Wednesday, June 25, 2014

WWE WrestleMania XXX Review

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!


This is the first major WWE PPV to be held on the WWE Network, so a lot is riding on this show.

WWE WrestleMania XXX
New Orleans, Louisiana 4/6/14

Pre-Show

1.) WWE Tag Team Titles - Four-Way Elimination Match - The Usos vs. The Real Americans vs. RybAxel vs. Los Matadores: ***1/2

The Usos won the Tag Team Titles (a well deserved victory) a few weeks prior, and now they're defending the titles in a Four-Way Elimination Match. This was originally going to be on the PPV itself, but got pushed to the Pre-Show a few days prior. To quickly sum up the eliminations, Los Matadores were eliminated first, followed by RybAxel, and then finally, The Usos eliminated The Real Americans to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. This match was just a lot of fun. Great tag team wrestling from start to finish. I'm kind of questioning why this was on the Pre-Show, because it could have easily been on the main show. 

Following the match, there was a big angle involving The Real Americans. For weeks, there had been tension between Cesaro & Jack Swagger. They would nearly come to blows, but Zeb Colter would always be able to bring them back in and calm things down. This time would be different. Cesaro finally reached his breaking point and hit the Giant Swing on Jack Swagger! The crowd was really into this. Cesaro storms off afterwords and The Real Americans are seemingly no more.

Main Show

75,000 fans have packed The Superdome for WrestleMania XXX!! Before we get to the matches, the host of WrestleMania XXX, Hulk Hogan, comes out. Hogan talks about the show, while getting heat from the crowd after referring to The Superdome as "The Silverdome". LOL. Then, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin came out! Shorty thereafter, The Rock came out!! They went over their WrestleMania Moments and ended the segment with a beer bash. This was just so great. Seeing Hogan, Austin & The Rock in the ring together, at WrestleMania, was a super special moment.

1.) Winner Advances To The Main Event - Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon) vs. Daniel Bryan: ****1/2

So whoever wins this match will be added to the WWE World Heavyweight Title Match in the Main Event. This is a story that's been building for months as Daniel Bryan has had to fight against The Authority so he can regain the title that was taken from him. Triple H is introduced by Stephanie McMahon and comes out on a massive throne decked out in "King of Kings" garb. It's really a sight to see. Daniel Bryan doesn't get a special entrance, but he is wearing furry kick-pads in tribute to Bruiser Brody. This was a fantastic match. They told a good story with Triple H working over Daniel Bryan's arm/shoulder (which was taped up following a previous attack on RAW). The crowd was really into this as well. Everything in this match just worked. Daniel Bryan won cleanly (that's right, he pinned Triple H in the middle of the ring, no shenanigans) with his running knee. Awesome stuff.

After the match, Triple H attacked Daniel Bryan, going after his previous injury. Bryan advances to the Main Event, but his chances just got slimmer.

2.) Six-Man Tag - Kane & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield: **

The Shield recently turned face against Corporate Kane, who in turn recruited The New Age Outlaws to help take them out. Road Dogg tried to do his usual shtik during his team's entrance, but was quickly interrupted by The Shield. This was essentially a match that went about three minutes, where The Shield pretty much destroyed & dismantled Kane & The New Age Outlaws. This was just greatness. The Shield went over strong, which is exactly what needed to happen.

3.) Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal: ***1/4

The winner of this match gets a huge Andre The Giant Memorial Trophy. Like most battle royals, this was just kind of there for the first part (hard to do stuff when there are thirty guys in the ring), but once the field got cut in half, it got good, and it just got better from there. The last two men in the match were Cesaro (a last minute entry into the match) and Big Show. In an INSANE moment, Cesaro picks up Big Show for a bodyslam, holds him in position, and throws him over the top rope. An amazing ending. Very entertaining battle royal, especially the second half.

Cesaro is presented with the Andre The Giant Memorial Trophy and poses with it.

Before the next match, we get a video package covering the Cena/Wyatt feud that features Eminem's song "Legacy". It's a really great video. You just have to go to WWE's Youtube Channel and see it for yourself.

4.) John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt (with The Wyatt Family): ***1/2

For Wyatt's Entrance, he gets some voodoo dancers, and then the band that performs his theme song is out there to perform it live!!! That was very cool. Cena, oddly enough, doesn't get a special entrance. This was a pretty good match. There were a lot of great spots in this match, from counters, to Cena diving from the top rope to the floor onto Luke Harper & Erick Rowan, and more. Just a lot of cool stuff in here. The ending was a little flat, with Cena winning in his usual fashion, but there was nothing wrong with the match itself.

Up next we have the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014. This year's class features The Ultimate Warrior, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Lita, Paul Bearer, Carlos Colon, Mr. T, and Razor Ramon.

5.) The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman): **3/4

Here we go. The match that everyone will remember this WrestleMania for. Firstly, I should say that I don't think the build to this match was good at all. Basically you had Undertaker beating up Lesnar every time his was on TV (or Paul Heyman when Lesnar wasn't there) until the RAW before the PPV when Lesnar actually got one over on The Deadman. The match itself was ok, but very underwhelming when we take into consideration the matches that The Undertaker has had at WrestleMania in the last couple of years. Now there a few reasons for that. Obviously The Undertaker was a lot older (which is understandable), but he was also able to work with someone who he'd be able to put on a great match with in his aging state (Shawn Michaels, Triple H, CM Punk). Lesnar wasn't that guy. If they were going to do this match, it should have been the year before in New Jersey. They waited a bit too long on that. Then there is the fact that The Undertaker got a concussion during this match. There were concerns many had going in about the ability of The Undertaker, at his age, to work against a guy like Lesnar, who has an extremely physical style (they've feuded before in WWE, but this was before Lesnar went to the UFC). Obviously that was kind of proven here with The Undertaker suffering a concussion, and it definitely affected the match. Finally, there was the big shock. Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker. He ended The Deadman's WrestleMania Undefeated Streak. There are so many people who have argued both sides, in regards to if The Undertaker should have lost or if Brock Lesnar was the guy to end The Streak. I'm personally going to not put down my opinion here, as I myself am still conflicted on it, because both sides of the argument make valid points.

On the plus side, The Undertaker's Shocking Lost provided us with this great gem...




Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman celebrate as the entire Superdome is in shock. Undertaker gets a standing ovation as he departs.

6.) WWE Diva's Title - The Vickie Guerrero Divas Invitational: **1/2

As you can tell by the name it was given, this match was made by Vickie Guerrero. It's essentially AJ Lee defending the Diva's Title against the ENTIRE DIVA'S ROSTER, in a massive one fall to a finish battle. At times, it was kind of a clusterfuck, but at other times, it was surprisingly good. The Bella Twins hitting double suicide dives was a definite highlight. They would have gotten better crowd reactions, but there was no way they were going to be able to follow the shocking events that came before it. Still, it was fine for what it was. Despite everyone and their mother predicting otherwise, AJ Lee was somehow able to retain the Diva's Title.

7.) WWE World Heavyweight Title - Triple Threat Match - Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan: ****1/4

It's Main Event Title!! Randy Orton & Batista come into this match fresh, while Daniel Bryan not only went through a grueling match with Triple H, but had an injury that was further aggravated by Triple H's post-match attack. This was a very good match that was made even better by the drama. At one point, Triple H & Stephanie McMahon came out with their own referee to try & screw Bryan over, but it didn't work. Bryan hit a suicide dive on Triple H & Stephanie, and was even able to take Triple H out with his own sledgehammer!! Then there was a brutal spot where Randy Orton & Batista hit a RKO/Batista Bomb combination, putting Bryan through one of the announcer's tables!!! Orton took a big hit there as well, as he landed back first onto one of the monitors. They tease taking Bryan out on a stretcher, but he is able to fight through it and get back in the ring. He eventually makes Batista tap out to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title!!! Bryan celebrates as the entire Superdome chants "YES!" to close the show.


Overall: 8.75/10

I don't think people were expecting this WrestleMania to be as good as it ended up being. A lot of that had to do with the first hour (including the pre-show). The WWE Tag Team Title Match was extremely entertaining, the Hulk Hogan/Steve Austin/The Rock was every wrestling fan's dream come true, Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan was the Match of the Night, The Shield squashed Team Attitude Era, and Cesaro won the Battle Royal. That first part of the show was fantastic. Despite the fact that Cena/Wyatt didn't have the outcome everyone wanted, was still a very good match, and even the Diva's Match was decent. Finally, the Main Event delivered everything you would want in a WrestleMania Main Event. The only real point of controversy was The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, both in the quality of the match itself and the end of The Streak. On the whole, this was a very good WreslteMania, and certainly one that will be remembered for a long time to come.

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