Photo Source: WWE.com
From NXT TakeOver on Saturday through SmackDown Live and 205 Live on Tuesday, WWE reigned supreme over New Orleans. But who came away as the biggest winners of the long weekend?
We’re almost a week removed from WWE WrestleMania 34. By now, everyone has hopefully had time to sleep a bit to recuperate from the marathon of the weekend. Maybe you’ve even had a chance to go back and watch some of the great matches from the weekend a second time. Or third, or fourth.
And now that everyone is well rested, and the matches have marinated in our brains for a bit, it’s time to look at the big winners of the weekend. From the opening bell of NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on Saturday night, there were five big shows under the WWE banner in New Orleans. The centerpiece, of course, was WrestleMania 34 itself.
But don’t sleep on Raw and SmackDown Live, not by a long shot. And Tuesday night closed out the live action with 205 Live, as well. All told, WWE produced 16 hours of wrestling shows over the four days. Not too shabby, if you ask me.
Out of those five shows, there were definitely some clear winners. Several superstars put on the performance of a lifetime in The Big Easy. With any luck, those performances will be the impetus for a career turning around, or getting started on the right foot.
Who are those big winners from WrestleMania Weekend? Read on to find out, in no particular order.
Johnny Gargano
In the first quarter or so of 2018, Johnny Gargano has quietly become the best wrestler in all of WWE. I know, it surprised me, too. But looking back, it really shouldn’t have.
Gargano was always a solid wrestler while on the independent scene. But before he made it to EVOLVE, he was never really a main event kind of guy. Even in EVOLVE, Johnny Wrestling was part of an ensemble crew that would headline most of the major shows.
When Gargano first appeared in NXT, he was randomly paired up with Tommaso Ciampa, a guy he had very little history with up until that point. Somehow, though, everything clicked, and #DIY slowly became one of the top tag teams in NXT. The duo finally signed with WWE/NXT full-time in late 2016, and became NXT Tag Team Champions.
Then came the betrayal of all betrayals, when Ciampa assaulted Gargano following the latest in a long line of great matches. While Ciampa recuperated from several injuries, Gargano went on to have several of the best matches in NXT from that point forward.
Fast forward to WrestleMania Weekend, and Gargano followed up the first 5-star match in NXT history with another Match of the Year candidate. The unsanctioned match against Ciampa was the perfect next step in the story between these best friends turned worst enemies. Every beat was perfect, and Gargano’s performance stands out for a variety of reasons.
The callbacks to previous encounters — like their showdown in the Cruiserweight Classic — greatly enhanced what was already a tremendous match. The finish, which saw Gargano using Ciampa’s own knee brace against him, was absolutely perfect. For such an emotional contest, Johnny Gargano should be viewed as one of the best in the world.
Ronda Rousey
Heading into WrestleMania, there were a ton of questions about Ronda Rousey and her looming WWE debut. How exactly would she handle the pressures of being a sports entertainer? Would Rousey be able to live up to the hype surrounding such a momentous occasion?
By the time her match was over, any questions about Rousey’s ability as a WWE superstar were gone. Not only did she live up to most people’s wildest expectations, she exceeded many — and impressed people you wouldn’t think could be won over. There were a few things that kept the match from being “perfect,” but it was as close to that as possible.
Of course, Rousey teamed up with Kurt Angle to face Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Rousey, being the only superstar in the match under 40, let alone 30, had a lot of pressure on her, debut notwithstanding.
After a long stretch of Angle and Triple H dominating the match, Rousey finally got tagged in — and lit the Superdome on fire. She came at Stephanie like a bat out of hell, silencing the critics in one fell swoop. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Or does it? Not only did Rousey decimate Stephanie for the majority of the match, but she got the upper hand on Triple H as well. WWE usually shies away from true intergender competition, but I’ve long been an advocate of seeing it take a bigger stage. There’s no bigger stage than WrestleMania.
It remains to be seen how Rousey will handle a match against a full-time superstar, as opposed to a pair of company executives. But for now, she’s definitely on the right track towards superstardom.
Seth Rollins
Between WrestleMania and Raw the following night, Seth Rollins staked his claim as a top guy in WWE. He’s a former world champion, and is no stranger to the main event, but his performance in NOLA proved that he should be heading back there sooner rather than later.
Let’s start with WrestleMania. In the opening contest of the main show, Rollins was victorious in arguably one of the top three matches of the night. In my opinion, it was slightly better than Charlotte vs. Asuka, as well as the mixed tag match. But you can’t go wrong with any of those three as your number one.
By earning the W, Rollins became the new Intercontinental Champion — and the latest Grand Slam Champion in WWE. The best part? He pinned the champ heading into the match, The Miz, as opposed to the other challenger, Finn Balor. It makes his victory seem even stronger.
To follow up a great opening match of WrestleMania, Rollins ended up in the main event of Raw. He teamed up with Balor and the newly-returned Jeff Hardy to face Miz and the Miztourage. And that, again, was the best match of the night.
It’s clear Monday Night Rollins is more than just a catchphrase; Seth is slowly taking over the top spot on the flagship show of WWE. The Intercontinental Championship is slowly becoming more valuable to Raw than the Universal Championship, thanks to The Miz. Rollins should have no trouble carrying that mantel forward.
Paige
The weekend started off somewhat poorly and depressing for Paige. Since the end of 2017, she’s been out due to a series of injuries, and the rumor was she would never get clearance from WWE again. For anyone, that’s devastating — for a 25-year-old who has barely scratched the surface of what she’s capable, it’s even worse.
So Paige was forced to sit at the commentary table during the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, barely managing a meek, “Maybe next year,” when asked about her thoughts of missing out. The following night on Raw, she officially announced her retirement from in-ring competition in a tearful, emotional segment.
Oh, and let’s not forget the world turning her face into a meme after her introduction of a clip from the upcoming movie about her life. Not a great beginning to the weekend.
But on Tuesday night, Paige turned lemons into lemonade when Shane McMahon announced her as the new General Manager of SmackDown Live. It’s a great move for both Paige herself and the WWE as a whole. For the Anti-Diva, it keeps her active in the company, which is for the best. She was born to be a professional wrestler.
As for WWE, it shows their commitment to ensuring the physical safety of their performers, while acknowledging those performers’ desire to be an active participant. From Daniel Bryan to Corey Graves and now Paige, there’s more and more signs that WWE is moving beyond the old school mentality of ignoring potentially dangerous situations. They’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but things are definitely better.
Triple H
Just typing those words, I can already feel the pure hatred coming my way from certain corners of the WWE Universe. For years, Triple H gained a reputation as being a conniving, politicking jerk behind the scenes in WWE. He looked out for himself above all others, and had no qualms about just who he kept down to ensure he rose to the top. To this day, WrestleMania XIX and H’s match against Booker T is the among the most head scratching, despicable booking in WrestleMania history.
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But since his quasi-retirement into a part-time wrestling role to accommodate his full-time position as a company executive, Triple H has turned public perception of him in his favor. Personally, I haven’t forgotten how detrimental he may have been to several careers during the late 90s and early 00s. But to ignore just how much positive he’s done in the past five years or so would be a terrible mistake.
This weekend was a prime example of how well Triple H can be as a producer of content as opposed to a performer. Sure, he was great in his match at WrestleMania, even if his ring entrance was a little goofy. But where H really shined was the production of the shows he’s in charge of — NXT TakeOver, and 205 Live.
For the umpteenth time, TakeOver outperformed the main roster show it preceded. Granted, the target audiences for NXT and WWE are different, even if there is some overlap. But the debuts of Ricochet and EC3 in the stellar ladder match, plus Gargano vs. Ciampa, sealed the show’s fate as tops of the weekend.
And the Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals on the WrestleMania Kickoff Show indirectly led to a guy like Buddy Murphy getting a chance to shine in a new role. Not to mention that Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali absolutely made the most out of their Mania opportunity.
Next: WWE WrestleMania 34 Review
With no shortage of winners from the weekend, who do you think had the best showing in WWE?