Fatal 4-Way Match: WWE Tag Team Championship
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro(c) def. The New Day, Los Matadores and The Usos(9:58)
Thoughts: I normally don't bother with pre-show stuff, since it doesn't amount to my Final Rating for the show, but since it's Wrestlemania, I'll take a look. One thing that I don't understand is why this wasn't moved to the main card when the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal got moved to the Pre-Show, but whatever. This was a pretty good way to get the crowd energized. This felt like one of those old ROH scramble tag matches where there were some moments of sloppiness and chaos, but everything was fun and the action was captivating and non-stop. Cesaro and Kidd retaining was not really surprising. What was surprising to me is that I left this really liking Kofi and Big E as a tag team. Don't get me wrong: I HATE the New Day gimmick, but I think these two make a good team; perhaps they'll get a run with the belts one day. Overall, this was a good warm up for the crowd.
Rating: ***1/4(Not counted towards Final Rating)
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Big Show def. 29 other competitors; last eliminating Damien Mizdow(18:05)
Thoughts: First off, to those who actually thought Curtis Axel was going to win this, I laugh at you. Now then, this was pretty much at the same level of last year’s battle royal. This also got a ton of time(making me thankful that this was moved to the Pre-Show and not rushed out on the main card)and there were some interesting moments during the match. Mizdow got the spotlight shined on him here and the crowd was dying for him to win. However, I do understand why they gave Show the win, since he never won a battle royal(at least not it WWE) before and this gives him another accomplishment, but this really should have ended with Mizdow dumping Miz for the win.
Rating: **1/2(Not counted towards Final Rating)
Daniel Bryan def. Bad News Barrett(c), Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Stardust and R-Truth(13:47)
Thoughts: This was a really fun match and a great way to kick off the show; it ended up being what I thought it could be and what it needed to be. Sure, there were some sloppy points here and there, but the parade of dives at the beginning was great and after the superplex spot, the match got gradually more and more exciting. It ended with a great finish sequence between Ziggler and Bryan. It did make me wonder something: How would the crowd react if Ziggler won? I mean D-Bry is so over that if Ziggler had won, the crowd might've booed him and WWE would've been forced to turn him back to a heel. Thankfully, that didn't happen. D-Bry is going to be a great IC Champion and I can’t wait for D-Bry and Ziggler to continue their feud over the coming months.
Rating: ****
Thoughts: I liked that they played up the "Former face of WWE vs the new face of WWE" quite well for this match. Now I know you all want me to talk about the finish, so let's get to it. Orton countered the asai DDT from Rollin into the RKO, but Rollins kicks out at 2. J&J returned late and each eats an RKO to protect Rollins, who then hit the curb stomp, but Orton kicked out at 2. Following a roll through on the Phoenix splash try, Rollins went for another curb stomp but Orton pressed up and then caught him with perhaps the sickest RKO EVAR!... and scored the win.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that that was one of the best RKO’s I’ve ever seen. This was a pretty damn good match, Rollins continues to work his ass off and make every single big opportunity he gets counts. Orton brought his A-game too and the results was a captivating back and forth contest and J&J continue to be a great act and add to the drama of Rollins’ matches.
Rating: ***3/4
Triple H def. Sting(18:30)
Thoughts: Sting got a pretty cool entrance with a Japanese inspired theme music and drummers wearing Sting masks. Triple H had the better entrance though with a Terminator theme and Arnold Schwarzenegger giving him an intro and any Terminator fan should know that Cyberdyne was based in San Fran. Early in the match, it felt very much like a Sting/Flair match and considering that Trips idolized Flair and Flair is the man that gave Sting his best matches, it makes sense. After several minutes of solid action, Sting is about to put Trips in the Scorpion Death Lock, but DX(X-Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) runs down and Sting takes them out before they could get in the ring. He then goes up top and hits a dive onto the pile of bodies. Sting would later kick out of the pedigree and then as Triple H gets his trusty sledgehammer, the nWo (Hogan, Hall and Nash)appears. It feels like everything they wanted to do back in 2001. Now for those wondering why would the nWo help Sting out after feuding with him for so long...well, he was a member of nWo Wolfpac(granted it was stupid, but he was a member) and nWo looks after there own, so that's why they help Sting. The nWo lays out DX and Sting hits a Scorpion Death Drop for 2, which is followed by the SDL and Hogan takes the sledgehammer of the picture, but is taken out by X-Pac as he slams him into the post. DX and nWo take each other out as Trips finally makes the ropes. Sting goes for the SDL again but Shawn Michaels appears and kicks Sting's head off! HHH covers for 2! Gunn hands HHH the sledgehammer while Hall gives Sting the baseball bat! Sting nails HHH in the midsection with the bat and he fucking broke the sledgehammer in half! How strong is that fucking bat?! Sting works over HHH in the corner and he hits the Stinger Splash. He goes for a second one, but HHH nails him with the sledgehammer right to the face for the 3! We all knew that Sting would be limited, so they needed some smoke and mirrors to help this match out and I gotta say, I loved the way then went about doing it. Bringing in DX and the nWo and going the more fun rout made fans feel nostalgic all over again. The wrestling was pedestrian, but god damn did I have a blast watching this. Although I thought Sting was going to win, Triple H winning doesn't bother me at all and if this is Sting’s swan song, this was a fun way to go out.
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: After Sting/HHH, the crowds were drained and as a result, the crowd wasn't all that hot for this one, which is a shame since this was pretty solid. Sure, it was sloppy at certain points, but the 4 worked hard here and while I wish they had gotten more time, this was still above average for a Diva's Wrestlemania match.
Rating: **1/2
John Cena def. Ruzev(c)(14:30)
Thoughts: Ruzev got a really cool entrance(the 3rd of the show) with a Russian federation theme(naturally) and coming out in a tank. Cena got this really awesome America video montage before Cena comes out to a basic entrance. He doesn't even recreate the Apollo Creed entrance from Rocky IV, nor did he wear American Flag themed trunks or shorts I guess would be more fitting. You know, I’m starting to wonder who the real communist is here in this feud. Anyway, the match here was pretty much on par with their match from FastLane, but if I had to pick which is better, I'm going to pick this one for one reason and that would be the springboard stunner, which was awesome! We'll probably never see him do that again, but it was still perfectly executed, so you gotta give Cena credit. The only thing this match is lacking is heat, which the FastLane match did much better and Cena was more vulnerable in that match as well, but this was a well done follow up. Rusev’s performance here was outstanding and I keep liking him more and more with each performance. He played off being more desperate this time around since he didn’t want this match to begin with and his facial expressions when he couldn’t put Cena away were phenomenal. Cena was more focused and pride drove him to victory. A well executed match that I wish the crowd was more into, but the Rocky IV like storyline wasn’t going to click with a more international crowd.
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: Wyatt got cool entrance #4 with scarecrows lifelessly walking with him to the ring. It's really a shame Levi Stadium doesn't have a roof, cause if it did, this entrance would've been better than Triple H's Terminator entrance. Undertaker looked like the American Badass Taker we saw during the early 2000s, which I thought was really cool. Now I'm just gonna say it: This was one of Taker's worse Mania matches. That doesn't mean it was bad, just not as good as it could've been. I don't blame Taker for this since he looked good and he was in far better shape than he was at Wrestlemania 30 and despite Wyatt suffering an ankle injury hours before the show, I can't blame him either. Matter of fact, I tip my hat to him cause I almost forgot about that injury during the match. Really, the problem is just the fact that nothing was really on the line here. The magic of Taker's matches with the Streak on the line is gone and while I accommodate Taker and Wyatt for still giving us a decent match despite everything against them, a part of me just can't help but feel a little disappointed.
Rating: **3/4
Triple Threat Match: WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Seth Rollins def. Brock Lesnar(c) and Roman Reigns(16:43)
Thoughts: Before we get to the part everyone wants me to talk about, let talk about the Lesnar/Reigns part of the match, which was amazing. Reigns took the absolute worst beating of his life and Brock delivered one of the greatest lines EVER! This was just one hell of a fight and one of the most realistic matches I've ever seen. But of course, that's not what people will remember this match for. They will remember it for Seth Rollins cashing it his MITB contract during the match, making it a Triple Threat. The IWC bitched about it(as they do with everything) since they screwed Reigns, but that crowd wasn't giving any love to the guy at all, despite the phenomenal performance he put on! With this result, WWE turned Seth Rollins into a huge main event player for years to come, kept Brock Lesnar the unstoppable beast that he is and put Roman Reigns back on the right track to get the fans to like him again, which I think they will at some point. It's obvious that we're going to see either Rollins/Lesnar or Rollins/Lesnar/Reigns at Summerslam and whichever match it is, I'm looking forward to it.
Rating: ****1/2
Final Rating:
3.50 out of 5
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