WARNING: Spoilers for both events contained throughout
 
So Wrestlemania weekend has been and gone… and to be honest, I’m a little bit downhearted. Last night promised to have one of the best cards in years – and was set in New Orleans, the stop for arguably the best Wrestlemania of all time. But, iif I’m being truthful, it didn’t quite live up to expectations. And seeing as this is supposed to be the highlight of wrestling, that’s not good.
 
It wasn’t all bad though, we had NXT Takeover, which many fans believe stole the weekend – and with good reason. And to be fair, Wrestlemania had SOME good moments, so it wasn’t a completely wasted weekend.
 
Anyway, without further ado, here is my review for both Wrestlemania 34 and NXT Takeover: New Orleans.

For a full breakdown of matches and results, see HERE.
 
We started off with a, somewhat pointless musical intro by Cane Hill – which had a pretty bad musical balance as well. But it was worth the wait as afterwards, we were treated to one of the best ladder matches I’ve seen in a while.
 
Featuring Adam Cole, Killian Dane, Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream, new acquisition Ricochet (OMG yes!) and the returning EC3, it set the bar for the event. With bodies flying around, getting torn open – and some insane flying spots (including an awesome elbow by Velveteen Dream from the top of a cage), it energised the crowd so much that the “Fight forever chant” was prevalent.  Ricochet astounded us with his high-flying skills and EC3 proved he was ready for the big time (having already proven himself as one of the best TNA superstars). In the end, Adam Cole (baby!) won it for the Undisputed Era. And the crowd couldn’t have been happier. Hands down one of the best ladder matches I’ve seen in a while.
 
After coming up short against Ember Moon at the last Takeover, Shayna Blazer had a lot to prove. And with her fellow UFC’s friends in the crowd (including Ronda Rousey), she had a lot to prove. It was a brutal back and forth – with Blazer even countering Moon’s Eclipse finishing move (something even Asuka wasn’t able to do!) and forcing the Kirifuda Clutch on her. This time, Moon wasn’t able to escape and passed out – making Blazer the new champion. Good match to follow the ladder match.
 
The finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic match were next – Authors of Pain versus Pete Dunne (who was one of the most over people tonight) and Roderick Strong against The Undisputed Era. With Boddy Fish injured, Cole had to do double duty tonight. The match went back and forth as you’d expect until, in a shock twist, Strong turned on his partner and helped the Era win – joining them in the process. Whilst I guess this was supposed to be a “heel” moment, the crowd just cheered this and even chanted “Yes!” Not quite what WWE were hoping for, but it was still a good twist to end.
 
The NXT title was up for grabs now, with Cien Almas against Aleister Black, probably my favourite wrestler in NXT right now. At the last Takeover, Cien and Garganos had possibly the match of the year, which was gonna be hard to top. And whilst this match didn’t exactly live up to that standard – it was still amazing! Throughout the match, Vegas (possibly the best heel manager ever) interrupted the match with some savage attacks on Black – and it looked like Cien would get the victory because of this. However, Black fought through – and a mistake by Vegas led Cien right into a Black Mass, where Aleister Black gained the win, ending Almas’s title reign. Good for Black, he deserves it!
 
Funnily enough, I seem to remember he fought Almas in his first match on last years Takeover. Seems like it’s come full circle now.
 
And finally, to end this night was the “unsanctioned” match between former #DIY team mates Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, in which his NXT career was on the line. This is one of the most intense rivalries I’ve seen in years, and the fans are still hurting over Ciampa betraying Johnny about a year ago. I swear that Ciampa must be one of the most legitimately hated heels in years – when he came out, he had no ring music, just the sound of the fans boos. Chants of “f*** you, Ciampa” and “you’re a w***er” (being British, that brought a smile on my face) filled the arena. WWE should take note – with this amount of heat, they can make him into a real badass.
 
I have rarely seen a match with such white-hot emotion. Both Gargano and Ciampa really put 500% into their roles and gave us a spectacular match. All the rage and hate they had for each other boiled over here – and they hit both with everything from crutches to a suplex from the announcer table to the floor – even a powerbomb onto exposed concrete! Honestly, there was more in this one rivalry that WWE have had in any of their main roster feuds in a while. The ending was especially poetic – as it looked like Ciampa and Gargano would make amends as they both sat next to each other, remembering their friendship. But Ciampa would try to take advantage of this – however, Gargano scouted this and finished it with an STF (using Ciampa’s leg brace) to finally get his revenge. And so ends one of the most intense and emotional feuds we’ve seen in years.
 
All in all, this was a solid event and Wrestlemania would have to have done a LOT more to top this. Could they do it?

For a full breakdown of matches and results, see HERE.
 
I didn’t seem the pre-match bouts, but from what I understand Matt Hardy won the Battle Royale (with help from a new “Woken” Bray Wyatt), Cedric Alexander captured the Cruiserweight Championship, and Naomi won the Women’s Battle Royale (Wrestlemania has been good to Naomi I’ve noticed).
 
The main event card started with the Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship between The Miz, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. This was a very strong start to the event, with all three guys proving they are main event material. There were some great spots – but the highlight was Rollins doing a double Blackout to both Finn and Miz, before finishing Miz to grab the title, becoming a “Grand Slam Champion.” Good for him! Like I said, a solid start to the event.
 
Next up – one match I was really interested to see – Charlotte Flair versus the seemingly unstoppable Asuka. Title versus Streak! I would say that this was one of the best women’s matches I’ve ever seen (and Charlotte’s entrance was also amazing), both Flair and Asuka pulling out all the stops, and for a whilst Asuka really had Charlotte’s number at the beginning. However, Charlotte managed to fight through and get Asuka in her Figure Eight Leg Lock – causing her to tap, much to the shock of the audience. Her streak had ended! Afterwards, Asuka proclaimed “Charlotte was ready for Asuka” and the two embraced. It was a lovely moment and I would say the highlight of the event.
 
It was kinda spoiled when it focused on John Cena running to the back, having just heard the Undertaker was in (for god’s sake, Cena, let the women have their moment). More on that later.
 
We then had the four-way match for the US Title. RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV… oh b****cks Jinder Mahal won. Really, WWE? You’re really gonna do this again? Have you not learned your lesson from last time? *sigh*
 
At least the next match was a crowd pleaser – even if it did get a bit chaotic near the end. Seeing Ronda Rousey kick the living crap outta both Stephanie AND Triple H was pretty fun, and Angle did pretty good as well. It was a match that was better for fan service than wrestling – but Rousey did prove herself. With a bit more polish, she’ll become a force to be reckoned with.
 
The Smackdown titles were defended now for the first time in forever at Wrestlemania. The New Day came down with a group of dwarfs in pancakes, which was – weird. And the Uso’s celebrated the fact that this was their first time in the Wrestlemania main event card. However, it was quickly ruined by the Bludgeon Brothers – who in usual fashion squashed both teams to win the titles. It was quick, but we’ve come to expect that from the Brothers. Kinda seemed like the predictable route to go though – wished the Uso’s have had a better Wrestlemania moment. Never mind.
 
After that (in hopefully an end to one of the worst storylines ever), John Cena came to the ring, believing the Undertaker to be here. After calling him out for so long, he might finally get his Wrestlemania moment – because he’s NEVER had one of those.
 
Then came down Elias for – reasons. John Cena beat him up and seemed to leave. But then, SHOCK ALERT, the Undertaker DID appear. And I could not give any less of a s***.
 
What we then saw was one of the worst squash matches since Bret Hart versus Vince MchMahon. The Undertaker was sluggish and nowhere near as amazing as he once was. At one point he did a kick that didn’t even connect with Cena! It was just embarrassing – but at least it was short. In the end, this whole “Undertaker” thing, whilst arguably a crowd-pleaser, did nothing for either man in the end. Now do you see why I said this match shouldn’t happen?
 
And it went downhill from there.
 
Ok, that’s a bit unfair – as we next had Daniel Bryan (in his triumphant return to the ring) and Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Bryan didn’t miss a beat and the fans loved it. I’d be lying if I said it was the best match of the night, but it was decent – and ended with Bryan getting the win with “Yes!” chants filling the ring. The stipulation was that if they lost, Owens and Zayn would be fired from Smackdown. Move to Raw maybe?
 
After the dreadful body shamming angle with Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss, I was hoping for a Jax victory. But knowing WWE, I figured Bliss would get one over. As it turns out, I was wrong! Jax DID win the match, pretty much squashing Bliss. It wasn’t a great match, but it wasn’t terrible either. And at least the result was the right one – about time Jax had some love.
 
The next match was a match that I, and many fans, were waiting for. AJ Styles versus Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title. This is something that many fans have been waiting for – and based on their past battles in Japan, it was going to be epic! Shinsuke’s entrance alone (with guitar provided by Alice Cooper’s guitarist) was damn amazing. So we had high hopes for this match. And let me tell you, it was one of the most…
 
…underwhelming matches I’ve ever seen.
 
That is a phrase I thought I would never say about a AJ Styles or Nakamura match.
 
The match itself wasn’t bad, per say – it just wasn’t very exciting. Styles and Nakamura just didn’t seem to click here for whatever reason, and what should have been a fast-paced bout just became sluggish. The ending was good, when Styles counted a Kinshasa into a Styles Clash to get the win – and Shinsuke’s heel turn at the end could be interesting. But on the whole, this was not the magical match we had hoped for.
 
As a side note, anyone else noticed that neither Royal Rumble winner came out well in this event? That’s harsh.
 
In the penultimate match, The Bar went up against Braun Strowman and his mystery partner – after tipping over a Mardi Gras float that is. With so many theories flying around, everyone was on tender hooks as to who it would be. And so, Strowman announced his partner as…
 
Nicolas, a ten-year-old boy from the audience.
 
I should be pissed off about this; in fact I WAS. It was one of the biggest cop-outs in WWE history. But at LEAST it was kinda entertaining. Nicolas got a good fan reaction (with the crowd chanting “Let’s go, Nicolas”), even if he did look physically terrified! Strowman obviously did all the work – and beat them for the titles. This means that Nicolas is the youngest person in wrestling history to EVER win a title (something which I don’t think will stick).
 
Yes, it was utterly stupid, and some might say completely out of character for Strowman. But I actually quite liked it. At least it was WAY better than the train wreck of a main event.
 
This could possibly be a contender for worst match ever in Wrestlemania history possibly in ANY main event. No one really wanted Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to duke it out, and no one really cared. It was pretty much just signature moves and finishing moves – all the while the fans chanted “Boring”, “This is awful”, and the always classic “CM Punk.” Even Lesnar splitting Reigns open (which to be fair looked pretty brutal) couldn’t save this stinker and it was over in minutes. Oh, and if you thought that Reigns was gonna win, think again. For whatever reason, WWE decided to have Lesnar keep the title. And so, the worst title reign in WWE history continues.
 
 
OVERALL OPINION
 
What can I say about NXT Takeover, other than it was frigging awesome! From the opening ladder match to the intense rivalry of Gargano and Ciampa, it was non-stop action from bell to bell. There wasn’t a single bad match, or even a match that I considered mediocre. In fact, the only negative thing I can think of was the musical opening, but even that would be a nitpick. NXT once again pull out all the stops and arguably steal the weekend.
 
As for Wrestlemania… I really wanted to say I enjoyed this event, but it was just a huge let down. How can an event that had one of the best cards in years turn out like this? Most of the matches were just ok and very few of them had any memorable moments. It wasn’t all bad – the Intercontinental match was solid, Daniel Bryan’s return was a fans dream, Ronda Rousey’s debut was decent, Asuka having her streak broken by Charlotte was a shock moment – and hell, I even enjoyed the Braun Strowman/Nicolas win, despite it being a complete cop out. But the “dream match” between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura just broke my heart at how dull it was, and the main event was just a car wreck from beginning to end. And don’t even get me started on the pointlessness of the Undertaker versus Cena. Even the commentators seemed to give up, as there was more dead air here than in a graveyard.
 
Wrestlemania 34 was by no means the worst Wrestlemania, but it was by no means a classic – and it did have one of the worst main events I’ve ever seen in WWE history. Thankfully we had NXT Takeover or this weekend would have been a waste.
 
To sum up the events in one word. NXT Takeover = awesome. Wrestlemania = underwhelimg.
 
 
Images used are owned by WWE. Used for review purposes – no ownership is intended or inferred.

So having just seen NXT: Takeover (which was brilliant), I am all set for the “Showcase of the Immortals!” as they call it.

Most people have already done their posts about what they think will happen at this years Wrestlemania – and to be honest, I wanted to hold back on what I think will happen, just in case something happened last minute. But as we are only a few hours away from what could potentially be the best Wrestlemania we’ve had in years, I thought now was the time to put my feelings across.

These are both my own predictions and theories how each match will go, based purely on my own opinion. Many of these will be way of the mark, I have no doubt, but it’s always fun to guess.

Note, these are just theories, not spoilers. But by all means, if you don’t want to know anything that could potentially happen, read at your own risk.

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for Wrestlemania 34.
 
For the André the Giant and Women’s Battle Royal, I’m not really so bothered about those two – so I’ll just see what happens. And I haven’t watched 205 Live in a while, so can’t really call Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali. Let’s just head into the main matches (cards subject to change)

 
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Everyone seems to think this will be the classic “MchMahon heel turn” and Shane will end up screwing over Daniel Bryan – but a part of me is wondering if the opposite may be true. The timing seems convenient, doesn’t it? And Daniel Bryan has been having a supposed “friendship” with Owens and Zayn, so it’s possible that WWE could be going this way. It wouldn’t entirely be out of character for Bryan either – the guy has wanted to wrestle for years, and he’s angry about being held back, so this could be his chance to get his payback.

And let’s not kid ourselves – WWE aren’t gonna fire Zayn and Owens, not when they are as profitable as they are now.

Yes, it WOULD be a stretch for the WWE Universe to accept Bryan as a heel, but it could lead to an interesting story. Either way, I think Zayn and Owens will be fine here.

 
Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

Considering HHH and Stephanie don’t exactly have the best record at Wrestlemania, it’s easy to count the Authority figures out. And it seems silly that they would make Ronda lose in her first real WWE match.

But then again, Sting.

However, I’m gonna go with Ronda and Angle on this one.

 
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers

Finally, The Usos get their Wrestlemania debut after so many long years! I’d love to say they would win this in their first appearance (and I would LOVE for that to happen) but I’m not so sure. Seeing as WWE have been building up the Mario Brothers – I mean BLUDGEON Brothers – it looks obvious they may win this one. But then I like The New Day too. Hard to call this one… but I’m hoping for The Usos to have their Wrestlemania moment.

 
Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Braun Strowman and TBD

As much as I would love to see Braun Strowman team with “Brains” Strowman (see the last Raw), I doubt it will happen. Either way, I hope Braun and his partner wins – it’s about time the Monster Among Men won a title since he got screwed over for the Universal title.

As for who his partner it, Bray Wyatt, Mark Henry and Big Show seem to be the obvious choices. I would actually love it if they brought in someone from NXT (Originally I was gonna say Aleister Black, but maybe Pete Dunne could be the best pick), but we can’t be too sure at this point. Either way, I predict it’s Braun’s time for a championship now. Then again, I said that at No Mercy…

F*** you, Brock!
 

Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka

This one I am REALLY looking forward to! Charlotte Flair is one of the best wrestlers in WWE and Asuka has just destroyed everyone that’s come her way. Whereas many people are predicting an Asuka victory, I think Charlotte MAY just pull this one off – seeing as she lost to Asuka at Mixed Match Challenge, so she’s itching for revenge.

I dunno, I think Charlotte MAY just be the one to end the undefeated streak. Nothing lasts forever and Asuka has to lose one time. And if anyone can do it, Charlotte can.

The big question is, is Carmella going to finally cash in her Money in the Bank contract here? She’s tried it numerous times, but sooner or later she has to cash it in. What better place to do it than here at Wrestlemania. Or, some might say she does it in the other women’s match.

Either way, can we just get this out of the way now – not everyone can be Dolph Ziggler or Seth Rollins you know.

 
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Look, I love Alexa Bliss – she’s probably one of the greatest heels in WWE history – but the whole “bullying of Nia” angle just felt awkward and wrong. Bodyshamming just felt like a cheap way to get heat and I kinda hope that Nia gets one over and puts this to rest. If there is any justice, that’s what will happen – but then this is WWE. But this time, I hope for a Nia victory. Like Strowman, it’s about time she had a title around her.

 
Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev

RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY!

Does that answer your question?

 
The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor

Balor and Rollins had an incredible match on the Raw beforehand – so if they have the same level of intensity there, they are sure to wow the crowd. And Miz has recently become a father, showing a more caring side to him that I really appreciated (just don’t turn him face, he’s better as a heel).

Given the history of Miz’s antics, it wouldn’t be too wrong to see the Miz pull something out to cheat his way to victory. Giving that this is his chance to have the combined longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, I think this would be great for Miz. But then, Rollins and Balor could quite easily fight back and pull out a victory.

This is one I actually don’t mind either way – they are all great talents, I’m just hoping for an epic match.

 
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This is the one I am MOST excited for. And believe me, my brother and I have had many an argument over who we think will win this one. He’s on Shinsuke’s side and me… well, I love BOTH these guys. They are two of the best wrestlers, not just in WWE – but in the world. They are mesmerizing to watch and both give 1000% (yes, I added an extra zero on purpose) in the ring.

Injury worries from AJ do make me concerned that he might not be able to fight to his best – but I’m sure AJ can pull it out the bag. Though I would love to see AJ keep the title, I think it’s Nakamura’s time to shine. And boy will he shine! And given that Nakamura has beaten AJ Styles in Japan (which I recently saw and it was an amazing match), it could be a sign that Nakamura is on set to be our new WWE Champion.

Whoever wins, I just pray it will be a match of the ages – we’ve been asking for this match for a long time – please don’t f*** this up, WWE!

 
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

If you follow my blog closely, you know that I am not really fond of either of these guys. Brock Lesnar’s title reign has been an absolute joke (literary, you can count on one hand the amount of times he’s defended the title in a year) and Roman Reigns – well you know my feelings.

But, as much as it pains me to say this, I’m supporting Reigns in this. At least he shows up for work and WILL defend the title. So please, WWE, just this once – make Roman win!

 
And now the big question – will the Undertaker arrive to challenge Cena at Wrestlemania?

The answer is… I don’t care.

Whilst Cena’s promos have been pretty intense as only he can do them, the way he’s gone about it is wrong in my opinion. Most of the time, he just comes across like an asshole that won’t let the Undertaker enjoy his retirement. Remember how badly he performed at Wrestlemania 33 – do we really want to see THAT Undertaker try to fight?

And even if he DOES show up, some theories suggest that he may show up just to challenge John Cena for next year – so all that build up will be for nothing. Honestly though, I’d be happy with him just staying retired. It’s already a stacked card as it is – let’s not have too much of a good thing.

 
So that’s my predictions – what do you guys think. Let me know, and let’s hope that Wrestlemania kicks ass! Which I’m sure it will.
I’ll have a full review of Wrestlemania and Takeover tomorrow after the event. Let’s hope for a great Wrestlemania!

Image used copyright of WWE. No ownership is intended or inferred.

You know something; I haven’t seen a Wrestlemania for years. The last Wrestlemania I remember seeing was the one with Hulk Hogan Versus The Rock (however long ago that was). But seeing that me and my bro have recently got back into watching WWE again, we figured that we’d at least give it a try as part of our quest to see the “Big Four” events of WWE.

Wrestlemania 33 was certainly an event that had its fair share of shocks, surprises – and heartbreak. And after getting about five hours sleep the night before, I decided to give my thoughts on this event. For this review I’ll be looking at the matches one by one and giving my view on each one.

Like with Royal Rumble, I didn’t see the pre-show matches – but I heard the results were as follows. Neville beat Austin Aries and kept his Cruiserweight Championship, Mojo Rawley won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (really?) and Dean Ambrose beat Baron Corbin. I’ll try and catch up on those matches on the Network sometime.

I’m also not going to go into the storylines too much as some of them would take too long to explain. So hopefully you guys have an understanding of what is going on in WWE at the moment.

So to open Wrestlemania, we had AJ Styles VS Shane McMahon, in a match that some people had already written off. No one seemed to think that Shane would be able to stand up to AJ Styles – but BOY were they wrong! Shane has proven in the past he can hold his own with the best of them and he did right here, hitting AJ with a Coast to Coast, an elbow drop into a table – and even a shooting star press! Although AJ came out on top, both men put on one of the most energetic openers matches I’ve ever seen. I was kinda worried that the rest of the event would have too much to live up to after this, but for the first match this was brilliant.

Next we had Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho for the United States Championship. Both Jericho and Owens have had an amazing time together as both friends and rivals; and I would say they are some of the best workers in WWE at the moment. This match, whilst not as high flying as the last one, was straight up brutal and included some awesome moments – such as Owens doing a cannonball to Jericho when he was on the outside of the ring posts and his class pop up power bomb to the side of the ropes. Jericho even countered a power bomb with a Code Breaker, but he couldn’t quite out power his former friend, and Owens became the new champion. It was refreshing to see a heel win clean for a change and proved a pretty solid match. But I get the feeling their rivalry is far from over. I think Owens just made ANOTHER list!

Following that we had the WWE Raw Women’s Championship, fearing Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Nia Jax, in a four way elimination match. This match was ok, I guess. And I did wonder if they would follow through on the “Will Sasha betray Bayley” storyline that they are building up to. However it turned out to be just a regular match, with Nia Jax going first, then Sasha being elimination and finally Bayley defeating Charlotte with an elbow drop. Not bad, but kinda felt like it finished before it really got momentum.

Next up was the tag team ladder match, featuring Enzo and Cass, Cesaro and Sheamus, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – and a secret fourth match that was announced by the hosts of the show, The New Day. At first I thought it WAS The New Day, but then we found out it wasn’t. But who could be the fourth team in this match?

ONLY THE F**KING HARDY BOYZ!!! :D

After months of speculation the Hardy Boyz made a triumphant return to WWE – and it was, to quote Bobby Roode – GLORIOUS!!! The hairs were standing on the back of my head and my heart was pumping long into the match, which was by far the match of the night! It was like Jeff and Matt never went away and they had plenty of dare devil stunts – including the swanton from the top of the ladder. Fair play to the others teams though, they gave it their all – but in the end the Hardy Boyz became the new champions, showing us that they are here to stay. It was a fantastic moment and an absolute classic match. And we feel that, somewhere, Dixie Carter must be crying…

After that breathtaking match, we had John Cena and Nikki Bella against The Miz and Maryse. Despite the crowd seemingly behind The Miz, this match was obviously gonna go in Cena’s favour. And low and behold, Cena and Bella took them both out without too much trouble. Not a memorable match – but at the end John Cena proposed to Nikki. Kinda sappy, but actually it was a nice feel good moment – and considering what would happen later in the evening, this was one of the highlights. Oh I’ll get to that later.

Moving on we had Seth Rollings against Triple H in a Non-sanctioned match (why not just call it a NO DQ match?). And as per the last couple of Wrestlemania’s, Hunter just couldn’t resist an over the top entrance – this one featuring motorcycles and a police escort. Still smarting from his injured knee, Seth was in a tough spot as Triple H worked on his knee, hitting it with everything he had. It was a slow, methodical match where Triple H (and his wife Stephanie, who was at ringside) worked on Seth Rollins. But no matter what they threw at him, he continued to fight. It was a real “underdog” match, where Seth was attacked at both sides. At the conclusion of the match, Triple H was accidentally thrown into Stephanie as she tried to interfere – being slammed through a table that was planted there earlier, which I have to say was pretty rough, but kinda satisfying considering all the crap Stephanie has done here and on Raw recently. Seth Rollins was able to overcome the odds and win. All in all, a really good match and a satisfying outcome for the underdog.

The next match, between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt for the WWE Champipnship, I was really looking forward to. Despite the goofiness of their current storyline, I do like both wrestlers and they always put on a good show. This one though, I was really disappointed in. :(. It had a few creepy moments, with the ring showing images of cockroaches and worms, but neither Orton or Wyatt seemed invested in the match and it just came across as slow. In the end an RKO from nowhere won the match, and the title, from Randy – but no one seemed to care. Huge let down and probably the worst match of the night.

For the next match, me and my brother actually timed it, seeing if Brock Lesnar and Goldberg could go more than two minutes. For a start, it looked like it would go the old way, with Goldberg spearing Lesnar into submission; but lo and behold, Lesnar fought back – including a cool moment where he jumped over a spear and also kicked out of a Jackhammer. He then took Goldberg to suplex city and finished it with an F-5 to take the Universal Title. Must say I was glad to see Lesnar get one over Goldberg for once and I was happy to see a proper match between the two of them.

The Six-pack Smackdown Women’s Championship was originally due for the pre-show, but fans complained and WWE moved it to the main roster. One has to wonder if it was worth it though, as the match was really chaotic. Beckly Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, Alexa Bliss, Natalya and Naomi (recently returning from injury) are all extremely talented wrestlers, but here they didn’t seem to know what they were doing and just bashed into each other. In the end, Naomi beat Alexa with a submission to gain the championship in her home, but for all the fighting the fans had to get this in the main event, it really wasn’t worth it in my opinion. For such a huge match, you think it would have gone on longer than 5 minutes.

And finally, we had Roman Reigns against The Undertaker and DEAR C****T did this make my blood boil! I was hoping that WWE wouldn’t be so stupid as to have Reigns win, considering the backlash they got for Reign’s win in Wrestlemania 32 – but nope! It was depressing seeing The Undertaker, who once stood up from anything thrown at him, barely getting to his feet from the moves Roman Reigns threw at him. Sure The Undertaker got in a few hits, Chokeslams and a Tombstone; but once Reign kicked out of that, he proceeded a beatdown on the Undertaker, hitting him with spear after spear and superman punch after superman punch. All the way through the crowd hoped that The Undertaker would mount some kind of comeback – it never happened. And a final spear from Reigns put the Deadman down for the count.

I can only repeat what I said on Facebook for this result. Roman Reigns… YOU. CAN. GET. F**KED!!! >:(

After the match was over, The Undertaker symbolically left his coat, gloves and hat in the ring as he walked away, the fans chanting “Thank you Taker,” as he walked away to the cheers of the crowd. At least we can take comfort in the fact that, though Reigns won the match, Undertaker won the respect.

***EDIT: Since writing this review there ARE reports and some pictures of Roman Reigns crying backstage and feeling remorse for beating The Undertaker - but frankly I don't care! Roman Reigns knew what he was getting himself into the same way that Shawn Michaels did when he ended Ric Flair's career, so I'm not showing any sympathy for him.***

***Yes I KNOW wrestling is staged, but I'm allowed to get pissed off with things now and then.***

All in all, Wrestlemania 33 was, I would say, at least 50% awesome, 40% meh and 10% complete bull****! We knew The Undertaker would be leaving us soon, but having him lose to Roman Reigns (one of the most hated people in wrestling since Vince Russo) was a slap in the face to all the fans. Seeing The Undertaker walk away was one of the most depressing moments in wrestling history – probably more so than the streak ending. But at least The Undertaker was able to walk away this time.

Another complaint is that some of the positioning of the matches was a bit strange. It seemed like WWE were trying to get the best matches in too early, this meant that the first half was brilliant, but the other half was underwhelming. It made it a long five hours. The matches ending were also predictable at times, so that made them a little bit boring to watch.

However, there WERE some great moments. AJ Styles and Shane McMahon was a fantastic opener – and the return of the Hardy Boyz was a dream for me and thousands of other fans. This was by far the biggest pop of the night. Another highlight was seeing Kurt Angle and the other Hall of Famers come to say hi to everyone. And JR and Jerry Lawler returning to commentary also brought a smile to my face. God I miss those guys! I’d rather hear these guys than Saxon and Otunga any day of the week!

All in all, Wrestlemania 33 wasn’t quite a disappointment, but it wasn’t a classic either. It had some solid matches, but also some duds – and a depressing ending that left most people deflated. Between you and me, I actually preferred NXT Takeover: Orlando, which was a much shorter event, but every single match was fantastic and exhilarating. It had more energy in two hours than Wrestlemania 33 had in the five hours it spread out. If you haven’t seen it, sign up to the Network and check it out!

Overall, I give Wrestlemania 33 3 out of 5. Not a terrible event, but by no means a great one either.