WWE WrestleMania 32 Review

With an injury-riddled roster, the WWE did their best to make the most out of the biggest show of the year. Shane McMahon steps inside Hell in a Cell with The Undertaker while Triple H defends the richest championship in the world against Roman Reigns in the main event!

Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Ladder - Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz vs. Sami Zayn vs. Stardust vs. Sin Cara vs. Zack Ryder
Since there is a separate show for Money in the Bank matches, the WWE now decided to do a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship for a second year in a row as the curtain jerker. Crazy to see Kevin Owens walking in as the champion and even crazier (and cooler) to see him and Sami Zayn duke it out in front of everyone at the start of the match. As usual, tons of cool and crazy spots and everybody was able to get in their signature stuff, that includes Stardust bringing out the polka dotted ladder in memory of his father. The Miz, who had the most heat out of anyone, looked to secure the belt and the win until Zack Ryder shoved him off the ladder and retrieved the title to score the surprise win. Great win and moment for Ryder, certainly a fantastic way to kick off the show with such a hot crowd cheering on the underdog.
Winner: Zack Ryder
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
After their tag team in Y2AJ lasted as quick as a hiccup, the feud between the two led to them having a big match on the biggest stage. This can certainly be hyped up as a dream match and one that many had penned in to steal the show as Chris Jericho has become so accustomed to doing in years past. For what it is worth, I think it should certainly be noted that the crowd was still coming down from the hot opener and putting this match on second was a disservice to both guys in their efforts in stealing the show. The match was fun and nicely paced but lacked that energy we were all hoping for. Even still, the nearfalls were fun and it was definitely a treat to watch two ring generals go to work. AJ Styles looked to seal his first big win in the WWE by hitting a Phenomenal Forearm before Jericho shoved the referee out of his way as a distraction and hit a Codebreaker onto Styles and secured the surprise victory. I really wish this match had gone on later in the night because I am more than certain that it would have added some extra magic to this. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the match and it was phenomenal to see Styles on the biggest platform the business has to offer.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: ***3/4

Match 3: The New Day vs. League of Nations
With Wade Barrett being out of action due to an injury, the other three members of League of Nations take on The New Day. Of course, The New Day came out to a super extravagant entrance with their huge cereal box. Always felt like League of Nations had some serious potential but were later booked to be chumps. Great match here with lots of action in a fairly small amount of time. Byron Scott made a great analogy to this match in comparing this to the Golden State Warriors being fed up of the Harlem Globetrotters. A Bull Hammer from the outside by Barrett followed up by a Brogue Kick from Sheamus secured the win for League of Nations. Afterwards, Barrett gets on the microphone and claims that there are no three other men that can beat them. Of course, this led to the arrival of Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin as they tear apart League of Nations to the delight of the crowd. I was there live for this and can safely say that this was the pop of the night. Finally, The New Day come back in the ring and want to dance with the legends as Xavier Woods eats a Stunner for his troubles. While he certainly does not help the credibility for the two teams, it still made for a cool WrestleMania moment. Stop taking things so seriously.
Winners: League of Nations
Rating: **1/2

Match 4: No Holds Barred Street Fight - Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose
This was another match that I felt had the chance to steal the show for the night. Coming off a big main event from last year's show and ending The Undertaker's streak the previous year, this almost comes off as a step down for Lesnar here. He was still steamrolling through the competition and I felt like he needed to be in a bigger spot. Alas, we go back to the thin roster and Dean Ambrose needing an opponent so here we are. Great buildup to the match with Mick Foley doing his part to lend a helping hand for Ambrose by giving him his trusty bat wrapped in barbed wire. Ambrose put up a hell of a fight here against The Beast and brought out all the stops and even tried using a chainsaw... which I thought was pretty silly. However, Lesnar proved to be too much and a huge German suplex onto a set of steel chairs followed by an F5 sealed another big win for Lesnar.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: WWE Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
Of course, this match marked the beginning of a new championship in the Women's Championship as the Divas Championship that sported the butterfly was finally put to rest. Lita presented the sweet looking belt prior to the show. The three women make some spectacular entrances including Sasha Banks coming out with Snoop Dogg before Charlotte Flair wore a sweet robe that was made up of pieces of the same robe her father in Ric Flair wore at WrestleMania 24 for his retirement match. This was probably the best women's match I have ever seen at a WrestleMania. Three really talented performers who all got an ample amount of time to do their thing with the legendary Ric Flair ringside to add an extra inch. Some really cool spots throughout the entire match with the highlight being Charlotte hitting a sweet moonsault out of the ring off the top rope onto her other two opponents. Charlotte had Becky Lynch locked in a Figure Eight and as Sasha was ready to break it up, Ric Flair stops her as Lynch taps! Charlotte secures the biggest win of her career as the pyro goes off in and out of the stadium. Awesome moment for the three to have the biggest match in women's history on the biggest stage.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: Hell in a Cell - Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker
This was probably one of the strangest buildups for a match in a long time. It basically is a match that really made no sense... but nobody would dare to complain. Seeing Shane McMahon return to the WWE in 2016 was one of my favorite moments of the year and I was even more thrilled when his father pitted him in a match against The Undertaker. If Shane wants any control of the company, he must defeat The Undertaker. If The Undertaker wants his career to continue, he must defeat Shane McMahon. Got it? Got it. Shane makes a sweet entrance with his kids running down the ramp with him before The Deadman makes his classic entrance as the audience glows with their cell phones held high. Shane used his MMA style of offense against The Undertaker who countered with his usual advantage of strength and style. Really good pacing throughout the match that certainly hid some of The Undertaker's limitations in the ring. Things certainly picked up when they took the fight outside after breaking through one of the panels of the cell. Of course, Shane would climb the cell and leap off as The Undertaker moved out of the way which allowed Shane to crash through the announcers table. Credit to Michael Cole for the sweet call, "For the love of Mankind!" Undertaker took Shane back in the ring and planted him with a Tombstone to seal the win and the 23rd victory in his storied WrestleMania career. Incredible moment and the marquee moment for the show with Shane diving off the top of the cell. Just a night later, Vince McMahon would eventually instill power into Shane McMahon as he would go on to become the general manager of Monday Night Raw. Regardless, that was a fun match and great to see two legends clash on this stage.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ****

Match 7: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The main story for this one was finally seeing Shaquille O'Neal finally face off once more against The Big Show. Why did they not just put them in a separate match? Anyway, everyone is able to get their spot on the card and even guys like DDP and Tatanka make their appearances felt. Also, it was nice to see The Social Outcasts get their little shtick in. Baron Corbin makes his presence felt and spot established by tossing Kane out last to win the match in his first match on the main roster. Great way to debut Corbin and get him over along with the match being the stone between the two big matches of the night.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Rating: **

Match 8: The Rock vs. Erick Rowan
Finally, The Rock makes his big appearance as he lights a sign with his name on it ablaze before walking down to the ring like a boss to announce the record attendance. All is swell until boom, lights go out and out comes The Wyatt Family in the midst of fireflies as the stadium lit up with cell phones from the fans. I got to say, this was certainly a sight to see in person. The Rock then challenges one of them to a match and Rowan looks to be the chosen one. However, the bell rings and Rock delivers a Rock Bottom to win the match in what should be the fastest match in WrestleMania history. The Wyatt Family then surround the ring before John Cena comes out as the two lay everyone out! Sucks that The Wyatt Family were made to be chumps but it was still a sweet moment to have on the show and one that fired up the crowd before heading into the main event.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: n/a

Match 9: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Triple H's WrestleMania matches tend to be really hit or miss, his match here against Roman Reigns is reminiscent of his match at WrestleMania 21 where he put over the white hot Batista. However, the match itself reminded me more of his match against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25. The crowd was just really burned out from a really long show and the match just was not as exciting as it had promised to be. First, I think I should be faulted if I failed to mention Stephanie McMahon's incredible introduction to Triple H's entrance. It really set the tone for the match and really put The Game over as a heel nicely. Definitely one of my favorite entrances. As far as the match, it felt like we were on a very predictable ride with some cool spots here and there. The Spear through the ringside barricade and another one to Stephanie were fun to witness. The tides looked to change once Triple H brought out the sledgehammer with the help of his wife but Reigns was still able to hit a Spear for the win. While the crowd may not have been so hot for Reigns, there is no denying that the execution in him main event the show as the face of the company was the right call. They had already got into deep in building him up as the face of the company and while many dislike it, many more were for it. If there was any doubt, this is who the WWE is rolling with for years to come.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ***

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Experiencing this event in person will certainly go down as one of my favorite moments in my lifetime, the atmosphere was electric. With that being said, the matches themselves did not live up to their expectations aside from the Hell in a Cell match. I loved The Rock's involvement, I loved Stone Cold Steve Austin's appearance alongside Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley, and I definitely got a kick out of seeing Zack Ryder get a big moment. But those were not enough to outweigh the disappointing matches that was left in my mouth from the rest of the card with the main event being the main one. That is not to say that I did not enjoy them, but there was just so much more expected from them. Not my favorite WrestleMania of all time but it will not go down as one of the worst.
Rating: 6.75/10