WWE WrestleMania 32: Show Marred by Poor Finishes

WWE made a lot of questionable calls when it came to their WrestleMania 32 finishes.

"“It’s a show and what they [wrestling fans] don’t get about our show is that we are like this ever ending, you can compare it to whatever you want, it never ends. There’s always another chapter. They get so upset in the moment of not liking maybe the chapter they are on, there’s another chapter that starts tomorrow. They don’t get that and they can wait for that. They don’t understand all the complexities that go on behind the scenes.”–Triple H"

According to Triple H, fans simply need to “wait,” because what they see, is never the end, but rather a continuation of a line of events that play out week after week. WrestleMania is typically a place where stories can end and new ones can begin, but last night failed to achieve many interesting beginnings and blew the endings of way too many matches.

More wwe: WWE WrestleMania 33 Match Card Projections

The Good

• Kalisto looked like a champion, even though WWE pushed the “big vs. small” story, he finished strong and won clean, sending Ryback back to where he belongs, a mid-card challenger.
• Zack Ryder winning the Intercontinental title was, at least, a huge surprise and does beg the question; “Where does he go from here?” I’m curious if he can even hold onto the title for a full twenty-four hours and wouldn’t be surprised if an angry Kevin Owens comes calling tonight on Raw.

WWE.com

• Undertaker getting the victory seemed obvious, it’s WrestleMania and we can’t have “The Deadman” losing to a guy who hasn’t wrestled in years. In terms of the stipulations put forth before the match, they didn’t come into play at all, so it hurts potential stories that could have happened had Shane won. Nonetheless, Shane could still be a thorn in the side of his sister and dad in other ways, if they decide to go that route.
• Baron Corbin winning the Andre Battle Royal was another nice surprise as he was hidden among the old guys; Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, DDP, Tatanka, and Shaq (yep, Shaq). I wouldn’t say it’s going to make a star out of Corbin, but in the NXT world it should be considered a big deal to go out and win this battle royal since most of the people there haven’t even sniffed main roster competition.

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• We all knew Roman Reigns was going to win last night (if you didn’t, you were just kidding yourself) and go on as champion, but this was such a bland ending to a really long WrestleMania. WWE should know by now fans aren’t fully behind Reigns, so having just a big celebration isn’t exactly going to get them up off their feet, a debut or comeback of some kind should have happened here, rather than a smiley Roman as we fade to black.

The Bad

• How much time we got? Because there were so many strange calls, it’s almost like WWE went purposefully opposite of what the proper choice should have been…if you swerve too much, you’re going to crash.
• On the Kickoff Show, I totally get giving Brie a nice send-off, it’s for their E! show, whatever, if she’s leaving why not build up people who are staying? Why not give Lana the boost or highlight how awesome Emma or Naomi can be? I would have even taken Eva Marie turning on her team, because she’s clearly a heel (did you hear the boos she received?) among faces.
• The Dudleys were built up as “the most dangerous tag team in the WWE” and yet they got totally punked out by The Usos in this match. Not only did Bubba and D-Von lose, but they got put through tables after the match, if that’s what a “dangerous” team looks like, sign me up and call me Spike.

WWE.com

• Quite possibly the most confusing call was putting Chris Jericho over AJ Styles in what can only be chalked up to AJ is the new guy and has to pay his WWE dues. There was zero reason for Jericho to come out the victor here, it does nothing for an incredibly popular Styles, who not only lost, but has a finisher that gets kicked out of in the second match of the night!

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• The League of Nations getting the mind numbing win over New Day for the sole purpose of bringing out old legends is exactly the problem WWE has with building new stars. Yes, WrestleMania is a totally different show where they bring out past stars, but this is the show where everyone is watching, so they should be highlighting their best full-time active talent. You could say New Day is so over a loss here didn’t hurt them, but did it really help them? Austin, Michaels, and Foley will all disappear, people will continue to not care about the LON, and New Day didn’t gain anything (except a giant box) from the segment.
• Dean Ambrose should have won, plain and simple. Brock has not been built up quite as monstrous in this feud and with the help of any weapon he could find, this was the perfect spot to give Dean a win. It’s painfully clear he could be the number one guy on the roster, he actually made Reigns/Triple H interesting, and the fans absolutely adore him. Also, forget who won, the ending was just weak, F5 on the chairs, and it’s over, really? The crowd went totally mild with that call.

WWE.com

• The women’s triple threat was the greatest WrestleMania match ever for the division, I have nothing bad to say about it other than, yep, the ending. Not only should Charlotte have lost, but that ancient father of hers was a huge reason why she got the win. The choice of her winning is bad enough, but to not let her do it completely on her own just ruined a perfectly great match. Are they heels and am I mad? Yes and that’s the point, but it still cheapened the match.
• Technically, Rock vs. Erick Rowan was a match, and I’m now seeing the whole segment was Rock’s idea, which isn’t that surprising. The Wyatts were led to slaughter by Rock and Cena, which is so unfortunate, this group could be a dominant force in the WWE and yet, they are edging that much closer to becoming just a bunch of Social Outcasts.

Next: WWE WrestleMania 32: Winners and Losers

The ending is just as important as the journey, so for now, I’m going to hold onto Triple H’s words and wait for the next chapter…which better include The Bullet Club and/or Cesaro.

What did you think of the finishes?