Wrestlemania 34: Recap

Well ladies and gentleman, after seven hours and ten minutes, Wrestlemania 34 has come to an end. This year’s showcase of the immortals emanated from a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA with 78,000 in attendance (good luck getting out of there in less than two hours). The card was comprised of fourteen matches and all nine WWE titles were defended. There were a number of questions heading into the event: Would Brock Lesnar retain the title with his seemingly imminent return to the UFC? Would Asuka’s undefeated streak come to an end? Would Ronda Rousey live up to the hype? Would the Deadman answer John Cena’s challenge?

Pre-Show

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Winner: Woken Matt Hardy
There was much speculation leading into this year’s battle royal where some thought legends such as Goldberg would appear, or returning superstars would debut such as Bobby Lashley, or we would see the emergence of a star in the making…well none of that happened, but, we were treated to something wonderful in the Royal Battle of Andre. The final four of this contest were Kane, Baron Corbin, Woken Matt Hardy, and last year’s winner Mojo Rawley. At this point I really believed Kane would win in what could be one of his final matches with his upcoming election for mayor of Knox County, TN. That lasted all of a few moments as Kane was quickly eliminated by Corbin. The lights then went out and we are shocked by the appearance of Bray Wyatt! Wyatt proceeds to help Matt Hardy “delete” Mojo and Corbin hence crowning him as the victor. After the match, Hardy and Wyatt seemingly formed a new alliance as the two embraced in the middle of the ring.

Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
Winner: Cedric Alexander
After one successful 054 where Alexander got his foot on the bottom rope just before the count of three, Ali aimed to seal the deal with a second 054 where Alexander escaped disaster at the last second and rolled out of the ring.  Alexander subsequently took control with a number of vicious spinning elbows to Ali’s cranium setting him up to land the Lumbar Check followed by the pinfall.

Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal
Winner: Naomi
Final Four: Riott, Sasha, Bayley, Sara Logan
Like the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, the match was devoid of legends or surprise entrants, however, the Glamazon Beth Phoenix was on commentary. This was a typical battle royal but if anyone stood out, it was NXT Superstar Bianca Belair. Belair managed to pull a ballsy move and hit a perfectly executed 450 splash in the middle of the match. Belair did not make it to the final four, however, as were left with Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks, and Bayley…or so we thought.  Bayley and Sasha eliminated Riot then Logan. It then appeared that Sasha and Bayley were going to make amends as Banks extended her hand to Bayley…instead Bayley took her hand and tossed her over the top rope.  As Bayley began to celebrate, Naomi, who apparently everyone had forgotten about lying on the floor outside the ring, snuck back into ring to launch Bayley out of the ring and take the inaugural battle royal.

Main Card

Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat: The Miz ( c ) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
Winner: Seth Rollins
This was a solid opening bout for the main card. The action was fast and furious and in the end it appeared Balor would win the title after he nailed the Miz with the Coup de Grace but Seth Rollins had other plans as he came in for the Curb Stomp on Balor as he went for pin on Miz. Rollins then hit another Curb Stomp on the Miz as he recovered and covered him for the pinfall victory.

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair ( c ) vs. Asuka
Winner: Flair
Asuka controlled the tempo of much of this match putting her striking and technical wrestling skills on display as she unrelentingly attacked Flair’s left arm. In the end, Flair locked in an impressive Figure 8 supporting herself with only one arm for the submission victory. In Asuka’s words, “Charlotte was ready for Asuka!”

At the conclusion of the match, a referee sprinted down the entrance ramp and went to John Cena who sat in the crowd as he promised he would if the Undertaker did not accept his challenge. The referee’s words sparked Cena to jump out of his seat and rush to the locker room.

United States Championship Fatal 4-Way: Randy Orton ( c ) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev
Winner: Mahal
I had a gut feeling that Randy Orton wasn’t walking out of this match with the title and it was simply put on him because he had never held it. Plus it made sense to throw the title on Jinder Mahal with the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27. Despite the Superdome showing overwhelming support for Rusev Day and the Glorious one, Mahal shocked the WWE Universe again by hitting the Khallas on Rusev to win his first U.S. Title.

Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Winners: Rousey and Angle
We all expected this was placed on the card as the welcome party for Ronda Rousey but we were treated to a very competitive and entertaining bout. I seemed to recall that WWE had sent the portrayal of male on female violence packing with the exit of the Ruthless Aggression Era but that went out the window tonight. Ronda Rousey assaulted Triple H with a number of strikes in the match and nearly succumbed to a Pedigree. In the end, Ronda locked in an armbar on Stephanie McMahon to win the match by submission.

Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship Triple Threat: The Usos ( c ) vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers
Winners: Bludgeon Brothers
The New Day made their way to the ring with an army of midgets in pancake costumes that were summoned by the trombone of Xavier Woods as they showered the fans with pancakes they threw into the crowd. The light-hearted albeit bizarre tone to this match quickly subsided as the match got underway. This was the definition of a squash match as the Bludgeon Brothers dished out unadulterated brutality to make short order of The Usos and New Day to win the Smackdown Live Tag Titles.

John Cena vs. Undertaker
Winner: Undertaker
The deception did not cease as John Cena made his way to the ring. The lights went out and as all in attendance expected the return of the Deadman, we were instead “delighted” by the vocal stylings of Elias. After Elias finished insulting John Cena and the WWE Universe, John Cena proceeded to destroy him with a Five Knuckle Shuffle and Attitude Adjustment. Cena then proceeded to exit the ring and walk up the exit ramp in utter disappointment to have the lights cut out…again. The entire WWE Universe was then electrified by the entrance of the one and only phenom, The Undertaker! Taker looked more prepared for this match than he has for arguably the last 4-5 years. John Cena mounted virtually no offense as the Deadman hit the Old School, Chokeslam, and Tombstone Piledriver to make short order of the Master of Thugonomics.

Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Winners: Bryan and McMahon
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn needed to win this match to regain their jobs on Smackdown Live. We also were treated to Daniel Bryan’s return to in-ring action after two years away from the ring. Bryan was “taken out” early after a power bomb by KO to the ring apron that left Shane-O-Mac to fend for himself. Shane fought valiantly and unleashed his signature coast to coast dropkick on Sami Zayn but could only sustain for so long before the numbers game and his recent hernia caught up with him. In the end, Bryan came to the rescue and in a flurry of offense, including a series of Yes Kicks, that made it appear he never missed any time, Bryan finally administered the YES lock on Zayn for the submission victory. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

RAW Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss ( c ) vs. Nia Jax
Winner: Nia Jax
This was another squash match. Nia Jax made sure to eliminate the possibility of any outside interference as she obliterated Mickie James. After controlling Alexa Bliss will little offense reciprocated, Jax hit a massive Samoan drop off the middle turnbuckle for the win and her first WWE title.

WWE Heavyweight Championship: A.J. Styles ( c ) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Winner: Styles
Many anticipated this match was going to steal the show and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of those individuals. Unfortunately, the most exciting part of this segment in my opinion was the aftermath. But first, the match concluded as Nakamura missed Kinshasa as The Phenomenal One magnificently countered and rolled him into a Styles Clash to retain the title. HEEL TURN! After the match Nakamura took the title from the referee and went to present it to A.J. as he dropped to one knee. Here comes the HEEL TURN!  Once A.J. accepted it, he was unceremoniously struck between the uprights by Nakamura who then kicked him repeatedly until he fell off the ring apron. Nakamura followed Styles out of the ring and squared him up for a Kinshasa and this time he didn’t miss.

RAW Tag Team Championship: The Bar ( c ) vs. Braun Strowman & Mystery Partner
Winners: Braun Strowman and Nicholas
Braun Strowman was ordered to find a tag team partner for this match if he wanted to win the tag titles. Once in the ring he told the audience he would select a spectator to be his partner. Braun Strowman perused the crowd for his tag team partner and selected a random kid who didn’t look older than 10...no joke. This was another fairly one-sided bout until Strowman finally hit the power slam on Cesaro to capture the titles.  It will be interesting to see how this dynamic of the Monster Among Men and a 10 year old kid as tag champs will work moving forward.

Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar ( c ) vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Everyone assumed Roman Reigns was going to win this match. It’s been assumed the Brock is heading back to UFC, his buddy Dana White was shown in the crowd, his WWE contract is allegedly almost up, and Roman is Vince McMahon’s golden boy. The match was dominated by the Beast Incarnate and the brutality was on a visceral level. Lesnar took Roman to Suplex City, hit SEVEN F5’s (including one through the German announce table), and victimized Roman with a series of mounted elbow strikes that left Reigns wearing a crimson mask reminiscent of Stone Cold Steve Austin when he squared off with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13. As Reigns was drenched in blood, Lesnar hit F5 number seven and pinned him to retain the title.

-The Buckle Bomb with Steve Ward

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NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Recap

WWE certainly escalated the WWE Universe’s anticipation for Wrestlemania through the stratosphere as NXT TakeOver emanated from a sold-out Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The TakeOver shows have developed the reputation of setting the bar for the main roster pay-per-views they have preceded and, quite arguably, have also outperformed. Tonight was no different as the action remained at a fever pitch throughout the event while we were entertained by intense commentary by Mauro Ranallo, who at many times sounded like he was going to pop a blood vessel. The card was absolutely stacked and every NXT title was on the line. This included the crowning of the inaugural North American Champion.

The show hit the ground running with the six-man ladder match to crown the first NXT North American Champion. Among the combatants were the leader of the Undisputed Era, Adam Cole (Baybay!), Velveteen Dream, Killian Dane, Lars Sullivan, as well as, Ricochet and EC3 who made their televised in-ring NXT debuts. EC3 was the first participant to make his way to the ring and received a huge pop from the crowd.  Unfortunately, WWE did what WWE does best and “forgot” that other promotions exist in the pro wrestling world and fans do actually watch them from time to time. Now we all know that his moniker in TNA/Impact Wrestling was EC3, short for Ethan Carter III, and his background was that he was the nephew of then TNA President Dixie Carter. Instead, as he made his way to the ring Percy Watson fumbled through his back-story, much like most of his commentary, by saying his family owns a chain of restaurants and commercial properties and that many feel the E stands for entitlement. Well, they have time to work on that story. Nonetheless, the action in this bout was fast and furious with a number of broken ladders and awe inspiring aerial maneuvers including a couple shooting star presses from Ricochet who did not disappoint and stole the match as he backed the reputation he garnered on the indie circuit in promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerilla. In the end, Adam Cole’s ridiculous momentum continued as he emerged from outside the ring to dump Ricochet off of the ladder and over the top rope. Cole then scaled the ladder and retrieved the North American title that was suspended high above the squared circle to earn his first NXT title.

The NXT Women’s Championship was then defended by Ember Moon as she faced UFC alum Shayna Baszler. This contest was a rematch of their previous encounter at TakeOver: Philadelphia in which Ember retained her title not unscathed. With Four Horsewomen cohorts Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke at ringside, the Queen of Spades didn’t waste any time dropping Moon with a stiff right hand sending her out of the ring. What appeared to be a turning point in the match occurred when Moon achieved a bit of payback on Baszler when she pinned her hand down with her foot and proceeded to essentially curb stomp her bent arm. Just as Moon seemed poised to take control, Baszler crotched Moon on the top rope. With Moon temporarily incapacitated, Baszler proceeded to slam her shoulder into the ring post as Nigel McGuiness claimed it was “dislocated.” After Baszler countered Ember Moon’s attempt at her finisher, the Eclipse, as she caught her in the Kirafuda Clutch, Baszler was initially unable to sustain the submission hold due to the injury to her left arm. The Queen of Spades then showed some true ingenuity and locked in the rear naked choke by substituting her left arm with her own hair! Not long after, the referee called a stop to the action as Moon lost consciousness. Your winner by submission and new NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler. With this loss, I would not be the least bit surprised to see Moon make the jump to the main roster and possibly debut in the Women’s Battle Royal at Wrestlemania.

The NXT Tag Team Championship was then contested in a triple threat match that also served as the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. We witnessed The Undisputed Era, Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole, defend against the Authors of Pain and the tandem of Roderick Strong and the “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne. We arrived at this match-up as a result of interference during the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Since the Undisputed Era deprived us of a winner being crowned, NXT commissioner William Regal announced that there would now be a triple threat match with the victors being touted as the tag team champions and winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Additionally, with Bobby Fish sustaining an injury at an NXT live event, Adam Cole filled in for his second match of the evening.  Not surprisingly, AoP controlled the action for the vast majority of the match. In the end, we had the shocker of the night. With AoP finally subdued, Pete Dunne hit The Bitter End on Kyle O’Reilly. As Dunne went for the cover, his tag team partner Roderick Strong broke up the pin attempt with a vicious stomp to the back of his head. Stong picked up Dunne and hit The End of Heartache on him subsequently dragging O’Reilly over him for the pinfall victory. After the match, Strong ripped the Undisputed Era armband from Adam Cole and put it on himself effectually becoming the latest member of the faction.

Steve’s Take: I didn’t even see this one coming, granted I anticipated a falling out between Strong and Dunne, I did not expect a gold old fashioned pro wrestling backstabbing in the spirit of HBK putting Jannetty through the Barbershop window!

Surprisingly, the NXT Championship was then defended by Andrade “Cien” Almas as he faced Aleister Black as opposed to in the main event of the evening. This marked Almas’ second defense of the title since he shockingly defeated Drew McIntyre at TakeOver: War Games in November. This match was all about the inevitable christening of Aleister Black as the new NXT Champion. Black’s striking ability was on display throughout the match and while Almas did mount some aerial offense, he was relinquished of his title in the end ironically by the woman who helped him to the top, his manager Zelina Vega.  After landing two hurricanranas on Black during the match when the ref was conveniently distracted, Vega inexplicably went to the top turnbuckle for number three.  Black was ready for her this time as he ducked out of the way. Vega landed in the arms of Almas leaving him vulnerable to be the recipient of Black Mass right on the chin followed by the 1, 2, 3. Your winner and new NXT Champion, Aleister Black.

Finally in the main event of the evening, we were treated to former DIY tag team partners turned bitter rivals “The Sicilian Psycho” Tommaso Ciampa squaring off with Johnny Gargano in an Unsanctioned Match. This match developed after Gargano lost to Andrade “Cien” Almas spearheading his “release” from NXT due to interference from Ciampa as the stipulation to acquire the rematch from NXT Philadelphia was putting his career on the line. The rules of this match were simple, there weren’t any. Johnny Wrestling needed to win this match in order to be reinstated to the NXT roster or be finished forever. I was a bit skeptical at first with this match’s placement in the main event slot but there was a reason Shane McMahon was spotted in the front row because it did not disappoint. This match was one the most entertaining I’ve seen in WWE in a long time. It lasted 45 minutes and the way the crowd responded, I‘m fairly certain they would have been ok with double that. Ciampa has transformed into a bona fide heel as he was greeted by the NXT Universe with chants of “F&%k you Ciampa,” “You suck,” and “A$&hole” while Gargano received a hero’s welcome as the textbook babyface. Aside from these entertainers placing their full arsenals on display, we had several entertaining spots in the match. These included the crowd’s “Mama Mia” chant taking the words out of Mauro Ranallo‘s mouth, Ciampa stealing a pair of crutches from a “random guy” in the crowd, and Ciampa being lawn-darted head first into the dreaded exposed turnbuckle. In the end, Ciampa’s ego and bloodlust got the best of him. Ciampa removed his knee brace with the intent of taking Gargano out with a shot to the head from his exposed knee. As Ciampa went for the finishing blow, Gargano grabbed the knee brace and struck Ciampa in the leg with it. With Ciampa down, Gargano went for a broken crutch in the ring and just as we thought we were going to bear witness to capital murder, he held up in a brief moment of sympathy as Ciampa cowered. Gargano showed a brief instance of mercy as he almost found himself at the receiving end of Ciampa sucker punching him with his knee brace. In a flurry of submission brilliance, Johnny Wrestling locked in the Gargano Escape and as Ciampa began to reach again for the knee brace, Gargano wrestled it from his clutches and wrenched his head back with it as he trapped him in an STF for the submission victory. The show concluded with the newly reinstated Johnny Gargano celebrating in the ring with his wife Candice LeRae. On a side note, Johnny is probably ecstatic that his wife signed with the PG rated WWE so that she no longer can utilize her finisher the Ballsplex (YouTube it and see for yourself) unless he’s into that kind of thing.

Overall, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans exceeded the hype and the main roster certainly has their work cut out for them!

-The Buckle Bomb with Steve Ward

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"Rowdy" Ronda Rousey

One of the biggest shockers of yesterday's WWE Royal Rumble event was the appearance of UFC star, Ronda Rousey at the conclusion of the Women's Royal Rumble segment. Rousey entered the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia following Asuka's victory in this match decked out in "Rowdy" Roddy Piper inspired outfit. Rousey had little to say to the crowd and the gathering of Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair in the ring, but motioned to the large WrestleMania 34 sign that hung from the rafters of the arena. Rousey also shook the hand of on-screen commissioner of WWE RAW, Stephanie McMahon, before departing the arena.

Various media outlets have reported that Rousey is under contract with WWE, although the details of the contract are unknown at this time. Rousey has also not officially retired from the UFC, which leaves her future with the organization wide open. At this time, the only thing certain in Rousey's future is she will have a role in the upcoming WrestleMania 34 from New Orleans, Louisiana on April 8, 2018.

MW

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