Wrestlemania 34 took place on Sunday 8th April at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The card looks pretty good with a couple of dream matches so, let's take a look.
The first match on the Kick Off Show is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with the following taking part: Aiden English, Konnor, Curt Hawkins, R-Truth, Primo Colon, Mike Kanellis, Viktor, Zack Ryder, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Shelton Benjamin,Heath Slater, Rhyno, "Woken" Matt Hardy, Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Sin Cara, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Chad Gable, Apollo, Titus O'Neil, Goldust, Tye Dillinger, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Mojo Rawley and Baron Corbin. English is the first to be eliminated and Ziggler spends the whole match getting out of being eliminated before Kane throws him out. The final 3 end up being Hardy, Rawley and Corbin. Crobin and Rawley beat up Hardy before Bray Wyatt appears and helps Hardy to get the win. This match wasn't anything special for me.
Winner: "Woken" Matt Hardy (0 for 1)
The second match is a match that should have been on the main card: Cedric Alexander taking on Mustafa Ali for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship. The match is a back and forth affair throughout. Ali goes for the 450 Splash but Alexander pulls him off, sending him crashing to the floor. Eventually, Alexander hits the Lumber Check to get the win. This was a really good match and well done to Cedric Alexander on becoming Cruiserwieght Champion.
Winner: Cedric Alexander (1 for 2)
The main event of the Kick Off Show was the Women's Battle Royal involving: Carmella, Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Kairi Sane, Naomi, Lana, Kavita Devi, Taynara Conti, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, Becky Lynch, Mickie James, Peyton Royce, Natalya, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks and Bayley. Carmella is the first to be eliminated as all the other women gang up on her. The Riott Squad team up to eliminate a few of the women and we also see Bel Air use her hair to whip Lynch. Bayley and Sasha team up to eliminate Natalya and the Riott Squad. Bayley then thinks she's won after eliminating Sasha. However, Naomi reappears as she never got eliminated. Naomi then eliminates Bayley to get the win. This was quite an entertaining match although the ending was a bit confusing as we assumed that Naomi was eliminated.
Winner: Naomi (1 for 3)
The first match of Wrestlemania was Seth Rollins and Finn Balor challenge Hollywood Miz in a triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship.The match starts at at fast pace with one highlight being Rollins doing multiple suicide dives. Miz puts Balor in the Figure 4 but Rollins hits a splash to break it up. Each one of them has a chance to win it, including Miz getting close with a Skull Crushing Finale. In the end, Balor hits a Coup de Grace on Miz but Rollins hits Balor with a Curb Stomp. Rollins then hits Miz with a Curb Stomp to get the win. This was a really good match between all of them and a great way to start the show.
Winner: Seth Rollins (1 for 4)
The next match is one that I'm really looking forward to: Asuka challenging Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Charlotte injures her right shoulder during the match and Asuka takes advantage of that. Asuka has a chance to win it when she reverses a moonsault into a triangle choke but Charlotte gets out of it. They both use awesome moves to try and get the win such as Cahrlotte hitting a Spanish fly. Charlotte eventually gets Asuka into the Figure 8 and Asuka submits...? Wait, what? Asuka lost? Ok, I did not see that coming. Afterwards, Asuka congratulates Charlotte.
This match was brilliant and it's one of the best women's matches ever seen at Wrestlemania. Both women raised their game and you could either one of them winning. I was shocked that Asuka lost but I suppose they can do more with her without the streak. I would have loved her to continue and slowly develop into the heel that we saw hints of in NXT. Ah well, I guess it wasn't to be. As for Charlotte, she stays Champion for two more days before Carmella successfully cashes in her Money in the Bank briefcase.
Winner: Charlotte (1 for 5)
We now get a Fatal 4-Way Match for the United States Championship as Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Rusev. Highlights of the match include: Orton doing a superplex on Roode; and Orton hitting RKOs to Aiden English, Rusev and Mahal. In the end, Rusev is about to put Mahal in The Accolade when Sunil Singh distracts him. This gives Mahal the chance to hit The Kahless to get the win. I thought the match was pretty decent and I'm gutted that Rusev didn't win on Rusev Day.
Winner: Jinder Mahal (1 for 6)
Next we get to see the debut of Ronda Rousey as she teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Triple H sends Angle over the ropes to get the advantage. Stephanie helps out at every opportunity, including pulling Rousey off the apron. Eventually, Rousey gets tagged in and she proceeds to fuck Stephanie up. However, Stephanie gets back into it with a DDT. The match goes back and forth before Rousey puts Stephanie into a brutal armbar to get the win by submission. This match was a lot of fun although I feel that it should have ended a few minutes earlier.
Winners: Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle (2 for 7)
We now get our first Tag Team Championship match as The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers challenge The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Harper and Rowan are completely dominant before The Usos focus their attack on Harper. In the end, Harper hits a sit down powerbomb from the top turnbuckle to get the win. This match was surprisingly short and I did not expect The Bludgeon Brothers to win. Despite that, it was a fun match.
Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers (2 for 8)
Next was supposed to be John Cena taking on The Undertaker. Cena had been in the crowd watching the show as a fan. After the Asuka/Charlotte match, a referee goes to speak to Cena and he runs to the back. Cena comes out and instead of The Undertaker, Elias comes out and does a musical segment. After Cena beats him up and is about to leave, The Undertaker's music hits. Ok, guess we're having the match after all. Pretty much, Undertaker goes through his move set and, despite Cena hitting one move, goes on to win with a Tombstone.
I thought the whole thing was stupid. I found it hard to believe that Cena couldn't get a match at Wrestlemania and then he gets squashed. It felt like a waste of time to me.
Winner: The Undertaker (3 for 9)
After we see the Hall of Fame Class of 2018, we get the return of Daniel Bryan as he teams up with Shane McMahon to take on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Owens and Zayn do a sneak attack and beat up Bryan. While he is getting medical attention, Shane starts the match by himself. Zayn and Owens quickly get the advantage, focusing on Shane's stomach. Owens hits a frog splash but Bryan, out of nowhere, breaks up the pin and eventually gets tagged in. Zayn and Owens hit their finishers but it's not enough as Bryan gets Zayn to submit to the Yes Lock to get the win. I thought the match was pretty decent and it was nice to see Bryan wrestle again.
Winners: Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan (4 for 10)
We now get our second Women's Championship as Nia Jax challenges Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women's Championship. Nia completely fucks up Mickie James before the bell to prevent her from interfering. When the bell rings, Nia throws Alexa round like a rag doll before she gets poked in the eye. This gives Alexa the chance to attack the knee. Alexa hits a Twisted Bliss to the outside and a DDT but it doesn't keep Nia down. In the end, Nia hits a Samoan Drop from the 2nd rope to get the win. This was another fun match to watch.
Winner: Nia Jax (5 for 11)
Now a match that I'm really looking forward to: Shinsuke Nakamura challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Nakamura has the advantage for a little bit, attacking Styles with knee strikes. Styles reverses a suplex to get back some momentum. Nakamura hits a reverse exploder suplex then goes for the Kinshasa. However, Styles manages to reverse it into a Styles Clash to get the win. Afterwards, Nakamura congratulates Styles by hitting a low blow then a Kinshasa, turning heel in the process. The match was pretty good, although I feel that it could have been better.
Winner: AJ Styles (5 for 12)
The penultimate match is for the RAW Tag Team Championship as Cesaro and Sheamus deal with the challenge of Braun Strowman and... Yeah, Strowman decides to go into the crowd and pick a boy named Nicholas. Anyway, Strowman eventually gets worn down and Cesaro and Sheamus but he manages to tag in Nicholas. Nicholas understandably tags back Strowman and he hits Cesaro with a Running Powerslam to get the win. The match was stupid but it was fun. Unfortunately, due to Nicholas (who actually is the son of referee John Cone) having to go through 8 more years of school, they had to vacate the Championship.
Winners: Braun Strowman and Nicholas (6 for 13)
The main event is for the Universal Championship as Roman Reigns challenges Brock Lesnar. The match starts at a fast pace with Lesnar hitting 3 German suplexes before Reigns responds with multiple Superman punches. Lesnar goes on to hit three F5s but Reigns kicks out each time. Lesnar hits a F5, sending Reigns through the German announce table then another one in the ring but Reigns kicks out. Lesnar busts Reigns open and, despite Reigns hitting 2 spears, hits a sixth F5 to get the win. The match was enjoyable to begin with then it became boring with finishers being used for spots. Lesnar winning was a surprise but I assume that Reigns will win it in the near future.
Winner: Brock Lesnar (6 for14)
I thought that Wrestlemania was bit of a mixed bag. There were some really good matches with some surprising results. However, there were some matches that were just stupid and it bought the event down for me. Hopefully, with both brands being involved in every Pay-Per-View from now on, the standard should improve.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
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