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

Photo Source: WWE.com

Triple H & Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey

Result: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey defeated Triple H & Stephanie McMahon via submission

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Bit shocked by the card placement of this one. The debut match for your – hopefully – new mainstream, crossover superstar going on fourth out of ten? (Or eleven with Taker/Cena going down.) We’re not even halfway through the main show, folks.

Trips and Steph coming out on matching motorcycles was a bold choice – guessing there won’t be a Biker Taker appearance later, with the motorcycle quota being fulfilled here. The synchronized water spit was adorbs, though, not gonna lie.

Bold choice by Rousey to get the Party City “Sexy Roddy Piper” costume for her debut match. Angle back in the stars and stripes is a refreshing sight, though.

The underlying theme here – Triple H and Stephanie wielding their power over the official (Drake Wuertz, who was by the book in the unsanctioned match to close NXT TakeOver). The Authority took an unfair advantage when Stephanie attacked Rousey from behind before the bell, as Triple H told the ref, “Remember who signs your paychecks.” Hmmmmm…

Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the match was carried by Angle and Triple H. Hunter was in control up until he nearly punched Stephanie. That opened the door for Angle to try for a tag, but Stephanie pulled Rousey off the apron, prolonging Angle’s troubles.

When Ronda finally got tagged in, any questions about Rousey’s ability to succeed as a WWE Superstar should have evaporated. She’s got it, folks. Ronda was a house of fire, getting in a bunch of good looking offense before showing some personality. The pause before she went for the armbar, telling Stephanie she was going for the left arm so she can still sign her checks, was cold as ice.

When she slipped up and Stephanie took command, Ronda showed good selling ability, too. Amazingly, she was better in front of 75,000 people at WrestleMania than she was in front of a Raw crowd of maybe 15,000. She thrives under pressure, I guess.

Then, WWE finally did it – a brief, but fantastic intergender portion of the match where Ronda got the best of Triple H. It was something I had been hoping would happen, but never thought would. I guess being (almost) the boss has its perks – he’s able to take the bullet without subjecting regular talent to it.

After that, things went back to Angle and Triple H carrying the load, until Angle put Stephanie into the Angle Lock. Triple H saved her and hit a Pedigree, but Rousey broke up the pin. Rousey countered a Pedigree with a hurricanrana on The Game, and locked him in an armbar. It was a great visual, and proof that intergender can succeed in WWE if done correctly.

The match ended when Ronda finally locked the armbar in on Steph (the left arm again), and Steph tapped immediately. Look, this could very easily have been a train wreck, but it turned out to be a damn fine match. I’m definitely interested in seeing Rousey go up against a non-executive to see how well she hangs. But based on her debut here at WrestleMania, she’s going to be just fine for a long time.