So yesterday was “The Showcase of The Immortals”, the “Superbowl of Wrestling”, better known as “Wrestlemania 35” from Metlife Stadium from New York!
I'll preface this by saying that me and a few people in the building are “wrestling geeks”, seriously we watch “Raw” and “Smackdown” plus all the pay-per-views.
Let's start with the “not so good”. That show was too dang long, the “pre-show” started at 4pm our time, the official show didn't start until 6pm our time. I get that it is the WWE's biggest event, but wowza I didn't go to bed until around midnight. Although some of the matches in the pre-show were pretty decent, they almost seemed like an afterthought. Seeing Curt Hawkins finally getting a win was pretty cool (if you don't know him, Curt has lost 259 matches in a row) plus he won the Raw tag team championship with his buddy Zach Ryder. The Women's Battle Royal was pretty exciting, although the Andre The Giant Battle Royal was predictable and seemed like a comedy bit that went on a little too long. Now on to the main show, this is where I have very few criticisms, the Samoa Joe vs Rey Mysterio Jr match was nothing but a glorified “squash” match, from what I heard Rey was actually hurt, so it's understandable I suppose. It was great seeing Roman Reigns back in action after he announced that his leukemia was in remission, he seemed a little rusty in the ring taking on Drew McIntyre, but overall the match was good. I was stoked about the Batista/Triple H match, but by that time of the night I was pretty fatigued, so the match was ok. The disappointment to me was how Kurt Angle was used in his final match in the WWE, he lost to Baron Corbin, I didn't have a problem with the way it ended, it just seems Kurt could've received a better send-off. Finally, The Bobby Lashley vs “The Demon” Finn Balor was a good match but I think the fatigue and the fact the rivalry went on way too long it made me go, eh.
On to the good! WWE is proud to call themselves “Sports Entertainment” and boy was I entertained! The official show kicked off with a “BANG!” Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins, I think any wrestling fan was thinking to themselves “Oh no, they are going to have Brock stay the Universal Champ for another decade.” It didn't happen, Seth won the title with a short and brutal match, looks like Lesnar is back to the UFC for another match. The Randy Orton and AJ Styles match was great, started a little slow, but once it got going it was a lot of fun to watch. The Smackdown tag team championship fatal 4-way was action-packed. The Shane MacMahon and Miz match could've have been the match of the night, brutal and great entertainment. The women's Fatal 4-way tag team championship match was fantastic and added a lot to the show. Now the match of the night was Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston, the storytelling for the past 2 moths culminated last night, actioned packed and finished leaving ALL wrestling fans satisfied, with Kofi leaving as champ. Last night also saw the return of John Cena, not the polarizing good guy that people like to boo, but the arrogant bad guy “Doctor of Thugonomics” to squash Elias, fun for sure! The night wrapped up with the match everyone was anxiously anticipating. The first ever women's main event at Wrestlemania with a triple threat match between, Ronda Rousey, “The Man” Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, which had THE most popular star in the WWE unifying the Women's Championship, Becky Lynch is “The Man”!
I talked to the other folks who like wrestling in the building (the other) John gave it a “B”, Terry Stevens admitted he fell asleep before the end but gave it an “A-” and I would give it a solid “B+”. Did you watch? Did you have a favorite and/or least favorite match? What grade would you give the show? Thanks for reading and comment below…
