Roman Reigns walked into Wrestlemania as the favourite.
It’s not unusual for a challenger to enter a game or match as the favourite. In the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, the Detroit Red Wings looked to repeat as Stanley Cup champs but were underdogs against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the defending NBA champions, but it was the Golden State Warriors who were the favourites in The Finals.
It wasn’t a foregone conclusion that the Pens and Warriors would walk away with a championship, but it was a somewhat safe bet.
Roman Reigns wasn’t a safe bet, he was the lock of all locks. He was the Harlem Globetrotters.
But even the Generals are due for a win from time to time.
Four days before Wrestlemania, UFC President Dana White announced Brock Lesnar would be returning to the octagon, leading fans to suspect that the coronation of Reigns would take place in the main event of Wrestlemania.
The fans booed both wrestlers as they entered the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, there were chants of, “this is awful” and neither Reigns nor Lesnar could garner any sort of emotion from the crowd other than apathy. Even when Lesnar elbowed Reigns in the crown of the forehead, opening up a massive cut, the crowd couldn’t care less. No matter what was involved in the body of the match, fans knew the ending.
But then Lesnar retained. There was some shock, but it was mostly surrounding the future of Lesnar and his supposed return to the UFC. Reigns, meanwhile, was left in a pool of his own blood with his future just as clouded.
The main event of Wrestlemania was always expected to be Lesnar and Reigns, but no one thought it would end with a Lesnar victory.
The “Dream Match”
There was a large portion of the WWE Universe who thought the WWE Championship match between A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura should go on last, based on the fact they are arguably the two best wrestlers on the WWE roster.
The match ended up going on 11th on the 14-match card and lasted just over 20 minutes. The two put on a very solid showing, different from the previous encounter they had in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The most noteworthy point of the match came after the final bell had sounded and Styles retained. Nakamura scored a low blow, signifying his change in attitude and a turn to a heel character. Nakamura has now lost both his WWE Championship opportunities (the other against Jinder Mahal) so a change in direction should be beneficial for him.
Now fans will be left to wonder what’s next for the Japanese superstar.
Daniel Bryan is back
The leader of the “Yes Movement” returned to one of the biggest reactions of the evening. Bryan teamed up with Shane McMahon to take on Quebec natives Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, and was victorious.
Bryan was taken out of the match early, but after returning, looked extremely strong. He eventually submitted Zayn to win the match.
There will most likely be a “superstar shakeup” in the next few weeks, meaning wrestlers will change rosters from either Raw or Smackdown. Bryan is arguably the most popular male wrestler on the roster, and now that Nakamura is on the opposite end of the babyface spectrum, fans can start fantasy booking a match between Bryan and Nakamura.
Women’s division shines
There were two one-on-one women’s championship matches for the first time in Wrestlemania history, and both matches put on a very solid showing.
Nia Jax captured the Raw Women’s Championship in an emotional bout with her former (on-screen) best friend Alexa Bliss. The two told a great story going into the match, with Bliss bullying Jax for her size, and then played on that emotion in the ring. Jax looked great, proving herself as a legitimate monster, while Bliss played the role of cocky and cowardly heel to perfection.
The Smackdown Live Women’s Championship match was an instant classic. Charlotte Flair and Asuka put on a fantastic display of pro wrestling with brilliant athleticism involved. It was a genuine shock that Asuka’s undefeated streak of over 500 days was broken after submitting to Charlotte, who retained her title. This match can be considered as one of the best women’s matches of all time, if not the best.
Get “Rowdy”
“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey made her in-ring WWE debut, alongside Kurt Angle, taking on the team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Rousey was great in her pro wrestling debut, showing lots of charisma in the ring, while also demonstrating that her previous MMA fighting experience translates extremely well to a WWE ring. Rousey looked like a true star, making McMahon tap out to end the match.
To add some real-life intrigue to the match, UFC President Dana White was in attendance and sitting close to ring side. After Rousey won the match, the camera quickly cut to White who was on his feet celebrating the win.
Lesnar may be going back to the UFC, but Rousey is staying in WWE.
Undertaker returns
Will he or won’t he?
Despite the fact that John Cena had been calling out the Undertaker for weeks, there was still some speculation surrounding whether or not he would make it to Wrestlemania. Undertaker had seemingly retired after Wrestlemania 33, leaving his hat and trench coat in the middle of the ring after losing to Reigns.
Well he came back – and beat down Cena in surprising fashion.
The Undertaker defeated Cena in less than three minutes, leaving the crowd and television viewers very surprised. It was a strange match, but brilliantly executed, leaving the fans questioning whether or not it would happen all night.
Braun and Nicholas
There was also a large question mark surrounding who would be Braun Strowman’s tag-team partner as he attempted to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships.
Enter Nicholas.
Strowman went into the crowd and grabbed a young fan to join him as his partner. The kid stood on the apron as the crowd went nuts for the team of Strowman and Nicholas, who eventually came out on top to win the tag titles.
That’s right, a pre-teen kid and Braun Strowman have won the belts. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but also one of the greatest professional wrestling maneuvers of all time.
Now we’ll see if Nicholas will be able to hang on.
Best of the Rest
• Naomi won the inaugural Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal on the pre-show. The best part of the match involved the furthering of the Bayley-Sasha Banks storyline. Bayley and Banks have put on incredible matches in the past, and the two look poised to meet again in the near future.
• Matt Hardy won the fifth annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, thanks to some help from Bray Wyatt, who appears to be changing his attitude to that of a babyface. Fans have long clamoured for a turn in the Wyatt character, and now it appears Hardy and Wyatt have aligned. Wyatt has fantastic potential in his new role.
• The Bludgeon Brothers won the Smackdown Live tag team titles in a match that lacked substance, but still accomplished a goal of showcasing Luke Harper and Erick Rowan as monsters in the division.
• Mahal captured the United States Championship in a fatal four way match that didn’t feature anything spectacular.
• NXT put on an incredible show the night before Wrestlemania, again showcasing the future of WWE. Adam Cole won the newly introduced NXT North American Championship in a six-way ladder match that will go down as a classic.
[relatedlinks]