It's cool that the Usos got to walk that WrestleMania asile despite Jay's shoulder injury. Jimmy competed alone for most of the match due to Jay "being taken out of the match" early. A nice, fast-moving high-energy opener to reward the sun-soaked crowd. And considering the amount of participants - four teams, Natalya, Torito, Naomi - it came off well. In an ideal world, tag titles would be on the main show, but it was creative for what it was. A lot of chaos, some fun spots (loved the Sharpshooter on Torito), and a solid win for Cesaro and Kidd, who I hope continue to dominate the tag team ranks.
Winners: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
With Cesaro's big Battle Royal win not pushing him up to, or even adjacent to, the top last year like some expected, this event has already lost some of its luster. Winning it essentially doesn't guarantee anything. Like winning Tough Enough. So each year the winner will probably be "whoever's sort of hot at the moment but may not be a month from now." Or to reward veterans (like Big Show) with something. Smartly done though, it can be used like the Rumble. To facilitate feuds, start new angles, end rivalries, etc.
Some nice beats here. Miz and Mizdow eliminating Alex Riley, Bo Dallas eliminating himself, Hitami and Kidd kicking each other (and Big Show eliminating Hitami - boooo!), Cesaro eliminating Kane, Cesaro *almost* eliminating Big Show, Mizdow refusing to help Miz fight Big Show, Mizdow eliminating Miz. It was all booked waaaaay better than the Rumble, for sure.
Big Show winning was a big let down, for sure, but even I, given the characters, couldn't figure out a way to make Mizdow go over him. Though I would have loved for it to happen. The final minutes of this one were a lot of fun. I suppose, in the end, it'd be weird if Big Show never won the Andre Battle Royal. Especially since we know it's not necessarily the "thing to help elevate new stars."
#RIPAxelMania
Winner: The Big Show
YES! YES! YES!
So Bryan won after a really fun "HeadbuttMania" finish. It came down to him and Ziggler at the top of the ladder in the end and The Goat's cranium was just too strong. Putting the Ladder Match first was smart. It pumped up the crowd and it separated Bryan's win (or potential loss, if they wanted to create an ugly atmosphere) as far a possible from Reigns and Lesnar in the main event.
A nicely worked, hard-hitting spotfest. Ambrose took a nasty looking powerbomb onto a ladder on the outside of the ring, which took him out of the match essentially. He looked legit banged up.
Overall, a nice way to open the show - give the most popular guy in the company a huge win while removing the taste of Big Show's pre-show win. The match was a bit crowded, but everyone was so good in it that it played super-smooth - rough landings and all.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
The crowd really stayed alive for this one. Well done contest. I'm digging the bright, sunshine-y aspect of the matches this year. Reminds me of WrestleMania IX. It might take away some of the mystique later on with the entrances, but I appreciate everything feeling different.
AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST F'N FUN RKOS EVER! Off the curb stomp, tossing Rollins way high up in the air. I loved it. the press box here at Levi's Stadium popped HUGE for that. Sure, Rollins could have gone over Orton, but Rollins is still the MITB case holder and the match is far enough removed from the main event that he could still play a huge roll in the Brock/Roman finish. Plus, the pattern usually is for the guy who's about to become world champ to lose a lot before he cashes in big.
Another strong match. The build up to the match over the past month wasn't the best, but the match told a great story and had a tremendous finish. Rollins lost but he comes out unscathed.
Winner: Randy Orton
Okay, so Sting lost. That was very surprising. It seemed like since this was his first match in the WWE it was almost a guaranteed win. Of course, Triple H has also lost his last four or so matches. So maybe wanted to keep him looking strong from the standpoint that he's still going to wrestle occasionally and it needs to remain a big deal.
Also, this was booked, in the build, as WWE vs. WCW. So WCW, as a concept, couldn'treally go over here. I'm just explaining things somewhat rationally to mask my disappointment over Stinger's loss.
It was also weird because one of the reasons we assumed Sting didn't face Undertaker this year was because neither he or Taker could lose.
The first half of the match was a slower, more traditional affair designed to played to Sting's strengths as a guy nearing 60. Then DX ran out to save Hunter from the Scorpion Deathlock! And we got a huge top rope splash by Sting on all of WCW's old adversaries! Then the NWO came out! Then everything became beautiful, over-stuffed chaos! It basically became a microcosm of the Monday Night Wars. It was a messy affair, but - for heaven's sake - Hogan took a bump! Scott Hall took a bump! HBK super kicked Sting! Sting's bat smashed Hunter's sledgehammer! I understandthe ending, and that WCW couldn't triumph over WWE, but we all still wanted that big Sting win! In the end, I think the match was so much fun that most everyone will overlook the very end and the actual winner.
Also, sure, the Terminator Genisys cross-promotion with Paramount makes no sense, story-wise. Or even Triple H-wise. But who wouldn't want to walk to the ring dressed like a cyber-barbarian? And Sting really has nothing to do with kabuki drum lines. But, despite out-of-sorts context, the entrances were very cool. Obvious product endorsement aside.
Winner: Triple H
Probably the best WrestleMania outing the Divas have had in years (considering the blip of a match last year and getting totally cut the year before). The most standard match so far, but still a good effort by all involved. The ending seemed to be leading to a typical Bella cheat-win, but Team Freak and Geek pulled it out and came out with the "W." Given all that happened on the post-Mania RAW last year, this was a nice full-circle culmination of a match. Two separate feuds basically converged here (though how Nikki vs. Brie actually ended never got sorted out) and the fan-favorite alterna-babes go the big win. Nikki tapped to the Black Widow too. I'm glad it wasn't a roll-up.
Winners: AJ Lee and Paige
Dammit, a win for the U.S. that involves Lana getting hurt is no kind of victory. For shame! No one really liked that finish. Despite Cena having patriotism in his corner, Cena-Hate is the strongest force on Earth. And the crowd, thankfully, remembered to sing "JOHN CENA SUUUUCKS" along with his theme song when he came out. A trend that began on the post-Mania RAW last year.
A good showing by Rusev, but what happens to him now? No U.S. title. No win streak. No Lana. She's got to leave for a month or so to shoot a WWE Studios movie so now there's a rift. When she returns, will they still b a thing? I worry for him now.
This was mostly a typical Cena match. Not terrible, but nothing really got better than Rusev's entrance, honestly (though Cena's Springboard Stunner was new though!). Lana coming out first with those soldiers and then Rusev on top of that freakin' tank! That was gold!
Winner: John Cena
A bit of unexpected awesomeness - with a little Furious 7 flavor to it. Triple H and Steph came (at first, it seemed, out of character) to lay into the crowd and gloat about Hunter's big win over Sting. Out came The Rock (who must have been jetted out quick after hosting SNL last night) to verbally lay into Trips and the Billion Dollar Princess. It wasn't long before Steph slapped Rock, causing him to rethink both his motives and strategy.
AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, Rock's co-star and UFC sensation Ronda Rousey was at ringside. He invited her into the ring and Rocky and Rousey proceeded to layeth a serving of smack down on Hunter and Steph. Steph escaped mostly unscathed, but Hunter took a judo flip from Ronda. Totally harmless, but also good times. And perhaps a set up for Rock vs. Hunter at Mania 32. Though the idea mostly being tossed around is Rock vs. Brock.
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