Match ratings for WrestleMania 34

It's probably sensible to allow the dust to settle before truly forming an opinion about a Wrestling show. The good points and bad of WrestleMania 34 are still swirling around in our heads and it'll take a lot of dissecting to really know how we feel about it.

That being said, matches are always better to rate in the immediate aftermath. It isn't just about in-ring action, after all. We need to take into account how the match ultimately made us feel, where it was positioned on the card and what the long/short term implications will be.

Here are the Sportskeeda match ratings for WrestleMania 34:

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

WrestleMania should always start with a high-impact, multi-man match that gets the crowd nicely warmed up. And considering more people have access to the Kick-off Show than ever before, the Andre the Giant Battle Royal had to play this role last night.

Instead, however, it did little in achieving anything of any worth. It would have been much better suited in the middle of the first two-hours. The only talking point from the match came at the very end with yet another Bray Wyatt return, apparently now associated with Matt Hardy in a friendly capacity.

While it is intriguing to see what they will do with these two further down the line, it wasn't enough to make the Battle Royal stand out.

Rating - 0.5/5

Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali - Cruiserweight Championship

Alexander and Ali were always going to find it a challenge to make much of an impact at this show. Being forced onto the Kick-off Show is bad enough, but to be inserted between two Battle Royals was a particularly cruel move as far as fans of 205 Live are concerned.

The action itself was very impressive and given a more prominent position on the card, more people would be talking about this as a highlight of the night. Alexander, in particular, is an incredibly gifted athlete and is doing well as the Cruiserweight division's representative.

A good match that really should have started the night off.

Rating - 2.75/5

Women's Battle Royal

Effectively the main event of the Kick-off Show ahead of the men's, the Women's Battle Royal was probably the better of the two. It appeared as though the bookers had put more time into the planning and execution and the right decision was made considering who the final three turned out to be.

Having a mini NXT vs. Main Roster angle was a nice touch and there were some promising performances in the midst of the action.

Perhaps it was a little surprising to see Naomi get the win ahead of either Sasha or Bayley, but given how long she has been in the business and given the level of commitment she continues to give each week, Naomi was probably the most worthy winner.

Rating - 1.75/5

The Miz (c) vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins - Intercontinental Championship

Another day at the office. — Another day at the office

For three talented performers like these, you'd expect Miz, Rollins and Balor to kick WrestleMania off in style, and this is exactly what they did.

While we knew Rollins and Balor complemented each other in the ring, Miz's involvement really helped to break up the wrestling action and turn it into a Sports Entertainment affair. Everyone came away looking impressive here with all three looking like they could win at some point in the match.

The only factor that let it down slightly was how much it felt like an exaggerated Monday Night RAW match, probably because we see these three compete so often.

Rating - 3/5

Charlotte (c) vs. Asuka - Smackdown Women's Championship

There's no denying that the finish of this bout was unexpected. This is not to say that Charlotte is an unworthy opponent to end Asuka's undefeated streak, but most of us expected the Empress to pick up at least one championship title before it happened.

The match itself was very impressive. The two styles really complement each other - more so than we perhaps initially thought. Despite it being featured a little early on the card, it felt like a big deal and proved why these two are quite possibly the best female performers we have seen in WWE.

If anything, this match showed that in terms of pure wrestling ability, Asuka is the better performer and Charlotte still has a little bit of work to do to be considered for a WrestleMania main event spot.

Rating - 3.5/5

Randy Orton (c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev - US Championship

As most of us thought, this Fatal Four Way proved to be the weaker of the mid-card title matches, and by quite some distance. Similar to the issues with the IC title match, this felt like a standard edition of Smackdown Live, and not a particularly good one.

The crowd were clearly in the corner of Rusev which made the ending especially difficult to swallow considering who ended up with the victory.

This won't be remembered for very long and for WrestleMania standards it was pretty poor indeed.

Rating - 1.75/5

Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle vs. Triple H/Stephanie McMahon

In many ways, this star-studded tag team match had the most riding on it going into WrestleMania 34. Could Ronda prove to us that she deserves to be a WWE Superstar? Would the company do the right thing and avoid another pointless Triple H burial? What will become of the women's division now Rousey is a Sports Entertainer?

If we had any concerns going in, the four absolutely smashed them to pieces. This was the match of the night and by quite a distance.

Ronda might have started off a little sloppy but after the initial nerves left her, she put in one hell of a performance. It was also great to see Kurt Angle and Triple H go at it after all these years, and to her credit, Stephanie played her role to a tee.

What is most promising is that Rousey clearly has the ability to contribute to effective storytelling in her matches. You can always train harder to become a better wrestler, but being a Sports Entertainer is a lot harder to teach, but Ronda looks to be a natural.

Rating - 4.5/5

The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos vs. The New Day - Smackdown Tag Titles

Blink and you missed it. — Blink and you missed it

This was a straightforward disappointment. Considering we know what the Usos and The New Day can do in the ring, especially against each other, the fact that their match was reduced to an afterthought was a real shame.

If only this could have had some stipulation to it - like a TLC or Ladder Match - and was given more time, it might have been a show-stealer. Instead, we got something that wouldn't have been impressive on a throwaway episode of Smackdown Live, let alone the Showcase of the Immortals.

Rating - 0.75/5

The Undertaker vs. John Cena

Great story, quick match. — Great story, quick match

As we all know, Professional Wrestling is subjective. If you rate matches based on the in-ring work rate alone, John Cena vs. The Undertaker would no doubt score somewhere near the bottom of WrestleMania 34 matches.

If you're a fan of storytelling and spectacle, however, you'd probably rank it higher. In reality, you need both, and what they lacked in terms of the former, they more than made up for when it came to the latter.

But what these two achieved was something more special than work rate, more important than technical wrestling ability. They went out and proved that it takes decades of experience to be a Superstar.

The company must be given credit for how they told this story. They didn't rely on the well-worn way of doing things and actually left us guessing until the very last minute. And for this reason, the match didn't need to be anything special - Taker got a redemption of sorts and nobody is any the worse off for it.

Rating - 2.25/5

Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

With Daniel Bryan returning to the arena in which he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the WWE had a huge headstart with this tag team match. The crowd were onboard from the very start which always helps the overall enjoyment of a bout of this calibre.

While the performances themselves were a little limited, especially when Shane McMahon was tasked with carrying the match, the second half of the action really came into its own after the Daniel Bryan hot tag.

Bryan looks every bit the competitor and athlete he did shortly before retiring a few years ago and has left us all wanting more from the leader of the YES movement.

Rating - 3.5/5

Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss - RAW Women's Championship

Despite a fairly decent storyline going into the RAW Women's Championship match, expectations across the WWE Universe were pretty low, and the two women did little to prove us wrong.

Nia Jax might be turning into a compelling character, but her in-ring style is still very awkward and clumsy and hasn't progressed much from her days on NXT. Indeed, Alexa pretty much carried this one and showed us some very impressive heel wrestling in the mid-way point.

It's always going to be a challenge to follow a Daniel Bryan WrestleMania match but this is no excuse for how much of a letdown this was.

Rating - 1.5/5

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - WWE Championship

As a fan of NJPW and someone who had the privilege of watching some of Shinsuke Nakamura's bouts over in the Far East, very few people wanted to see him succeed in the WWE more than I did.

Because of this, it would be very easy for me to join the army of apologists across Social Media right now who are finding every possible excuse in the book to explain why the match wasn't the classic we were all waiting for.

Instead, the right thing to do is tell it like it is. This match was OK - nothing more - and this is largely due to the performances of the two men involved. There were some isolated periods of effective counter-wrestling to enjoy but it lacked the overall flow that turns wrestling matches from 'OK' to Excellent.

A rating of 2.25 might seem a little generous if anything, but it's important to try and rate this one without the backdrop feelings of disappointment overshadowing it.

Rating - 2.25/5

Braun Strowman and Nicholas vs. The Bar - RAW Tag Team Titles

These are the kind of matches that make a Wrestling Journalist's job very difficult. In all fairness, the RAW Tag Title match doesn't really deserve a high rating as the action was limited and completely uneventful.

But in the topsy-turvy world of WWE Kayfabe, you can't help it if something entertains you, and this match most certainly did.

Sure, they could have gone down the serious route and had a returning Samoa Joe or Big Cass team up with Strowman, but that wouldn't have done much for anyone long term. Strowman doesn't work well with others, this much we know, so a long-term title reign shared with another RAW competitor would have hurt his momentum more than anything.

Instead, we saw a very humorous segment involving Nicholas, an incredibly fortunate WWE fan who will forever remember his moment in the spotlight.

Rating - 1.25/5

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (c) - Universal Championship

And now to the strangest match of the night (at least in terms of in-ring action). When looking at it as an isolated wrestling match - away from the negativity from the crowd and the fact that the audience had pretty much seen enough by this point - this was pretty decent.

It was exactly the kind of match we expected, and that's not a bad thing. Brock did his standard three moves of doom while Roman did his best to convince us he really is indestructible.

But of course, we have to rate it within the context it was presented, and with that in mind, the match was not worthy of a WrestleMania main event. When the crowd doesn't buy into the narrative you're trying to tell you're always going to be fighting an uphill battle.

The WWE clearly don't know what they're doing with their main event scene at the moment and this match showed us that.

Rating - 2/5