dominator, though it only led to a two-count on McIntyre.

    McIntyre got his first two-count with a reverse Alabama slam, which sent Lashley flying face-first into the mat.

    A Clash and Superplex attempt by McIntyre on the top rope turned into a kimura lock for McIntyre as both men sat on the top turnbuckle. McIntyre ultimately popped up to toss Lashley across the ring, but Lashley thwarted the first real attempt at a Claymore with a pop-up Spinebuster.

    McIntyre grabbed his first real advantage with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex immediately followed by three back-to-back-to-back Future Shock DDTs. Lashley kicked out at two and when Lashley went to the outside to take a breather, McIntyre dove over the top rope and took out Lashley and MVP at once.

    A double hammerfist from the top rope by McIntyre missed when Lashley tossed McIntyre with a creative suplex, and followed it up immediately with a Flatliner. Lashley lined up the Hurt Lock, but McIntyre wouldn't let Lashley lock his fingers. McIntyre drove towards the corner to smash Lashley's head on the middle turnbuckle to break the hold.

    A Spinebuster by Lashley was countered into a roll-through and a deep kimura attempt by McIntyre, but Lashley eventually got to the ropes. A big boot and a signature headbutt by McIntyre seemingly set the stage for a Claymore and a triumphant victory, but it was not to be.

    McIntyre managed to get himself distracted by MVP for a fraction of a second, and that delayed his Claymore attempt just long enough for Lashley to thwart it. Lashley then locked in the Hurt Lock fully, and took McIntyre to the ground with it. McIntyre used his feet to roll through using the middle turnbuckle, but Lashley refused to let go, and brought it back down to the ground.

    McIntyre didn't tap out and as the referee looked on closely, McIntyre passed out and lost the match by submission.

    What's next: This is undeniably the biggest win of Lashley's WWE career. It sets him up for a big summer regardless of his opponent. The distraction could give McIntyre grounds and inspiration for chasing a rematch, or he could start from square one and find himself again to build himself back up. The likeliest scenario should be a majorly built-up rematch at SummerSlam in August.

    Tag-team turmoil to determine women's tag team championship No. 1 contenders: Natalya & Tamina def. Lana & Naomi, Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose, The Riott Squad and Billie Kay & Carmella

    Recap to come.

    Still to come:

    SmackDown women's championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair

    Raw tag-team championships: The New Day (c) vs. AJ Styles & Omos

    Steel cage: Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

    Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison