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The Official Wrestling Thread (now with more news and stuff)

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Arcademan:
9 — WWE World Hvt. champion TRIPLE H (w/Stephanie McMahon) vs. ROMAN REIGNS — WWE World Hvt. Title match

Apparently this is not a No DQ match, per the local advertising.

Hunter emphatically tossed Reigns over the top rope to the floor early on, popping the crowd. Hunter held open the ropes for Reigns to re-enter the ring. “Roman Sucks” chant from the crowd. Reigns returned to the ring with a smirk and locked up with Hunter, who took control of the match. Reigns came back with a flying clothesline that left a lot of light. He tried to charge Hunter in the corner, but Hunter dumped him to the floor. Reigns responded with a two-foot dropkick to Hunter’s face.

Hunter then used Steph as a distraction to smash Reigns low. Hunter took over the match, setting a slow pace working over Reigns. Hunter then dragged Reigns to the outside and rammed his face/nose into the announce table, trying to re-injure him. Reigns fought back to boos. But, Hunter sent Reigns flying over the German announce table, wiping out one of the announcers.

Back in the ring, Hunter hung Reigns across the top rope and looked for an attack from the second rope, but Reigns intercepted with an uppercut for a nearfall. Reigns slowly walked around the ring to boos, then cocked his fist and went for a Superman Punch, but Hunter rolled out of the way to the floor. Reigns followed to the floor with a running clothesline off the ring steps.

But, Hunter reversed momentum and tossed Reigns over the German announce table again. Reigns sold taking a nap as Hunter kind of walked around the ringside area with Stephanie trying to talk him up. Suddenly, Reigns woke up from his nap and charged Hunter to spear him through a gimmicked barricade. Both men sold in the floor seating area.

They eventually made it back into the ring as the crowd became restless. Reigns sold having an injury of sorts. Stephanie taunted him about continuing the match. A “Nakamura” chant broke out as Reigns continued to sell. Hunter eventually just put Reigns in an armbar submission trying to create some excitement. Reigns faded, then sold agony locked in the submission. Reigns started to reverse to boos. They went with this submission teaser for a while, then Reigns powered Hunter into the air for a powerbomb. Two count at 20:00.

Hunter reapplied the submission, and Reigns finally broke free, then launched Hunter over the top rope. Reigns returned to the ring and speared Hunter. But, when Reigns covered Hunter, Stephanie pulled the ref out of the ring. Steph then just casually walked into the ring and yelled at the referee. Steph just kind of hung out in the ring as the crowd made up their own chants. Reigns then charged Hunter and speared Stephanie when Hunter moved. Steph sold being KO’ed in the corner. Hunter then dropped Reigns with a Pedigree, but Reigns kicked out.

The match resumed with the fans singing Bayley’s song. Reigns then hit Hunter with a Superman Punch. The crowd booed. Reigns stalked Hunter for the big spear, but Hunter intercepted with a running knee to the face. Hunter covered Reigns for a two count. The match must continue.

Hunter rolled toward the ring apron, where a now-slightly KO’ed Stephanie managed to slip a sledgehammer to Hunter. The ref reprimanded him, but Reigns hit Hunter with the Superman Punch. Another one in the corner. The crowd booed as Reigns bounced the ropes, avoided a sledgehammer shot, and hit a spear. Reigns covered Hunter for the win.

WINNER: Reigns at 27:11 to capture the WWE Title. That was unbelievably long, flashing back to the previous Mania main event in Texas when Hunter and Randy Orton bored the crowd out of Reliant Stadium. The egos of the McMahon Family were on full display tonight and this was the cherry on top thinking anyone wanted to sit through this long of a main event with a limited mid-card babyface challenger in the key challenger role. Reigns in this role was an embarrassment. He’s so limited and it’s so obvious that it’s about getting over a pet project that would be laughed out of this spot in any other era other than the Three-Hour Raw Mid-Carder Era. (*1/2)

Post-match: WWE tried to find fans in the crowd happy for the result. Lots of thumbs down on the camera shot. Reigns received the title belt and caught his breath. Hunter and Steph disappeared, then Reigns got a big pyro celebration with his music playing over the boos. WWE cut to an exterior shot of AT&T Stadium’s pyro display over the parking lot. Back in the stadium, Reigns posed in the ring with the title belt. Cole plugged Reigns and Charlotte on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday morning. Cole signed off with a final shot of Reigns posing in the ring and Hunter selling in the corner of the ring. The PPV mercifully ended at 10:48 p.m. local time, a six hour and 48 minute event.

Arcademan:
Results courtesy of ProWrestling.net (direct link to Powell's real-time coverage of the WM Kickoff Show)

1. Neville vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Phillips noted that Neville hasn't lost a singles match since October. The ring was made up in typical cruiserweight style. Aries sent Neville to ringside. Aries charged for a move, but Neville caught him with a kick that drew gasps from the crowd. Neville followed up with a missile dropkick for a two count before they went to a commercial.

Powell's POV: I really wish they would come up with a way to remove the commercials from the network feed. Paid subscribers should be able to see the full match, especially a WrestleMania match, without any commercial interruptions. On a positive note, the building looks packed. I'm sure there are still open seats, but it's not the half empty stadium that last year's Kickoff Show matches played to.

Neville was still in control coming out of the break. Aries came back and performed his spinning elbow drop. A short time later, Aries performed a suicide dive. He threw Neville back inside the ring and covered him for a two count. Aries performed a missile dropkick off the top rope and got another two count.

Neville came back with a wicked German suplex that dropped Aries right on his head. It looked even uglier on the replay. Aries recovered. Neville went for another German, but Aries flipped over and went for a discus five-arm, but Neville kicked him and performed a German suplex into a bridge for a two count.

Aries connected with the discus five-arm that knocked Neville to ringside. Graves said he didn't know if it was awareness or luck that saved Neville. Aries went to ringside and rolled Neville back onto the apron. Neville caught Aries with a kick. Neville went up top. Aries cut him off and performed a huracanrana off the top rope. Aries hit a running forearm in the corner and followed up with a 450 splash for a great near fall. Aries applied the Last Chancery. Neville gouged the bad eye of Aries. Neville went up top and hit the Red Arrow for the win

Neville defeated Austin Aries in 15:40 to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Powell's POV: That was one hell of an opening match. I bit on the 450 splash and the Last Chancery. I really like the decision to go with Neville. He's been phenomenal as the heel champion, and I'd like to see Aries eventually win the championship after a long chase. Here's hoping Aries is okay after that German suplex. He seemed find and simply sold his bad eye afterward. That was one ugly bump. On a side note, it's so cool to see Aries go from working local indies to working his first WrestleMania match. Support independent wrestling. You never know when you're going to see a guy who will go from your local armory to WrestleMania.

Arcademan:
2. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.  Strowman immediately eliminated one of the Shining Stars. Kalisto and Simon Gotch were gone seconds later. The rapid fire eliminations continued. Strowman and Show squared off. Sami Zayn attacked Strowman. The wrestlers all fought on opposite sides. Strowman broke through his side and dumped Big Show over the top rope to eliminate him. A group of wrestlers eliminated Strowman. It's anybody's game, one of the broadcast team members said.

Cole spoke about Killian Dain and noted that he's from the Sanity promotion. Luke Harper stood out as an unadvertised participant. R-Truth was eliminated. Ziggler eliminated Rhyno. Aiden English was eliminated. Cole noted that a number of people were eliminated during the commercial break, so it looks like they stuck with the match on the network feed, but USA Network viewers didn't see the eliminations.

American Alpha eliminated a couple of guys, but they were both eliminated a short time later. Tian Bing eliminated Tyler Breeze and Fandango. The broadcast team put him over. He was eliminated moments later by a Dolph Ziggler superkick. Mojo Rawley eliminated Bo Dallas. Apollo Crews and Ziggler were eliminated. Titus O'Neil eliminated Luke Harper with a kick.

The final five was Zayn, O'Neil, Jinder Mahal, Dain, and Mojo. Zayn eliminated Titus. Dain eliminated Zayn to boos. Rawley and Mojo traded blows. Mojo performed a running shoulder block that knocked Dain down. Jinder threw Rawley through the ropes and then worked him over at ringside in front of Gronk, so you had to know where this was going.

Jinder got in the face of Gronk. He took Gronk's cup, drank from it, and then threw water on him. Jinder returned to the ring. Gronk climbed over the barricade. Security ran over and stopped him, then they backed off. Gronk removed his Mojo t-shirt and entered the ring. Gronk got down on all fours and performed a running shoulder block on Jinder to a nice pop. Gronk left and then Mojo eliminated Dain, and eventually Jinder to win the match. Gronk entered the ring and celebrated with Mojo by slapping his chest repeatedly

Mojo Rawley won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 14:15

Powell's POV: For our non-NFL fans, Gronkowski is a star player for the New England Patriots. WWE will get lots of love from the sports networks for this one. Mojo winning won't excite the masses, but getting Gronk in the ring at WrestleMania is a pretty big deal. My apologies for not getting all the eliminations, but that was chaos.

Arcademan:
3. Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin for the Intercontinental Championship. Corbin attacked Ambrose to start. Ambrose came right back with a suicide dive and worked over Corbin at ringside briefly. The sound cut out briefly as Corbin came back with kicks in the corner. A short time later, Corbin took Ambrose to ringside and ran him into the barricade. Back inside the ring, Ambrose caught a charging Corbin with an elbow, then side stepped another charge, causing Corbin to go through the ropes in the corner.

Ambrose went up top for his flying elbow. Corbin caught him with a Codebreaker type of move on the way down. They went to ringside a short time later. Corbin charged, Ambrose moved, and Corbin crashed into the ring steps. Ambrose went up top and performed his flying elbow onto Corbin at ringside. Saxton played up Ambrose having injured ribs and questioned how much damage he did to himself.

Back inside the ring, Ambrose performed a running clothesline, but then he ran into an elbow from Corbin. Ambrose shook it off and performed a neckbreaker for a two count. At 8:10, Ambrose went for his teetering clothesline, but Corbin blasted him with a kick. Corbin followed up with a spinning slam for a two count. Ambrose came back with his rebound Lariat.

Corbin knocked Ambrose down and yelled at him that he was leaving with the Intercontinental Championship. Corbin went for End of Days, but Ambrose avoided it and hit Dirty Deeds for the win

Dean Ambrose beat Baron Corbin in 10:55 to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

Powell's POV: A fairly flat match. The live crowd didn't seem to really connect with the match and the wrestlers didn't really give them much to get excited about. I was looking forward to this match and found it underwhelming. The match being on the pre-show is surprising. At the same time, they played to a full stadium and their match aired on USA Network, so they can't be too disappointed that it wasn't on the main card. Going into the match, I felt there was a chance that Ambrose would win at Mania only to have Corbin beat him on Smackdown. We'll see if that happens on Tuesday.

Arcademan:
Remaining results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Keller's real-time report).

(1) SHANE MCMAHON vs. A.J. STYLES

Shane came out first. Then Styles. The bell rang. Shane was wearing a white jersey with Shane-O-Mac on the front and dollar signs on the back. Styles outwrestled Shane a little with a lockup and headlock and then a shove into the ropes. He said he's going to embarrass him. He was cocky. A Let's Go A.J.! chant started. Styles caught Shane with a snap mare and he showboated. The crowd cheered. Shane soaked it up while sitting in the corner. Otunga said Styles has to be sure his confidence doesn't turn to cockiness because that could be bad for him. JBL asked how Styles can't be cocky given that he's among the best of his generation. Shane arm dragged Styles a couple times and then did some amateur wrestling and tried to roll up Styles. Styles rolled to the floor and looked back at the ring in shock.

Styles threw the first punch to Shane's face. The announcers talked about Shane training in striking. Styles invited Shane to give it his best. Shane punched away at him and then thtumaplatrew a hard elbow in the corner. Otunga said you don't want to do stand-up with Shane. Styles threw Shane out of the ring, then slide-kicked him hard into the announce table. Shane backflipped over the table and into the chair. Back in the ring, Styles took over on Shane with a methodical beating. JBL talked about how Shane doesn't know fear or hesitation. Shane knocked Styles off balance when he was on the top rope. Shane danced around and threw more punches. He was looking sweaty and winded.

Styles flipped Shane back-first over his knee. Styles countered an attempted Shane comeback into a Calf Crusher. Shane countered into a sleeper. He maneuvered into an armbar. Then an omaplata. JBL wondered how Styles would react if he had to tapout to Shane after bragging he's put on a wrestling clinic. Styles went for a 450 springboard splash, but Shane countered into a triangle. Otunga said Styles might have to tap. Styles lifted Shane and dropped him with a one-armed Styles Clash for a near fall. they exchanged punches mid-ring a minute later. Shane got the better of Styles. He threw some knees in the corner. Styles tried to kick Shane, but Shane ducked and the ref went down. Styles landed a Pel kick. As a medic checked on the ref, Styles grabbed two trash cans from under the ring. JBL said Styles is fighting for his survival since taking Shane to a wrestling clinic wasn? enough. Styles put a trash can up against Shane in one corner, then climbed to the top rope in another corner and went for Shane's signature spot, but Shane leaped up and blocked Styles with a trash can. Styles went down. Shane threw the can out of the ring, but then saw the second one.

Shane then put the trash up against Styles and landed his top rope dropkick into the can. He made the cover. The ref made the count, but Styles kicked out. Shane then went to ringside and cleared an announce table. Shane set Styles on the table on his back. Shane leaped off the top rope and dove at Styles, but Styles moved and Shane crashed onto the table. The table collapsed. Medics checked on him. He clutched his ribs. Styles went after Shane. He rolled him to the ring and threw him into it. Shane went fora Phenomenal Forearm, but Shane caught him mid-air and DDT'd him. Shane then climbed to the top rope. He went for a shooting star press. Styles moved. Another A.J. Styles chant. Styles hit his Phenomenal Forearm for the win. JBL said Styles had to earn that win every step of the way.

WINNER: Styles at 20:35.

(Keller's Analysis: That was on the higher end of any reasonable expectations. They told a good story, if you buy Shane as a wrestler who can hold his own against Styles for 20 minutes. If you can't, then it was groan-inducting seeing Shane outwrestle Styles and out-strike him at various time. It was smart to do that early, since it did feel like a novelty match, and grumpy tired crowd might have been less responsive and even unforgiving of certain aspects, especially if anything went wrong or looked especially sloppy. The crowd definitely enjoyed it and didn't reject the premise. Although it cheated Styles out of a true showcase match for then ages, he'll get historic credit for carrying Shane to a match that largely got by with a story told in the ring. I was truly happy that other than the shooting star press attempt, Shane didn't leap off of anything other than the top rope.)

(2) CHRIS JERICHO vs. KEVIN OWENS  U.S. Title match

Jericho took it to Owens early. They fought at a steady pace for several minutes before taking it to the floor. Jericho made a comeback against Owens. Back in the ring, Owens blocked a Code Breaker and landed a package sitout slam on Jericho for a two count. Cole acknowledged a red contusion on Owens forehead. Jericho pounded away at Owens on the top rope, then landed a huracanrana. Owens avoided a springboard Lionsault, then kicked Jericho in the face and scored a near fall. Owens went for a frog splash, but Jericho lifted his knees. Owens came back quickly and landed a top rope swanton right onto Jericho's lifted knees. Owens went for a Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Jericho avoided it and then instantly landed the springboard Lionsault for a two count. A Y2J chant started.

A minute later Owens put Jericho in the Walls of Jericho mid-ring. Cole asked how embarrassing it'd be if Jericho had to tapout. Graves said, I'd love it! Owens hit the cannonball in the corner. Jericho caught him, though, and twisted him into a Walls of Jericho. Owens reached the bottom rope. Owens came back with a Pop-up Powerbomb for a near fall. The crowd popped. They were slow to get up. When Owens went for a Pop-up, he landed the Code Breaker. Owens placed his index finger on the bottom rope to force a break. A This is awesome! chant started. Owens rolled to the floor. Jericho went after him. Owens powerbombed Jericho spine-first into the ring apron. He went for the cover and got the three count.

WINNER: Owens to capture the U.S. Title. (***)

(Keller's Analysis: For this spot on the card, this worked really well. The crowd was into the match start to finish. I liked that they didn't overdo it with near falls at the end, and sold the idea that a powerbomb on the edge of the ring apron was enough. This was a disciplined, well-executed, smart match that felt like two people fighting over a grudge, not just putting on a show.)

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