Before the actual show, there were two matches that started off the evening. One being the Fatal Four Way match for the World Tag Team belts. The teams of The Usos (who are two time former champs that had just put their dad Rikishi in the Hall Of Fame), Los Matadores (yawn!) The New Day, with Kofi & Big E. representing, and the hamps of Cesaro & Tyson Kidd. Way too much action and a cluster-fuck at times to keep up with. However, when the dust settled, the champs remained the champs as Tysn & Cesaro walked to the back still with the titles.
The other match was the second annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Last year, Cesaro won the match, ironically his push into the upper card/main event never happened. This year the big story was the divorce of Miz and Damien Mizdow, as the former understudy/personal assistant turned on Miz and was actually the second man left in the ring. Who was the other? Big Show, and this was a Miz-match, as Show wins the match and the beautiful trophy.
The awesome crowd of over seventy-seven thousand people at Levi's Stadium witnessed one of the best wrestling events in recent memory for the WWE. The build up was less than stellar, and had it not been for Mr. Paul Heyman, the main event would've been even less anticpated. With the programs of Raw and Smackdown delivering fairly mediocre builds to big time matches for the most part, expectations weren't extremely high. By the end of the night, man was I wrong! From the onset as Grammy-Award winning Cali native Aloe Blacc did his rendition of "America The Beautiful", the atmosphere was at Super Bowl levels and we were off and running with the Inter-Continental Ladder Match with seven great athletes consisting of Daniel Bryan, Doplh Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Stardust, and the champion Bad News Barrett. The embarassing, at times, build to this was everyone stealing the belt and running away with it. This match more than made up for it with all kinds of sincere physicality. Ladder spots and high risk spots were common in this match with Dean Ambrose taking the nastiest bump of the match as Luke Harper ( a former adversary of his in indie companies like Dragon Gate and CZW) powerbombed him through a ladder on the outside. It ultimately came to dualing head butts between the two most likely people to win the title, Daniel and Dolph. Dolph eventually falls off ladder and Daniel wins his first I-C title in what was a standout match. I can't help but think that Bryan will bring back an old school work ethic with the belt and will put the title in as a big a class as the big title, but only Vince can tell, as opposed to time.
Next up was Randy Orton, who was in his twelth straight WM, against the 'it' man of the moment in the company, Seth Rollins. Fairly good match but it was the ending that was the ass kicker. As Rollins, the Money In The Bank contract holder up to this point, was setting up for his Curb Stomp finisher, he was RKOed in mid-air and it was definitely a thing of beauty. Needless to say Orton was the victor. However, we would not be finished seeing the wrestler formerly known as Tyler Black (to the unaware that's Seth), so in case you've been under a rock, stay tuned!
Up next was the most anticpated match of the evening, "The Icon" Sting vs. "The Game" Triple H. Hell finally starting producing icicles once we heard Sting had officially signed on with Vince, but when we finally saw him emerge at Survivor Series to cost Team Authority the match, it was unfathomable. Fast forward months later up to this past Sunday, we were finally here. Yes, Sting had openly said he wanted hisWrestlemania moment to be with another icon in his own right, The Undertaker, but due to not knowing the health status at the time of Taker, he went with his ssecond option of the former thirteen time champ. The Sting entrance was pretty good and worthy of the mystique that Sting carries with him. However, the Terminator entrance of Hunter was just too much. I get he wants the big entrance for the big show but this was among his worse. Nevertheless, the match was as good as one would think. For fifty-six years young, Sting was able to still hold his own in a match againsty someone ten years his younger. Granted, his dropkicks aren't as high nor is his Stinger Splash, but the fact that he was doing it in a WWE ring was enough to warrant the crowd to chant "You still got it" within minutes. Now is where it gets hokey. First we see memebers of DX run down to try and interfere only for Sting to readily handle them. Next comes the original members of the NWO, Hollywood Hogan (remember Hulk is in red and yellow, not black and white), Scott Hall (celebrating three years of sobriety), and the new Hall Of Famer, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash. Longtime Monday Night War enthusiasts dreamed of these two factions beating the hell out of each other, it just took fourteen years to do so. We also saw HHH's best friend, "Mr. Wrestlemania", HBK himself, Shawn Michaels super kick Sting into oblivion. Finally, after nailing Sting with the head of his broken sledgehammer, Hunter got the win, but in what was a fauirly strange turn of events, the two warriors shook hands afterwards. How the hell am I gonna shake hands with the man thast beat me by using a sledgehammer?? Also you have to wonder what Sean "X-Pac" Waltman was thinking during the brawl, as he wa actually a member of both factions.
Music break time, as Blink 182's famed drummer Travis Barker was alongside Skylar Grey and west coast hip-hop up-and-comer Kid Ink. Ehhh!
The Divas match was next, as The Bellas faced off against the team of AJ Lee and Paige, both of whom between them have won five Divas Titles. The match actually wasn't too bad and showed how far both Brie and Divas Champ Nikki Bella have come along. AJ and Paige came out the winners, as Paige looked a little visibly emotional as this was not only her first Wrestlemania, but her first win there. The irony was that she debuted last year the day after Wrestlemania.
Next was the United States Title match between the challenger John Cena and the undefeated champion Rusev. This is the second straight year Cena was not in a high profile, marquee-type match, plus competing for something other than the WWE Title. Much like Paige, Rusev debuted the day after Wrestlemania on the main roster from the red hot NXT brand. Unlike the Triple H entrance, Rusev's entrance kicked major ass, as he came out of a military tank. Next came a pro-U.S. video package that was followed by Cena running down the ramp. The match wasn't extraordinary but it wasn't bad either. Cena picked up the win, his second U.S. Title (he won his first at Wrestlemania XX), and put a halt to the young Russian's undefeated streak.
Next, we see The Authority in Steph and a victorious Hunter proudly boasting about the record attendance at Levi's Stadium. Then we hear The Rock's music (we knew The Rock was there after we saw his mother sitting right next to the widow of Hall Of Famer Arnold Skaaland in the front row). The Rock, who's currently promoting Furious 7, stopped by to bring his usual Rock charisma by insulting The Levesques, er I mean The Authority. Steph did an excellent being the bitchy heel that antagonized and slapped and pushed The Rock until he went to the front and was next to UFC Women's Bantemweight champion, the undefeated Ronda Rousey. The crowd was eating this up, as Rock and Rousey handled The Authority as only they could. I definitely expect a mixed tag match or at least a one on one match between Hunter and The Rock by Wrestlemania 32.
Next up was the Bra Wyatt/Undertaker match. It's no secret that the young Wyatt is my favorite character there but he's losts a little something since the powers that be split him from Luke and Erick Rowan. Nevertheless, his entrance wasn't as enthralling and cool as last year's when he faced Cena, but it was still Wyatt, as he made the scarecrows come to life and follow him to the ring. I had a small issue with that damned lantern being lit in the daytime but whatever. His opponent was next, The mighty Undertaker, who hadn't been seen since that historic moment last year when Brock Lesnar ended the Streak at twenty-one. Plus there was much Internet speculation as to the physical well being of Taker. Those questions were answered quickly as he looked much better than last year. The fifty-year old didn't execute his over the top rope cross body, but one can never get weary of watching him do Old School. While it was impressive that Wyatt kicked out the Tombstone, it was a cool moment when Wyatt did that spider walk of his, then was scared out his boots when Taker sat up. If at first you don't succeed, try again, thus another Tombstone and Wyatt went down to the legend.
Now we're here at the main event. Lesnar looked like the beast he has been built to be and the fans gave him a huge pop. Now te young challenger was different. Roman Reigns was heavily booed but he was still focused. Shame on Vince for doing this to him and makng him thenew Cena in terms of being hated. This is what I feared. Anyways, the introductions were over, including a rivoting one from Heyman, and te match was underway. Brock was popped open underneath his eye early butthat didn't stop him whatsoever, as he was very dominant against the young Samoan. Later in the match, Lesnar was busted open when his head hit the steel connector between the turnbuckle and post and was bleeding profusely. This is when Reigns picked it up two notches. Even in spite of his offense, Lesnar was still the rabid animal and brought his dominance back. Just after his third F5 on Reigns, Seth Rollins' music played and the crowd popped. He was cashing in the contract and made it a triple threat match. After getting speared by Reigns, Lesnar rolled out to the outside, then Rollins curbstomped Reigns to win the WWE World Title in a shocking turn of events. What a hell of a main event and even bigger finish.
Not too many bad things do I have to say about this Wrestlemania so kudos to Vince for presenting his biggest show very notably and in a way it was supposed to be shown. This was easily one of the top ten best ones ever and hopefully they will keep this momentum up going into next year in Arlington, TX. This was an 8.5/10 which considering most of Vince's shows is very good. I gave it a 9/10 last year so this was right up there.
If you watched last night's Raw, you saw just how CRAZY that event was and how compelling the story lines were, not to mention the main roster debuts of Adrien Neville and the Lucha Dragons. You only wish it could be this way every week. A man can dream can't he? Until next time folks, take it easy and don't get F5'd by (in my Heyman voice) BAARROOOCKKK LLLLLLLESSNNAAARRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!
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