411’s WWE 24: WrestleMania New York Report – Backstage Look At WrestleMania 35

-Rest in Peace to Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and all those that lost their lives in that helicopter crash. Everyone go out and hug someone important to you and tell them you love them.

-The Royal Rumble is in the books and I thought the show was pretty good. The Men’s Rumble was rather strong and I know some didn’t like the first half with the Brock show, but it was fine (only Morrison getting crushed annoyed me) and made Drew eliminating him mean more. Speaking of Drew, him winning was the right call as the crowd was ready for it and it’s time to elevate someone else. Roman can get to The Fiend another way.

-With the Rumble over we can look towards WrestleMania, but first we will look back to last year’s Mania with a new edition of WWE 24 has dropped. It has become a yearly episode for the show to focus on the previous Mania, so the format should be pretty familiar. Let’s get to it!

-Becky starts as she talks about how she has dreamed about being the Main Event of WrestleMania. Kofi envisioned wrestling for the WWE Title at Mania as a kid. We also hear from the Iiconics and Ricochet as they talk about their dreams of being at Mania. Rollins says you never get sick or bored with it. This is WrestleMania!

-Show opening: WWE 24: WrestleMania: New York

-The New Day are at the Mania press conference to announce that Mania is returning to MetLife Stadium. Various WWE stars show up all over New York and New Jersey to hype the show. Joe Namath gives a shout-out to the WWE stars. Charlotte and Lashley open the NYSE as they ring the opening bell.

-Video from the Axxess and I will say the stuff you can do there is awesome. I am proud to say I was there for Mania XXV, XXVI, and XXVII. The kid dressed as Owen and doing the famous Rumble promo where he “kicked his leg from out of his leg,” was awesome.

-Kofi speaks on the rise of Kofi-mania and how unexpected it was for him. It was emotional for him as he was on the verge of getting a WWE Title Match for the first time in 11 years. He thanks the fans and their dedication because they got what they wanted. For Kofi it has been more than a special journey.

-Kay and Royce next as they talk about coming from Australia and finding themselves at Mania. The journey has been a dream for them as well. They have video from them at a show in Australia when they were teenagers and stuff like that is always awesome and never gets old. They also show them working out before getting their WWE contracts and that led them to getting signed. They were the only 2 from the tryout to get signed. We jump to 2015 and see them trying to cut promos and it’s pretty horrible, but shows how far they have come. They talk about how they go out there and try to be as annoying as possible. The BAR doing the Iiconic pose is fantastic!

-Now to Rollins as he talks about having some Manias and big moments under his belt. We see Mania 31 and for him this one is different. This is the culmination of the moment when he had to give up the WWE Title. We actually see Dean Ambrose in flashbacks of Ambrose winning various titles. Rollins wins the Royal Rumble and the match with Brock is the biggest of his career.

-We are up to the Day of Mania now. Becky and Seth are together at the hotel as they weren’t public with the relationship yet. They were asked if they wanted 1 or 2 cars and decided to ride together. Seth says they started digging each other in January and had their first kiss at the Rumble.

-Becky talks about how she told everyone she would Main Event WrestleMania and how she just wanted it to be an earned moment and not something given to her. They cover the storyline of Vince putting Charlotte in the match. Becky says she was told they were the Main Event two weeks before the show. All the hard work and she just wants to enjoy the moment now.

-They show various stars showing up and Rusev shakes hands with Hogan and tells him he is the reason he is a wrestler. Fantastic! The guys and girls get to ringside and this stuff is always great as well. I could watch a whole show of them just interacting and taking everything in. Seth does Lacey’s entrance which is also amazing. Shane, Drew, Batista, Black, and others all run through their entrance. Batista asks Taker if he can do some of his moves and Taker tells him to do them right.

-We focus back on Ricochet who was told by Edge to take it all in. He talks about this being the biggest venue he’s ever worked and mentions before it was the Tokyo Dome which held 40,000. He talks about his time in NXT and how it motivated him to be on the Mania card. He talks about his favorite wrestlers growing up and taking what they did and turning it into one wrestler. He mentions Jeff Hardy, Tiger Mask, and Liger. We get footage from Evolve and other Indy shows of Ricochet doing his thing. He remembers being at the Post Office when he mailed his WWE contact back.

-Rollins says he has known Ricochet since he was a teenager and they wrestled in armories and now they are at Mania. People always said Ricochet was just the guy who did flips, but now he is at Mania. Ricochet has fun messing around with Black’s contraption for his entrance and says he was told that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it.

-The fans enter the stadium as we are 90 minutes before showtime. We get some high lights from the preshow: Carmella wins the Women’s Battle Royal, Hawkins and Ryder win Tag Gold, and Braun wins the ARMBAR. The Saturday Night Live guys are amazed people do this more than once a year.

-WrestleMania kicks of with our host Alexa Bliss and she brings out Hulk Hogan. I can’t help but smile as that man is the reason I am a wrestling fan. They show Hogan at previous Manias as he talks about how it made him feel young again. He just wishes he was in the Main Event. Alexa Bliss posing at Mania with Hulk Hogan is one of those things I never thought I would see.

-Brock vs Seth starts off the show as it was changed at the last minute. Seth tells us he thought they had some time, but the change could be good as now he just has to go out and do it. There’s no real time for nerves now. Looking back it was a fantastic way to start the show and really gave them the hottest crowd they were going to get with the match. Seth wins to pop the crowd and it’s still amazing they had to turn him heel only 6 months later because of the crowd turning on him. There is still a story there somewhere with Roman vs Seth and Rollins playing up that he is the one to beat Brock at Mania. Speaking of which, Seth celebrates backstage with Roman and then gets in a photo shoot with his newly won title.

-We get back into Seth/Beck relationship as there was a 5 hour window between their matches. Seth tells her that he told the camera the truth and Becky was wondering if she should get in the camera shot. Seth tells her to stay and that he loves her. Awww!

-Ricochet now as he talks about the nerves and how they didn’t hit until he was in Gorilla. He tells Aleister the match is easy, but it’s everything else. Black tells him that he is nervous as well and again, all of this is awesome. Ricochet wanted to take it all in like Edge told him, and he made sure to absorb everything. Black’s entrance is still so cool! The 4 teams cram a bunch into the time they were given and it was quite enjoyable. Ricochet is doing an interview after the match and HBK comes up to congratulate him. He talks about how he was in HBK’s class in NXT for just a short time, but he learned so much. He thanks Shawn for everything and marks out after Shawn leaves. Again, just awesome!

-Batista vs HHH is next and we see the greatness that is Xavier Woods losing his mind singing Batista’s theme music. That will never get old! The match was rather slow, but WWE production can make any match seem epic and no different here.

-The Iiconics next and they talk about soaking everything in as this was the culmination of a 15 year journey. They win the Tag Titles and call it the top moment they wanted in their careers. Seth congratulates them after the match.

-Kofi and he is backstage getting hyped up The Usos and Woods/Big E. Kofi thought he would be more calm and collected, but the video package before the match got him fired up. Kofi looked ready to take on the world as he made his entrance. Kofi and Daniel have the WWE Main Roster Match of the Year and like with Bryan 5 years earlier, the WWE delivers the ending everyone wanted. Kofi wins the WWE Title and the world celebrates with him. Bryan had to be as happy as anyone to give Kofi that moment. They show some fans in the crowd crying and Kofi mentions that he saw some of them crying. Kofi celebrates with his kids and it hit him that if this had happened 10 years sooner, he wouldn’t have been able to celebrate with his kids. Vince and Kofi hug after the match and the New Day make it a group hug. Tremendous! Kofi takes pride in being the guy that kids who look like him, can look up to and see they can do anything.

-Kurt Angle has his farewell match and yes, we all hated it was with Corbin, but you can’t say that didn’t use it to push someone new. Angle did what any pro should do and that’s go out on your back if it is possible.

-Now on to the Main Event as Becky talks about getting laser focused as it became match time. She was so focused she told everyone around her not to talk to her. Becky says she couldn’t hear much, but she could hear the fans chanting and they were only chanting for her. She felt like she had an army behind her. She jokes that Mania was April 7, but the Main Event was on April 8 because they went on after midnight. That would suck for the fans, and was it kind of fun to be at Mania in Arizona as the time change meant we got back to the resort at a decent time. That and Mania wasn’t 18 hours a decade ago. Anyway, Becky wins the match with a sort of botched crucifix, but it doesn’t matter as again, the fans got what they wanted. Becky 2 Belts was born!

-Becky hopes everyone wants to Main Event Mania now as they have shown that it is possible for anyone to do it. Seth puts her over and Becky talks about how hard it was to soak in the moment. She shares a hug with Seth and says she is achieving all her dreams and life can’t get any better.

-Video package covering everything else that happened on the show and again, this is always top notch stuff from the production company. Cena’s return was fantastic and I am curious if he will be back for Mania this year. Kofi wraps it up by calling it a really special WrestleMania as he touches on Seth winning, Becky Main Eventing, and him winning.

-I love these shows and this is an easy recommendation. I’ve said it plenty of times, but I am a sucker for all the backstage and preshow stuff you can give me. I know some say it takes away from the magic, but the human stories that come out are fantastic as you get to see these larger than life people in a different light. I can suspend my disbelief when it’s needed, but there are times I want to know what these people are thinking and see how they react before and after a match. This show gives you that in spades and I hope they continue with this series. Thanks as always for reading!