Cook’s WWE WrestleMania 33 Report Card

Hi, hello & welcome to the WrestleMania 33 Report Card! It’s the biggest night of the year, the longest night of the year, and I’m here to break it down and grade all the performers at their best! I can’t sit here and tell you that I’m super excited about this card on paper, but WrestleMania always brings the atmosphere and everybody on the card will be looking to steal the show.

Here’s how I grade the WWE SuperStars…

A – Outstanding. Great moves, selling, interaction with the fans, everything. Stands out as a top performer.
B – Above Average. Very good offensively or defensively. Plays their role well. Helps the match accomplish what it set out to do.
C – Average. The type of performance that does nothing to stand out. No outstanding moves, no great effort to sell their opponent’s offense or draw the crowd into what they’re doing, just bland, basic wrestling. Sometimes, especially in a multi-man match, a short period of time spent in the ring without a chance to do too much.
D – Below Average. Poor execution, ignoring the crowd, not doing things that make sense.
F – Failure. Not doing anything useful. Actively holding the match back from accomplishing its objective.

The Kickoff Show panel: Renee Young, Booker T, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Lita & Shawn Michaels in the studio, Charly Caruso & Maria Menounos in the Social Media Lounge, Sam Roberts & Peter Rosenberg all over the place. I like how everybody was super dressed up & Maria was out there in her Beth Phoenix t-shirt & overalls. That’s a woman right there.

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries
Tom Phillips & Corey Graves on commentary

If I was Aries I’d watch it walking backwards down that ramp. Nice gold tights for Neville, Aries has silver. The belt is silver, so advantage Aries on that front. The ropes are purple, which explains why this is going on first. The WrestleMania ring crew will have too much going on to bother taping the ropes multiple times. Good chant for Aries as the bell rings. Don’t headscissor Austin Aries, Neville! Bad idea. Neville takes a powder to avoid the Last Chancery. Neville gets the advantage with a kick cutting off the Heat Seeking Missile attempt. We return from commercial with Neville applying the reverse chinlock. Crowd is still filing in, but the crowd that’s arrived is interested. It looks much better than last year’s Kickoff Show in Dallas. Damn, Neville takes a bump to the floor right on his tailbone! Aries with a double axehandle like he’s Austin Starr, then the Heat Seeking Missile leads to a two count! Neville tells the ref to shut up before following Aries up top…Neville backflips off, Aries follows with a dropkick for two! Neville with the trademark cruiserweight division German suplex! Right on the dome! A bridging German gets a two count! Neville has taken control of this thing and the crowd is getting behind Aries…back & forth, discus forearm by Aries! Neville rolls out of the ring to avoid the potential pinfall. 10! 10! 10! 10! 10! Top rope rana by Aries! Splash in the corner…450 splash gets a two count! He doesn’t use that one much anymore. Last Chancery! Neville rakes the reconstructed eye socket of Aries! That’s good psychology right there. Red Arrow finishes it after about 16 minutes.

Solid match there. Not sure it lived up to some of the hype it was getting before the show, but both guys brought it. I loved the psychology of Neville going to Aries’ previously injured eye to get the win…it’s so simple, but so smart. Good way to open the show.

Grades
Neville: B+
Aries: B

Not too much turnaround time before we get the Battle Royal! I can dig it.

2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Michael Cole, JBL & Bryon Saxton on commentary

Big Show gets music, as does BRAUN. GRONK in the house to support his boy Mojo Rawley. Braun immediately tosses a dude I didn’t get a good look at. Every other recap of this show will be able to tell you who, I’m sure. Kalisto is out. There goes a Vaudevillian. Killian Dane from NXT is in the match. Heath Slarer has kids and he’s gone. There goes an Uso. Bye Goldust. See ya Konnor. Braun & Show face off until Sami Zayn throws himself at Braun. Braun tosses Big Show, and everybody else goes after Braun. He’s out! The two guys that got music are gone? Now I don’t know what to expect. Dolph Ziggler is there. Sin Cara seems to have a blue La Parka outfit on. Ziggler tosses Rhyno. Jinder Mahal grew some hair. I think that was a Vaudevillian that got tossed. Probably. I also think we got all the action during what was supposed to be a commercial break. Whoops! American Alpha is out, Breezango isn’t far behind. Mark Henry is gone. Oh, Luke Harper is here! I had no idea. Titus O’Neil has no idea what battle royal psychology is. Bo Dallas was here and now he’s not. Mojo with some Maryland-inspired tights. He finally tosses Dolph out! Titus gets rid of Luke Harper, whose push is deader than the Prime Time Players. Killian Dane dumps Sami, which royally pisses off the crowd, and we’re down to Mojo, Dane & Mahal. Well, there’s a threesome. Speaking of threesomes, Jinder decides to disrespect Gronk. Bad idea, as Gronk jumps the railing. Security has no luck holding him back. He runs over Mahal! Give him a push! Mahal & Mojo are the final two, and it’s Mojo knocking Mahal off the apron to win!

Yeah, I’m not grading this. I’ll give Gronk an A for his performance though. Will it boost Mojo to the next level? I mean…stranger things have happened I suppose.

Paul Heyman joins the Social Media Lounge! I don’t know why they have other people do this.

The Intercontinental Championship Match is now on the Kickoff Show! Not like Dean Ambrose cares when he fights somebody. He’ll fight whenever Daniel Bryan wakes him up backstage. The main card, the Kickoff Show, Axess, NXT TakeOver, he doesn’t care.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Baron Corbin
Phillips, JBL & David Otunga on commentary

They get started right away. Corbin takes the early advantage. I wonder if he wishes Gronk was still out there. He’s taking his time beating up Ambrose here. Dean finally gets a little offense when Corbin runs into the ringpost. I guess Dean got caught off the top rope there. This definitely looks like a match where either the participants have no chemistry, the participants are pissed off about getting bumped from the main card, or both, because not much is clicking here. Ambrose seems to have this happen a lot at WrestleMania time. With all the complaints about the heat, I wonder how WWE people would feel about an outdoor show in Orlando in July. Ambrose likes doing that flip bump off of his own offense. Ambrose reverses out of the End of Days, hits the Dirty Deeds and gets the three count!

Yeah, I’m ok with this match getting bumped off the main card. As Jeremy Lambert pointed out on Twitter, they didn’t even get on the SmackDown before WrestleMania, so it seemed inevitable. They didn’t really click and the match never really got out of first gear. Eh, they can’t all be WrestleMania Moments.

Grades:
Ambrose: C-
Corbin: D

Reigns vs. Taker getting the main event treatment from the Kickoff Show. So that’s probably going on last.

No idea who Tinashe is, but she’s all right in my book.

The New Day comes out to start WrestleMania! They talk for awhile, set the stage, nothing too otherworldly.

Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles
Phillips, JBL & Otunga on commentary

Shane’s family is at ringside. I hope there isn’t a Beyond the Mat moment here. Fans seem solidly behind Styles, which isn’t surprising to me. He says he’ll embarrass Shane. Shane is going to try and do some actual wrestling here. AJ will do some of Shane’s dancing in response. Now Shane does some rasslin & then mocks AJ’s pose. Crowd isn’t as impressed. AJ & Shane start boxing and we get SHANE MCMAHON PUNCHES! AJ dropkicks Shane on the outside & Shane flies through the SmackDown announce team! Big ol’ kneedrop. Styles on offense as Shane appears to be in another world. McMahon comes back…nice elbow block there. Angle Slam by Shane! Two of Kurt’s most famous opponents here. Styles hurts his own knee by dropping Shane’s head on it. Calf Crusher by Styles! Shane reverses out of it into a rear naked choke, then into a cross arm-breaker like he’s Alberto Del Rio. Rings of Saturn! Double clothesline takes both men down.Much to my surprise, this hasn’t been a trainwreck so far. Then Shane turns a springboard 450 attempt into a triangle choke! Shane wanted to buy PRIDE Fighting Championships back in the day so the MMA fetish doesn’t surprise me. Eventually Styles gets Shane into a Styles Clash for 2. Remember when that won matches? Me neither. They exchange blows. Styles takes the referee out with a kick, then Peles Shane. Well this could be a problem. AJ goes outside and gets two trash cans out from under the ring. Doesn’t he know what Shane used to do with those? Bad idea, AJ. He sets up for the Coast to Coast…nah, Shane blocks it with ye old trash can! So now Shane can set up the move for himself. Will he hit it? Yes he will! Will the referee recover in time? Yes he will! Will he get three? No he won’t! Now it’s time to clear off the SmackDown announce table. AJ is rolled onto it…Shane off the top with the elbow & he crashes and burns! AJ rolls him back in…he goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Shane reverses it into a DDT! Shane up top…misses a shooting star press! Goddamn this man is insane. This time AJ hits the Phenomenal Forearm for three!

Hey, that was a lot of fun! Shane got to jump off some high stuff, AJ got to do his stuff, and as far as I can tell, nobody died. Would Nakamura have gotten more stars from the reviewers? Probably. But this was good for what it was…AJ Styles beating a McMahon at the McMahon family’s ultimate creation. I can dig it. Good effort from both guys, I can’t ask for much more from them here.

Grades:
AJ: A
Shane: A

WWE United States Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Cole, Graves & Saxton on commentary

Jericho is rocking a light up scarf tonight! That’s how you know this is serious business. You also know it’s serious business because Jericho locks in the Walls less than a minute into the match. DRINK IT IN, MAN! Jericho takes it to Owens on the outside. Owens comes back, cannonballs Jericho in the ring, then cannonballs him on the apron! Owens talks some smack then places the chinlock on Jericho. Slow, methodical pace here. Jericho dropkicks himself back into the match, then sends Owens outside. Now it’s Jericho on the offensive talking smack. Owens comes back with a package suplex for a two count. He been busted open! Kinda. Jericho with a rana off the top gets two. Frog splash by Owens gets nothing but knees, as does a Lionsault by Jericho. Swanton by Owens…yup, knees. Jericho does eventually hit that Lionsault for two. Crowd getting behind Jericho now. Owens reverses a rana attempt into the Walls of Owens! It doesn’t end the match, shockingly. Owens cannonballs himself into the Walls of Jericho! Owens reaches the ropes, stalls for time in the ropes so he can recover. Pop up powerbomb gets a nearfall! Owens talks some more trash, sets up the pop up powerbomb but Jericho reverses into the Codebreaker! Owens’ finger touches the ropes! Owens superkicks Jericho’s knee & powerbombs him into the apron! That gets a three count and a new US Champion!

This wasn’t quite on the excitement level of AJ vs. Shane for me, but it was a damn solid wrestling match. It took them awhile to get the crowd into it, but they got there eventually. Two damn good matches to start the show…the rest of the card’s going to have a tough time following this.

Grades:
Owens: A
Jericho: A

WWE Raw Women’s Championship Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match
Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Raw team on commentary

Bayley with new entrance attire & pyro! Good for her. Sasha the only one so far smart enough to have somebody drive her to the ring. Cole claims Charlotte is making the same entrance her dad did at WrestleMania XXIV, which is a complete lie as Ric wasn’t wearing green. Nia demolishes everybody early. Big ol’ Banzai Drop to Bayley. Charlotte does a Flair Flip in the corner, then Nia flips her into Bayley & Sasha on the floor. Eventually they manage to combine their efforts to suplex Nia. This is kind of like DIY vs. Revival vs. Authors of Pain from last night, except not as good. A Shield-style powerbomb and a three count at least proves that the Horsewomen are smarter than the top NXT tag teams. Charlotte tries to get them to fight, and it works. Crazy dive by Sasha, then a corkscrew moonsault by Charlotte. Holy poop! Sasha & Charlotte back in…double knees by Sasha gets two, then she locks in the Bank Statement. Doesn’t work. Sasha takes a header into the slightly exposed turnbuckle off a rollup attempt and gets eliminated! Well, at least it wasn’t a cruiserweight match this time. We’re down to Charlotte & Bayley now. Charlotte misses a regular old moonsault and Bayley gets a near-fall off of it. Listen to me…”regular old moonsault”. I’m so jaded. Bayley gets the win with the Macho Man elbow drop!

I can’t help but think that Bayley’s win here would still have meant more if it was her first Women’s Title victory and Charlotte’s first PPV loss. It was nice and all, but not what it could have been storywise. All four ladies did bring their best though. Nia didn’t get a lot of time, which was a good thing for her because she maximized her minutes and didn’t get exposed out there.

Grades:
Bayley: B
Charlotte: A
Sasha: B+
Nia: B

Gotta love the respectful “You Suck” chant for Kurt Angle. But where’s Howard Finkel to do the intros for the Class of 2017? It used to be his thing every year.

My Network feed died on my computer and I can’t get it back, so now we’re doing WM via tablet. Good times!

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
Gallows & Anderson (c) vs. Enzo & Big Cass vs. Cesaro & Sheamus
Raw team on commentary

The New Day comes out to announce that the Ladder Match has become a Fatal 4-Way. They have their wrestling attire on but the crowd is biting hard on the Hardy Boys, and sure enough it is the Hardy Boys! “Things are about to be broken!” says Michael Cole. The Hardys might be already broken after last night’s match with the Bucks of Youth, but it’s of no matter to Matthew & Jeffrey. The Internet has lost its mind. Fairly typical ladder match stuff to start…listen to me with “typical ladder match stuff”. I am so damn jaded. Sheamus & Cesaro combining the Swing & the Beats of the Drum is pretty cool. I was really hoping for a T-Gimmick on the ladder, but no such luck. We do get a Magic Killer, then a Twist of Fate by…can we call him Broken Matt or not? I have no idea. Well, he’ll be broken after Twist of Fating Anderson off the ladder. And here comes Nero with the Swanton onto Cesaro and kind of Sheamus on the ladders! Matt gets the belts! The Expedition of Gold continues!

Well, the Raw tag team title scene definitely needed something added to it. The title picture heading into this show was pretty boring and I had no idea why they were bothering making it a ladder match…sure enough, here come the Hardys! Lots of people happy now. I expect them to turn on Matt & Jeff here in a few weeks, but good for the guys on getting another run in the autumn of their careers. The match felt like an afterthought to the return, quite honestly. Watching people completely mark out on Twitter was pretty cool too, it’s great when pro wrestling can have that effect on people that you think are immune to such things now. TJ Hawke’s heart grew three sizes too big tonight.

Grades
Hardys: A
Enzo & Cass: B
Cesaro & Sheamus A
Gallows & Anderson: B

John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
Phillips, JBL & Jerry “The King” Lawler on commentary

Al Roker is the guest ring announcer and he’s calling himself Chocolate Thunder. OK. YAMAGUCHI-SAN & FUNAKI! I wish the Network would make their commentary an option. Cena’s mom is here, which might mean that I think is a terrible idea will probably happen. Nikki & Maryse start off in a battle of former 411Wrestling Hot 100 #1s! I’m sure that’s what they got heat over. Or maybe it’ll be Cena & Miz starting instead. Either way. Miz gains the advantage early on. I think Cena got tired running down the ramp. Fans are big into Miz tonight, which has the Internet in a tizzy. Miz is reminding me of 2005 Jimmy Rave with his look and his general demeanor tonight. That might be good, I’m not sure how well 2005 Rave has aged. Miz does a lot of offense and eventually Nikki & Maryse tag in to CATFIGHT CATFIGHT! Nikki takes Miz out with a dive, which I’m pretty sure is illegal. Cena & Nikki win LOL, Internet fans cry, it is what it is.

And we get the marriage proposal. Ah, who am I kidding. I awwwwwwwed. Deep down, I’m a little bit of a romantic. Not much, but a little bit.

The match wasn’t much, but nobody was ever going to remember that part anyway.

Grades:
Cena: C
Nikki: C
Miz: B-
Maryse: C

Non-Sanctioned Match
Seth Rollins vs. Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley)
Raw team on commentary

Triple H has a biker gang out here for his Non-Sanctioned Match. I figure he will continue working WrestleMania until he runs out of ridiculous ideas for entrances. Rollins has a torch with him, he puts it on the ground and we get spooky fire lighting! I’m not sure what that symbolizes, but I’m probably not high enough to. I would be all about Rollins beating the crap out of HHH for five minutes, but yeah that doesn’t happen. Michael Cole no longer knows the ring announcer’s name. How big league of him. Rollins has been dominant early, but it ends when he tries to pedigree HHH on the announce table. Silly Rollins. Man, I’m having a tough time focusing on this match after…well, everything that’s happened so far. They should have had Pitbull perform after Cena’s proposal. Rollins hits the Sting Killer! He lands on the bad knee while doing a cross body to the floor. He’s fine though, and now he’s getting a couple of chairs and a table out like he’s a Hardy Boy or something. Come on Cole, you know Rollins isn’t going to win with that frog splash with that table sitting outside and not having been used yet. Triple H going up top for the first time in his life, I think. Stephanie crotches Rollins on the top rope, then HHH locks in the Indian Deathlock. Man, if this was the finish Rollins’ career would be deader than Luke Harper’s. It’s not. Chair! HHH locks in the Indian Deathlock on the floor, HHH then gets distracted by the sledgehammer. Rollins lands on his head after a clothesline. Stephanie suggests twisting Rollins’ knee off, which I’m not sure is possible but who knows. I wish Gorilla Monsoon was still alive so he could walk out & yell “GO HOME!”. HHH hits the Pedigree and gets a 2 count…it’s not like he’s going to beat Rollins with his own finisher! Go beat John Cena with an AA if you think that works. Now he’s going for a Pepsi Plunge, which I hope happens for the sheer hilarity but it doesn’t. HHH kicks out of the Phoenix Splash. Rollins & HHH trade Pedigree attempts, but there’s nothing doing. A superkick from Rollins knocks H into Steph, who goes through the table. The crowd wakes up! Pedigree to HHH, and Rollins wins!

So that was a damn good finish. But that match needed about twenty fewer minutes than it got. I’ll give Rollins credit for going out there and doing the best he could, but Triple H WrestleMania matches are a tough row to hoe.

Rollins: C-
HHH: D

I’m getting more out of this Pitbull performance than I did the last match.

WWE Championship Match
Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Randy Orton
SmackDown team on commentary

Lots of fireflies here in Orlando! There was a snake on the ramp for Orton…I had no idea what it was supposed to be for a minute and was really confused. How come Wyatt isn’t introduced from his burnt down shed? Wyatt does his pose during the match and we get special worm lights in the ring? OK. Orton gets the hell out of the ring. How come the Boogeyman never did that? Some more stuff happens, then the worms appear again. Yeah, I’m lost, and I watch the damn show every week. JBL says the fans are in shock…yeah. That’s one way to describe it. I mean, you put people in a stadium for five hours, put images of worms in the ring and people are gonna get confused. I get that part. Sister Abagail on the steps. RKO on the floor! Back in the ring now and there’s the draping DDT. Sister Abagail…and Orton kicks out! Damn, I haven’t seen a Florida crowd this dead since the last Jaguars season. And more weird images in the ring. I don’t know. RKO from outta nowhere and we got a new champion!

Yeah, I figured Orton was going over. It is what it is. But there was no heat to anything in the match, no real psychology, and the weird images stuff was just weird and had no real purpose that I can figure out other than “Hey, Bray Wyatt is weird and does weird stuff”. Good thing this wasn’t the actual main event, huh?

Grades:
Orton: D+
Wyatt: D
Creative: F

I want to say that the Cena marriage proposal was the main event and nothing else on this show happened, but I don’t think 411 will let me.

WWE Universal Championship Match
Goldberg (c) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman)
Raw team on commentary

If Goldberg’s entrance doesn’t take longer than the match I’ll be shocked. Chad Perry timed Goldberg’s entrance at 2:50 in case you were wondering. SUPLEX! SUPLEX! SUPLEX! TAKEDOWN! SPEAR! Aw crap, they’re leaving the ring…SPEAR THROUGH THE BARRICADE! Aww, I hoped that was the finish but they’re doing more. F-5? No. SPEAR! JACKHAMMER! Lesnar kicked out! Good, I thought we would have a match without somebody kicking out of a finisher for a minute there. Can’t have that. Suplexes by Lesnar. This match is a video game, which makes sense because it’s how it started, I guess. F-5 gets a three count and a new Universal Champion!

OK, so the match had zero psychology. It was all suplexes and finishers like a video game. Barely a damn thing was sold. But it’s exactly what we expect out of these guys in 2017. Unlike the last couple of matches, this delivered what we wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. Good work, fellas.

Grades:
Lesnar: A
Goldberg: A

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) vs. Mickie James vs. Natalya vs. Naomi
SD team on commentary

This is the last title match on the show, so the SmackDown Women’s Championship is the most important title in the company. I’m ok with this. Naomi’s entrance was pretty great too. Is Becky wearing a helmet? My network feed has seen better days so I’m really not sure what’s going on there. Alexa & Carmella talking some serious smack and Alexa literally kicked the girl’s ass. Ellsworth comes in for No Chin Music and gets Becksploded for his trouble. God bless that man for getting in the semi-main event of WrestleMania. Natalya tries a double Sharpshooter but no such luck. Mickie DDT to Becky gets 2. Finisher time! Superkick by Carmella gets 2. Rear View by Naomi! She dives onto all available women on the floor. She puts Alexa in a submission, and Alexa taps! Naomi gets the title win in her hometown of Orlando. Not surprising, but sometimes it’s best not to be all surprising.

Decent enough cool-down match between the two big matches. The SD ladies did their job well. I’ll give them all a B.

Oh hey, the New Day are still here. Who knew? who who who who who who

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
Cole, JBL & Jim Ross on commentary

Nice to see JR back with WWE, no doubt about it. OK, the pyro effects for Reigns’ entrance were nice. This is now a No Holds Barred match because it’s a WrestleMania main event and why not. That’s not what they said but that’s what I assume the reasoning is. Undertaker’s entrance was timed out at 4:12 by Boss Csonka. Just imagine how long it would have been if he walked down the entire ramp. Roman’s going to kill himself getting this over, I think. He’s bumping like a lunatic for Taker early. Taker does land on his feet on the outside just like he always did. They throw some stuff around outside and come back in the ring. Taker with the snake eyes, big boot & legdrop for a two count. Reigns rolls out of the ring, he thies the Drive-By but jumps right into Undertaker’s right hand. Reigns dropkicks Taker and lands on the announce table, which I’m sure felt fine. As did the chokeslam on the announce table. Since it’s German it’s well-made and doesn’t break. Undertaker sets his sights on other tables now, but Reigns spears him through the Spanish announce table! Poor SAT. Back in the ring now…Roman wailing away on Undertaker, and he puts himself in position for the Last Ride. Rookie mistake. Not the best of trips on that one for Roman. Deadman’s got a chair now and he hitting the man with it. Reigns rolls out of the ring to avoid that chokeslam. Undertaker does not avoid the Superman punch. Two of them, and then Reigns gets chokeslammed onto the chair. Kickout at two. Tombstone piledriver gets a two count! I had no doubt in my mind that it wouldn’t get three. Reigns tries to reverse the tombstone and deliver one of his own but it’s just not happening. Superman punch gets two. Spear by Reigns…no cover because Undertaker applies the Hell’s Gate submission. Kind of. Reigns finds the ropes. This is a mixture of not particularly interesting and sad. Reigns hits the Deadman with the chair a few times. Spear…gets a two count. This match is dying a slow and painful death. Spear number three gets a two count. Now it’s getting funny. Superman punch! Undertaker tries to sit up but nah. Fans are trying to get behind Undertaker. They have a brief conversation, Reigns with some big shots and a spear finally gets the three count.

That…was not good. Roman tried, I’ll give him credit for that. And Undertaker tried too, I’m sure. But he had nothing to offer on this evening. Another attempt to put Roman Reigns over an all-timer fell pretty flat due to no real fault of his own. I don’t think anybody would have gotten anything out of Undertaker tonight. Maybe AJ Styles, but beyond that I just don’t see it.

Grade:
Reigns: C
Undertaker: D

I can’t bring myself to give him an F. What can I say? The fans give Undertaker a polite ovation, presumably for the last time after a wrestling match as he leaves most of his gear in the ring.

Final Thoughts

The first half of WrestleMania 33 was pretty great. Up until the mixed tag match, everything either delivered at expectation level or exceeded it. After that…not so much. HHH & Seth Rollins brought things down & Wyatt & Orton kept things there. It rebounded towards the end with Lesnar vs. Goldberg, but the main event was really just there and ended up being a bad idea. We did get the on-screen farewell of Undertaker, which will surely be a WrestleMania Moment for years to come, but we will make sure to forget the match before it. I’m going to rate this show at a C level, as it was a mix of really good and really bad. I will say it was more memorable than the last couple of WrestleManias and overall still exceeded my expectations on paper.

For more of Steve Cook’s thoughts on pro wrestling, along with his thoughts on the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Nashville Predators, Tottenham Hotspur & University of Louisville sports teams, follow him on Twitter!