5 Surprising Moments From WrestleMania 34

Well, that was a long and weird night.

It was certainly a unique and strangely booked WrestleMania show in New Orleans. If you count the Kickoff show, it was well over seven hours of wrestling. That is a lot of show to stay engaged in throughout and the crowd certainly was not able to do so. And can you really blame them? We had some bizarre booking choices, strange title defenses, and Nicholas.

It was something that will take some real time to process. With all of this in mind, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE WrestleMania 34:

#5 Braun Strowman Wins The Tag Title With A 10-Year-Old

I always believed in Nicholas

It was amazing to see the intense speculation of who Braun Strowman’s tag team partner was going to be at WrestleMania. Would it be a returning Samoa Joe? A fun surprising return like Rey Mysterio? Nope, we got a 10-year-old boy winning the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania.

In a move none of us saw coming, Braun Strowman walked into the crowd to get a tag team partner. He could have picked those NXT guys or the New Japan guys in the crowd but he decided on a ten-year-old child named Nicholas. What just happened?

Not too surprising at that point in the show, but the WrestleMania crowd enjoyed it. I am still confused if it was funny or a really bad idea for the long-term health of the Raw Tag Division. Congrats to the youngest WWE title holder in history, Nicholas. Wow.

#4 Ronda Rousey is Already Great

Ronda is an impressive person

You are always worried when a person famous in one field (UFC) decides to join the weird and wonderful world of professional wrestling. Ronda Rousey has had no professional wrestling match experience in front of a live crowd. So my expectations were pretty low for her first match in front of 70,000 people. I am happy to say my expectations were exceeded in every way possible.

Ronda Rousey is a natural. She sold the emotions of the match perfectly. She pulled off some impressive moves and stood toe to toe with Triple H. I am sure the match was practiced a lot in recent weeks but it required a lot of skill by all four competitors. Ronda is going to be a great addition to the WWE.

#3 Asuka’s Streak Ends

I am just as shocked as Asuka

I was shocked. I figured Asuka’s streak might even last to a money match with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35. It seemed that Charlotte could take a pin and Asuka could begin her first title reign. Then, she tapped.

In what was an excellent match, Asuka and Charlotte showed why they were the best of the female wrestlers the WWE has to offer. The match had good psychology with Asuka working on Charlotte’s arm throughout the 13-minute bout. It made it all the more surprising when Charlotte finally locked on the Figure Eight and Asuka tapped pretty quickly.

It was shocking to see such a long streak end in such abrupt fashion. It cements Charlotte as the top female in the company. But where does it leave Asuka?

#2 Nakamura Heel Turn

Shinsuke didn't take the loss too well

The match had the highest of expectations. AJ Styles v. Shinsuke Nakamura was billed as the dream match. The match itself was pretty decent, but I doubt, with its unique pace, that it lived up to its impossible expectations. If that was the end of the story, I am sure the crowd would have been somewhat disappointed.

Just like Asuka earlier, Nakamura went in to congratulate Styles on the hard-fought victory. However, Shinsuke was far less the good sport as he hit AJ with a low blow and proceeded to attack him. I did not see a Nakamura heel turn coming. However, I am excited by where it might lead to in 2018.

#1 Cena Is Squashed By The Undertaker

Cena didn't have a good time at WrestleMania 34

I am sure all of us were confused by the build-up to a potential WrestleMania match between John Cena and the Undertaker. John Cena sitting in the front row for nearly three hours at WrestleMania was weird. Watching his funny run up the ramp after the Charlotte-Asuka match was strange. Watching him beat up the ultimate troll Elias was unique. Then, finally, after weeks of build-up, it finally happened, the Undertaker was back.

Then, the match actually happened. It was nice to see Undertaker look crisp and fast-paced again. However, did I expect John Cena to get in no offense against a 53-year-old man? I can’t say that I did. To see Cena get squashed by the Undertaker in three minutes was clearly the most shocking moment of the night by far. We are certainly getting a rematch at WrestleMania 35, aren’t we?