On Sunday evening, from 12 until around 5am I watched the spectacle that is Wrestlemania. WWE's flagship event, which was held in Dallas in the AT&T Stadium in front of a record attendance of over 101,000, was the event that the whole of the year was building up to and it promised to be a thriller after the great showing on Friday by NXT at TakeOver:Dallas. So, in this piece I will offer my views on each of the main show matches and the event as a whole.
The first match of the evening saw Zack Ryder defeat six other men to become the new Intercontinental Champion in what was an thrilling opener. There were some excellent ladder spots, as expected out of a match like this, and the tribute to Dusty Rhodes by Stardust through his outfit and the custom ladder was touching. It was also amazing to see Sami Zayn, who it is clear to see will be a great star, and Kevin Owens face off in a rivalry that is set to enthral for years to come. Overall this was a brilliant way to start the show, with a shocking result to boot.
The next match featured WWE's newest blockbuster signing: AJ Styles, face off against veteran Chris Jericho in a rivalry that saw Y2J turn on AJ due to Styles' great popularity amongst the WWE universe. This was a great technical match that saw some impressive aerial ability and chain wrestling. Furthermore the sight of AJ kicking out of a pin after a Codebreaker then Jericho after the Styles Clash was shocking. However despite this, the overall impression that the match left me with was disappointing. Don't get me wrong Jericho winning with a Codebreaker on a flying AJ Styles was an impressive spot, however having Jericho win seems pointless as it is AJ who has just arrived and would have surely benefited more from a Wrestlemania win than an ageing Chris Jericho. However it seems that Vince gave AJ the same treatment as Sting, punishing them for their stint in TNA.
The following clash saw the League of Nations beat the reigning Tag Team Champions; the New Day. This was an odd match as it was billed as a 3 vs. 3 match with King Barrett accompanying the other 3 League of Nations members, which surely means this could have been a match for the Tag Team Titles? Overall the match was sound but not exhilarating, with New Day's entrance being a particular highlight. The result of having the League of Nations win seemed strange at first but it led to Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley coming out to provide an amazing Wrestlemania moment. This meant that I was OK with the result of the match as it was a set-up to an insane moment, however it will be interesting to see how this rivalry. This match also showed why WWE will miss King Barrett when he leaves at the end of his contract. Overall the legends saved this match from being irrelevant.
The next match was one of the most exciting bouts of the night. In the pre-show Hall of Famer Lita announced that the Divas Championship (a sexist name with a sexist belt design) was to be replaced with the WWE Women's Championship which was fantastic news and showed that WWE is finally moving with the times. This added to the hype of this match, which featured three excellent women's wrestlers and promised to be a great match. The entrances were fantastic with Charlotte wearing an outfit reminiscent to Ric Flair's Wrestlemania 24 attire (one of my favourite events) and Sasha's entrance being performed by her cousin and now Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg as she wore an outfit that paid tribute to the late, great Eddie Guerrero. The match itself was a brilliant show of just how good the women's division is and proof that despite the revolution faltering at first, it has now has firmly taken effect. There was some excellent chain wrestling with a plethora of submissions and some great agile moves including Sasha's frog splash (another tribute to Eddie) and Becky Lynch's dive to the outside. In the end, Charlotte picked up the win by submission whilst her father Ric held Sasha Banks from entering the ring. All in all, while it was annoying to see Ric interfering again, the quality of the match and the importance of the leaps made in women's wrestling made this result acceptable, with the match being one of the highlights of the night.
Next up was what was probably the most intriguing match on the card. There were so many questions coming into the match such as how would Shane perform after seven years away? and would this be the last Wrestlemania for the Undertaker? Before the match, it seemed as if the match was tailor-made for Shane O'Mac to win. With the bout being held in Texas, Taker's home state, it seemed perfect for him to retire there. Furthermore it would make sense if both Shane won and Roman Reigns won (as it would almost certain that he would) as it would get rid of the Authority, usher in a new era and keep viewers tuning in. Furthermore, it looked perfect for Taker, in his last match, to eventually lay down for Shane and in his final act, rid WWE of the Authority. The match itself was good, with the two participants making a combine age of 97, no-one expected great technical wrestling and as such the match relied heavily on big spots such as the Coast to Coast and Chokeslam onto the Steel Steps. However, once Taker put Shane through the Cell wall and the match spilled to the outside, the match went from good to great. This was two ageing stars of yesteryear, putting it all on the line one final time. The absolute, undoubted highlight of the night was a true OMG moment as Shane McMahon leapt off the top of the 20ft high Cell and dropped straight through the announce table below, with Taker rolling out of the way just in time. At this point, I thought it was clear that Shane had to win, and as he signalled for more, I thought that Taker was about see what Shane was going through and lay down for him. However, he quickly Tombstoned him and won, leaving me thoroughly disappointed and making it clear that this match was arranged about a month before Wrestlemania and that Shane was only brought back as a final resort. It was a truly ridiculous result that ruined what was a great storyline and a potentially classic Wrestlemania match.
This next bout was essentially a cool-down match between the main events that gave the fans some cheap cheers and time to settle down for the main event . As a result there isn't really much to say about this match, the appearance of DDP and Tatanka was cool (despite DDP getting a special entrance and Tatanka not for some reason) whilst the appearance of Shaq seemed desperate as WWE tried to progress a storyline that started almost 7 years ago, just to get some more mainstream media attention. Overall, the result was refreshing as NXT performer Baron Corbin won, which was an interesting result and nice way to build up a new star (even if it was at the expense of one of my favourites in Kane) and the match did what it was intended to do as wrestlers got their Wrestlemania pay-check and fans got some time to relax.
So, next up the Rock came out and did his usual thing for what seemed like forever, before announcing that the attendance was a Wrestlemania record. He was then interrupted by the Wyatt Family (minus Luke Harper ) before he engaged in the usual Rock bravado, making some sex jokes and accusing the Wyatt's of incest (*yawn*). At this point it was painfully clear that a forty something year old actor was about to squash one of the WWE's brightest stars. And eventually he did, as he challenged any Wyatt to an impromptu match which was answered by Erick Rowan who then was beaten in 6 seconds. Then just as the three Wyatt Family members were about to attack the Rock, he was saved by a returning John Cena. Whilst this was a nice, if predictable, moment it made no sense as The Rock and John Cena had a two-year feud and two Wrestlemania matches, and now we are supposed to believe they are allies? Also, what was the point in squashing Bray Wyatt again? No-one is ever going to see him as a credible threat if he constantly gets beaten up by part-timers. Overall this was a stupid segment and another reason why the Rock is nothing to get excited about anymore.
Finally, it was time for the main event, the world title match, the big time clash. And at this point, I was extremely tired and ready for the most predictable main event ever to be over. Triple H had his usual grandiose entrance which was actually a little bit creepy, however Stephanie did provide some actual heat for the man, who despite being the heel, was being cheered. Then Reigns entered to a chorus of boos and the match begun. This match was largely forgettable as Roman Reigns reminded us that despite his massive push, he is still massively average in the ring, showing little technical ability at all. However, the boos weren't as massive throughout the match as expected, and some of the crowd even played along and cheered him, although most just seemed not to care. The most interesting moment came when Triple H moved out of the way of a Roman Reigns spear which meant that Stephanie, standing behind him, got hit. This was a) the largest cheer of Roman Reigns' night and b) a rare use of man on woman violence, albeit accidental. In the end, Reigns won, shocking absolutely no-one, and providing a fitting conclusion to one of the worst Wrestlemania main events of all-time. The crowd reacted with exhaustive impartiality to the finish, with many not even bothered enough to boo. The main problem with this match was that nobody wanted Reigns to be in the main event, however once he was the rest of the card was stacked in a way that if certain people won, then it wouldn't;t be a disaster. However what WWE decided to do was to have all of the babyfaces lose in a vain attempt to make people cheer for Reigns which in the end just resulted in people being disappointed already before the main event even began and so Reigns had no chance of a good reception. Overall, this match was not worth waiting 4 hours for and wouldn't have been out of place in the mid card.
| Zack Ryder defeated Kevin Owens (c), Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Sin Cara,Stardust and The Miz Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship |
Overall grade: 9/10
| Chris Jericho defeated AJ Styles Singles match |
Overall grade: 6.5/10
| The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev) (with King Barrett) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods) Six-man tag team match |
Overall grade: 7.5/10
| Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated Dean Ambrose No Holds Barred Street Fight |
Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose had a great build up with the plucky contender who refused to give up going up against the seemingly unstoppable champion(of course Lesnar isn't actually a champion but you get what I mean). It had the feeling of a Rocky movie and it promised to be a great contest in which it seemed Ambrose would finally get his big moment. However, I found the match itself to be a deeply disappointing spectacle. Lesnar gave Ambrose 13 suplexes but had little other offence, whilst the match largely relied on the shock factor of the appearance of weapons such as Kendo Sticks, Steel Chairs, a Fire Extinguisher, a Chainsaw and the Baseball Bat wrapped in Barbed Wire that Mick Foley handed down to Ambrose. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to give Dean a moment against a part-timer who wrestles a handful of times a year. However in the end, Lesnar won with an F-5 and left Ambrose to pick up the pieces on Raw tonight. This was another result that I found was pointless as if Dean, a crowd favourite, would have won, it would have given him a great push and potentially kick-started a title challenge,but in reality Lesnar won another match that he didn't really need to and he will now head off back home until Summerslam, whilst Ambrose will be back on Raw tonight with another lost feud to his name.
Overall grade: 5.5/10
| Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair) defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks by submission Triple Threat match for the inaugural WWE Women's Championship |
Overall grade: 8.5/10
| The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon Hell in a Cell match; had Shane won, he would have gained control of Raw and Undertaker would have been barred from competing at WrestleMania. |
Overall grade: 8/10
 |
| Shane McMahon steals the show. |
| Baron Corbin won by last eliminating Kane 20-man Battle Royal for the André the Giant Memorial Trophy |
Overall grade: 6.5/10
| The Rock defeated Erick Rowan (with Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman) Singles match |
Overall grade: 2/10
| Roman Reigns defeated Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon) Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship |
Overall grade: 4/10
So overall this four and a half hour Wrestlemania was a largely mixed affair. Whilst the wrestling was mostly of a very high standard, the results showed that WWE and Vince McMahon still have no idea what fans really want. All in all this was a night of great wrestling but frustrating endings leaving fans to think of what could have been.
Overall show grade: 6/10
Thanks for reading,
James
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