WWE WrestleMania 34: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Result: Matt Hardy last eliminated Baron Corbin to win

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Aiden English being the first man eliminated is a terrible way to kick off Rusev Day. The nerve of the other superstars in the match. And Curt Hawkins can’t end his losing streak? So much for WrestleMania dreams.

Highlight of the match for me? The brief reunion of The Golden Truth. Hey, continuity always gets a pop from me – even if the Goldust heel turn was abandoned pretty quickly. R-Truth tried to dance for his former buddy, but Goldie tossed him. To add literal insult to injury, he dabbed in Truth’s face. 2018, folks – anything can happen. (Loved Goldust’s Dusty-inspired ring gear and face paint, too.)

Dolph Ziggler’s transformation into Shawn Michaels is basically complete. The logo pattern on his tights looks almost exactly like HBK’s. He wears basically the same boots. And every battle royal Ziggler competes in, he skins the cat no fewer than a dozen times, just like Michaels.

Somewhat surprisingly, the eliminations came very slowly at the start of the match. It made it really tough to tell just who was doing what to whom in the match. But I could very clearly see Mojo Rawley take a stab at becoming my favorite wrestler by ambushing former partner Zack Ryder to spectacularly eliminate him. Nice try, Mojo, but it still isn’t enough.

The face off between Tye Dillinger and Matt Hardy probably looked better on paper than it played out. It was fun and all, but there’s nothing quite like a guy not knowing who another superstar is – even if they’re on opposite brands.

The finish was odd – Bray Wyatt teleported into the ring to assist Hardy to win. I guess the Lake of Reincarnation didn’t so much “reincarnate” as “mentally reprogram.” With how long it took for the bell to ring, I thought they were treating Wyatt as an entrant into the match, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Not a bad way to start the proceedings, and it looked like a decent portion of the crowd was in their seats before the match started.