Seth got came out all frosty with White Walker-blue contacts. Miz was all business, with his Luna Lovegood glasses and Naruto-ish headband, telling the Miztourage to go in the back.
While most of us thought the AJ/Nakamura or the Daniel Bryan match would open the show, this was still a sturdy quality opening bout.
Winner: Naomi Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Nice showing by the six NXT ladies too - that'd be Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Peyton Royce, Bianca Belair, Kavita Devi and Taynara Conti! It's becoming more clear that no one's really going to be the face or heel in this Sasha/Bayley angle and here their focus on one another allowed for someone else to soar overtop and become the first WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal (who wasn't Santino in awful drag).
It still wasn't a full bad gal turn though. Right before that though, this one came down to those two aforementioned "Horsewomen" and it was Bayley who finally found her mean streak and threw Sasha out during what seemed to be a handshake/hug. A nice warm win for Naomi, who took advantage of a false elimination to swoop in right at the end and toss out Bayley. Well, that was a surprise ending and an easy way to not have to choose between Sasha and Bayley. Winner, and new WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Cedric Alexander The first-ever WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal Match Mustafa Ali hit his finisher but Alexander got his foot on the rope, allowing him to eventually recover and nail the Lumbar Check. I won't say this was the best match they could have delivered, but it was still a solid outing and one befitting a pre-show crowd (with not that many empty seats to be honest). Watching them do their thing out there and you just felt really great that these two got to shine in a spotlight this big. To be fair, the Cruiserweight style isn't built for venues and crowds this big, but these two - the heart and soul, respectively, of 205 Live - did a fine job. Mustafa Ali (WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament Finals) Winner: Broken/Woken Matt Hardy Cedric Alexander vs. And then he has to sweep up Roman confetti afterwards. I assume he'll be there all through the Kickoff Show, but how long do they have him sit there before his Undertaker deal? I hope it's all seven hours. It should also be mentioned that John Cena is, in fact, in the crowd. Other spots were fun too: The Revival trying to win the bout as a team, Ziggler's constant close calls, Goldust (with Dusty Dots!) tricking, and then eliminating, R-Truth, Mojo launching himself into Ryder mid-Broski Boot - again, this was exactly what it was supposed to be. Bray Wyatt came out in the final moments when Matt Hardy was facing down former winners Mojo Rawley and Baron Corbin and then after helping Matt win the trophy they hugged it out and are now the bestest of best friends! YAAAAAAAAY!īray didn't change up his gimmick (some were expecting a rebirth as a different sort of character) but he did basically turn babyface and unite with Matt, creating some crazy poses and awesome potential. Make sure to check out my WrestleMania 34 predictions piece here, as well as my recent chats with AJ Styles, The New Day, Nia Jax, and Baron Corbin.Īnd here we go! Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal I'll be live-bloggin' all the action here (so bookmark, por favor) as well as live-tweeting over at (so follow, pretty please), keeping everyone up to date on all the hot happenings - for the next seven hours (sweet fancy moses).