WrestleMania 34 promised a lot of things, and it delivered on most of them.
Take it from me, someone who had lots of doubts surrounding certain parts of the card. On the whole, the show delivered, maybe somewhat surprisingly.
Unfortunately, as has been the issue with WrestleManias in years past, this one just couldn't keep the momentum rolling long enough to send the fans home truly happy. Hey, at least it was free on the WWE Network.
MORE: How WrestleMania 34 panned out
Here are a few things that worked and a few things that didn't for WrestleMania 34.
What worked
Ronda Rousey can hang — for now
WWE did an excellent job of protecting Rousey in her maiden voyage in a WWE ring. While the match wasn't a technical masterpiece, it was everything it should have been: wrought with drama, psychology and entertaining spots.
It was a pleasant surprise for most, and it was an excellent first showing for Rousey. She played her role well and didn't seem to shrink under the pressure of performing in her first match in a WWE ring — at WrestleMania, no less.
Sure, she's fought at UFC before, but fighting out of instinct/training and playing a character and taking other's safety and health in your hands are two drastically different things.
That said, Rousey is going to have to get into singles feuds in the future, which means she'll really be put in the spotlight to work some real matches. Which means she'll have to rely on more than just her MMA background to make her a viable, credible threat within the division.
What's next: Rousey is going to need another feud, preferably something low profile so she can catch her bearings. That probably won't happen, though, given her standing with the company and her push.
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Triple Treat
No, that's not a typo. The Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat match was a treat by any measure of the word. While the result will be debated by some, the match itself showed just how deep the entire WWE roster is and how many guys are ready to take that next step for a main-event push.
The Miz, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor opened the show on fire and set the bar pretty high, which is a standard that was held for a majority of the card. The Miz, long overlooked in the main-event scene going back to his candid promo against John Cena and Roman Reigns in August 2017, reminded everyone just how far he's come in the ring while matching both Balor and Rollins step for step.
What's next: I'd love for the Miz to get a fair shake at a main-event run now. He was ripped from a potential top-card run on "SmackDown" when he was drafted to "RAW." While his IC Title runs have been memorable, he's just ready for that one, memorable main-event run now.
Rollins will get his run with the IC Title, but he's another guy who deserves a main-event push, and soon. He's too good to be continuously left in the midcard. Just too good.
I'm wondering what's next for Finn Balor. He's clearly talented and the fans take to him well. But as a face, he's limited. I'd like to see him in a heel run with the Club — Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson — though that's not likely in the cards.
Charlotte and Asuka tore it down
This is no surprise. This was one of the better matches of the night, between two of the most prominent women's wrestlers on the planet.
Charlotte ending Asuka's undefeated streak makes sense for a few of reasons, too:
- There's no one as established who can credibly beat Asuka right now. Had Asuka won the match, then you're just running it back in a rematch with Charlotte, who would probably get the nod then.
- It had to end sometime, right? I mean, Asuka wasn't going to go undefeated forever, so it makes sense to lose at WrestleMania to someone as good as Charlotte.
Really, there's not much more to say about the match. It was well done and well received, though Asuka tapping out so quickly to the Figure 8 was a bit of a surprise.
What's next: Charlotte Flair continues her reign of dominance as "SmackDown" Women's Champion. I'd like to see Asuka get another shot at the belt, because there's not much else cooking right now in that division, aside from the Riott Squad.
What didn't work
Please, for the love of all that is holy, fix the 'RAW' main-event scene
I can't put it any plainer than this.
The main event was about as cold as the Naked Mideon running through a Minnesota snowstorm. It's so hard to see how WWE rebuilds the main-event chase now. Sure, Reigns kicked out of a million F5s, but the fact that this feud has revolved around "full-time guy vs. part-time guy" and the full-time guy got his butt whupped makes the outcome look even worse.
Brock Lesnar's surprise win just does nothing for anyone involved. I mean, unless you're Vince McMahon and you wanted to "nanny-nanny-poo-poo" the WWE fans who thought they had the finish all figured out.
While Reigns is still destined to win the title, a win over Lesnar does nothing at this point, as fans already know that he's going to be "The Guy" for years to come. The last thing he needs is another coronation. To that end, the last thing fans want is more Lesnar, which is kind of a misnomer: Getting more Lesnar than what we've gotten means like, three "RAW" appearances every three months, if that.
During your biggest show of the year, the crowd chanting "This is awful" in the midst of your main event should tell you just how over this entire feud the fans are. Please, please, please, please fix it. Do something. Anything. For the love of God.
Side note: The crowd also chanted "CM Punk," which certainly brought a tear to my eye. Oh, what could have been.
What's next: Roman Reigns needs a serious facelift: I think he is sorely, sorely in need of a heel turn. He has absolutely zero value as a face at this point and I'm not sure you can run it back with Lesnar one more time.
Hopefully Lesnar's contract is expired and we never see him again. Unfortunately, that doesn't look like the case.
'SmackDown' tag title match comes up short
It's unfortunate, because the Usos and the New Day deserved an opportunity to tear the house down at WrestleMania. Even if they've wrestled countless times at this point, both teams are creative and innovative enough to make something work and freshen up the feud. After all, it's what they've been doing for months.
Instead what we got was a really odd match that really told us nothing about the tag teams involved — we learned the least about the new tag champs.
There's something just not there with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan — I refuse to use their actual tag-team name because it is lame — and their new gimmick hasn't really clicked yet. The hammers, the ring gear, the desperate attempt to distance themselves from the Wyatt Family are all falling short. Not to say they can't work, because they can: It's everything else that doesn't fit.
The crowd reacted to their victory with complete silence. The only thing more entertaining might have been listening to your significant other drone on about their day — for three days straight.
What's next: I hope the Usos and the New Day get their blow-off match soon, along with a chance at revenge for the tag belts. I don't see Harper and Rowan lasting long with the straps while the rest of the division is head and shoulders better and more over than they are now, save Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin.
'RAW' tag title match comes up shorter — literally
While Braun Strowman needed a tag-team partner for his match vs. the Bar, the partner he picked was the wrong one.
While it's a nice "story" — picking a "random" kid, giving actual random kids all around the world the message that this could happen to you — it just doesn't make sense for a variety of reasons. The most predominant reason being that The Bar is essentially your sole established tag-team threat on "RAW" — you just jobbed them out to Strowman and some "random" kid. That's a complete and utter mockery of the team and the division.
By the way, apparently the kid is not so random: Reports say that Nicholas is the son of WWE referee John Cone. So there's that.
What's next: Strowman needs to lose the strap immediately. He has nothing to gain as "tag-team champion" and this angle with Nicholas is going nowhere. Get him all the way outta there. He needs to be in the main event before he loses the last bit of main-event juice he's got.
WrestleMania 34 match grades
— Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat: 3 3/4 Stars. It was exactly what you needed to open the show. They set the bar, set the standard. It was well paced and fun without being too spotty.
— Asuka vs. Charlotte, "SmackDown" Women's Championship: 3 1/2 Stars. I have an issue with Asuka tapping out, but no issue with Charlotte winning. At some point Asuka's undefeated streak had to end, and this was as good a time as any to end it.
— United States Championship Fatal 4-Way: 2 1/2 Stars. Honestly, the most forgettable match on the card. The insanely over Rusev not coming out with the title while putting it on Mahal makes me scratch my head, big time. But Mahal is OK in my book. Ill-fated pushes or not.
— Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon: 4 Stars. Probably — shockingly — the match of the night. While it didn't showcase Rousey much, it did protect her enough that it made her look strong and confident in her abilities. She will, at some point, have to add stuff that isn't MMA to her arsenal. It won't work forever, but it certainly did Sunday night.
— "SmackDown" Tag Team Championship Triple Threat: 2 1/2 Stars. This match was probably the worst-booked on the card and had the worst momentum. It made no sense from beginning to end, and the Bludgeon Brothers winning the tag titles is way, way premature.
— The Undertaker vs. John Cena: 2 Stars. Blah, that's all you can really say. While Undertaker didn't look bad, the build for this match made no sense. This match in general made no sense — with the way Undertaker squashed Cena, there's no reason this couldn't have just been a segment rather than a match. Not a fan all around.
— Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: 2 3/4 Stars. I was expecting much more Daniel Bryan in this match. Understandably, he's likely still not ready to have a full-bore match at this point, but it would have been nice to see more of him. Getting the win over Zayn and Owens was a big surprise, too. The match dragged on in the first half with McMahon getting whupped.
— Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Nia Jax, "RAW" Women's Championship: 2 1/2 Stars. I'm not really buying Nia Jax as a champion. I don't think she's all that great aside from having a unique look. This match was decent enough, though, as most expected it to be a squash, but Alexa Bliss made it work. Jax winning was expected, just hope she can capitalize from here on out.
— AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, WWE Championship: 2 3/4 Stars. This match was built to be so much more, but poor pacing and a lack of exciting spots did this match in. The heel turn following the match should help Nakamura in the coming months, but the question should be asked: Why not turn heel sooner? This feud would have sizzled if Nakamura was heel and able to let loose heading into it.
— The Bar (c) vs. Braun Strowman and Nicholas, WWE "RAW" Tag Team Championship: 1 Star. This match really, really bothered me. Strowman's fall from monster heel, knocking on the door of a WWE Universal title run to borderline comedy gimmick is brutal, and the way the match unfolded was worse. How does the most established and dominant tag team on "RAW" lose to a kid? In a handicap match? I love Strowman, I love The Bar, but Strowman has no business winning these belts by himself. Let alone a 10-year-old kid.
— Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns, WWE Universal Championship: 1 1/2 Stars. I really didn't like this match for multiple reasons. The first is Reigns kicking out of five F5s. We know, we know: Reigns is strong. Why overkill it? Second, Lesnar can't work anymore. The guy is blown up minutes into his matches and the gimmick is far, far beyond its expiration date. Hopefully his tenure with WWE comes to an end sooner rather than later, because the company is doing itself no favors keeping this guy at the top. The crowd chanted "This is awful" — at WrestleMania, during the main event of the show. If that doesn't give you the vibe that they are doing something wrong, then I don't know what will.
