Wrestlemania XXX Coverage: The Beginning of the Yes Era

Although the Undertaker’s streak is over at the hands of Brock Lesnar and Hulk Hogan couldn’t remember were the show was, Wrestlemania XXX was a success.

It won’t come without its share of controversy however.

With no CM Punk, Sting, Rob Van Dam and silly appearances by The Rock and Stone Cold, this was a straight-ahead show and a case of the WWE telling you this is a new era, one where they will not pay older stars to come back just to make a splash in the ring- that they want to develop what they have instead.

Brock Lesnar, The Shield and Antonio Cesaro, as well as new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan appear to be at the top of that list.

This week’s Monday Night RAW should be an interesting one.

Matches:

Pre-Show: WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro w/Zeb Colter vs. Los Matadores vs. Ryback and Curt Axel: The WWE can talk all it wants about the depth of the Tag Team Division, but the fact that this match was during the pre-show and not on the main card, says volumes. Although all four teams put on a good show, the Usos ultimately got the win with a double Splash from both turnbuckles. After the match, Cesaro and Swagger exchanged finishers. It appears the Real Americans are finished.

Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H w/Stephanie McMahon: This was a crazy one that saw both competitors “bring it.” Bryan and Triple H both kicked out of each other’s finishers, but Bryan got the win with his Running Knee to send the crowd into a frenzy. After the match, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H beat on Bryan’s already injured shoulder.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Aside from Rey Mysterio standing in the corner most of the match, this was a high-octane battle royal with plenty of craziness. Of course Kofi Kingston had his moment and Alberto Del Rio surprised a lot with his stamina. Ironically however, the three mystery entries…who were they? Regardless, the match had its Wrestlemania moment, as Cesaro managed to lift The Big Show out of the ring to win. Big things have to be on the horizon for him.

WWE United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Kane Billy Gun and Road Dogg: A surprisingly short match that saw The Shield Triple Powerbomb the New Age Outlaws at the same time for the win.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt w/Luke Harper and Erik Rowan: Throughout the match, Wyatt tried to goat Cena into a dark world- from using a steel chair and the ring steps on him, but Cena wouldn’t oblige. A back and forth affair, Cena ultimately squeaked out a victory after Cena managed to take care of Rowan and Harper long enough to hit Wyatt with the Attitude Adjustment.

The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman: This was a long match to watch, but was made extra painful by extreme lagging on the WWE Network. The two traded offense forever, with each kicking out of signature offense and finishers. Undertaker was tough, but wasn’t nearly as crisp. His ineffectiveness rubbed off on Lesnar, who appeared to be on a slower gear than normal. After Lesnar countered the Old School, it was an F5, the third of the night, for the win. The streak was over. The crowd was silently shocked. It’ll be interesting what’s done with Lesnar’s character from here.

Divas Gauntlet Match for the Divas Title: A mess of a match that should have been much earlier in the night. Regardless, AJ Lee, the only diva worth a damn right now and the only one being used relatively properly, kept her title. That’s what mattered.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan: This just felt weird. There was very little cohesion among the competitors. Batista and Orton beat on Bryan to the point where a stretcher was called out. The move that brought the medics out, a Powerbomg, Neckbreaker combo through the announce table was sick, but appeared to hurt Orton as well. After Triple H and Stephanie McMahon interfered and even had referee Scott Armstrong try to officiate, Bryan managed to take care of all of them and send Orton out of the ring long enough to slap on the Yes Lock and win the WWE World Heavyweight Title.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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