Roman vs. Brock in the BIGGET MATCH IN MANIA HISTORY is on tap, with my expectation being that we get either an elevation of the NXT Title under a Cody Rhodes reign or bringing back Big Gold and that being Cody's. They have used Brock's prior unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles in the buildup here via the hype package and it helps to have that subtext in play even if it would be better for it to be more out in the open for hyping this match.
Jessie James Decker did a fine job singing "America the Beautiful". Big video package from Wahlberg shows off last night's action before HHH comes out TO SOME OF HIS NICKNAMES! HHHleaves his boots in the ring and thanks the fans before doing the big WM intro and they introduce Gable Steveson again. Raw Tag Title triple threat is up first.
Good clubbering to start before things SLOOOWWW DOWNNNNN with Otis. Judas Effect by Otis alongside a Steiner bulldog from Alpha Academy for 2! Tez goes up for the frog splash and EATS AN RKO OFF THE TOP BY RIDDLE! Orton RKO to Gable ends it. The last half of this was fun shit! Gable Steveson gets SHOOOSHED and he overhead belly to belly suplexes Chad.
Sami vs. Knoxville is up and the hype video for it is amazing. "He is two cheeseburgers away from 175, the south Knoxville Strongboy, Johnny Knoxville." This is amazing. Helluva kick to start! He's got the goggles on at all times due to his bad eye possibly causing his eye to pop out. Cole references SANFORD AND SON when Sami gets a trash can. MOUSE TRAP TABLE here on Mania.
Pat McAfee talks about having a mouse problem before and hating those things. Corner exploder through the table by Sami! Helluva kick again but JOHNNY STOPS IT WITH AN AIR HORN! WEE MAN BODY SLAM ON SAMI! Tornado DDT by Johnny gets 2! Wee Man gets a motorized ball-kicker boot and Sami Helluva kicks him! Sami goes up, but Johnny SETS OFF PYRO and does Al Snow's bowling ball spot before THE BALL-KICKING BOOT!
Wacky hand slap hits Sami! Sami gets tongs to the balls and TAKES A SLAM OFF THE TOP TO THE FLOOR THROUGH THE MOUSE TRAP TABLE! Giant mouse trap is brought in and it doesn't work right away - so Johnny forces the snap and traps him and wins it. This was just a tremendous spectacle. Women's tag title four way is up.
Naomi and Sasha don't have much chemistry together - but their big league intros work well. Love Bunny cosplay on Rhea and Liv. Shayna has a new horrid theme and Zelina gave up third-party money and all of her leverage for the roster to get the tag titles and a goofy crown.
Lots of nothing as far as the match. DOUBLE SOLE FOOD from Sasha and Naomi. Back to back tower of doom bombs. Riptide gets 2 thanks to Sasha. Zelina trips Nattie on a Hart attack and Carmella gets a delayed superkick to Shayna. Sasha frog splash and crossface to Carmella. METEORA to Zelina on the floor for some reason. SASHA WINS IT after a flapjack/codebreaker combo! Odd to have Sasha and Naomi win it when the low-key quest has been to have Liv finally win a title this year and you can do that with these and not hurt anything.
The AJ-Edge video package is fantastic - it makes Edge come off like a bitter vet, but in a way that works for his character. AJ keeping his whole presentation in WWE for six years has been cool, and he gets a big intro here. Nothing tops Edge's though - giant throne like he's Dracula at the end of a Castlevania game on a mountain of fire. Dropkick by AJ and an apron PK misses, but the apron sliding knee hits.
Long abdominal stretch by Edge sees him grind the fingers into the ribs. EDGE STFS AJ! Outside-in slingshot DDT by AJ! Torture rack bomb gets 2.5 for AJ. Edgecution gets 2. EDGE STEALING THE YES LOCK to try and win this. Bottom rope superplex TO THE APRON on Edge, who really shouldn't taking that shit. Phenomenal Forearm gets 2.5 and THE STYLES CLASH GETS 2.999! A WILD DAMIAN PRIEST APPEARS! Forearm meets a mid-air spear and EDGE WINS!
New Day vs. Sheamus' group recap shows off the ATV and belly to belly. New Day's Super Mario AR graphics and Big E singlets are fantastic. Ridge hits the Northern Grit/northern lights bomb and wins after a Brogue kick. Well, that kinda got Butch over - buried all of New Day though. Like wow. Hall of Fame recap again.
Vince comes out for Theory and puts him over as a future World Champ - the same label that killed Drew. McAfee gets the full Cowboys Cheerleaders intro here. Theory just got the label of death he gave Drew in 2010 - and Drew had a lot more tools than Theory did. "Seven Nation Army" for Pat works nicely. Cole says if Pat wins, he'll join Cole in being undefeated. Pat gets a few slugs and a sloppy rana for 2.5. Shoulderblock to Theory off the apron sends Theory into the table.
Pat does commentary for his own ass-whooping a bit like Rock. McAfee swanton misses! Spinning back suplex gets 2 for Theory. Pat wants a superplex but gets shoved off INTO A PERFECT BACKFLIP and then FLAT-FOOT JUMPS TO THE TOP perfectly and hits the superplex for 2.9. ATL turned into a schoolboy to win for McAfee.
Pat calls out Mr. McMahon and AGAINST VINCE now Cole is cared for Pat. Vince comes in and had a ref. Theory jumps him and Vince has his shirt off. VINCE WITH A CLOTHESLINE! ANOTHER ONE. They're just stand there and move your arm up, but he's still doing a match of sorts. Theory crotches him. Now THIS they don't announce as no holds barred - but it's Vince, so it's implied. Vince grabs a football and punts it into his stomach to win. Okay, this was awful - but hilarious.
Theory and Vince hug and AUSTIN COMES OUT FOR ONE MORE STUNNER! Theory brawls and swims in mid-air for the stunner! Austin and Vince drink and Vince, JUST LIKE IN 1997 takes a dreadful bump for it. Like Linda-bad. Austin and McAfee drink and I think we're getting Austin vs. Theory at Backlash or Crown Jewel. Theory will make Austin look great. STUNNER FOR MCAFEE! Vince sipping the beer to test it was an amazing little touch.
THAT GODDAMN SHEAMUS AD AGAIN. All-timer video for Brock vs. Roman, which will have its work cut out for it to top the spectacle tonight. Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Bruno Sammartino, and Hogan are the only people to hold a World title longer than Roman - and boy does that not put over Roman like they think it does. It's like Charlotte beating Flair's record - the number itself means little compared to what those runs did for the business. Roman gets a goofy AR graphic outside the stadium too.
Heyman was used to doing coke in a bingo hall 25 years ago and now he's in front of 75,000 people introducing his current charge facing his greatest all-time talent pick in Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania. Unreal. Great intro from Heyman for Reigns and Lesnar does HIS OWN INTRO! "Never before have we had a match to unify both world titles" - now beyond Vengeance 2001, they just did this under 8 years ago at TLC of all places. But since it wasn't THESE TWO WORLD TITLES, I guess it's technically correct.
Corner charges to start for Brock and he gets OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX CITY! Heyman tells Brock he loves him and it was all Roman's idea and it sets up a spear to Brock through the barricade. SUPERMAN PUNCH CITY from Roman. FOUR GERMANS to Roman! Spear attempt, btu an F5 hits for 2.5. Roman spears Brock into the ref. Low blow to Lesnar!
Belt shot from Roman to Brock gets another 2 count. Brock gets the Kimura and Roman gets the rope. Roman's arm is all bruised up and he says his shoulder's out. Heyman begs his tribal chief to win and he hits a spear and is the UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION! Well, that was sure an out of nowhere finish. The visual of Roman holding both titles is good - but doesn't top the Big Gold being where the Universal Title is in his hands. Hopefully that gets brought back down the road.
Brock vs. Roman was far better-formatted than their New Orleans match. It was all-action like Brock vs. Goldberg at Mania and flew by. The second night, barring Edge vs. AJ, was far better-paced as a show as well. I plan on watching Raw live tomorrow since that should be a big show, and I can play Big Bang Pro Wrestling during downtime.
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