WrestleMania is over and overall, it was a great show. There were some questionable parts, but for the most part, they were limited. Going into the PPV there was anticipation of a lot of title changes and babyface victories. There were more of those than I was expecting, but from a fan standpoint, I’m not disappointed. The ending of the main even closed out in controversial fashion, and I guess we will see how that is settled tonight on RAW. Excluding matches, the moment that I was most excited about was the return of The Doctor of Thuganomics. Nobody expected to see that and heel John Cena is the best version of John Cena, in my opinion. Also, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Ron Simmons all made appearances during the show, as well as JBL, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, and Paige joining the commentary booth, which was pretty cool. You’re going to hear this everywhere else also, but the show was entirely too long. 12:30 A.M. on the East Coast was about the time the show went off and I’m also hearing people at the event had trouble getting home after it was over. Hopefully next year, the WWE will listen to the fans complaints here. I’m going to take you through the results of each match on the card and I’ll give you my reaction to each one.

1. Men’s Singles Match – Cruiserweight Championship

Buddy Murphy (C) vs. Tony Nese

This was a good kickoff to the Kick-Off Show. It went just as I expected, but that was perfectly fine, most of the show did. The match came in at just under 11 minutes and it served its purpose. New York native, Tony Nese took the title and it is his first title reign as Cruiserweight champion. Buddy Murphy had a great run as champion, but I felt like it was the perfect time for him to give it up. I’m sure Murphy will get his rematch pretty soon, but after that, I’m not sure what direction 205 Live will go in after this. It was a good match, but it was rightfully placed in the pre-show.

GRADE: 7.8/10

2. Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal

WINNER: Carmella

FINAL 4: Carmella,Sarah Logan, Asuka, Sonya Deville

There wasn’t too much excitement in this contest. We ended up with 17 women in the match, which was a weird number to have, and the biggest letdown was the fact that Lacey Evans wasn’t in the match. She showed up to walk down the aisle later on, but that was it. I’m assuming something bigger is planned for her, but we’ll see. The ending of this match, like many other over-the-top-rope contests, have been overdone by WWE lately. Carmella was outside of the ring, without anyone knowing and she eliminated Sarah Logan to win the Battle Royal. It is okay to see this every once in a while, but it seems like sort of thing happens too often. I’m fine with Carmella winning, but in all honesty. It is a meaningless match, so it doesn’t really do anything for her moving forward.

GRADE: 5.8/10

3. Men’s Tag Team Match – RAW Tag Team Championship

The Revival (C) vs. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

I had a feeling that this match would be moved to the pre-show, because it just wasn’t advertised enough to be on the main card. With that being said, I thought the match was pretty solid. The quality was comparable to the Cruiserweight match and both teams got some good spots in. I expected to see this outcome, but again, that is perfectly fine. This match didn’t have to be great, because it was more of the moment of Ryder and Hawkins teaming up again, winning the titles close to their home, and Hawkins ending his losing streak. It told a good story and that was good enough for me.

GRADE: 7.4/10

4. André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

WINNER: Braun Strowman

FINAL 4: Braun Strowman, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Jeff Hardy

I didn’t love this contest. Strowman was the favorite, but as I pointed out before in another article, the favorite has never won this match in WrestleMania history. Not that I’m disappointed that he won, but I didn’t want to see Michael Che and Colin Jost around to be the last 2 thrown out of the ring. I understand the entertainment aspect of it, but come on. There is absolutely no way that they shouldn’t have been the first two eliminated.

GRADE: 5.5/10

5. Men’s Singles Match – Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar (C) vs. Seth Rollins

I totally did not expect to see this one going on first. I loved it though. It set the tone of the show and created new possibilities for the RAW brand moving forward. Lesnar gave Rollins a beating prior to them ringing the bell, but after a few minutes of being tortured, Rollins bounced back and when they finally started the match, it was over in under 3 minutes. It was interesting to see them do something different to get the show started, and most fans are happy with the result. I expected a longer match, but to be a squash, they executed it perfectly. I imagine that Lesnar will get his rematch, lose, and be on his way out for a little while, but it will make for an interesting Monday Night RAW.

GRADE: 9/10

6. Men’s Singles Match

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

This match was perfectly fine for the spot it was in, but compared to all of these other matches, it really didn’t stand a chance. There wasn’t anything on the line, expect maybe pride. It could’ve went either way and it wouldn’t have mattered. It was a good match, I’m not saying that it wasn’t, but going into the contest there was nothing other than the fact that these two are great veteran wrestlers. It was a little over 16 minutes, which I’m fine with. I expected it to be around 15 minutes, which is perfect. A question that needs to be asked is can these two still be main players going for major titles? Yes, but am I expecting it? Not really. I personally think they WWE is starting to move on from these two and now they’ll start to put younger talent over. We’ll see how they are handled, but I would almost guarantee that we will see AJ Styles on RAW when the Superstar-Shakeup happens, because everyone wants to see Rollins vs. Styles.

GRADE: 7.9/10

7. Men’s Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match – SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Usos (C) vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev

This was a really good tag team contest. Not that I expected anything less, but it was great. Before NXT TakeOver, I had The Usos retaining the titles, but I changed it after Aleister Black and Ricochet’s match, because I thought this was going to be the start of their main roster push as tag champs. I should’ve went with my first instinct, but I’m fine with the result. Each team evenly showcased their talents and put on a great show. It’s a shame that tag teams aren’t getting pushes anymore, but that’s just the way it is. I have to think the Hardy Boyz will get a chance to win the SmackDown titles, but I guess we will see. This was the first of only two successful title defenses on the whole card.

GRADE: 8.3/10

8. Falls Count Anywhere Match

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

The quality of this match was what I expected it to be and again, that is a good thing. The ending, however, wasn’t what anyone was expecting, which again, I personally think was a good thing. In a card that was set up for a lot of fan-friendly anticipated wins, it was good to see something out of the ordinary. This was really an underrated match. At this point in his career, I’m truly concerned about Shane McMahon’s well-being. He is 49 years old. He doesn’t need to be taking bumps like he did in this match any more. Not to say that he isn’t capable, because he clearly is, I just wonder when he will slow down. I personally felt like this was the end of the best half of the show. I’m not saying the second half wasn’t good, but the first half was a great deal better overall, but that may be due to the momentum of the show. If the halves were broken up and say maybe aired on two separate occasions, I may have a different viewpoint, but with the exception of two matches. There was little to no emotional interest in the second half of the show, with the exception of two matches.

GRADE: 8.7/10

9. Women’s Fatal 4-Way Match – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection vs. Nia Jax and Tamina vs. The IIconics vs. Beth Phoenix and Natalya

This was a good match, but nothing spectacular. It didn’t have to be though. I felt like this match will go down as one that will ultimately get lost in the shuffle of what was a show with a lot of good, but not great matches, but hopefully I’m wrong. I love the fact that The IIconics won the match, because they are two of my favorites at the moment. Their story is an inspiring one and I’m glad they got their WrestleMania moment last night. The finish was really good and I was glad to see Beth Phoenix showcasing more of her talent. Like I mentioned in another article, I think Phoenix probably won’t compete much more, if any. I hate to see that, but I understand. I thought Sasha and Bayley were going to retain, but I’m glad to see other women getting an opportunity at the titles.

GRADE: 8.2/10

10. Men’s Singles Match – WWE Championship

Daniel Bryan (C) vs. Kofi Kingston *MATCH OF THE NIGHT*

What. A. Match!!! Match of the night is almost an understatement. I think this will arguably be WrestleMania’s Match of the Decade. The fans got everything that they wanted in this one. An excellent quality match, little interference, and the ending that the fans wanted to see. When Kofi Kingston made his debut, never did I think he would be a WWE Champion. I’m happy for him. This is every wrestler’s dream. Becoming a WWE Champion at WrestleMania. It was just a great moment. This wasn’t the most anticipated match for most fans, but the majority of fans would say this was the best match by a good bit and thank goodness that crappy looking belt that Daniel Bryan had is gone. I’m interested to see how the WWE title picture is going to look coming up. I’m not expecting a lengthy reign for Kofi, but it will truly be one that we won’t forget.

GRADE: 10/10

11. Men’s Singles Match – United States Championship

Samoa Joe (C) vs. Rey Mysterio

You can’t really follow up on a match as good as the last one, but this was horrible. I understand Rey Mysterio was banged up a little bit, but if he couldn’t compete in a decent match, then they shouldn’t have even had him out there. I expected something like this result, but it was honestly a waste of 1 minute plus entrance time. I will say this though, it made Samoa Joe look like even more of a force. The thing that was questionable was Dominic’s involvement. They have teasing the fact that Rey Mysterio’s son was going to be there, but he wasn’t even showed in the crowd and I don’t think he was even mentioned on the show. Everything about this just seemed like a waste. This was the other successful title defense on the show, but it was executed very poorly.

GRADE: 3/10

12. Men’s Singles Match

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

This match had good spots, but overall, it was an underwhelming contest. Reigns looked good in his singles return and McIntyre did as well, but seeing the match in action, I truly don’t know what is next. Is Roman going to get the first crack at the Universal Championship? Will he go to SmackDown? I really didn’t know what they were doing with this one. McIntyre had a problem with Dean Ambrose, but The Shield is no longer a thing and Ambrose is no longer with WWE. It was just a thrown together match and it showed. I picked McIntyre to win, but I fully expected Roman to win. The match lasted for a little over 10 minutes, which is perfectly fine, but it just didn’t do anything for me and these two are probably my favorite men’s wrestlers at the moment.

GRADE: 6/10

13. Men’s Singles Match – No Hold Barred

Triple H vs. Batista

I expected this to be a pretty destructive match and it was. Triple H had his career on the line and he performed like it was. When I heard that stipulation, I automatically thought Triple H would win, but when I saw his parents in the crowd, I had my doubts. It turned out, that it was actually Batista’s last match. He had a great career and his focus now is clearly on his acting career. Knowing this now, I wonder why they didn’t do anything for him after the match? They had to have known it was going to be his last match. It could’ve been because Kurt Angle was going on right after him and they didn’t want to take his spotlight away. Anyway, it was very destructive and a very long match. I fully expected it to be, but we didn’t need to see a replication of a world war between two 50 year olds. If the match was cut down by about 7 minutes it would’ve been perfect, but what’s done is done. Congrats to Batista on a successful WWE career and congrats on becoming the first unofficial 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, I assume.

GRADE: 7.2/10

14. Men’s Singles Match – Angle’s Farewell Match

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin

This match was a flop. That’s all there is to it. I wasn’t expecting a lengthy match, and it wasn’t. For that matter, I didn’t anticipate a good quality match, and it wasn’t. Nothing against Baron Corbin, because in all honesty, we should’ve seen this coming a mile away. People just don’t win in announced farewell match. We have seen this match so many times, so it wasn’t interesting at all, farewell match or not. What does this win do for Baron Corbin? Absolutely nothing. It wasn’t the worst segment on the show, but it was towards the bottom. Kurt Angle received overwhelming support from the WWE Universe and that is always good to see, regardless of the situation. He deserved every bit of recognition that he received last night.

GRADE: 5.5/10

15. Men’s Singles Match – Intercontinental Championship

Bobby Lashley (C) vs. Finn Bálor

This was an interesting match. I hated that they announced Bálor as the demon prior to the PPV, but it still was cool to see. Bobby Lashley looked really good in this one. It honestly should’ve been a longer match, but I wasn’t expecting it. They had a really good shot to make Lashley look stronger, because we automatically knew Bálor was going to be in prime condition as the demon. Bálor dominated most of the contest and it will be interesting to see what happens during the Superstar-Shakeup coming up.

GRADE: 7/10

16. Women’s Triple Threat – RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championship

Ronda Rousey (C) vs. Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Becky Lynch

The main event lived up to the hype, but many fans are upset because of the less-than-ideal ending to the match. Rousey’s shoulders clearly weren’t down for the whole three-count, so I’m interested to see how they will handle that. With that being said, the match was very good. The historical main event was rightfully placed, it wasn’t too long or too short, and each woman got their shots in. A few months ago, I would’ve told you that Becky would’ve been the champ at the end of the night, but as of late, they did an excellent job of trying to sway us. I honestly could’ve seen it going in any direction last night and I was perfectly content with that. Each woman deserved it. There are reports that Ronda Rousey was legitimately working the match with a broken hand. If that is true, that speaks volumes for her toughness. Even though the ending was controversial, I understand it. It could set up another title match in the future if Ronda is indeed leaving for a little while. If Rousey can wrestle tonight, expect the titles to be on the line for a rematch on RAW, because Rousey is expected to be on the show tonight. This could be the end of two major Women’s Championships and the start of a unified championship, but we will get a better understanding tonight. I’m excited to see the beginning of the Becky Lynch Era, because she became a legend last night whether you like it or not.

GRADE: 9.4/10

Yacs

Here are the results of our Staff Predictions

WrestleMania 35 Results and Reaction