The Usos Reign Supreme
The odds became even more stacked against WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) when the Fatal Four-Way Match for their championships also became an Elimination Match. Throughout this Pre-Show match, there was a lot of high flying. There was even a point in the match where Los Matadores’ (Diego & Fernando) mascot El Torito flew off the top rope onto every single competitor in the match outside the ring; I thought that was very awesome. Los Matadores were the first team eliminated followed by Rybaxel (Ryback & Curtis Axel). It came down to The Real Americans (Jack Swagger & Cesaro) and The Usos. In the end, The Usos finished off The Real Americans by giving Cesaro an incredible double splash off the top rope to retain their championship. I’m glad that The Usos retained because I was rooting for them. After the match, Swagger blamed Cesaro for their loss; despite their manager Zeb Colter trying to maintain peace between the two, Swagger and Cesaro ended up hitting one another with their respective signature maneuvers. This definitely proved that The Real Americans were on the verge of an implosion.
3 Icons in One Ring for the First Time Ever
WrestleMania 30 Host Hulk Hogan kicked off the show and talked about the past 30 years of WrestleMania. Then, out came fellow WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin; both men credited one another for their very successful careers that they built. Afterwards, just when people thought it could not get any better, out comes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The Rock points out how Hulk Hogan’s “Train, Say Your Prayers and Eat Your Vitamins” slogan paved the way for John Cena’s “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect” slogan; as well as how Stone Cold’s rebellion against WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon paved the way for Daniel Bryan’s rebellion against The Authority. I think that The Rock was right on the money with all that. The three icons then shared a beer toast before leaving the ring. I think that everybody was hoping to see these three icons at this year’s WrestleMania and low and behold, they got just that.
Daniel Bryan Conquers The King of Kings
This match was not only personal, but it would also determine who would move on to the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship later in the night. After months of getting screwed over, Bryan finally got to face Triple H one-on-one. In the end, Bryan pulled off the ultimate upset when he hit Triple H with a Running Knee and pinned him 1-2-3. Unfortunately, after the match was over, Triple H’s wife Stephanie McMahon provided a distraction so that her husband could jump Bryan from behind to give him a brutal post-match attack, leaving Bryan’s chances later on in the night in serious jeopardy. On this night, Triple H was forced to eat his words and it was definitely obvious that he had a very hard time swallowing them.
2-0 for The Shield
Last year at WrestleMania, all three members of The Shield (current United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) had their very first WrestleMania match when they took on a trio of former World Champions in Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show. The Shield ended up conquering the trio to win their first-ever WrestleMania match. While The Shield may have gone into WrestleMania last year as despised villains, this year they went in as heroes. The former advocates of The Authority took on current Authority advocates WWE Director of Operations Kane & The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn). The Shield finished off their opponents after delivering an amazing double Triple Power Bomb to The Outlaws, making easy work of the Attitude Era veterans. All three members of The Shield are now 2-0 at WrestleMania. I would also like to point out that Billy Gunn was injured during the match when he started to develop hemoptysis (coughing up blood) afterwards.
Cesaro Wins the First-Ever Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
This was a Battle Royal dedicated to the memory of the late, great WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant; the winner of this Battle Royal would receive the Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy. This match was originally supposed to feature 30 Superstars, but there ended up being 31 instead. Cesaro, Yoshi Tatsu and Tyson Kidd filled the final three open spots and apparently, for some reason, Christian was cut from the match and either David Otunga or Xavier Woods took his spot because both men were also in the Battle Royal, thus making it 31 instead of 30. I think that Jason Albert should have filled one of those three remaining spots since his match got cut at last year’s WrestleMania and because Cesaro had already competed earlier in the night. One amazing highlight of the match was when Kofi Kingston was tossed over the top rope and he managed to keep his tippy toes on the steel steps so that neither one of his feet hit the floor and not be eliminated. Kofi seems to always find ways to not get eliminated from matches like these, how does he do it? Unfortunately, he was eliminated later on. In the end, it came down to Big Show and Cesaro. In one of the most incredible feats of strength ever witnessed, Cesaro lifted the 400-plus pound giant and threw him over the top rope to eliminate him and win the Battle Royal. I was hoping Sin Cara would win it, but I have to give the devil his due, Cesaro earned that trophy. Afterwards, Big Show was man enough to shake the better man’s hand.
