Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! It’s time for the biggest show in all the wrestling year. That’s right folks, it’s WrestleMania 32. The waiting is over, the talking can cease. It’s time to put up or shut up. I come into it with low expectations, and wondering if I didn’t see the best show of the weekend already (on Friday). So let’s sit back and enjoy, shall we?
Best Match of the night:
There were several matches that I would say exceeded my expectations, but there is but one match that lands here in the top spot of the evening. And what is it? It would be the first ever match to decide the WWE Women’s Championship. That’s right, the Women’s Championship! That triple threat had it all, really. If I had to pick one thing I didn’t like, it would be the not-so-clean finish, but it fits Charlotte’s MO of late, and it sets up things down the road.
Worst match of the night:
Someone has to get it, right? The Hunter/Roman match was not as bad as it could have been. I actually thought it was decent, but what drove me nuts about it is how poorly it was received. Fans just didn’t want a Reigns run, but that’s what we have.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Fight Owens fight
This is awesome
Y2J
New Day rocks
Roman sucks
Suplex City
Let’s go Ambrose
Becky
Yes!
Undertaker/Shane O Mac
Let’s go Sasha
Star of the Night:
I have to pick just one?
Charlotte, for winning the first WWE Women’s Championship.
Rock and John Cena for giving us that signature WrestleMania moment.
Shane, in a losing effort, reminding us all just how crazy he can be.
Spot of the Night:
Zayn thru the ladder over the top rope to the outside
Zack with the big el-bro off the ladder
Sin cara, half jumping half pushed off the top of the ladder and through the ladder on the outside. And Stardust too
Zayn with a nasty looking suplex of Owens, onto a ladder
Owens splashing Sami on the ladder
Jericho, turning a Phenomenal Forearm into a Codebreaker.
Sasha with the frog splash onto both opponent
Becky taking out flair with a splash of her own.
Charlotte. top rope moonsault to the outside taking out both other women
Shane, coast to coast drop kick onto Undertaker and a trash can
Undertaker, driving Shane through the cage-though it would have been cooler looking if we hadn’t seen Shane pop the bolts.
Shane, leaping off the top of the cell and through another announce table, though the Undertaker rolled out of the way.
Roman, spearing Hunter through the ringside barricade.
Jobber of the Night:
Wade Barrett, for taking the finisher from all three Hall of Famers (HBK, Foley and Austin). And Xavier, for getting a Stunner too.
Rowan, for losing the impromptu match against The Rock in six seconds. That’s right folks, six. 6.
And The Wyatts in general, as things looked so promising for the group not that long ago, and they were fed to a part-timer and a man who is only a couple months off of a major shoulder surgery that was supposed to keep him out till summer.
Upset of the Night:
I will give you two of them. Zack Ryder winning the Intercontinental Championship came out of nowhere (unless you followed the betting lines).
And, Baron Corbin winning the Andre Battle Royal.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Shaquille O’Neal in the Battle Royal. Baron Corbin and DDP too. And somehow, Tatanka even snuck in there.
Rock, setting things on fire and announcing a new WrestleMania attendance record, only to be interrupted by The Wyatts. And then having an unplanned match. Winning it in 6 seconds. And then being saved from a 3 on 1 beating by…JOHN CENA?!?!
Shane with his memorable, if futile, leap off the Cell.
Botch of the night:
Sasha, unfortunately, gets mentioned here. She went for a double sunset flip out of the corner, but came up empty. She almost earned another with her dive to the outside on Charlotte. Either she changed her mind from a dive to a flip way too late, or I don’t know what happened, but she flipped wicked late.
Was it just me, or did Hunter slip as he started to walk down the ramp?
Commentary of the night:
That’s the biggest frog I’ve ever seen.
Well, he learned something from Terry Funk.
I’ve never seen someone tap out to a German suplex before, but Ambrose might be the first.
They don’t make ice cubes in Puerto Rico.
So much for Hack a Shaq
Stay outside guys, let the big boys fight.
Shane with a good luck kiss to his wife. Or a goodbye kiss…
LOL Moment of the night:
Austin, dancing with New Day and then delivering a Stunner.
Rock, accusing Bray of hitting the bong for 8 days straight. Among other things. Like telling Rowan that clearly his parents were related, and Strowman being breast-fed since he was 26 years old.
Noteworthy Moment:
Maybe it’s me, but it seems like, for the second straight year, WWE had time management issues. 10:42PM, and The Rock is in the ring, and the main event hasn’t even kicked off? Leaving the main event such little time just seems like bad planning. Or, taking advantage of the Network and saying to hell with the 11pm EST end time. Making it the longest WrestleMania ever.
New Day coming out to the ring, via a gigantic box of Booty-O’s. And dressed like Dragon Ball Z.
League of Nations saying no three men could go toe to toe with them. Which got answered by HBK-in wrestling gear! And then Foley, and then Austin.
Nice homage by Sasha, paying tribute to Eddie with her tights.
Shaq, DDP and Baron Corbin in the Battle Royal, with Corbin from NXT winning it.
Shane’s 20 foot suicide leap through a table, but not Undertaker, leading to Vince keeping control of RAW, for now.
WWE finally ditching the Divas-both the title and the name. Wonder what it means for Total Divas, but we do have a sharp looking Women’s Championship belt now.
Not only did Rock have a match, all of 6 seconds, but John Cena came down to save him from an angry Wyatt Family.
Not a drop of blood spilled, in either the street fight or the Hell In A Cell match, unless I missed something. That is surprising to me, especially considering how much blood we saw at TakeOver. Or on the RAWs leading up to this. Not that those have to be an indication of what to expect…but very surprising.
Overall lowlights:
I could have said time management, see above. You have all year to map things out, I’d expect more than 15 minutes left for the main event. But, scratch that.
Not truly a lowlight, but you probably should not have had Shane in a white jersey, because by the end of their match, his white jersey was covered in the bronzer used by Undertaker…his jersey had a tan.
New Day having a not-so-great WrestleMania. Seemed odd to have the tag team champions lose in such a fashion, even in spite of the post-match fun.
Overall highlights:
Cody and his polka-dot tights. Loved the look, even if he was an afterthought in the match.
The ladder match. I have no idea what it means for Ryder long term, but I don’t recall WWE giving too many token championship wins on the WrestleMania stage. Perhaps the Broski is finally getting another push?
The women’s championship. Love the new belt. And the match? Best of the night.
Surprises were plentiful and satisfying.
AJ and Jericho with another very good match.
Hell In A Cell had a good, sometimes slow pace. But the match worked, and kudos to both men for making it look pretty good. Not the best ever Cell match, but much better than I feared it wouldn’t be.
After the final bell:
Wow, what a WrestleMania. Heading into this, it was not the best looking show. Bret Hart even called this the worst WrestleMania card ever.
After the show? No, it wasn’t. And while it wasn’t the best one ever, it was pretty good, a lot better than I think anyone expected it to be. I figured TakeOver was going to be the better show, and while it arguably did feature the best wrestling matches, pure and simple, tonight WrestleMania was…well…WrestleMania. It’s not just about wrestling. It’s the spectacle. It’s not just the steak, it’s the sizzle. Style and substance, and we got it in spades tonight.
The surprises? Even those we expected? Awesome. Who would have thought we’d get to see Shawn Michaels-in his wrestling gear again? How about Shaq, DDP and Tatanka all taking part in the Battle Royal? Rock, and John Cena? Just incredible.
And, not only an attendance record, but also what I believe is the shortest match in WrestleMania history, and also the longest ‘Mania ever I believe, clocking in at just under 5 hours. Or, longer, if you choose to count the pre-show (and you probably should, considering it had 2 matches).
All in all,a much better show than I expected. And now? Now I cannot wait to see how things go tomorrow on RAW, in what is generally one of the hottest RAWs of the year.
I will tip my cap to WWE for this show. They were up against opening night of the baseball season, and also the season finale of The Walking Dead. And I never missed either one while watching. Tomorrow night is another tough test, as RAW goes head to head with the NCAA Men’s Championship Game. Here’s thinking they have some surprises in store for us, perhaps Bayley and Samoa Joe?
