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Csonka’s WWE WrestleMania 33 Review 4.02.17
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Csonka’s WWE WrestleMania 33 Review 4.02.17
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Champion Neville defeated Austin Aries @ 16:00 via pin [***¼]
– Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Mojo Rawley won @ 14:25 [*½]
– WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Baron Corbin @ 10:55 via pin [**]
– AJ Styles defeated Shane McMahon @ 21:30 via pin [***½]
– WWE United States Championship Match: Kevin Owens defeated Champion Chris Jericho @ 16:55 via pin [***½]
– Raw Women’s Championship Elimination Match: Champion Bayley defeated Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair & Nia Jax @ 12:10 via pin [***]
– Raw Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: The Greatest Tag Team in All of Time and Space The Hardy Boys defeated Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Sheamus & Cesaro @ 11:15 [****]
– John Cena & Nikki Bella defeated The Miz & Maryse @ 9:40 via pin [**]
– Non-Sanctioned Match: Seth Rollins defeated Triple H @ 25:45 via pin [**]
– WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton defeated Champion Bray Wyatt @ 10:35 via pin [DUD]
– WWE Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar defeated Champion Bill Goldberg @ 4:45 via pin [***½]
– Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Naomi won @ 5:55 via submission [**½]
– No Holds Barred – Battle For The Yard: Roman Reigns defeated The Undertaker @ 23:15 via pin [*]
– We start the first match at 5:40 PM ET, meaning that instead of 40-minutes of videos (which were great as always) and talking heads, they easily could have done the Usos vs. Alpha title match and change here.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Champion Neville vs. Austin Aries: they worked a really nice and clean opening stretch, Aries teased the last chancery, but Neville bailed to the floor. Once back in, they picked up the pacing, working some really nice counters; the work is really clean and crisp here as both guys look locked in. Neville cut off Aries, and hit the missile dropkick for the near fall. Post break, Neville was working the heat after beating Aries down on the floor. Aries then missed the second rope Phoenix splash, allowing Aries to make his comeback and send Neville to the floor. Aries flew to the floor, rolled back in and then hit the heat-seeking missile; back in and he covered for the near fall. Neville hit the high kick, set Aries up top and but Aries shoves him off the ropes and then hits the missile dropkick for the near fall. Aries ties to fire up with strikes, but Neville cuts him off with the snap German head droppy suplex. Aries counters the next one, but Aries cuts him off again, hitting another German. Neville then slowly talks Aries, but Aries battled back and hit the rolling forearm, causing Neville to roll to the floor and to safety. Aries tried to pull him into the ring, they battled up top and Aries hits the SUPER RANA! Aries up top, hits the 450 but Neville kicks out and survives; Aries locks in the last chancery, but Neville attacked the previously injured eye of Aries to escape. Neville then hit the red arrow to retain; great closing stretch. Champion Neville defeated Austin Aries @ 16:00 via pin [***¼] This was an overall good match, and I am glad that they got the time. I think that while it was good and enjoyable, that it wasn’t the right match for this venue. I am dying for them to really cut loose with this division, but it just hasn’t happened on a consistent basis. The reactions were solid, but very subdued and only came alive for the big spots. They tried and worked hard, but I still feel as if they are leaving so much on the table with the cruiserweights in terms of style and overall use..
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, Goldust, R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Dolph Ziggler, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Primo, Epico, Bo Dallas, Jinder Mahal, Rhyno, Heath Slater, Apollo Crews, Mojo Rawley, Big Show, Curt Hawkins, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Tian Bing, Mark Henry, Luke Harper, and Killian Dain. Everyone brawled right away, with Show and BRAUN slowly running through the competitors and getting eliminations. Everyone then attacked the giants, BRAUN eliminated Show and then everyone attacked BRAUN and eliminated him. It got really slow with some occasional eliminations, the Usos and Alpha battled, leading to eliminations. Just as Mark Henry started to toss some folks, he was quickly eliminated. Ziggler was nearly eliminated a few times, but saved himself each time. Mojo tosses Dallas, and then Ziggler on the second try because Ziggler didn’t go over after the first bump. It’s down to Dain, Jinder & Mojo. Rob Gronkowski was rooting on his pal Mojo, and Jinder tossed a drink on him. GRONK got pissed and hopped the rail, they tried to hold him back and he got in the ring and took out Jinder with a tackle. He and Mojo got hype, and Mojo then eliminated Dain and then Jinder to win. Mojo Rawley won @ 14:25 [*½] And now you know why they wanted this on the USA Network; Sportscenter moments. This was every battle royal ever, no one had a standout performance, there was no flow and it was bad at times; and while I get the media gimmick, if BRAUN wasn’t winning, someone they could do something with (Harper, Sami) should have. Can’t wait for all of the “WrestleMania is about moments and not for me bullshit.” Bing & Dain got some decent run here before heading back to NXT.
Did Lawler smoke a carton of Lucky Strikes before the show? Because he sounds like he did.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin: They started out with a good and fats pace, Corbin looked to take early control but Ambrose cut that off with a suicide dive. Corbin posted Ambrose and took the heat. The lack of crowd heat for this was basically non-existent, just some white noise style conversation from the fans. Corbin then posts himself, allowing Ambrose to fight back but Corbin attacked the ribs to cut him off. They battled up top, just a tease and then as they went to the mat, Ambrose tossed Corbin. Corbin cut off the dive, but Corbin ran himself into the steps, leading to Ambrose hitting the top rope elbow drop press. Back in the ring, they went back and forth to the sound of silence. Corbin cuts off the jawbreaker lariat by kicking Ambrose in the face and hitting deep six for a near fall. Ambrose finally hits the jawbreaker lariat and we finally get some crowd involvement at 10-minutes in. Corbin yells at Ambrose, beats on him a bit, but Ambrose counters end of days and wins with the dirty deeds. Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Baron Corbin @ 10:55 via pin [**] This was flat, lifeless at times and lacked crowd heat; the audience was not involved or invested in 95% of the match, only making a little noise during the final moments. Of all the matches that will happen tonight, this is one of them; it was for the best that this was moved to the pre-show. I like both guys, and just kept waiting for them to flip the switch and kick it into that next gear but it just never happened; it felt like a solid and acceptable TV match at best. I am also not exactly happy with the finish, Ambrose hasn’t really done anything with the belt and I think they should have taken the chance to move it over to Corbin.
– The cruiserweights were the clear standout of the pre-show.
– New Day welcomed us to the show, riding out their ice cream cart and wearing Final fantasy inspired outfits; we then got commercials and video packages.
Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles: they started this out as a regular wrestling match a promised, and then they exchanged holds before Styles took control. They then did some solid back and forth exchanges, with Shane hitting hip tosses and then posing to mock Styles. Styles already has a red mark under his eye, Shane must gave caught him with a crazy fist. Oh lord, Shane then went complete crazy fists to take control until Styles shoved him to the floor. Styles then hit the baseball slide dropkick, and Shane flew over the announce table. Back in and Styles took control, hitting the corner clothesline for a near fall. They traded strikes and then Shane cut off the springboard to take control, throwing more punches and then hitting the jumping back elbow and an overhead toss. Styles then cut him off with the ushigoroshi, teased the clash but Shane fought it off, only for Styles to roll into the calf slicer. Shane counters into a rear naked choke and an arm bar, and then an omoplata. Styles escaped, and they did a double down. Styles then stunned Shane off the ropes, but the springboard 450 was sopped as Shane caught him with a triangle choke; Shane’s been watching his Kyle O’Reilly tapes. Styles powered out into a one armed Styles clash to escape, and Shane kicked out. Back to trading strikes, the crowd is behind Styles here. We then got a ref bump. Styles followed with a PELE on Shane, and Styles then got a trashcan. Styles placed Shane in the corner, put the van on him and then went coast to coast but Shane popped up and slammed him in the face with the can. Shane then sets up Styles, and he looks to go coast to coast and connects. That gets a near fall as Styles kicks out. Shane then dismantled the commentary table, set Styles on it and then MISSED the elbow drop as Styles rolled out of the way. Back in the ring and Shane counters the springboard forearm into a DDT. Shane up top, and misses the shooting star press. Styles then followed and hit the springboard forearm and won. AJ Styles defeated Shane McMahon @ 21:30 via pin [***½] I highly question the layout of the match, doing so much, ref bump and finisher kick outs in the opener, working it like a main event doesn’t seem like the best idea. Also, Shane going 50/50 and even dominating Styles so mush really didn’t sit well with me. Thankfully, Styles won. With that being said, it was entertaining and the crowd was certainly into it, but Shane’s offense and selling were laughable at times, saved by the big stunts and Styles being so good. It ended up being very good, even if I wasn’t a huge fan of the layout.
WWE United States Championship Match: Champion Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens: They brawled right away, Jericho locked in the walls early but Owens made the ropes, only to be sent to the floor. Jericho then hit a high cross to the floor. Back in and Owens cuts him off with a superkick and followed with ground and pound, followed by the cannonball and then an apron cannonball while Jericho was against the post. That allowed Owens to take control, working kicks to the back in the ring and to also take time to mock Jericho. Owens then hit the running senton for 2. Owens spent too much time talking, allowing Jericho to hit the dropkick and cut him off. They brawled to the floor; Jericho fought off the apron bomb and started to work over Owens, sending him back into the ring. Jericho took control, but Owens blocked the code breaker and hit the package side slam. Owens up top, but gets cut off and Jericho follows him up an they trade strikes before Jericho hits the RANA off the ropes for 2. Jericho then hit the running bulldog, but Owens avoids the lionsault and follows with the superkick. Owens up top now, but the frog splash eats knees. Owens blocks the lionsault, back up top and the swanton eats knees. No cool moves for anyone, only knees! Jericho counters the pop up powerbomb and finally hits the lionsault for the near fall. Jericho slaps Owens around, but Owens counters the RANA and locks in the walls. Jericho counters, catapulted to the corner and then runs into the superkick. Owens goes for the cannonball, but Jericho counters and locks in the walls. Owens made the ropes, Jericho looks to fie up but runs into the pop up powerbomb, but Jericho kicks out. Owens is not pleased with this, yells at Jericho and slaps him around but Jericho counters the pop up powerbomb into the code breaker, but Owens makes the ropes (with one finger). Owens hits a superkick to the knee as Jericho looked to go to the floor, hits the apron bomb and back in, covers for the win. Kevin Owens defeated Champion Chris Jericho @ 16:55 via pin [***½] This was a very good match overall, with both guys working hard and playing off of their feud an fact that they knew each other so well. It wasn’t as nearly as hate filled as I would have hoped, which I think would have really added to the match, but Owens being a devious bastard and going to his murder death kill to pick up the win was a great finish.
Raw Women’s Championship Elimination Match: Champion Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax: Bayley got her wacky inflatables super sized. Nia got evil empress gear, Banks rode a pimped out golf cart and Charlotte had a new robe and walked with purpose. Everyone brawled, with Jax controlling even though they all tried to attack her. Jax hit a Yoko drop onto Bayley, but Charlotte was not amused and then attacked. Jax then tossed Charlotte from the apron onto Banks. Bayley, Charlotte and Banks were reluctant partners as they all attacked Jax, and it took all three to finally get her down, and Charlotte picked up the near fall. Jax then tossed Bayley, which allowed her to wok over Charlotte. Bayley returned and we then got the triple team powerbomb and they dog piled on her for the elimination at 4:15. And now that Jax is taken care of, Charlotte wanted a high five, but then got backed off to the floor, allowing Bayley and Banks to go one on one. Charlotte pulled Bayley to the floor, and Banks then wiped out Bayley by accident and that allowed Charlotte to wipe out both with a sky twister press from the top. Back in, Charlotte fought of the Banks statement, hit a back breaker and covered for 2. Charlotte and Banks worked back and forth until Banks hit meteora and locked in the Banks statement. Charlotte escaped, sending Banks to the corner and covered for the win. The buckle was supposed to be exposed as commentary was reading the script and said it was, but had to correct themselves. Bayley and Charlotte are left, and Charlotte quickly targeted the knee. Charlotte up top, but she MISSES the moonsault, and Bayley covers for 2. Bayley off the top, but Charlotte cuts her off and locks in the figure four but Bayley makes the ropes. Charlotte continues to work the knee, sets Bayley in the tree of WHOA, Charlotte climbs up and pulls Bayley up as she beats on her. Bayley then back drops her off, but is still trapped in the ropes. Charlotte charges and hits the not so exposed buckle. Bayley then hits the elbow drop and picks up the win. Champion Bayley defeated Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair & Nia Jax @ 12:10 via pin [***] It’s a shame that the buckle never got fully pulled off and exposed, because two of the pins came directly off of “exposed buckle spots,” and commentary largely had to play like it was exposed. This was really good for the first two thirds, but the final two eliminations came of poorly due to the buckle issue (someone has to get in the ref’s ear and have him instruct someone to remove that so that the planned spots actually work); they worked really hard, the wrestling was on point (I loved them ganging up on Jax) and overall they delivered a good match. Bayley got her moment, and the only real surprise to me is that they didn’t tease a Banks heel turn harder. I honestly think that it would have been better as a single fall match, due to the buckle snafu and time being a bit too short for a four-person elimination match.
– We get Hall of Fame highlights, and inductees coming out before the live crowd.
– Pre-match, New Day arrive and announce that the match is a fatal four-way. There were instant DELETE chants. It’s the FUCKIN HARDY BOYS fresh off of a MOTY ladder match with the Bucks of Youth last night in front of the biggest crowd in ROH history.
Raw Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Sheamus & Cesaro: The Hardys are fucking insane working the match that they did last night ahead of Mania. I love them for it. We got the mass brawl to begin, poetry in motion by the Hardys and the crowd loves this, Matt & Jeff are working the old hardy style so far, whisper in the wind by Jeff wipes out Cesaro & Sheamus. The champions took out the Hardys, and then Sheamus & Cesaro returned and took them out. The Hardys tried to do some construction at ringside as Cass tossed Enzo into Gallows. Sheamus & Cesaro beat down Anderson and Gallows, working the swing and clubbing strikes to the chest. Cas then cut them off and tossed Enzo to the floor onto a pile of bodies, Jeff then ate a brogue kick and flew to the floor onto the pile of bodies to a “Brother Nero” chant. Enzo and Cass cleaned house and tried to climb but Sheamus and Gallows cut them off, bodies to the floor and Anderson climbed the ladder with Enzo and they battled up top and Anderson tossed Enzo off into a Cesaro uppercut. Sheamus & Cesaro again battled with the champions, magic killer on Cesaro and he and Sheamus are placed on ladder bridges. Matt and Anderson battle on the top of the ladder, TWIST OF FATE by Matt and then Jeff climbs the super sized ladder and SWONTONS ONTO CESARO and kills him as Sheamus rolls away; Matt grabs the titles and win! THE EXPEDITION FOR GOLD CONTINUES BABY; in the last 30-days, The Hardys have been TNA, ROH and now WWE tag team champions. The Greatest Tag Team in All of Time and Space The Hardy Boys defeated Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Sheamus & Cesaro @ 11:15 [****] This is how you do a WrestleMania moment; you deliver something that fans want and don’t shove it down out throats. The action was good, we got big spots, the pacing was good, and the finish was absolutely the right call to pay off the big surprise. DELIGHTFUL, EXTRAODINARE, EXQUISITE! As an entire package (fun action, hard work, the big surprise and moment), this was easily my favorite thing on the show. The Hardys will add a ton of fresh matches to the WWE roster and come out of this weekend as huge winners on several levels, and I am glad they got the moment after all of the work they did to reinvent themselves.
John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse: Lawler is out to do commentary. Maryse teased starting off, but she quickly tagged out. Miz tricks Cena into a Scooby-Doo chase and lays the boots to him, and allowing Maryse to slap him. Miz takes the heat early, easily controlling things and beating down Cena. Miz eventually misses the corner attack, but Maryse pulls Nikki to the floor to stop the tag. Maryse has been watching her southern tag tapes. This allows Miz to maintain his attack, scoring a near fall and keeping him away from his corner. Miz then goes into his Daniel Bryan routine, laying in kicks to Cena, and as he gloats, Nikki slaps him. Miz is sent to the floor and Nikki gets the tag and brawls with Maryse. Nikki then took out Miz, and lays out Maryse with the forearm and Cena takes out Miz. They follow with five knuckle shuffles and hit the AA/rack attack 2.0 and win with double pins. John Cena & Nikki Bella defeated The Miz & Maryse @ 9:40 via pin [**] This was a perfectly solid match, with Miz getting a lot in before losing and setting up the post match moment. It was what it needed to be.
– Post match Cena praises Nikki, and then proposes to her, even busting out the ring. They embrace and all is right with the world because love wins.
– We get to see the awesome Triple H/Rollins video package.
Non-Sanctioned Match: Triple H vs. Seth Rollins: Triple H rides out on a three-wheeler with Stephanie and motorcycle police. Triple H is most certainly in WrestleMania shape here. Rollins is sporting a spiffy new gold outfit. They brawled right away, taking the fight to the floor almost immediately with Triple H attacking the legs before they battled over the barricade. Rollins then dumped Triple H over the barricade and then flew off of it with a lariat. Rollins then hit a suicide dive, a second and then slams Triple Hoff of an announce table and starts to dismantle it. Triple H fights off the pedigree and hits a DDT to turn the momentum in his favor. Triple H then attacks the knee of Rollins with chair shots, as he starts to dismantle Rollins. Back in the ring and Triple H continues to focus on the knee. Rollins looks to fight back, slams Triple H to the buckles but can’t follow up. He slowly climbs to the top, gets cut off, Triple H follows him up and they battle back and forth, Rollins looks for the sunset bomb (which hurt his knee and cost him Mania last year) and collapsed as he tried a Liger bomb. They both tease pedigrees, and Rollins manages the buckle bomb and then collapses again. The crowd tries to rally Rollins, who avoids a charge and Triple H flies to the floor. Rollins slowly climbs up top, and hits the high cross to the floor and immediately clutches at his knee. Rollins posts Triple H, and then grabs chairs and tosses them in the ring. He then gets a table. Back in and Rollins slowly climbs up top and hits the high fly flow for the near fall. He grabs the chair, but Triple H begs off and kicks out his knee and then wraps the chair around the knee, hitting knee and elbow drops to punish Rollins. Triple H up top now, but Rollins fights to his feet and tosses a chair into Triple H’s face. He follows Triple H up top, SUPERPLEX and rolls through and hits a falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for the near fall. the key here is that Rollins keeps struggling after any significant move, selling the knee. Rollins up top, Stephanie crotches him and Triple H locks in the inverted figure four, Rollins escapes and rolls to the floor and Triple His right there to work him over with the chair and apply the hold again. Rollins looks for help from under the ring, and slides out a sledgehammer, which Triple H grabs and then stalks Rollins back into the ring with. They then trade strikes, face buster by Triple H but Rollins fights back with a superkick but Triple H decapitates him with a lariat, turning Rollins inside out. The crowd again tries to rally Rollins, and he hits an enziguri to stop the sledgehammer attack. Rollins grabs the sledgehammer, but Stephanie takes it away allowing Triple H to hit the pedigree for a great near fall. Triple H up top again, pulls Rollins up with him and Rollins backdrops him off to fight off the super pedigree. Rollins then hits the Phoenix splash for the near fall. This is feeling really, really long now. Triple H fights off the pedigree, Rollins again favors the knee, counties a powerbomb and Triple H attacks the knee to escape the Rollins pedigree. Rollins superkicks Triple H into Stephanie, she takes the table bump from the apron and Rollins hits the pedigree for the win. Seth Rollins defeated Triple H @ 25:45 via pin [**] This was a bookend match, it was all about the beginning and the end, with the middle coming across as too long and mostly filler. The crowd was hot at the beginning, and got into the homestretch, but like last year’s Triple H match, needed some of the middle edited out to make it come off better. I thought that a lot of he ideas were really sound, especially from a psychology standpoint, but trimming out some of the middle for some more violent and heated action would have greatly helped this, and probably would have kept the crowd better. You have to play to your audience, and this deep into the show, the crowd didn’t want to see tedious Triple H offense for so long, they wanted a fired up Seth Rollins getting revenge, not selling for Uncle Paul and scraping by with the win, while not really selling the danger of the stipulation or working to its full advantages (which Triple H knows how to do, just look at his SS match with HBK). Unfortunately this is the new Triple H feature match, good ideas, but overly long and completely self indulgent.
– We now get a concert with Pitbull.
WWE Championship Match: Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton: Orton attacked at the bell, working ground and pound and then teased the RKO, but Bray bailed and they brawled on the floor. Back in and Bray takes control, and then we got spooky maggots projected onto the mat…
WHAT kind of mind games has @WWEBrayWyatt brought to this #WWETitle match?! #WrestleMania @RandyOrton pic.twitter.com/3V6Jz3kdYw
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) April 3, 2017
They both teased hitting their finish, as things slowed. Bray hit a corner charge, and we got more maggots. Wyatt hit the uranage and senton, which got 2. This shit killed the crowd. Orton cut off Bray with a dropkick, but then favored the knee. Bray then hit sister Abigail into the barricade, and then rolled him back in. They rolled back to the floor and Orton hit an RKO for the double down on the floor. Orton missed the PK, missed but then hit the draping DDT. Bray hits sister Abigail for a near fall. Bray does his wacky spider walk and we get more bugs projected into the ring. Orton then hits another RKO and wins. Randy Orton defeated Champion Bray Wyatt @ 10:35 via pin [DUD] The story here is that Orton survived and overcame Bray’s mind games; unfortunately that story sucked, they spammed finishes and there was no substance to the work. There’s a special place in hell for those that came up with that match.
WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar: Lesnar hits suplexes, three Germans but Goldberg fights back and hits the spear, with Lesnar rolling to the floor. Goldberg then spears Lesnar through the barricade. Back in the ring, Lesnar looks for the F5 but eats a spear. Goldberg hits the jackhammer, but Lesnar kicks out. Goldberg looks for another spear, but Lesnar leapfrogs him and Goldberg hits the buckles HARD and eats suplexes, something like 10 in total. Lesnar is fired up, hits the F5 and wins the title. Brock Lesnar defeated : Champion Bill Goldberg @ 4:45 via pin [***½] This is exactly what it should have been and needed to be; quick, explosive sprint, and entertaining while also playing off Goldberg’s previous domination and Brock getting his revenge. The show needed this shot in the arm, it felt different and it was fun.
Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Champion Alexa Bliss vs. The Smackdown Women’s Roster: the first pin or submission wins. They all brawled at the bell, and then bodies started to be sent to the floor. Becky and Mickie battled in the ring, working a nice stretch, and then Ellsworth getting involved, allowing Carmella to attack, but Bliss broke up the pin and they argued. Natalya back in but ran into a DDT and Mickie made the save. Becky then ran wild as they really feel as if they are rushing. Ellsworth in again, he eats an XPLODER by Becky. It breaks down a bit, Bliss bails and Naomi makes her return to take out Natalya and Becky. Natalya works a double sharp shooter but almost blows it, Mickie breaks it up and covers but Becky flies in to make the save. Mickie hits the DDT for 2. Naomi in, hits the rear view and then a plancha onto the pile on the floor. Bliss cuts her off with a forearm smash, Naomi locks in a submission and Bliss taps. Naomi won the title @ 5:55 via submission [**½] No surprises as some thought, and they were clearly rushed, but they worked really hard, the timing was good and it was all action. They did what they could with the time given.
– New Day announces a “record breaking crowd” of 75,245.
– Jim Ross is back to announce the main event.
Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns: This is now a no holds bared match, pin or submission only to win. Taker’s entrance was 4:12 from DONG to in ring, thanks to him being risen up in the middle of the ramp. They brawled right away, with Taker sending Reigns to the floor, and telling Reigns that this was his yard. Reigns back in, and they trade strikes and Reigns sends taker to the floor. Taker pulls him out and shoots him to the steps. Back into the ring and Reigns a Samoan drop and then lays the boots to him. Back to the floor, Taker lays in rights and head butts. Reigns then posts Taker and hits the drive by kick. Back in and Reigns works him over with strikes, but Taker fires back and they start to throw bombs. Reign shits a kick and that pisses off Taker. He hits the corner splash and snake eyes, the big boot follows. Taker then hits the leg drop for 2. Reigns takes a powder, and cuts off the drive by with a big right. Taker dismantles the announce table, but Reigns cuts off the attack with a dropkick. But Taker then snags him up and chokeslams him on the table, no break for you! Taker dismantles another table, climbs onto it and Reigns on the other BUT REIGNS SPEARS HIM OFF & THROUGH A TABLE. Taker is down as Reigns rolls into the ring, talks shit and Taker sits up and gets pissed. Reigns attacks as he rolls in, working him over in the corner and Taker is held up by the ropes. Reigns works mounted strikes, but Taker snatches him up and hits a rough looking powerbomb, but Reigns kicks out at 2. Taker grabs a chair, kicks Reigns in the face and then lays in some shots to the back of Reigns. Taker tells Reigns to get up and keeps hitting him. taker tosses the hair down, looks for a chokeslam, but Reigns rolls to the floor. Back in and Reigns hits two superman punches, but Taker then chokeslams him on the chair for 2. Taker hits the tombstone, but Reigns kicks out again. Taker pulls Reigns to his feet, but Reigns kooks to counter the tombstone but that fails as Taker falls down underneath him and Reigns couldn’t power him back up, that looked bad on both of them. Reigns sets, hits the spear but Taker then locks on hell’s gate. Reigns fights, and they did a rope break in a no DQ match. Reigns then lays in chair shots, working Taker over. Reigns sets, and hits the spear for a near fall. Reigns can’t believe he kicked out, sets and hits another spear, but Taker kicks out again. Reigns then hits the superman punch, backs off and stares Taker down as Taker tries to sit up, but falls back down. Reigns now stalks Taker, slapping at Taker a bit and then works over taker with strikes and another spear, and that is all. Roman Reigns defeated The Undertaker @ 23:15 via pin [*] With all due respect to The Undertaker, it was completely asinine to book a 52-year old man with severe hip issues in a 23-minite match like this; this needed to be half as long at most. Look at Goldberg and Lesnar, even if you weren’t a big fan of the feud and match (and I really wasn’t a fan of the feud) they knew the limitations of Goldberg, worked to the strengths he had left, and what they did worked. The opening stretch was strong, but it then started to fall apart (at the tombstone botch spot) and actually became sad to watch as he struggle through the rest of the match; it never recovered. I have absolutely no issue with reigns winning and or retiring him, he’s the guy that the company is going to push and at the age of 31, Reigns will be around for likely another 10-years or so. They just need to figure out how to book him properly, because the poor booking is what has consistently killed him. In my opinion, this was a sad performance for Taker to end his career on, and painful to watch him struggle so much. All the respect in the world to him, but this was bad.
– Post match, Taker put on his coat, dropped his gloves in the ring, and then also took off the coat and neatly folded it, before leaving it along with his hat in the ring to ride off into the sunset. He posed on the ramp, the lights dropped and the gong hit to officially end it.
“Mama says these my magic shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere…”
