Review of WrestleMania 35

Yet WWE didn't even bother making the set seem grand. Look I get that the event was not hosted from a historical location like Madison Square Garden in New York City; but instead at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. However, they could had at least, dress up the set to seem like it was held in the city that never sleeps like they did with WrestleMania 29 with the replicas of the city skyline and Statue of Liberty. I would even take a cheesy big red apple around the ring. Yet they choose to do nearly nothing. The giant Titan Tron stage looks like a black television set & the ring dressing looks plain. It certainly didn't have the extravaganza look to it; but how about the match card. Did that at least live up to the value? Not really. The event was way too long. Not close to a New York Minute at all. From the pre-show opening to the sign-off, the show has a runtime of 7.5 hours. A really grueling watch for one sitting. Like the previous three WrestleManias before this, some of the contests probably could had been cut like the warm up crowd title match between cruiserweight champion, Buddy Murphy and challenger, Tony Nese. The move sets were botchy causing Murphy to accidently bleed above the eye and the in-ring story was not there. Forgettable. The Women Battle Royal was next. Despite the fact that WWE use the same finish as the previous year Battle Royal and a few wrestlers like Dana Brooke making a fool of themselves. The contest was a lot more eye catchy than the 205 live one. Then there was the Raw Tag Team Championship match. I love the storyline of Curt Hawkins along with Zack Ryder trying to break his 269-match losing streak versus the champions the Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson). Compare to the others, this simple underdog story was by far the best in the preshow. Men's Andre the Giant Battle Royal was the worst. I really don't like the barely athletic comedic celebrities taking hard working wrestlers spots gimmick even if they don't win. It's annoyed to see them in these matches. Anyways that brings us to real opener of the show Seth Rollins versus titleholder Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The buildup to the match was perfect and the ring work while short did its job. It was nice. AJ Styles versus Randy Orton was also pretty damn good. However, WWE kinda ruin the match with leaving the bright lights on. Because of this, the crowd were more focus on yelling for them to turn it off, in order to see the fight. It's sad because the build up to the brawl was decent. Talking about just okay. The Women Tag Team title match between the champs 'Boss 'n' Hug Connection' (Bayley and Sasha Banks) Nia Jax and Tamina, Beth Phoenix and Natalya and 'The IIconics' (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) had solid in ring work rather than chaos. The Miz versus Shane McMahon fight continue the tread as the brawl lived up to the hype. It's just that some of the shaky camera movement zooms were making me nauseous to the point that I miss the Rey Mysterio and Samoa Joe squash match due to getting water for the headache. That US championship match was highly disappointing. I really wanted to see Samoa Joe show his stuff after years not being on the card. However, it was understandable due to Rey being injury. At least, the WWE Championship match between title holder Daniel Bryan and challenger Kofi Kingston was amazing. Love the storyline behind this contest with Kingston overcoming the odds to get a chance to be champion. The next series of matches probably should had been cut for time or shorten. For example, the Fatal Four Way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship between title holders, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) Aleister Black and Ricochet, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura and The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) was meh. It could had been played out on Smackdown. The same goes with "The Demon" Finn Bálor versus belt holder Bobby Lashley for the Intercontinental Championship for RAW. The whole bit with John Cena assaulting Elias should had been combine with the Kurt Angle's farewell match by having the Doctor of Thuganomics team up with the Olympic champion to fight off the drifter and Baron Corbin. Instead Cena's actions play out very similar to the previous year's event and the Corbin's match suck the air out of the room. Then there is Triple H's No Holds Barred retirement feud with Batista which could had been shorten due to the individuals well past prime ages. Regardless, it was alright despite the odd choice of comedy spots. Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntrye was also decent for a hoss fight, but it could had been reduced as well. The crowd went indifferent after a while even if both could work, due to McMahon's standards of forced pushed rather than organic fanfare. That brings us to the main event. The Winner Takes All triple threat match between Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair for both brands women's championship. First off, it's nice to see that an women match could indeed be the headliner for WrestleMania, but the buildup was awful with the whole killing kayfabe on the internet, clumsy injury angle and Flair being intercede into the feud when she wasn't needed. As for the contest. It had everything. Great moves, story telling and selling. Yet the awkward finish kinda hurts it. Overall: While the long running time is something to wrestle with. 2019 WrestleMania was suitable for the most part even if the show dragged at parts. It's all worth a watch. So, check it out if you want to. Take a bite out of this big apple.