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WrestleMania 34 is now in the bag, with a huge card and long running time putting off some of the more casual wrestling viewers. The card was one of the best of all time on paper and in large parts delivered as promised. There were parts that failed to hit the mark however and this could potentially tarnish the event's legacy.
Nine championships were contended for on the 'Show of Shows', alongside two attraction matches and two Battle Royals, so there was plenty for the WWE Universe to be excited about. With some changes, however, this WrestleMania could have gone down in history to rival WrestleMania X-Seven as the greatest of all time.
#5 A better dream match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura
The above may sound odd, but if the dream match from New Japan had been a 5 Star classic between the two entertainers here at WrestleMania 34, a lot of people would be a lot happier with the event as a whole. Styles is perhaps the best worker of this generation, and Nakamura is a top-level superstar in his own right. With their one and only bout being an instant classic in Japan, expectations were high for them both to top that original match and produce something spectacular.
This, however, did not go to plan, with the match ending as a good solid encounter only. It didn't matter to the crowd who won beforehand and didn't really garner a response when AJ did pin Nakamura on the night, purely down to the match quality not living up to the expectation. If the match had been amazing, the whole mania event would have been taken to another level in fans' minds.
#4 WrestleMania 34 to be Rusev Day
WWE have invested a lot of time in ensuring Rusev and Aiden English were given the spotlight on SmackDown Live, with 'Rusev Day' being one of the loudest chants before and during WrestleMania 34. With Randy Orton always expected to lose the title, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Rusev would regain the US Championship and give every fan in attendance a massive result to cheer.
This was not the case however as Jinder Mahal picked up the win after interference from Singh and broke the hearts of millions. By having Rusev win after working so hard to re-establish himself with the fans, the lasting impression of Mania for fans would have been vastly improved, rather than what we received in another Mahal championship win.
#3 Asuka wins the title
Everybody loves Charlotte Flair due to her family legacy, her excellent in-ring ability and her impeccable mic skills. Everybody loves Asuka too, as the Japanese kicking machine has ingratiated herself well into the WWE roster and continued to have great matches. Putting them both together was absolutely the right match for WrestleMania 34.
The result, however, is what may stick in WWE fan's minds for future years, as Asuka lost her undefeated streak in WWE. Asuka has been built up since her first joining NXT, with nobody ready for her kicks and submissions. It, therefore, made no sense to give her a loss here, especially to Charlotte who will always be able to bounce back from any loss she takes.
Charlotte lost and won the Raw Women's championship with Sasha Banks multiple times, so losing to Asuka would not have harmed her. Asuka should have the ability to bounce back immediately, but the aura of her being undefeated is now lost.
#2 Strowman having a real tag-team partner
To have a left-field decision in partnering Braun Strowman with a 10-year-old child for a World Tag Team title match at WrestleMania was perhaps the oddest thing that happened in New Orleans. The idea was really to ensure fans were given something 'less serious' to cheer for, and this was accomplished with the addition of Nicholas to the match. It did, however, mean 'The Bar' lost to a 10-year-old, and the 'Monster Among Men' ended up relinquishing the titles the next night which essentially meant the match was worthless.
For a WrestleMania moment, and to protect the aura of both Strowman and The Bar, WWE could have booked a returning legend for a one night deal and still relinquished the titles on Raw due to 'contract issues'. Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, Big Show or James Ellsworth could all have provided a pop for the audience and not scuppered any future plan for the Raw Tag Team division. For hardcore WWE fans, the result last night did not sit well.
#1 The Undertaker
As much as it will always and forever be cool to see The Undertaker, the retirement and spectacle of WrestleMania 33 should have been the last we saw of 'The Deadman'. If the need for him to return was too great, the story could have been told that the 'Deadman' was retired, but 'Taker was still ready to go. American Badass or Big Evil Undertaker could have still performed just as well and continued the storyline of Undertaker's retirement for each of his personas.
Instead, fans were perhaps left feeling cheated as the past year's retirement and silence from 'Taker resulted in him appearing in the exact same manner as he always used to, and only appeared for mere minutes before disappearing again into the smoke. What could have been a WrestleMania moment with 'Taker riding to the ring on a bike with Kid Rock supporting, smashing John Cena and then leaving to the iconic bell tolls, actually left us with many questions and what if's.
