Last Year, I watched & reviewed Wrestlemania 31. Overall, I thought it was fairly good. It was problematic most certainly, but I thought there were some enjoyable matches & stuff. Fast forward to 2016: all of last year’s champions are out with injury, stock & viewership is dropping, and there seems to be such a state of silent panic in the air. As you can tell, I’ve been rather nervous about this year’s show. I guess I’m not the only one: it seems that a majority of people aren’t necessarily looking forward to Wrestlemania. But is it as bad as people thought it will be? Well, take a look below at my review for Wrestlemania 32, and see if the fine WWE fans were right.
Pre-Show
Kalisto vs Ryback (United States Championship)
- Prediction: Kalisto
- Actual Result: Kalisto
We begin Wrestlemania with the first of 3 matches for the pre-show. It’s quite appropriate that this stayed on the pre-show, as if it was on the main show people would probably start suffering a case of the rage shakes, but I digress. You know things are off to an interesting start when the first guy comes out to cheers, and the other guy was cheered & booed. Kalisto & Ryback were rather underwhelming at first, as Ryback was making things rather one-sided. He was throwing him around like a rag doll for the most part, but Kalisto did get a little offense in. As the match was going on, Ryback was getting booed fairly generously. Given that he’s going heel again (Something that I didn’t know about), it’s not surprising. Ultimately, Kalisto would retain his US Championship, but it would be because of a exposed turnbuckle, which Ryback exposed earlier to gain an advantage.
The Total Divas vs Team B.A.D & Blonde
- Prediction: Total Divas
- Actual Result: Total Divas
Of all the matches on the pre-show, this was the one I liked the most. Yeah, I like good-looking women, but the girls actually brought a little something to the table (Excluding Eva Marie, who’s a Holocaust of women’s wrestling). Continuing on with Eva, she had boos rained down on her like a hurricane, but all the other women in the Total Divas team got cheered rather well. B.A.D. & Blonde came out to a more indifferent reaction. Given who was on that team, I’m not surprised. Perhaps the funniest thing about the match was the clothing, and in particular Natalia & Tamina’s looks. Natalia came out in what I can only describe as a bedazzled dominatrix, and Tamina looked like a post-apocalyptic butch lesbian biker. The entire match was very catfight-like, but there was some technical work going on in certain moments. Despite not wrestling herself, but Lana actually did okay for her first time. She was acting more like a figurehead/leader, constantly rallying the other members of her team. Brie Bella was cheered surprisingly well, especially when you consider her background. Ultimately, the Total Divas team won, with Brie using the Yes Lock to secure the win. Nikki managed to come out to congratulate her sister, along with the rest of the Divas team.
Usos vs Dudleys
- Prediction: Usos
- Actual Result: Usos
The conclusion to the pre-show, this was another match that I liked. Both teams got cheers from the audience: Usos got a lot of cheers, and the Dudleys were cheered pretty good as well. What made this great was the “Fire & Water” vibe I got from the bout. Usos know how to work on the ground, but their strength is in their high-flying acrobatics. The Dudleys are reverse: they can fly around alright, but their really strength lies in their tank-like strength. What really surprised me was the mention of Umaga by the announce team during the Usos’s lineage, since Umaga hasn’t been talked about since his death. In the end the Usos managed to get the win, but the Dudleys tried to gain revenge by ambushing them, and trying to get them through some tables. Sadly, the Usos managed to do some trickery, and got their foes through the table instead.
Guessed all pre-show matches correctly. I’m a little proud of myself right now, so let’s see if I guessed all of the other matches right. Let’s look at the undercard!
Undercard
Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder vs Sin Cara vs The Miz vs Stardust (7-Man Ladder Match for Intercontinental Championship)
- Prediction: Kevin Owens
- Actual Result: Zack Ryder
And here’s where things begin to go downhill!
I knew things were going to be off when it didn’t transition from the pre-show to the main show. Because of that, I missed a majority of what happened. By the time I got in, there was carnage all over the place. Ladders were strewn in & out the ring, and bodies were dumped outside. At one point, Stardust was laid out on a ladder, and I believe Kevin Owens jumped right on him, breaking the ladder in half. Right towards the end, The Miz (Ugg) managed to get on top of the ladder, but just sat there like a goofus, only for Zack Rider to knock him off & take the title. Umm, okay I guess?
AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho
- Prediction: AJ Styles
- Actual Result: Chris Jericho
From a cluster of a match, to a match that let the combatants loose. Despite Chris Jericho winning (More on this in a moment), this was a lot of fun to watch. When Jericho came out, it was to a weird mix of boos, cheers, and a dash of indifference. On the other hand, AJ Styles came out to a great amount of cheers, and chants for him started almost immediately. The two were flying as fast as fireflies all over the ring, but they got some decent ground work in too. AJ & Chris were mauling each other like a salmon fighting a bear, and in the process both wrestlers put out some close pinfalls. The wrong guy won, but a great match!
The New Day vs The League of Nations (Handicap Match)
- Prediction: The New Day
- Actual Result: League of Nations
Despite being the 3rd match of the night, this might very well be my favorite. While I think the gimmick has worn out it’s welcome for a while now, The New Day cane certainly entertain, and their intro was nothing short of magic. A giant box of Booty-Os (Part of their gimmick for anyone who doesn’t watch the show) was on stage, and then it tipped, spilling fake cereal & The New Day themselves. Their outfits were equally ridiculous, as they were obviously taken from DBZ. On the other hand, the League of Nations had no routine when they came out, and were booed almost immediately. This....was another “Fire & Ice” kind of match, but in a different way. The New Day were class clowns: they were laughing, smiling, being silly, but they had an intensity to them when they got serious. Meanwhile, the League of Potato (Wrestling Soup reference) were as boring & bland as they normally are on Raw.
In the end, the LoP won. Why in god’s name did they go over. What was the point!? The New Day losing served absolutely no purpose! Again, I’m not the biggest New Day fan, but holy hell the ending sucked! This might have been a blessing in disguise, as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels came out to beat the potatoes. From there the 3 & the New Day interacted with each other in silly ways, culminating in a dance off & beer bash.
Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose (Street Fight)
- Prediction: Brock Lesnar
- Actual Result: Brock Lesnar
Two things wrong this match:
- 1) A Street Fight during the PG era, where blood is a no-no
- 2) Brock Lesnar
Yes, I’m a Lesnar hater. To me, the man is the Antichrist of wrestling. Him going over Dean Ambrose, who actually has character to him, is nothing more than a slap to the face of his fans. On top of that, Lesnar came out to a surprising amount of boos. Dean Ambrose came out to cheers, and was cheered all throughout the match. Considering who he was up against, Dean got weapons out almost immediately, and was using everything he can get, including a chainsaw of all things! The chainsaw actually added a little to the dark humor of the match, which also included a baseball bat with barbed wire (Which wasn’t really used, despite it being a story component). Ultimately, Lesnar got in 12 suplexes, and grabbed the win. Did I mention I had a bottle of booze during this whole event?
Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch (Triple Threat for Divas Championship)
- Prediction: Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch
- Actual Result: Charlotte
If you’ve noticed a pattern so far, you’ll noticed that the wrong people have been winning consistently so far. That’s to her father Ric Flair, Charlotte once again won a match through shenanigans. Despite that, I actually enjoyed this match! The story elements were perfect: Becky Lynch & Charlotte have a beef with each other, and Sasha Banks (Yum, btw) has the sass & entitlement that puts the other two women to shame. The crowd were clearly in Becky & Sasha’s corner, as they were both cheered when they came to the ring, and chants for the two were being shouted at them constantly. Charlotte, by comparison, came out to what seemed like a mix of applause & booing. What made me chuckle a little was Becky’s outfit, which had a bit of a Steampunk element to it, and I thought that was great. As the match went on, things got a little more surprising. Charlotte tried to pin Becky & Sasha at the same time, Becky took out Ric Flair for a little bit, and Sasha Banks had perhaps one of the biggest high spots of the match. Unfortunately, Charlotte won through her dad, as he pulled Sasha (If I remember correctly) out of the ring before she could interfere with the pin.
And that was the Women’s match. The wrong girl won, and the match was a bit of a mess at times, but there’s definitely some fun to be had in seeing these girls fight.
The Undertaker vs Shane McMahon (Hell in a Cell)
- Prediction: Shane McMahon
- Actual Result: Undertaker
I love the Undertaker. If you’ve met me personally, you know I can go through the roof about this guy. He was one of the first wrestlers I saw live when I went to my first show (Smackdown, if you were curious), and the impression left has never faded.....Undertaker shouldn’t have won this match.
For the past few weeks, it had been built up that Shane McMahon (Who, btw, was cheered immensely on his night back) had come back, and was going to make Raw great again. Hell, he even said what was wrong with the company, something than no other wrestler/speaker working for WWE has talked about yet. Things got a little more intense when the fire between him & Vince was getting hotter, and the promos between the two were quite bloodthirsty. When the Deadman got involved, it just amped up the intensity more so. Hell, Monday before Raw Shane actually managed to get the upper hand on Undertaker, and managed to put him through the table. So for Undertaker to win, it just destroyed any story potential, and made the buildup a pure waste of time.
But what about the match? It’s was actually pretty good! Despite the outcome, I loved everything that happened before hand. Shane came out to cheering & praise that rivaled the night he returned to the company. It was almost deafening, if you could believe it. Meanwhile, Undertaker came out to his usual theatrics & cheers from the fans, but his age came through once in a while during the match. He seemed a little sluggish in spots, but more often than not still brought it to the match. Shane was a surprise in the bout: while he’s never had any formal wrestling training, he can actually really perform well. You can tell that he’s doing good when chants for Shame went on & off throughout the arena.
So let me get to what people were talking about, and that’s Shane dumping off the cell. The cell’s 20-something feet tall. That should make your butt clench up tight. Only one other man has jumped off the cell & lived, and you see how he’s doing today. I fully admit I was going “No No” under my breath, but luckily Shane managed to survive, and when the match was over, he was taken out on a stretcher to a hero’s triumph.
For some of you this was probably the highlight of Wrestlemania, and I can certainly understand why.
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale
- Prediction: ?
- Actual Result: Baron Corbin
When this match first came out in 2014, it was a pretty fun idea. Flash forward to now, and it’s already become a joke. Cesaro won it the first time in 2014, and he got shoved down the card in no time. Big Show won it last year, and nothing came of it afterwards. Was anything better this time around.......maybe?
For starters, the battle royale this year had some surprises in store, not the least of which was the entrants of Diamond Dallas Paige, and Shaq....Okay, that last one’s a surprise! With everybody in the ring at first, it was a big mess, but there were some fun moments. Fandango got eliminated in the most hilarious fashion, Shaq & Big Show got taken out at the same time, and the Social Outcasts got taken out 1 at a time. Towards the end the battle royal was more organized, but that’s more because there weren’t as many wrestlers in the ring.
In the end, Baron Corbin from NXT won the Battle Royale. As I didn’t really know all the combatants in this match, I couldn’t really make a guess as to who’d win. So in a way, I’m neither disappointed or happy about the result.
Main Event
Triple H vs Roman Reigns (World Heavyweight Championship)
- Prediction: Roman Reigns
- Actual Result: Roman Reigns
And here we come to the main event. Triple H, the husband of Stephanie McMahon, and one of the figureheads of the Authority. Roman Reigns, former muscle of the shield, and newly positioned babyface lead of the company. Having been built-up since the Royal Rumble a few months ago, this was the match (Besides Shane vs Taker) to watch, and it certainly was.
Let me just say that this is the only match I guessed right on the main show. The only one. I’m honestly glad that Reigns won. I truly am. Yes, they’re trying to make him into John Cena 2.0. Yes, the guy has booes rained down on him. However, it was good that he took the title off of Triple H, as that may have finally weakened the Authority angle. Hopefully, it will actually end later this year.
Anyways, onto the match. As per the norm these days, Triple H had a elaborate intro. It was very dystopian Sci-Fi, with masked minions, and Stephanie McMahon looking like something from the Hunger Games. In contrast, Reigns’s intro was very plain, and was booed just a second into his music. In fact, Reigns was booed throughout the entire match, and “Roman Sucks!” chants came in & out. In contrast, Triple H, who’s supposed to be the heel, is cheered constantly (Reigns was also booed whenever he got an inch in). Stephanie stayed round ring-side, and provided the distractions necessary for her husband to get the upper hand. At one point, Reigns speared Triple H through the ring-side barricade, and in that brief moment got a little cheered. In the end, Reigns took the title, and I was actually glad.
Overall Impression & Rating (Wrestlemania)
Wrestlemania 32 is so bipolar for me. On the one hand, I like the quality of the matches. There were some hiccups here & there, but overall I thought the superstars put on a great show. On the other hand, the wrong people won in just about every single match. If you include the pre-show then it’s looks a little more positive, but 4 matches where the right people won as opposed to 8 where they didn’t makes for a conflicting event. For me, I don’t regret watching WM32, but I’m somehow still angry.
The match quality of Wrestlemania 32 gets a 8 out of 10, but emotionally I’m giving this a 3 to 4.5 out of 10. Too many villains won this year. So will things be better on Raw? Well, let’s take a look.
Raw After Wrestlemania
Hour 1:
We start the first hour with someone you won’t be surprised to see, Vince McMahon. He comes out, and brags about his son losing his match the night before. Then Shane comes out to a roaring waterfall of cheers from the fans. You wouldn’t have expected him to be on the show, considering what he went through the night before. In fact, he had a good bruise on his face under his left eye. Shane goes on to thanks the fans, which causes Vince to flip, saying that no-one can outstage him. Shane stays around a bit, then Vince just says that his son can be the general manager of Raw, but only for the night. Then Vince stormed out, while Shane just took the crowd in.
Then our first match of the night, a rematch between the New Day & League of Potato, began shortly after the first segment. It reminded me a lot of their match the night before: class clowns vs blandness. The movement between the two groups mirrored that of their previous match, only this time around the New Day won. However, what made this 1st match great was that Wade Barrett got kicked out of the group. Shaemus had a speech, citing that the weak link had to be cut. Considering that Barrett is leaving in a couple months, this was the only logical way to go.
Afterwards, we find Vince backstage, leaving the arena. He explains to the interviewer that he’s leaving because he doesn’t want to see the show become a mess, due to his son running things. From there, we had a match between Summer Rae & Sasha Banks. Summer had a bitchy attitude before & during the match, but Sasha was bringing the sexy the entire time, and she won the match in quick time.
Hour 1 concludes with a match between Tyler Breeze & Apollo Crews. I feel a little bad for Tyler. From what I heard he was actually kind of a hit down in NXT, and to see where he is now, will make want to have the NXT stars stay on their show, lest Vince screws over their character. On the other hand, Apollo came out to mild cheering at first, but as the match went on, it got louder. It would be fair to say that Apollo practically dominated the match, throwing Breeze around like a ragdoll, and giving him almost no room to work. He then won the match, a tower of a man in a small ring.
Hour 2:
Hour 2 begins with Roman Reigns coming out. Coming out to a sea of boos so bad, you probably couldn’t see through things. His short speech only made things worse, as it came across as heel-like, and at this point the boos were practically deafening. Luckily, Chris Jericho came out to interrupt Reigns, and the crowd began cheering him. From there, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayne all showed up with a desire for his title. A fight broke out between all of them, with the concluding moment of Jericho getting a spear from Reigns. Shortly afterwards, Reigns & Shane were talking in the back, and Shane told him that the 4 men that came out would partake in a 4-way match, with the winner gunning for the World Heavyweight belt in the coming weeks.
Next up was a match between Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler. Dolph came out to a indifferent audience, and they were indifferent towards Corbin as well, but not quite as much. There was definitely a difference between the two, with Corbin being a little on the brutal side, and Ziggler being his usual scrappy self. As the match went on, there were 3 nearfalls, and they were actually pretty intense moments. Sadly, the match ended on a count-out, as Ziggler managed to get Corbin out of the ring, and they had sometime out in the crowd, with Corbin just beating him into the dirt.
Perhaps the strangest segment of hour 2, and indeed the entire show, was a recap of the bout between Brock Lesnar & Dean Ambrose. It was weird that Lesnaer & Heyman didn’t show up, bragging to the crowd that they conquered another fighter that the people liked. Triple H & Stephanie weren’t at the show as well, but considering their loss, that’s a little more understandable.
Concluding the 2nd hour of Raw was a match between the Intercontinental champion Zack Ryder & The Miz. Considering he was pushed down the card so much in recent years, it was shocking to hear so much cheering for Zack. He was out there, letting everyone know how thankful he was, and thanking his Dad for helping him get to the top. Then Miz showed up, with the crowd mixing some boos in with their indifference. He then goaded Zack into the a match for the title, and like the goofus he is, he went for it. The two were scrappy as always, and the both got in some great nearfalls. Unfortunately, it seemed that they wanted to push Zack down the card every further, due to interference from Miz’s wife, and Miz is the Intercontinental champion once again. Easily the worst match of the night.
Hour 3:
Hour 3 begins with the formal introduction of the new Women’s Championship belt (which was introduced during the pre-show for Wrestlemania). Charlotte had a strange mix of boos & cheers directed towards her, and there was even some applause for her as well. However, a lot of the positivity for her was negated almost immediately when she started going back to her bratty heel mode. Again, the moment that Charlotte hooked up with her Dad, any momentum she had started going away. She got so obnoxious, that all the other women left the ring, except for Natalia, who was still wearing her bedazzled dominatrix outfit. She decided to beat some respect into Charlotte, and proceeded to maul her like a grizzly beat. Welp, we know who Charlotte’s next rival is going to be.
Next up was a quick interview with AJ Styles. He was pretty amped up for his match later on in the hour, and seemed quite hopeful that he would win.
Another rematch from last night was the Usos vs the Dudleys, with the only change that it was an actually a tables match. I really don’t have much to say about this bout, as it seemed almost exactly the same as their pre-show match, although there seemed to be a little more theatrics in this one. This time the Dudleys won, due to trickery. Sometimes, it’s great to have some tables up, and let your opponents do the damage themselves.
Afterwards, we got another brief interview with one of the men in the 4-way, Sami Zayn. Or so we though, as Kevin Owens (Who, btw, said he wanted nothing to do with him), came up from behind in an ambush.
We come back to the ring, and the Dudleys were still hanging around. Things changed when the Tag Team of Enzo & Cass from NXT came out to a horde of positive vibes & cheers. They came into the ring, introduced themselves to the arena, and proceeded to smack talk the Dudleys like no tomorrow. The two teams almost had a fight, but the Dudleys backed off at the last minute.
Concluding Raw is the fatal 4-way match to determine the next opponent for Reign’s title. AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Chris Jericho showed up, but due to the ambush, Sami wasn’t in the match. Instead, the returning Cesaro would take his place to thunderous applause. This applause would continue as Cesaro would dominate the first portion of the bout, but Jericho would managed to control the second portion. At one point Owens butted into the match, and after AJ & Chris got thrown out, it was down to Cesaro & Owens, and the two had a few minutes with each other putting on a fantastic fight. AJ managed to break things up & almost win, but Cesaro started dominating the rest of the wrestlers again. At this point, the fatal 4-way was insane, with everybody going all over the place like debris in a tornado. In the end, AJ Styles managed to squeeze into the tornado, and won the right to fight Reigns for the title.
Overall Impression & Rating (Raw)
Raw was not a bad show. Not at all. There were some things that were off, to be sure, but overall there was a lot to enjoy. It might not have moved much foward, but as an episode of Raw after Wrestlemania, it did the job it was supposed to do.
Raw gets a 8 out of 10
So this was my look at Wrestlemania 32 & the Raw afterwards. I’m a little more conflicted this time around. There was definitely some stuff I liked during both shows, but there seemed to be as many things I had issues with. It seems that this is the mentality of a lot of people that watched Wrestlemania & Raw. I can only hope that the rest of their events don’t fall into this pit. I hope to see you all soon, when I’ll get back to our regularly schedule reviews & such.
***
If you want to see what I thought of last year’s Wrestlemania, check out my review below.
Wrestlemania 31 Review
Also, I’ll still get my overview up this week. You’ll probably get it towards the end, but you’ll see it soon!
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