I've never posted about wrestling before on my blog, but I'm a huge fan of the WWE, and have been since the summer of 2010. With Wrestlemania being held in the Bay Area, where I live, I couldn't miss the opportunity to share my thoughts. I'm going to go through each and every match, and how I felt watching it. Let's get started.
1st match: Tag Titles Fatal 4-Way Winners: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
I was a little disappointed that this wasn't a 4 way dance with eliminations, but I liked quite a bit of what I saw. I felt it was a slight that the Usos were immediately taken out of the equation, what with them being the 2014 Slammy winners for Tag Team of the Year, but oh well. This match set the stage quite nicely for the rest of the card, and the competitors seemed to be enjoying themselves. Kidd and Cesaro are great tag champs, and they prove it every time they step foot in the ring.
2nd match: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Winner: The Big Show
I was confused by the fact that pretty much all of the participants of the tag match came right back for the battle royal, since that kind of degrades the match they just had. Other wise, there was some real fun to be had. It was great to finally see Damien Mizdow turn on Miz, but it could have been saved for after they eliminated Big Show. I was fine with Big Show as the winner, but I felt that it would have been such a great moment if Mizdow eliminated Miz to win the match. I think Big Show winning this match was going to happen eventually, but it was a year too late. Big Show should have won last year, and Mizdow this year, given that it didn't help Cesaro at all to win it last year, but I think that's just splitting hairs.
3rd match: Intercontinental Title Ladder Match Winner: Daniel Bryan
This match underwhelmed me, given all the hype it had coming into tonight. Daniel Bryan was a very predictable winner, and they wasted an excellent Dean Ambrose moment if he rose from the wreckage of the ladders. There were some very solid moments, and Dolph Ziggler climbs a ladder better than anyone I've ever seen. There just isn't that much to talk about, which is the problem. This match should have been moved to the pre-show, and the battle royal to the main card. The battle royal was so much more exciting and unpredictable.
4th match: Randy Orton versus Seth Rollins Winner: Randy Orton
That RKO brought a tear to my eye, given how much of a Randy Orton fan I am. Other than that, this felt like a normal, mid-card Wrestlemania match. The face pulled some nice stuff, and the heel capitalized on distractions. Not much else to say, except THAT RKO THOUGH!!!!
5th match: Triple H versus Sting Winner: Triple H
This was a very Attitude Era type match. There was utter craziness with all kinds of people running in, there was a ton of finishers, and it was pretty enjoyable. I saw some people complaining on Twitter about the ending, but hey it's the Attitude Era, weapons are very powerful. Sting has a chainsaw for a bat, a bunch of old guys can still wrestle, and Triple H can become Terminator. What more can you ask for? The handshake was pretty weird, though.
6th match: AJ Lee and Paige versus the Bella Twins Winners: AJ Lee and Paige
It's a shame that fans can have all the social media rallies they want, but the WWE will always to refuse to change the way they treat their women wrestlers. Not Divas, but women. They spent a whole year building up the women's division, only to give them a six minute tag team match. What on Earth was the WWE thinking? This should have been a fatal four way for the title, it's ridiculous that they would spend an entire year and not even have the title defended! It would have been amazing to see Paige get her Wrestlemania moment, but I guess Vince will never learn.
7th match: US Title Match Winner: John Cena
A tank. Rusev arrived on a tank. Let that sink in for a minute. This match was the same as the ladder match, a solid match with some great spots, but a predictable winner winning in a predictable way. Rusev came in on a tank, and Cena won by knocking Lana off the apron. I'm disgusted. This made me physically sick. Cena even got the benefit of an amazing video package, but didn't come out like anything other than normal old John Cena. I don't get what the WWE is getting at, but if Cena could've displayed half the charisma he had in that Jimmy Kimmel promo in his entrance, I would have been satisfied with this match. If Cena doesn't come out and do something spectacular tomorrow night, then I will forever despise his character. Rusev looked like a face(he came in on a tank), and Cena looked like a heel(he didn't bring a tank) and the crowd totally knew it.
8th match: The Face of Fear Match Winner: Undertaker
This was the match everyone wanted last year, but I thought it was much better saved for this year. Mark Calloway was in much better shape this year, so it was easy to think that Brock Lesnar, dominant as he is, could beat a much lesser Undertaker. However this year, Taker came in with something to prove, and an excellent guy in Bray Wyatt to prove it against. Both of these guys could have a staring contest, and I could buy that as a match of the year candidate. The crowd didn't really get into this match, after the event that took place previous(more on that later), but it was a very good match and gets the Undertaker ready for whatever feud he has coming up next. As for Bray Wyatt, this could set up something good for next year's Mania, as he's failed pretty spectacularly in his matches thus far. Maybe a revenge match against the Undertaker? Only time will tell.
Main Event: The Brawl for the Title Winner: Everyone(Seth Rollins)
This was one of the better main events of Wrestlemania I've watched, and I've watched them all. I don't mean that it was a good wrestling match, or even a great brawl/fight. This match was good because it accomplished everything it needed to do. Brock Lesnar was a dominating champion who couldn't be beaten, and wasn't. Roman Reigns was the guy who knew that he was going to have to take a beatdown, and have to survive it. And Seth Rollins is the guy who robs your house and uproots your roses on the way out. There was a lot of blood for a PG show, there were great hashtags(#SuplexCityBitch and other iterations), and it was all enjoyable and it all made sense. That's pretty hard to accomplish, and the whole crew did it perfectly and should be congratulated for it. For everything wrong done over the past year(the Rumble fiasco and tug of war spring to mind), this match made up for all of it and more. The crowning jewel of NXT is now the face of the WWE, which solidifies the future(led by Kevin Owens) and the present(Lesnar, Rollins, Reigns and Orton) for many fantastic years to come.
Final Thoughts:
Other than the women's match, there wasn't anything bad on this show, and there were several things that were pretty damn good. This was not a wrestling show, but it was really entertaining and really excites me about the future of the company. That said, this is the same thing I said last year, so I hope the WWE really follows up this time. This was a pretty memorable show(the RKO spot, the return of the NWO and DX, the tank and video promo, the current Undertaker, and the main event), and it provides great momentum for the next year and beyond. Last but not least, RONDA ROUSEY!
Grade(out of 10):
9(without the women's match and slightly less predictable endings, 10)
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