
Really enjoyed WrestleMania this year, even if the event felt like a mixed bag and a bit light on those quintessential “WrestleMania” moments.
It was still a lot of fun, with Night 2 comfortably beating out Night 1 on match quality alone. Night 1 was still good, but yeah. Not to say Night 2 didn't have its issues. It came out of the gates flying, and the first three matches were great. Even felt that their VT and ad stuffing was a little less pronounced. Logan vs. AJ brought it back down; I struggled to care about that one, and then the egregious time-wasting became a thing in the back half. But overall, I was happy with the two nights. Still think it's really odd Rock wasn't there. The whole angle felt like he was a key player, so for him to totally no-show and not get a mention (outside VTs) was odd. Felt like there might have been some creative differences backstage because for him to not be involved and not even attend was telling.
What else? The women's triple threat opener was a standout, with Iyo Sky retaining her title. Iyo winning was great. Blew Charlotte and Tiff from Night 1 out of the water.
Wholesome.
Bronn Breakker's match was way more fun than I was anticipating and a great showcase for him. I get it now. Set design was peak this year as well, which is always appreciated. Happy with Dom winning the Intercontinental title. Anything that gives him licence to be an insufferable heel is gold on this guy.
Joe Hendry was a great pop and fun moment. Wasn't a total squash but wasn't really meant to be a serious match either. Good fun.
Always pop for Austin, but this appearance felt pretty pointless. Without the crash kerfuffle, this would go down as one of the most forgettable Austin appearances at a WrestleMania. Nobody even got stunned! But the crash kerfuffle did happen, so this actually is memorable after all!
Main event was…fine? John Cena's record-breaking 17th world title win is on the books, and the match was perfectly serviceable, with John looking conditioned (spray-on hair included) and strong going in. There was no blowing up or anything like that. Still, the ending was paced badly. The Travis Scott thing didn't really work for me because WWE has not told me in storytelling why I should care about this guy at all. Still feel the ending was different a few days ago, and Rock might have taken his ball and gone ho…to Hawaii.
On reflection, it might actually be between Austin hitting a Karen, Drew social media trolling or Orton's mystery opponent for the best WrestleMania moment this year.
Also, Wacky deserves props for damn near predicting most of the show results and events!
As an aside, I've always wanted to go to a WrestleMania live, but that is always in the context of being right at ringside. When the reality of going to one of these shows is you pay 400 bucks for this:
Watching at home with your own snack buffet and a couple of Steveweisers really isn't too bad after all!