The biggest WrestleMania of all time had many great moments and many moments that put a lump in your throat. Make no mistake, this was a show of shows. It made you celebrate the pleasant surprises, it made you sign heavily with disappointment and sadness, it also made you angry.
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There were cool moments. More on that later. But there were also decisions that made some fans scratch their heads. The extravagance covered up some of the matches that were given no hope to thrive since the beginning, but some bouts just did not live up to the hope and hype.
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Here are 5 things from the 32nd edition of the grandest show of them all that could have been better –
1) The Roman Empire
The boos were visceral. This isn’t an empire that stands for this king. The audience cheered every bit of The Authority even after that spitefully terrific entrance of corporate drones and Stephanie McMahon tearing everyone apart verbally. Thy audience believes they’re owned by The Authority and would not take Reigns as their king.
The authoritative entrance could have been so much more effective if the opponent was actually a person people wanted to see beat down the Authority. Instead, this was a main event on a night where fan favourites like Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles and Shane McMahon lost to performers who did not actually need a win.
2) Where was the hope?
While it was okay to not use the chainsaw. That would have been a lot. If you thought this was about Ambrose withstanding more pain than a normal wrestler, let alone a normal human being. But he did not even get the opportunity to match the 16 suplexes Lesnar gave to Cena. He only got 13.
There were kendo sticks used and Ambrose was pinned after an F-5 on the chairs. This match was over too quick, too soon. In retrospect, there may be something to it. Ambrose lost clean. There were sparks of awesomeness when Dean smiled at Lesnar, blocking the kendo stick before giving him a low blow.
This was a bad WrestleMania for Ambrose. Hopefully, it turns into what happened to Bryan after his 18-second loss to Sheamus. On the other hand, Shane vs Taker was everything that this match could and should have been. Ambrose was a Madman but Shane outclassed him in that sphere. There was a certain feeling of respect after all the things Shane did- something that was expected from Ambrose.
This match- despite all the hype and all the endearing hope for fan favourite Ambrose- was a major disappointment.
3) Needless fun
The Rock’s entrance- It was extravagant and it was dragged along. It’s WrestleMania and it’s supposed to be a night of fun and frolic, of celebration. The Rock came, dragged along his entire entrance theme, brought what JBL called a flame roller and put the banner of ROCK on fire. Gathered at the entrance were Texas’ very own cheerleaders.
He did all of this just to get to the simple point about the attendance record, which you knew would be shattered. It would have been quite a disappointment and a public relations panic moment if it hadn’t. Then something interesting happened.
Those of you who thought Wyatt won’t be getting a WrestleMania entrance this year, it was time to think again. He gave a sweet little promo about why he was going to rip The Rock apart. But The Rock, even if he looked shaken, kept making almost offensive jokes.
This was all a way to get Cena to make an entrance and help The Rock out, but in between that they had The People’s Champions compete in a 6-second match. It was fun and unexpected but was it really needed? Bray Wyatt has lost most of his heat at this point of his career.
4) Needless Win
Who hasn’t Chris Jericho lost to since making so many returns in the past four years?
Jericho did some splendid heel work but really, did he need that win over Styles at the latter’s first ever WrestleMania? AJ Styles- the man who made a phenomenal debut and continued that momentum in the past 3 months, couldn't get it done.
This was a Sting kind of a moment. Probably the first moment of the night where you had the experience of blaming this on the guy who booked the show. Styles was phenomenal anyway. However, this was the least harmful worst thing of the night.
5) Bathroom break
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was a legit bathroom break. It’s become the new Divas Battle Royal but with more time. Shaquille O’Neal made an appearance but it was a match that was poor and was redeemed by one and only one moment.
Nobody noticed Baron Corbin was there and it was one of the worst feelings ever. While Kane went on eliminating all the jobbers, Corbin steered from behind and eliminated Kane to a rousing ovation from the audience. This night was also about those overwhelming NXT chants that followed.
A very well deserved winner but Shaquille O’Neal, really?
