WWE Wrestlemania XXX Review

The Showcase of the Immortals, Wrestlemania XXX, took place last Sunday at the Merecdes-Benz Superdome. The last few Wrestlemanias have been ok at best. Will number 30 be better than them? Let's take a look

The Pre-Show match was a fatal 4-way elimination match for the Tag Team Championship as The Usos  deal with the challenge of The Real Americans, Curtis Axel and Ryback and Los Matadores. Los Matadores are the first to be eliminated after about five minutes as Swagger makes Fernando submit to the Patriot Lock. A few minutes later, Cesaro threw Ryback up in the air and hit an European uppercut. He then followed that with an Neutraliser to eliminate Axel and Ryback. Despite the Real Maericans doing all the eliminatiosn, it was not enough as The Usos did a double superkick then a double top rope splash on Cesaro to win the match and retain the titles. Swagger did not take the loss well and put Cesaro in the Patriot Lock. Despite Zeb Coulter's attempts to calm things down, Cesaro responded by doing a giant swing on Swagger.

Whilst I wish that it was on th emain card, it was a really enjoyable match. I'm slightly disappointed that the Real Americans have now broken up but I feel that Cesaro has outgrown them and needs to move on. Only time will tell if Paul Heyman is the right man to help Cesaro get to the next level.
Winners: The Usos
Predictions: 1 for 1

The event officially starts with the host Hulk Hogan coming down to the ring. He is soon followed by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Whilst it was nice to see all three of them in the ring, I wasn't a fan of this segment. Hogan got Superdome confused with Silverdome (the site of Wrestlemania III) and I just felt it was too long like The Rock's segment at the start of Wrestlemania XXVII. However, the fans in the stadium seemed to like it so who am I to argue?

The first match is between Triple H and Daniel Bryan and the winner will go on to compete in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. This turned out, surprisingly, to be a very technical match by both competitors. We all know that Bryan has those skills but I forgot that Triple H also has those skills as he has rarely shown them over the last couple of years. There were some really good spots: the tornado DDT from the apron by Bryan; Triple H almost tearing Bryan's arm off by slamming it against the announce table; Triple H using submission moves to put pressure on the injured arm; and Bryan hitting 2 German suplex pin followed by Triple H hitting a brutal tiger suplex. Despite Triple H almost beheading Bryan with a clothesline and hitting a pedigree; Bryan hits a running knee to the face to get the win. Afterwards, Stephanie McMahon slaps Bryan, giving Triple H the chance to destroy Bryan's shoulder with a steel chair. This was a really good match. Whether it is on the same level as the Bret/Owen match at Wrestlemania X, which is generally regarded to be the best opening matchin Wrestlemania history; it's hard to say. Regardless of that, it was a brilliant way to open the Pay-Per-View.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Predictions: 2 for 2

Next was the team of The New Age Outlaws and Corporate Kane taking on The Shield. The Shield interrupt The Outlaws entrance (thank you, by the way) and this match lasts a lot less longer than I expected it to be. The Shield completely dominate this match. Ambrose and Rollins do a suicide dive to the Outlaws and Reigns spears Kane then spears the Outlaws at the same time. The Shield then do a double powerbomb on the Outlaws to get the win. I do feel sorry for The Shield and Kane getting less than 5 minutes on the biggest show of the year. However, this was the kind of match it needed to be. The Shield are a group of young guys who are awesome and should destroy a team of 40-50 year olds without breaking a sweat. Guess what, that's what happened although I'm still getting used to The Shield being good guys.

Winners: The Shield

Predictions: 3 for 3

The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was up next and the participants are Alberto Del Rio, Big E, Big Show, Brad Maddox(?), Brodus Clay, Cesaro, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Darren Young, David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, Drew McIntyre, Goldust, The Great Khali, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, Justin Gabriel, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Sheamus, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Sin Cara Version 2, Titus O'Neill, Xavier Woods, Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder. The highlights of this match are Mark Henry clotheslining both Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre then Gorilla pressing Heath Slater on top of them; Fandango celebrating eliminating Big E by dancing on the apron only to get punched in the chest to death by Sheamus; and Mysterio getting eliminated by an Euopean uppercut by Cesaro. There was a nice bit where Cesaro threw Kingston over the turnbuckle and he lands on the floor but his feet lands on the steel steps, saving him from elimination. Cesaro later on counters a trouble in paradise by Kingston into a giant swing. After Kingston is eliminated by Sheamus, we are left with Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio and the Big Show. Del Rio eliminates Ziggler with a kick to the head then Sheamus and Del Rio eliminate each other. Cesaro then picks up Big Show like he is a baby and simply puts him over the top rope to win the match. It was a really enjoyable match and I was going to predict Cesaro but he wasn't at the time one of the participants and I thought it was a nice touch to have Big Show win it. Alas it was not to be but what a way to end the battle royal.

Winner: Cesaro

Predictions: 3 for 4

John Cena versus Bray Wyatt is a match that I was quite looking forward to seeing as I thought could be interesting to see. I thought the Wyatt's entrance was absolutely amazing, incorporating the culture of the city. I love Bray as a character, preaching to the audience and his offence is quite unique. You get to see Cena get angry and brutally beat Wyatt after a little while and the Wyatt Family are encouraging to let out all his rage. There was an awesome move when Cena goes for the five knuckle shuffle and gets scared shitless by Wyatt suddenly raising himself up from his back like he was about to do a reverse crab walk. Wyatt gets a great near fall when he reverses a top rope fame asser into a powerbomb and later on, he DDTs Cena onto the ring apron.There was another cool bit when Cena does a cross body on Harper and Rowan on the outside and almost gets the win with an attitude adjustment. Wyatt hits a Sister Abigail for 2; and in an interesting bit, he grabs a chair, gives it to Cena and demands that Cena hits him with it. Cena hits Rowan with it instead and hits the atttitude adjustment to get the win. This was a pretty good match and it was an interesting story that they told. Whilst I did predict Cena to win, I would have preferred it if Wyatt had won the match.

Winner: John Cena

Predictions: 4 for 5

After we see the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014, which was Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Mr T, Paul Bearer, Carlos Colon, Lita, Razor Ramon and The Ultimate Warrior. I think that was a really good match, although I was surprised that Warrior and Razor were included. However, they have created significant moments of wrestling history. As for Warrior, he unfortunately passed away a couple of days after Wrestlemania and he will be sorely missed by the WWE Universe.

We now get Brock Lesnar being the latest one to try to break the streak of The Undertaker. Undertaker's entrance was quite interesting with coffins of all of his streak opponents including Brock's. When Taker comes out he points to Brock's coffin which opens then bursts into flames. I full expected this to be a match with a very strong MMA style. As is now the norm with Undertaker matches, there is a lot of brawling and fighting in the corners. Undertaker goes for the chokeslam but Lesnar gets out of it and goes for the F-5 but is unsuccessful. Lesnar keeps Taker down by focusing on his legs. Undertaker starts to make a comeback and hits a chokeslam for 2. Lesnar then hits an F-5 for 2. Undertaker then suddenly applies the hell's gate but Lesnar powerbombs himself out of it. Undertaker tries it again but once again, Lesnar hits a powerbomb to get out of it. Lesnar then applies the kimura but it's reversed into a kimura by Undertaker and Lesnar eventually gets to the ropes. Undertaker goes for old school but Lesnar pulls him off the top rope into an F-5 for 2. Undertaker hits a powerbomb then hits the tombstone for 2, shocking him and Paul Heyman. Undertaker goes for another tombstone but Lesnar reverses into a F-5 to get the win?? Yes, you read that right. Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker, shocking everyone including Paul Heyman. Afterwards, the crowd applauds the Undertaker as he leaves.

I'm torn about this match. The story going into this was terrible with Heyman being the saving grace. The match was not as great as Undertaker's last few Streak matches, which considering its significance is a disappointment. Undertaker looked really sluggish during the match, which was not helped by him suffering a concussion during the match and it was also weird seeing the graphic of 21-1 being displayed. As for Lesnar being the one to end the streak, I don't really think it was the right call only because he is a part-time wrestler (although saying that, so is the Undertaker) and I don't really think he needs. However, when I look back on this in a year when I will be doing the podcast about it, I could think about it differently. If Lesnar does nothing of significance over the next year, then it would have been a waste.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Predictions: 4 for 6

The penultimate match is the 14-Divas single-fall match for the Divas Championship. AJ Lee was defending her Championship against Askana, Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Cameron, Emma, Eva Marie, Layla, Naomi, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mednes, Summer Rae and Tamina Snuka. All the Divas attack Tamina and AJ before they all split off and fight each other. There was one bit where there were 6 pins at the same time and another when the Bellas do suicide dives on most of the Divas. AJ eventually applies the black widow on Cameron to make her submit and she retains her Championship. This match was not as bad of a clusterfuck as I thought it would be. It's a shame it was after the Undertaker's match where the crowd were still recovering from what happened there.

Winner: AJ Lee

Predictions: 4 for 7

After a segment featuring Mean Gene Okerlund and all the participants from the main event of Wrestlemania I: Hulk Hogan, Mr T, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr Wonderful Paul Orndoff and referee Pat Patterson; we get the main event. It is for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as Randy Orton defends his Championship against Batista and Daniel Bryan. Orton and Batista go after Bryan's injured shoulder during the match and Bryan doesn't feature that much in the early going. Bryan does get back into it with a spot where he has both guys in opposite corners and he is hitting hem with missile dropkicks. Bryan does apply the LeBell Yes No Lock on Orton. However, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and referee Scott Armstrong come down and Triple H pulls match referee Mike Choida out. Batista takes advantage and hits a spine buster then a Batista bomb for Bryan. Scott Armstrong comes in and makes the count but Bryan kicks out at 2. Bryan kicks Armstrong in the head then does a suicide dive on Triple H, Stephanie and Armstrong. Triple H then gets a sledgehammer but he receives a kick then gets hit with the sledgehammer. Bryan then rolls up Batista and Chioda slides in to make the count but Orton breaks up the count. Orton and Batista then team up on Bryan for a little while, culminating in a powerbomb/reverse RKO combo that sends Bryan through the Spanish announce table. Doctors and paramedics come out to attend to Bryan. Batista then attacks Orton before Orton focuses his attack on Bryan. Batista goes to spear Orton but hits Bryan instead. Orton then hits the RKO on Batista for 2. Batista hits the Batista bomb on Orton but he then gets hit with a running knee by Bryan followed by the LeBell Yes No Lock to get the win and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Afterwards. Bryan celebrates with his family. I really enjoyed this match and I thought it told a really good story, especially with Triple H and Stephanie interfering.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Predictions: 5 for 8

I really enjoyed this Wrestlemania. Most of the matches were fun to watch and told good stories, especially the two Daniel Bryan matches. If I had one slight gripe, it might be better to have another match inbetween the Undertaker match and the main event. The crowd were really struggling to get back into it after they saw the end of The Streak. Despite that, it was a good event and I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel Bryan as Champion.