The Showcase of the immortals: WrestleMania 35 invades MetLife
Rollins, Kofi, and a women’s winner-takes-all main event highlight this year’s show
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
Burn it down! That’s exactly what Seth Rollins did Sunday night at the Showcase of Immortals, WrestleMania 35. In a WrestleMania filled with unexpected turn of events, the show began with an unexpected turn from the beginning.
After Hulk Hogan made a surprise appearance, Paul Heyman raced to the ring, pleading for the match between Brock Lesnar and Rollins for the Universal Championship to begin the show, just so Lesnar can “go back to Las Vegas, where he’s wanted.”
And so, both Lesnar and Rollins battled it out for the belt at the way beginning of the night. Rollins ended up burning Suplex City to the ground after a low blow and three curb stomps and became the new Universal Championship.
What followed was a battle of legacies, where the “Phenomenal” AJ Styles took on “the Viper” Randy Orton in a clash of the titans, where Styles took him down with the Phenomenal forearm.
Roman Reigns, after coming back from a battle with leukemia, took down Drew Macintyre.
Batista fought Triple H with his career on the line in a No Holds Barred match. The battle was brutal, as Triple H tore out Batista’s nose ring at one point. Triple H would end up winning this matchup, after a superman-type sledgehammer hit off the steps, followed by a pedigree to put Batista away.
Things got even crazier when The Miz took on the “Best in the World” Shane McMahon, in a Falls Count Anywhere match. At one point, the Miz’s father got involved before the Miz made a save.
The highlight of the match was when The Miz suplexed Shane off the tech platform, which resulted in a pin and win for Shane O’Mac.
The Universe saw “the Demon King” Finn Balor emerge from the shadows to defeat Bobby Lashley for the Intercontinental title, followed by Samoa Joe crushing Rey Mysterio’s dreams of becoming the US Champion as well.
WrestleMania also was the last match for Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, but many would say that his match was a bust. His opponent was Baron Corbin and the fans wanted to see a surprise like John Cena, but instead Corbin ended Angle’s career.
Speaking of Cena, he returned in a segment with Elias, but for the first time in over a decade, Cena came out as the Doctor of Thuganomics, did his rapping and gave Elias the FU, not the AA.
WrestleMania turned Iconic when the Iconics won the Women’s Tag Team Titles. One of the biggest surprises of the night came when Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder won the Raw tag titles, ending Hawkins 269 match losing streak.
On the kickoff show, Braun Strowman conquered 29 others in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal and Carmella, New York native, won the WrestleMania women’s battle royal.
Tony Nese defeated Buddy Murphy in a high-flying matchup to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.
KofiMania ran wild as Kofi Kingston faced off against Daniel Bryan and after a great match, pinned him to become the WWE Champion.
Then there was the Main Event, where History was mad, as it was the first ever Women’s Main Event. Raw women’s champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey faced both the Queen, Charlotte Flair, who was the Smackdown Women’s Champion and “The Man”, Becky Lynch, in a winner take all triple threat match.
All three women tore it up in the Main Event and despite a controversial finish, fan favorite Becky Lynch came home with the both titles.
WrestleMania 35 was one of the best Mania’s ever, and no doubt gave the WWE fans everything they wanted. Now with WrestleMania 35 out of the way, will it plant the seeds for what’s expected at WrestleMania 36? We’ll wait and see.
Header photo courtesy of the Associated Press.