Kevin Reviews The WrestleMania Openers (26-31)

Entering our final series of openers, the WWE was pretty much set on making sure that their biggest event got off to the right start. Bigger stars would consistently get the show going as, over the final six opening contests, eleven World Champions were involved. Not only that, but the matches themselves were big as the World Heavyweight Title started things off twice and another match was contested at the start for a spot in the WWE Title match to close out the evening. At the end of this review, I will rank all 31 WrestleMania opening contests and see which is best and which is worst. I’ll also try and average out some scores to see some other stats.

WrestleMania XXVI
WWE Unified Tag Team Championship: ShowMiz (c) def. John Morrison and R-Truth in 3:21
The ShowMiz theme was nowhere near as good as the JeriShow one. Seeing Miz carry three titles, he also held the US Title here, was great. He was on fire as a heel and would only get better as the year went on. People hate that he headlined a Mania but he deserved it as he was the best heel on Raw at the time. Morrison was in between significant pushes in late 2009 and late 2010. He never quite got a big Mania shine. This was shorter than expected but the card was full so something had to be quick. They did fine with the time given but it never reached a level where it got too interesting. Show did the big time damage as a blind tag led him to knockout Morrison and retain. Their title reign wouldn’t last much longer but everyone would manage to find some success after this. R-Truth and Morrison got WWE Title shots, Show would win two more World Titles and Miz would win plenty of other titles, including the top prize. *½

WrestleMania XXVII
World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) def. Alberto Del Rio in 11:10
Technically, the show opened with a long-winded, overdrawn promo from the Rock. Once that was finally over, I remember being shocked that the World Heavyweight Title was kicking things off. It was unheard of at the time. Alberto Del Rio was in the midst of a huge run, having won the Royal Rumble within a few months of his debut. Edge was World Champion for the first time as a babyface. Del Rio got the cool entrance, while Edge wasn’t about trying to be too fancy. He was determined despite his bad arm. I loved the kayfabe arm injury since it played right into Del Rio’s strength. Del Rio had Brodus Clay as his second, while Christian accompanied Edge. They got involved but not to the point where it hurt the match. Even though he wasn’t aware that it was his last match at the time, Edge seemed determined to have a damn good match. He busted out a rare front flip dive outside and Del Rio also took a big bump outside. There was really good drama with each Cross Armbreaker attempt until Edge retained with the Spear. The arm work was great throughout and I thought this proved to be a really good opener. It would turn out to be the last match in Edge’s career and he went out on a high note. Even though Del Rio lost, he went on to find a lot of success. ***½

WrestleMania XXVIII
World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus (c) def. Daniel Bryan in 0:18
The shortest opener in WrestleMania is one of the most infamous. After four straight Royal Rumble winners failed to become World Champions, Sheamus bucked that trend. Daniel Bryan was in the midst of a World Title run that saw him turn heel and start shouting “Yes” all of the time. It hadn’t quite caught on but on this night, it did. The fans chanted it during Bryan’s entrance and right at the bell. It wasn’t something I expected at all. Bryan paused at the bell to get a good luck kiss from AJ Lee. It turned out to be a kiss of death as he took a Brogue Kick and promptly lost the title. It’s tough to rate this as a match due to the length but I’d like to discuss the impact. Without this match, Daniel Bryan may have never reached the peak that he did. The fans took this as a bit of a slight and it fueled the next night where the fans chanted for him throughout the entire show. His performances over the next two years and the continued devotion of the fans led him to the top of the company. I think this kind of hurt Sheamus to be honest. He was popular and had a good title reign but I don’t think he ever got as over as he could have and I think this match may have been a reason. Still, it was a case of an opener where both guys went on to have strong careers. NO RATING

WrestleMania 29
The Shield def. Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus in 10:34
Having debuted in November of 2012, the Shield were already taking the wrestling world by storm at the time of WrestleMania 29. Choosing them to open the show was brilliant because, for all of 2013, nobody was better than the Shield. When it came to in ring performances, the Shield was great and they stood across the ring from three veterans. Now, I liked this match but I think it could have been better. It seemed to focus more on the tension between the babyfaces instead of how dominant the Shield were. It worked to make it seem like the Shield would lose but you could see the finish coming from a mile away. We did get a pretty good RKO on Rollins out of it before Reigns hit the spear on Orton. Big Show, angry with Orton, sat back and allowed Ambrose to pin him. It was the first huge win for the Shield and set the tone for a year where the Shield absolutely killed it on a weekly basis. ***

WrestleMania XXX
Daniel Bryan def. Triple H in 25:57
Other than Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart twenty years earlier, this was the best WrestleMania opener ever. Originally, Triple H was set to face CM Punk here. Punk walking out combined with the fans’ unrelenting support for Daniel Bryan changed that. Their story was well built and not only could Bryan get revenge at WrestleMania, but he could also earn a spot in the main event. Triple H got the glamorous entrance and looked like a massive star against the everyman that was Bryan. The match itself was then masterfully executed. There were better matches in 2014, but none were done in smarter fashion. While they lacked the high spots of some openers, everything they did served a purpose. Even Stephanie McMahon deserves props for her performance at ringside. Her reactions to everything was spot on. Bryan kicking out of the Pedigree was a great moment (though my favorite thing might have been Triple H busting out a goddamn tiger suplex). Bryan nailed the running knee to earn a spot in the main event, which he would go on to win and become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Not only was the match incredible but it also set the stage for an amazing moment to close out the show. Just phenomenal stuff from everyone involved. ****½

WrestleMania 31
WWE Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Daniel Bryan def. Bad News Barrett (c), Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, R-Truth and Stardust in 13:47
The Intercontinental Title took center stage in the most recent WrestleMania opening contest. Granted, the booking and buildup for this match was pretty bad. They threw seven guys into a match and it came off as very forced. It was as if they felt everyone here was above the Andre the Giant Memorial Battel Royal, but not important enough for singles match (even though some were). Similar to the Money in the Bank openers, this was what you’d expect. Seven guys went to war, beat each other up with ladders and gave us some big spots. Seeing guys fall off of ladders was one thing but Ambrose, a favorite to win, taking a powerbomb through one was certainly the biggest moment. Most of the guys belonged but even the one that felt out of place (Truth) managed to hold his own. With Dean incapacitated, it came down to Bryan and Ziggler. After an exchange of headbutts, Bryan pulled down the title. Outside of Ambrose, nobody in this match moved up in the card and Bryan unfortunately had to relinquish and title and retire a year later. Side note; Bryan accomplished something that nobody else had. He wrestled at five straight WrestleManias and competed for a different title (going 3-2) at each one. I found to be a fun match that was better than the build it got. ***¾

So there you have it. 31 WrestleMania openers watched and reviewed. I feel like this was a good way to get ready for this year’s Mania. The last set of openers saw pretty much all good matches (outside of 26 & 28) and even the eighteen second match proved to be very pivotal. I’m unsure of what will open the festivities this time around, but I’m hoping it’s similar in quality to the two most recent Manias. The average score of the Mania openers seems to be around 2.6 stars, though my math could have been off. I don’t know if Csonka is gonna do the SummerSlam main events, but as someone requested, I’ll do my best to do the SummerSlam openers when that time rolls around.