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What a great show it has been thus far. WrestleMania 35 has delivered on all fronts and the results seem to be making everyone very happy (case in point- KofiMania). None more so that Seth Rollins starting the show with a win. But the question remains, why would you start WrestleMania with a Universal title match?
I mean if you think about it, it is the most important title in the business. It is the top prize for the men on the top brand in sports entertainment, isn't it? And this is why many had expected this match to have gone on towards the end, if not at the very end.
Let me make sense of why it was the match that started the show. If you think you know the answer, sound off in the comments below.
Here are 5 reasons why I think this happened.
#5 Starting off the show with a bang
It is a cliche, but cliches are sometimes indicative of the truth. The first blow is half the battle and WWE struck the right blow with this power-packed contest to kickstart the show. The fact that Paul Heyman strode out, interrupting a Hulk Hogan and Alexa Bliss segment pretty much blew everyone's mind universally.
WrestleMania soon became the number 1 trend in the world almost at once, and while WWE achieves this feat on a regular basis, it is something else entirely to achieve it straight from the word go. People realised that they needed to tune in for the whole show, and the big matches would not just take place at the end. WWE made everyone sit at the edge of their seats.
What do you think? Did this ploy of theirs work?
#4 Least hype among the big matches
So when we look back at WrestleMania 35, it will be remembered for three matches. The first is the incredible Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan contest, that we just witnessed. The second is the main event match featuring Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair in the historic main event match.
The third match is the Universal Championship match, which had a lot of people wondering how it would go because of the stakes involved. But the build for the match has been abysmal because Brock Lesnar does not wrestle on RAW at all. Paul Heyman and Seth Rollins did the best they could to hype the match up but to no real avail.
Of all the three matches mentioned here, while it was a big deal, it had the worst build of all. Maybe WWE wanted to get it out of the way right off the bat.
#3 The match quality wasn't going to be extraordinary
It's been a while since Brock Lesnar has really gone 50-50 with his opponents, truth be told. He had a great match with Finn Balor but there's almost always a formula to Brock Lesnar matches.
Which does not mean that Brock Lesnar matches are necessarily bad, but once you've seen one match, you've pretty much seen them all. It is like an AC/DC album or Motorhead album, which is solid, familiar and at the same time, entertaining in its own right.
It would be a disservice to the other matches in the card to have a match of this nature go on last when the other men and women would be putting in their all to put together a back and forth contest. The match eventually turned out to be what it was, a squash contest that turned around with a low blow.
Nobody's giving this match five stars.
#2 To not take the spotlight off the women
Some have felt that the women main eventing WrestleMania 35, while well deserved, has been a little forced. While the storyline began on a great note, over time, it became a little convoluted and confused, to the point where a lot of people turned on the storyline. So now imagine if the Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar match had gone on right before the women.
With all due respect to Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair, it would have meant that there would be reduced hype around their main event match. After all, Brock Lesnar has held the Universal title hostage for a long time. The fact that Seth Rollins is the face of RAW is a very big deal.
WWE want as much attention to be focussed on the women's division as possible. Little wonder that the match went on first.
#1 To sell the Brock goes to UFC angle
Ultimately, the whole purpose of WWE is to tell a convincing story. We all know that Brock Lesnar is a man who has earned his stripes in both the scripted and non-scripted combat sports world, and many have predicted a return to UFC for the Beast Incarnate.
With the rumours running rampant, Paul Heyman strode out to sell the story that his client was more focussed on becoming a UFC fighter, because he was disrespected by WWE for not being the main event. I'm guessing this will be the storyline that WWE uses with Lesnar in coming months too.
Also, we all saw the showdown between Lesnar and Daniel Cormier at UFC. We all know that Brock Lesnar's career in the octagon is far from over, and the fact remains that he's still a big UFC draw.
It makes sense to take the title off Lesnar if he's going to the UFC.
