The Best and Worst Moment of WrestleMania 34
WrestleMania 34 was a momentous edition of WWE’s biggest show with major debuts and returns, unexpected booking, and a lot of the big show feel typically associated with the biggest show on the WWE calendar. While critics generally considered it an unexceptional ‘Mania, it wasn’t without its highlights and lowlights.
This article takes a look at the single best and worst moment of the show.
The Best: Ronda Rousey Tees Off on HHH
Ronda Rousey came to WWE already established as one of the most famous MMA fighters of all time. There were questions about how she’d transition to wrestling and, in teaming up with a well past his prime Kurt Angle against non-wrestler Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, there were real questions as to how well her debut would come across.
Many expected a five minute or less squash to establish Rousey while she continued her training behind the scenes.
While cynics might point out that the match came across as carefully choreographed and wasn’t exactly an all time classic, the flip side of these criticisms is that it was a match well planned to cover for everyone’s limitations and create electric moments.
The best of those moments saw Rousey throw a flurry of punches at Triple H. While no one would expect Stephanie McMahon to hold her own in a fight with Rousey, Triple H is a big enough man and well established enough star to create more legitimate questions.
Seeing Rousey not only shy away from a confrontation, but get the better of it when she threw hands with The Game was fun and a cathartic moment for fans.
The Worst: Brock Lesnar wins
The buzz around WWE in early 2017 was that Brock Lesnar was on his way out the door. At the least, people thought he was taking some time away from WWE, and particularly the Universal Championship, to freshen up things and have a full time champion representing Raw for a while.
Though fans had their quibbles with Roman Reigns as the chosen one to beat Lesnar, the general consensus was that at least the title picture would refresh with The Beast Incarnate out of the mix. On top of that, the Lesnar-Reigns match from WrestleMania 31 was well received, so there was reason to think this rematch, featuring a more experienced Reigns, would be solid.
While the marathon length of the WrestleMania 34 show did the main event no favors, the match itself was nonetheless a slog. Unlike the smash sprints between Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, or the one Reigns and Lesnar themselves would end up having at SummerSlam 2018, their WrestleMania 34 was brutal, slow, and joyless.
The fact that Lesnar won in the end meant that no one was ultimately satisfied. Fans walked away with a lesser sense that this WrestleMania main event was a grand finale to the wrestling year. It felt more like a dull continuation; an effort to set up for the Greatest Royal Rumble than offering a happy ending itself.