So, yeah, about WrestleMania 34…
For one, it was an entertaining show. Multiple matches exceeded expectations, and, overall, it was a fun show.
But man, was some of it interesting.
Maybe we should’ve seen this coming after the second match of the night saw Asuka lose for the first time in WWE. It was a heck of a match between Charlotte and Asuka, but there was no way Asuka was going to lose her winning streak, right? Well, we were all wrong. Charlotte forced Asuka to submit to the figure eight, and the streak was no more. Shock and awe came across the faces of every WWE fan in the Superdome and at home when Asuka tapped out. It was truly a shocking moment.
In the middle of the show, Undertaker squashed John Cena. The match didn’t even last five minutes. Now, did this make sense in storyline? Absolutely. But…it’s still John Cena vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I think some fans were left a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see an epic match between the two, given the hype of the potential matchup.
The shocking, and sometimes head-scratching, decisions wouldn’t stop there however, especially in the final three matches of the night. To start, AJ Styles retains the title against Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura entered the night as the overwhelming favorite, but lost in a shock finish. Initially, the match was met with mixed reviews. It definitely wasn’t worthy of the “dream match” title WWE was giving it. But, with Nakamura turning on Styles, it opens the door for this feud to continue. This would be great for both men, as they are capable of putting on five-star matches together. Hopefully WrestleMania was just the prelude to an amazing series of matches between the two.
Then, Nicholas became one half of the tag team champions. Who is Nicholas, you ask? Oh, he’s just the 10-YEAR OLD KID Braun Strowman pulled out of the crowd to be his tag team partner. Of all the people WWE could’ve lined up to be Strowman’s partner, they let it be some random kid in the crowd. I know that it was to prove that Strowman could win the tag titles on his own, and it was a cute WrestleMania moment, but what happens next? Does this kid get to drop out of school and go on the road with Braun? These are the important questions we need to ask here… (hopefully satire translates to print).
And finally, the main event…oh boy. Where do we start with this one? For one, the crowd was incredibly disinterested. It came off disrespectful, to be honest. Both Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are good wrestlers and deserve better than what the crowd gave them.
Then, Reigns was made out to be a superhuman. He took six F5’s in the match. SIX! I was screaming at my TV after the third one because it was getting a little too ridiculous for me. If it only took one F5 to beat the likes of Goldberg, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman, then how the hell can Reigns survive more than two?
And then, after all the heroics of Reigns fighting through the pain and blood, he lost! Lesnar retained the title in a result few, if any, saw coming. There were more questions than answers following the main event, which is usually not a good thing.
So, was WrestleMania 34 good? Absolutely. Ronda Rousey looked great, Daniel Bryan wrestled for the first time in three years, Seth Rollins completed the career grand slam, and Charlotte vs. Asuka lived up to the hype.
But the show definitely had its question marks, especially with how the last three matches of the night went down. The show had multiple “wow” moments, which is what you expect out of WrestleMania. The show just had a flat ending, leaving people with mixed emotions about the night. One thing is for certain, though: WWE left you guessing the whole night, which is part of the reason why WWE is the top wrestling company in the world today.