Grapplin’ With The BBQ Nerd: WrestleMania 35

What a difference a year makes! Last year, Daniel Bryan was making his triumphant return as a beloved hero, Ronda surprised everyone with her fantastic debut, Becky Lynch was relegated to the pre-show, the New Day participated in a disappointing tag title match, and Lesnar dominated Roman Reigns to end the event on a downer. This year, Kofi Kingston and Becky were the two biggest stars heading into Mania and Daniel Bryan remains the biggest heel in the company. So let’s take a look at my match ratings, and the five best and worst things about the show-

In match order (beginning with the pre-show), score out of 5-

Cruiserweight Title Match (P)- 3.5 Women’s Battle Royale (P)- 2.5 Raw Tag Team Title Match (P)- 2.5 Andre the Giant Battle Royale (p)- 2 Universal Title Match- 3.25 AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton- 2.5 Smackdown Tag Title Match- 3.25 Miz vs. Shane McMahon- 4.25 Women’s Tag Title Match- 3.25 WWE Title Match- 5 US Title Match- N/A Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre- 2 HHH vs. Batista- 1.5 Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle- 1.5 Intercontinental Title Match- 2.25 Raw/Smackdown Women’s Title Triple Threat- 4.75

Now my 5 favorite and least favorite moments from the event-

1st BEST THING- WWE learned their lesson from last year. WrestleMania is about sending fans home happy. Going in, we had the Cinderella stories of Kofi Kingston and Becky, along with Seth’s quest to bring the Universal title back home. Conventional wisdom says at least ONE of those faces will lose. But every single one of them were victorious! Not EVERY face won their match, but the highest profile ones did. Delivering the happy endings, especially for Kofi and Becky, helps create MOMENTS to go along with the in-ring action. Truly a feel-good Mania

1st WORST THING- This event is too damn long. The length is problematic for a number of reasons, but the most glaring one is that it takes the crowd out of the main event. As you can see,  there were 5 matches in between the emotional WWE Title match and the main event. Granted, one of those was barely a match (the US title) but it also contains the longest match of the night (more on that later). This was a history making main event, and the crowd loved Becky, but you could tell they were spent a bit.

2nd BEST THING- Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan was the best match from an in-ring perspective. It also told the best story, and had my favorite pacing. Kofi getting pumped up after getting the stuffing kicked out of him was intense, and the crowd was into every single second. The in-ring celebration was perfect, and on the other side of things, Bryan is just simply the best heel in WWE today.

2nd WORST THING- HHH vs. Batista was a momentum crushing, show halting, ego-driven slog between two guys who just don’t have what it takes to put on a good singles match, even with the weapons. These guys were willing to put their bodies on the line, so props there, but this was the longest match of the night for NO reason. It just brought the show to a stop, and given the length, did the show absolutely NO favors. No swerve ending, just boring, predictable, and outdated.

3rd BEST THING- The main event delivered some great action. Ronda took some great bumps, Charlotte brought her trademark athleticism, and Becky had the admittedly  exhausted crowd behind her. There are a few things that hold the score back, but the history-making nature of the match and result was exactly the right one for Mania to go with.

3rd WORST THING- Buuuuut… we have to talk about that finish. Either the pin was botched or it was done on purpose to further the story. Regardless of the reason, the sudden pin ended the match on a relatively flat note, and the fact that Ronda’s shoulder was up made everything quite confusing. This was like being one pin away from bowling a perfect game.

4th BEST THING- Miz vs. Shane was the biggest surprise of the match. This was old school fun, a messy spot fest with some brutal bits sprinkled throughout the bout. The finish with the massive superplex off the platform and Shane, by fluke, ended up on TOP of Miz, getting the pin. This was one of the most consistent stories BEFORE the event, and Shane was one of the BEST heels of the night.

4th WORST THING- A fairly weak pre show kicked off the event in relatively flat fashion. Besides the Cruiserweight title match, the pre show was full of sloppy action with either no build or, in the case of the Andre the Giant Battle Royale, celebrity centric build. The Revival TRIED to get the crowd into their match to give us a real moment when Hawkins snapped his losing streak, but this match literally had no TV build.

5th BEST THING- John Cena coming out in Doctor of Thuganomics form was a delight, and the best non-wrestling segment of the night. His rap against Elias was fantastic, and the line indicating his finisher, on this night, would be back to being called the FU made me mark out.

5th WORST THING- In addition to the length, the weakest parts of the card are in the last third (besides the main event). It’s one to have a buffer squash with Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio, but to compound that with Roman’s disappointing bout with Drew, the lengthy match  between Batista and HHH, the BIZARRE non event of Kurt Angle’s last match, and a misfire use of Finn’s Demon persona just puts the main event in an even worse position. If you cut everything after Joe/Mysterio and then go directly to the Main Event, this show would have been all the better for it.

In the end, this was the best Mania since 30. In terms of moments it is simply unmatched in being a crowd pleasing spectacle. The rough Pre-Show and the CRAWL to the Main Event hold it back a bit from legendary status. The three best matches, Lesnar’s shockingly quick defeat at the hands of Rollins, Doctor Cena, and the culmination of the two most engaging babyface stories  since Daniel Bryan’s ascension help push the event past the mediocrity of the rest of the event. In the end, I give Mania 35 a solid 3.75/5.