{"id":19721,"date":"2018-04-10T16:17:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T21:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=19721"},"modified":"2018-04-10T16:17:42","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T21:17:42","slug":"wolskis-wrestling-ramblings-wrestlemania-34-reveiw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/04\/10\/wolskis-wrestling-ramblings-wrestlemania-34-reveiw\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolski’s Wrestling Ramblings: Wrestlemania 34 Reveiw"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Since this a review, <\/span>spoilers<\/b> for Wrestlemania 34 follow below.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0You’ve been warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Well, that was a Wrestlemania. And I\u2019ve been searching for a word to describe it, and the best one I have is bizarre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The Undertaker came back and squashed John Cena, Asuka\u2019s streak ended, Brock Lesnar beat Roman Reigns in a match everybody was sure would be Reign\u2019s coronation as a worse Cena, AJ Styles had a somewhat disappointing match and Ronda Rousey may have had the match of the night.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Bizarre indeed, as most of my expectations and predictions for the night were shattered. This time we’re gonna do something different, as I\u2019ll post a TL;DR and the quick match results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Just for fun, I\u2019m gonna start giving matches the proverbial star ratings, but they won\u2019t be stars. Don\u2019t take these seriously, if you thought the match was better or worse than me, than it was. These are just for fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Screen
One of the many superman punches thrown that night.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also as a disclaimer, I did not watch the pre-show, as I finished the main card at 2 a.m. and called it a night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0TL;DR:<\/strong> The first half of this Mania was a lot of fun, then right around Styles vs Nakamura the show became a little underwhelming. Most of the matches were good in ring, but the many questionable booking decisions leave me kinda stumped on where the stories go from here. Definitely better than the last two Wrestlemanias.<\/span><\/p>\n

Match Results:<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Seth Rollins pins The Miz after a curb stomp to win the Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match also involving Finn Balor.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Charlotte Flair retained her Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship by making Asuka tap out to the figure eight, ending Asuka\u2019s two and a half year undefeated streak.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Jinder Mahal beat Rusev, Randy Orton and Bobby Roode in a fatal four way match for the United States Championship.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon by armbar in a mixed tag team match<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The Bludgeon Brothers beat The Usos and The New Day in a triple threat tag team match to win the Smackdown Tag Team Championships.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The Undertaker beat John Cena in three minutes.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens via Yes Lock. With this Owens and Zayn are still fired from Smackdown.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Nia Jax beat Alexa Bliss by top rope Samoan Drop to win the Raw Women\u2019s Championship.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. AJ Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Nakamura turned heel by hitting Styles below the belt and kicking him in the face repeatedly.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Braun Strowman and 10 year old fan Nicholas beat The Bar to win the Raw Tag Team Championship<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Brock Lesnar beat Roman Reigns via 6 F-5\u2019s to retain the Universal Championship, with no interest from the live crowd.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0So now, on to the full, long detailed review of Wrestlemania 34:<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> A fantastic ending<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Intercontinental Championship Match:<\/b> This match was awesome and was definitely the best \u201cwrestling\u201d match on the show. All three guys got time to do their stuff, with the Coup De Grace pin breakup by Finn, and the mid-pin attempt curb stomp by Rollins.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Miz actually looked good in defeat, as he wrestled straight up and had a few long stretches of dominance. Plus the entrances were cool. I was hoping Rollins would win and complete his Grand Slam, making all three Shield guys hold this honor. Awesome match with a lot of cool moments and a good ending.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 4 Seth Rollins swinging the title belt over his head out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship Match:<\/b> This was another good wrestling match, with so many nice counters and reversals of moves that made it look like anyone\u2019s match. Asuka working on the shoulder of Charlotte was good ring psychology, and the moonsault counter was tremendous. It was a really well worked match and was only just barely beaten by the previous match.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0But what is gonna stick with people is the ending of this one. The finish came when Charlotte made Asuka tap out to her Figure 8 submission the first time she applied it, breaking Asuka\u2019s two and a half year streak. I guess it was better to end it at Wrestlemania than at a smaller show, but Charlotte has already got most of the big women\u2019s accolades, why did she need this one too?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Also, Asuka didn\u2019t struggle long enough to break out of the hold, she should\u2019ve been in it much longer, or the match should\u2019ve got five more minutes with multiple Figure 8 attempts to show how tough both women were. But I digress, as it was still a great match until the ending.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 4 glittery face masks out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> A hell of a match, despite the result. Also as an aside, what an awesome stage design for this one.\u00a0<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0U.S. Title Fatal Four Way:<\/b> This match was pretty good. There were some good exchanges between all four guys with Rusev looking like a star, with the whole crowd chanting for him. I zoned out a little during this match, but was disappointed with the ending. Jinder winning another title? Now we\u2019re gonna see him fight Randy Orton, again.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0The one guy who I didn\u2019t want to win won, and we have to suffer through another title reign of boring matches, the same boring promos, and matches that will all have the same ending of Singh brother interference and Khallas.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 2.5 Machka kicks out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> Shocker of the night right here. I’m still a little conflicted over Rousey using Roddy Piper’s logos and likeness, but that’s just a nitpick. Also, how has no one used “Bad Reputation” as a theme song before Rousey. What a good song for a wrestler.<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rousey and Angle vs The Authority:<\/b> This was the shock of the night. Rousey entered with a Roddy Piper inspired attire, and Triple H and Stephanie rode in on a motorcycle parade, just like last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0The match was good, telling the story of Stephanie trying everything to avoid Rousey, by taking cheap shots and taking advantage of situations where the ref was distracted. The match was kinda in autopilot until Rousey came in, and blew everyone away. She was fast, and pretty crisp at doing the few moves she had to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0She also sold pretty well for Stephanie\u2019s offense, and had an awesome moment when she lifted Triple H on her shoulders for a bit. The match was pretty long, but didn\u2019t feel like a 20 minute affair, and I was invested in seeing what Rousey would do next.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0So I have to give all four involved a lot of credit. I wasn\u2019t really looking forward to this match, but by the end of it, it was my match of the night, in terms of entertainment value.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 4 Rousey hurricanranas to Triple H out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> Probably the best entrance of the night in my book, but I’m a little biased on that.<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Smackdown Tag Titles:<\/b> While short, this was a good match for what it was. All three teams got to get some good offense in, and Harper and Rowan looked like absolute beasts. Nothing really else to say, just a solid match that accomplished its purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Also, The New Day\u2019s entrance was fantastic, the little people in pancake outfits throwing flapjacks into the crowd was awesome!<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 3 pancake throwing little people out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Undertaker vs John Cena: <\/b>This was bizarre. Cena gets the signal that Taker\u2019s in the building and heads to the ring, only to be interrupted by Elias. He performs (great as always) and gets beat up and hit with an AA by Cena for his troubles. Taker still doesn\u2019t come down. Yet when all hope is lost and Cena walks to the back and is interrupted by the entrance of the deadman.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0The match that followed was three minutes of Taker moving better and faster than he has in years, with him destroying Cena. It\u2019s always so strange to see Cena get defeated so easily. Cena lost after one Chokeslam and one Tombstone piledriver. An interesting sight to see, but not a very good match.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 2 goofy John Cena runs up the ramp out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> A strange match, but a great entrance as always.\u00a0<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Owens and Zayn vs Bryan and Shane:<\/b> This was a pretty standard tag team match. Bryan gets hurt beforehand, and the heels beat on Shane for a while. Then Bryan comes in for the save and hits all his signatures on Owens and Zayn to win the match.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0However, this match was special since it was Bryan\u2019s first match in almost three years, in the same arena where he won the WWE title in the main event of Wrestlemania four years ago. The crowd loved Bryan, and he looked like he hasn\u2019t missed a step, while working a safer style. A great moment for Daniel Bryan fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 3 weird Shane McMahon groans out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> Right in the mush!<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Raw Women\u2019s Championship:<\/b> This was a decent match. All the spots were done well and it told a nice story of Alexa using her cunning to go toe to toe with Jax. The Samoan Drop off the top rope looked cool, and the right person won. While I would\u2019ve preferred a shorter squash match, it was still solid. Nothing offensively bad here.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 3 lifeless Mickie James lying on the floor out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0WWE Championship:<\/b> I lowered my expectations for this match beforehand, because everytime a match is labeled as a \u201cdream match\u201d or \u201cshow-stealer\u201d before it happens, it isn\u2019t going to live up to the hype.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0This was the case here, as it was slower than their New Japan match, and just didn\u2019t have a good flow, as whenever the action would get going, it\u2019d be stopped by a rest hold or extended period of selling. There were still some good moments. The final counter to the Styles Clash was really cool, as was the forearm countered into the Landslide.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0And finally, the heel turn at the end was executed really well. I actually didn\u2019t see it coming, and all the repeated kicks to the head and back of Styles looked like they hurt. A good match, but nothing compared to what it was hyped up to be, which brings it down in my eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 3 Nakamura jackets out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> On a night where there were too many shows of sportsmanship at the end of matches, this post match beatdown was welcome. I’m a sucker for the hug or handshake that turns into a low blow.<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Raw Tag Team Championship:<\/b> This was a nice moment. Sheamus and Cesaro entering on the Mardi Gras float was funny, Strowman destroying the float was even better, and the site of all the Mardi Gras characters running in fear was funny.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0While I was hoping James Ellsworth would be Strowman\u2019s partner, it was still a good twist to see it be a fan at ringside. The match was short and sweet, with Strowman looking like a beast, even though beating both men by himself made The Bar look like chumps.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0But this was meant to be a moment more than a match, and for that it did its job well.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 2.5 crashed Mardi Gras sets out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    <\/b> Strowman toes the line between goofy and serious so well. He is in essence exactly what wrestling’s all about.<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Universal Championship:<\/b> Well this was certainly a match that happened. It was a worse version of the main event from Wrestlemania 31, with Reigns taking a beating and being all resilient about it. But it was slow and plodding, with Reigns kicking out of a ridiculous five F-5\u2019s and 10 different suplexes. It was like Rock vs Cena from Wrestlemania 29, but worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0It didn\u2019t help that the crowd didn\u2019t care at all about this match, chanting \u201cboring,\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cCM Punk,\u201d and the first \u201cThis is awful\u201d chant I\u2019ve ever heard. There were also many beach balls being tossed around.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0To top it all off, Reigns lost. The guy that\u2019s main evented four straight Manias lost his big coronation match. The whole point was to take the title off Lesnar so he could go back to UFC and the Universal title could be on Raw every week. A whole year of Lesnar showing up 10 times was all for naught. Boring match, bad ending and a crowd that was apathetic to the whole thing. Not a good way to end the biggest show of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Rating:<\/b> 2 crimson masks out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    The moment that confused us all.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    This Wrestlemania had a lot of moments. Taker\u2019s return, the Rousey match, Nakamura\u2019s heel turn, the streak breaking, all the entrances and the shock of Lesnar retaining. Yet so many of those decisions just didn\u2019t seem like the right ones that fit in with the story. If you\u2019re gonna do the story of the main event and have the resilient babyface lose, what was the point?<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0So overall, this was an ok Wrestlemania with some good moments, good wrestling but strange booking. Better than Wrestlemania 32 and 33, but there are still many ahead of it. Now I\u2019m just curious what happens next, which was maybe the point of all the weird choices.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0Overall show rating:<\/b> 3 beach balls out of 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0That was Wrestlemania 34, and now we start on the long trek to next year\u2019s event. So keep it here for more Wolski\u2019s Wrestling Ramblings.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Screen
    What an action shot. Styles always makes some strange faces in midair.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Henry Wolski
    \n<\/b>Executive Editor<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 \u00a0Since this a review, spoilers for Wrestlemania 34 follow below. \u00a0 \u00a0You’ve been warned. \u00a0 \u00a0Well, that was a Wrestlemania. And I\u2019ve been searching for a word to describe it, and the best one I have is bizarre. \u00a0 \u00a0The Undertaker came back and squashed John Cena, Asuka\u2019s streak ended, Brock Lesnar beat Roman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":19735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2104,3,2138],"tags":[2522,2511,2000,2523,2141,2438,2446,772,2173],"class_list":["post-19721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-tartan-news","category-wrestling","tag-aj-syles","tag-brock-lesnar","tag-henry-wolski","tag-john-cena","tag-online-exclusive","tag-wolskis-wrestling-ramblings","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wrestling","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-4.50.59-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-585","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19721"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19738,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19721\/revisions\/19738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}