Wrestlemania 34 and NXT Takeover: New Orleans Predictions REVIEW!
Wrestlemania has come and gone! The tree has been taken down, the wrapping paper thrown away, the candy all but entirely eaten. I really enjoyed the last four days of wrestling and even though I didn’t get all of my predictions right and I wasn’t happy with all of the endings, I had a good time watching all of WWE’s shows. Let’s take a look at how wrong my predictions were!
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
I predicted most of NXT TakeOver correctly, only getting the NXT North American Championship wrong. I didn’t expect WWE to go all in on Undisputed Era! I was also caught off guard by Rodrick Strong joining the group. Even though the rest of the show was fairly predictable, the outcomes all felt right, with Shayna now leading the NXT Women’s division (though I don’t know who could believably face her), Aleister Black being the men’s World Champion, and Johnny putting a rightful end to his feud with Ciampa. I’ve never given ratings to matches (at least not that I can remember) but if I did, this main event would get five stars, 10 out of 10 and top marks all around! I think Ricochet was the star of the night though, and I was glad he was given so much time to shine in the ladder match.
Wrestlemania 34- The Preshow!
I predicted that Big Cass and Bayley would win the battle royals and Mustafa Ali would win the Cruiserweight title and I was wrong, wrong, wrong! (though kind of right about the women’s battle royal coming down to Bayley and Sasha)
Normally I hate it when a wrestler hides outside of the ring during a battle royal because it’s so played out, but I didn’t mind when it’s Naomi and the battle royal isn’t for anything. I was a little disappointed to see Bray back so early too, especially when he’s the same guy except a face. I guess the Lake of Rejuvenation is now just a Lake of Being Nice.
The cruiserweight match was good, but didn’t blow me away like I was hoping it would. I know Cedric called Mustafa the “heart” of 205 Live once before, but when they were yelling at each other about being the heart and soul during the match it seemed like a bit much. It’s not like their careers were on the line or they can’t fight for the title again.
The Midcard and Tag Team Championships!
I correctly predicted the winners of the Intercontinental Championship, the Raw and Smackdown Tag Team Championships, and was wrong about the US Championship!
While I love the people involved in the tag team matches (except Nicholas, that kid can go jump in a lake), the Smackdown one was pretty forgettable despite having two of the best current WWE tag teams in it (sorry, Bludgeon Bros.) and the Raw one will be in the record books for years to come as a comedy bit before the main event. I know I should be upset about a kid winning the titles, but I never expected Braun’s partner to be anything other than a joke.
When I saw Jinder win the US Championship (and Randy win the number one contendership on Smackdown) I immediately lost interest in the whole title. If there was an eject button on a feud, I would be frantically pushing it.
The World Championships
I didn’t get any of these right! I was wrong about all the top women’s and men’s belts! I’m really glad though, especially since there are so many questions coming off of the show, like who will be the one to beat Brock, how will Shinsuke work as a heel, and everything going on with Charlotte on Smackdown Live. While I was enthusiastic about Carmella cashing in at Wrestlemania when I was writing my predictions, I really loved Charlotte winning that great singles match by herself and then getting ganged up on to lose the title two days later on Smackdown. I think that was just perfect for Charlotte and Carmella, a great way to introduce the Iconic Duo, and a respectable way for Asuka’s streak to end.
All the Rest
While I was wrong about Kevin and Sami winning, I predicted Undertaker vs. Cena and the mixed tag correctly!
Kevin and Sami’s storyline is another thing I’m genuinely curious to see the outcome of. As for the match itself, I loved seeing Bryan back in the ring, but it always pains me to see Shane, who will always be a corporate non-wrestler in my mind, beating the crap out of his opponents. That he was doing it to two men while suffering from a diverticulated hernia made it even worse. And while I didn’t mind Cena vs. Undertaker being short when I was in the middle of a seven hour long show, thinking back on how much time was spent on Cena’s storyline certainly made it seem like a waste. It didn’t even make Undertaker look good, it just showed he was limited to doing his signature moves in a three minute match.
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon blew away all my expectations though. I was prepared to laugh and mock Stephanie’s attempt to get Ronda through a match, but I have to say that the whole thing was pretty fantastic (maybe a little slow in the beginning). Yes, I was one of the many prepared to hate Ronda for her past stances on many, many things, and also not knowing if she will truly be full time or just have Brock’s schedule, but I have to admit she did a great job on Sunday.
So all in all that was a great Wrestlemania weekend with a lot of surprises and a great follow up on Raw and Smackdown Live (I was incredibly happy to see Paige show up as the Smackdown GM too). I predicted four out of five TakeOver matches correctly and five out of fourteen Wrestlemania matches right. Wow, that’s terrible! But shows being unpredictable is a good thing in my book, so all in all I have to say I’m happy with the weekend and looking forward to what’s next!
