WrestleMania 32 Review

It seems to be a recurring pattern for me over the years that I get nervous of how disastrous WrestleMania could end up being. This used to be the most legendary and iconic night of the year for fans everywhere. It was once in a blue moon that we'd get a turd Mania. It wasn't a thing fans were expecting to happen every year. With WrestleMania 32, I was expecting things to fall apart at the seams. The build was part of it, but the real nail in the coffin was the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event. That show was so good that I didn't think Mania stood a chance of following it. With all the speculation, the time finally arrived. My 10th WrestleMania as a fan, I bore witness to a historic event. Held in front of over 100,000 fans, this was a night the history books would remember, but would the matches and moments live up to the record breaking hype? Here's where things get a little tricky. Over the last few days, I've had to re-watch a number of the matches and moments numerous times to properly analyze all of them. Based on my first impressions, I couldn't tell if this was a good show, a bad show, or just an ok show. And the internet can't really say for sure either. There's fans that love it, fans that hate it, and fans that don't really know what to do with it. It kinda reminds me of the reception that Batman v. Superman received. With that in mind, let's see how this record-breaking night stacks up with the other Manias. Here are my thoughts on WrestleMania 32.


United States Championship Match: Kalisto vs. Ryback

Kicking things off on the KickOff Show, Ryback and Kalisto delivered a classic David and Goliath match on the Grandest Stage of 'Em All. The ring work was fine and the story told was by the books, so there's nothing overly offensive in terms of an opener. The ending was what I thought needed to happen in a match like this. Showcase Ryback's dominance, give Kalisto a fighting chance and win by the skin of his teeth to keep his belt. With some rule-breaking shenanigans helping him, Kalisto has toppled Ryback, but I can't imagine them being done with this feud. Ryback has a legitimate claim that he could've won that title had Kalisto not cheated to win, so expect a rematch sometime soon.

Team BAD and Blonde vs. Team Total Divas

There was just so much going on in this match that you couldn't properly balance. The main stories here were the in-ring debut of Lana and Brie Bella's final match. A big story that was teased and went completely nowhere was Total Divas' uncertainty of trusting Eva Marie. This match was an average Diva tag match that gave a few Divas (Paige, Brie, Natalya, Naomi, Emma, and yes even Lana) a Mania moment. A little sloppy here and there, but maybe the pressure of knowing a REAL women's wrestling match was taking place on the main show was enough for the fans to not get overly critical of this one. Plus, the post-match celebration for Brie was nice. They had Nikki come out, which was good to give her because she was unable to compete at Mania after having the biggest year of her career last year. But my question is why they didn't have Daniel Bryan come out too? Yes, it's a Divas match and his entrance would probably pull the crowd out of Brie's moment, but just don't play his theme then. Heck, Brie started to "YES!" when she saw Nikki, so why not have Bryan come out to celebrate with his newly-retired wife? Missed opportunity for the moment, in my opinion.

The Usos vs. The Dudley Boyz

This encounter was a little short for my taste, but the story made sense for it to do so. This tag match was very personal, so the Dudleys and Usos fought with a ferocity in them that would've appropriately resulted in a match that went by quickly. I loved Bubba Ray's trash talking, bringing over an attitude from Bully Ray that he desperately needs to incorporate more often in his work. The post-match moment with the tables was a nice little spot that you'd hope would get the fans fired up, but this crowd is very interesting. Maybe it's who the Usos are related to, but the crowd was very pro-Dudleys in this match, so they probably would've popped louder had the Dudleys put the Usos through the tables.

Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Stardust vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder vs. Sami Zayn vs. The Miz vs. Sin Cara

There's an obvious need to compare this to last year's ladder match, simply for the title and number of competitors involved. For my money's worth, this match blew last year's out of the water in terms of story told and number of spots. The major story was the feud between Owens and Zayn, but there were other small moments that I loved. I loved how many high spots they gave to Sin Cara, knowing many years ago that would've been a joke in and of itself. I loved how they gave Stardust the time to show tribute to Dusty Rhodes, hearing the crowd erupt in approval. I loved how Miz had the appropriate amount of heel heat on him throughout the match. It didn't feel like the "go away" heat he's had for a while, the fans treated him like he was the most hated guy and they wanted him to be that. And of course, the ending with Zack Ryder winning was a surprise no one saw coming. And the story of him celebrating with Scott Hall, after watching him and Shawn Michaels have a ladder match at Mania X, is an awesome cherry on top that any fan would dream about having themselves. Great opener and really set the tone heading into Mania.

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

If seeing AJ Styles debut at the Royal Rumble wasn't surreal enough, seeing him compete at a WrestleMania sure was. Granted, the feud with Jericho has stalled out a little bit due to how often they've wrestled each other in the last few months, and also because they can't really get out of 2nd gear in their matches. This is Jericho vs. Styles, it should have Match of the Year written all over it, but something isn't clicking in their work. Is it Jericho in his older age? Is it getting used to an opponent like AJ, who has thrived on a much smaller stage and environment for so long? Is it just that they can't live up to the hype? I'm not sure, but this match was fine for what it was. I'm not going to complain over Styles losing in his debut Mania because it's FREAKING AJ STYLES!!! Fanboys need to relax. He's going to be fine. Losing to Jericho at a Mania is just him paying his dues early on in the company. Plus, Jericho's win-loss column at Mania is a bit of a mess, so it's nice to see him victorious in a good match at a Mania. Nothing overly special, but still a fine encounter nonetheless.

The New Day vs. The League of Nations

The New Day's entrance is absolutely bonkers, check it out for yourself as there are no words that can accurately describe a trio coming out of a box of cereal dressed as anime characters. The match with The League of Nations was, again, another fine match on the card. Nothing overly special, but still good stuff all around. The League winning was a bit confusing, at first, until we had the moment of Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin coming out to beat them up. Then The New Day tried to dance with the Hall of Famers, resulting in Xavier Woods getting a Stone Cold Stunner. That moment produced so much loudness in my living room, you have no idea. While a pure nostalgia moment, it was the best nostalgia you could use. Shawn is my all-time favorite and Austin is my wife's all-time favorite, and we both hold Foley with high esteem as one of the greatest performers ever. There were no other 3-man entity that would've elicited the pop these legends did. This is a WrestleMania moment sandwich. A great entrance, a solid match, and a fantastic post-match encounter.

No Holds Barred Street Fight: Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar

This match has had a lot of reviewers split and I think it boils down to who you were rooting for. If you were into the story of Lesnar being the most dangerous weapon in the match, you probably thought this was pretty good at best and utilized Lesnar as the destructive force he is. If you were hoping for this to be a career defining moment for Ambrose, you were left utterly crushed. They teased the use of some of the weapons he was going to use, like a chainsaw or barbed wire baseball bat, but everything else was just him getting tossed around. 13 suplexes and an F-5 on a set of steel chairs was a lot to put him down, but you don't market a No Holds Barred Street Fight as a match where you refuse to say die. That's more of an "I Quit" Match. I didn't expect blood, but certainly more offense from Ambrose would've been great. Also, he needed to win. What does Lesnar gain from winning here? Nothing. He'll probably sit out of action til SummerSlam. What would Ambrose have gained from a victory? Validation as a main eventer. Getting closer to becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I'm sure he'll get there, but this win would have gotten him there a heck of a lot quicker.

WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016

I thought the Hall of Fame Class was pretty good this year. Some memorable gimmicks in The Godfather and Big Boss Man, a fairly entertaining celebrity inductee in Snoop Dogg, Texas legends in Stan Hansen and Jacqueline, an all-time great stable in the Fabulous Freebirds, and one of the all-time great icons in Sting. If there was one thing that has become really grating over the last 2 years of the Hall of Fame, it's the Warrior Award. No offense to Joan Lunden, but this type of award is not what Warrior had in mind when he pitched it. For WWE to take his idea and spin it to make themselves look like great humanitarians by honoring charitable organizations and use Warrior's name and drag his family into it makes me kind of sick. Just rename it or something, get Warrior's name off it. And in addition to this year's official class, the ceremony inducted a bunch of older legends like Frank Gotch and Lou Thesz as honorary inductees. I liked that a lot and hope they continue that in the coming years.

Women's Championship Match: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch

You read that right. The WOMEN'S Championship. In the KickOff Show, Lita unveiled a new belt and said the woman who won this triple threat would earn this title. They just upped the ante for this match to live up to greatness. Could it do that? In many ways, it delivered a great triple threat that played to the strengths of all three superstars. The downside was definitely the ending. Had they given Sasha or Becky a chance to leave their legacy at Mania with a title win, it would've been great, but that apparently wasn't the story WWE wanted to tell on this night. On this night, it was important to give the women attention, but also label Charlotte as the undisputed head of the division. I'm just at the point where I'm done caring about Charlotte while she has Ric Flair in her corner. Just get rid of him, let her tell her own stories. Let her do her own cheating to be the top women's heel. Anyways, all three women were made stars in this match and I really look forward to what's next for the women's division.

Hell in a Cell Match: The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon

Part of me really didn't care about the action in this match because of the confusing story that was being told between Taker, Shane, and Mr. McMahon. Watching Shane train MMA style to get into Hell in a Cell was also a headscratcher, and I also felt history is boasting Shane's legacy up a little bit. The man was a spot-monkey performer that worked maybe a few times every couple of years. Is he really THAT iconic to be one of Taker's last Mania opponents? Apparently so, but the match didn't pick up until they escaped the cell. The visual of Shane jumping off the cell MADE this match a classic. Before that jump, this was just ok. After the jump....again, loudness emanating from my living room. That moment stole the rest of the show from any of the performers, which meant the next hour and a half of Mania was going to have that tough spot of following the act of the night.

3rd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

This is fine in terms of Battle Royals, but it probably deserved to be on the KickOff show, instead of the match between the main events. Biggest moments for me was definitely seeing Baron Corbin debut and win the trophy, as well as giving Diamond Dallas Page a good reaction when I heard his music and once he started to hit the Diamond Cutter. I was very confused with the appearance from Shaq simply cause it wasn't 2009 anymore. By that I mean, we've all moved on from when we first saw Shaq and Big Show stare each other down, so this wasn't anything new or huge to me as a fan. If you're a casual viewer or a basketball fan, you might have enjoyed it, but I was left going "Why Shaq?" Still, great way to debut Baron Corbin on the main roster and hopefully this trophy win does more for him than it did with Cesaro.

The Rock and John Cena Fight The Wyatt Family

This was a strange moment. For starters, with how late it was on in the show, it signaled that we were going into overtime with Mania. After a performance from the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, The Rock comes out with a flamethrower, sets his name on fire, and announces the record-breaking attendance. Then The Wyatt Family comes out, he insults them, beats Erick Rowan in a 6-second match, and gets help from a returning John Cena to bury Bray Wyatt for the 3rd year in a row. The Wyatts can't catch a break. Just once, I wish the WWE would have the foresight to give these guys a victory at Mania. Just because they work with guys like Cena, Rock, and Undertaker doesn't mean they are made men. It's what they are able to do with those legends that achieves the passing the torch moment. Getting beat over and over again does absolutely nothing for the Wyatt Family's momentum except make them look like jokes. Plus, THIS was the moment Rock was building up for months? What an odd moment to hype for weeks on end, especially considering this moment was warming us up for the inevitable disappointment that was the main event.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Triple H vs. Roman Reigns

The main event was dead on arrival for nearly all the fans watching. We all knew what was coming, so there was no point in stretching it out for nearly a half hour of "action." I put quotes on that because there wasn't a whole lot of memorable moments or spots to make this an epic main event. Apart from Roman Reigns spearing Triple H through the barricade and Stephanie McMahon on accident, not much else happened. All of this show's momentum sucked out by the fans inability to get behind this match. Roman Reigns is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Good for him. Bad for us. We just don't care about this guy being THE guy the way he's being written or booked. Shakeup his gimmick a little. Less talking, more action, and most importantly, turn him HEEL. Maybe WWE will get that through their heads by Mania 33, and maybe they won't. If 100,000 fans booing their chosen one doesn't help get things changed, what will?


Final Thoughts: With the record-breaking attendance, this should be an amazing show. It's just not THAT amazing. It's a GOOD Mania, but we've had 2 previous years of having GREAT Manias. This is a slight step backwards in quality on a normal stage, but this show had over 100,000 fans in attendance and was nearly 7 hours of action. That's just exhausting to get through for any fan. There's much to enjoy, but also a couple of let downs, and a main event that absolutely derails the momentum. It's a night about moments, as opposed to actual match quality, and that's probably what they were prepared to do once NXT TakeOver Dallas provided the best WRESTLING quality for WrestleMania Weekend. WrestleMania 32 is definitely Recommended for history's sake, but be ready for the long haul.


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