American Alpha defeated the Revival to win the NXT Tag Team Titles. This was a great and hot opener that definitely had its rough moments but it was still a good tag match. Gable and Jordan are on fire and for me, it was very awesome to see Jason Jordan finally win a title in NXT. The man has worked very hard in the brand and I will never forget when NXT came to Philadelphia back in May and the crowd chanted Jason Jobber to him. What a difference a year makes. It was such an amazing moment for them. Aries and Corbin was a bit slow for my tastes and I'm not sure why they chose Baron as Aries first opponent. Aries was impressive but I'd like to see him against someone who can hang with him.
In the match of the weekend, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn. These two went to war and had a match that the WWE Universe may not be used to but was welcomed with open arms. The standout moment for me was when the fans starting chanting Fight Forever. The match ended at the 20 minute mark but I wanted to see more from these two as I couldn't take my eyes off the in ring magic these two were performing. It was truly a fantastic debut for Nakamura and a fitting swan song for Sami Zayn as he goes to the main roster. Also, Nakamura may have the best entrance theme in NXT history along with one of the most charismatic moves I've ever seen. The guy is truly a star.
In a true shocker, Askua defeated Bayley by knockout to win the NXT Women's Title. Wow. I mean, Bayley losing really wasn't shocking but actually seeing it happen was. Bayley has the never say die attitude and seeing her lose was a bit sad. I know this will all lead to her main roster debut down the line but it was still a low moment for me as a fan. Good match and I'm definitely happy for Asuka as she's been on an absolute tear of the division. It was only right to give her the title.
Finn Balor and Samoa Joe did battle again in the main event. The two butted heads early, causing a nasty gash around the eye of Joe, which led to the match being stopped several times to stop the blood. Regardless of the injury, the match was still fast paced and hard hitting. Joe went for the submission but Balor reversed and rolled Joe up for the 3 count in a weird decision. Weird because Balor has been beating everyone on the roster, weird because many thought he was going to get the call up post Wrestlemania Raw to form the Balor Club with Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. For him to beat Samoa Joe twice makes me very intrigued as to who will beat him for the title. It looks like Balor will beat Neville's record as he's about a week and a half away from holding the title for 288 days. The only guy I see beating him for the strap is Hideo Itami. That was always the guy I thought was going to be the one to end it for him. Itami has been out for almost a year and a lot has changed since he's been there so he's going to have to fight his way through some top competitors to get there. The way Shinsuke Nakamura carries himself just makes me believe he'll be champion much sooner than everyone thinks. The guy oozes charisma and has a strong fan following already. It's only a matter of time before he's NXT champion.
Wrestlemania 32 was a great show. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed it, outside the Ambrose/Lesnar and Hell in a Cell matches. Neither one, for me, really lived up to what I expected. Ambrose/Lesnar was just thrown together and WWE should have definitely went with Wyatt/Lesnar instead. The match was way too short and they didn't use a lot of weapons at all. It was easily the biggest disappointment of the night for me. Shane/Taker was too long for me and is a match that will be remembered for just one spot and that's a problem. Yes, Shane diving off the HIAC was CRAZY and will live in WWE history FOREVER, it didn't save a boring match. Both guys moved very slow and it just never clicked for me. Great spot but just bad execution of the match.
Then, Shane, although he lost, was able to run Raw the next night, which was the worst post Wrestlemania Raw ever. I'll get more into that later. Basically, Shane jumped off the cage for nothing because Vince gave him what he wanted in the end anyway.
Enough of the bad about Wrestlemania. Let's talk the good! How about that Ladder match?!? It was insanely better than last year's and that's saying a lot because that match was awesome too. Zayn stole the show with his dive THROUGH the ladder and taking a massive but familiar ladder bump from his friend.
Zack Ryder won in a serious shocker, giving him his Wrestlemania moment. He's not the guy I would've picked last month but he's the one who won. He would lose the title The Miz on Raw, thanks mainly because of Miz's wife Maryse making a return. That was unexpected. How did they go from Zayn/Owens to Miz/Ryder/ Remember when WWE wanted to add more prestige to the IC Title/ They certainly aren't helping with this quick title changes. Great match though!
AJ Styles and Jericho had their best match together in an absolute wrestling match. The conclusion was set as Styles would get the win in his Wrestlemania debut. I guess no one told WWE that as Jericho shockingly pinned Styles after a 2nd Codebreaker. Styles would get revenge the next night, pinning Y2J in a Fatal Four Way for the #1 Contendership for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. It was strange to see Jericho go over, especially seeing how he put over Fandango 3 years ago. It didn't hurt Styles in the least bit though.
The New Day came out in Dragon Ball Z gear inside a GIANT box of Booty-Os!!! That was freaking awesome! The entrance was great but they lost to The League of Nations. Everyone saw that a mile away as the titles weren't up for grabs. After the match, the Lads started running their mouths, saying no three man group could beat them. Well, here come HBK Shawn Michaels, followed by Mick Foley, FOLLOWED BY STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN. What a moment! The Legends beats up the Lads and proceeded to dance a bit with New Day, that is, until Stone Cold decided he wasn't having any of that and gave Vegeta Xavier a Stunner. Awesome moment!
They announced during the pre show that the Divas Title would be retired and the winner of the Triple Threat between Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch would be crowned the new WWE Women's Champion. A changing of the guard in WWE as the women would no longer be referred to as Divas but as Superstars, putting them as equals with the men wrestlers. Great move especially with the three women they having competing in this match. The build for the match was great, the promo great and the individual entrances were great. The match became the highlight of Wrestlemania for me. They wrestled, they performed under immense pressure, they stole the show. It was the first female main event of Wrestlemania and it delivered on the big stage. Once they introduced the new title, it was obvious Charlotte was going to win. She's Ric Flar's daughter and she came out with a robe on. A ROBE. It even had pieces from the robe Flair wore when he retired at WM24. It was a wrap from there. Becky tapped out to Charlotte, meaning Sasha/Charlotte is coming. On Raw though, it looked like Natalya was the one stepping up to face Charlotte though. No no, not yet Nattie. Banks never got pinned so she's rightfully next in line. Hopefully, Banks and Nattie have some type of #1 Contender's match. Becky looks to be feuding with Emma next which should lead to an amazing set of matches down the line. The future is very bright for the women's division and it all started with this barn burner of a match here.
Baron Corbin won the Andre the Giant Battle Royale and is on the main roster now! Huge fan of Corbin's and I hope he reaches the top on the main roster. He has the look to succeed. They just need to push him as the next monster heel and NOT feed him to John Cena at Wrestlemania 33. That's all. Ziggler will be a good first feud for him as Ziggler can put on a fantastic match with literally everyone.
The Rock and Bray Wyatt had a promo, which led to Rock wrestling and beating Eric Rowan in 6 seconds. Wyatts were mad and surrounded the ring. Who would come to help The Rock/ Why, it's none other than John Cena. Yes, Cena would not miss Wrestlemania as he and Rock beat up the Wyatts. Glad to see Cena, it wouldn't be Wrestlemania without the guy. It also gave the Wyatts something to do and who better to perform with than Rock and Cena. They would attack the League of Nations on Raw. Is this leading to Wyatt's face turn or what? Why isn't there a plan in place for the Wyatts? Seriously, Bray Wyatt is the perfect villain for Roman Reigns. They've already shown they can have a great feud so what's the problem? I guess we'll just have to see where this goes.
Roman did what he was suppose to do last year; win the WWE Title in the main event. You man fans? Too bad as the Roman Empire started again on Sunday. I like Reigns, I think he's a great face of a generation. The fans hate him for whatever reason but get used to the guy as he's sticking around for awhile.
Like I said, great wrestling weekend that was highlighted by Zayn/Nakamura and the Women's Title Triple Threat. The Takeover/Wrestlemania duo was successful and I'm really looking forward to Takeover/SummerSlam in August!
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