Wrestlemania 35: Best and Worse Moments
Last night the WWE hosted its thirty-fifth anniversary of Wrestlemania! On the grandest stage of them, all this time around fans were treated to an array of must-see title bouts, memorable moments and a historic main event that took an evolution to brand new heights! Going down as one of the best Wrestlemania PPV’s of all time what made this such a great show and what were the mistakes made by the WWE that could have turned this into an even bigger success than it turned out to be?
Braun Strowman Winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Looking at the pre-show the highlight, in my opinion, was the result of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. While I was less than pleased with early eliminations for the likes of EC3 there truly was no denying that Strowman was the man most worthy and in need of the win last night and it really is about time he won this battle royal considering he should have picked up the win long before now!
Pre-Show Mistakes
Shifting over to the mistakes made on the pre-show I believe that despite Buddy Murphy and Tony Neese having a fantastic encounter on the Wrestlemania stage the result that saw Tony score the win was one that in the long run will negatively effect 205LIVE and the cruiserweight division. Nese is lacking in the are of possessing strong charisma and while fantastic in the ring his character work is extremely stale meaning his run as champion may not present the quality we saw from Murphy.
Congratulations also go out to Carmella for winning the women’s Battle Royal, however, no appearance from Lacey Evans in this Royal was a huge surprise and I believe the WWE really did miss out on a big opportunity here for her to finally make an impact and pick up a big win and Mania moment.
The Opening to Wrestlemania 35
Credit where credit is due, the WWE did a fantastic job with the opening to this years Wrestlemania. The storytelling between Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar was simply fantastic. Heyman coming out to the ring to announce that if his client was not closing the show then he was not going to waste any time and the match would start right then and there at the beginning. The beating Rollins took before the match had even begun set up a fantastic yet slightly predictable narrative but everyone in the arena and watching at home was left completely captivated from the very start to the conclusion. The three curb stomps, Rollins Beast Slayer entrance and the end result that saw Seth burn down suplex city all tied together fantastically well and, in my opinion, goes down as one of the best Mania openings of all time.
Falls Count Anywhere
To my surprise, one of my personal favourite matches of the entire night was the Falls Count Anywhere contest between The Miz and Shane McMahon. As one of the most personal rivalries of the night these two men really did rise above expectation and gave us more than a great story. A slower paced start it didn’t take time for things to truly heat up and once McMahon got his hands on the Miz’s father the intensity grew even more! The fire, the passion, the story, and spots performed throughout this match really contributed to why this was such a great success. I can honestly say I was not expecting this to be one of my favourites of the night and I certainly wasn’t expecting this to be as strong as it was but what we saw was a new side to the Miz, a smart ending and one of the best falls count anywhere matches I have seen in the WWE in a very very long time!
A Surprise IIConic Win
Despite being a major fan of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce and despite the fact I have wanted to see them as tag team champions before tag team titles even existed for the women’s division, I was not expecting to see them pick up the win at last nights Wrestlemania PPV. Going up against the Boss N Hug Connection, the divas of doom, and Nia and Tamina the competition was tough, and I wasn’t expecting the WWE to have Banks and Bayley drop the titles just yet. The match itself was another strong one and I can honestly say I really enjoyed what these women put on display with all teams having a great showing. The final moments were conducted amazingly well and in true IIConic style! I did believe Beth and Nattie had this match won mid-way through, but I could not be happier for the much deserving new champs that are Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
Keeping things short
Of course, I would have loved to have seen Rey Mysterio have a great showing at Wrestlemania this year in an epic matchup, but the booking of Samoa Joe was perfect and defiantly needed! Keeping things very short, the quick win for Joe will be massively beneficial to how he’s title run, and character comes across in the coming months. This dominant showing was exactly what he needed and gets a huge thumbs up from me!
My Favourite Win of the Night
One of my favourite matches of the night came of course from the WWE Championship bout between Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan. Now, I can honestly say that I have never been this emotionally invested nor have I ever wanted to see a superstar win a match more than I did here last night. After eleven years there really was no man more deserving of a run as WWE champion and such a huge Wrestlemania moment than Kingston. The heart and passion we as fans saw from him during this match and the reaction from fans in attendance and at home spoke volumes! The energy was electric, everyone was completely invested and on the edge of their seats and when Kofi picked up that win I genuinely could have cried tears of happiness.
Special Moments – Heel Cena
I want to quickly touch on some of the special moments throughout the night in this little section of today’s blog post! First up, despite the fact I was pulling for The Revival to retain their titles last night it was a very emotional and epical moment to see Ryder and Hawkins finally pick up the win, a huge win and at Wrestle freaking Mania! I also must mention how awesome it was to see old school John Cena in the building! If I didn’t mention that my boyfriend would not have been impressed! I had genuine Goosebumps at this moment and can honestly say I didn’t see it coming at all!
The Animal vs the King of Kings
My personal favourite match of the night (and I’m surprised I’m saying this) was the no holds bards match between childhood favourites Batista and Triple H. Growing up a fan of both these superstars I was naturally very excited for this encounter, but I never could have predicted just how much I would have enjoyed this. From the get-go, fans were treated to a barbaric contest between two all-time greats of a very special era in the WWE. The moments we saw during this match, particularly at the beginning, had me totally invested yet wanting to look away as Triple H took to quite literally torturing his opponent. The chemistry and the backstory between these two superstars were evident throughout, I loved how extreme the two got and how intense this match grew towards the end. I was personally rooting for Batista but Ric Flair’s involvement made for great storytelling and you really cannot complain here!
Farewell Kurt
I may be the worlds biggest Baron Corbin fan but even I was surprised and not entirely happy with the end result to Kurt Angle’s Farwell match. It would have been great to see Kurt win his final match and that was exactly what I was expecting to see happen but on the flip side Corbin did have a strong showing and this was a huge win and while it may have pissed off many fans this was both an up and down moment for me.
A Controversial main Event
And finally, we, of course, have the main event and I hate to say this, but I was very disappointed here. The match itself was far weaker than I was expecting it to be and I felt as though Charlotte carried quite a bit of it and made herself the true star of this triple threat. Rousey came across quite messy but brought plenty of great character work and what surprised me was the fact that Becky came across as the weak link. Now, don’t be too mad at me for this because I am a Becky Lynch fan, but this just wasn’t a strong enough performance and wasn’t the main event I was expecting! The closing moments were very messy, very controversial and very much unexpected. The crowd didn’t see this ending coming at that specific time and overall, I feel as though plenty of missed opportunities took place throughout this main event and it’s a real shame!
And those were some of the best and worse Wrestlemania 35 Moments. Now, I know this was a very long blog post but there really was so much to talk about! I genuinely do feel as though this was one of the best Wrestlemania's of all time and by far the most I have enjoyed a Mania in years! Nearly every match was on point and I was completely invested in every bout! Blog posts may be a little slow this week because I’m away next week, but I will have plenty of content coming up regardless! You can as well let me know what you thought of Wrestlemania 35 by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.
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